With These Pests

"Boss! Boss—"

Little Assistant Chen Mengling came rushing over in a panic, her heels clicking sharply against the smooth floor.

"Something terrible! Our account got hacked!"

Xu Meng looked at the flustered little assistant and raised a hand to calm her. "Don't panic. It wasn't hacked. I posted that."

"Oh." The assistant patted her chest, relieved. "That's good..."

Then it hit her. "Wait—you posted that, Boss?"

Xu Meng nodded.

"But... but... this..." The assistant stammered, "When were all these decisions made?"

"Ten minutes ago," Xu Meng replied.

The little assistant leaned back slightly. "I was only out of the office for ten minutes, right? Did you hold a meeting in that time?"

"No."

"No meeting?" The assistant blinked. "Aren't important decisions usually made in meetings?"

"I didn't see democratic decision-making turning the company around either," Xu Meng said bluntly.

"Then..." The assistant was dazed for a few seconds before asking the most pressing question. "Is the writing team overhaul serious too?"

"Of course," Xu Meng said without hesitation. "That crap they've been writing? Fire them, fire them all!"

Chen Mengling was shocked. "But... the writing team lead is your senior from college, Boss!"

"?" Xu Meng paused, thought back a moment, and realized it was true.

Meng Bing—a woman known in university for her social finesse.

Not only was she his and Zhang Yang's senior, but she'd also joined Dream Building Game very early on.

The writing team she led had a creative philosophy that included: "Characters have their own lives; players are merely observers and witnesses of the game world."

Xu Meng's verdict on that?

Brain damage!

"It's not just the lead. Several writers on the team handling the main story, side quests, and character writing are alumni she brought in," the assistant added.

Xu Meng's forehead darkened with exasperation. No wonder the story was so toxic and no one objected—not only was the creative philosophy flawed, but the whole lot were connections!

Damn it!

How could he make a good game with these pests?

"Fire them! Get rid of every single one of them!"

"Do it now!"

"Alright... I'll go to HR and find Sister Chen right away," Chen Mengling said weakly. "Any special requirements when we hire new people?"

"That's not urgent. I'll discuss it with Sister Chen later." Xu Meng waved a hand. "First, get me a few web novelists who write harem novels."

Xu Meng had decided—the story for the "Frost Snow Project" would follow the old-school web novel formula of a dragon-soaring protagonist building a harem.

These harem novel writers were a perfect fit.

"Oh... okay." The assistant was clearly reeling from the conceptual shock.

"Don't just 'oh.' Get moving. On your way out, call in the art and programming directors. And bring the modeling team lead too," Xu Meng urged.

The assistant blinked, dazed, and hurried out the door, jogging off to find people.

Before long, she pushed the office door open again, leading in Art Director Yang Hui, Programming Director Peng Linmu, and Modeling Supervisor Chen Wanzhong.

"Boss, they're here." She suppressed her heavy breathing, trying to keep her tone steady.

"Mm, have a seat." Xu Meng pointed to the leather sofa on his right.

That sofa was another thing Zhang Yang had bought—some internationally famous brand, apparently.

Once they were all seated, Xu Meng spoke immediately. "Time's tight, so I'll keep it short. Did you all see the announcement I posted?"

"We saw it," Yang Hui and Peng Linmu nodded.

"What announcement?" Chen Wanzhong looked clueless.

"You..." Xu Meng paused. "Forget it. Mengling, show him."

"Sure." The assistant quickly pulled out her phone and handed it over.

"Bullshit! You don't know anything..." Chen Wanzhong read aloud from the screen.

"Slap!"

The assistant snatched the phone back in a flash. "No, that's wrong—I was replying to those netizens attacking the boss..."

She tapped a few times on the phone and handed it to Chen Wanzhong again.

Chen Wanzhong didn't read it out loud this time, just quietly looked down at the announcement.

Xu Meng looked at his assistant, who was huddling like a quail trying to bury her head in her chest, and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

The comments under that announcement naturally couldn't all be praise.

Words like Dream Builder was flailing in its death throes, vulgar and obscene, breaking the rules, accusing the operations team of messing around, questioning the development team's ability...

All kinds of things were said.

But within just a few minutes, Chen Mengling had run to the Personnel Department to relay the boss's demands, then dashed to the Art, Programming, and Modeling offices to notify them of the boss's summons, and still found time in between to argue with people in the comments section.

That kind of efficiency genuinely made Xu Meng take notice.

The announcement wasn't long—thirty seconds was enough to read it—but Chen Wanzhong stayed in the same position without moving for a long time.

When he finally looked up again, his face was full of confusion.

Xu Meng had no intention of resolving his confusion for now.

"Finished reading? Then I'll start assigning. Set aside whatever work you're doing right now."

"From now on, your core task is character gender-swapping and outfit changes."

"Art Department, redraw based on the amount of screen time each character has, from most to least."

"I won't hide it from you—just draw in the sexiest direction possible. The sexier, the better."

"Modeling, same thing—the sexier, the better. On top of that, make sure the detail is top-notch."

"As long as we meet the deadline, make it as detailed as you can."

Xu Meng looked at Chen Wanzhong: "Your task is very important..."

"Hold on!" Yang Hui, who had been silent until now, suddenly interrupted Xu Meng.

"What's wrong?" Xu Meng looked at Yang Hui.

"Do we really have to do this?" Yang Hui asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Turning male characters into female ones and giving female characters lewd outfits." Yang Hui said with a stern face.

Xu Meng was a bit surprised but answered honestly: "Yes. Game Observer was right—the company is on the verge of collapse. We don't have a choice."

But Yang Hui shook her head: "I can't accept something so vulgar and obscene! Making characters sell sex—that's blatant objectification of women!"

Xu Meng paused.

He carefully studied Yang Hui's expression.

After confirming she was serious, he said, a little exasperated: "Do you know what Otome Games are? I suggest you find a few with bigger scales and more explicit content, play them, and see how male characters sell sex. After that, you won't be hung up on this."

"Let's continue with the modeling..."

But Yang Hui interrupted him again: "That's a completely different matter! Women are already a disadvantaged group. Doing this infringes on the rights of all women—it's objectification and exploitation!"

Watching her grit her teeth, Xu Meng was even more stunned.

What's going on? Aren't we trying to save the company and everyone's jobs here?

How did we suddenly jump into social issues?

If you're simply against vulgarity and refuse to draw sexy characters, that's fine.

The ACG games in this world are still stuck at "cute" and "cool" stages; it's normal for older folks to struggle with bold moves.

Dream Builder isn't planning to make this kind of game forever.

A 2D Shooter Game was already an untapped niche track. Now, to save the company, Xu Meng was flooring the accelerator to charge into the soft erotica track—an even smaller niche within a niche.

He never expected this heavy dose to instantly revive "Frost Snow Project" and turn it into the company's cash cow.

—Not at all.

In Xu Meng's plan, the remade game would likely bring in a big wave of cash flow.

But that wasn't revival—it was a last gasp.

Just to carve out a window of opportunity.

Because "Frost Snow Project" was inherently flawed.

What truly sustains a game's survival is never the sexiness—it's the gameplay.

Dream Builder would eventually have to walk the normal path, winning players and market approval through hard strength.

So if you say you can't do it now, that's fine—just swap in someone who can.

Once we get through this, we can work together on something else for the new game.

But coming at me with feminist rhetoric right off the bat—what's that about??

Do you think I wouldn't dare fire you?

I'm back!

New book starts now. As usual, begging for collections, follows, and Monthly Passes!

Seedling stage—please take care of me~