No matter how clueless she was, he couldn't let her see this!
"Ah, sorry, just a moment!"
Xu Dan immediately sprang into action. He turned on the air conditioning and the exhaust fan, then grabbed the air freshener from the bathroom and went wild, spraying everywhere.
Picking up a mop, he cleaned the floor in less than ten minutes, making sure there was no trace of the bloodstain.
After checking everything again, he went to open the door.
Standing there was a standard blonde beauty, who looked a bit like a British person.
British people are particular about their appearance and, even more so, about their elegance. The word "lady" was perfectly embodied in this blonde woman.
When the pungent smell of air freshener wafted out from the room, she immediately turned to the side, covering her mouth and nose with her snow-white hand, and gave a delicate sneeze.
"Sorry, there seems to be some kind of smell, a bit pungent… Achoo!"
Xu Dan wasn't a stranger to beautiful women. Back when he had money, he'd even dallied with foreign beauties.
However, the first person he met in this world was a young beauty, which eased his previously suppressed mood somewhat.
He smiled slightly, "Hello, I'm Xu Dan."
The girl offered her hand generously, "I'm Edward Liva. Nice to meet you! Here's my resume!"
Handing over a resume right away; it seemed she was interning for the first time, a bit nervous!
He'd seen many new hires like this in the workplace. Generally speaking, 70% of them were the same!
However, Xu Dan wasn't that particular. He took the resume and glanced through it. Nineteen years old, applying for a graphic design position.
She was just a student at a regular university; she didn't have any connections to MIT or anything like that. The students there would look down on her small-time background.
"Excellent, you're hired!" he declared, making a direct decision.
Hearing this, Liva's face lit up. Her family had been saying it was difficult to find a job in New York and wanted her to go back home to work. But, she never expected to pass her first interview! Hmph!
"Great!"
"Alright, nine-to-five, weekends off. The trial period will be a monthly salary of two thousand USD. After three months, you'll be officially employed with a monthly salary of five thousand USD plus commission. Can you accept that?"
A monthly salary of two thousand USD was already quite good for an intern.
Only some large companies would offer exorbitant internship salaries, starting around six thousand USD.
Of course, with Liva's qualifications, she wouldn't be able to get in!
Liva couldn't stop smiling. She was already thrilled that the company was offering her a position, but the generous benefits were impossible to refuse!
Immediately, she nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice.
"Great! Great! I completely accept!"
"Well, it's not even seven o'clock yet. You can go grab some breakfast. Be here promptly at nine."
Actually, Xu Dan wanted to go in and assess Liva's artistic skills, but the room really did stink.
Even he didn't want to stay in there, let alone this pampered college student.
College students are all a bit high-maintenance. Unlike the older employees, who have families to support and are willing to endure any hardship for a job!
Around 8:50 AM, the studio members began to arrive one after another.
Due to the last programmer incident, the majority of the studio's staff had quit, citing various reasons. Now, all that remained were a few middle-aged individuals who hadn't found other jobs.
Naturally, they harbored some resentment.
Upon seeing Xu Dan, they offered him a perfunctory greeting, a smile that didn't reach their eyes.
Xu Dan wasn't bothered by this; he would probably feel the same way if he were in their shoes.
At least, these people still listened to his instructions.
After he finished explaining, everyone stopped their current tasks and re-immersed themselves in developing King of Fighters.
They were responsible for modeling, the interface, and other peripheral settings, while Xu Dan handled the programming independently.
This was partly because he'd taken a hit here before, and partly because he now possessed the God-level Programming Technique!
As the clock slowly crept towards five in the afternoon, Xu Dan stretched, his old back aching. He stood up.
He walked over to Liva, who was completely absorbed in her drawing, unaware of his presence.
Xu Dan had only given her a rough outline, describing the characteristics of several classic characters from King of Fighters, leaving the rest to her creativity.
On the computer screen, several characters were already taking shape. She was currently refining them.
"Mai Shiranui's style needs to be more… voluptuous. Simply put, more 'suggestive'. We're walking the line of being censored!"
The sudden voice startled Liva. Her body jolted, and the electronic pen in her hand smeared a blotch on the drawing.
"Ah! You scared me!" Liva said, somewhat bashfully shielding her work.
Xu Dan ignored the small mishap and sat down beside Liva, turning on the computer next to her.
This computer was the previous art designer's usual machine, so it still had a lot of resources.
He skillfully opened a folder and clicked on a set of image packs.
Immediately, a series of shockingly revealing images reflected in Liva's widened eyes.
"This... Oh my god!"
Facing Liva's embarrassment and shock, Xu Dan's expression remained unchanged. He said, "That's right. You might think these pictures are very suggestive, and you might even think we're making an 18+ game. But have you found anything that violates the rules? No! It's just because the artist rendered that kind of hazy atmosphere, which makes you spontaneously associate it with those blushing scenes."
"I, I understand!"
"Of course, everyone's characteristics are different, and you have to grasp the key points. Mai Shiranui is like this, but others might not be."
"Thank you for your guidance. I'll modify it right away!" Liva replied nervously.
But Xu Dan shook his head, "Let's save it for now. I don't like working overtime. Thinking it over in my head when I get back is always more effective than staring at the computer, stiff as a board, trying to make changes!"
The other veteran employees, who had overheard, instantly brightened.
Previously, they hadn't received this kind of treatment. They were expected to do the work of three people for the sake of the studio's development, often working until nine o'clock at night. They were terribly exploited!
Why did the boss suddenly have a change of heart today?
Oh, God! This is great!
Just this one off-the-cuff remark, and the scattered morale instantly rallied.
However, he still needed to put in more effort if he wanted to completely unite these people.
Just saying it wouldn't be very effective.
"That's it for today, everyone, time to knock off," Xu Dan said, straightening up.
Sure enough, the atmosphere instantly livened up.