Chapter 18: 《Metal Slug》

Du Xi had thick, silky hair that curled softly over her shoulders, and slender, slightly arched eyebrows framing deep, expressive eyes.

Her skin was fair and delicate, giving her a clean, refined presence.

Her self-introduction was neither rushed nor sluggish, striking just the right balance, with clear diction that made every word distinct.

Most importantly, as she introduced herself, her expression was bright and cheerful, radiating a natural confidence that effortlessly showed her poise and elegance.

Too much confidence could easily come off as arrogant, haughty, or overbearing, but Du Xi possessed a warm, radiant kind of self-assurance.

Su Cheng and Shen Manman asked a few professional questions, inquiring about her thoughts on the role of an art planner at a game company.

Du Xi replied, “Games are also a form of art.”

Right after that.

Shen Manman asked Du Xi for her previous portfolio.

Since the studio was hiring an art planner, they naturally needed to see her past work.

Du Xi had brought two portfolios.

One consisted of realistic ink wash paintings.

The other was a collection of character art drawn on a graphics tablet.

Her artistic foundation was extraordinarily solid.

After looking through the portfolios, Shen Manman immediately knew she was dealing with a true expert.

Even though Du Xi had just graduated, her skill surpassed that of most top-tier commercial artists on the market.

Working in two completely different styles proved that she was a truly versatile artist.

For an art planner, the most crucial traits were aesthetic sense and the ability to execute visual effects.

Having graduated from Musashino Art University, Du Xi’s aesthetic sensibilities went without saying.

Artists like her had usually trained from a very young age, often starting back in elementary school.

For someone with a weaker artistic background, like Shen Manman, the gap in handling visual effects became painfully obvious when compared to Du Xi.

On the exact same project.

Shen Manman might make everything fully functional, but the final visual would never be the best, and she might even make fundamental mistakes early on that forced the entire framework to be torn down and rebuilt.

This was a common occurrence in the gaming industry.

Shen Manman couldn’t help it; she had only started studying art after entering college.

Her fundamental skills and foundation lagged far behind those of Du Xi and Wang Yuting, who had attended specialized art classes since elementary school.

She shot Su Cheng a look, signaling that this was exactly who he was looking for.

Su Cheng was also quite satisfied with Du Xi.

In the future, he was definitely going to produce AAA masterpieces characterized by cinematic storytelling, which meant pouring everything into the art quality.

To become a major studio, talent like this was indispensable.

“Do you have any questions?” Su Cheng invited Du Xi to ask anything she wanted, ready to answer.

“If you don’t have any questions, I can make you an offer right now. You can sign on the spot, or take it home and think it over.”

“I do have one question.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like to know what kind of operational model Qianhe Studio follows.”

Anyone who asked a question like this clearly had a solid understanding of the gaming industry.

Having studied abroad in Japan, Du Xi certainly knew her share.

The gaming industry was broadly divided into two operational models.

One was the star producer model favored in Japan.

Figures like Takasaki or Hideo^[1] held absolute authority, making all the final decisions directly.

The other was the team-based model favored in the West.

Everyone worked together to develop the game, and anyone with a differing opinion was free to raise it for discussion.

If it was the former, Du Xi wouldn’t choose Qianhe.

No matter how good it was, she wouldn’t do it.

That kind of environment was far too suffocating.

Having lived in Japan, she knew all too well.

Even though they produced many great games, the turnover rate on development teams was terribly high, and nearly half the people had contemplated suicide.

“We lean toward the team-based model.”

“And regarding salary?”

“Thirty thousand Yuan. Is that acceptable?”

Thirty thousand?

That was completely beyond her expectations.

Take a megacity like Shanghu, for example.

An entry-level fresh graduate typically made between ten and twelve thousand Yuan.

Mid-level artists earned fifteen to twenty thousand.

Only senior artists pulled in over thirty thousand.

Yezhou couldn’t compare to Shanghu after all. Even though Yezhou was a provincial capital, salaries here were basically cut in half.

Her expectations had basically been in the six-to-eight-thousand range.

The main draw was that it was close to home and she wouldn’t have to rent an apartment. Saving money was as good as earning extra, so compared to Shanghu it worked out to roughly the same.

A classmate of hers from Japan was also job hunting recently back home in the Sichuan-Chongqing area, and one interview had been downright hilarious.

A company hiring 3D modelers was offering only one or two thousand Yuan.

Even security guards started at four thousand!

It was absurd!

Yet here she was, not even having taken a written test, and Su Cheng offered thirty thousand right off the bat?

This genuinely startled Du Xi.

Still, she didn’t show any fear.

If he had the guts to offer thirty thousand, then she had the guts to do thirty thousand’s worth of work and prove she was worth every penny.

“OK!”

“Then I’ll sign right now.”

Taking the offer letter, Du Xi signed her name on the contract.

“By the way, how many people are in our studio right now? Which one is the lead artist?”

“Including you, four.”

Du Xi: ???

“As for regular employees, you’re actually the only one. None of the rest of us have signed contracts yet,” Su Cheng said with utter honesty.

Question marks practically covered Du Xi’s face.

What was going on here?

Why did she feel like she had just been scammed?

Was this really the studio that developed King of Fighters?

If there were only three of you, why on earth did you get so many computers?

And lease such a massive office space…

She had only come here to pad her resume and be an assistant artist or something.

Did Su Cheng mean for her to be the lead artist right from the start?

“Don’t worry, we’re a legitimate studio. We don’t mess around with phony gimmicks.”

Du Xi was starting to feel a twinge of regret.

This was quite different from what she had imagined!

She might as well try it out for a couple of days.

If it didn’t work out, she could just bail.

With an office this big and this much equipment, they would probably hire more people down the line anyway.

Maybe she had even lucked out and gotten in on the ground floor as their very first art planner.

*

Throughout the entire day yesterday, Su Cheng had extended only one offer.

Most of the applicants had only come because of King of Fighters’ reputation, curious to see what Su Cheng looked like in person.

Others were genuinely just art slackers looking to coast along.

Early the next morning.

Su Cheng called everyone together for a meeting.

He first introduced the newly hired Du Xi to Li Lei.

On her first day of work, Du Xi was sharply dressed, radiating the vibe of a corporate elite.

Li Lei stared at her with wide eyes, completely dazed.

“This is our studio’s lead programmer, Li Lei. Back in high school, he won the national individual programming championship. King of Fighters 2 was developed by the two of us together.”

“Hello,” Du Xi greeted Li Lei with a smile.

Once everyone was acquainted, Su Cheng began assigning the upcoming tasks, officially initiating the project for 《Metal Slug^[2]》.

Su Cheng pulled the three of them into a WeChat group and sent over a game design document.

The document was exceptionally thorough, covering the story background, plot, systems, stages, combat, and numerical balance.

It was the game design resource pack he had purchased from the 【Producer Store】.

In truth, even if written normally, it would only contain these things anyway.

As for character designs and environmental backgrounds, the pack didn’t include them, so Su Cheng had to write those himself.

Su Cheng gave them forty minutes to read through it carefully.

“If you have any questions or ideas, bring them up and we can discuss them together.”