Pei Qian could not help but feel emotional.

  For some reason, he felt like Lin Wan had become much more confident after taking over GOG’s international server.

  Yet, speaking of which, if Lin Wan was declaring war against IOI, then……

  Why wasn’t there any news of IOI’s local server from Eric?

  Before this, during meetings, he had heard that Eric had failed twice trying to manage IOI’s local server. First, he failed to find internet cafes that would support him; then, he failed to find live-stream platforms or clubs that would support him. In the end, his strategy proved to be an utter failure, and he shifted his focus to manufacturers of peripheral products. There, he tried to find other gamers.

  At the time, Pei Qian was overjoyed. He instructed GOG’s people to follow closely behind Eric.

  However, after what happened with Struggle, Pei Qian completely forgot about the matter. Until now, the employees of Shang Yang Games had not updated Pei Qian on the fight. There was also no news of Shang Yang Games online.

  All of a sudden, Pei Qian felt worried about Eric.

  Pei Qian searched for news about IOI’s local server online and realized that, apart from a few insignificant advertisements from cooperating manufacturers, there were no other hot news.

  There were a couple of posts discussing how IOI’s local server was completely deserted though.

  Compared to GOG’s current situation, they were unbearably miserable.

  For some reason, Pei Qian felt sympathy. He thought about the high-level executives of multinational corporations coming all the way to China, hoping to tear the veil and put on a big show. Yet, in the end, the game that had become hot in every other corner of the world had failed to take off here……

  Then, even the overseas markets began to be dominated by GOG……

  Awful.

  It was so awful.

  Still, he soon recalled that the other party had forced tens of millions of US dollars down his throat and then stopped feeling sympathetic.

  Whatever. Dayak Corporation was an extremely wealthy multinational corporation after all. How could they collapse over such a small thing?

  Yes, he had to trust in their wealth.

  He should just focus on the competition for now.

  Before this, Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games had already organized competitions before and accumulated a certain amount of experience. This time, they were also working with experienced esports media. Thus, every aspect of the competition was well-planned.

  Apart from all the hard factors like equipment, network, on-site scheduling, and so on; another important factor that would determine whether the audience enjoyed watching the competition or not—and whether the competition would run smoothly or not—was the details.

  For example:

  They had to film promotional videos for each club and member to warm up the field……

  They had to brief the members well on the rules and etiquette of competition, so that every team would take the initiative to shake hands with their opponents after each game, regardless of whether they won or lost. They would also have to walk to the center of the stage and bow to the audience……

  They had to arrange for the emcees to interview members after each match. At the same time, there were special interview stands at the side of the stage for interviews to be conducted in English and streamed to the overseas audience.

  The competitors’ mouses and keyboards had to be sent for inspection in advance to ensure that there were no hacks installed. Moreover, two sets of additional equipment of the same models had to be prepared to minimize disruptions.

  It was necessary to come up with back-up plans for all sorts of emergency situations. For instance, if there was a jam, the director would have to immediately notify the commentator of the reason behind it. The commentator would then have to explain it to the audience to prevent them from losing interest. Of course, they also had to minimize the chances of the game jamming as much as possible.

  Soon, the competition officially began.

  There was a warm-up video with intense background music at the beginning. Key landmarks in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and other first-tier cities flashed across the screen…… before it finally settled on Great World in Jingzhou—the location of the competition.

  There was a 10-second countdown, which everyone in the audience joined. After ‘one’, there were loud cheers and exciting electronic music that swept the audience away!

  On the screen, a huge beam of light descended from the sky and lit up a huge, silver treasure chest. The treasure chest suddenly cracked open, causing more beams of light to shine through it. Then, it turned into the map for the game—the Canyon of Gods.

  An exquisite-looking trophy hovered above the Canyon of Gods. Around it, the silhouettes of GOG’s iconic heroes appeared one after another, causing the audience to scream and cheer in excitement.

  Since they had not had much time to prepare for the competition, the opening ceremony was rather simple. However, for an audience that had not seen anything as grand as this, it was enough to fill them with excitement.

  Even Pei Qian’s blood began to rush through his veins in the charged atmosphere.

  After that, a trophy that looked exactly like the one on the screen slowly rose up from the bottom of the stage and appeared in front of the audience.

  The trophy had been ordered about a month ago and had only been delivered a few days ago.

  It was 35 centimeters tall, gold-plated, and made of zinc alloys. A dragon and a phoenix were engraved in it, making it look like a beautiful piece of ancient Chinese treasure. At the same time, it harbored elements of GOG.

  Yet, that was not the main focus. The main focus was that it weighed 28 kilograms.

  That’s right—28 kilograms.

  That was because the initial intention behind the design of the trophy was for all five members to raise it up together.

  After that, promotional videos of all sixteen teams were screened, ending with a family portrait of all sixteen team leaders. The sixteen team flags around the arena were lit up, and the commentator shouted every club’s name, along with the names of each team member. One by one, the teams went up onto the stage to show their faces.

  The thunderous applause and cheers in the competition ground did not stop for a long time!……

  After hyping the crowd up, the commentator announced that the competition was officially starting. The two opening teams were the first to play against each other.

  This time, the opening match was to be played by H4 and FRY because both teams were veteran clubs. As early as when Starcraft and Fantasy Battle were still popular, both clubs had participated frequently in global competitions and put on multiple exciting shows.

  It was precisely because both teams were quite well-known globally that they were made to play the opening match.

  The groupings had not been done by drawing lots this time. Instead, it was decided internally and rather shrewdly. Since there were eight each of local and overseas teams, there were four groups in total. The numbers of Chinese teams in each group were zero, one, three, and four.

  They had arranged groupings in this manner instead of putting two local teams in each group, mainly for fear that there would be no foreign teams left after the first few rounds. That would be a tough situation indeed.

  If only local teams made it to the semi-finals, the foreign audience would become extremely anxious.

  Thus, more foreign teams were placed in Groups A and B to peck at each other. Then, three foreign teams would surely make it to the top eight, and one would surely make it to the quarter-finals. That way, the foreign players would feel a stronger sense of existence.

  At the same time, prematurely turning the game into an internal war between local teams would disappoint the local audience that was looking forward to a war between the Chinese and foreigners. The competition would seem bland, and there would be nothing else for them to look forward to.

  As for the weak teams that had been assigned to the death group…… the organizing team could not do anything about it. The eight local teams that had been invited to the first international invitational tournament had already been shown preferential treatment. There was only so much more than they could ask for.

  Over time, as the competition was perfected, and the teams were invited to join the competition after selection in their various districts, this problem would no longer exist.

  Pei Qian relaxed and leaned back in his chair, sipping his drink as he watched the game.

  Since they were in a mall, there were many places where they could eat, drink, and play. There were many types of drinks available and sold at low prices. In this regard, the experience was quite commendable.

  Pei Qian was pleased as he watched the exciting games and listened to the excited claps and cheers of the audience.

  How comfortable!

  Watching the event via live-streaming platforms could not be compared to being at the competition ground. When hot team battles broke out, the excitement in the narrator’s voice and the cheers and screams of the audience were enough to cause one’s adrenaline to soar and blood to rush. One would be tempted to cast all worries aside and shout!

  He had to admit that the FRY Club was not bad.

  Those foreign clubs had started late, but their team members had all been transferred from Gods Rising and IOI. They had a good grasp of games like GOG already. In addition, since they had a good foundation and hardcore training, their standard was not far off from local teams.

  Moreover, since this was the opening match, H4 was playing very securely. Both teams seemed to be trying the other out. The Western-style was to select heroes that nobody had seen much of so far. Thus, both sides were putting on a good show, and the match was not overly one-sided.

  The live and online audience alike enjoyed watching the match.

  That was the charm of exchanges and collisions between different regions. Each region’s teams would train as a group, resulting in overlaps of their understanding of strong heroes and the game version. However, when different regions came together, there would be a huge difference between their respective understandings of the game.

  When different regions came together with their unique skills, the audience would be able to tell which side would prevail. Thus, compared to the local GOG competitions that the teams had taken part in before, this competition was more interesting and fun to watch.

  At last, H4 proved to be stronger and more powerful. They took the chance to wipe out their opponent’s team and successfully ended the game.

  The live audience was overjoyed, and so was Pei Qian.

  It felt so good to be able to watch a game from start to finish, without having to worry about being stabbed in the back!

  In any case, this competition was meant for him to burn money. Regardless of who won or lost, GOG could not become more famous. Thus, Pei Qian believed that there was no room for him to be stabbed in the back at all.

  Soon, the post-match interviews began.

  Huang Wang walked up to the stage and was interviewed by one of the female hosts.

  The moment he walked up, the audience cheered.

  His muscles! His uniform was filled!

  The other members were either very skinny or chubby. It was rare even for any of the foreign players to have such a good physique.

  Huang Wang’s physique was particularly eye-catching when he stood next to his teammates!

  Standard questions were asked during the interview, such as why each member chose the hero that they did, how they worked out of a particularly intense battle, and what they wanted to say to their fans.

  Soon, the host came to the final question.

  “Lastly, I want to ask Huang Wang something that his fans are very concerned about. Huang Wang, did you really used to be a professional boxer before you became an esports player? What inspired you to make such a decision?”


  Huang Wang helplessly raised his muscular arm to scratch his head. “Actually, this is a mistaken rumor. I was very weak before I started playing esports professionally.”


  The host was obviously stunned. “Huh? Then how did you become like that, Huang Wang?”


  Huang Wang laughed. “I used to train at DGE Club, where all the members were forced to work out. What’s more, the person who lost the most was made to do the most extra training. I was the one who had to do the most extra training back then.”


  The host was even more shocked now. “Huh? The person who lost the most had to do the most extra training? The other team members……”


  Huang Wang nodded. “That’s right. I was actually the lousiest member in both teams. Nine other people are much better than me!”


  Still shocked, the host asked, “Huang Wang, you only trained for a few months and became like that? Your training must have been very effective. Which gym did you go to?”


  Huang Wang smiled. “Deposit Fitness, of course!”


  Pei Qian: “?”


  All of a sudden, he realized that something was wrong.

  On further thought, Pei Qian realized that all of DGE’s members had already been sold to the other teams, but each of their bodies looked very outstanding!

  The members of the other clubs had also started working out, but too little time had passed for there to be any obvious results.

  On the other hand, DGE’s athletes looked much better than everyone else! One look, and the audience would be able to identify them!

  Weren’t they akin to walking billboards?

  As GOG’s international invitational tournament continued to become more popular, the audience would be able to identify the DGE member each time they walked up on stage. Then, if those members performed exceedingly well during the competitions and won the ‘Most Valuable Player’ prize……

  Wouldn’t DGE Club’s and Deposit Fitness’ popularity shoot through the roof?!

  Sponsors would not start approaching DGE, would they?

  Things looked more dangerous for Deposit Fitness. If even young teenage addicts could look like that, what about everyone else?

  A huge number of people would rush to sign up for sessions for sure!

  The hand that Pei Qian had been using to hold his milk tea began to tremble. All of a sudden, he realized that he had neglected to consider a very serious problem.