All Heroes Under Heaven, Fall Into My Trap

The boss was furious, so naturally his subordinates had to explain themselves.

They weren't rookies in the corporate world; their ability to shift blame was already maxed out.

Though they didn't know the real reason, coming up with a few plausible excuses was simple enough. One seemingly reliable reason was:

There was a gap between artists.

"Zhumeng must have found a top-tier artist. Maybe their decision to change the game's style was all to match this artist's style."

Another more pointed reason:

The model gap.

"Even though we've been preparing longer, our artists have been struggling to find the focus. It wasn't until last month, when we invited models for a live demonstration, that we got some direction."

"But only a few project team members watched the demo, and the models weren't that high-level either."

"Maybe Zhumeng hired more expensive, more professional models."

Fei Zhiyuan, the head of Konjac Games, couldn't tell if his subordinates' reasons were correct.

But that didn't matter.

After all, for situations like this, as a leader, he had a standard set of procedures to follow—

First, blow up and chew them out, make sure they knew he wasn't easy to fool.

Then, offer support, show that he still trusted them.

Finally, issue a warning: he wanted to see results. Good work meant rewards; bad work meant severe punishment.

This strategy could handle over ninety percent of problems.

"I'm approving another round of project funding for you."

"Go poach more top-tier artists."

"Go book higher-level models."

"I'm giving you the money, I'm giving you the authority, but you'd better give me results! No results, and your seats go to someone else!"

His subordinates left with solemn promises.

Fei Zhiyuan sat back in his executive chair, looked at the two images again, and still felt unsettled.

He pulled up last month's revenue comparison chart between Konjac Games and Zhumeng Games. Seeing the gap of over twenty times, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The next day, Konjac Games efficiently updated their own recruitment post.

Multiple headhunting firms also received commissions from Konjac Games, turning their attention to well-known lead artists in the industry.

Especially for "Zhumeng Game Company's new original artist," the commission fee for this person was directly triple that of anyone else.

Driven by money, these headhunting firms, already well-connected, soon got their hands on Ding Nian's information.

One after another, text messages and friend requests flooded Ding Nian's phone.

"Buzz—buzz—"

Xu Meng watched Ding Nian's phone vibrate again and couldn't help but speak up: "Something urgent? Why are so many people contacting you all of a sudden?"

"If it's really urgent, go handle it first. No rush here."

"No, it's nothing. My phone number might have been leaked somewhere. A bunch of spam calls."

Ding Nian hung up in annoyance and turned off her phone for peace.

She was accompanying Xu Meng in an interview.

The reason Xu Meng was conducting the interview himself was that the candidate was named Tang Ya, with the artist alias "Ya Ya Did Not Wear Today."

From the alias, one could probably guess—she was a somewhat famous doujinshi H-artist who had returned from abroad.

That's right. Earlier, Xu Meng had announced in his post, "Warmly welcoming H-artists to go legit," and now an H-artist was actually coming to go legit.

Her fame wasn't earth-shattering, but with two years since graduation and six years in the industry, she was a veteran. Her artwork was of extremely high quality and widely praised by readers.

To show sincerity, Xu Meng naturally had to attend in person.

The interview process was actually quite brief.

When Xu Meng said he wanted to see her portfolio, this artist named "Ya Ya Did Not Wear Today" handed over not only a thick, printed collection of her works but also a phone displaying a pink-colored manga app. In Xu Meng's mind, she had already passed the interview.

The rest was just going through the motions, listening to her and Ding Nian exchange professional insights.

One was a legitimate artist, the other an H-artist, yet they clicked surprisingly well. Xu Meng sat until his butt went numb before they finally finished talking.

Xu Meng didn't pull any of that "wait for our notification" nonsense. He stood up directly and extended his hand: "Welcome to Zhumeng. Let's work hard together and create better games!"

"Definitely!" Feeling that both the boss and her colleague were easy to get along with, Tang Ya was also very happy.

And so, the Zhumeng Art Department gained another Admiral.

That afternoon, Xu Meng conducted another interview.

Or perhaps it couldn't be called an interview, since it was Zhu Meng who had invited the other party.

Previously, Xu Meng had sent people to approach several harem novel authors, but things hadn't gone smoothly.

Successful authors were their own bosses, typing away and driving plots daily, browsing lewd images in group chats, teasing readers—living a comfortable life with no desire to grovel under someone else's thumb.

The less successful ones often lacked ability and weren't quite fit for the job.

Finding an author with sufficient skill who was also willing to take on a regular job proved quite difficult.

Fortunately, luck was on his side: the person invited to tour Zhu Meng today, and who later sat drinking coffee with Xu Meng in the company's recreation area, was no small fry, but an author who had written several popular works.

However, feeling his age and declining health, he found it increasingly hard to keep up with the ever-intensifying typing intensity of the online novel scene, and his results had been steadily dropping.

So, on his wife's advice, he wanted a job with a normal schedule, essentially retiring early, and thus accepted the invitation.

After Xu Meng sat down, before bringing up anything else, he couldn't help but ask first: "May I ask, why did you choose the pen name 'Wheel Turner'?"

He had been puzzled for a while.

"Uh..." The nearly forty-year-old older brother adjusted his glasses awkwardly, "Well..."

"Do you know Lao Ai?"

"Lao Ai?" Xu Meng blinked, retrieved the character's info from his brain, and suddenly caught on, "Oh~~~ that meaning!"

Lao Ai, Marquis of Changxin in the late Warring States period of Qin, had early on disguised himself as a eunuch to enter the palace, had an affair with Empress Dowager Zhao Ji, and fathered two sons with her. He once held immense power, but finally failed in a rebellion, was executed by King Ying Zheng of Qin, and died by being torn apart by chariots.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with his name.

What did have something to do with it was: Lao Ai had an extremely famous specialty—

"Using his member to drive a tung-wood wheel as it rolled."

Translated, it meant Lao Ai could use his lower body as an axle, threading it through a tung-wood wheel to make it spin and move.

That was also the reason Empress Dowager Zhao had summoned him into the palace.

This guy taking the pen name "Wheel Turner" meant he too possessed the art of wheel-turning.

Xu Meng was momentarily in awe.

No wonder he wrote harem novels—he had real skill!

—And cultured too, unlike those uncultured pretty boys who only said things like "Mine's big, just bear with it."

He just didn't know if the guy would be willing to give a demonstration.

Xu Meng was quite curious to see it...

"Awesome." Xu Meng gave him a thumbs up, "Brother Wheel..."

"No, no, no!!" Brother Wheel panicked, "Please don't call me that, just call me Zheng Yi, I'm begging you!"

He added: "Back then I was young and didn't know better, and later my fans got used to calling me that, so it was hard to change... Over the years I've just gone with it... But being called that in real life is way too awkward..."

"Haha, alright, let's talk about the 'Frost Snow Project' next?"

"Sure." Zheng Yi nodded, he indeed had a bellyful of old complaints to air.

Before coming, he had playtested the "Frost Snow Project," going through the character settings and plot.

From his perspective, the game's plot and character settings were full of toxic points—if written as a web novel, readers would definitely flame it until the author's own mother wouldn't recognize it.

Now, chatting with Xu Meng, he had no hesitation and spoke with clear reasoning.

Xu Meng nodded frequently—the two shared highly consistent views on many points, so the more they talked, the more they clicked, and the deeper the conversation went.

Many character setting changes and plot node revisions were quickly finalized during this discussion.

By the time they finished talking, it was already quitting time, and both their stomachs were full of coffee, drinks, and snacks.

Finally, the two shook hands firmly, announcing Zheng Yi's official joining of Zhu Meng.

Zhu Meng's last department—the writing department—which had been leaderless and inefficient, finally received reinforcement.

Having taken in two Admirals in one day, Xu Meng felt that all the genius heroes had fallen into his net.

The situation was looking great!