Chapter 15: The True Delight Lies in Living Off Others!

Jiang Ming fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

To be honest, even if YY hadn’t offered such generous terms, he would have pursued the mission to claim the top spot in the national League of Legends rankings for the sake of his team and online store. The only difference would have been whether or not the live streaming platform’s name appeared as a prefix in the advertising space.

The reason the other party was so eager to approach him with unusually favorable conditions was partly because a rival streaming platform, Shark, was preparing a similar offer.

If he were an ordinary person, he might have accepted immediately. But Jiang Ming, aware of this information gap and knowing the competitor’s intentions, was not so easily satisfied.

“Brother Xu, please give me some time to think it over.”

“Think it over? What’s there to think about? It’s just a matter of changing an ID. Still think the terms aren’t good enough?”

“It’s not the same. Before, I was on my own. Now I have a whole team and an additional identity to consider.”

He was simply asking for time to consider, not debating whether the offer was good or bad.

Xu Tao was momentarily stunned. Of course, the streaming platform was well aware of professional team affairs.

He recalled that in the preseason tournament invitation list issued by the LPL organizers, JM’s NXG team had already secured a professional league spot with four consecutive wins.

Hissing softly… this was a bit troublesome.

If those generous terms were offered to a major streamer, that would be sincere enough. But if that streamer also led a professional team, the value was entirely different.

It was well known that the WE team was currently streaming on their 90001 channel.

“Would you be interested in hearing my thoughts?”

“Thoughts?”

“…”

Jiang Ming had another reason for having the confidence to negotiate terms with the platform.

Over the past year, he had accumulated over a hundred thousand genuine League of Legends fans through live streams and instructional videos—a qualitative difference from ordinary top-ranked players.

Ordinary players who reach the top rank in the national server still rely on YY to spend money on promotion and extra operations.

In contrast, Jiang Ming’s situation required little additional promotional investment from YY and could even generate some reciprocal benefits.

When streaming ranked matches, he would start a live broadcast and, after the game, edit two videos titled “XX Live JM—Top of National Server Series,” with the titles provided for YY. Which method would better promote and attract new players?

Xu Tao fell silent for a moment, finally understanding the confidence behind JM’s negotiation.

“Give me a few hours. We’ll offer terms that satisfy you.”

“Your NXG team already secured a professional spot, right? They probably don’t have live streaming platform sponsorship or naming rights yet, and YY is interested in that.”

Dealing with a smart person was refreshing.

Jiang Ming’s smile grew brighter. That was exactly what he was waiting for. Sponsorship and naming rights, when begged for, can feel degrading and often interfere with the team itself.

When you demonstrate real value, you avoid the classic scenarios where a manager angrily vents over tough negotiations, only to regret it later. Instead, resources come knocking on your door automatically.

As the famous philosopher Cao Dahua once said, “Soft rice tastes best when eaten hard.”

After hanging up the phone, knowing the other side would hold a meeting to discuss the specific terms for live streaming platform sponsorship of the national top rank event, Jiang Ming thought for a moment and quickly opened his computer.

He logged into the League of Legends client and opened YY live streaming.

While the platform folks were discussing, he still needed to deliver another powerful move.

After more than an hour on the phone, it was now past midnight—just in time for the new League ranking update to go live. He decided to start streaming ranked matches.

While waiting for the client update, Jiang Ming hurriedly posted a stream announcement in his fan group and on a certain microblog.

JM-Aming @ All members: “Ahem, had a little accident today. I’m resurrecting to make up streaming time.”

A Zhen: “???”

“Missing person returns.”

“Who is this? Fake account? Isn’t today Dog Ming’s class time?”

“No, guys, I just left the internet cafe. Don’t give me that.”

Don’t be afraid to roast me mercilessly: “Haha, I told you LOL updated the ranking system today; he might go live. You didn’t believe me. Now pay up your bets so I can cover tonight’s internet cafe fees.”

“Oh, Aming go go go! That first King rank title must be claimed.”

“King rank is nothing; we must top the national server.”

“Lao Ming, you’re doomed. Ever since you updated that Shadow Assassin video, a bunch of ninja dogs and kid assassins have been trolling in ranked.”

Reading the group’s replies while fiddling with the streaming software, Jiang Ming felt a little embarrassed.

He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t his fault that League players had zero resistance to flashy heroes. That was just the kid assassin. Once the lightning-speed QA tutorial and the man like the wind appeared online...

Fish Tail Wen, the daycare center, hereby applies to join the kid assassin’s team!

A few minutes later, after the chaotic preparations were complete, Jiang Ming’s streaming setup was ready. Unlike the simplistic one-click streaming of the future, streaming in 2013 was truly cumbersome.

“Ranking Update, National Server King, Give Me a Salute?”

Jiang Ming adjusted the camera to fully capture his upper body, especially the right hand on the mouse.

He didn’t have much energy to argue with those who had ulterior motives about whether he was boosting or not.

“Use your brain to play the game; climbing ranks is easy!”

“Hello everyone, this is the new hero, new understanding, JM—Aming’s live stream!”

Streaming often required a clear style. Jiang Ming designed his as a typical high-tier player combined with a teaching and educational approach, sprinkled with some playful banter to attract a wide range of players.

As soon as the stream started, a large crowd flooded the room—some jumping over from the fan group, some stumbled upon it via microblog, and many were players preparing to grind overnight at internet cafes, hoping to achieve a standout rank.

With a top-tier player streaming live, everyone was willing to waste a little time seeing what rank he was placed in.

Thanks to his teaching videos and the genuine sales philosophy of his online store, Jiang Ming enjoyed a good reputation and popularity among casual players. Trolls were rare in the chat.

“Brother Ming, brother Ming, show us your rank!”

“Yeah, yeah, your ladder points were around 2400 before. That must be direct King rank!”

Seeing the requests in the chat, Jiang Ming made no fuss and switched the client page to his profile.

The previous ladder points transformed into a dazzling light that scattered, while brilliant blue-white energy condensed in the center.

The system popped up a message: “LOL ranking system updated. Based on your previous ladder points, your new season placement is—Diamond 2 (0 LP).”