It was precisely because of this that the two teams practiced extremely hard.
However, esports was something that had to work very hard at but not necessarily be rewarded accordingly.
In many cases, talent, good mentality, and scientific training methods were more useful than inefficient efforts.
The more impatient the players, the easier it was to fall into such inefficient efforts.
Zhang Yuan was worried about it but could think of no better way.
Perhaps it was time to find a personal coach?
However, finding a personal coach meant trusting him wholeheartedly. The good ones were already at the other clubs and the remaining ones were not strong enough. Zhang Yuan would not be able to find a suitable candidate for a while.
Pei Qian walked in with a headache.
Zhang Yuan and Coach Yaling stood up hurriedly. “Boss Pei!”
Pei Qian greeted both of them and found an empty seat to sit down.
He saw the results of the mock competition on the whiteboard and showed a happy expression subconsciously.
What lousy results, eh?
These mock competitions were with those who were eliminated; that was to say that they were playing against weak teams but still lost more than they won.
That was very good news!
Pei Qian could not help but nod slightly. Yes, this opening was much better than the last batch of players!
Why could the last batch be sold everywhere? That was because they started early and won at the starting line.
This batch lost on the losing line!
That was very comfortable.
However, Pei Qian immediately saw the focused and serious-looking players in the training room. They seemed to be highly focused and training very hard.
Pei Qian frowned instinctively.
He could not be too optimistic; there were still huge hidden dangers!
This group of players tried out after the DGE Club had become popular. They were very talented and good players.
If they continued to practice like this and their abilities soared, then wouldn’t it fall into the previous vicious cycle?
The DGE Club beat the others in mock competition → the myth of the DGE Club continues → sponsors continue to invest like crazy → other clubs offer high prices to buy players → the DGE Club has a better name and more better players come to try out.
It would be unstoppable then!
Moreover, people liked to try out at the DGE Club as compared to the other clubs because, in addition to the DGE Club’s branding, career prospects were also important considerations.
The other clubs could find ways to lower the price when signing the contract. They were more inclined to sign a three-year-long contract with a lower salary. Many talented players had difficulty playing out their worth before proving themselves in the game.
The club would not sell the players if they proved their worth after signing the long contract so it was a loss to the players.
However, in the DGE Club, everyone knows that the players would be sold once they proved their worth, which was very suitable as a springboard.
In other words, the DGE Club did not need to bid with other clubs at all. They did not even need to offer high prices to these players for them to rush to it!
It was because the newcomers to the DGE Club were not here for the current salary, but the big contracts that the other clubs would dish out for them after they prove themselves!
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more worried he was.
Wouldn’t the DGE Club be hopeless if they were to continue to develop according to this script and monopolize talented players from the source?
No, no, this group of players had a good start; something had to be done to keep it going! Never enter this vicious circle!
Obviously, these players had watched the GOG International invitational tournament and were now anxious. He had to think of a way to change a mentality.
Pouring cold water on them would be useless and was easy to have a counterproductive effect. They still had to use good conditions to corrupt their will to fight.
Pei Qian watched silently by the side.
…
The mock competition ended at five in the afternoon.
Next would be the debrief of the competition and dinner.
Zhang Yuan’s expression was more anxious now.
He knew that this could not go on!
In the past, two teams of the DGE Club were the strong against the strong, since Huang Wang and Jiang Huan’s understanding of the game surpassed other club players and coaches so they became stronger as the two teams practiced each other.
However, the two teams were now rookies!
The shortcomings of the two teams without any personal coach of the DGE Club were stark now that the other clubs were on the right track now. The two teams would not be as good as other clubs no matter how much they practiced.
However, the problem was that Zhang Yuan himself was only a manager. He could see where the problems were, but he did not know how to solve them.
The two teams could only discuss the issues themselves. They seemed to be summarizing very seriously now, but they would not be able to unite their thinking quickly. It seemed like there were signs of mutual rejection on the contrary.
Zhang Yuan looked at Boss Pei subconsciously.
Boss Pei had not spoken much since he reached the club this afternoon. He only watched the two teams playing mock competition silently
Zhang Yuan felt that Boss Pei must have some special reason for coming here at such a juncture, right?
He was most likely worried about the talent gap of the DGE Club!
Zhang Yuan felt that Boss Pei would be able to see the problems that he could see himself.
He only did not know how Boss Pei would solve this issue.
Zhang Yuan waited silently for Boss Pei to enlighten him.
Pei Qian’s worries grew stronger as he saw the players discussing intently.
That was because the two captains were seriously summarizing the problems. The team members were also presenting their ideas. They were having a fruitful brainstorming session.
They trained hard and were working hard on the summary. The two teams might catch up with other clubs in no time if this were to continue!
The original two teams of the DGE club were successfully trained this way so Pei Qian felt that he must not fall into the same pitfall twice.
Chapter 668 - There's No Hope for the DGE Club!
At that thought, Pei Qian clapped his hands and stood up. “Alright, I think we’ve discussed enough. That’s all for now. We’ll prepare and gather for a meal tonight. It’s on me!”
He had been worried that Zhang Yuan would turn him down because going out for a meal would take up the nighttime training time. However, to his surprise, Zhang Yuan was elated and all for the idea. At once, he waved over the internet addicts who were reluctant to leave.
In his heart, Zhang Yuan exclaimed that Boss Pei had noticed the problem as well!
Those team members were all too excited now. They needed time to calm down. At the same time, having a meal together would build team spirit. One could say that it would be a step in the right direction!
…
Soon, DGE’s members arrived at Ming House.
Pei Qian had already reserved the biggest private room well in advance. The two huge tables inside could seat more than ten people each.
Even if Pei Qian could not fill all the seats, it did not matter. They could eat to their heart’s content!
Pei Qian cut straight to the chase and chose all the most expensive dishes. He tried to use delicacies to attack the team members’ willpower and cause them to forget about the mock competition earlier.
All the newbies had never been to the nameless restaurant. Just the food served at Ming House was enough to whet their appetite. One by one, they wolfed down the food in front of them.
As
Zhang Yuan ate, he could not help but feel comforted and worried at the same time.
He was comforted because Boss Pei was making use of delicacies to motivate the team, and it was bound to prove very effective!
As far as he could recall, each time Boss Pei treated a department to a meal, the department would achieve a breakthrough soon after. It seemed superstitious, but Zhang Yuan preferred to see it as a special skill of Boss Pei’s.
This meal would serve to motivate DGE’s newest members and cause them to feel a sense of belonging in the DGE Club. At the same time, they would calm down and not feel anxious about having to improve as quickly as they could.
Yet, Zhang Yuan also felt worried because this meal would not solve the root of the problem.
At the moment, the DGE Club’s training method was falling behind everyone else’s. While other clubs were improving rapidly, DGE’s two teams were remaining so lousy. The gap would only widen as time went by.
As for this… how was Boss Pei intending to solve the problem?
Zhang Yuan thought that the best solution would be to hire a professional coach and a team of analysts.
Yet, who could they hire? That was the biggest question.
As he was worrying about this, Zhang Yuan’s cell phone vibrated.
He picked it up and found a message from Huang Wang. “Brother Zhang, why isn’t there anyone at the club?”
…
At the entrance of the DGE club…
Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the ten other old members of DGE were gathered together. As they looked at the locked entrance to the club, they felt confused.
After H4 won the championship yesterday, Huang Wang had gone to celebrate his job well done in the afternoon. He could not escape live-streaming at night either to share his joy with his fans.
His team members had also gone back to their respective clubs to rest. They had been working and training so hard during this period, and so it was time to take a break.
This afternoon, after everyone settled down, they decided to reunite and catch up back at DGE.
However, they arrived to find the door locked.
It was supposed to be dinner time, and Fish-Catching Take-Out normally provided food for the club. That meant members would not have needed to go out.
For fear that they would interrupt the team’s training, Huang Wang and the others purposely came at this time.
They had intended to give Zhang Yuan and Coach Yaling a surprise, but they were not in. Thus, he had no choice but to send a message to Zhang Yuan, asking where they were.
Soon, Huang Wang’s cell phone vibrated. Zhang Yuan had replied.
Huang Wang glanced at the message from Zhang Yuan. “Ah, Boss Pei brought them out for a meal! They’re at Ming House. Brother Zhang has invited us over because there are enough seats!”
Old Zhou was elated. “That’s great! We haven’t seen Boss Pei for a long time! Let’s go!”
…
At Ming House…
Looking at the members happily wolfing food down, Pei Qian could not help but feel excited as well.
He had to say that the food Boss Li served here was getting better day by day.
After all, with the nameless restaurant as the benchmark and with Ming House being the second-best high-end restaurant in Jingzhou, it could not fall too far behind. Of course, its food had to keep getting better.
Pei Qian himself could not eat at the nameless restaurant every day. Having important gatherings at Ming House instead more than made up for it.
As they ate, Zhang Yuan kept his phone and happily announced, “Boss Pei, Huang Wang, and the others want to come over and eat with us!”
“Oh?” Pei Qian was stunned but soon nodded. “Alright, Waiter, serve more food!”
There would be more than ten more mouths to feed, and Huang Wang and the others were very well-built. They had big appetites, and so Pei Qian could expect to spend thousands of yuan more. It was quite worth it.
Although Pei Qian did not really want to see them, there was no harm in welcoming them because they would help him to spend more money.
Soon after, Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the others arrived.
The empty seats at the two big tables were all filled up. Once Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the other members sat down; they wanted to catch up and exchange pleasantries. However, Boss Pei stopped them almost immediately.
“Stop talking so much. Eat!”
For fear that the members would boast so much that the new members would become renewed with a fighting spirit, Pei Qian stopped them and hoped that they would sit down, lower their heads, eat, and not say anything more.
Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the others exchanged a confused look. However, since Boss Pei had spoken, they had no choice but to eat.
One by one, they began to wolf down their food as well.
The new members of the DGE Club could not help but stare at them.
It was one thing for their gaming skills to be incomparable to their seniors, but now their eating skills were proving incomparable as well!
We have to work harder!
Soon, everyone had eaten to their heart’s content.
Pei Qian looked at the table covered with empty glasses, bowls, and plates and then nodded, satisfied.
Yes, there’s a benefit to making these men train until they’re so muscular. At least their appetite has grown considerably!
Now that their appetites were bigger, they could eat more, and the bill would be more expensive.
Others would have felt heartache upon seeing such a huge bill, but Boss Pei would be elated.
The DGE Club’s new and old members leaned back on their chairs, looking like corpses. They rubbed their full bellies and began to chat.
Huang Wang burped. “Boss Pei, Brother Zhang, and Coach Yaling; Jiang Huan and I, along with the other team members, want to thank you for your support in getting us to where we are today.
“As the saying goes, we have to thank those who got us to where we are.
“We might be in other clubs now, but we will always belong to the DGE Club!
“The club is not lacking in money so I’m thinking that its biggest problem is the talent gap. The two teams are failing to grasp their main flaws and are making terribly slow progress.
“That’s why we decided to conduct special training for DGE’s new members, so that they can catch up with the pace of their current competitors as soon as possible!”
Pei Qian nearly spat out the mouthful of tea that he had just drunk.
What the hell?
The ten-odd of you are going to conduct special training for the teams?
Before Pei Qian could say anything, Zhang Yuan excitedly nodded. “Of course, that’s a good idea!
“But… you are members of other teams now after all. Would it be appropriate for you to return to DGE and train the members?”
Huang Wang smiled. “No problem. Our clubs have all agreed to the arrangement!”
Jiang Huan sipped his tea and explained, “The DGE Club is not their competitor, but their ally.
“If this had been another club, both would be fighting for the same prizes. Naturally, we would not be allowed to help out.
“However, since the DGE Club is not allowed to take part in any competition, there’s no conflict of interests.
“That’s not all. The DGE Club’s members’ only method of succeeding is to achieve good results, become outstanding, and then be sold to other clubs. That’s why helping DGE would be akin to helping all the major clubs conduct a youth training camp that everyone can benefit from.
“Then, if any team requires a certain position, they could purchase a member from the DGE Club at any time. Wouldn’t that be much more worth it than conducting our own youth training camp or poaching someone from some other club?
“What’s more, Boss Pei was very fair in distributing the members earlier, and so every club is willing to submit to him. All of them only have good things
to say about him.
“That’s why our clubs are so supportive of us coming back to help DGE!”
A realization dawned on Zhang Yuan. “I see!”
He instinctively turned to Boss Pei, inwardly exclaiming how amazing Boss Pei’s plan was.
He had not expected DGE to be able to reap such benefits despite not being able to take part in competitions.
In fact, it was precisely because DGE was not able to take part in competitions that it did not have conflicting interests with other clubs. Instead, it could continuously produce talents for the other clubs, and thus cause other clubs to depend on the DGE Club to maintain its standard and skills. That would be beneficial to them as well!
Zhang Yuan did not have to expend any effort looking for coaches or choosing new members anymore. The club had already found its place in GOG’s Esports Ecosystem, and it could function on its own!
Young people who wanted to enter the esports industry would have three options:
Joining DGE Club would be their best option because they would be able to hone their skills and be snatched up by other clubs…
Joining other clubs would be their second-best option…
If that failed, they could form their own team to play in internet cafes. As long as they had the skills, they would not need to fear being buried.
DGE Club did not even need to worry about training its members because other clubs would be happy to allow the DGE Club’s old members to make time and train the DGE Club’s newer members.
That way, Zhang Yuan and Coach Yaling could take on a supervisory role!
As time went by, a virtuous cycle would form between DGE Club’s newer and older members. New batches of talents could be cultivated and replaced, and strong athletes would keep being produced by the club.
In fact, once the first batch of players couldn’t play anymore and retired, they could return to the DGE Club to coach. Whether they became main coaches, analysts, or fitness trainers; they would be infinitely valuable to DGE!
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 434