Chapter 22: Full of Sincerity!

JM has established a unique ecological barrier within the League of Legends player community through his professional-level game insight. His instructional videos average over a million views each, having become a "must-watch" curriculum for novice players. Data shows that 67% of new users over the past three months were drawn in by JM’s live streaming content, creating a closed-loop ecosystem of "content attraction, fan retention, and word-of-mouth viral growth."

The closed-loop business model is equally innovative. JM has pioneered a "triangular" strategy: instructional videos build his professional persona, live streaming enables immediate interaction and monetization, and e-commerce traffic conversion secures the final profit. Recently, revenue from his channel’s gift commissions and advertising shares alone has seen a 210% growth.

Furthermore, as a top-tier student in the School of Economics and Management at Jinling University, JM’s "scholar-pro-gamer" image is highly compatible with current government policies. In an era of increasing regulation over the game streaming industry, his positive image provides a natural policy buffer for the platform. Monitoring of his live stream comments reveals that 83.6% of the chat content is positive, significantly higher than the industry average.

She was actually being conservative; compared to the many "wild-growth" streams, JM’s channel—which doesn't rely on vulgarity to bridge the gap with his audience—is a breath of fresh air.

"So, it’s not about what terms we should consider offering, but how we can hold onto a partner who can provide such a massive boost to the platform's development." As the head of the marketing department, Li Rui suddenly had a breakthrough, using a term rarely heard in their meetings.

"You are all well aware of the investment Penguin is putting into League of Legends promotion lately. Even if JM switched platforms, he could easily ride that wave."

"Let’s talk to him. JM has started a team; they need resources to enter the professional circuit. Our platform can start from that angle."

"Uh, that might still not be enough."

"In terms of connections, JM is a student at Jinling University. He could easily approach the school for support under the guise of entrepreneurship."

A silence fell over the room. While the YY platform was thriving, they really had no leverage to compare with a top-tier national university when it came to networking resources.

"As for the professional circuit, the NXG team JM founded is already on a four-game winning streak and has secured a spot in the LPL preseason. They average 21 minutes per game with an average gold lead of +7,850. They are, without a doubt, a powerhouse."

"Damn, a four-game streak? Does our star streamer have to be this fierce? It’s one thing to be good himself, but his team is also a beast?"

"Indeed, they are. According to intel from my friends inside, NXG has crushed their opponents in all four matches by huge margins. Barring any accidents, they’ll definitely clear the LPL preseason."

"Sponsorship. We absolutely have to sponsor them."

"Standard sponsorship won't cut it anymore. We need to build a deeper level of cooperation."

"..."

"May I make a suggestion?"

At this moment, Zhao Zhigang, the head of the technical department, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, raised his hand. As all eyes turned to him, he weighed his words: "From the communication content Xu Tao shared, it’s clear the man has grander ambitions."

"JM isn't just looking for the tens of thousands in prize money for topping the rankings, nor just some scraps of traffic support or a contract upgrade."

"True, we all know that. With the success of his video business, his daily income already exceeds that. Anything we can offer in terms of funding, other platforms can naturally match."

"He has repeatedly mentioned his professional team, and he kept pace the moment the LPL preparations began. It means JM wants to further solidify his status as a top-tier player on the national server, moving from a regular gamer to a professional player... from a streamer to a team owner, perhaps even the boss of an esports club!"

"He doesn't care about short-term gains; he wants to be part of the top-level design of the game's ecosystem."

"So, shouldn't we change our approach? Funds are secondary. Let's adopt a strategy of win-win cooperation, invest our promotional resources, and tie him and his team to our platform's chariot."

"It clicks! It all makes sense now, Old Zhao."

"You're the man!"

"Now we know how to talk to JM." The team felt enlightened.

Xu Tao looked conflicted. "We were too close to the situation, subconsciously treating him as just another regular streamer under our thumb."

"Indeed, I never realized JM’s ambitions were so large—he wants to jump straight into the position of a partner."

"What’s so strange about that? There's a saying: when the tide rises, even a pig can fly."

"Not to mention, JM has the talent, he caught the trend, and he has the business acumen. He deserves to take off."

With that said, the fog cleared, and the room returned to calm.

"Let’s do it!" Xu Tao made the decision. "Get to work. I’ll head to Jinling first thing tomorrow morning to sign the contract with JM."

"Also, expedite the reorganization of the platform's game streaming section as discussed. Let’s leverage Penguin’s investment in their flagship game to save ourselves a fortune in marketing costs."

"Operations, revise the resource allocation plan and have it on my desk by tomorrow morning."

"Technical department, focus on the technical hurdles. Add all those special interactive features we talked about."

...

Late at night, after playing for half the night and hitting a six-game win streak to reach Diamond I, Jiang Ming ended his ranked journey in a flash after losing the seventh game.

There was no helping it; the later it got, the more "abstract" his teammates became.

He couldn't find a jungler like the Jarvan IV from the first game. Instead, he got people who lost their minds, fed intentionally, or even stopped pretending toward the end, just to keep him from ranking up. It was clear as day that rival platforms had sent them to delay his climb to the Challenger tier.

He wasn't afraid of these "actors," but the platform was still debating, and the "relief funds" hadn't arrived yet. Staying up all night to play mind games with these people was just not worth it.

After announcing that he would continue his grind tomorrow, Jiang Ming shut down the stream. He sent a reminder to his team members to keep pushing their rank on the national server, then looked at the WeChat message from Xu Tao.

"JM, I hope we can meet in person tomorrow to discuss the new season's partnership."

"I guarantee our platform is offering the utmost sincerity."

"Shall we pick a location?"

Utmost sincerity?

How sincere could they be?

He didn't dwell on it. If he couldn't reach a deal with YY, going to Shark Platform would be just the same.

With that thought, Jiang Ming washed up and climbed into bed, quickly drifting off to sleep.