Thus, Chrétien and the upper echelons of Finger Games decided that the first seed of each division would start from the top eight, and the second and third seed would start from the group stages.
That would prevent all teams from being wiped out in the group stages. At the very least, it would keep the attention of domestic players to the top eight.
There would be no helping… if the strongest team in the country was still beaten after entering the top eight.
Ding Gan’s emotions became much more stable after watching SUG torture the remaining two teams.
“It doesn’t seem to be a problem with SUG. This FV is just too strong.”
“On the bright side, it’s also a good thing to meet FV in the group stages. It’s almost impossible to meet them tomorrow.”
“We have to play two ‘best-of-five’ matches tomorrow. We’ll definitely qualify as long as we don’t meet FV Club.”
Ding Gan kept consoling himself. He finally calmed down.
It was already very late when the competition ended. The audience left the stage one by one. Ding Gan stood up and prepared to go backstage to comfort his team members.
However, just as he was about to leave, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure from the corner of his eye. He seemed to have seen him somewhere before.
Ding Gan was seated in the front row of the VIP seats. Many people had already stood up and left the venue. Most of the seats were empty except for a figure wearing a black mask who was still seated. He looked out of place.
Ding Gan frowned and took a closer look. This person’s eyes and clothes looked familiar even though he was wearing a mask.
“Boss Pei?!”
Ding Gan specially went to Jingzhou to meet Boss Pei after SUG Club was removed from GPL. That was why he recognized him.
Many thoughts surfaced in Ding Gan’s mind after confirming Boss Pei’s identity.
All the plots seemed to connect at that moment.
Why did FV Club take the initiative to spend money on publicity?
Where did the celebrity players of FV Club come from?
Ding Gan believed that Boss Pei had many hidden tricks up his sleeve, but he had not seen through them yet.
All of this was obviously Boss Pei’s plan. It was just a game of chess between GOG and IOI in the eSports field, while SUG and the other clubs were just pawns!
Boss Pei even personally came to Shanghai to the IOI Qualification Competition to enjoy his own set up.
He was just like a psychopathic murderer who had to return to the crime scene after committing a crime. He would only be able to obtain a sense of satisfaction by observing the situation closely.
Ding Gan suddenly shuddered!
Chapter 778 - Continue With This Fighting Style
In the end, Ding Gan did not muster the courage to speak to Boss Pei.
He’s the knife while I’m the meat on the chopping board, what else can I say?
Ding Gan had dealt with Boss Pei before regarding the GPL quota. He knew Boss Pei very well.
Boss Pei was a strategist. He would not make a move unless he was 100% sure. At the same time, Boss Pei was a cold-hearted person. Once he made up his mind, he would not change it.
Now that Boss Pei had personally come to the IOI Qualification Competition, it meant that he was confident of winning. What’s more, he would not change his mind even if anyone begged because he had already made up his mind.
Ding Gan knew that there was no point in saying anything now. Whether the SUG Club would be able to qualify tomorrow would depend on the players themselves.
Ding Gan turned around and quickly left the venue and headed backstage at that thought.
He did not want to be seen by Boss Pei nor did he want to inform Zhao Xuming.
At the moment, Zhao Xuming could not help nor did he care about SUG Club at all. In any case, there were only three spots for, it did not matter to him whether it was FV or SUG which qualified.
Since that was the case, everyone should deal with their own problem!
All Ding Gan wanted to do now was to quickly motivate his players. He wanted them to stabilize their mentality and fight their way out of the elimination round tomorrow to obtain a place in the international competition.
Pei Qian did not notice Ding Gan, who was seated not far away from him. He was still immersed in the sorrow of FV successfully entering the elimination round.
After sitting in his seat for a long time, Pei Qian stood up, intending to head to the backstage of the venue to check on the situation of FV Club.
It was originally a bottom rank team. How did it become an all-star team?
Pei Qian would not be able to sleep well if he could not figure this out.
The venue was only a recording studio in the shopping mall and was not very big nor formal. Therefore, Pei Qian found the backstage area for the players after he walked around twice.
Some fans gathered outside the backstage, waiting to meet the player they liked. The official staff were already busy with other things as the competition had already ended for a period of time. Only the club’s leaders and managers stood outside to stop the passionate fans from affecting the players.
Pei Qian saw the FV Club’s room. It was rather shabby as well, with only a miserable printout on the door with the words’ FV Club lounge’.
Manager Lu stood at the door and made a call. He seemed to be contacting the chauffeur in charge of picking him up. FV Club players could be heard arguing in the room. They were probably discussing the competition today.
Pei Qian walked forward.
“I’m sorry, the players are reviewing after the competition. They don’t have time to sign and take photos… Eh? You are…”
Manager Lu and Pei Qian had only met once. Pei Qian was wearing a mask, so he could not recognize him immediately.
Pei Qian pulled his mask down slightly. “It’s me.”
Manager Lu was very surprised. He quickly said, “Boss Pei? Why are you here? Please come in.”
He might not know why Boss Pei was here but anything that could make Boss Pei come here personally was definitely not a small matter.
Pei Qian followed Manager Lu into the lounge. He immediately heard the players discussing battle tactics.
“Our playstyle is not good. Our hands and feet are still tied. The last two matches today were still alright, but the first match with SUG was so dangerous that we almost lost!”
“That’s right. The elimination tournament tomorrow will definitely be much more intense than the group stages. There is a high risk that we’ll fail if we are to continue playing like this.”
“Why don’t we resume our usual playing style? We can slowly adapt to GOG’s playing style after we obtain the qualifications for the international competition.”
“I think so too. We have to obtain the qualifications for the international competition first. Otherwise, everything would be in vain.”
The players had their own opinions, and the debate was rather intense.
Manager Lu looked a little awkward as he said in a low voice, “Boss Pei, don’t mind them. The players don’t have any conflicts. They’re just discussing the tactics in the game.”
He was afraid that the scene in the lounge would leave a bad impression on Boss Pei.
Even though Boss Pei said that he would not interfere with the operations of the FV Club when he was investing, it was one thing for Boss Pei to not interfere. It was another thing for Wu Yue and Manager Lu to not care about Boss Pei’s opinion.
Wu Yue and Manager Lu cared about Boss Pei’s views from all sorts of angles.
Boss Pei gave both money and resources, which was the players. This All-Stars team was basically formed by Boss Pei now;
From the decision making point of view, Boss Pei had created the GPL league and was a producer of GOG. His understanding of game content and the E-Sports industry was much higher than Wu Yue and Manager Lu.
Therefore, even if Boss Pe
i said that he would not interfere with the operations of FV Club, Manager Lu and Wu Yue would still try to guess Boss Pei’s intentions and try their best to run the club according to the way Boss Pei was satisfied with.
Pei Qian was not angry when he heard the players arguing. Instead, he was elated.
Why were they so angry after winning the competition?
This meant that there was a problem in the team. There was a hidden danger to exploit!
That was a good development!
There was still hope that they would be eliminated as long as they performed badly tomorrow!
Pei Qian became optimistic again at that thought. The corners of his mouth curled up under his mask.
Wu Yue was also in the lounge, looking worried.
Pan Ying was this team’s support player and the team leader.
He was in charge of the entire team’s tactical arrangements and instructions. He was the one who suggested that they play according to GOG’s methods initially, including switching operations, lineup selection, tactical details, and so on. All of them were similar to GOG.
At first, the other players did not have any objections. However, the team’s opinions differed after today’s competition.
That was because they really did have a hard time during the competition today.
While Pan Ying’s playing style was unique and had quite a good effect, GOG and IOI were still very different in terms of heroes and gameplay. What’s more, such a playing style required a long period of practice and running-in. It was not something that they could become proficient in overnight.
Thus, the top two players wanted to play it safe. They wanted to play their individual strength first, obtain the qualifications for the international competition, and then slowly train for it.
However, Pan Ying felt that it was a good opportunity to train in the competition. The intensity of the training competition and the intensity of the elimination competition could not be compared at all. If he retreated every time he encountered difficulties, he would still not be able to train with such a style in the international competition.
What’s more, the current tactical arrangements had already been arranged. Changing strategies to fight with individual capability might not be effective.
Both sides had their own arguments, and neither could convince the other. Wu Yue had no way of unifying his opinions, and could only worry.
At that moment, he saw Manager Lu leading Boss Pei into the lounge.
Wu Yue’s eyes lit up as he quickly stood up. “Boss Pei! Why are you here?!”
Pei Qian had already taken off his mask. He felt stuffy after covering his face for the entire afternoon. “Nothing, I just came to take a look.”
Wuyue nodded, feeling a deep sense of respect.
Boss Pei might say that he was just here to take a look but Wu Yue knew very well that Boss Pei must be here specially to watch the competition!
Boss Pei was very busy every day with work. Today was also the opening of the GPL competition. Yet, Boss Pei did not even watch the GPL’s opening ceremony. Instead, he came here to watch FV compete. That was enough to show how much Boss Pei valued FV Club!
Boss Pei had only said that he was ‘just here to take a look around’ in order not to put too much pressure on the players. That was so considerate.
The players stood up and stopped arguing when they saw Boss Pei.
Wu Yue quickly said, “In my opinion, everyone should stop arguing. We won’t be able to come to a conclusion even if we continue fighting like this.”
“Whether it’s the individual skills or GOG’s tactics, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. No one can guarantee that either strategy will win.”
“Since neither can convince the other, the most important thing now is to make a decision as soon as possible. No matter what method we choose, we have to hurry up and come up with a strategy when we get back. We cannot waste our time on meaningless debate.”
“In my opinion, let’s have Boss Pei decide on this! That way, everyone would be convinced, right?”
The players looked at each other and nodded.
Boss Pei was the designer of GOG and the organizer of the GPL league. His understanding of games and competitions must be very high!
If Boss Pei made the final decision, everyone would be able to accept it no matter the outcome.
It would be everyone else’s fault, not Boss Pei’s, even if they were to lose.
Wu Yue looked at Pei Qian. “Boss Pei, you should have seen the competition this afternoon. Can you give us an idea? The team will definitely listen to you.”
Pei Qian could not help but feel elated. Such luck!
You asked me to make the decision, I didn’t force you.
Pei Qian had already noticed that the players of FV Club were all very strong individually, and they could cooperate well when he watched the competition in the afternoon. However, their understanding of the game version and tactical execution were obviously different from other teams.
From the selection of players to the actual tactical execution and resource exchange, they all seemed out of place with the other teams.
Simply put, they were playing GOG, limiting their individual abilities to a certain extent.
If they were to compete purely on strength, SUG Club would lose without any suspense.
The commentator could tell, so could the players of FV Club.
Pei Qian felt that this was perfectly normal. GOG and IOI were two different games. There was such a huge difference in the game mechanism. Yet, they insisted on playing IOI according to GOG’s playing style. It was just like reverse training. Even if they could make a name for themselves, they would have to train hard for a long time. What’s more, they would never be able to defeat the top experts.
Everyone knew that ‘best-of-one’ matches and ‘best-of-five’ matches were two completely different games.
The intensity of the elimination tournament would increase tomorrow. Whether FV Club’s playstyle would still be effective was a huge question.
At that thought, Pei Qian said seriously, “Just stick to your current playing style. There won’t be a problem! No matter how difficult the competition is, you cannot give up!”
At that moment, Pei Qian, the movie king, looked extremely serious.
The support player, Pan Ying, was very moved. He said, “Thank you Boss Pei, for your trust! I will definitely perfect this strategy so that we can achieve better results tomorrow!”
Initially, he had been a little swayed by the results of this playing style. However, since Boss Pei had personally verified that there was no problem with it, then there was definitely no problem!
If they lost the competition, it would be because his team did not play or cooperate well. It would definitely not be Boss Pei’s fault.
The other contestants looked at each other and did not say anything else.
Boss Pei had already come to a conclusion. What was there to be conflicted about? They just had to take the tactics seriously and complete their task.
There was no point arguing anyway since they had reached a consensus. Everyone just had to listen to Pan Ying’s instructions.
Wu Yue could not help but click his tongue in wonder.
Is this Boss Pei’s magic?
A few words and all the players are convinced!
While Wu Yue was the boss of the club and could suppress these players, forcefully suppressing them did not mean that they would be willing to listen.
That was because while Wu Yue was the boss, his understanding of the game was still lacking. Even if he said that he wanted to use a certain fighting style, the team members would still subconsciously think about whether a different fighting style would be better after encountering problems.
Boss Pei, on the other hand, was not only the boss but also had a deep understanding of the game. If he said that there was no problem, there would definitely be no problem.
Wu Yue could not he
lp but feel emotional. Boss Pei was like a chosen one who could do anything.
How could he not win in life when he followed such a big boss?
Chapter 779 - Making Use of Boss Pei to Garner Popularity
December 11th, Sunday…
The second day of the GPL season preliminaries, IOI’s knockout stage.
Zhao Xuming arrived at the IOI Qualification venue early in the morning just like yesterday and urged the staff to adjust the equipment and prepare for the competition.
The four teams had already arrived at the competition venue early today. They had to play a set of ‘best-of-five’ matches in the morning and afternoon each. The schedule was very tight and the pressure was boiling over.
Originally, the three veteran teams, including SUG, did not have much pressure. The three slots were made for them after all. They could easily bully teams with a weak stomach. They could have qualified no matter what.
The first seeded team could start from the top eight directly. There was still a need to compete for it while the position of the second and third seeded teams could be bought.
However, there was no team with a weak stomach now that FV club had appeared out of nowhere within the four teams to be eliminated. Anyone who did not play well would be eliminated directly. The pressure was instantly felt.
Players were seriously preparing for battle tactics or taking the time to take a short nap to conserve their energy in their respective club lounges. All of them were hoping that they could maintain a better competitive state when the competition started.
At that moment, Zhao Xuming’s assistant rushed over with a serious expression.
“Boss Zhao, we’ve investigated the situation with FV Club!”
“These players were indeed sold to them by the GPL clubs. With Wu Yue’s financial resources, he would definitely not be able to afford them. Most likely, they were half sold and half given away.”
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