Chapter 422 - Chapter 799: Give Me A Performance!

December 30th, Friday, 8 AM...

Pei Qian turned off his alarm and struggled to get out of bed.

He had made up his mind to revise for the past two days and had finally achieved some results. He had at least read dozens of pages of the notebook. It was a good start.

It was the same today. He would wake up in the morning and revise as much as he could while his mind was clearer in the morning. That way, he would not have to worry about being a lazy bum every afternoon and night.

He looked at his cell phone as he brushed his teeth.

"Eh? The IOI International Finals started at midnight yesterday? Oh, that's right, it seems to be today."

"The competition seems to be ongoing."

The competition had started at 11 AM yesterday in Los Angeles, which was also at 3 AM Jingzhou Time this morning. They were playing six rounds a day, and they were now in the fifth round.

If the domestic audience wanted to watch the competition, they stayed up all night, watching it from dawn until morning.

Pei Qian was not that interested in IOI's competition. After all, he had not played it before and did not know much about it. The timing was not suitable. What's more, FV Club did not need to play in the group competitions.

Thus, he did not pay much attention to this matter. He only opened the live-stream platform to take a look after seeing the relevant news today.

Obviously, IOI's global finals were still quite popular domestically thanks to Long Yu Corporation's huge publicity efforts. All major news apps were promoting the news, and various live-streaming platforms had given a lot of recommendations. It looked very popular.

In addition, the GPL's pre-season competition had just ended a few days ago. The spring competition had not started yet. During this period, many players who had nothing to do would choose to watch IOI's global finals.

Pei Qian clicked into the live-stream and realized that there were two foreign teams that he did not know at all. They were currently in a state of equilibrium and were fighting anxiously.

The scene looked tense, but the bullet screen comments were not discussing the competition itself. Instead, fans on both sides of IOI and GOG were fighting wildly.

"Trash! The unveiling battle has been pushed to a draw. Stop playing the competition and swim back!"

"They're fighting so ridiculously that they are not even using their best heroes anymore. They are not using their original tactics anymore but are learning from foreign teams? They can't even learn properly!"

"It's just like a toddler learning to walk but lost whatever they had learnt previously! The playstyle is too ugly!"

"Such a good venue and great opening ceremony. The competition was so well-respected, but the domestic team was beaten up. Isn't that disgusting?"

"Everyone, please be more tolerant. This is only the first game. What's more, they have to learn it. The version has already changed. They will only lose more miserably if they continue playing in accordance to the previous version."

"F*ck, I stayed up all night, and this is all I got? If the GPL Spring Competition had not started, I would not have come to watch this lousy competition to suffer!"

"Then hurry up and go back to your GPL! It's a rubbish game that only our countrymen play."

"Oh, let me tell you something. The foreign market share of IOI and GOG has long been equal. GOG is not only played by our countrymen. It's just that GOG's domestic teams beat foreign teams."

"I don't know if you saw the GOG logo on the foreign club uniforms. Don't tell me you're blind and can't see it?"

"It's ridiculous enough to go against GOG's standard for the IOI Finals. Finger Games is probably going to explode in anger."

"That can't be helped. The club has already accepted sponsorship. We can't possibly force them to pay the penalty fee, right? We can only say that Finger Games did not think of this before. They did not forbid the club from accepting GOG's sponsorship."

"Stop arguing. GOG's results are indeed good, but that's only because Tengda is unreasonable! If IOI's E-Sports environment was not so badly squeezed, how could it be so weak?"

"Didn't Long Yu Corporation say that they brought their team to Los Angeles to play mock competitions? It's the classic blame the environment for not being able to do well."

No one was discussing the competition itself on the bullet screen. They were all arguing.

Pei Qian looked at the results of the previous competition and realized that both domestic teams had lost a competition today.

The first match was the opening battle, and they were defeated in thirty minutes. The fourth match, on the other hand, lasted for more than forty minutes. They did not manage to catch their last breath, and the opponents seized the opportunity to end the competition in one group battle.

They had lost both games. It could be said that the world had collapsed.

This was because the competition schedule for this competition was rather special. Each group had three teams and only one team would qualify. It was a double loop BO1, but every point was extremely important.

Losing the first round already made the qualifying situation very serious.

What was more important was that the two teams that lost were not the strongest teams in Europe and America. That was because the first seeded team of Europe and America was the same as FV Club. They did not even need to play group matches. They were waiting for the top eight.

If they could not even defeat the non-seeded teams in Europe and the United States, how could they survive when they met the strong teams?

Many viewers had stayed up until three in the morning to watch the competition. In the end, after waiting for so long, they had only watched two failed competitions. They must have been so angry that they could not sleep and were about to burst out in the live-stream.

What's more, it wasn't just the live-stream. The gamers on the various forums and video websites had also flamed it.

"There is such a huge gap between domestic teams and Western teams?"

"Yes, it's a good thing."

"FV's team has about the same strength as these two teams. Since both teams had been defeated, FV team will probably be knocked out in the first round for the top eight. It won't be too popular."

Pei Qian could not help but feel optimistic. He used his cell phone to project his phone on the big television, intending to quickly watch the highlights of the previous few competitions.

On Aili Island, IOI's official account had updated the opening ceremony of IOI's global finals and the highlights of the previous competitions.

The opening ceremony had invited a certain European and American singer to sing the theme song. There was also a dance team doing cosplay. The overall feeling was not bad, and it was rather impressive.

The venue was huge and crowded, so it looked more impressive. It was obviously much better, compared to GOG's international invitational tournament. That was why the bullet screen comments were more enthusiastic.

However, when it came to the main competition, the overall situation changed drastically.

Pei Qian jumped up to take a look at the two domestic teams that had lost. He realized that it was not wrong for these two teams to be scolded. If he had stayed up all night to watch these two matches, he would definitely scold them as well.

The first round of the competition was a draw. The second round of the competition had been drawn out for a long time. They had missed many opportunities before being swept away by the opponent. It was really hard to say which was more infuriating.

The key was that, perhaps because of nervousness or some other reason, these two teams did not seem to have the strength to fight. Their decisions were hesitant and their operations were restricted.

What's more, none of the heroes that Pei Qian had seen before had appeared.

Pei Qian had seen IOI's qualifiers in Shanghai before. He was familiar with the traditional lineups. He knew the heroes' appearance even though he did not know what the heroes' skills were.

However, they did not select heroes for the competition this time. It did not match Pei Qian's impression of the competition at all.

Pei Qian suddenly wanted to know more about FV Club.

Ever since FV Club arrived in Los Angeles, Pei Qian had not paid much attention to them. There were more than ten hours of time difference between the two places after all. It was not very convenient to link up with them.

However, the timing was perfect. Thus, Pei Qian gave Wu Yue a video call.

At first, Pei Qian was a little worried because most stadiums had bad internal signals. If Wu Yue and the others were still at the competition venue, he might not be able to take the video call.

However, after a while, the video call connected.

"Boss Pei!"

Wu Yue was obviously not at the competition venue but in the hotel. He had used the hotel's wireless network to make this video call, so the signal was quite stable.

Pei Qian nodded. "How's the situation over there?"

Wu Yue immediately understood. "Boss Pei, are you worried about our situation because you saw the other two domestic teams losing badly?"

"Don't worry about that. Our team members have been training hard all along. We don't dare to say that we will definitely win, but we will definitely show off our skills."

Wu Yue did not dare to brag too much. FV Club had always been training with SUG and had never touched European teams after all. He did not know what would happen if they really fought.

It would be too embarrassing if he bragged too much in front of Boss Pei and ended up losing in the top eight competition.

Pei Qian nodded. Wu Yueyi did not look very confident. It should not be a problem.

However, Pei Qian did not think that FV Club would really be eliminated in the first round of the top eight. After all, his luck was bad, whatever he hoped for never happened.

They could still make it to the top four if they could stand up to it.

They would be able to save face if they were eliminated in the top four.

At that time, netizens would definitely focus their firepower on the other two clubs. FV Club would still be the strongest club in IOI's local server...

That wouldn't do!

Pei Qian suddenly felt that the current situation was still not very stable. The main reason was that the performance of the other two clubs was too sloppy, which fired FV club up.

FV Club would still be the best performing domestic team if they made it to the top four without winning the championship.

At that thought, Pei Qian said, "I saw that our club's official Weibo has been posting daily photos and videos recently."

Wu Yue immediately understood. "I understand, Boss Pei. Are you saying that the competition is around the corner and that we should not publish such things so as not to attract hatred and affect the players' mentality? I'll tell them to stop posting on Weibo."

Pei Qian raised his hand. "No! That's not what I meant."

"I mean, this is a very good thing. We have to work harder on it!"

"You have to post on Weibo with high intensity every day to maintain the presence of the players."

"Not only that, we also have to work on Weibo to mock the other teams and comment on the competition that just ended. We have to specifically pick on the problem of winning teams."

"Jokes, an emoji pack, do everything you can! Bring high traffic!"

Wu Yue was a little confused. "Huh? Boss Pei, this is attracting hatred!"

He could imagine what the outcome would be once the content was published. It would definitely be criticized by gamers. What's more, gamers would take screenshots and dig graves for themselves!

Currently, FV Club was the number one seeded team. They could sit this one out and reap the spoils laters before the top eight competitions. Of course, it would not be a problem for them to talk about the other teams, but that would definitely offend the fans of other teams and might even cause passers-by to feel disgusted.

It would be alright if FV Club won the competition, but they would also be crushed if they lost!

Wu Yue was a little hesitant. "Boss Pei, this... doesn't seem appropriate. Domestic players don't like such high-profile behavior."

Pei Qian pondered for a moment. "Hm... you mean that domestic players don't like it and foreign players like it? Hm, that's right. What you said makes sense."

"How about this, your club will register on the foreign websites, such as twitter and the like, and work in sync with Weibo to make a complete English version!"

"We've coincidentally invested in some overseas clubs. I'll let their official accounts interact with you guys. There's no need to worry about not being able to attract traffic."

"Alright, it's settled then. We'll start the performance after the competition ends today. I'll check it tomorrow. I'll hang up first."

Wu Yue: "Boss Pei..."

The video call was hung up before he could finish speaking.

Wu Yue was helpless, but he had no other choice but to do as he was told.

Chapter 800: Strange Ten Million US dollars!

In the hotel, FV Club's data analysis team was discussing and analyzing today's competition with the team members.

The members of FV Club only participated in the opening ceremony today and returned after watching the first four matches.

The main purpose of watching the competition live was to feel the atmosphere of the competition venue in advance. After all, the players had never competed in such a large venue before and were cheered by 20,000 audience.

Since the venue was different, the pressure on the team members was naturally different as well.

The audience's applause and cheers were like a tsunami in a stadium with tens of thousands of people. If it was a critical match, the pressure on the players would increase exponentially.

Under such circumstances, most players would be nervous, their hands would tremble, and they would be sweating. Only a small portion of players would be excited, more focused, and perform beyond their level.

That was the value of the so-called players with big hearts and competition type players.

Of course, big hearts were something that people were born with. Some people could become famous after playing the competition for the first time in their teens, while others had been playing for several years, but their mentality would still shatter with a single touch.

However, this mentality could still be improved to a certain extent.

The members of FV Club had especially felt the atmosphere at the venue today and mentally prepared themselves in advance. They would probably feel better when the top eight competitions start.

Of course, the focus of the discussion was still on the competition.

"There's no need to talk about today's first match. The difference in strength between the two sides is too huge. Their understanding of the game version and tactics are wrong. There's no reference value."

"Both sides played well in the second round, but the mid-term decisions were too rough. There are many areas that could be improved..."

DGE Club's current coach, Zhou Pengyuan, was in the midst of reviewing the matches. The other members of the data analysis team, including the team members, were also constantly expressing their views as well.

After analyzing, Zhou Pengyuan gave a simple summary.

"Based on the situation on the first day of the group stage, these teams' understanding of the game version and play style are very different from ours."

"It's hard to say whose interpretation is the correct version. We cannot be too blindly confident."

"How about this? Tomorrow, SUG and FV Team Two, you can each go and practice with the mainstream play styles that appeared in the group stages. Use this playstyle to play a mock competition with Team One and see how the effects are."

"We don't have to learn other people's playstyles, but we have to at least have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of such playstyles."

Zhou Pengyuan assigned the tasks while the others noted them down.

The players would not be watching the competition tomorrow. The stats analysis team would watch the competition and review it. Then, they would tell the players the results of the competition and review it at night.

The players had to continue training. They had to study the playstyles of the other teams and expand their pool of heroes to maintain their hand sensitivity.

After completing all the tasks, everyone dispersed and returned to their rooms to rest.

After the three cameramen finished filming the day's material, they prepared to return to their rooms to edit the video and post it on Weibo.

Wu Yue quickly stopped the three cameramen, Manager Lu, and the others.

"Everyone, don't be in a hurry to leave. I have something to tell you."

"Boss Pei gave us a task just now. He wanted us to work harder on Weibo. What's more, we have to work on Weibo and Twitter at the same time..."

Wu Yue explained Boss Pei's requirements in detail.

All in all, how could they generate high popularity and high traffic? Treat both domestic and foreign teams equally and attack them!

After hearing Boss Pei's request, everyone's expressions were similar to Wu Yue's. They were all at a loss.

"How is this a performance job? This is obviously attracting hatred! The local players back at home are filled with resentment now. We were just worried that there was no breakthrough. The other two clubs are pretending to be dead. If we jump out now, wouldn't we be standing out to take the blunt of the hit?"

"I think it's alright. We're not the ones who lost the competition."

"The problem is that we didn't win either... If we do it now, passers-by will think that we are arrogant and kicking others when they are down. The fans of the other two clubs will also hate us. We will definitely be crushed by them!"

"Perhaps what Boss Pei is trying to say is that we should try something funny? We should not mock other teams."

"That's impossible. What Boss Pei wants is popularity and traffic. If we don't form teams against the other teams, how can we have popularity and traffic? Boss Pei is basically telling us to attack without any worries."

"We will definitely be criticized. The team members will be under a lot of pressure."

"It's alright. The team members can't play with their phones or surf the net. They won't know."

"But what's the point of doing this? The risks and rewards we take are not proportional."

If it was someone else's suggestion, everyone would have rejected it without even thinking. Was he afraid that he would not die quick enough before the battle?

There was no need!

However, since it was Boss Pei's request, they had to think of a way to fulfill it.

Everyone discussed for a long time but could not come to a conclusion. They could only follow his instructions.

It was a good thing that there were many people in the accompanying team. They could go online and search for interesting memes. Then, they could express themselves freely. They could find suitable pictures or videos, and they could quickly find materials to start an attack on Weibo.

The three photographers could photoshop pictures and edit videos, and translate them into bilingual subtitles for the performance.

...

The discussion about the opening day of the IOI International Finals continued throughout the day.

That was because many people did not stay up late to watch IOI's global finals. They only knew about the results of yesterday's competition when they woke up. Many GOG players participated in the discussion when they saw that both domestic teams had lost.

The true strength of the domestic teams was obviously the focus of everyone's discussion.

Both teams had lost their first battle in the group stages. The risk of qualifying had suddenly increased. Naturally, everyone would feel that the overall standard of domestic teams in IOI was much worse than foreign teams.

The world finals had just begun. Many viewers seemed to have already seen its tragic ending.

Comparatively, FV Club was the least spoken about since they had yet to compete, the topics were all focused on the other two teams that had lost.

The audience were busy catching the culprits and naturally had no interest in FV Club's "extravagant life ".

However, the players did not expect FV Club to post on Weibo again!

What's more, the content of this Weibo post was not about eating, drinking, and having fun. Instead, it was a mocking picture.

This picture was photoshopped together. The top half was a picture of an overseas swimming pool. In the upper right corner of the picture was a middle-aged man lifting the child high up out of the water with a smile on his face. The middle-aged man had a Tengda logo on his head while the child had an FV Club logo on his face.

On the left side of the middle-aged man was a struggling child who was struggling as if he was about to sink to the bottom. The second half of the picture was a picture of the bottom of the lake. A skeleton was sitting on a chair and seemed to have been dead for many years.

The two pictures were forcefully photoshopped together.

On the faces of the child and the skeleton were the logos of the other two domestic clubs: the one struggling on the surface of the water was the team that had been turned around after a fierce battle; the one at the bottom of the water was the team that had been flattened by 30 minutes during the opening battle.

The main message on Weibo was a sentence in Chinese and English: "My good brothers, are you alright? / Waving / Waving / Waving"

Once this post was uploaded, it immediately attracted the attention of countless players who were fighting.

The sarcasm was fully expressed!

The meaning was very clear. The other two clubs were in a worrying situation now. One of them had sunk to the bottom while the other was still struggling. However, they were not far from the bottom. Only FV Club was floating happily on the water, looking like they did not need to worry and had victory in their hands.

The Weibo post was filled with ridicule. On the surface, it looked like a greeting, but this "/ waving" expression, looked like they were waving goodbye to these two clubs.

As expected, they were criticized not long after it was posted on Weibo.

"That's so tasteless! Is this how brother teams kick people while they're down?"

"Hehe, the only reason you can still make sarcastic remarks now is because you did not appear yet. You are waiting for the top eight to be eliminated at 3: 0!"

Of course, there were also some other voices, but they were mostly neutral. They did not criticize or support him.

"It's alright. This is just a joke. Don't be too fragile."

"The problem is that those two teams did not fight well. If they did not fight well, why didn't they say anything?"

"Sigh, I suggest we don't post too many controversial Weibo posts at such a critical juncture. It's really easy to attract criticism."

Many FV Club fans were also worried for them. They were afraid that these Weibo posts would be criticized like dogs should they lose the competition.

However, less than ten minutes later, FV Club updated another Weibo post.

"We have a hunch that the 'damage conversion rate' of the entire FV team is not optimistic."

There were two more comparison pictures below. The first was "The Economics of Food of Other Teams". The accompanying picture was the accommodation and food choices of Courtyard by Marriott. The second was "The Economy of Food of FV Team". The accompanying picture was the accommodation and food choices of Ritz Carlton Hotel.

On the surface, it meant that the food and accommodation conditions were akin to the economy of eating in the game. Since FV Team's food and accommodation conditions were much better than other teams, they would have more money to eat and the damage conversion rate would be much lower.

However, in reality, they were showing off their better food and accommodation status.

The audience had yet to react, and even the haters had not thought of suitable ways to criticize them before FV Club had also updated their Weibo and tweets!

The content this time was much simpler. They only tagged a few traditional teams from overseas, including the first seed of the European and American competition zones. The attached picture was a promotional slogan on the wall of a village in China: "Recognize the situation and give up on fantasy."

In less than an hour, FV Club had uploaded four or five posts on Weibo and Twitter, all of which were in Chinese and English.

In China, there were still many people scolding on Weibo at first, but slowly, the number of people scolding became fewer and fewer.

That was because everyone realized that FV Club's work was still endless even though they were already out of words.

What's more, FV Club was not only doing it for domestic teams, but also for foreign teams...

For example, the second Weibo post was openly mocking the food and accommodation conditions of all the other teams, while the third post was declaring war on the other foreign seed teams.

Thus, by the time they reached the last few Weibo posts, most domestic players felt that FV Club was overconfident and could no longer continue to comment.

That was because FV Club did not have any competitions now. They had to wait until they lost the competition before scolding them even if they were to scold them for being arrogant. Otherwise, what would happen if they really won the foreign team after scolding them?

While many netizens in the country did not like such high-profile Weibo posts, they had to admit that it had a very good effect. The attention was immediately maxed out.

At first, everyone had been criticizing the two clubs that had lost the competition. Now that FV Club had suddenly jumped out to mock them, that naturally attracted everyone's attention.

The attention on the official Twitter account of FV Club was also increasing rapidly!

That was because Tengda had invested in many foreign veteran clubs. Thus, they only had to say hello and these clubs would interact with the official accounts of FV Club. Once they interacted, fans would come.

These live tweets were obviously much more accepted overseas. The comments section was filled with "LOL" and other laughing emojis.

After all, humility was a virtue to domestic players. They felt that they could not speak too confidently, for fear that they would be slapped in their face later on. However, foreign players did not care much about these things. They had the mindset of watching a good show, and would not think too much of it even if they were slapped in the face afterwards.

Thus, the attention of the official account of FV Club on Twitter was rapidly increasing. Several veteran clubs also followed them and expressed their appreciation for FV Club.

However, right after that, FV Club pulled these veteran clubs together to AOE.

The new post and tweet content was: "Genealogy of Tengda Family."

The bottom part of the picture was a tree-like family tree. Tengda was at the top of the tree-like picture. There was a thicker line connecting FV Club and labeling it as 'biological son'. There were also some thinner lines connected to other established European and American clubs such as FRY,labelling them as 'godsons'.

Obviously, FV Club sat in business class and stayed in a luxurious five-star hotel because they were treated by Tengda like its own son. On the other hand, the other clubs were only given sponsorships without giving a care to their food, accommodation, and other things. Naturally, they were treated as godsons.

What's more, it was not easy to refute this. FRY and the other veteran clubs had indeed received Tengda's sponsorship. Tengda's logo was even on their uniforms, anyone with eyes could see them.

Once this post was published, it immediately had the effect of killing the competition and was reposted by other players!

"Oh my god, FV Club has gone crazy... After they were done messing with the local and foreign clubs, they are now playing with the mentality of these participating teams..."

"They can't do anything useful but are best in performance!"

"I'm convinced. Their performance has indeed shown the standards of the first seeded team of our country."

"That's strange. FV Club's Weibo wasn't like this before. Why did they suddenly change to a new media operations editor?"

"I guess it was suggested by the club owner!"

"This wave must have been planned by Boss Pei. It's the same as the IOI qualifiers before. Everything was planned!"

When FV Club's first Weibo post was published, it indeed aroused the disgust of many people. After all, the entire performance was like trash talk. If they wanted to create a program effect, it would definitely cause a portion of people to feel disgusted.

However, many people suddenly accepted this setting and found it rather interesting after FV Club persisted on a few posts!

That was because FV Club did not only open fire on domestic teams, but also on foreign teams. They treated everyone equally and brought a lot of joy to the netizens. It also diluted the depressing atmosphere of the previous two teams losing the competition.

Coupled with the updated food and accommodation conditions on FV's Weibo, all the attention, be it domestically or overseas, were focused on FV Club.

They had yet to compete but the attention that FV Club received still increased rapidly, and it quickly surpassed the other two clubs!

...

At the same time, in a hotel near the headquarters of Finger Games...

Zhao Xuming swiped his cell phone and said with a dark expression, "Sh*t, how unlucky!"

For the past two days, Zhao Xuming had been visiting Finger Games. Chrétien had asked the employees of Finger Games to accompany him the entire time. It could be said that he had given him a lot of face and maxed out the treatment.

Zhao Xuming had also gone to the competition venue to watch the two domestic teams' matches today. In the end, he was filled with anger.

It was too embarrassing!

It would be alright if he won one of the two rounds. At the very least, they would win the first round.

In the end, both teams lost. One lost as though they had diarrhea while the other lost like they were constipated. It was hard to tell which team was more embarrassing.

Of course, Zhao Xuming had the right to be angry. After all, Long Yu Corporation had spent money to arrange for these two teams to come to Los Angeles for training in advance. They only managed to come up with this after training for so long?

All the money had been wasted!

However, Zhao Xuming did not say anything. After all, this was only the first day of the competition. If these two clubs played well, they would still be able to qualify. Thus, he decided to comfort them and not be too harsh on them as it would affect the players' mentality.

Initially, Zhao Xuming had already adjusted his mentality. However, FV Club's actions had caused him to collapse again.

Previously, Zhao Xuming had thought that the situation could not be any worse after both domestic teams lost on the first day of the group match, right?

He realized now that he was too inexperienced.

FV Club worked hard on Weibo and Twitter, and even interacted with foreign clubs. It directly attracted most of the domestic popularity and also attracted many fans overseas.

Many people might be criticizing them but being criticized was part of being popular.

FV Club was originally just a small club and had no reputation overseas. This wave of Weibo posting directly raised its status to the same level as established European and American clubs like FRY. It could be said to be profitable.

Of course, Zhao Xuming could not accept this.

That was because everyone knew that FV Club was a club that Tengda had invested in. The stronger FV's presence was, the worse Zhao Xuming would feel.

However, Zhao Xuming did not have any good ideas. He could not possibly tell Weibo and Twitter to block FV Club's official account, right? That would not do.

He could only feign ignorance.

At that moment, there was another notification on his cell phone. It was a new Weibo post from FV Club.

Zhao Xuming was speechless. "Again? When will they be done!"

He clicked on it and realized that it was a Weibo post on Tengda's family tree. Not only was there FV club, but there were also clubs like FRY that were sponsored by Tengda.

"What the hell is this?!"

"This is too much!"

Zhao Xuming was even angrier when he saw this post.

He had already noticed that many veteran European and American clubs had Tengda's sponsorship logo on their uniforms.

GOG's logo was actually on the team uniform on the stage of IOI's international finals. That was too embarrassing.

This matter was like a thorn in Zhao Xuming's heart, this thorn burrowed deeper into his heart after this Weibo post was up.

How did the clubs become Tengda's sons?

Once this picture was posted, it gave the netizens a feeling that the clubs in the finals were from Tengda and had nothing to do with Finger Games.

This was akin to riding their faces into the ground!

"Boss Pei had already sponsored these clubs a few months ago. Now that I think about it, he is really sinister!"

"If we continue like this, GOG's logo would appear on screen, be it in the small windows of the players in the competition or in the interviews after the competition. Wouldn't that be akin to advertising for GOG?"

"What's more, the more powerful teams there are left, the more frequent this situation would become..."

Zhao Xuming suddenly realized that this was a very serious problem especially if they were to think about the beautiful web of interconnectedness of the situation.

In the semifinals, perhaps all four teams would have GOG's logo on them. After the competition, they would be able to see GOG's logo no matter which team went on stage...

Terrifying!

In fact, it was equivalent to IOI spending a few million yuan to organize a grand international finals but in the end, Tengda Games they took advantage of the popularity of the IOI Finals to achieve excellent publicity through sponsoring a few clubs...

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The more he took a step back to think, the more he felt he was in a disadvantageous state.

After much consideration, Zhao Xuming decided to give Chrétien a call.

It was not impossible to remove GOG's logo now.

All he had to do was ask the clubs to breach the contract and pay the penalty.

However, he could not allow the clubs to fork out their own money. This money could only be paid by Finger Games. Of course, Zhao Xuming did not know how much the sponsorship fee was or how much the penalty would be.

However, they should choose the lesser of two evils. Instead of being taken advantage of by GOG from beginning to end, he might as well cut his losses and spend a sum of money to get rid of all the elements related to GOG in the group stage!

...

30 minutes later.

Zhao Xuming had been waiting for Chrétien's call. However, he couldn't help but feel worried since there was no response after waiting for so long.

Chrétien also agreed with Zhao Xuming's point of view. He felt that the frequent appearance of GOG's logo in the IOI global finals was very uncomfortable.

Thus, Chrétien decided to give the various clubs a call to ask how they had signed the sponsorship contract and how much they would have to pay if they broke the contract.

That took a long time.

Finally, the phone on the table rang. Zhao Xuming quickly picked it up.

Chrétien sounded a little helpless on the other end of the line. "I just asked. Tengda has sponsored ten clubs in total, one million US dollars each. They would have to double the compensation if they were to breach their contracts."

"Most of these clubs are in the world finals.

"I expect five such teams to enter the top eight, two to three teams to enter the top four. If we consider the top eight, we would have to pay ten million US dollars for breaching the contracts; if we consider the top four, we would have to pay four to six million US dollars for breaching the contract."

"This sum of money... is a little too much."

Zhao Xuming was at a loss for words.

Boss Pei had sponsored so much money?!

Previously, Zhao Xuming did not know the exact amount. According to the domestic price standards, each club could obtain a logo after sponsoring one million yuan, which was about 150,000 US dollars.

They could pay double the penalty fee if it was at this price.

He had not expected Boss Pei to spend so much money to sponsor these clubs. One million US dollars per club!

The clubs would definitely not be able to fork out the money themselves if they wanted to breach the contract. Dayak Corporation would have to fork out the money. However, they would have to fork out four to six million US dollars even if they only allowed the top four teams to breach the contract. This amount was really unacceptable.

Chrétien said, "I think it's too much of a loss for such a huge sum of money, so... forget it."

Spending millions of dollars just to remove the GOG logo on the participating teams? That was too stupid.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Xuming said, "That's true if we only consider the international competition, but... what about the leagues after that?"

"There will be competitions in the various regions soon. Most of the seats for the spring competitions in the two regions in Europe and America will be given to these veteran clubs. If we don't make up our minds now, then the spring and summer competitions in the various leagues in the future..."

"GOG's logo will appear very frequently!"

"What's more, Tengda is obviously making use of this to make a statement. We can tell from the tweet that FV Club sent."

"All the clubs have become Tengda's godsons and have nothing to do with Finger Games. What if Tengda continues to make an issue out of this in the future?"

"As long as GOG's logo is printed on the team uniform, it would be a slap to our faces!"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Indeed what would happen to the leagues once the international competition was over!

Tengda had basically sponsored the strong teams in the European and American competition zones. What would happen if the top few teams and the most popular teams all had GOG's logo on their uniforms?

Even if Chrétien wanted to do the opposite and sponsor GOG's team, it would be useless since they were impenetrable...

There were only two choices now: either bear with it and pretend not to see it, and wait for GOG's logo to be hung on all the teams in the international competition and various regional league teams; or spend a lot of money, even if they could not make all the sponsors violate the contract, they had to at least make sure that GOG's logo did not appear on the celebrity teams.

After a long silence, Chrétien said, "This is a very serious problem indeed. I'll report it now and hold a meeting to discuss it."

It was now the critical period for the world finals. Every extra day that GOG's logo appeared meant extra loss to Dayak Corporation and Finger Games. Therefore, they could not delay this matter and had to hurry up to hold a meeting to discuss it.

If he really wanted to breach the contract, he had to do it as soon as possible. That was because the earlier he did, the less impact it would have!

...

...

December 31st, Saturday...

Pei Qian was sleeping soundly.

He had been revising seriously without paying attention to anything else after watching IOI World Finals yesterday.

FV Club had followed his instructions and posted a lot of Weibo, which had already filled the hate points.

This morning's IOI's competition was between two other teams in the morning. There were no competitions with domestic teams in them, so Pei Qian did not pay attention to it since they could not stab him in the back.

No matter how he thought about it, today was a perfect weekend. He should have a good sleep.

However, his cell phone suddenly vibrated before 9 am.

Buzz... Buzz...

Pei Qian opened his sleepy eyes a little angrily. He turned around and tried to ignore it.

However, his cell phone kept vibrating.

Pei Qian could not fall asleep anymore. He sat up and looked at the caller ID speechlessly. It was He Desheng.

"Could there be something new on the Cold-Faced Lady's end?"

"That's not right. I've sold all of Cold-Faced Lady's shares, right? It should have nothing to do with Cold-Faced Lady."

"Then why is He Desheng calling me?"

Pei Qian was confused. He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

He Desheng sounded very excited. "Boss Pei, I have good news!"

Pei Qian: "?"

Pei Qian shivered subconsciously when he heard the words' good news'.

However, he could not think of any good news.

Could it be that Dream Realization Ventures had recently invested in a very promising company, and its valuation had suddenly skyrocketed, selling its shares to make a huge profit?

But there were no signs before this?

Pei Qian tried his best to remain calm. "What good news?"

He Desheng said, "Boss Pei, do you remember the foreign e-sports clubs that Dream Realization Ventures sponsored previously?"

Pei Qian's mind went blank.

Sponsoring... foreign E-Sports Club?

Pei Qian tried hard to recall. Finally, he remembered that Dayak Corporation had forcefully paid them a huge sum of money to buy the shares of Tengda Corporation's Finger Games. Pei Qian spent all the money that month because of his anger.

Amongst them, ten million US dollars was used to sponsor ten more well-known veteran e-sports clubs overseas and allowed them to set up a GOG branch. Then, they printed GOG's logo on their team uniforms and advertised GOG.

While this job should be done by Shang Yang Games, they had their own specializations after all. Thus, it was left to Dream Realization Ventures and He Desheng.

However, Pei Qian no longer cared about that after that.

After all, the money had already been spent. These teams would at most publicize GOG during the live-stream without causing much of a stir.

Pei Qian asked, "What... happened to these clubs?"

He Desheng could not suppress the happiness in his voice. "Boss Pei, I thought that you only sponsored these clubs to advertise GOG. I didn't think that there would be such a deeper meaning!"

"The bosses of five clubs contacted us just now. They said that they want to terminate the sponsorship contract with us and are willing to pay double the compensation according to the contract!"

"In other words, they have to compensate us with ten million US dollars!"

Pei Qian was flabbergasted. A string of question marks floated above his head.

???

10 million US dollars?

Compensate us?

Are these clubs crazy?

Pei Qian had only spent ten million yuan on sponsorship previously. Now, five of the clubs had to terminate their contracts and were going to pay another ten million yuan.

The money that he had spent previously came back!

No matter how one looked at it, Tengda was making a killing.

That was because the sponsorship of the other five clubs was still in effect. The five clubs that had terminated their sponsorship contracts had already advertised GOG for a long time. It was impossible for them to deduct the advertising fees.

It was as if the five clubs had advertised for nothing, and had each lost a million US dollars!

Pei Qian felt a little dizzy. He did not understand what was going on with these clubs.

Did water enter their brains, or did they think that they had too much money?

What was going on?

He Desheng was very happy and continued, "Boss Pei, I asked the person-in-charge of these clubs briefly before I knew what was going on."

"It was ordered by Dayak Corporation and Finger Games!"

"Finger Games could not stand seeing GOG's logo on the team uniforms of these teams. Considering the influence of the international competitions and the competitions after that, it was equivalent to advertising for the competitor GOG. Therefore, they decisively terminated the sponsorship contracts of these clubs!"

"This sum of money is definitely not from the clubs. It's from Finger Games."

"Even so, the clubs are still making a loss. After all, they lost a million dollars and spent so much money advertising for nothing. Finger Games would not give them any additional compensation."

"However, Finger Games had promised these clubs a seat in the league as a form of compensation. After all, the other clubs would have to pay for it if they wanted the seats."

"All in all, Boss Pei, you spent ten million yuan to sponsor these clubs. Not only did you achieve a good publicity effect, but you also took back everything!"

"Your operation is too perfect. You have predicted the mentality of Dayak Corporation and Finger Games perfectly. It's actually equivalent to an investment even though it's a sponsorship. What's more, it's a huge profit!"

Pei Qian could feel He Desheng's elated expression through the phone.

Who would have thought that the money that they had spent would grow wings and fly back?

Pei Qian could not help but feel speechless.

Chapter 801: Rumors of Cold-Faced Lady's Bankruptcy

A beautiful day ended with making profits.

Pei Qian had wanted to take a good nap today, revise, and eat some delicious food to reward himself. The arrangement was perfect.

However, the ten million US dollars dropping from the sky ruined his good mood.

Pei Qian was silent for a long time. Then, he asked, "This ten million US dollars... will it work if we donate it back?"

Based on the principle of who earned the money and who would spend it, since the money was earned by sponsoring clubs, it was better to use it on sponsoring clubs.

He Desheng said, "Boss Pei, are you saying that we should make a comeback, continue sponsoring the club, and continue earning?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Finger Games is not that stupid. They would not allow such a thing to happen a second time. Previously, we sponsored the club and asked them to put the GOG logo on their team uniforms. That was a loophole in the rules. Now, Finger Games has already requested that no other games can appear on the club uniforms that participate in IOI's official competition."

"Of course, the clubs that we previously sponsored are still in the gray zone. Finger Games could not bear to compensate them for breaching the contract, and the results of these teams are not that good. Therefore... we can only stop here."

"We can't continue sponsoring them. This loophole has been blocked by Finger Games."

Before this, Pei Qian had sponsored ten clubs in total. Now, five of them wanted to compensate and terminate the contract while the other five continued to be sponsored.

Obviously, Finger Games had chosen five clubs that were stronger and easier to enter the top eight to terminate the contract. As for the other five clubs, they really could not bear to part with the money.

After all, if he were to terminate all of the contracts, he would have to pay another ten million US dollars. Even Dayak Corporation would feel the pinch.

Pei Qian was very melancholic.

On the bright side, at the very least, the other five companies did not terminate the contract. Otherwise, he would have to earn another ten million US dollars. The pressure would be even greater...

He Desheng said, "Boss Pei, how do you think we should spend this sum of money?"

Pei Qian was silent.

Yes, how should he spend it?

The settlement would be in a month's time. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to spend ten million US dollars only at that point of time? Wouldn't that be too hard on his mentality?

Of course, there were still ways to spend it. For example, they could invest in the 'Mission and Choice' project, continue to advertise and sponsor GOG, or organize promotional events.

However, this sum of money was a little too much. He had to think about how to spend the most money to minimize the negative impact.

At that thought, Pei Qian said, "There's no hurry. I'll think about it."

Of course, He Desheng had no objections. "Alright, Boss Pei."

After hanging up, Pei Qian felt melancholic. His good mood from the day was gone.

He could not sleep anymore. He got up, washed up, and went to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to have breakfast.

After that, Pei Qian sipped his coffee as he browsed the news online.

Over the past two days, news of E-Sports and the gaming circle had basically been flooded by IOI's world finals. The GPL Spring Competition had not officially started, and there was only one large-scale competition after all. In addition, Long Yu Corporation had added fuel to the fire, so the news was overwhelming.

However, other than the results of the various teams in the group stages, there were also many news about FV Club, such as the generous training conditions that were exposed on FV Club's Weibo, as well as the live-streaming Weibo and so on.

What's more, it took up a lot of space and was very popular.

That was because today was already the second day of the competition. There was no competition for the local teams today, and they had lost badly yesterday. Neither the media nor the audience wanted to talk about it anymore.

FV Club was the number one seeded club in the country and had done some good performances. It was very suitable as material for news.

Thus, even if Long Yu Corporation did not like FV Club, the various games media outlets were on the lookout. In order to increase the number of views, they sent a large number of news sections to FV Club.

Pei Qian did not think too much about it. A certain amount of popularity would definitely be generated if he wanted to attract hatred. However, this popularity was unlikely to turn into profits. In fact, it would have negative effects after the FV Team lost the competition. Thus, there was nothing to worry about.

Pei Qian looked at the news on the other sections. Suddenly, a piece of news caught his attention.

"Rumors of Cold-Faced Lady's Bankruptcy, Meng Chang clarifies: Spreading false rumors!"

Cold-Faced Lady had nothing to do with Dream Realization Ventures anymore but Pei Qian was still paying attention to news about it.

If the Cold-Faced Lady became popular and her valuation skyrocketed, Pei Qian could relax. He had made the right choice and avoided earning more money.

If the Cold-Faced Lady project turned cold and confirmed that this was a rubbish project that would not be able to have a future even if he were to burn money, Pei Qian could consider continuing burning money.

Pei Qian quickly clicked on the news and realized that it had started because a certain media outlet had revealed that the Cold-Faced Lady's financing had failed and that its capital chain was tight. It had already delayed payment from suppliers and would probably become bankrupt in the near future.

This piece of news led to the start of negative news about the cold-faced lady.

In fact, ever since the Cold-Faced Lady was established, there had been many doubtful voices on the internet, including questioning whether its food was delicious, expensive, excessive marketing hype, and its fame was far greater than its substance.

However, the Cold-Faced Lady had been doing very well previously. The shop was popular both in physical stores and on the internet. In addition, the taste was passable. The price was subsidized and not particularly expensive. Thus, this sound did not cause much reaction.

However, the popularity of the Cold-Faced Lady on the internet had gradually subsided. The negative voices from before were naturally dug out coupled with this piece of news.

This news did not make much of a splash previously since it was just a conversation between 'industry insiders'.

As everyone knew, the chat history was not concrete, but it was better than nothing.

This news had also aroused many people's desire to discuss. Some people even wrote an article to analyze the Cold-Faced Lady's business model, openly expressing their weakness.

The title of the article was 'The Cold-Faced Lady's so-called Internet Thinking is nothing more than an act'. At the end of the article was a sentence that could kill the heart.

"I have to admit that Meng Chang has extremely strong cross-border thinking, extremely high IQ, top-notch execution, and superb eloquence. From any angle, he seems to be a perfect entrepreneur."

"However, common sense tells us that no one is much more stupid than the others in any era. No matter how smart a genius is, he can only fool consumers for a while and not for a lifetime. What's more, there are even smarter geniuses above geniuses. Perhaps in the eyes of other geniuses, such as Boss Pei, Meng Chang's thinking is as simple as white paper."

"Meng Chang has been emphasizing the internet thinking and the trend of the times. However, he's like a child sitting in the passenger seat of a car. He assumed he was in the driver's seat, thinking that he was in control of the direction of the car and collecting money from the passengers as a driver. However, in fact, whether it was the car or the road, it was not in his control."

This article was a perfect last hit.

The chat history that was released was not realistic. The Cold-Faced Lady could say that it had been smeared by its competitor. However, this article was written very carefully, pointing out a few fatal problems of the Cold-Faced Lady.

The most terrible thing was this sentence: Perhaps in the eyes of other geniuses like Boss Pei, Meng Chang's thinking was as simple as white paper.

Obviously, it was referring to Boss Pei selling the shares of the Cold-Faced Lady twice previously!

Everyone knew that Boss Pei's rate of success in investment was extremely high. Boss Pei had sold his shares twice in a row. That must be because Boss Pei thought that there was a huge problem with the Cold-Faced Lady model!

Thus, there were a lot of doubts.

On the other hand, Cold-Faced Lady immediately refuted the rumors, saying that the company's capital chain was healthy, the financing was smooth, and there were no problems with daily operations, asking everyone not to believe in the rumors.

However, the debate about the Cold-Faced Lady's business model had begun once again.

Many news websites that had reposted this news, as well as various major forums, had netizens discussing intensely.

Some people felt that the Cold-Faced Lady was just bragging to begin with, so it was not strange for it to fail.

Some people felt that the Cold-Faced Lady's situation was very good. The media was playing to the gallery and deceiving the viewers.

There were also people who felt that Meng Chang liked marketing so much. This was most likely a case of self-mockery and working with the media to generate popularity.

All in all, there were many different opinions. However, there were more and more doubts about the Cold-Faced Lady.

Pei Qian was speechless and conflicted as he read the comments online.

Obviously, many people knew about Dream Realization Ventures' sale of Cold-Faced Lady's shares. They thought that this was a clear signal: Cold-Faced Lady would die sooner or later if Boss Pei did not think highly of it.

However, Pei Qian knew very well why he sold his shares.

The contradiction was whether the Cold-Faced Lady could succeed or not. From the news that had been released, it seemed like it had encountered some difficulties. However, what if Pei Qian saved it by making a move now?

That was a dilemma.

Pei Qian thought about it for a long time and decided to deal with the changes as best as he could. He could not fall for any more tricks.

This time, he had to wait for the Cold-Faced Lady to completely fail. He had to wait until there was no possibility of saving before making a move. He definitely could not turn his losses into profits!

...

At the same time, Fu Hui Investments.

Li Shi and Xue Zhebin stared at each other with blank expressions.

Xue Zhebin probed, "Boss Li, your judgment of Boss Pei... seems to have deviated?"

"What should we do if Boss Pei exits totally?!"

Li Shi sipped his tea silently and did not reply.

After Li Shi and Xue Zhebin invested eight million yuan into the Cold-Faced Lady, Boss Pei immediately sold all of the shares that he had spent two million yuan on previously. Once again, he drew a clear line with the Cold-Faced Lady.

As a result, this immediately caused a chain reaction. Investors were even less optimistic about the Cold-Faced Lady model!

According to Meng Chang's plan, he would do his best after obtaining Boss Li's investment. He would hype up the Cold-Faced Lady's valuation and talk to more investors. In the end, Boss Pei's plan was akin to taking drastic measures to cut off Meng Chang's path of retreat!

Meng Chang could not get any investments and the Cold-Faced Lady was still burning money. The eight million yuan looked like a lot but in fact, it could not last long. The Cold-Faced Lady's capital chain was already very tight.

The news that the cold-faced lady was going to become bankrupt on the internet was a little exaggerated but it was not groundless. Investors were already not optimistic about this project. It was inevitable that news would leak out.

It became what it was today after the unscrupulous media added fuel to the fire.

Obviously, the Cold-Faced Lady was in a life-and-death crisis. Most of the companies that went bankrupt had problems with their capital chain very suddenly. They might die in a short time.

This showed that Li Shi and Xue Zhebin's investment was very stupid...

Of course, the other investors had shares of the Cold-Faced Lady so Li Shi was not the biggest sucker.

Everyone was feeling conflicted.

He wanted to sell it, but if everyone sold it, the Cold-Faced Lady's valuation would collapse instantly. Then, all the shares in everyone's hands would be worthless. None of them would be able to escape. However, if someone sold it and someone refused to sell it, the person who sold it first would be able to escape, and the person who sold it later would be trapped.

Xue Zhebin had been following Li Shi the entire time. In the end, he watched as Li Shi did his field research and repeatedly analyzed the situation. He had studied very seriously, but in the end, he seemed to have failed. This was quite a negative example.

Li Shi coughed to ease the awkwardness.

"Don't panic. The matter with the Cold-Faced Lady has changed, but it's obviously not over yet."

"The reason is Boss Pei's operations!"

"Boss Pei invested two million yuan and sold it immediately. Others might think that Boss Pei saw the problem with the cold-faced lady and withdrew in time, but I don't think so."

"If Boss Pei thought that there was something wrong with the cold-faced lady, he must have seen through it at the start. Otherwise, he would not have sold all his shares. Why did he invest two million yuan after selling them?"

"Is Boss Pei so free to play with Meng Chang?"

"Definitely not!"

"Obviously, there is a deeper meaning behind this two million yuan operation. In my opinion, Boss Pei might be deliberately sending a signal that the Cold-Faced Lady's valuation will collapse!"

"Boss Pei's actions are definitely not just to teach Meng Chang a lesson. I said before that Boss Pei only cares about profits and not emotions in business. Even if Boss Pei hates Meng Chang and gives him a little punishment, that can only be his second motive. His first goal is definitely to earn money through the cold-faced lady!"

"Boss Pei made a lot of money from selling the shares of the Cold-Faced Lady in the beginning. If that's all, the remaining two million yuan would not be necessary."

"That's why I think Boss Pei will definitely do something in the future!"

"I will choose a suitable time to purchase some shares of cold-faced ladies at a low price."

"This time, I want to predict Boss Pei's plan and walk ahead of him!"

...

...

January 1st, 2012, New Year's Day...

At eight in the morning in China, at four in the afternoon on December 31, 2011 in Los Angeles.

Pei Qian woke up as usual. He did not feel anything special about New Year's Day, nor did he have the habit of staying up until midnight to celebrate the New Year.

This year was the special 2012 year, so there were endless discussions about this year online.

A global disaster movie called 2012 was released in 2009, and the Mayans' fables had long been widely known.

However, Pei Qian knew very well that there was nothing worth paying attention to in 2012. The so-called end of the world on December 21st was just nonsense. Other than that, the Olympics, the United States presidential election, and the like had nothing to do with most people's daily lives.

Thus, Pei Qian was not in the mood to care about the special year 2012. Instead, he focused on his own matters.

He had to continue revising during the exam week and the results of the two domestic teams in the IOI global finals were out.

One team would be eliminated, and the other would persist until the additional round. However, they were still no match for the other team after the fierce battle. In the end, they lost the qualification to enter the top eight.

The second team's competition had just ended. The entire live-stream was filled with all sorts of curses. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the end of the domestic IOI!

Chapter 802: Inverting the Truth

In fact, it was understandable that the gamers were cursing.

Due to the time difference, most of the viewers who could persevere to watch the live-stream had woken up at 3 AM. In the end, they had worked so hard to stay away for many hours only to see this result. Anyone would find it hard to accept.

Today's competition could be said to replay the situation on the first day of the group stage.

One team lost like they had diarrhea, and the other team lost like they were constipated.

The first team was still alright. At the very least, they were eliminated cleanly with a score of 1-3. Fortunately they won one match and retained their last bit of face. The other team was more awkward. They had to persevere until the deathmatch. If they won, they would be able to advance. Both sides had wins and losses in the competition. It looked like there was a huge chance, but they were still lacking in the end.

A slight misstep could lead to a huge fall.

Was it the lack of hope that made the audience angry? Or did it give the audience a lot of hope and then ruthlessly deprive them of it, making them angrier?

It was hard to say.

However, there was no doubt that the audience had to vent their anger.

These two clubs had posted on Weibo to apologize to gamers the moment they were eliminated. However, it was useless. Angry gamers had taken over Weibo's hot comments. Someone had already planned a route for them to swim back.

Pei Qian could almost see the grand scene online after the FV Club were to become eliminated from the top eight competition with 3:0.

These two clubs might have lost, but they were not the first seeded team. They did not represent the highest standard of IOI in the country.

Therefore, even if they were scolded, it would only be for a week.

When FV Club start their top eight competitions next weekend, the audience's anger would definitely be focused on FV Club after they get eliminated as the first seeded team with 3: 0. It would definitely be ten times more intense than now.

Pei Qian was looking forward to it.

At that moment, FV Club sent a Weibo message.

Wu Yue did not forget Boss Pei's request. He was working hard all the time!

The content of the new Weibo post this time was: "My teammates and I". Then, the picture of a person walking out of the door was attached to the post. He carried a huge black trash bag in his left and right hand as he walked towards the trash can in the distance.

This person had the FV Club's logo on his head, and the two trash bags were the logo of the other two clubs.

Pei Qian could not help but give a thumbs up when he saw this post.

Well done!

This Wu Yue really did exactly as I said. This hatred was so intense!

The two domestic clubs had only been eliminated for less than ten minutes. The audience who had stayed up late to watch the competition had nowhere to vent their anger. FV Club's Weibo post had simply found a perfect place for them to vent their anger!

As expected, the number of comments below the post increased visibly.

"Good job! Those two teams are trash! They spoke my mind!"

"Good job, I suggest you use more force!"

"You have to train hard, FV. I won't criticize you if you play all five matches in the top eight."

"Why are you still doing this? Have you trained the powerful heroes in the game version? Have you prepared the secret weapon? Have you paid attention to the mental state of the players? You're the only one left. If you get 3: 0, you'll be finished!"

"Can you work hard and win a small game?"

"You have a hand in kicking a man when he's down, you're so happy when your brotherly team is eliminated. Let's put it this way, no matter which foreign team you draw, you'll be killed by 3: 0! The higher you jump now, the more you'll be scolded in the future. Just you wait!"

Two groups of people were fighting furiously under FV Club's Weibo post.

Fans who were angry at the other two clubs felt that FV Club had done a good job mocking them and found an outlet to vent their emotions. The fans of the other two clubs were heartbroken. Their hatred for FV Club once again exploded.

Some people wanted FV to win, while others wanted FV to lose. Players from different sides were attracted over. This Weibo post once again attracted a lot of attention.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this.

The higher the popularity, the worse the fall; the more traffic there was, the worse the backlash would be if they lost in the future!

Pei Qian sent Wu Yue a message at that thought: "The new work is done well. Increase the workload!"

...

At the same time, in Los Angeles, IOI International Finals.

Zhao Xuming was scrolling through his cell phone in anger.

"Is this FV Club crazy?"

"Don't they want to think about how ugly it would be if they lose the competition with 3: 0?"

"Not giving yourself a way out at all?"

"They spoke so fast, yet he ended up embarrassing everyone. Are they crazy?!"

Zhao Xuming was furious.

At that moment, all the group stages had ended. The first place of each group would be selected. The first and fourth seedlings would draw lots again to determine the top eight.

The current situation was a double blow to Zhao Xuming.

His ideal script was for at least one domestic team to fight their way out of the group stages. If they were lucky enough to draw lots, they would be able to play with FV Club, and the domestic team would be guaranteed a top four. That way, they would have more face.

In the end, both teams in the group stages had been eliminated. Naturally, the pushover FV Club would be taken advantage of by the others!

Wasn't it obvious why FV was a pushover?

Long Yu Corporation completely ignored the FV Club. They did not play high-end Rank, nor did they arrange any mock competitions with any European or American teams. Their playstyles were still in the previous version. Wasn't that a waste?

So what if they had been training with SUG? SUG was still a rookie. The more they trained with them, the worse they would become.

Then, the FV would be taken care of cleanly with 3: 0. That would be too ugly.

What made Zhao Xuming and Finger Games suffer even more was that other than the small teams in the country, there was a situation that was extremely shocking!

The other two teams were also fighting intensely. What's more, they were both in a life and death situation. The audience enjoyed watching them and there was a lot of discussion online. In short, everything was beautiful.

The only bad thing was they did not make it!

One of the veteran clubs that Finger Games had arranged to terminate the contract had been eliminated! The other team that no one thought highly of had entered the top eight without the mandatory termination.

One of the eight teams had GOG's logo on it when Zhao Xuming counted carefully!

There was no GOG logo on the team uniform of FV Club, but the problem was that everyone knew that this was a club that Boss Pei had invested in. It did not matter if there was a logo or not.

That was depressing.

The difference between 0 and 1 was the difference between have or don't have. This was not considered very serious, but it was very annoying.

Thus, Zhao Xuming became more and more furious as he watched the drawing of lots for the top eight.

At such a critical juncture, FV Club had done several performances in a row. They had mocked both domestic teams and all foreign teams in the top eight competitions, showing off their full potential.

Zhao Xuming was even angrier.

The key was that Zhao Xuming felt extremely embarrassed when they mocked the domestic teams!

A team might have failed but the official platform would definitely not kick them when they were down. That would affect the official platform, the entire competition zone, and even the image of this game in the hearts of players.

No matter how bad the game was, the official platform had to be sympathetic and encouraging. They had to save face.

Thus, when Long Yu Corporation released the news release, the main content must be: the two teams had gone through hard training and made many attempts and changes in the competition. However, they had not achieved good results due to the version understanding and weak foundation. They hoped to adjust their state and work harder. They also hoped that the audience would support and encourage them, and so on.

However, FV Club coming out to mock them, was going against the official platform. The situation would not look good.

What's more, these two teams had been brought to Los Angeles by Zhao Xuming with Long Yu Corporation's money for early training. They had spent money but had no results. It would be difficult for Zhao Xuming to report to the higher-ups of Long Yu Corporation.

It was a blood loss no matter how he thought about it!

Zhao Xuming could not help but frown as he seriously thought about what he should do to turn the situation around.

Suddenly, he looked up and saw the results of the lottery on the big screen. His eyes lit up.

He had an idea!

The rules of drawing lots were that the four first seedlings would be selected to be first in four teams. Whoever was selected would be considered first. There were no rules such as avoiding competitions.

FV Club, on the other hand, had picked the European club that made the killing on the domestic team!

On the other hand, the established and strong FRY Club had drawn the United States Club, which had won against another domestic team after a tough battle.

Based on their current strength, these two semifinals would be completely one-sided. It would be less entertaining.

However, to Zhao Xuming, this group gave him a precious opportunity to control public opinion.

Zhao Xuming's assistant was sitting beside him, watching the feedback on the internet.

The difference was that Zhao Xuming was mainly focused on domestic affairs while his assistant was mainly focused on the comments of foreign players on Twitter.

"Boss Zhao, the picture from FV Club has gone viral on Twitter."

"Many people are already spamming words like 'cn IOI noob'. What's more, some of them are even using that picture to create something else. The target of ridicule has already spread to all the domestic IOI teams..."

"What should we do?"

Zhao Xuming took the cell phone from his assistant.

The picture of "My Teammates and I" that FV Club posted on Weibo and Twitter at the same time was very popular.

However, the feedback of the local and foreign players were different. The local players were divided into two factions. One group scolded the two local clubs while the other group scolded FV. On the other hand, the foreign players' attitudes were more uniform. They were all mocking.

Below this tweet, many foreign gamers were spamming 'cn IOI noob', meaning that the domestic IOI standards were too trashy and was at the rookie level.

The topmost picture was a second creation of the previous picture. The original picture was of a man carrying two bags of trash towards the trash can. This picture was a man plunging into the trash can while throwing the two bags of trash aside.

The meaning was clear: FV Club, stop mocking other clubs. You are trash yourself!

It was normal for such public opinion to appear. After all, the two teams in the country had been eliminated from the group competition and only the first seeded team was to directly compete in the top eight. On the other hand, the teams in the European and American teams had fought their way to the top eight and were now sandwiching the remaining FV.

Most foreigners were the type who would ride on your face and mock you if they won. Many people felt that victory was already in their hands now. It was not surprising for similar comments to appear.

Zhao Xuming remained silent for a moment and sighed helplessly. "Sigh, what can we do? E-Sports still depends on strength. If their team wins, we won't be able to say anything even if they mock us."

"We had bad cards from the beginning. We could not win no matter how we played. There was nothing we could do. However, we still had to work hard to play our cards well and lose as little as possible."

The assistant nodded. "What should we do then?"

Zhao Xuming thought for a moment and said, "Popularity, traffic, right to speak!"

"The two domestic teams that we have high hopes for have been eliminated and FV Club cannot be counted on either. Thus, it is no longer possible to rely on results to hype things up."

"If FV Club gets good results, it would not be good news for us. Of course, the probability of that happening is very low."

The assistant nodded, immediately understanding Zhao Xuming's words.

Everyone knew that FV Club was Boss Pei's club. Now that two domestic teams had been eliminated in the group stages, if FV Club won the top eight, players would think that it was "Boss Pei's success" and not "Long Yu Corporation's success".

On the other hand, if FV Club lost, Long Yu Corporation would still be the first to be scolded, but at the very least, it would not generate popularity for Boss Pei anymore.

Zhao Xuming's idea was not to think about being scolded for the time being. Instead, he wanted to focus his attention on IOI's local server and Long Yu Corporation!

Zhao Xuming explained, "GPL's Spring Competition is going to start next week. This is a very sensitive time because next week is also when the quarterfinals start."

"FV Club would probably be beaten up at 3: 0 on the same day."

"The most disadvantageous thing for us now is that the failure of domestic teams in the IOI World Finals would greatly extinguish the passion of IOI's local server players and diminish their sense of belonging and pride in this competition zone."

"Many people would definitely turn to GPL and play GOG instead. This is unacceptable to us!"

"Therefore, we have to plan ahead and think of a way to protect these players."

"We want to publicize that IOI is the most popular game in the world with many people playing it overseas. On the other hand, even though GOG is doing well, only domestic players are playing it. It is not well-known overseas."

"What's more, we can provide a lot of evidence.

"For example, IOI's global finals were held in a huge stadium with 20,000 people in Los Angeles, while GOG was only held in a recording studio in Jingzhou. Another example, IOI's domestic team in the global finals was defeated and eliminated, while GOG's domestic team took the top three places. This shows that there are many players playing IOI overseas, and their standards are higher than GOG."

"If you want to connect with the world and experience the most competitive games, you still have to watch IOI."

"That way, many gamers would think that GOG's gamers are very ignorant. GOG's international invitational tournament has domestic teams in the top three because foreigners don't play it. IOI is the game that receives the most attention in the world. You should feel superior playing it..."

"It might be a form of spiritual victory, but it should be able to have a certain effect. The netizens on both sides fighting is also a form of popularity. It's better than no one caring about it."

"If we want to fight for traffic with the opening battle of the GPL's Spring Competition, we can only do this. There is no other way."

The assistant could not help but raise his thumb. "Boss Zhao, you can think of such a method even in such a pessimistic situation. You're really amazing!"

Zhao Xuming's move was actually distorting the truth.

Numerous people had already explained on the internet that GOG's overseas market share was not low. It was basically on par with IOI in the PC field. It was even more outstanding in the mobile games field.

However, many people still had the illusion that visiting monks chant scriptures better.

In many people's hearts, foreign games were good, domestic games were counterfeit. Since IOI was an overseas game, it must be better than GOG.

Therefore, even though GOG was more localized, suiting the local aesthetics, and the gameplay was more suitable for most ordinary gamers, there would still be people who felt that it was inferior to IOI, the "foreign monk".

This concept had always existed. What Zhao Xuming wanted to do was to deliberately create a sense of "IOI players are more noble than GOG players" by spreading news online and strengthening this stereotype.

That way, IOI's team would be defeated overseas and GOG would be defeated domestically. The entire situation would change.

The former was because IOI was an international competition. Their domestic standards were indeed not good. It was a form of challenge and normal for them to lose. The latter was because GOG was a domestic club that was entertaining itself. It could not explain the problem even if they tortured foreign teams.

In an instant, he had reversed the situation and turned the tables!

Of course, there was a distortion of facts in this argument.

However, such tactics were very common in business competitions. It was understandable that everyone would say something that was beneficial to them.

The assistant immediately followed Zhao Xuming's instructions.

...

...

January 2nd, Monday...

Pei Qian was revising in the study room.

While he had many places to revise, such as Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, his own home, his company's office, and so on, he found that revising in the self-study room was still the most efficient after trying all of them.

He had to admit that sometimes, if he wanted to focus on something, the environment was very important. His self-control alone was not enough.

This week was the official start of the exam week. Pei Qian felt immense pressure, especially during the closed examinations. He had no choice but to cram.

Halfway through, Pei Qian habitually took his cell phone and browsed the forum.

He had only done it subconsciously, but he did not expect to gain something unexpected!

There were still endless criticisms about the IOI World Competition's crushing defeat on the various forums. There was still no sign of stopping after an entire day. It was enough to show how angry players were.

However, to Pei Qian's surprise, there seemed to be a subtle change in public opinion!

It was obvious from the title of some popular posts in the forum.

In a post titled "Domestic eSports began late, has a weak foundation, and has to continue working hard", the original post explained in detail the objective reasons for IOI's loss in the international competition.

For example, the IOI branches of the various clubs had basically been attacked by GOG, and their personnel had been replaced. At the same time, many players found it difficult to maintain their state because of a lack of mock competitions, and so on.

Similar problems existed objectively there were always tons of them.

However, that was not the main point.

Someone in the post refuted the viewpoint of the post. "Why does IOI represent domestic eSports? GOG's international invitational tournament had only been held a few months ago but hasn't it just beaten foreign teams? Why doesn't GOG have this problem?"

In the end, this reply was exactly what the poster wanted.

"What's the point of discussing results in a game that only our countrymen are playing and has a low reputation in the world? At the moment, IOI is being played overseas, and the foreign clubs are mainly playing IOI. What does GOG's dominance mean?"

Someone immediately refuted, saying that the veteran foreign clubs also had GOG branches. They had all participated in GOG's international invitational tournament, but they could not win. Otherwise, why did they not come and take the prize money?

However, the original poster still had something to say.

"These veteran clubs established the GOG branch only because Tengda gave them money. It's said that they gave them a high sponsorship fee, and they played with you on account of money. To put it bluntly, GOG's invitational tournament is to pay foreign teams to play as punching bags to satisfy the vanity of the countrymen. You don't really think that this is the true level of competition for domestic and foreign teams, do you?"

Both sides argued and argued.

Obviously, the original poster's argument was deceiving many people who did not know the truth. In addition, the fake reviewers added fuel to the fire. The debate between the two sides was very intense.

There were also many gamers who painstakingly explained that GOG had a high market share overseas. It was not much different from IOI, but the results were minimal.

That was because IOI's loyal gamers and fake reviewers were not there for rational discussion. No matter what GOG's gamers rebuked, they only kept on spamming comments such as' entertaining themselves' and 'spending money to do their bidding'.

Repeating numerous times would increase the impression of stereotypes and tear each other apart online. The truth was not important. Most people only needed to emphasize a fixed label repeatedly. Even if the label was low-class and brainless, someone would remember it as long as it was repeated enough times.

Most of the time, the so-called "discussions" online were the same as a shrew cursing on the streets. They did not compete on logic but on who was louder.

Obviously, this group of people were well-versed in the principles of fighting online. Using a small number of people to achieve excellent results.

Many GOG players were furious, but Pei Qian was happy.

Alright, it looked like Long Yu Corporation was not a slacker. It was finally working!

Long Yu Corporation's performance during the qualifiers in IOI was really bad. Pei Qian only went to watch the competition live and did not do anything. Long Yu Corporation collapsed without a fight. Pei Qian was really disappointed.

However, Long Yu Corporation was finally struggling now!

Pei Qian was very pleased and hoped to increase the intensity!

The fake reviewers would definitely be able to affect the popularity of the GPL spring competition as long as you continue to criticize FV Team when they were tortured in the top eight competition this weekend!