There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

I really don't know whether Ms. Sasha and her daughter Karen are Jeff's lucky stars or his nemesis.

"Let me tell you, your associative ability is barely passable, but to meet my requirements for taking you on as an apprentice, you need to demonstrate even more talent!"

Jeff, the boss, stood solemnly in front of the easel, took down his unfinished painting, replaced it with a brand new canvas, and said imperiously.

"What talent?" I asked.

Jeff picked up his easel and said seriously, "As a painter, creative skills are secondary, because these things can be achieved through training, and sometimes they can even become inescapable clichés that hinder the formation of your painting style. What's most important is an imagination that surpasses that of ordinary people!"

He brandished his paintbrush and spoke eloquently, "We paint not to make a living or to please others, but to first infuse our souls into our works and move viewers with our unique crystallization of will!"

"For example, my specialty is horror painting! Even now, my pseudonym still has a certain reputation in the Federal art circle. Based on my experience of maritime exploration, I have created terrifying deep-sea creatures with my imagination, which has touched countless young people!"

...Mr. Dart, wake up! Those things weren't just your imagination. I bet you saw those indescribable things with your own eyes!

My eyelids twitched as I looked at his unfinished work. The familiar sea storm and twisted shadows, along with the frenzied atmosphere that enveloped the world, made me instantly realize what had happened to this naturally naive but cunning businessman.

"boss……"

I patted his shoulder heavily, "Although everyone is free to have fantasies, I still suggest you see a psychologist..."

Boss Jeff, completely bewildered, pushed my hand away and forcefully shoved the paintbrush into my hand.

"Enough talk, show me your potential! My next test is a limit that has stumped countless beginners and enthusiasts, a limit they can't break through in their entire lives!"

He waved his hands wildly, then realized something was wrong. He quickly took a few deep breaths, regained his composure as a wise and unfathomable senior, and spoke with a sense of vicissitude and advice.

“Marcus, you should try to draw things that don’t exist in reality.”

Jeff's voice came through, which startled me so much that I quickly touched my face to make sure there were no strange interfaces or QR codes.

Don't say such suspicious things!

I'm not an RK200 android!

But Jeff's question did pique my interest.

This question sounds very simple.

If we're just listing things that don't exist in reality, then things like the 22nd Sword, the ending of the Detective Conan series, and Yoshihiro Togashi, who doesn't play mahjong but likes to draw manga, could all be considered this kind of thing.

If we think this way, then three-legged living people, winged Pegasus, and SSR cards that only exist in legends can all be directly identified as "things that do not exist in the real world".

But is the problem really that simple?

To put it another way, the things I've listed are actually extensions of "something" that already exists in people's concepts; they have long existed in this world in the form of concepts.

For example, the winged horse, such a fantastical creature, was probably drawn on rock paintings by drunken primitives not long after the birth of human civilization. I am only picking up scraps now.

I can certainly draw a creature with three heads and six arms, and then say that such a thing does not exist in the world; I've already passed the test.

However, this would never demonstrate creativity and might even be categorized by Jeff as a mindless, unimaginative, and ultimately, ridiculous thing.

Well... the advantage of this method is that it allows you to test the potential and comprehension of people without wasting time talking to those who lack potential, thus avoiding unnecessary wasting time.

There are indeed talented people in the art of painting.

Therefore, the biggest challenge lies here—both creating something beyond my cognitive limits and providing my brain with the material to draw and shape it.

This ambiguous, contradictory thing, like Schrödinger's panties, is what Jeff wants to test me about!

But my mind immediately discovered a deeper problem.

The problem actually presents a paradox: absolute illusion in the mind and absolute reality on the canvas cannot coexist. If I waste my energy searching for concepts, it will inevitably be in vain.

Therefore, this problem actually tests the ability to organically combine the imagination in one's mind with the real existence in reality.

The two seem the same, but in fact, one must go through the two stages of seeing a mountain as a mountain and seeing a mountain as not a mountain before one can break through to the third stage of seeing a mountain as a mountain and reach the point of returning to simplicity...

I understand!

I shouted, my eyes shining as I picked up my paintbrush, casually dipped it in paint, and began to smear paint on the canvas as if I had no teacher. My rapid eye movements constantly observed the surrounding scenery, as if searching for anything usable.

Jeff was almost scared away by my loud shout, but out of curiosity, or perhaps because he was surprised by how quickly I drew, he continued to watch my amazing work.

"Select the work command: Draw a painting."

...Ahem, sorry to disappoint everyone, actually I was scared by the colonizer system when I yelled.

I didn't expect the colonist system to suddenly pop up a dialog box asking if I wanted to start drawing here.

The last time I made a sculpture, it turned out to be a jumbled mess of things from my memory, like Namo Gatling Bodhisattva and the jade figurine from Diablo 2.

From this perspective, it becomes clear that the colonizer system lacks artistic creativity; it merely combines what I've seen to create some dubious items.

No matter how exquisite the craftsmanship, it is nothing more than the pinnacle of the artisan and the result of random arrangement and combination.

Sure enough, the canvas depicted a scene from a general store.

With just a few light strokes of paint, I brought the chaotic general store lobby to life, perfectly capturing even the speechless expression on Jeff's face.

The Colonizer System's painting technique is extremely pure. Normally, painters need to spend a lot of time considering color, light and shadow, lines, texture, brushstrokes, texture, light and composition, and layering them up to achieve the visual effect. But under my brush, it is formed in one stroke without any pressure, and it is naturally formed as the paint spreads!

Techniques such as rubbing, patting, sweeping, chopping, and pulling also appeared seamlessly in my writing, making me seem nothing like a beginner!

"A compromise technique of applying thin, transparent paint to the shadows and thick, opaque paint to the highlights! You've actually been exposed to two classical techniques and managed to blend them perfectly!"

Jeff, whose hair was covered in hair oil, almost pulled it out. He watched me finish the last stroke with a loud shout, then let out a long sigh and stood there.

The canvas is a perfect replica of the grocery store scene. From the beams and floors to the scenery outside the window, everything has been reproduced to scale. If viewed from a distance, the effect is comparable to a photo taken with a 12-megapixel lens.

But can such a work be considered a solution to a problem?

Sure enough, he looked at me with a complicated expression. "Your painting skills far surpass mine, and I'm not qualified to instruct you in this area. It seems I was too arrogant..."

Then, Jeff, looking at my painting, sighed deeply for a while, and said to me regretfully, "Marcus, I admit that your painting skills have reached a state of perfection, but what you create is just a rigid copy. It doesn't answer my question about 'things that don't exist in reality'..."

"This test... has failed!"

Faced with Jeff's denial, my expression remained unchanged, and I did not resort to my usual rhetoric to defend my painting's intent.

I smiled slightly. "Boss, I haven't announced that the painting is finished yet. I've just taken a breather. You're too impatient."

Boss Jeff exclaimed in astonishment, "How is that possible! Your painting is so detailed that not a single drop of excess paint can be added! Don't do anything unnecessary!"

I smiled without saying a word, picked up the brush-like paintbrush again, rinsed it in the brush holder for a moment, and then applied a bright yellow color to the palette, brushing a mark on Jeff's eye.

By the way, this yellow color is so bright it almost triggered my PTSD.

"Marcus, what are you doing!"

Jeff, the owner, was very interested in this masterpiece that was difficult to evaluate, and reached out to snatch the paintbrush.

However, I did not activate the colonist system this time, so I skillfully dodged his attack.

Hmph, isn't it just about drawing something that exists in reality, yet no one can really say what it is, existing somewhere between vagueness and infinite possibilities?

I picked up my pen and quickly wrote a row of large, yellow, italic characters across the canvas.

"Cyberpunk 2077"!

After finishing writing, I hesitated for a moment, feeling that the dreamlike and indescribable surreal quality of the painting was not vivid enough, so I added two more lines of small text below.

"Grand launch on December 10th!"

"(The plate was crushed)."

Chapter 561 I told you not to worry about it.

People should always have dreams in life. After all, we've waited so long for Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, so what's a little bit of time wasted by long-time fans?

I firmly believe that on December 10th, we will definitely receive the good news that the game... will be delayed again.

Congratulations! Congratulations!

The problem lies with these fans; they lack resolve.

So what if I fell for a no-reward pre-order scam last year? Compared to the rip-offs I usually pay, this amount is nothing—emmm…although they sound like the same thing?

Oh, but!

In the hearts of CD Projekt Red, true fans don't care about these things!

True fans will wait unconditionally for the best quality of the work; true fans will continue to tolerate for the sake of experiencing a higher level of completion; true fans will swallow the news of the disc being crushed and continue to stand in the cold wind and wait.

But they don't understand that truly good vermicelli... is made from mung beans, or it can be made from cornstarch or sweet potato starch, but the quality is not as good as mung bean vermicelli. This is because mung beans have the most amylose, so they don't easily break down when cooked, and they have the smoothest texture. When the heat is just right, they don't quickly scoop it into the pot, which is a waste for the Assassin's Creed Valhalla game that's playing happily next door.

...I'll just add a dog emoji manually to save my life.

"Boss, let's talk about business instead. It feels a bit awkward to keep discussing painting, doesn't it?"

I put the painting tools back in their place, and seeing Jeff's distraught state, I took the initiative to steer the conversation back to our original topic.

Jeff rubbed his face vigorously to calm himself down so he could maintain a normal demeanor when facing me.

"Okay... so how much do you want to buy..."

I hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "What if I bought them all..."

Jeff immediately switched into his shrewd businessman mode, "Then I'll give you a 1% discount, so it'll be 139,600 yuan!"

Hmph, what a shrewd businessman! How can this little bit of stuff be worth more than 130,000?

And what does this "with zeros and whole numbers" mean? Are you implying that you need this extra 130,000 to cover a shortfall in your account?

I said considerately, "Okay, I'll buy them all! But is this enough money? Will you be able to afford Karen's school fees?"

Boss Jeff said with a grin, "That's enough, that's enough. I'll take a little more from my secret stash..."

At this point, Jeff paused for a moment, his expression changing drastically.

"You bastard! You tried to trick me into telling you something!"

Then it was my turn to put my hands in my pockets and look at him with a half-smile.

"That's pretty good, you even have a secret stash of money. Ms. Sasha probably doesn't know about this, does she?"

Jeff waved his arms frantically, "That's all the money I made from selling my paintings! It's my hard-earned money! You can't take it away!"

Who wants your money?

It's your wife who's going to plunder your savings, and it's your daughter who's going to spend all your money. What does that have to do with me, Zhou Shuren?

Lu Xun: Punctuation is indeed time-consuming, why not include it as royalties?

...Seems like some unrelated big shot just drifted by? Oh well, never mind him. These days, Biden's election and Trump's coronation don't conflict, right? As viewers, we can just fast forward to the American Civil War.