“There are more than ten regular clubs like the DGE Club. How could the GPL league not be good? It looks like IOI really lost.”
“Sigh, it’s a pity that our company is in Shanghai. We can’t move it.”
They arrived at SHG Club in no time.
Zhang Yuan brought Wu Yue and Manager Lu to look for Lin Chang and explained their intentions.
Lin Chang was stunned. “Boss Pei invested in your club? You want to buy IOI players?”
Wu Yue nodded. “That’s right, Boss Lin. Actually, we want to form a stronger team so that we can better compete in the qualifiers. Boss Pei would be able to feel proud when we get a good ranking.”
“Of course, we will definitely pay according to the market transfer price. It would be good enough if you could just sell us one or two players who can play IOI who are not good enough to go on stage.”
Wu Yue knew that Lin Chang was the big boss of Shenhua Corporation and that he had a favor to ask of him. Naturally, he spoke very politely.
Lin Chang smiled. “Hey, don’t stand on the ceremony!”
“We must fully support it since it’s a club that Boss Pei invested in!”
“To be honest, I bought these players to try my luck. I thought that I could dig out and develop them if there were any good seedlings among them.”
“Since it’s a club that Boss Pei invested in, of course there is no problem. Choose whichever player you like!”
“Oh, there are a few other teams as well. I’ll let them bring out their IOI’s players for you to choose from them as well!”
“Of course, we have to respect the players’ personal wishes.”
Wu Yue was a little embarrassed as he quickly said, “No, no, no, I’m just missing two members. There’s no need to mobilize so many people…”
Lin Chang waved his hand. “Don’t be so polite! This is just a small matter to us.”
“I don’t know why Boss Pei invested in your club, but since he invested in it, he must have a special purpose. Anyway, let’s aim for the qualifiers first. The team that Boss Pei invested in must not embarrass Boss Pei!”
Wu Yue was moved.
He knew very well that Boss Lin acted this way mainly because of Boss Pei and had nothing to do with FV Club but it was still very heartwarming.
Lin Chang quickly made a few calls.
Half an hour later, the club leaders arrived with a list in their hands.
Lin Chang summarized all the names and handed them to Wu Yue. “Boss Wu, this is the list of all former IOI professional players. Take a look and choose the strongest players.”
Wu Yue reached out to take it and took a closer look at it with Manager Lu. Both of them looked shocked.
Th-this lineup was too magnificent!
FV Club knew the famous IOI players’ IDs by heart since they focused only on IOI.
There were celebrity players from veteran IOI clubs like SUG on the list. It might not be an entire team, but there were players from every position. They could completely piece a top team together in each position.
Wu Yue looked at Lin Chang and the other club leaders. “I’m afraid we can’t afford these players with their value…”
Lin Chang smiled. “You’re treating me like an outsider. You can choose whoever you like! We didn’t spend much money on these players anyway. Just treat it as a gift to the club that Boss Pei invested in!”
Chapter 773 - Forming a Qualifying Team
Wu Yue and Manager Lu quickly went through the list and selected five members, for each position.
In fact, they originally wanted to buy two players to fill in the gaps in the team. They had only three players left after all and had never thought that they would be able to amass a five-man All-Star IOI team.
He felt embarrassed instead of being picky when he saw how generous Lin Chang and the other club owners were!
There were even overlapping players who were quite good in the same positions. After much consideration, Wu Yue and Manager Lu decided on the final five members’ lineup based on their personalities, familiarity, and tacit cooperation.
These players could be said to be the dream players of Wu Yue and Manager Lu previously, but they had no choice since they could not afford it.
A group of young geniuses appeared in the country prior to the time when GOG was not yet pervasive throughout the domestic market and when IOI was still popular. However, most of these young geniuses were divided up by veteran clubs like SUG. They could not be bought.
However, some time ago, with the rapid development of GOG, the overall decline of IOI’s local server, and the establishment of the GPL league, there were fewer and fewer IOI players in the country. The environment was getting worse. The players and clubs were all thinking of retreating.
The entire environment had loosened up, and the clubs were no longer refusing to let go of the players in their hands, waiting for their prices to appreciate.
On the other hand, new clubs like Lin Chang’s club did not lack money. The GPL league players that they had formed were extremely rare. That was why they had bought a batch of IOI players, intending to slowly nurture them.
Now, since the club that Boss Pei invested in did not have enough players, wouldn’t the deal be done once each of these clubs produce one person each to form a team of five?
In fact, for a big club like Shenhua, giving one member for free would not affect their own strength at all. In any case, these members had not had the chance to play previously. They still had to be nurtured to be able to work together.
Why wouldn’t he be happy if he let them return to their IOI and do Boss Pei a favor at the same time?
After selecting the members, the leaders of the various clubs immediately went to communicate with the players. They all replied with a ‘yes’.
That was because these clubs were very easy to talk to. They would not restrict the freedom of the players in terms of contracts. The contract said that after these players transferred to the FV Club, they would play an IOI qualifier. If they did not qualify for the international competition, they could choose to return to their previous clubs. If they qualified for the international competition, they would make a decision after the international competition.
For the players, their salaries and benefits remained the same. They could play the IOI that they liked, and their teammates would be very supportive. They could even make it to the international competition.
Such a world-class competition could bring about a lot of popularity and traffic. If one played well in foreign battles, they could attract a lot of fans. They could return to their original club at any time without any losses even if they did not qualify for the competition.
Thus, the players readily agreed.
Lin Chang smiled and said, “Alright, let’s sign the contract since all the players have agreed. You can take them away today. Time is tight, train them well!”
Wu Yue was deeply moved. He finally understood what it meant to have someone backing him.
In fact, he had not thought so much at the beginning. He had only wanted to give it a try and buy two players to make up for the number of players in the team.
He did not expect the club owners to be so supportive on the account of Boss Pei. These outstanding IOI players were practically given away for free. FV Club only needed to pay for their salary during the period of the qualifiers.
Initially, Wu Yue had thought that the chances of FV Club emerging from the qualifiers were extremely slim. After all, the strength of the team was at that level. It was definitely not something that could be greatly improved overnight.
However, now that he had an IOI celebrity team, Wu Yue was filled with confidence!
While this team still needed to get used to each other but it was the same for veteran teams like SUG. FV Club would stand a chance with the rookies pecking at each other!
Wu Yue and Manager Lu quickly signed the contract and met five members.
The two of them shook
hands with their team members, unable to hide the admiration and joy in their eyes.
After Wu Yue shook their hands, he asked suspiciously, “All of you have quite strong hands.”
He often interacted with the players in his team, but he felt that the players in his team were either too skinny or fat. However, these five players were not skinny and did not show any signs of weakness. They were all quite strong.
Lin Chang smiled. “Oh, they’ve been training in accordance to DGE’s training method for some time now. Their muscles have grown.”
Manager Lu looked at one of the team members. “Pan Ying, can you be the captain in the future?”
Pan Ying had the smallest eyes in the team of five and was not good looking. However, Manager Lu knew very well that Pan Ying was only 17 years old this year and had a high rank in IOI as a passerby since a long time ago. He was a rare commander-type player who played the support position.
Wu Yue and Manager Lu had already decided to let Pan Ying be the captain and lead the team when they were selecting members.
Pan Ying nodded. “Sure, but can I give some suggestions regarding training?”
Wuyue nodded. “Of course! We’ll be a family from now on. If you have any requests, feel free to ask.”
Pan Ying looked at the other four members. “I’ll speak briefly. If you have any objections, feel free to raise them.”
“First of all, I hope that the daily training can continue with DGE;s training and play according to GOG’s training method, which will include things like zone division, visual field layout, and transferring operations.”
“Secondly, I hope that everyone can go to the high-end section of the international server for individual training to recover their skills.”
“Lastly, I hope to use the remaining players to organize a team of sparring partners to test out various strategies.”
Wu Yue nodded immediately. “No problem! The FV Club originally had three members. An addition of two more members would form a sparring team, and the two teams would train faster.”
Manager Lu said with uncertainty, “There’s no problem using GOG’s training method, but is it really okay to use GOG’s fighting style to play IOI?”
Pan Ying nodded. “I think there’s no problem.”
“During this period of GOG’s training competition, after studying the strategies of each team, I feel that GOG’s teams have a better understanding of the game than IOI’s teams.”
“I was greatly inspired by the transfer of the line-up, the choice of lineup, and the like. The main difference between the two is in the choice of heroes, the rhythm of the game, and so on. However, there are many similarities. As long as we can make good use of these similarities and use some of GOG’s tactics in IOI, we might be able to achieve a surprising victory.”
Manager Lu was stunned.
Would that work?
It might sound ridiculous as GOG and IOI’s games were very different after all. However, it made sense on further thought.
GOG might have been released later but the E-Sports competition was much more professional than IOI. Their overall standards improved very quickly since the DGE Club was constantly beating up other teams.
There might be differences between these two games but they were still the same type of games after all with similarities in terms of operational thinking.
These players had their own operations and had a good understanding of IOI. If they could integrate GOG’s operational thinking and make use of it, they might be able to achieve a surprise victory?
It was hard to say if they would be able to get a good ranking in the international competition. It would not be a bad idea to achieve a win in the qualifiers, right?
Wu Yue nodded. “Alright, no problem. We can satisfy all of these requirements. Just fight and train hard!”
…
At the same time, IOI’s domestic qualifiers were also preparing nervously.
The qualifiers would be held in Shanghai this time. After all, Finger Games’ local server headquarters and Long Yu Corporation were both in Shanghai. There were more clubs in Shanghai and the atmosphere of e-sports was thick. It was the best choice from every angle.
The venue for the qualifiers was an indoor recording studio in a certain shopping mall in Shanghai. The venue was not big and could only accommodate 600 people. The renovations were almost done.
It was not as impressive as the GPL, but it was passable.
Ding Gan and Zhao Xuming walked two rounds around the venue and discussed about the preparation for the qualifiers.
Ding Gan said, “Boss Zhao, the team has been formed. Don’t worry. However, our three clubs have spent a lot of money to buy people. If we don’t qualify for the qualifiers, we would lose a lot…”
Zhao Xuming smiled. “Shouldn’t you be confident about qualifying? We’ve put pressure on those small clubs this time and got them to sell their players. Don’t you think you deserve it if you can’t qualify even after all this?”
Ding Gan laughed dryly. “That’s true.”
The various clubs were also in a mess when they formed the team this time. While Long Yu Corporation had internally decided on three established clubs, they still had to spend a lot of money if they wanted to buy people from other clubs.
They naturally had to pay a higher transfer fee since the other clubs sold their players unwillingly. The veteran clubs like the SUG were in the wrong to begin with. They could only wait to be slaughtered.
However, Ding Gan and the other bosses did not think too much about it. It was not a loss to spend money to buy a chance to compete in IOI after all.
Most of those small clubs had been demolished, and the three veteran clubs like SUG had been strengthened. The chances of them being eliminated in the qualifiers were slim.
Ding Gan looked at the competition venue and sighed softly. “It’s a pity that this venue is not as good as GPL’s venue.”
Zhao Xuming said, “That can’t be helped. Let’s watch the international competition.”
Long Yu Corporation and Finger Games were not short of money, but the key was where best to spend it.
Renting a venue and renovating it would cost too much money. Wouldn’t it be a waste of money if they were to spend so much money but did not garner too much attention?
They wouldn’t be willing to spend it this way even if they had the money.
Thus, Long Yu Corporation decided to choose a broadcasting studio first to make it passable.
In any case, IOI’s world finals would be held in the United States. It would definitely surpass GOG’s finals. That would be enough.
The domestic qualifiers were nothing more than a formality to allow the three teams, including SUG, to enter the international competition legitimately. Therefore, it was alright for the venue to be barely passable.
Chapter 774 - Visiting The Capital
December 7th, Wednesday…
Pei Qian sipped his coffee as he read the news on the forum in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
“That’s strange. Logically speaking, IOI’s qualifiers should be starting soon. Why isn’t there any news online?”
“There are a few pieces of news, but there is nothing concrete and nothing made waves at all.”
Pei Qian was confused. According to Shang Yang Games’ information, IOI’s qualifiers should start within a week.
That was because the start of the seasonal competition for the GPL league was this weekend. Not all clubs would be participating in this seasonal competition. It would only last three weeks.
The pre-season competition was an opportunity for the club to practice and familiarize themselves so that they could adapt to the various unexpected situations in the competition in advance. The audience could watch the competition during this boring period and the prelude of the GPL league in advance.
They would rest for two weeks at the end of this month. Then, around mid-January, the GPL spring competition would officially begin.
At the moment, IOI was facing a huge threat from GOG. It was better overseas, especially domestically. It could be said that every action of IOI’s local server depended on GOG.
Even the changes to IOI’s new version were based on GOG.
Under these circumstances, IOI’s two important competitions: the qualifiers and the world finals had to avoid GOG’s competition time as much as possible.
If wouldn’t IOI be waiting for its popularity to be stolen if both competitions were to take place at the same time?
Thus, Finger Games had set a time to finish the qualifiers in the country during this weekend and select three teams to play in the international competition. At the end of this month, they would start the world finals when the GPL season’s pre-season competition had just ended. That way, they could avoid the popularity of the GPL and its effects.
Pei Qian agreed with this thinking wholeheartedly.
However, Pei Qian felt that it was a pity that the qualifiers for IOI were the same as the GPL’s pre-season competitions: they were all starting this weekend.
“It looks like Finger Games is trying very hard to avoid the GPL competition, but there’s no other way. There’s not enough time.”
“Time is very tight from the IOI Qualification Competition to the official start of the competition. It was impossible to move it forward and if this drags on, there will be GPL competitions for the next twenty days. There’s no point in dragging it on.”
“That’s why they can only clash. That’s a little awkward.”
“However, dates clashing aside, IOI’s popularity is so low. It doesn’t make sense, does it? Why isn’t the official platform creating much publicity?”
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