Chapter 015: Abu: "You Look Down on Us Esports Players, Don’t You?"

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Shanghai, Wolf Fang Live Headquarters.

Though night had deepened, the office building of the company headquarters still held staff working night shifts.

In the past two years, with the explosive rise of the livestreaming industry, two phenomenal leading platforms have emerged—“Wolf Fang” and “Shark.”

These two platforms have nearly divided over ninety percent of the domestic livestreaming market between them.

Competition has now reached a white-hot stage; both sides are constantly poaching talent, not only from each other but also from short-video platforms.

They fiercely sue the streamers who jump ship, making the battle extremely intense and unrelenting.

Among them, the legal, operations, and technical departments work under immense pressure daily. The typical 9-to-9-6 schedule is a luxury; working from 0 to 0 to 7 has become their norm.

There’s no other way—the boss’s promises are just too tempting.

Many people hold onto the hope of working hard during this booming industry phase, waiting for the company to go public and achieve financial freedom.

“Director Zhou! The new ADC from EDG is streaming on Shark right now. His popularity has already surpassed 4 million. I estimate he’s on the verge of blowing up.”

“Probably hasn’t signed with Shark yet. Since we’re closer to the source, should we strike first?”

Hearing a subordinate speaking, Director Zhou, who was lying on a camp bed, immediately sprang up.

With tired yet piercing eyes, he asked sharply:

“Let’s set off now. We already have a partnership with EDG. Signing this new ADC is only natural.”

“We can’t let that bastard Xu beat us to it. The last time they signed Uzi, it disgusted me—it drove the price close to a billion. Damn it.”

A subordinate couldn’t help but agree: “Those Shark guys are just a bunch of thugs. They throw money around recklessly, spoiling the entire livestreaming industry’s atmosphere!”

“No time to waste. Let’s leave early to avoid complications. Fortunately, Shanghai is our home turf!” Director Zhou urged as he dressed and put on his shoes.

Efficiency is paramount in the internet industry, and both Shark and Wolf Fang have perfected this.

Meanwhile, the streamer Lu Zi’ang remained unaware that he was once again caught in the crossfire of another storm.

In Summoner’s Rift, he was slaughtering enemies left and right. Since the stream began, he had achieved an impressive 10 consecutive wins with zero deaths.

His average game duration remained under 20 minutes, and as his winning streak grew, the quality of matches improved.

The habits between Korean servers and Chinese servers were quite different.

Low-rank players in the Chinese server never surrendered; they were stubborn to a fault, only ending the game when their base was destroyed.

Otherwise,

Surrendering was absolutely off the table!

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They had a stubbornness that could be described as “not turning back until hitting a brick wall.”

In the Korean server, whether low or high rank, players would promptly surrender as soon as the momentum looked unfavorable.

For Lu Zi’ang, this greatly reduced his time cost.

If he were to top the Chinese server, it might take him longer than in the Korean server.

Both habits had their pros and cons—it mainly depended on the players’ mentality.

Some thought, “Since we’re going to lose anyway, why waste time? It’s better to end early and start a new game, right?”

Others who persevered would think, “If we just hold on and drag it out, maybe we can turn the tide.”

Both mindsets existed in the Korean server, but the latter was less common. However, in Lu Zi’ang’s matches, such scenarios simply wouldn’t happen.

He was just too strong.

Once he got rolling and the opponents gave him an opening, the snowball effect was unstoppable. He crushed his enemies so completely they just wanted to escape as soon as possible.

Among his ten consecutive wins, there were cases of opponents going AFK. If some didn’t surrender by 15 minutes, others would just go AFK and run.

In one match, as many as three people went AFK in their spawn fountain. It wasn’t just Lu Zi’ang’s strength; his teammate Guo Dong was basically on the same level.

Indeed, League of Legends is a team game.

But that assumes both sides are evenly matched. When there’s a huge skill gap, a single superstar can carry the entire match.

Viewers enjoyed the show, and popularity soared. Gifts poured in as well.

The room’s follower count had long surpassed 10,000, nearing 90,000.

At this rate, breaking 100,000 followers on tonight’s debut stream was only a matter of time.

This also indirectly proved one thing: Lu Zi’ang’s streams could retain viewers—they loved watching such thrilling ranked games.

As Lu Zi’ang’s level and winning streak rose, the enjoyment of watching him intensified.

Meanwhile,

In manager Abu’s office, three distinguished guests had arrived from Jiangcheng.

“President Ji, what do you think? Honestly, our Shark platform offered such a high price out of respect for you and your club. Our sincerity is genuine. I assure you, Wolf Fang won’t offer a higher price!”

To show sincerity, Director Xu of Shark Live personally came to visit, accompanied by an assistant and a legal representative.

“If you agree, we can sign the contract right away.”

Since Director Xu was poaching talent, he adopted a humble posture.

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Abu glanced at the amount written on the paper and shook his head wistfully.

“Director Xu, we’re old acquaintances. The livestreaming industry is booming, with countless investors lining up to throw money at you. Frankly, this price feels a bit like an insult to our esports players’ commercial value.”

“You recently paid a nine-figure sum to recruit a top influencer from a short-video platform. How can an influencer get nine figures while our esports players can’t even reach seven? Haha...” Abu said with a forced smile.

First, Lu Zi’ang was now a member of the EDG team and had the potential to become a core player.

Second, the contract stipulated that EDG had the right to negotiate commercial deals and could take a 15% cut.

Therefore, whether from a business or personal standpoint, Abu had ample reason to help Lu Zi’ang fight for a higher price.

Director Xu noticed Abu’s dismissive expression and frowned.

From his understanding of the esports industry, offering a newcomer 500,000 annually was already generous.

That equated to about 41,000 per month—considered a high salary in a metropolis like Shanghai.

He wondered silently: Would EDG really pay a newcomer that much?

“President Ji, we’re old friends too. I won’t beat around the bush. But what you said is a bit harsh. Top influencers on major platforms have tens of millions of followers. But Lu Zi’ang? He only has a small following and just recently caught some attention. If he were Uzi, I’d be willing to offer that price.”

Director Xu said.

“Fine, Director Xu, since you’ve made your position clear, what more is there to discuss? If Shark has no intention, then there’s nothing left to say.”

Abu waved to Ming Kai in the distance. “Ming Kai, see our guests out. I’m quite busy here.”

“Wait, don’t be so hasty, President Ji. Let’s talk it over,” Director Xu quickly stood up and grabbed Abu’s hand, forcing a smile as radiant as blooming chrysanthemums. “I was hasty earlier and didn’t consider everything thoroughly. Let me write you a new number that will absolutely satisfy you.”

“Three million.”

Director Xu wrote the figure on the paper again.

Abu smiled and slowly sat back down. “Tsk, Old Zhou, you and I—what kind of brothers are we? Do we need to beat around the bush like this?”

As he spoke, he looked toward Ming Kai and said, “Could you bring a few bottles of Red Bull? Our honored guests have traveled a long way and must be a bit tired.”

…