Lin An hadn't yet reached the boss's office door when a huge gray wolf blocked his path.
This gray wolf looked like an old Wolf King that had been cast out of the pack, its body covered in fresh, blood-drenched wounds, one leg even bent at an eerie angle.
Its green, vertical pupils stared at him menacingly, its slightly hunched body seeming ready to pounce at any moment, drool dripping from its interlocked fangs, from which issued a low, threatening growl.
Lin An pretended as if nothing was amiss and continued walking through the corridor between the desks.
With just a slight glance, he could easily see a middle-aged man's hostile gaze, thinking he had hidden his emotions well.
Their programming team's team leader, Mr. Liu.
Antler Software was a typical example of a camel that, though skinny, was still larger than a horse. Even after Suxin Software poached the big guns from the algorithm posts and several producers nearly emptied out the company's art team with their own programming hires, many still chose to stay.
The reason was that the company had a reasonably vibrant game and a forum website for gaming, both of which at least kept positions like the server backend team and the maintenance team running.
Their main pitch was a muddle-along retirement job.
The current young boss might seem inexperienced, but he appeared to be planning to transition the company into an outsourcing firm and revitalize its game development capabilities, making many people's ambitions stir.
As the saying goes, in a small temple, there's lots of mischief, and in shallow waters, there are plenty of toads. In such a dilapidated company that might go bankrupt at any moment, there would always be those who focused on bizarre office politics.
The young boss seemed to favor the new employees he had recruited after taking over, among whom Lin An was the most conspicuous.
After his cataract surgery, Lin An suddenly became sensitive to images and visual emotional tension. He began to teach himself some knowledge of art and drawing.
Especially since the company owned many proprietary development software and modules, it made drawing and making adjustments much easier.
But this was just a trial. His own career plan was still to become an algorithm guru.
Mr. Liu, however, felt that if the young boss could revive Antler Software, Lin An might be arranged to join the planning group in the game development project.
From planner to chief planner, and then to producer, it was like Lin An was going to fly high with the young boss and rejuvenate the company.
Mr. Liu wanted this, too.
Having one's career plan so closely aligned with the company's development was a big deal. Once the company took off and the producer had noteworthy projects under his belt, that would mean reaching the apex of the industry's pyramid.
Unfortunately, the young boss did not seem so interested in him as an "old servant." Respectful, yes, but not showing the level of importance his attitude might otherwise suggest.
Lin An was unaware of all these thoughts Mr. Liu harbored.
If it weren't for the recent eye issues, he'd already be inquiring about suitable companies to jump ship to.
Especially now that he had suddenly discovered these so-called hallucinations might be related to the way others looked at him.
Though he didn't understand their purpose, the fear in his heart really did start to fade quite a bit.
He didn't expect these things to be useful; he'd be thankful if they just didn't affect his life.
Ahead was the wolf that seemed ready to pounce at any moment, behind him, a black cat filled with prying intent. Heaven knows how he clenched his teeth and stayed composed, not showing any sign of abnormality, as he steadily made his way to the young boss's office step by step.
Life was already so difficult...
It had gradually worn away the romantic notions of his student days, yearning to wander the world sword in hand, deeply mired in the quagmire of life from which he couldn't struggle free.
Lin An wasn't that ambitious.
"An," the young boss said excitedly, pulling Lin An to sit on the sofa next to the tea table in his office and pouring him a cup of tea. "Our good fortune has arrived."
"Mr. Chen has bought a Wizard-themed novel and plans to develop a triple-A blockbuster game!" The young boss looked up with exaggerated admiration. "Mr. Chen is really young and promising~~"
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"Giggle giggle~" The young woman covered her mouth and chuckled softly; her slender, phoenix-shaped eyes looked just like those of a fox when she smiled, "Mr. Lu is too flattering. I'm just following the trend, after all. Games with wizard themes are selling really well internationally, and there are already lots of people starting projects in this genre domestically."
Lin An held the pitifully small teacup gently in his hand and sipped carefully. He almost scalded himself with the hot tea and felt goosebumps all over at hearing his boss's eunuch-like tone.
He really had no idea why his boss called him in here. He was just an average programmer who, drawn astray by his boss, also started dabbling in graphic design, creating effects that were just okay to talk about.
Lin An was aware of his own abilities; although he spent a lot of time studying after work, he truly wasn't anything special.
"An, quick, show Mr. Chen the drawing of that dog with three heads that you did before, so he can have a glimpse of our company's foundation!"
His boss's call made Lin An's heart clench. He watched warily as the huge black cat lying on the floor across the tea table suddenly lifted its head and stared at him.
The dog with three heads that he had drawn before was not the common image of a cerberus that one could find abundantly online.
He saw it while sunbathing in the hospital courtyard during his convalescence after a surgery.
That three-headed dog was even larger than the black cat in front of him, coiled on top of the hospital's emergency room building, with its long snake tail wrapped around the exterior wall, looking particularly fierce and terrifying.
Sometimes that's how workers are; they grasp any opportunity to climb up. After the previous graphic designer in the company ran off and they needed to rush the schedule, the boss had promised a reward of twenty thousand in cash to anyone who volunteered to take over and successfully complete an urgent project.
Just then, Lin An had spent all his savings in the hospital and was facing an impending house mortgage payment; he couldn't afford to think too much.
He presented that effect drawing to his boss and seized the opportunity successfully.
The effect was good; he finished the project, got the reward, and even got a raise in salary.
But there were consequences. He gradually started to be used by the boss as a graphic designer and was likely to expose some problems now.
Those hallucinations...
They seemed to be more than just hallucinations!
"It's gone." Lin An revealed the typical dull expression that programmers are stereotypically known for, scratching his head, "I accidentally lost that drawing on my desktop when I reformatted my computer to run '3D Max' smoothly."
"Ah?" The young boss was taken aback and looked wistful, "That's a shame. Such an explosive piece of work is gone. I still remember that dog's snake tail."
"Mr. Chen, you don't know, although An's drawings are technically ordinary, they really capture the essence. It really made me feel like that cerberus was alive!"
"Snake tail?" The young woman raised an eyebrow, her phoenix eyes looking interestedly at Lin An. She nodded with a smile as she stood up, "All right then, it's about time I took my leave."
"Are you leaving so soon?" The young boss stood up somewhat frantically, nervously rubbing his hands, "Mr. Chen, our company really has the capability to take on outsourcing work. Please consider it, we can negotiate the price."
The young woman smiled gently, gracefully rose to her feet, and took hold of the baby stroller, "I'm just passing by this time, spending the holiday strolling around with the baby, enjoying some parent-child happiness. I'll formally visit when my vacation is over, and we can talk about cooperation then."
The boss's eyes lit up immediately, "Yes, yes, yes, as long as we can sit down and talk, Antler Software Company will definitely be able to provide a satisfactory response; I assure you'll be pleased."
And just like that, the boss almost bent over backward to escort the young woman out of the building.
But Lin An, left behind, felt chills running down his spine.
That huge black cat!
It didn't leave!
It didn't disappear as the woman's gaze moved away!
Its green, haunting eyes stared at him interestedly; its long, fluffy tail swung through the air and gently brushed against Lin An's face.
"Meow?"
Fuck your meow, I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything!
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