Although Xiao Peng had clarified at the beginning that the so-called “Grand Esports Ecosystem” was merely his prediction and did not represent Tenda Group’s official position, no one in the audience took this disclaimer seriously.

Nobody had expected this to be any kind of official statement anyway.

Most people’s attitude was that if what Xiao Peng said made sense, they’d listen; if not, they’d just ignore it. No one would quibble over such matters.

There were plenty of company executives who spouted nonsense, with the mobile phone industry being particularly notorious. Everyone had grown accustomed to it.

If you believed all that, your roots would have been plucked clean as a leek long ago.

Of course, Xiao Peng himself was quite serious about it.

Although Mr. Pei had never actually said these things, Mr. Pei’s layout across various industries clearly showed he was doing exactly this!

And Xiao Peng felt he was merely using some nice-sounding words to embellish this fact ever so slightly.

“Next, I will briefly explain what the ‘Grand Esports Ecosystem’ is from three aspects.”

“If we view the esports industry as a pyramid, high-end competitions would be its peak; various secondary leagues and esports clubs would be its middle section; and a comprehensive esports community culture would be its foundation.”

“If any part is missing, the esports industry becomes ‘lopsided.'”

“Among these, the most crucial is the foundation, as it is the cornerstone of the esports industry, directly providing excellent new players, massive audiences and consumers, and related professionals for the esports industry.”

“If the esports industry develops into a huge commercial league similar to football in the future, then internet cafés would be equivalent to the bars where fans gather, as well as the fields where children train.”

“Therefore, Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 aims to create an esports life hall, attracting grassroots esports talent from an entire region, injecting fresh blood into the esports industry; meanwhile, it also provides a community where young people who love esports can gather based on shared interests, becoming a social platform, and even a part of life!”

As Xiao Peng explained on stage, people in the audience nodded in agreement.

Everyone had been deceived by Xiao Peng’s flowery words.

Meanwhile, Pei Qian wanted nothing more than to raise his arms and shout that they shouldn’t believe him, that he was just trying to fool them!

Xiao Peng continued clicking the projector remote, turning to the next slide.

“Next, I will introduce the efforts that Slackin’ Internet Café has made to welcome the ‘Grand Esports Ecosystem.'”

“In all Slackin’ Internet Cafés, players can try some skins in GOG and IOI for free, and receive discounts on internet fees based on playing time.”

“At Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0, we will regularly organize GOG competitions, encouraging players to play in five-person teams. The matches will be streamed within the internet café, and the winning teams will have their training rooms in the café.”

“The strongest among all teams will train at the highest position in the internet café, representing the highest standard of GOG in this area—a tremendous honor!”

Xiao Peng raised his hand toward the inverted V-shaped five-seat position at the highest point, causing the audience to marvel in wonder.

Most people were just imagining how it would feel to sit in that position, and thought it would be awesome.

However, some people seemed to sneer at this.

Because the idea was a bit too optimistic.

Currently, esports was still relatively niche both domestically and globally. Although there were many internet cafés, blooming everywhere, not many people actually watched esports competitions.

Moreover, almost all esports competitions were concentrated in super first-tier cities like Magic City and Imperial Capital, with only the very top players being known to gamers.

Want esports to become a massive industry like football? Even entering second and third-tier cities and creating a comprehensive esports atmosphere?

It seemed like a pipe dream.

If there weren’t enough players to support this so-called “Esports Life Hall,” and no one showed up for organized competitions, this beautiful vision would quickly fade away, eventually degenerating into an ordinary, rather expensive internet café.

Xiao Peng smiled slightly, as if he had anticipated everyone’s reaction.

Fortunately, he had prepared a backup plan!

“I know that most of you here haven’t been to major competition venues and cannot understand how exciting and entertaining esports competitions can be. So next, please enjoy a match between top GOG teams, and together experience how Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0’s Esports Life Hall model will bring a new kind of change to our lives!”

As soon as Xiao Peng finished speaking, DGE Esports Club members had already taken the stage from the side and entered their respective soundproof rooms.

Zhang Yuan came to Xiao Peng’s side, also holding a microphone, apparently planning to guest as a commentator.

The PowerPoint presentation on the big screen had been closed, replaced by the game screen waiting to start.

Whispers arose from the audience below.

“There’s even a program!”

“Where did they find these teams?”

“They don’t look much like experts, they’re all a bit too handsome.”

“So they’re going to play a GOG match live?”

“Hey, didn’t they mention anything about IOI? It seems like the café tournaments here are only for GOG?”

“It doesn’t matter, not many people play IOI nowadays anyway.”

At the same time, noisy sounds came from outside.

“Everyone make way, make way, set up the seats properly!”

The folding chairs had arrived.

The spectators watching the big screen outside were delighted and quickly took their seats.

Inside the hall, many people had already turned on their computers and started playing GOG.

When sending out invitations, Xiao Peng had deliberately chosen experienced GOG players. Otherwise, if people were playing all sorts of games while a match was being shown above, it would look chaotic.

Even if they were gaming, he wanted everyone to play GOG so that the recorded video would look more uniform.

But these people weren’t that interested in the upcoming GOG match. They’d rather play themselves to see what the legendary RGB lighting effects looked like when they flashed.

Although these internet-addicted teenagers from DGE Esports Club had undergone fitness training for some time, it had only transformed their abnormal physiques into normal ones. Wearing T-shirts and pants, no obvious muscles were visible.

It wasn’t as eye-catching as a group of fitness coaches taking the stage.

The audience only felt that their healthy physiques somehow didn’t match the stereotypical image of esports experts.

The stereotypical esports expert was often either too thin or too fat, with only exceptionally nimble fingers.

In short, people in the café opened their computers and started playing, while those outside planned to watch the beginning and leave anytime if it wasn’t exciting.

As for Pei Qian… he had no idea how to describe his current feelings.

This was completely different from the opening ceremony he had imagined!

Shouldn’t a normal opening ceremony involve leaders giving speeches, cutting a ribbon, and then everyone happily eating, drinking, and playing?

But how had this Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 opening turned into a live event?

The two teams on stage were seriously going through the pick-ban phase like in a ranked match!

No wonder Zhang Yuan and Coach Yaling hadn’t assigned training tasks for everyone—they were saving energy for this exhibition match!

…

On the big screen, the match quickly began.

The format was best-of-five, the same rhythm that DGE Club’s two teams usually played with.

The computers below soon flickered with colorful lights, very eye-catching.

“Was that first blood?”

“Oh, the flashing lights are different, interesting!”

“The light effect for a killing spree seems to last quite long.”

“Wow, that’s so cool!”

Players in the hall immediately discovered the wonder of these computer cases—they would flash according to game dynamics, emitting special RGB lighting effects!

These things weren’t difficult to make, but the question was: who would see them flash?

If at home, even if your computer case lit up, only you would see it. The initial coolness would quickly become light pollution.

But in an internet café, it was completely different!

The café environment was already noisy and lively, and since everyone was a GOG player, when your case lit up, it was like showing off in front of everyone. You couldn’t help but attract attention.

Even many people peeping at the entrance saw the large RGB light show inside the café and felt an irresistible itch, wishing they could go in and play on a machine right away.

Players in the café felt that these RGB lights were like some kind of buff. Their whole bodies were filled with energy, getting more and more into it, just wanting to quickly score a solo kill or a multi-kill to make their computer case light up and attract the attention of those around them.

If there happened to be a pretty girl in the next seat… things would spiral out of control.

Among these people, many had come in groups. At first, everyone was playing their games seriously, with few people paying attention to the match on the big screen, but this situation quickly changed.

“They’re already trying to ambush each other at level one?”

“That positioning looks very professional!”

“The opponents anticipated it and didn’t fall for the trap.”

“Holy crap, look! This Ruan’s operation is so sick, it’s godlike!”

“These people’s foundations are really solid, and their rhythm is fast. This is not an ordinary team—they look like at least Master-level players!”

“Impossible, I’m a Master myself, and this is not a level that Master players can achieve.”

Unknowingly, more and more people were discussing the match.

Many players had been fully concentrated on their games, but couldn’t resist the frequent applause and cheers, occasionally looking up.

As a result, they became completely engrossed after seeing an exciting moment, only to realize that their screens had turned black and white, with teammates spamming question marks over their corpses.

By the end of the first game, nearly 60% of people in the hall were playing games.

By the end of the second game, less than 20% of people in the hall were still gaming.

By the third game, no one in the hall was playing their games anymore. Everyone was watching the big screen intently while drinking beverages, spontaneously erupting in cheers whenever exciting plays appeared.

Only during breaks between matches would people open custom games, trying to recreate the brilliant moves they had seen in the matches.

The three camera positions captured all the audience reactions, and the atmosphere in the entire café was incredibly lively.

Even the audience outside was growing larger!

Initially, they were just people who had heard about Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0’s opening and came to join the excitement. These people had filled all the folding chairs at the café entrance. But gradually, many other people from the mall were attracted over, asking what was going on while silently recording with their phones.

The curious onlookers gradually dispersed, but many GOG players remained. The crowd outside kept growing.

Meanwhile, Pei Qian sat in the innermost position of the café’s lounge area, silently taking out his phone and opening DUdu search.

“My newly opened internet café seems to be becoming popular. How do I cut my losses? Need answer urgently!”