“We have already booked all the machines on the second floor of this internet cafe in advance. From now on, we will train here. However, everyone should be mentally prepared. It might not be as good as Fish-Catching Internet Cafe even though it is the best internet cafe nearby.”
Pan Ying was a little surprised. “Huh? Book the entire floor? Wouldn’t that be too wasteful?”
Wu Yue shook his head. “It’s not a waste, it’s more worth it.”
“The internet fees here are different from in China. They are very expensive. They cost 10 US dollars per hour, and 18 US dollars every three hours. However, they only cost 20 US dollars per day. Most players here only play for one to three hours. That’s why they set such a price.”
“We’ll train here other than resting in the hotel. I’ve already asked the boss in advance. There are a lot of machines in the hall on the first floor. There are more than a hundred of them, but there are less than thirty on the second floor. The environment on the second floor is better. It cost about 600 US dollars a day to book the entire place for the day. It’s not expensive.”
“That way, we wouldn’t have to worry about being disturbed by strangers, nor do we have to worry about the possibility of tactical leakage.”
Pan Ying nodded excitedly. “Sure, perfect! Let’s hurry up and start training then. I can’t wait!”
…
Two hours later, Zhao Xuming and the members of the two clubs finally arrived at the entrance of Courtyard by Marriott with sleepy eyes.
The airport might not be far from here, but it took a lot of time to get their luggage and other operations out of the airport.
The team members were all a little listless. They felt like they were relying on a breath of immortal air to survive.
They did not sleep well in the seats of economic class even though they had slept for a few hours. They would often wake up once every two or three hours. When they woke up, it was difficult for them to continue sleeping because of their soreness. They could only watch movies out of boredom.
In short, no one had a good rest. They were exhausted from the long journey. Their clothes were full of wrinkles, and their hair was very messy. They could not wait to go to the hotel to take a shower and have a good sleep.
Zhao Xuming thought to himself that it was a good thing that the people in the business class could leave first. Otherwise, it would be so awkward if they met again at the airport!
He could picture Wu Yue and the others leaving the business class cabin in such a perfect state. He looked at his own condition… He really did not want to think too much about it.
They had finally arrived at the hotel!
The team members looked at the imposing Courtyard by Marriott building in front of them. Their fatigue from the long journey was finally relieved, and their eyes were filled with excitement.
This time, the official hotel that Finger Games had arranged for the various clubs was this Courtyard by Marriott. They would be able to continue seamlessly after the international competition began.
Courtyard by Marriott was equivalent to a four-star hotel. It was a mid-tier hotel, and it was already considered quite popular. No one could complain that the accommodations were poor.
The main entrance of the hotel was a circular arc-shaped lobby, which was recessed inward. Moreover, they had a huge billboard in it, which was very magnificent.
Just as everyone was about to drag their luggage in, they heard a team member say, “Hey, what is this tall building across the road?”
The others turned around and saw a sea-blue skyscraper across the street.
Courtyard by Marriott was quite tall but it was on a completely different level from the building across the road. The latter could already be regarded as a landmark and was about two hundred meters tall.
Zhao Xuming said, “Oh, that’s the Ritz Carlton Hotel. It’s about three times the price here.”
The team members could not help but click their tongues, tacitly stop discussing about this topic.
Three times more expensive?
A double room here would cost about 1,000 yuan, while the other one would cost about 2,500 yuan. The difference in price was huge.
However, these two hotels were separated by a road, and they were facing each other. They were only about 200 meters away from the venue, so they had the same convenience.
What’s more, the accommodation at Courtyard by Marriott was not bad. What kind of family would stay in the opposite building? They would be content and happy.
The team members could only comfort themselves with such thoughts.
However, just as these people were about to enter the hotel lobby and forget about this matter, they saw a group of people walking out of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel opposite them, talking and laughing. All of them were full of energy as they boarded the minibus parked not far away.
The three photographers were still filming behind them.
They might be a distance away but Zhao Xuming and the others still recognized them at a glance. After all, when one was in a foreign country, all of their compatriots would naturally have a halo effect.
The minibus started moving quickly, carrying a group of players.
Zhao Xuming and the others fell into awkward silence.
In fact, the members of these two clubs did not have any special feelings before. They felt that while the hotel opposite was good, it had nothing to do with them. Most of them were celebrities or rich ballers.
Since Finger Games had arranged for all the clubs to have the same accommodation and food, there was no need to ask for more.
However, everyone’s mentality changed subtly after seeing FV Club and SUG Club walk out of the Ritz-Carlton hotel opposite.
That was unacceptable!
It was one thing for this group of people to take business class cabins, but the hotel they were staying in was twice as expensive and several levels higher than the official hotel!
Their mentality became a little shaky.
Zhao Xuming only had one feeling now: Ridiculous!
What kind of relationship did FV Club have with Boss Pei? He treated them like his own son. Did Boss Pei have so much spare money to spend?
Weren’t the veteran clubs overseas and celebrities with high net worth staying at the Courtyard by Marriott obediently?
Those who did not know better would think that these people from FV Club were big shots!
Zhao Xuming silently felt sour. After a moment of silence, he quickly changed the topic. “Hurry up with the check in then we’ll find a place to eat.”
The others also responded and stopped talking about FV Club.
Since they could only check in in the afternoon, everyone decided to deposit their luggage first. They would eat in the hotel and settle in after settling the training ground.
There was a buffet in the hotel that cost 15 US dollars per person. They were all standard American food and snacks. They were not particularly used to eating them, but they were not bad overall.
Zhao Xuming, the interpreter, and the two club leaders ate as they thought about the problem with the training ground.
Even though Finger Games’ official platform would arrange for training rooms, that would definitely happen only after the international competition began. What’s more, the so-called training rooms would probably be renting a few conference rooms in the hotel and be distributed to the team members, They would probably have a few computers and a few E-Sports chairs. They could not ask too much for the overall conditions and environment.
They had to find a place of their own to train if they wanted to start early.
The interpreter said, “Boss Zhao, I just checked. There are not many internet cafes around here, but there is one that is relatively good. We can consider it.”
“We can go and take a look after dinner. Coincidentally, Finger Games has also given us high rank super accounts. We can let our players play RANK here. We can also arrange the training competition with the other European
and American teams in advance.”
Zhao Xuming nodded distractedly.
He did not care about the training of the two teams at all. After all, he was in charge of IOI in Long Yu Corporation and not the mother of the team.
Zhao Xuming felt that it was one thing for him to pay for these two teams, but he could not possibly care about the training grounds too, right?
He only had one thought now. He wanted to move in quickly, take a shower, and have a good sleep. Then, he would go to the headquarters of Finger Games with the other employees of Longyu Corporation.
At that moment, a leader suddenly said, “Wow, the hotel that FV Club is staying in… isn’t the environment too good?”
The team members at the side leaned over to take a look.
The official Weibo of FV Club had updated the details of the trip to Los Angeles in real time, including the photo they took at the airport and some daily videos.
The latest Weibo post was a photo of everyone having a meal at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Obviously, the group from FV Club had arrived half an hour earlier than them.
The photo did not focus on the food, mainly on the players. However, it could still be seen that the dining environment was obviously not on the same level as this place. There were all sorts of dishes: sushi, sashimi, cake, roasted meat, and even Chinese food.
The food looked amazing and exquisite. All the food was carefully arranged. After being shot by professional photographers, it looked very appetizing.
Unsurprisingly, there were all sorts of ‘posting poison in the middle of the night’ and ‘envious, jealous, and hateful’ comments under Weibo. After all, it was late at night in China.
The members of the two clubs looked at the buffet they were eating. The knives and forks in their hands slowed down unconsciously.
Zhao Xuming, on the other hand, was fuming.
These people from FV Club are too much!
Was there a need to be like a country bumpkin, walking and filming, constantly showing off?
Everyone knew that that hotel was better. In the end, not only did you casually take photos outside, you even wanted to take photos of food?
How was that not slapping their faces?
Too much, simply too much!
Zhao Xuming had thought that the buffet was not bad, but now, he only felt that it was tasteless.
Unbearable!
Chapter 796 - Haters, Use More Firepower!
After the meal, the leaders of the two clubs brought the team to the internet cafe that they had set their sights on to inspect the training venue.
Zhao Xuming did not go with them. He stayed in the hotel’s resting area and took out his laptop to work.
Of course, work was only one of the reasons. Another reason was that Zhao Xuming could not be bothered to get involved in these matters. In his opinion, he had already done everything to his best to this extent. Yet he had almost caused his mentality to collapse. Now, he only wanted to visit Finger Games. He did not want to continue messing around with these E-Sports clubs.
The distance between the internet cafe and the hotel was considered moderate. They could reach in fifteen minutes.
The two team leaders felt that the distance was not too far. They could still stretch their bodies and admire the scenery of Los Angeles by walking.
After eating and drinking to their heart’s content, they walked on foreign soil. The team members’ mentality that had been destroyed by FV Club’s Weibo gradually improved.
Even though this was the city center, it was not particularly cramped nor was it filled with skyscrapers that made people feel suffocated. Thus, it felt good to walk on the streets.
“It’s just up ahead. We’re almost there.” The interpreter looked at the map on his cell phone and pointed ahead.
The players looked over as well. Their first impression was that the internet cafe was huge!
It was not common for internet cafes to take up so much space in China.
Their second thought was, why did the minibus parked at the entrance look so familiar?
The leaders of the two clubs looked at each other, an ominous feeling rising in their hearts.
Was it not over? Why was FV Club everywhere?!
The two of them could not wait to turn around and leave on the spot. However, on further thought, there was only one internet cafe nearby with better facilities. What if they went to another internet cafe and found that the system was not good enough?
Thus, everyone hesitated for a moment before they braced themselves and entered.
After pushing the door open, a huge hall and rows of computers appeared in front of everyone.
The internet cafes here were obviously different from local internet cafes. Firstly, the renovation style was rather rough. The ceiling was filled with all sorts of intricate and complicated pipelines. All the computer computers were placed on a shelf that was more than two meters tall. Secondly, there seemed to be no concept of private rooms here. There was only a huge hall on the entire floor.
The two team leaders took a look. There were many people playing games in the hall. Some were playing IOI and some were playing GOG. A rough scan showed that it was divided rather equally. Many were playing FPS games.
There were still many empty seats in the hall.
The computer’s configurations were not bad, and the seats were all e-sports gaming chairs with famous foreign brands. The only drawback was that the keyboards were not very good and were slightly dirty. However, the players had their own peripherals so this was not a problem.
The two team leaders were quite satisfied with the environment here, so they went to the front desk with the interpreter to ask for the price.
“It’s so expensive… 10 dollars per hour, and only 20 dollars per day. Of course we’ll take the entire day.”
“Sigh, I see anyone from FV Club. DId we mistake the minibus outside?”
The two team leaders quickly reached a consensus. It would definitely be more cost-effective to book on a day to day basis, but the specific location would become a key problem.
The interpreter wanted to talk to the boss about the price and see if there were any discounts for so many people to book the computers together. The two leaders walked around the hall separately to see which place was more suitable.
It was a pity that the hall was too big. No matter which area he booked, they would still be affected.
One of the team leaders’ eyes lit up. “Eh? Isn’t there a second floor?”
He saw a staircase and wondered if he could go to the second floor to take a look. It would be alright to pay a bit more if the environment on the second floor was better and more private.
However, just as he walked up the stairs to the second floor, he saw four tall and strong men in black suits standing in a line, reaching out to stop him.
“SORRY, @ # ¥% &*…”
The four bodyguards in black suits spoke a long string of English, which confused the leader.
However, this formation still gave him a shock. After all, the four bodyguards were all dressed in black suits with walkie-talkies. They also had a pair of sunglasses in front of their chests. The muscles on their bodies were bulging, and they looked similar to the gangsters in Western movies.
The team leader’s English was not good. He could not understand what they were saying. Fortunately, the interpreter quickly followed them. After conversing with the four bodyguards in black, he quickly understood.
“They said that the entire second floor has been booked.” The translator explained.
The leader frowned and looked suspicious. He stood on his toes and looked past the four burly men who were almost two meters tall. As expected, he saw the members of FV Club.
“F*ck!”
The leader could not help but curse. The premonition had come true!
Most of the machines upstairs had been taken up. There were a total of 15 people from FV Club Team One, Team Two, and SUG Club. However, there were
also the accompanying staff and data analysis team.
The data analysis team also had to use the computer to observe the battle and analyze the data. Even the three photographers were using the computer to edit the videos.
The team leader and the interpreter had no choice but to retreat to the first floor.
“What should we do? Change locations, or…” The translator asked for the opinions of the two team leaders.
The team leader sighed. “Let’s do it here. We’ll pick a corner and a place further away from the stairs…”
The configuration and location of this internet cafe was the most satisfactory, so it was not easy to change. However, they had to stay away from FV Club, or the situation would be awkward.
The two team leaders quickly completed the procedures and arranged for the team members to use the computers.
“Come, everyone, change to your pherpicals. I’ve already sent the super account given by Finger Games to everyone. Take your own. Let’s warm up with Rank today. We’ll arrange for a training competition with the teams from Europe and America in two days.”
As the team members logged into their super accounts one by one to start training, the two team leaders sat down at the side and finally felt better.
At the very least, they knew that FV Club probably did not obtain super accounts. That meant that they could not play Rank. Moreover, without the official platform to pull strings, they probably did not have any channels to arrange for a training competition with other European and American teams.
“Everyone, work hard and train hard. You must get good results!”
The contestants said in unison, “Alright!”
…
December 23rd, Friday…
Pei Qian sipped his coffee and swiped his cell phone in the morning.
“FV Club is already in Los Angeles. Why are there so many updates on Weibo?”
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 528