Random Chapters of MTL Novel

Pan Ying thought for a moment. "Perhaps it's because the coaches have already explained the various ways of playing in detail before. We have also conducted many targeted training, so everyone knows what to do. Everyone will understand after I say a few words."

"That's why I'm not doing any special operations."

The host was very surprised. "So, including the exchange of resources in the early stages, the explosive kills, and even whether or not to engage in the team battle, were all arranged by the coaches beforehand?"

Pan Ying nodded. "While it's impossible to be specific to each team, based on the economic gap between the two teams and the key equipment of the core heroes, we can determine if we can have a group attack. These were all instructed by the coaches in advance."

The audience looked very surprised after hearing the translation.

Pan Ying's words were a little nonsensical, he was not the first member to say that.

All the members of FV Team, including the top, middle, and jungler players who were interviewed previously, all said that their performance was inseparable from the arrangement of the coaches. It would be easy to win as long as they played according to the plan planned by the coaches.

The host asked again, "What do you think is the most important thing to win this championship? Teamwork? Or trust between teammates?"

Pan Ying thought for a moment and said, "Thank you to the coaches for arranging tactics for us, and our brother team's SUG for sparring with us. I feel that there is no obvious difference between our team's overall strength and FRY's teams. We can only win because we are well-prepared."

"Of course, the most important thing is to thank our boss, Boss Pei. That's because all of this was arranged by him."

The host was a little surprised because all of the team members had unified their opinions and attributed the greatest credit to the coaches!

This was actually a relatively rare situation.

That was because even though all the e-sports clubs in the world had the position of coach, the position of coach was far from being absolute.

In the country, many players were internet addicts and high score passers-by. They looked down on the coaches from the bottom of their hearts. They felt that the coaches' scores were not as high as theirs so why should he teach them how to do things? Their analysis was so logical but yet they could not even handle high-end games. How could they use it to compete?

That was why the coaches of many clubs in the country had been reduced to ordering take-out. The strategy that they had developed was more of a suggestion. Celebrity players had a strong say.

The current situation in Europe and America was not much better.

The other coaches would basically be given for nothing unless a retired veteran changed professions and became a coach.

It was unheard of for teams to be completely obedient to the coach team like FV Team. It was also unheard of for a coach to be able to completely calculate the situation on the field and make arrangements in advance.

Finally, the host came in front of Coach Zhou Pengyuan.

"Coach Zhou, the players have all attributed the credit for winning the championship to the coach team. May I ask how the FV's coach team developed these extremely imaginative tactics?"

The tactics for these three rounds, be it using force demolition to deal with global style, swaping lanes to ensure Chaos Misfortune's development, or the adopted torture method of the Storm Swordsman and Specter Blacksmith, were very imaginative.

Not only did the opponent FRY Team not realize it, even the commentators and audience did not realize that FV Team would play this way.

Zhou Pengyuan smiled and said, "That's because we have a special data analysis team. We have a comprehensive evaluation of the values of all the heroes in the first, middle, and later stages after the modification. We have dug out many heroes that seem unpopular but can actually be used through online training and mock competition. What's more, we have a special tactical team that will move some classic tactics over and turn them into their own tactics."

The host was listening intently when the director's slightly nervous voice suddenly sounded in his earpiece. "Don't continue to pursue this question!"

The host's expression changed. After listening to the director's simple explanation, he realized that these tactics had evolved from GOG. If he continued, there would be a huge problem. He quickly changed the question.

"Then, may I ask what's the meaning of winning this championship for your teaching career? Are you planning to charge to another peak with FV's players in the future? For example, continue your current dominance and fight for the championship for next year's world finals?"

After a moment of silence, Zhou Pengyuan said, "Actually, I was only arranged by my boss to be FV Team's coach before the international competition began. To me, this championship is a good interlude for my teaching career."

"As for the future… I'm not sure if I'll continue to be FV Team's coach because I still have my own team to take care of. However, working with FV Team members and the other members of the team is quite enjoyable. It's hard to say what will happen in the future."

The broadcast director's nervous voice sounded in the host's ears again. "Don't ask this question too deeply! He's GOG Team's coach!"

The host was speechless. What was going on with the interview? Why were there pits everywhere!

He did not dare to ask any more questions. What if he asked something that he should not say? Wouldn't that be a huge problem?

There had not been big problems for the entire international finals. What would happen if the interview at the end of the award ceremony failed?

The host quickly said, "OK, thank the FV team members for the interview again. Let us give the applause and cheers to the champion team of IOI's global finals, FV Team!"

IOI's global finals finally came to an end amidst the warm applause and cheers!

...

At the same time, the live-stream in China exploded.

It was not only the live-stream but also countless viewers and players on various forums discussing the final interview.

"Why are these FV team members acting so pretentiously?! Every interview has a signature sentence!"

"The top laner with 'as long as you have hands', the jungler with 'teammates kill too quickly', the middle lane is 'basic operations', the bottom lane is 'hanging out with teammates', the support is 'not commanding much', so heartless!"

"That's not right. I've seen the live-streams of these people playing games. They don't seem to be so pretentious. Could they have been infected by someone?"

"This answer is ridiculous. Everyone feels that they are not carrying the team but doing what they are supposed to do? Could it be that they are sucking up in a ring? There is no thigh in the team at all, or perhaps everyone is the thigh?"

"No, didn't the team members tell you the truth? The biggest thigh in the team is the coaches!"

"Pan Ying said that all the tactical strategies and possible situations in the competition have been arranged in advance by the coach. Is this true? Is it that abnormal?"

"Holy sh*t, I'm convinced by Old Zhou's interview! Getting the IOI global finals champion was just a small interlude in his teaching career?"

"Perhaps Old Zhou thinks that teaching DGE is more important. After all, he did not play IOI before. He came over to teach for more than a month and brought FV Team to the world championship. He probably doesn't find it challenging!"

"Indeed, I think Old Zhou's next goal should be to train the members of DGE well. He should strive to send more new players with potential to the various clubs. He should strive to train more players to win more GPL championships!"

"Old Zhou said that there is a special data analysis team and tactical team analyzing IOI's game version and moving mature tactics over. Isn't the so-called 'mature tactics' the tactics in GOG? For example, forced demolition. This is obviously the tactics that used to be popular in GOG!"

"That's true. Moreover, the last round's adopted father seemed to be an unpopular tactic in GOG. It was not very useful in the IOI competition at first, but the last hit rule was modified. That's why it was so effective!"

"This interview is too short. There's no meaning to it. There are still many key questions that they haven't asked?"

"I don't think he dares to probe any further. If he continues asking, Old Zhou would say that he had been playing GOG all along and had only been researching IOI for a month. Would he still be able to watch such a scene? That would become a live-stream accident!"

"I hope the local media can interview the FV team. I feel that their month in Los Angeles was quite mysterious. They changed for no reason. I didn't expect them to be in the same team as the FV team that only managed to obtain the first seed in the domestic qualifiers!"

"In short, let's look forward to the championship team coming back victorious! I can't wait to see them live-stream!"

Public opinion in the country was filled with optimism after FV Team won IOI's global finals.

From the defeat of the other two teams in the group stages at the beginning, to the surprise of FV Team turning the tide in the top eight, and then to winning the championship in such a dominating manner in the finals, the entire IOI global finals could be said to be a huge show that made the audience feel satisfied.'

Even many GOG players who did not have a competition to watch because GPL competition was not open were very happy. They were sincerely happy for FV Team.

This was Boss Pei's team after all. Coach Old Zhou was a member of DGE. Naturally, he made people feel close to him.

A post appeared on the forum amidst this joyous atmosphere. It quickly caused a heated discussion.

The title of the post was: "What kind of magic does Boss Pei have to remould FV Team from a bottom-tier team to the world champion?"

Chapter 856: Perfect Time Arrangement!

"FV Team won the championship easily with three 3: 0s, IOI's global finals finally came to a perfect end. FV Team's stunning performance in Los Angeles undoubtedly left a deep mark in our country's e-sports history for domestic players, and also left us a beautiful memory that we can remember for life."

"Who would have thought that this would happen a few months ago where an unknown team would have absolute dominance if this had not happened? The five main players of the team were also wandering around, with no fixed residence."

"When the correct five people walk together, they would explode with energy that would shock the world. However, what I want to emphasize is who was the one who made the correct five people walk together? Who formed FV Ultimate Fantasy's coach team for them?"

"Actually, if we look back at the group photo of FV Team when they set off for Los Angeles, we would be surprised to find that many of them look ordinary, but they actually have a huge background!"

"Next, I'll reveal the identities of the members of this Dream Team to everyone!"

"When I first saw this picture, I felt the same as most people. I felt that it was making a mountain out of a molehill. The other two clubs added together did not have as many people as FV Club. Would they need to make it so grand to go out and compete?"

"However, after asking around for the identities of the people in this photo, I realized how powerful this Dream Team was!"

"First, there are five starting members of FV Team and Coach Old Zhou. Everyone knows them, it's needless to say. Next to them are FV's boss Wu Yue and Manager Lu, and next to them is FV's second team. They are adding strength to the original three members. Then there are the main members of SUG and Boss Ding Gan..."

"Previously, many people revealed that FV Team did not have any mock competition. The other teams did not want to deal with them, but in fact, Team Two and SUG had been training with them!"

"Of course, that's not the main point. The main point is that these people that no one knows about are the core members of the FV Dream Coach team!"

"This is Min Jingchao. He is GOG's current chief designer. He is in charge of all the figures and balance designs. This is Ye Zhizhou. He is the chief designer of Shang Yang Games. Do you remember that IOI's local server was once managed by Shang Yang Games? He was the person-in-charge back then."

"There's also this man who looks a little dark and skinny with an unconvinced expression. His background is even bigger. He's the famous 'Traveler Bao Xu' of Tengda, a veteran of Tengda who has been second place for many outstanding employees awards! It's said that he's behind the outstanding games in Tengda. What's more, he's not only good at designing games, but he's also good at playing games. He's an elite gamer in many games!"

"In other words, FV Team's tactical team does not only include their original coach and analyst, but also GOG's designer and GOG's original Master Tactician! It's no wonder that they could so naturally use the tactics in GOG in IOI's competition!"

This post caused a heated discussion immediately.

In fact, this photo had been posted on FV Team's official Weibo for a long time. However, at that time, everyone's focus was on the number of people, and they did not delve into the identity of these people.

Now that someone had exposed it, everyone realized that GOG's chief designer had personally gone to Los Angeles to do data analysis for FV Team?

What the heck!

The chief designer of GOG and the former core member of DGE, Old Zhou, could be said to have the best understanding of GOG's game. One provided data support in the game, and the other formulated strategies based on the team's actual situation. If the two of them worked together, they would definitely be able to master control everything.

The most important thing was that they were not fighting alone. The coaches and analysts of so many GPL teams were constantly digging deeper into tactics. Old Zhou had a huge resource warehouse that could be used as he pleased; Min Jingchao could also get the other designers of GOG to analyze the game data.

From the looks of it now, FV's logistics team had basically brought all of the GOG Development Team and GPL's reserve tactics over. This was not an expedition at all. It was the headquarters riding the face!

Wasn't it obvious who sent these people?

Wu Yue might be the boss of FV Club, but how could he hire people like GOG's designer and DGE's coach for tactical analysis?

Obviously, this would only be possible if Boss Pei was involved!

"It looks like Boss Pei is responsible for winning the championship!"

"Boss Pei is really worried about our country's E-Sports career. First, he organized the GPL, invested capital, and created a good environment for domestic e-sports development. Then, he personally sent his chief designer to do tactical analysis to help the domestic team win the IOI global finals!"

"Now that I think about it, FV would not have been able to win the championship without Boss Pei's support. In fact, these few rounds of competition were all crushing tactically. There was no obvious difference between individual strength of the team members and the opponents... The consequences of IOI's global finals would be unimaginable if not for Boss Pei!"

"Thank you, Boss Pei!"

"Boss Pei, the savior of domestic e-sports!"

...

At the same time, Pei Qian, who had just finished watching the competition, was browsing the forum. He fell into a daze when he saw the post.

FV Team crushed the championship with a 3: 0. That was already a heavy blow to him.

On the other hand, this post added another heavy last hit to the foundation!

"What do you mean? It's all my fault that FV Team won the championship?"

"Outrageous!"

"Min Jingchao, Ye Zhizhou, Bao Xu... I asked you to go on a holiday! Wu Yue can't command you, so why are you so proactive and spend so much effort to do tactical analysis for FV!"

"Damn it!"

Pei Qian put down his cell phone, too angry to speak.

FV Team won IOI's global finals. There was a huge problem!

This time, IOI's global finals had a lot of bonus and skins. Three million US dollars in addition to 25% of skin sales revenue made up the prize pool. The champion would get 50%, and the club would get another 20% after deducting taxes. This sum might not be much but it was very upsetting!

That was not the most important thing. The most important thing was the brand value of FV Club!

As the champion team of IOI's global finals, how many fans would they attract after the competition? How many sponsors would come to them? How much would the club's shares increase?

The team members had also attracted a lot of fans. If the live-stream platform signed a contract with them at a high price, the club would also get a commission according to the rules. That was another sum of money...

Pei Qian could not help but feel despair.

There would not have been so much needed if FV Team had only obtained the runner-up position. The difference between second place and first place was like heaven and earth after all.

However, everything had already happened. It was too late to salvage the situation!

Pei Qian was feeling melancholic when his cell phone rang.

He picked it up and saw that it was a call from Wu Yue from Los Angeles.

The corners of Pei Qian's mouth twitched as he picked it up reluctantly.

There was no need to guess. He must be going to tell him the good news!

Wu Yue's excited voice came from the other end of the line. "Boss Pei! Have you seen the competition? We won!"

Pei Qian praised reluctantly. "Yes, well done."

Wu Yue became even more excited after receiving Boss Pei's praise. "I have to say that Boss Pei, your logistical support is really on point! Be it food, accommodation, or hotels, they are all the highest standards. There are also bodyguards, tour guides, and nutritionists who follow the team. The team members have no worries at all. Of course, they can focus on preparing for the competition!"

"The coach team is also very important. Boss Min, Boss Ye, and Boss Bao are all doing their best and doing their best. They have analyzed the data of every hero in detail!"

"All in all, we would never have won the championship without your strategy!"

"How much will the club get this time?" Pei Qian casually asked, feeling a little melancholy.

Wu Yue answered truthfully. "I asked the official staff of Finger Games just now. It seems that the skin income in the bonus pool is about 1.8 million US dollars. In addition to the original 3 million US dollars, 50% of the championship prize pool. After deducting taxes, the club will get 20 %..."

"About 400,000 US dollars. That's about three million US dollars!"

"However, the distribution of bonuses overseas is more cumbersome. It might take some time to really get it."

"However, don't worry, Boss Pei. This sum of money might not be enough to support our expenses in Los Angeles, since we spent four million yuan. However, sponsors have already approached us to discuss cooperation! As long as we take on a few advertisements as a club, we can definitely earn back the money!"

"Boss Pei, thank you for your trust in us. The four million yuan was not spent in vain. The money for first class and accommodation was earned back after we won the championship! In the long term, it was a huge profit!"

Pei Qian was speechless.

What the f*ck?!

My money was wasted!

He had thought that he could easily spend four million yuan by sending FV Team to Los Angeles to eat, drink, and play. Now, he realized that not only did he not spend four million yuan, but he had also earned a sum of money. He had even gifted a world-renowned club!

What was this?

What a loss!

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the angrier he became. He could not let it go just like that.

"When are you guys flying back?"

Wu Yue was stunned for a moment. "Oh, Boss Pei, it's the flight from Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon. The team members plan to walk around Los Angeles in the morning and buy some things to bring back home. It wasn't easy for them to go to the United States after all. They have been training for this period of time and don't have time to shop."

Pei Qian said, "Indeed, it is not easy to go overseas. You have to have some fun since you are there! How about this? You can stay there for one more week. We'll extend your hotel accommodations and bring your team members to have fun for a few days. What's more, the places you can play might not be limited to Los Angeles. You can shop in other cities as well. The club will reimburse you!"

Wu Yue was stunned. "Huh? Boss Pei, that's not very good, right? It's almost the new year. Some of the team members don't mind, but some of them have been overseas for so long and still want to go back for the new year..."

Pei Qian remained silent for a moment. "Hmm... that makes sense."

"Chinese New Year is our country's traditional festival. We have to reunite with our family."

"How about this? You guys return to the country first. After the Chinese New Year holiday, the original team will fly to the United States once again to make up for this week's holiday!"

...

Wu Yue made some excuses on the other side but he agreed seeing how determined Boss Pei was.

Wu Yue could not help but feel emotional after hanging up.

Boss Pei shone too brightly! It was hard to express his respect for Boss Pei!

Was any other reliable boss in the world apart from Boss Pei?

Probably not.

The team members returned to the hotel first after the competition ended. Then, all of them came out for a meal to celebrate.

Everyone was very happy. Everyone had done their best to prepare for this competition in Los Angeles over the past month after all. They had all done their part.

Bao Xu and Min Jingchao were also eating and chatting, their faces brimming with joy.

The past month had been pretty good to Bao Xu.

He might be traveling overseas but it was the easiest compared to the previous tours. He did not travel for a long distance to rush to various attractions. Instead, it was going back and forth between hotels and internet cafes.

Thus, Bao Xu was living quite comfortably.

However, he was not at home no matter how comfortable he felt. Bao Xu could not wait to get home.

Wu Yue stood up at that moment.

"Let me tell everyone a piece of good news! Boss Pei was very happy when he heard that we won the championship. He allowed us to return to the United States for a seven-day tour after we returned!"

"I've already set the time for next month. Everyone, don't worry about not having time to play. We'll be back soon. This time, we'll definitely let everyone play to their heart's content. We'll go to all the popular cities and attractions in America!"

"Boss Pei said that everyone has a share. No one is allowed to miss it out!"

Everyone could not help but clap and cheer the moment Wu Yue finished speaking!

Previously, the team members had been training seriously. They would play mock competition apart from resting and eating. They might have been in the United States for more than a month but they had not played anything at all.

They were overjoyed now that he heard that they could spend another seven days on a public holiday!

However, Bao Xu was stunned when he heard that. The fork in his hand was stuck in a piece of steak and he froze in the air.

Boss Pei said... no one was allowed to miss it?

Didn't that mean that he would have to come again?!

This news was like a bolt out of the blue. Bao Xu was completely stunned.

Min Jingchao, who was sitting next to him, said softly, "Next month? That's not bad, Brother Bao. The timing should be just right."

Bao Xu was a little confused. "What happened?"

Min Jingchao smiled and said, "I happened to miss the holiday prize for the annual meeting!"

"Oh, right. Brother Bao, you don't know yet, right?"

"You won another five-day tour in any city for the year's annual meeting! No one told you because they were afraid that it would affect your mentality. We can tell you now that the competition is over."

"It's just as well. Brother Bao, use this five-day holiday first after the new year. We'll connect it seamlessly after you return from the five-day holiday and come to the United States with us."

"Isn't the timing perfect?"

Bao Xu's mouth opened slightly as he froze on the spot, not knowing what to say.

Chapter 857: Finger Games' Public Relations Crisis!

January 24th, the second day of the Chinese New Year.

Zhao Xuming and the advance team from Long Yu Corporation took the plane from Los Angeles airport and landed in Shanghai Airport.

Zhao Xuming felt like a lifetime had passed since he stepped onto Shanghai's land a month ago.

Zhao Xuming, Long Yu Corporation's employees, and two other clubs were there when he went. However, when he returned, only Zhao Xuming and Long Yu Corporation's employees were left.

That was because the two clubs had been eliminated after the group stages. Naturally, they had no reason to stay in Los Angeles and had already flown back.

It had been a long time since he heard about these two clubs on the internet.

The reason was simple. They had to play dead since they played so badly in the international competition!

It was still effective for these two teams to pretend to be dead. There was basically no one criticizing them online anymore on the internet. Their public opinion had even improved!

On one hand, it was because FV Team had won the championship for domestic players. Everyone was busy being happy and could not be bothered to criticize the two teams that were accompanying them. On the other hand, it was because various news during the international competition had gradually been disclosed. Most people realized that the failure of these two teams could not be blamed entirely on the players. There were many reasons for the failure.

The two teams would naturally not be bombarded with concentrated firepower now that the blame had been distributed.

Thus, while these two clubs did not gain much from the Los Angeles trip, they did not lose much either.

At the very least, they would be reimbursed for their air tickets and accommodation. It would not be a loss for the players to go out and compete in international competitions.

However, the entire trip to Los Angeles was terrible for Zhao Xuming!

Zhao Xuming generously arranged for all his employees to sit in business class because there were not many people. Finally, he made up for the grievance he felt when he went to Los Angeles.

However, he still purposely chose a later flight to Shanghai because he did not want to bump into FV Team.

Otherwise, wouldn't everyone be sitting in business class and FV team discussing the championship excitedly on the plane? Wouldn't that be equivalent to whipping their own corpses?

Logically speaking, Zhao Xuming was the person-in-charge of domestic operations of IOI. It should be an honor for him since the domestic team won the IOI World Finals. However, the problem was that the FV winning the championship had nothing to do with him. Instead, it was a slap in the face!

Zhao Xuming would definitely be very happy to ride on the popularity and take part of the credit for winning the championship if it was the other two teams who had won.

Zhao Xuming could not take it since FV was the one who won the championship.

He could not possibly say that "Boss Pei paid for the logistics team because I did not bring them to Los Angeles for early training, and that was why FV won the championship. Didn't I make a huge contribution?"

Thus, Zhao Xuming could only choose to hide from FV Club's group and return to Shanghai at a different time.

This trip to Los Angeles was a complete failure for Zhao Xuming!

Initially, he had not wanted to bring FV Team along. In the end, they had paid for it themselves and bumped into them at the airport.

He took economy class while they took business class;

He stayed in Courtyard by Marriott while they stayed in Ritz Carlton;

He booked a small corner on the first floor of the internet cafe, while they booked the entire second floor.

He walked to training, while they had a chauffeur and bodyguard;

He could only beg the European and American teams to train with him while they brought two training teams and had better results.

The two teams that he supported were both eliminated in the group stages. The other team had not even lost a single battle in the championship with 9: 0.

This was a complete blow to him!

The most infuriating thing was that it was the Lunar New Year holiday now. FV Team had spent this year in Los Angeles, which was very memorable. On the other hand, Zhao Xuming had spent this year in Los Angeles, which highlighted his misery!

Thus, Zhao Xuming only had one thought now. He had to hurry back to the headquarters to report his work. Then, he would go home to rest and comfort his severely injured heart.

His subordinates had already arranged for Longyu Corporation to send a commercial car to pick him up after leaving the airport.

Zhao Xuming got into the car without saying a word. He closed his eyes and rested after putting on his seatbelt. He did not want to say anything else.

The flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai took about twelve hours. Zhao Xuming did not feel tired since he could sleep and rest comfortably in the business class.

His fatigue mainly came from his mental state.

The accompanying employees of Long Yu Corporation were all core members of IOI's operations and cooperation department. One of their important tasks in Los Angeles was to visit, interact, and learn at Finger Games' headquarters. Naturally, they paid attention to the IOI World Finals the entire time.

The others were not as defeated as Zhao Xuming. They were not directly in charge after all. They could treat it as a public holiday.

Previously, everyone on the plane had been sleeping and watching movies. All their cell phones had been switched off. Now that they were back in Shanghai, many people opened their cell phones and went online to check the latest news.

Suddenly, an employee said in a panic, "Boss Zhao! Not good! Our company seems to be on the hot search! The public relations department is looking for you!"

Zhao Xuming, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes immediately. "What?!"

How did they suddenly become a hot topic?

What happened exactly during the ten-odd hours on the plane?

Obviously, being scolded on the hot searches was most likely related to the IOI global finals this time. As the person-in-charge of IOI's operations and cooperation department, Zhao Xuming did not dare to be negligent and quickly took out his cell phone to check.

Long Yu Corporation was indeed on the hot searches list!

Many netizens were crazily attacking Long Yu Corporation, especially Zhao Xuming. One of the most representative posts dug directly into the past, pulling Finger Games, Long Yu Corporation, and Zhao Xuming together, spitting blood!

"Let us see how the domestic IOI operator Long Yu Corporation operates while FV is working hard to win glory for the country!"

"We can at least confirm the following points based on what was released so far:

"First of all, Long Yu Corporation brought the other two clubs to Los Angeles and did not bring FV with them at all. It was a completely differential and unfair treatment! If Boss Pei had not been very generous and paid for it out of his own pocket, FV might not have been able to play mock competitions!"

"Secondly, Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation changed their versions randomly. Not only did they expose the failure of IOI's original game design, but they also severely damaged the interests of all old gamers! However, they have been delaying the game, hoping to cover this topic through IOI's global finals!"

"Lastly, and the most disgusting thing, Finger Games actually privately sent game Balancer to guide FRY Team! I want to ask, how can the competition be fair if the organizer personally went to guide the club in the game?"

"Obviously, Finger Games' official platform did not want FV Team to win the championship. That's why they thought of such a despicable method!"

"How can Zhao Xuming not know about this as a partner of Longyu Corporation? He definitely knew about it! Yet, he did not stop it. What does that mean? It means that he is guilty. He knows that he will be scolded to death for treating FV differently. That's why he did not want FV to win the championship. The national and national honor of competitive competitions cannot be compared to his personal interests. In the past, we usually called such people 'traitors'!"

"If FV Team had not been so awesome and still won the championship under such circumstances, if someone had not exposed this matter, I'm afraid that the masses who did not know the truth would still be flaming FV Team, while the two main culprits, Long Yu Corporation and Finger Games, are hiding in the dark and laughing!"

"We can see the essence of Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation from this point."

"Finger Games is not only full of discrimination and prejudice against domestic teams, but they are also a company that cannot afford to lose. If they can't win fair and square, they would resort to such petty tricks;"

"On the other hand, as a large domestic company, it is extremely despicable for Longyu Corporation to act as an accomplice for their own interests!"

"For something like this to happen, other than being criticized online, the only other way for players is to boycott it!"

"Players who don't play IOI have to boycott because Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation treat our champions differently. Players who play IOI have to boycott because Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation have never truly respected the rights of players!"

Zhao Xuming was stunned and his limbs turned cold.

What was going on!

How did the matter of Finger Games arranging a data balancer for FRY be exposed?!

He roughly read all the popular posts on the internet, and his hands could not help but tremble.

The public opinion was already one-sided and everyone was pointing fingers at him!

This was an unprecedented public relations crisis no matter whether it was for Long Yu Corporation or Finger Games. The consequences would be unimaginable if it was not handled well!

He took a closer look at the hot topics. In fact, most of the content had been exposed before.

For example, when IOI forcefully promoted the new version, it sacrificed the interests of old gamers and caused a lot of criticism online.

At the end of the quarterfinals, someone revealed that FV had gone to Los Angeles on their own and Long Yu Corporation had not brought them along.

At the end of the semifinals, FV used the tactics in GOG. Someone used this to refute the view that IOI's design was better than GOG's, and that GOG's gameplay and tactics were ahead of IOI.

At that time, these posts had already created a certain influence on the internet. However, the finals had not started yet, so their influence was limited. They could still be suppressed.

However, now that FV Team had won the championship, these things were naturally dug out by the netizens and started to settle accounts!

One of the most important points was that the foreign media had reported that Finger Games had sent a Data Balancer to help FRY come up with a strategy!

Obviously, the moment this news was released, all the hatred that had accumulated previously exploded!

That was because netizens might think that the previous incidents were bad, but they could still accept it. However, they could not accept this!

Finger Games was the organizer of the competition after all. The organizer had sent the game's data balance master to guide FRY team and directly interfered with the finals of the two teams. Wasn't that pulling the strings?

Chapter 858: Eric's Comeback!

Zhao Xuming had also come to Los Angeles as a partner of Longyu Corporation. It would be unreasonable to say that he was completely unaware of this matter.

If Long Yu Corporation knew about this but did not negotiate or stop it, and instead acquiesced and condoned it, then the nature of this matter would change combined with Long Yu Corporation's preferential treatment towards FV Team!

It was no wonder that netizens were scolding Long Yu Corporation for being a traitor.

Zhao Xuming quickly checked the source of this news and realized that it came from a foreign media outlet. It was said to be an anonymous report. The evidence submitted was a series of photos: Two data Balancers from Finger Games entered FRY's training ground, discussed tactics with FRY's coach, and guided training together.

These photos were not particularly clear and seemed to have been taken secretly. However, someone still managed to recognize that the two statisticians were indeed employees of Finger Games.

Many people guessed that the anonymous tipper was an insider of Finger Games or the FRY Team. However, the scope was too big and they could not locate it.

The motive was easy to explain. Such explosive exclusive news meant popularity and traffic. Selling the relevant information to the media would earn a huge sum of money. Finger Games or the lowest-level employees of FRY might secretly take photos because of this motive.

Finger Games was doing emergency public relations at the moment.

Their first reaction was to deny it and insist that it was impossible. However, after the second wave of revelations released a large number of photos, Finger Games could not continue to be stubborn. They could only say that "This matter is still under investigation. The official platform is absolutely fair and just in the competition. If any employee's personal behavior contradicts the official platform, they will be dealt with severely at once."

Finger Games' response was obviously to shift the blame, hinting that even if there was such a thing, it was all the personal actions of these two data Balancers. They were only guiding FRY Team to earn extra money, it had nothing to do with Finger Games' officials.

There was no other way. He had not wanted to admit it even if he was beaten to death before this. However, there was no way he could deny it now that the photos had been released.

However, such an explanation obviously could not appease the anger of netizens. Even the forums in Europe and America were flaming wildly, questioning Finger Games' professionalism.

Even if these two statistics balancers took the initiative to help the FRY team, Finger Games could not escape responsibility. This meant that there was a huge problem with Finger Games' management.

What's more, most netizens felt that Finger Games must have been behind this. These two statisticians were probably the scapegoats.

Of course, the funniest thing was that IOI's official statistics balancers had helped the FRY team, but the finals were still 3: 0!

The official staff was even beaten up. This was no different from a joke.

Thus, the current pressure from public opinion was extremely disadvantageous for Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation!

All sorts of news were released one after another, causing them to be overwhelmed. The public relations department of Long Yu Corporation had been looking for Zhao Xuming, but he had been on the plane for more than ten hours, so they could not get to him.

Long Yu Corporation's public relations department was obviously under immense pressure as well.

The public relations of Long Yu Corporation did not have much choice now. Cold treatment could solve problems most of the time but this matter was obviously not it.

That was because no one knew how long the public opinion would last this time. If Long Yu Corporation did not take the initiative to respond, the initiative would be from others' mouths. Netizens saw that Long Yu Corporation was pretending to be dead and could not vent their anger. They might not dig out any more shocking news.

The more the matter blew up, the more difficult it would be for public relations.

However, they could not shift the blame now.

That was because Zhao Xuming was indeed the one who had discriminated against FV Team. He had even been involved in sending a statistician to FRY Team.

In other words, the criticism online had been too light.

If he did not step out now, it would be equivalent to having a guilty conscience. If he stood out to take the blame, it would be equivalent to courting death. However, how should Finger Games explain if he stood out to push the blame?

Zhao Xuming leaned back, feeling helpless.

He had thought that the nightmare of the IOI World Finals would finally be over after he returned to China. However, it seemed like this was just the beginning!

Zhao Xuming closed his eyes for a long time before letting out a long sigh. "Return to the office for an emergency meeting."

He calculated in his heart that he would probably have to spend a lot of time and effort to cover up this matter in front of the higher-ups. He would probably suffer as well if he was not careful.

At that moment, the commercial car he was on started to drive into the bustling roads of Shanghai.

Zhao Xuming suddenly realized that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's huge advertisement was all over the billboards on the roadside!

He saw more advertisements immediately after that, which included Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Upwind Logistics, Sloth Apartments... Most of Tengda Corporation's physical businesses were on it!

The style of these advertisements were all extremely simple. They had a pure-colored background and a logo or shop's picture. It was very different from the other colorful street advertisements.

However, this simple design emphasized confidence.

The fees for the advertisements were the same. The other companies would advertise with a beautiful background, endorsed celebrities, various product designs, and advertising slogans. All of them would appear at once afraid that the money spent on advertisements would be wasted.

However, Tengda's advertisements were the exact opposite. They minimized the necessary information and key content as much as possible. Many ordinary people who did not know about these industries did not even know what kind of advertisements they were.

However, this also highlighted a strong sense of confidence. He believed that no matter how simple the advertisement was, it would have an excellent effect. What's more, it was completely different from those colorful and flirtatious sluts. It stood out.

Zhao Xuming's expression darkened.

Ridiculous!

For some reason, he felt like Boss Pei was trying to show off his advantage as much as he could.

What was even more ridiculous was that there were not many of Tengda's physical businesses in Shanghai!

Fish-Catching Take-Out, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Upwind Logistics, Deposit Fitness, Sloth Apartments... Many of these businesses did not have physical stores in Shanghai. Yet, the advertisements continued!

Zhao Xuming was so angry that his face was ashen. He immediately put down the sunscreen at the back of the MPV, not wanting to look at the Tengda advertisements that filled the streets outside.

"Drive faster!"

...

At the same time, in Los Angeles...

The global finals had come to a close. All the teams had left.

However, this was not the end for Finger Games. The storm of public opinion had just begun.

Eric sipped his coffee in his high-end apartment while overlooking the cityscape of Los Angeles.

Of course, Eric had arranged for someone to take the photos of the two statisticians and provide them to the media anonymously.

In fact, Eric had hesitated before submitting these photos. There was no turning back once this news was released after all. The resulting storm of public opinion was enough to severely damage the reputation of Finger Games and Dayak Corporation.

However, Eric made up his mind after much consideration.

He could not guarantee that the upper echelons of Finger Games would replace Chrétien if not for this final fatal blow!

To be fair, IOI's global finals this time was not badly done. Apart from the results, it was at least famous and popular. It also had a very good positive impact on IOI.

While the fact that FV Team won the championship made Dayak Corporation and Finger Games' executives very unhappy, FV Team winning the championship was not Chrétien's fault.

Moreover, taking ten thousand steps back, the popularity brought about by FV Team's championship was also objectively beneficial to IOI's local server's promotion.

Therefore, most of the upper echelons would probably think that Chrétien's actions were still effective. Chrétien might still continue to be in charge of China region.

There should not be enough reason to remove Chrétien from his position as the person-in-charge of China region even if the higher-ups were not satisfied with his results.

That was intolerable to Eric.

The opportunity was fleeting. If he could not grasp it this time, he did not know when the next time would be.

Thus, Eric still exposed this news, giving Chrétien a fatal blow!

Sending two Data Balancers to help the FRY team formulate strategies was entirely Chrétien's idea. Naturally, he would be the one to take the blame.

Dayak Corporation and Finger Games' upper echelons were having an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures now. However, no matter how much they discussed, this matter was already set in stone. Someone had to stand up and take responsibility. Otherwise, they would not be able to appease everyone's anger.

It would probably not be enough to appease the public's anger if they had only used the two statisticians as scapegoats.

There was a high chance that Chrétien would be the one to blame.

Eric took the opportunity to submit his research materials for Tengda and GOG in Jingzhou. He also deeply analyzed the pros and cons of the IOI Qualification Competition and the global finals.

Most of them were factual but there were also a small number of biased opinions, hinting that Chrétien's strategy could not fundamentally change the weak position in IOI's battle with GOG.

You have to let me do it if you want to turn the tables!

Eric was very confident because no one was more suitable than him after Chrétien took the blame and left.

As for whether Chrétien and the others would suspect him...

It did not matter. Even if they were suspicious, there was no evidence.

Eric had been lying low all these time for this moment.

At that moment, his cell phone rang.

Eric's lips curled up slightly when he saw the number. He picked up the phone.

"Alright."

"I'll rush over immediately."

Eric adjusted his suit and tie in front of the mirror and smiled confidently.

"Boss Pei, just wait. I'll be back soon!"

"I won't give you any more chances this time. I'll burn money until Tengda Corporation's true colors are revealed!"

Chapter 859: Settlement

January 31st, Tuesday...

It was the second official day of work after the Chinese New Year holiday.

Pei Qian knew nothing about the ongoing storm in Los Angeles as the 'culprit'. At that moment, all he could think about was the system settlement for this cycle.

At that moment, he was in his office, checking on how much money he had spent during the past week of the Chinese New Year holiday.

The overall financial situation was not bad even though many accidents had happened during the previous cycle.

Mission and Choice had absorbed a large amount of funds. Coupled with the overwhelming publicity and preferential activities in various cities during the Chinese New Year period, the System Funds were almost used up.

Food delivery, internet cafes, gyms, logistics, and other physical industries were also opening branches, which helped to reduce Pei Qian's pressure.

In addition, the useful APP that had been developing had also been released a week before settlement. However, this APP only contained part of the poem's content at the moment, and there was no time to publicize it. Thus, it did not cause too much of a reaction.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this. He felt that this was the most successful project this cycle and that it should continue to flourish.

As for the other projects, while there were profits and losses, Pei Qian knew very well that the price of spending money this month was to transfer the risk of profits to the next cycle.

For example, 'Mission and Choice' had a huge amount of development funds, advertisements for various industries were everywhere, it had greatly increased its popularity, and Dream Realization Ventures had done a lot of work around the cold-faced lady, causing those entrepreneurs with bad intentions to stay away...

All of these would be a huge threat to the future.

However, it was enough for Pei Qian as long as he could get through this cycle safely. He could always think of new ways to spend money during the next cycle.

The system screen automatically appeared in front of Pei Qian.

< About to commence reevaluation of the value of fixed assets... >

< System Funds: 5,760,000+1,632,000 (↓8,920,000) >

< Fixed Assets: 163,322,000 >

< Details: Ming Yun Villas' Commercial Residential Mansion (9.2 million yuan), 12 units in Dawn of Prosperous City (41.28 million yuan), 77 units in Shundong Garden Commercial Building (22.89 million yuan), 16 units in Binhu District Building 8 (12.9 million yuan), 16 units in Binhu District Building 9 (12.95 million), 30 units in Golden Residence's Huating District 5 (64 million yuan)>

Pei Qian could not help but heave a sigh of relief when he saw the System Funds figures.

He could not relax when held in suspense!

This number was higher than he had expected but it was still acceptable.

Upon closer inspection, one would realize that the value of fixed assets was fluctuating as well. For example, the value of the commercial building had fallen by hundreds of thousands while the value of the residential building had more or less risen.

From the looks of it, the Golden Residence's Huating District, which was also Sloth Apartments 2.0, was not much different from what Pei Qian had expected. The prices of the buildings were relatively high in the first place, that was why the settlement did not increase significantly. It only increased slightly.

All in all, the fixed assets were still within acceptable limits.

However, Pei Qian could not help but feel emotional. Unknowingly, the fixed assets in his hands, oh no, in Tengda had already reached 160 million yuan.

While there was a burden of 16 million yuan from the System Funds, it also meant that Pei Qian had spent more than a hundred million yuan buying buildings. It was still worth it.

Pei Qian really did not know where he should spend so much money if not for these fixed assets.

What's more, most of the money had been used to make Sloth Apartments. It had solved the problem of renting apartments for many people. It could be considered as doing charity.

That gave Pei Qian a sense of achievement.

The system screen continued rolling.

< System Funds: 5,760,000+1,632,000 (↓8,920,000) >

< Fixed Assets: 163,322,000 >

< Personal Wealth: 3,148,000 (890,000 x 110%) >

< If you convert more than 800,000 yuan per cycle, you will receive a mysterious reward with a huge impact (available to be received now) >

[Unfinished project: Mission and Choice project. The game and the movie must be released before the next settlement.]

Pei Qian finally relaxed seeing the System Funds being converted into his Personal Wealth.

"Alright, I've converted more than nine hundred thousand yuan. While it's a few tens of thousands less than the previous cycle, this cycle was only four months after all. What's more, there are no special missions that can reduce the System Funds. I did a great job having managed to convert so much money."

"I have some daily expenses as well. Coupled with income from the skins and other miscellaneous income, I can't tell from my current Personal Wealth."

"More than three million yuan. Ah... my personal wealth has reached a new peak. At this rate, I should be able to save up for a villa in a year or two, right?"

"However, why do I still feel a little bitter looking at the numbers in the System Funds and fixed assets..."

Pei Qian thought about how, as the boss of Tengda Corporation, he could easily earn tens of millions of yuan. The company's fixed assets had reached 160 million yuan, and they had several buildings. Yet, he had to save up for so long to buy a villa. He felt a little sad.

However, he quickly got over it.

"It's alright. As the saying goes, the beginning is always the hardest. I'm already past the beginning."

"I used to make a lot of money before, but now I can steadily incur losses. Each time, I would convert eight to nine hundred thousand yuan into my Personal Wealth. This means that I have already understood the temper of the system and have mastered the art of spending money."

"In the future, the losses will naturally increase when the System Funds increase. The money converted will definitely increase as well!"

Pei Qian was filled with confidence once again as he clicked on the reward for this cycle.

The so-called 'mysterious reward' of the previous cycle was a random breakthrough in technology in the next six months. Now, it seemed like the breakthrough in artificial intelligence technology of Xianke Technologies was not far off.

If not for this breakthrough, the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine would not have made so much money. The new system of Otto Technologies would not have been so well-received. It had created some difficulties for Pei Qian.

However, on the bright side, such technological breakthroughs did not have much impact.

If global games entered the VR era, communication technology advanced by leaps and bounds, and Cloud Games achieved an unprecedented breakthrough, Pei Qian might face even greater difficulties.

Thus, he was content.

Therefore while this reward did not make Pei Qian lose money, at least it did not make him profit. He should be satisfied.

Pei Qian could rest easy and not worry too much if the technological breakthroughs in the future were only at this level.

However, what would the mysterious reward be this time?

[Mysterious Reward (Upgraded): It can consume a certain amount of Personal Wealth and increase a certain amount of income from a certain industry. The ratio is 1: 100. This reward is a permanent option, but it can be used at most once per cycle. The personal property consumed each time cannot exceed 100,000 yuan.]

Pei Qian: "?"

He carefully read the description of the reward.

Simply put, Pei Qian could spend a certain amount of his Personal Wealth to increase the benefits of a certain industry to consumers.

At the moment, most of the businesses in Pei Qian's hands could use promotional events to allow consumers to profit. For example, ROF Computer-Installation could be promoted at a low price on 1024 Digital Day.

Similarly, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, and other industries could also use promotions to increase their market share to give to consumers.

However, there was a limit to that. The system would keep an eye on the situation and could not allow them to sell at a loss.

On the other hand, this new reward rule was equivalent to adding a permanent option. Pei Qian could spend ten thousand yuan out of his own pocket to allow a certain industry to burn one million yuan more for the consumers to profit.

Pei Qian could not help but be overjoyed. "Eh? That's a good thing!"

"Wouldn't it be easier to spend money this way?"

Obviously, this rule had to be used when he was already incurring losses. If he used it when he was generating profits, he would be stupid.

Take this settlement for example. While he had successfully incurred losses, he still had more than five million yuan left in the System Funds. Pei Qian only needed to fork out another fifty thousand yuan from his own pocket. Then, he could use the five million yuan in the System Funds as a form of interest to return to consumers. That would create a loss of more than five million yuan. In fact, he could earn another five hundred thousand yuan during settlement.

That would be equivalent to using 50,000 yuan to earn 500,000 yuan of Personal Wealth.

Even primary school students could calculate that this was a pure profit!

Of course, the system had restrictions on this as well. It could only be used once per cycle, and it could not exceed a hundred thousand yuan. That was to give consumers an additional ten million yuan.

Of course, Pei Qian did not know if there would be any changes to this quota, but it was enough for now.

The system screen continued rolling.

< System Funds will be supplemented. Target amount: 50 million >

< System Funds: 44,240,000 replenished... >

< System Funds: 50,000,000+16,320,000 >

< Fixed Assets: 163,322,000 >

< Personal Wealth: 3,148,000 >

< If you convert more than 800,000 yuan per cycle, you will receive a mysterious reward with a huge impact. >

< It can consume a certain amount of Personal Wealth and increase a certain amount of income from a certain industry. The ratio is 1: 100. It can be used once in the current cycle. The amount of Personal Wealth consumed cannot exceed 100,000 yuan.>

[Unfinished project: Mission and Choice project. The game and the movie must be released before the next settlement.]

"Alright, I'll be proud of myself again in the next cycle!" Pei Qian felt that he had become stronger again.

The next settlement would be six months later, which was July 31, 2012. Pei Qian had plenty of time.

While the game 'Mission and Choice' and the movie had to be released during this cycle, it also meant that Pei Qian could create a new pit and delay the release of the product in the next cycle.

In any case, there was no need to worry about money being spent as long as the business was big enough.

Pei Qian had roughly thought about what to do for the next project that would be postponed: to open a new project for Thriller Hostel!

As the saying went, wonders mislead countries.

Ever since the 'quiet, minimalist, philosophical bickering machine' became popular, the haunted house, flying cars, and pendulum rides became popular, and so did the physical businesses of Thriller Hostel and Tengda in Jingzhou.

Many people would go to Jingzhou to experience the Thriller Hostel.

However, even so, Thriller Hostel would not be able to earn back those investments in a short period of time because of its huge investment. What's more, half a year has already passed. Those who were interested had already experienced it. The popularity of Thriller Hostel was slowly decreasing.

Since it was not that popular anymore, he could start a new project and spend tens of millions more!

Other than that, Pei Qian had his own plans for the other businesses.

All in all, the starting sum of the System Funds for this cycle had reached an unprecedented fifty million yuan. Pei Qian could use this opportunity to work hard!