Genius Club

Tonight was unusually quiet.

Perhaps it was due to the cooler weather or the early closure of the street market below.

Lin Xian lay awake, staring at the ceiling, enveloped in his blanket, reluctant to expose any part of his skin. The sensation of being laid bare, his deepest and most embarrassing secrets visible to all, sent shivers across his skin.

Restlessly, he wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. Memories of adolescent blunders, particularly those involving first crushes and young love, resurfaced—memories he preferred to forget.

“That’s so damn embarrassing,” he muttered.

He wouldn’t have revisited those memories if it hadn’t been absolutely necessary. Thankfully, it was all just a dream. Tomorrow, everything reset; no one would remember. Yet, the incorrect code for the safe in his dream made him question if it was even his.

“Forget it,” he decided, throwing off the blanket and sitting up. “Time to get to work.” After all, dreams weren’t real; the real world demanded his attention.

Slipping into his pajamas, he turned on his desk lamp and started sketching the Coco Cat from his dream. Its design was simple yet elegant, allowing him to quickly produce detailed sketches from various angles—front, side, and back. He meticulously captured every detail from his dream, from the limbs to the outfit.

“Perfect,” he remarked, cleaning his workspace. “This is ready to submit tomorrow.”

As he sketched, thoughts of Big Cat Face surfaced. Over the last few nights, Lin Xian had pieced together the conflict between Big Cat Face and the password expert, CC. He started a new sheet:

[Story Outline]

Big Cat Face’s daughter, only six, was murdered. He sought revenge and needed a lot of money.

CC, the password expert, needed to access a bank vault to retrieve something from Lin Xian’s safe.

CC tricked Big Cat Face into thinking the bank held a fortune. They planned to rob it together.

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Big Cat Face intended to eliminate the others to keep all the money for himself. CC planned to betray Big Cat Face once inside, as there was actually no money in the vault.

Ultimately, Big Cat Face gained no money, and CC failed to open the safe—a mutual loss.

Reviewing his notes, Lin Xian reflected on how this story of Big Cat Face and CC repeated nightly, like NPCs in a video game, unchanged for over twenty years without his intervention.

“But…” he mused, tapping his pen on the paper. “I am the only variable.”

In his dreams, Lin Xian treated everything like an RPG game, an engaging escape where everyone was an NPC with their own stories and quests. He could alter outcomes and explore endlessly since dreams allowed for resets and multiple attempts, presenting few unsolvable challenges.

However, this time was different.

“The difficulty is quite high; too many things are unclear,” he noted on another sheet labeled [Unsolved Mysteries]:

What’s inside the safe?

What’s the safe’s code?

Why did CC save him? Her attitude was puzzling and ambiguous.

“These are the main issues for now,” Lin Xian considered. The first two questions were still mysteries, but the third…

Why did CC save him? Did she know him from before?

“Maybe she’s met me before, or maybe not. Either way, she trusts me enough to try numerous codes.”

“It’s hard to tell. Maybe it’s just a desperate move?”

With thoughts scattering, Lin Xian yawned. “Time for sleep. I can’t take dreams too seriously; they’re full of irrational elements.”

The next day, at the company meeting room, everyone was stunned by the sketches spread across the table.

“This… wasn’t it just a rough sketch yesterday? How did he complete all these detailed views overnight? They’re production-ready!” one colleague exclaimed.

“Are you kidding? Just because Lin Xian only showed us a rough sketch yesterday doesn’t mean he hadn’t started much earlier! With this level of detail, he must have been at it for months,” another added.

“It’s adorable! I’ve never seen such a cute cat design! I told you yesterday that Lin Xian’s cat has potential. Once it’s refined and colored, it could rival Hello Kitty!”

“From a professional standpoint, this cat’s design is decades ahead. No girl could resist this charm! Lin Xian has truly outdone himself,” another colleague remarked.

Typically, with President Zhao Ying Jun present, discussions were subdued. But today, Lin Xian’s designs sparked an uproar of excitement.

First, the speed of his work; then, the quality. Some might suspect plagiarism if they didn’t know Lin Xian better.

Today, Zhao Ying Jun, dressed in sharp black office lady attire, exuded a sharp presence. Yet, as she reviewed the drafts, a smile of satisfaction spread across her face.

“This is an exceptionally excellent brand image, far exceeding my expectations,” she declared. “It’s clear Lin Xian dedicated a lot of effort to this cat’s design. It seems a waste to use it merely as a mascot or in advertisements. I have some new ideas.”

“But first… we need to name this adorable cat.” Zhao Ying Jun turned to Lin Xian, her eyes approving. “Since you designed her, you should name her!”

All eyes turned to Lin Xian. His colleagues in the design department discreetly gave him thumbs up.

“This cat’s name…” Lin Xian pondered, noting the banner reading “Rhine Brand Image Design 7th Discussion Meeting.

“Since our new brand is Rhine… let’s call her ‘Rhine Cat.’”