I Might As Well Quit This Lousy Wizard Profession

Chapter 26: 026 is very dear. Chapter 26: 026 is very dear. What’s it like to get paid to pet a cat?

Lin An found it thrilling, especially since his young boss was across his desk, scribbling away, while his secretary came in to listen to the young boss’s instructions and prepared to call candidates who had submitted their resumes.

There were many positions for game artists, but the young boss wasn’t hiring for the art department to undertake outsourced projects—that was naturally up to the HR department to recruit for.

After fiddling with his fingers for a while, he felt that Lin An should be provided with two to three original artists, and additionally two each for character, motion, scene, and special effects modeling—a small team of about ten people in total should suffice.

They needed to be skilled but not too opinionated and obedient.

The young boss, frowning and twirling his pen, asked his secretary, “Do you think recent graduates are more obedient, or is it the old workhorses burdened with family responsibilities who are more compliant?”

“Ah?” The young secretary, twisting her waist and trying her best to look cute, docile, and tempting, unfortunately didn’t catch the boss’s attention at all. She was secretly annoyed and completely baffled when she suddenly heard this question, her cherry lips parting in confusion.

After hesitating, she felt she at least needed to offer a suggestion since the boss had asked, “Shall I call Mr. Wang from HR over?”

The young boss shook his head, “No need to bother her, setting up the art and planning departments from scratch is quite a hassle, she’s probably busy enough as it is.”

As he spoke, he looked up at Lin An, “An, what do you think? After all, this is for your team.”

To have a team built around one’s needs!

The phrase sounded quite appealing, much like a fine steed meeting a noble lord, bringing a mix of excitement and the suffocating fear that he may not genuinely be that noble steed.

And with that, the pressure came crashing down.

Lin An was silent for a moment, then slowly stood up, walked over to the young boss’s desk, and gently stroked from the cat’s head all the way down to its tail.

Yes, the black cat was just that huge.

“Recent graduates aren’t necessarily obedient, and older employees with families aren’t necessarily content with monotony; it still depends on the individual.” Lin An was such a person himself; initially complacent with mediocrity and contemplating resignation once he had a house and savings, he now found himself bursting with career ambition.

“Rather than focusing on obedience, I’d prefer to pay more attention to whether they are really skilled.”

Those illusions gave him a unique aesthetic sense; he was even trying to find a way to draw the black cat.

But how to integrate all of this into characters, armor, monsters, buildings, etc., was an issue.

He needed more highly skilled artistic talent to help out.

The young boss raised his eyebrows, “Got it. In addition to some compliant underlings, we need some generals who can charge into battle.”

He picked up the list of names the secretary had brought from HR and started marking it intently.

He finally focused on a few names, tapped the list, and turned to instruct the secretary, “Start with calling Chen Chen. Arrange for him to come for an interview this afternoon.”

The secretary took the form and paused, “Boss, this person wants to be the director of the art department!”

In other words, they were not interested in merely being a part of Lin An’s team.

The young boss smiled and waved his hand, “The position of director is out of the question, but if he really wants the title, I can give him the title of art director, as long as the money is right, he should understand to cooperate with Lin An, the planning director.”

The secretary was about to say something else when suddenly the office’s glass door was knocked on.

The young boss looked up and quickly motioned him in.

It was another of the company’s top brass, Mr. Liu, the head of the programming team, a loyal veteran inherited from his father, savvy in the many grey areas of the business, whom he highly respected.

Mr. Liu pushed the door open, glanced at the secretary and Lin An, and went straight to the young boss, saying, “Boss, we had agreed to go…”

The young boss coughed to interrupt him, “It’s canceled, I have important things to do, forget it.”

Mr. Liu looked surprised and replied cheerfully, “Alright then.”

He stepped a few paces closer, “What are you busy with, boss? Maybe I can lend a hand?”

The young boss’s eyes lit up, and he signaled the secretary, “You go make the call.” Soon his side was taken by Mr. Liu.

“Here’s the deal…”
The young boss earnestly sought advice from this savvy old-timer on how to put together an art team for Lin An, hoping he could offer some guidance.

Mr. Liu listened with a merry smile.

From behind eyelids that were swollen or fat — it was hard to tell — that were nearly squinted shut, his gaze stealthily shifted towards Lin An.

Visually, he transformed into an injured grey wolf.

Ferocious in appearance, crouching and snarling, it exuded danger and the desire to attack.

Lin An shook his head, returned to his seat, and the grey wolf followed suit.

Stared back at himself with extreme vigilance and anger.

This is…

Do they consider me a threat?

Without a change in expression, Lin An stretched out his left foot and stepped squarely on the front paw of the grey wolf.

At the same time, he began to focus on the image of a cat’s tail in his mind. If the grey wolf attacked him, he would be ready to enter the state of the Breathing Skill and block out this illusion.

The grey wolf did not retract its paw. It seemed quite patient, allowing Lin An to keep stepping on it, lowering its massive head to glance at its paw before lifting its gaze back to Lin An.

It opened its mouth slightly, showing its somewhat yellowed, interlocking fangs, drooling strands of saliva as it let out a low growl.

——”You are an obstacle!”

Lin An sighed and said in an especially soft voice, “How am I in your way?”

The grey wolf did not answer but continued to stare at Lin An with its cold beastly eyes,—— “You are an obstacle!”

Communicating with a spiritual hallucination indeed wasn’t mind-reading; it was more like some higher-dimensional form of communication where the other side easily revealed its nature, nothing more.

“Ah, Mr. Lu, you value this so highly, how could I possibly drag my feet!” Mr. Liu said excitedly, patting his thigh, “You can rest assured, give me one more day, tomorrow, I guarantee that the computers and the network in the planning and design departments will be set up properly.”

The young boss was quite moved, “You’ve worked hard, Mr. Liu.”

“Not at all, not at all,” Mr. Liu said with a smile, waving his hand and then leaning in a bit closer to show warmth, “I really went to a lot of trouble to find out that Mr. Wang was going to play golf. If we don’t go today, who knows when we’ll have the chance again.”

The young boss hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Lin An and finally shook his head, “Let’s forget it. There really are important things to do today.”

“Then it’s a pity to miss this opportunity,” Mr. Liu said, his smile growing even warmer.

He was full of emotion, “Seeing you so serious, boss, really reminds me of Mr. Lu (the young boss’s father) back when he was building his business…”

Mr. Liu’s message of “like father, like son” pleased the young boss greatly.

“I’ll ask my people to work harder, to ensure that tomorrow Lin An will have his own office. Ah, the special project team without their own office is really not suitable. Rest assured, I guarantee it will be done satisfactorily!”

“That’s great.” The young boss looked down again at the list in his hand, murmuring, “I am so looking forward to everything getting off to a quick start.”

The grey wolf in front of Lin An curled its lips in the grin of a dragon king, gave Lin An a cold laugh, and then dissipated away.

He furrowed his brow.

Trouble!

Before, he was avoiding the black cat, trying to move out of the young boss’s office as soon as possible, but he had to stay here.

And now, when he wanted to take a closer look at the black cat, they were saying he would have to move out tomorrow?

What a joke!

“Meow?”

——You suddenly seem unhappy?

Hah, don’t move, let me properly stroke your cat head!

After Mr. Liu left, the young boss started to work on the files seriously again. Lin An hid behind the computer screen, pulling the huge head of the black cat into his embrace, and observed it closely with his head lowered.

His time was running out.

He could not take his time any longer.

Looking eye to eye with the cat, he silently drew upon the aid of the dark golden blood of the boss lady, Suxin, memorizing every detail of the cat’s head.

“Meow?”

——Suddenly, you feel very familiar!

Nonsense, of course you would feel familiar with yourself.

The black cat twisted its body, lying back in the office, turning its head in Lin An’s embrace to face his chin, looking up at him with some confusion.

It also rubbed against him once in a while.

“Meow~~”
——Very familiar indeed~