As the song ended, Chen Lei and Zhang Yuan left the stage.
The audience was still waiting for the next song, but Chen Lei didn’t return to the stage. Instead, a host from the GPL League stepped up.
For this GOG Global Invitational tournament, the main venue was in Europe, so most of the GPL League hosts and commentators had gone to Europe. However, they didn’t all go at the same time; they went in batches, and some couldn’t go due to visa issues.
The hosts who didn’t go either filled in at the GPL League venue or traveled to various cities across the country to provide live commentary at secondary, tertiary, and other viewing locations.
This was killing two birds with one stone: giving them work to do while ensuring audiences in every city received attention, allowing them to hear different official commentaries live.
All the performances on stage, including Chen Lei and Zhang Yuan’s singing, as well as the host’s appearance, were happening at the GPL venue and being simultaneously broadcast to all offline viewing locations nationwide, with dedicated streaming channels.
When the host came on stage, many audience members immediately expressed their disappointment.
“Huh? Where’s Chen Lei?”
“Let Chen Lei keep singing! We haven’t had enough yet!”
“Come on, Chen Lei’s already sung so many songs. He must be tired. Do you think this is a concert? I suggest Mr. Zhang should come up and do the prize draw! Start with a thousand accounts with all heroes and skins!”
“There’s still an hour before the match begins. If Chen Lei’s already leaving, are they preparing for the second half?”
“Please don’t arrange any awkward dance performances or cosplay shows!”
While the audience was wondering what was happening, the host revealed the answer.
Following the host’s introduction, ten players wearing DGE Club uniforms appeared on stage one by one. After greeting the audience, they sat down at the computers on opposite sides.
This was a special treat for the domestic audience—a warm-up match between DGE Club’s two teams!
These two teams were already the Nth generation trained by DGE Club; it was impossible to count exactly which generation they were.
The two teams had always operated with a mentoring system where veterans guided newcomers, with players coming and going rather than being sold off all at once.
Whenever other clubs needed players, they bought them from DGE Club, and then DGE Club would find promising talents from their youth training program.
Initially, the audience was quite unhappy when Chen Lei left the stage, expressing their disappointment in the comments. But when they saw that DGE would play a warm-up match, the tone of the comments instantly changed.
“This is great! Let Chen Lei take a break!”
“Wonder how this generation of DGE is doing. Hope they don’t embarrass their predecessors like Huang Wang and Jiang Huan!”
“Welcome to the DGE Club live promotional event! The player who earns MVP will receive the admiration of all major clubs and a multi-million annual salary!”
“Attention, team owners! A fresh batch of DGE-produced players is ready. Prepare to open your wallets!”
“Well, isn’t this putting pressure on the competing teams? If they don’t perform well at worlds, the owners might buy new talent from DGE on the spot. That’s quite the motivation for the veteran players!”
The atmosphere, already heated by Chen Lei’s warm-up performance, reached another level.
As the most unique club in the country and even the world, legends about DGE Club circulated everywhere.
When GOG was still in its early stages, DGE Club’s players conquered audiences with their powerful skills and impressive physiques. When the ten players were distributed among various teams, they dramatically raised the level of the entire GPL League.
Many people thought DGE Club would gradually fade into obscurity after their first batch of ten star players was bought out, but the opposite happened.
DGE Club maintained its high standards!
DGE Club had become an excellent stepping stone, a place where the most talented young players in the country were desperate to enter.
Everyone knew that joining DGE meant working with the most talented young players. After a period of training, those who performed well would be signed by major platforms for high prices, without worrying about being exploited with youth contracts during their prime years.
For other clubs, DGE Club was Mr. Pei’s enterprise with official backing that deserved appropriate consideration. Additionally, DGE’s training and selection process helped them reduce the risk of failed talent scouting.
After all, players who made a name for themselves at DGE were generally safe bets, even if signed blindly.
The combination of these factors meant that most of the most outstanding young players of the new generation had spent time at DGE Club.
It was hard to say whether DGE Club’s training methods were effective or if the club was so famous that it attracted exceptionally talented youth trainees who could shine with minimal effort.
In any case, most clubs and fans looking to discover promising newcomers couldn’t go wrong by focusing on DGE Club.
Arranging for DGE Club to play a warm-up match was beneficial in multiple ways.
For the audience, it warmed up the atmosphere and allowed them to get into the viewing mindset early. Watching a match was certainly more interesting than listening to commentators making awkward small talk.
For DGE’s players, it gave them experience on the big stage, helping them prepare for their future professional careers.
For the various clubs, it provided an opportunity to assess the quality of the new batch of DGE players and prepare to purchase the outstanding ones.
For esports competitions, arranging warm-up events was indeed challenging.
Esports audiences had very limited interests.
Cosplay shows or girl group dances weren’t necessarily popular.
Singing performances were slightly better, being more universally accepted, but even singing for over an hour would bore the audience.
What everyone really wanted to see were matches.
Therefore, arranging a warm-up match was best, and the teams involved needed to have some significance to maximize excitement.
Now it seemed this arrangement was quite successful, earning unanimous praise from domestic audiences.
Amidst the cheers from the venue, the match between DGE’s first and second teams officially began!
The young players on both sides had been gearing up for this day, trying their best to showcase everything they’d learned in training. Their execution and operations were no less impressive than professional teams. The unique energy of youth sent waves of cheers through the venue.
Occasionally, there were some clumsy plays due to nervousness, causing the audience to burst into laughter or chorus of boos.
Every time there was an impressive play or a blunder, comments floated across the livestream:
“That top laner just got a double kill under tower—his value just doubled!”
“Did that support just flash into a wall? Value reset to zero!”
“Team One’s jungler is impressive. Estimated value: 5 million per year. Any higher offers?”
The comments began estimating player values, turning the livestream into something like a market, creating maximum entertainment.
While audiences in other regions around the world were still watching highlight reels and listening to commentators ramble, domestic audiences had already entered full viewing mode!
……
Backstage at the GPL venue.
Zhang Yuan was browsing the forums, checking audience reactions to his singing performance.
The feedback was quite positive, though there were quite a few people urging him to do the prize draw.
Clearly, everyone had ulterior motives.
Chen Lei teased: “Brother Zhang, you’ve still got it! Interested in being a guest performer at my next concert?”
Zhang Yuan chuckled: “No thanks, I know my limits.”
“Actually, to be honest with you…”
Zhang Yuan lowered his voice: “My performance this time wasn’t about showing off. I was purely trying to avoid disaster.”
Chen Lei was stunned: “Avoid disaster? What do you mean?”
He was confused. What “disaster” could Zhang Yuan be facing?
DGE Club was the most profitable club in the country because other clubs had to constantly spend money buying players to achieve results, incurring huge expenses. But DGE purely sold players, and their merchandise sold extremely well.
As for the Esports Business Division, they were running the GPL League with great success.
Zhang Yuan’s transition from Slackin’ Internet Café to esports had been very successful. He was riding the wave of success, so what disaster was he trying to avoid?
And how would singing on stage help him avoid it?
Zhang Yuan looked around to ensure no one was nearby. Since Chen Lei was a trusted friend, he lowered his voice and complained: “It’s all because of that suffering journey Bao Xu organized!”
“The first batch of department heads has already gone to Shennongjia. By my calculation, there are only one or two weeks left before the second batch sets off.”
“The first batch list included all the key leaders from Tenda’s core departments, like Huang Sibo, Hu Xianbin, Xiao Peng, and so on. None of them escaped; they were all dragged in!”
“I think Xiao Peng took the bullet for me. If I were still at Slackin’ Internet Café, his name would have been replaced with mine.”
“But you can’t escape forever. Now with the GOG World Finals happening, I’m afraid I can’t escape Mr. Pei’s attention…”
Zhang Yuan was filled with despair.
When the first batch list came out, his back had already turned cold with dread.
To save himself, Zhang Yuan had been racking his brains, desperately thinking of solutions.
Now, with the guillotine of the suffering journey about to fall, how could he not be anxious?
Chen Lei was shocked: “What? Is that really happening? But will singing on stage really get you out of the suffering journey? Are you sure?”
Zhang Yuan shook his head: “I’m not sure, but it’s worth a try.”
“Actually, this is based on the latest theoretical research findings from colleagues in the Human Resources Department. I’m testing a cutting-edge concept. I can’t guarantee success, but what if it works?”
Chen Lei became interested: “Latest theoretical research findings?”
“Wow, your Human Resources Department is even responsible for theoretical research?”
Zhang Yuan nodded: “Of course. The Tenda Spirit was summarized by the Human Resources Department, and I must say, it’s quite useful.”
“The Human Resources Department’s latest findings have changed again. When I saw them, I realized they perfectly addressed Mr. Pei’s original intention for the suffering journey. This must be the standard answer! So I immediately decided to adopt it and give it a try.”