Seeing Zhang Yuan’s bewildered expression, Pei Qian was delighted.
Haha, bet you didn’t expect that!
In the past, you all made question marks float above my head, but now I can make question marks float above yours, too!
Surprised? Unexpected?
Pei Qian had already thought about this point before and had intentionally or unintentionally set a trap.
However, seeing Zhang Yuan so naively step into his trap still gave him a sense of secret satisfaction.
What would be the hottest thing in the future esports field?
Pei Qian believed it would still be these MOBA games. FPS games were also good, but they probably wouldn’t catch on domestically.
If he were to rigidly apply his original memories, the esports circle in the coming years should be dominated by IOI and “Divine Awakening,” with other projects having much less popularity.
But everything in a parallel world could change, so Pei Qian couldn’t be certain how this script would develop.
For example, the current IOI looked very similar to LOL, but there were many ambiguous areas, such as a completely different worldview from LOL, significant differences in gameplay and details, and misaligned timelines.
The butterfly effect was terrifying; often, a tiny deviation could lead to enormous differences.
Pei Qian considered that “Divine Awakening” was already inferior to DOTA, and so far, he hadn’t heard any news about it becoming an independent online game, so there probably wasn’t much hope in the short term. He didn’t know where the problem was. IOI also fell short compared to the LOL in his memory, whether in terms of gameplay or Finger Company’s design philosophy—there seemed to be some small issues.
Instead, their own GOG was expanding rapidly in the domestic market like it was on steroids, making people pull their hair out.
Pei Qian felt that as this script continued to develop, “Divine Awakening” was in the most danger because it wasn’t yet a complete, independent online game with a good matchmaking system—it was naturally crippled.
So the esports sector would probably end up being a battle between IOI and GOG.
The interesting part was that both belonged to his company!
GOG was fully developed and operated by Tenda Games.
And IOI’s operation actually also belonged to Tenda, because Round Dream Investment and Shangyang Games were wholly-owned subsidiaries of Tenda Games.
In the esports circle, tournament organizers couldn’t form teams to participate in competitions. It was like mud falling into your pants—impossible to explain clearly.
Even if they operated completely independently, would the audience believe it? Would other clubs believe it?
How could you prove there wasn’t any trickery involved?
If the club achieved results, they would be accused of colluding with the organizers, and even championships would be called rigged.
If they didn’t achieve results, they would still be criticized, accused of colluding with the organizers but still losing to other clubs—truly useless.
So now there were only two paths:
Either Zhang Yuan’s club would become completely independent, cutting all ties with Tenda to participate in GOG competitions;
Or Zhang Yuan’s club would work on other game projects.
The former was certainly impossible, and as for the latter, if they couldn’t participate in both GOG and IOI competitions, the club’s popularity would definitely not rise—it would still be wasted effort.
Moreover, more than half of the world’s esports clubs were losing money while gaining exposure—they were used by wealthy companies for advertising and operated at a perennial loss.
Pei Qian couldn’t help feeling proud. No matter how you looked at it, he was in an invincible position!
Zhang Yuan, what can you use to fight against me?
At this moment, Mr. Pei really wanted to put his hands on his hips and laugh maniacally for three minutes. Finally, he had let his excellent employee experience the feeling of being backstabbed without any psychological preparation!
Zhang Yuan was speechless for a long time.
He had been planning to create a GOG esports team, but was shut down by one sentence from Mr. Pei.
The current esports industry development was still very imperfect, lacking both popularity and standardization, so Zhang Yuan wasn’t clear about the rule that tournament organizers couldn’t run teams, leading to this misunderstanding.
So the question was: what to do now?
Zhang Yuan instinctively looked toward Mr. Pei. In this current predicament, it seemed only Mr. Pei could solve it.
And Mr. Pei now had a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, an expression that suggested he had more to say but was holding back.
Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but feel confused.
What did Mr. Pei’s expression mean?
Not being able to run GOG and IOI teams was bad news for the club, but Mr. Pei didn’t seem upset at all.
Could it be that Mr. Pei knew the solution but wasn’t telling him? Wanting him to figure it out himself?
He frowned slightly and asked tentatively: “Mr. Pei, which game project do you think the club should form a team for?”
Pei Qian chuckled: “GOG.”
Since you’ve asked so sincerely, I’ll answer you honestly.
First, GOG would most likely lose to IOI, so forming a GOG team and having GOG fail would mean the team would fail too—a complete waste of effort.
Second, even if GOG didn’t fail, the team still couldn’t participate in competitions.
No matter how I think about it, I’m in an invincible position!
Of course, Pei Qian would never tell anyone these reasons.
Zhang Yuan was dumbfounded, clearly shocked by Mr. Pei’s answer.
After going in circles, was it still GOG?
But they couldn’t compete!
Zhang Yuan felt his head spinning, unable to comprehend Mr. Pei’s wisdom.
Pei Qian was very satisfied with Zhang Yuan’s expression, but didn’t want to continue dwelling on the topic of “why choose GOG.”
The more he said, the more likely he was to make a mistake. If he said too much and triggered some strange chemical reaction, it would be very awkward.
“So, does the club have a name yet?” Pei Qian decisively changed the subject.
Zhang Yuan seemed to still be immersed in the previous topic and paused for two seconds before saying: “Uh, I had thought of a rather impressive name before, called World Champion, but when making the team logo, I suddenly realized that this abbreviation might have a slight problem, so I abandoned it.”
“Why don’t you come up with a name, Mr. Pei?”
Pei Qian chuckled: “Sure.”
Regarding various esports team names, Pei Qian could say he was very familiar with them, such as World Elite, Invictus Gaming, Royal Never Give Up, FunPlus Phoenix, and the like—all quite good names.
But Mr. Pei’s naming always pursued a good omen. It wasn’t about being superstitious; it was mainly about making himself feel comfortable when calling these names.
These team names were all good, but the problem was that their results were too good, which didn’t align with Mr. Pei’s expectations for his team.
After much thought, Pei Qian suddenly thought of an unbeatable team.
“Our team’s name will be DGE!”
Zhang Yuan blinked: “What… three letters does this abbreviate?”
Pei Qian explained: “The full name is Dark Genius E-sports!”
As for the true meaning of this name…
It was the pinyin initials of the three characters “Da Gan Er.”
If “Lao Gan Die” (Old Godfather) could reverse-win first place, then wouldn’t “Da Gan Er” (Big Godson) be even better, surpassing its predecessor, truly the bottom of the bottom?
As for why not “Xiao Gan Er” (Little Godson), it was mainly out of concern that double negatives would yield positives, having the opposite effect.
Zhang Yuan savored this long string of English words: “Great name! It has momentum, rolls off the tongue, and the full English name has certain considerations.”
Pei Qian felt that things were settled. The matters of Round Dream Investment and the esports club were handled, with a low possibility of being reversed.
However, considering the relationship between Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan, Pei Qian felt he needed to say a few more words.
Ma Yang’s interest in the esports club far exceeded Zhang Yuan’s.
So, it wasn’t out of the question that Ma Yang might “lend” these people from Round Dream Investment to Zhang Yuan.
These people were all high-ranked casual players from “Divine Awakening,” and now they could easily reach master rank in GOG. Although they were all in their twenties, which was quite old, the GOG professional circle hadn’t started yet, so these old veterans might still stir up some waves.
Therefore, it was necessary to separate Ma Yang from Zhang Yuan, and Round Dream Investment from the DGE esports club.
At the same time, since the DGE esports club was destined to lose money, he needed to remind Zhang Yuan to be a bit more extravagant with spending, not to be so stingy, and not end up losing just one or two million—Mr. Pei couldn’t afford to lose face like that.
Pei Qian coughed lightly: “Recruiting from high-ranked players is the right approach, but I think age must be considered. Young people have faster reactions and huge potential—these are the kind of people suitable for becoming professional players.”
“Also, if there are internet café managers who claim to be gaming experts and ask to join the team, don’t believe them—immediately send them away.”
“And regarding the club’s venue, don’t skimp at all. Rent a villa directly, choose a good location, tell me, and I’ll arrange for Slackin’ Takeout to provide you with exclusive food.”
“In short, where money needs to be spent, don’t scrimp—remember the Tenda spirit!”
Zhang Yuan listened carefully and nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei!”
Pei Qian then looked at Ma Yang: “Old Ma, you can also visit the club more often to help Zhang Yuan. As for He Desheng and the rest of you, moderate entertainment when you’re tired from work is fine, but don’t meddle in the club’s affairs.”
Ma Yang was excited: “Just watch, Qian-ge!”
He Desheng and the others also breathed a sigh of relief, inwardly thanking Mr. Pei a thousand times.
Pei Qian knew that He Desheng’s group understood GOG far better than average players, so they absolutely couldn’t have any connection with the DGE club.
As for Ma Yang, throwing him into the DGE club could effectively disrupt training plans. At the same time, with Ma Yang happily distracted, Pei Qian wouldn’t have to worry about him causing issues like investing in Finger Company again.
Meanwhile, He Desheng and the others were worried that Mr. Ma would impulsively bring everyone to the esports club, as everyone played games just as a hobby and didn’t want to become professional players.
This way, everyone was happy!
Only Zhang Yuan became more confused.
Pei Qian chuckled and patted Zhang Yuan’s shoulder: “Don’t be confused, spend more money, and everything will get better.”
He also felt a bit sorry for Zhang Yuan, but providing more funds to the DGE esports club would serve as compensation.
…
After Mr. Pei left, Zhang Yuan became even more dejected.
He was still struggling with the club issue.
Mr. Pei had said to have the DGE club form a GOG team and to spend more money and invest more.
It didn’t make sense?
Zhang Yuan pondered deeply.
“Calm down, use the thinking methods developed in the internet café and ROF PC assembly to interpret Mr. Pei’s intentions.”
“The organizer can’t run its team, just like in sports competitions where you can’t be both player and referee—this point is certain and unchangeable.”
“Two paths: either leave Tenda Group or abandon the GOG project.”
“And Mr. Pei told me to continue with the GOG team, undoubtedly choosing a third path…”
“What’s special about this third path?”
“No matter what, the DGE team can’t participate in GOG’s official events!”
“Wait, if a team doesn’t participate in official events, can it still operate?”
“Hmm… it really can’t. Without competitions, there’s no popularity or exposure, naturally no sponsors or prize money. What’s the point? Wouldn’t that just be burning money for self-entertainment?”
“Damn, I can’t figure this one out at all!”
Zhang Yuan wanted to pull his hair out. This puzzle seemed harder than any he had encountered before.
After much struggle, he finally decided to give up thinking.
“Forget it, I’ll just follow Mr. Pei’s requirements honestly. Maybe things will naturally work out when the time comes?”
“Many seemingly unreasonable actions, as long as we persisted according to Mr. Pei’s requirements, eventually turned around in unbelievable ways.”
“Yes, I should trust Mr. Pei!”
Zhang Yuan decided that since he couldn’t understand it, he would stop trying for now.
Renting a villa, recruiting potential players from the leaderboard, preparing various club matters…
In short, act according to Mr. Pei’s requirements first, and understand later!