“I can’t do anything about this. You guys have to count on yourselves.”
“Long Yu Corporation has already given the green light to your three clubs when buying people. If you still can’t win the qualifiers, then you’re pure trash with no need to enter the international competition!”
Ding Gan grimaced. “Boss Zhao, think about it. There must be something fishy behind this!”
“FV Club is just a small club. Where would they get the money to buy so many star players? The transfer fee for these players would be more than ten million yuan. What’s more, the GPL clubs are not short of money. Why should they be sold? There must be something wrong here!”
“Boss Zhao, aren’t you afraid that GOG is doing this on purpose?”
These words moved Zhao Xuming. He had to admit that this was a very suspicious point.
However, on further thought, even if that was the case, there was nothing he could do.
Everything that the FV Club did was in accordance with regulations. The qualifications for the competition were given by Long Yu Corporation, and the buyers must have gone through the proper process. There were no restrictions on the players of previous teams. Even if they knew that FV Club was related to GOG, they could not possibly chase them away now.
What’s more, if FV Club really managed to squeeze out an internally decided club based on their own capabilities, there would still be three teams going for the international competition. The overall strength of the domestic teams would also become stronger.
It was nothing more than a certain veteran club’s interests being damaged. It would not affect the overall situation at all. At most, they could think of ways to compensate them later.
At that thought, Zhao Xuming waved his hand and said, “I can’t take care of this. Think about it yourselves. I’ve already done my best to pave the way for you. If you don’t win the qualifiers in the end, it only means that you’re not good enough. You can’t blame others.”
“This…” Ding Gan opened his mouth, but he could not think of a more convincing reply. He could only leave in embarrassment.
The more Ding Gan thought about it, the angrier he became on the way back to SUG’s club lounge.
He could not help but want to speak to the boss of FV Club, Wu Yue, but he held himself back in the end.
It made no sense to argue over such things.
He could only hope that the members of the SUG would be able to do their best and secure a spot in this world competition!
…
In the afternoon, Pei Qian took the subway to IOI’s competition venue after leaving Shanghai’s high speed rail station.
Pei Qian decisively chose the latter between the opening ceremony of GPL league and IOI qualifiers.
The reason was very simple. It was probably the same whether he watched the GPL league or not. The popularity would definitely not be low. Pei Qian wanted to see the situation of the IOI qualifiers. It would be best if he could confirm that FV Club would be eliminated. Then, he could watch the GPL competition in peace.
The qualification competition for IOI was held in a studio on the top floor of a shopping mall in Shanghai. The location was very good even though it was not very big and could only accommodate 600 viewers.
It was only a few subway stations away from the Shanghai high speed rail station.
The qualifiers had already begun in the morning. Pei Qian had watched a few competitions on the high-speed rail. However, he had not played IOI much and did not know much about the heroes and their skills here. He thus found it boring. He could only roughly tell that there was a gap in the strength of these teams.
The competition schedule was rather strange. There were a total of eight teams that were divided into two groups. Four teams would be selected in the morning and in the afternoon. Then, one team would be eliminated through the ‘best-of-five’ knockout rounds tomorrow.
FV Club’s competition was in the afternoon. They were in the same group as the veteran club, SUG.
The entire competition schedule was very packed. Thus, to Pei Qian, the best outcome would be for FV Club to be eliminated this afternoon. Then, he could relax.
If they were lucky and entered the elimination round, Pei Qian would book a hotel nearby and leave after watching the elimination round tomorrow.
Of course, Pei Qian felt that the possibility of that happening was negligible.
Considering that there were many young people in Shanghai, Pei Qian decided to put on a black mask in order to keep a low profile.
While Jingzhou was now called the ‘E-Sports Capital’ by netizens and attracted many young people, it was still far from being a first-tier city like Shanghai.
The shopping mall was filled with people. Many young people were chatting and laughing. The escalators upstairs were filled with people.
Pei Qian could only follow the crowd to the top floor seeing that there were more people at the elevator.
“Eh, are these people here to watch the IOI qualifiers? Long Yu Corporation’s publicity work is quite good.”
“At first, I was worried that the number of viewers on the live-stream platform was fake. Now, it looks like even if there were fake viewers, it shouldn’t have been a huge percentage.”
“Yes, that’s a good sign! I hope they can rob more traffic from GPLs!”
In the morning, Pei Qian had already noticed that IOI’s live-streams on various live-stream platforms were quite popular. However, there were not many bullet screen comments. He was also worried that the popularity might have gone down.
However, Pei Qian felt much more at ease after seeing the passionate scene in front of him.
He hoped that Long Yu Corporation and Finger Games could take root in Shanghai and create another E-Sports Capital to compete with Jingzhou!
Pei Qian continued upwards. Many people were here to shop, so the number of people was gradually decreasing.
Pei Qian did not mind. He lowered his head and scrolled through his cell phone. Most people would probably go to the top floor anyway.
However, the crowd suddenly dispersed after a few levels!
About half of the people did not continue to walk up the escalator but stayed on this floor.
Pei Qian was stunned. He suddenly felt that something was amiss.
He kept his cell phone and looked up. This was the seventh floor, and IOI’s qualifiers should be on the ninth floor.
Pei Qian’s expression froze when he took a closer look at where they had gone.
There was actually a Fish-Catching Internet Cafe here?
That’s right, it was still the familiar Fish-Catching Internet Cafe logo. What’s more, it was the logo for Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s 3.0 Live eSports Museum.
The big screen outside the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was exactly the same as the one in the live-stream. It was the countdown for the opening battle of the GPL season. The two teams facing off were EK and H4, respectively. They were also the champion and runner-up teams of the previous international invitational tournament.
It could be said that the GPL season’s opening battle card was full.
The ten members of both teams had been re-shooted. Huang Wang and Jiang Huan, who were the core members of the two teams, were posing in a handsome pose. The muscles under their uniforms could be vaguely seen.
Apart from the two of them, the other team members had also undergone obvious changes in their physiques and muscles during this period of training.
There was a huge empty space outside Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. The seats had been set up. Most of the audience were already seated.
Pei Qian was confused.
The crowd was not because of the popularity of the IOI qualifiers but because of the popularity of GPL!
More than half of them had come to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to watch the competition!
Speaking of which, why would a Fish-Catching Internet Cafe suddenly appear here?
When did this happen?
<
br /> A long time ago, after Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s 3.0 mode was successful, Pei Qian had already decided to expand the business. He wanted Xiao Peng to open Fish-Catching Internet Cafes anywhere on his own accord as long as he could spend the money that he had earned.
Now, it seemed like this Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was the result of Xiao Peng entering Shanghai.
Pei Qian was speechless.
Long Yu Corporation’s Zhao Xuming is really bad at choosing the location!
Couldn’t you have picked a shopping mall without the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe? Must you charge head on with GOG?
However, on further thought, Pei Qian realized another possibility.
The venue that Zhao Xuming chose for the IOI Qualification Competition must have been carefully selected. It could not be too big or too small. There were not many live-streaming halls in Shanghai that fit the criteria. Moreover, most of them were in large shopping malls.
On the other hand, if Xiao Peng wanted to open Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 3.0 in Shanghai, he would definitely prioritize shopping malls and crowded places.
Thus… this collision might seem coincidental, but it was inevitable to a certain extent.
He could even imagine a more terrifying possibility. Perhaps Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had already been opened in the most famous and largest shopping malls in Shanghai?
Pei Qian could not help but shiver, shocked by his own thoughts.
There were some things that he really could not delve into. The more he tried, the more flustered he became.
After taking a look at the time, Pei Qian decided to walk around Fish-Catching Internet Cafe before heading to the IOI competition venue.
Pei Qian was stunned when he walked in through the front door.
It seemed to have changed slightly from Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 3.0!
The most eye-catching thing was that the entire internet cafe had the team flags of various teams hung all around like the GPL stadium. The team flags for the next competition would automatically light up.
The front desk was distributing various small items and souvenirs for today’s competition team. The wall behind the front desk was displaying the heroes’ small office, the team uniforms of each team, and some trinkets. Many people were asking for prices.
The current model had a huge improvement in the atmosphere as compared to the initial 3.0 model.
That was because while Xiao Peng said the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 3.0 model was part of Tengda’s E-Sports strategy when it was first created, there was no sign of the GPL league at that time. The Live eSports Museum was just an idea without any physical support.
However, now that the GPL league had been set up, the participating clubs had been finalized, and even the GDL and internet cafe competitions had been prepared. The renovation style of the stadium, the matching of the team uniforms, the celebrity players, and other details had been perfected.
Therefore, there were many materials that could be used to decorate Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 3.0. It was no longer as monotonous as before.
The entire Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was obviously built according to a mini GPL venue. The style and the various details were made to be aligned with the GPL venue. The audience would still be able to feel the atmosphere of the competition even if they could not physically go to the GPL venue.
What’s more, the players who participated in the internet cafe competition would be able to experience the feeling of playing offline matches earlier. Gaining fans and fame within a small area would also help them to walk further down the difficult path of playing professionally.
Most of the people in the internet cafe were playing GOG. Some of them were drinking milk tea while waiting for the GPL competition to begin.
As for the people outside the internet cafe, some of them had come specially to watch the competition. Some of them might be tired from shopping and had come to rest.
However, looking at the traffic and popularity outside the internet cafe, Pei Qian suddenly felt more worried about the IOI Qualification Competition at the top floor.
The atmosphere outside the internet cafe was very lively. A few young people seemed to be together, talking loudly.
“I think IOI’s competition hall is upstairs. Do you want to take a look?”
“I’m not interested. I don’t know how to play IOI, why should we watch it?”
“I checked on my cell phone in the morning. The difference between the teams is too big. Apart from the two or three strong teams, the rest are all rookies. There’s no suspense. Moreover, the contestants are basically strangers. The competition is not exciting at all.”
“It’s more interesting to watch the DGE battle. Huang Wang vs Jiang Huan. I wonder how the two teams are doing after not competing for so long.”
“If there’s a chance, I should go to Jingzhou to take a look. It should be more exciting.”
“Indeed, it is still better to watch the competition with a group of people. It’s already so lively at the entrance of the internet cafe. How exciting would it be if we were to watch it at the venue itself? When I have the chance, I’ll definitely go to Jingzhou for a few days. I’ll gank the professional gamers and take pictures with them at the entrance of the club. After that, I’ll go to the original GOG hero phone booth and check in. Finally, I’ll watch a few GOG competitions. Perfect!”
Many shopping malls in Shanghai also had shared phone booths for GOG’s heroes. However, the only flaw was that the concept art heroes were not hand-drawn.
Therefore, most players still felt that the hand-drawn heroes in Jingzhou were the original.
From the conversation between these young people, it could be seen that both the shared phone booth and Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 3.0 played an objective role in accelerating the spread of GOG’s culture.
Many people had not been very interested in GPL competitions. However, as long as they watched the competition with their friends in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 3.0 and experienced the excitement of watching the competition live, they would naturally want to go to Jingzhou and buy tickets to experience GPL.
Pei Qian walked around and left quietly.
He had wanted to leave Jingzhou and come to Shanghai to relax and watch the competition. He had not expected to be attacked suddenly!
That was unbearable.
When he reached the top floor, Pei Qian followed the crowd and the directions on the way to the IOI competition venue. He found a seat and sat down.
In the morning, Pei Qian had already watched the live-stream of the IOI Qualification Competition. He was already mentally prepared for what the venue would look like. However, he still felt that it was a little small when he arrived at the venue.
The GPL’s venue was 12 meters tall with an area of 4,500 square meters. It could accommodate 1,800 people at full capacity. It was exactly three times the size of this venue.
However, the director of the IOI Qualification Competition did not send a large number of cameras to the venue, perhaps because of the arrangement of the cameras and the changing of the live-stream camera. Thus, it was considered good news that they could not see such a huge gap in the live-stream.
The two commentators had already started to rally the crowd by the time Pei Qian sat down because of his detour to the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
At the same time, players from both FV Club and SUG Club also entered the venue and began adjusting their equipment.
The two commentators were not bad. They were able to lift the atmosphere. After a simple opening speech and self-introduction, they briefly talked about the competition in the morning and confirmed that the other two veteran clubs had made it to the next day’s elimination round.
After the team competition in the afternoon, two other teams would enter the elimination round. One team would be eliminated from the four teams, and the remaining three would participate in the world competition.
After the warm-up, the two commentato
rs’ topic naturally shifted to the battle between the two teams.
“I really didn’t expect the first game in the afternoon to be the highlight. FV Club versus veteran team SUG Club.”
“Perhaps many viewers do not know much about FV Club and think that this would be a one-sided battle. Actually, I also thought that FV Club was the weakest team in this group. However, after I realized that it was not the case after I saw the participant list.”
“The members of the FV Club are all celebrities from the previous IOI branches of various clubs. They are all IDs that we are familiar with!”
“I don’t know how long has this team been established and how well they work together but this is definitely the best IO team we can have I in-country based on the lineup of this team alone!”
“The first game in the afternoon might be even better than the one in the morning. Therefore, the audience who came to the venue in the afternoon have profited greatly. The exciting game will start soon. Let us wait and see!”
The two commentators were filled with passion, obviously looking forward to the next match.
However, Pei Qian’s eyes became blank after he heard the commentary. A question mark slowly floated above his head.
?
All-star team?
Best team?
Are they describing FV Club?
Are you describing the incomplete bottom-ranking team with only three players that I have invested in?
Did something went wrong?
Chapter 777 - Boss Pei, Heading Into Battle Alone
Pei Qian rubbed his eyes and looked closely at the team logo on the big screen.
That’s right, it is FV Club, it is that weakling club that I invested in!
Why would the commentator use the term ‘All-Stars’?
Could the three players that no one wanted be considered celebrities?
It didn’t make any sense?
The competition progressed as Pei Qian pondered.
The camera took close-up shots of the players preparing for the game. On the big screen, there were close-ups of the players. Their game ID, real name, age, game rank, position they played, and other information were displayed.
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