Chapter 52: Signing and Costume Fittings

Lin Jingyi handed the contracts to each of them.

Song Yuan was the most eager, directly flipping to the second page.

[Party A (Club): NXG E-Sports Club]
[Party B (Player): ___________]
[Game ID: ___________]
[……]

Skipping past the preceding text quickly since he wouldn't understand it anyway, Song Yuan went straight to the salary and compensation section.

"The base salary is raised from 1,600 to 2,800 yuan, with salary adjustments taking place once every season. Performance bonuses are also established, with corresponding bonuses for different rankings achieved in the league each season."
"League champions get twenty thousand per person, runners-up..."

The base salary Jiang Ming offered to NXG's players was not particularly high. In 2013, the salary of an ordinary LPL player generally fluctuated between 2,000 and 10,000 yuan.
Top players who brought their own traffic, like Clearlove, could earn a maximum of around 15,000 yuan.

Right now, the compensation in NXG's contract could at best be considered not at the bottom.
However, math shouldn't be calculated that way. While controlling the base salary, Jiang Ming additionally increased performance bonuses. This meant that as long as the NXG team could achieve results, factoring in the end-of-season bonuses, everyone's actual monthly salary would actually reach a mid-to-high tier level among league teams.

Not to mention the generous living conditions NXG players could enjoy.
Take the players' meals, for example. Members of many sponsorship-starved teams had to survive on instant noodles during financial hardships.
As for living quarters, they were out of the question. The basement Jiang Ming previously rented for NXG could still be considered one of the better ones. Shabby, broken, and small training locations were the norm for teams—otherwise, the term "internet cafe team" wouldn't have emerged.

Players merely hoped the team could pay their salaries on time, which was considered extremely fortunate; after all, countless teams dissolved midway through the season in this era.
Some professional players who couldn't get their salaries simply relied on boosting accounts for others to barely scrape by.

Therefore, regarding compensation, the five members of NXG naturally had no complaints.
"Later on, the team will arrange live-streaming contracts. If you stream under the team's name, you won't need to sign with any streaming agency. The club will provide promotional resources, and the revenue-sharing ratio will be 7:3. The club takes seventy percent, and you will get thirty percent of the net profit."
"Later, if we arrange live-streaming for product sales, the club will also reward you with commissions based on the sales volume within your respective live-streaming rooms."
"The contract term is a minimum of two years, and the club holds the right of first refusal for renewal."

For fledgling players with no reputation whatsoever, team streaming was actually more like a personal obligation they needed to undertake.
Under normal circumstances, players were only given a fixed salary, but as mentioned before:
They could do that, but there was no need.

The same applied to the contract duration.
Knowing how large the e-sports market would become in the future, Jiang Ming would not limit himself to these petty gains right before his eyes. As long as he operated and developed within reasonable and compliant boundaries, NXG's future would already be brilliantly bright.

Holding the mindset of draining the pond to catch all the fish and running away immediately was extremely dangerous. You must know that for an e-sports club, the traditions established at the very beginning were extremely important.
Furthermore, with the benefit of hindsight, Jiang Ming didn't need to worry about the club lacking capable players.
What he wanted to build was a true e-sports dynasty that any talented League of Legends player would place as their top consideration.

"Two years minimum, meaning we can sign for three years at once?" the jungler Shi Tou asked with a silly smile.
"You can sign for three years at once, but I suggest you sign for two years first."

Song Yuan's question blurted out, "Hey, why is that, Brother Ming?"
"You're a fool. Sign for two years. If we can achieve results and make a name for ourselves like WE, won't our compensation increase the fastest?" Xu Jing retorted. "After two years, you can also transfer."
"Ah, Brother Ming, I didn't mean I wanted to run away, haha."
"Hehe, that seems to make sense."

"Don't rush, there are still some clauses inside that you need to pay attention to."
After Jiang Ming played the bad cop, Lin Jingyi, understanding tacitly, took over the conversation. "First look at Article 3 on page three: Every player must strictly complete and abide by the following obligations: Daily training duration ≥ 12 hours (including Rank score record verification), obey the team's tactical arrangements and personnel rotations, and report all social media accounts to the club."
"Especially regarding the social media accounts, during your active tenure, any posts made by a player on their social accounts must be reported to the club."
"Article 4, Point 2: Regarding commercial activities, players must unconditionally cooperate with commercial activities arranged by Party A (≥ 6 times per year). Personal business collaborations during active tenure must be approved by Party A, with a 7:3 revenue-sharing ratio (Party A takes 70%)."
"Article 5, Special Clauses: Players shall obey all image management and health management arrangements arranged by the club."
"Finally, liquidated damages: If a player terminates the contract before its expiration, they must pay 2XXXXX yuan in liquidated damages. At the same time, according to the non-compete agreement, they shall not join any of the top six LPL teams within one year."

Pang Ran and the others understood vaguely, but with the favorable impression of their boss voluntarily reminding them of the one-year-renewable contract condition upfront, they didn't develop any rebellious sentiments toward such rigid requirements.
Song Yuan's hand speed was extremely fast. After scribbling his signature on the contract, he took the ink pad from Lin Jingyi's hand and pressed his thumbprint onto it.

The other four followed suit one after another. However, due to age restrictions, the supplementary signatures of their guardians were still required for the contracts to officially take effect.

Clap! Clap! Clap!
With the contract matters basically settled, Jiang Ming gently clapped his hands, celebrating the signing of the first batch of official members for the NXG team after entering the LPL.

"Then next, there's this."
Lin Jingyi pulled a box out from under the table. "Ta-da! Our team's first set of jerseys has been made. Come and try them on quickly."

A utility knife cut through the tape on the box, and the friction between palms and the plastic bags packaging the team uniforms made a rustling sound as five brand-new jerseys were neatly displayed inside.
A mix of black, white, and red, perfectly identical to the exterior design of the team base.
The back featured the NXG logo, while the front and right shoulder bore the sponsor advertisements of YY and Youchen Pork Floss.

Lin Jingyi held up one of the sets.
"Darn it, this handsome?" Top laner Song Yuan's authentic Chongqing accent exploded in the training room, and he immediately stepped forward eagerly, taking the jersey from the manager's hands.
With a swish, he opened it up and very smoothly put the jacket straight onto his body.

Each set of uniforms consisted of three pieces: a jacket, pants, and a long-sleeve T-shirt.
"Change into them all and see if they fit. If any don't fit, we'll replace them promptly. Next, we need to shoot the team promotional photos, and we can't do without the uniforms."

Hearing this, the group no longer hesitated, stepping forward one by one to find the jerseys printed with their own IDs.
Wearing their jerseys, the five players with completely different builds standing in the room gave off a marvelous visual contrast. Top laner Song Yuan was somewhat bulky, forming a sharp contrast with the skinniest support, Pang Ran.
A tanky top laner and an economically starved support!

Jungler Shi Tou was the tallest, which happened to match the shortest mid laner, A Qiang, within the team.
"Hehe, let's see how this guy looks with the team uniform on. Did I become even more handsome?"
Xu Jing, who had the most average build among everyone and a decent appearance, asked narcissically.