Jin Yong was very confused.
How had they entered a dead end?
According to Christian, there were only four possible scenarios for this final: FV team crushes CEM, CEM crushes FV, FV wins by a narrow margin, or CEM wins by a narrow margin.
And among these, only CEM crushing FV team would be an acceptable outcome for Fingertip Company.
Why?
Even if CEM didn’t win so decisively, wouldn’t a 3-2 victory still be a win? Wouldn’t they still capture the spotlight that previously belonged to FV team by becoming world champions?
Christian shook his head and explained: “The key is that the tournament version update so obviously targeted FV team, which has inadvertently earned them a lot of sympathy points.”
“Even if FV team loses 2-3, not many people will acknowledge the value of CEM’s championship.”
“But conversely, if FV team wins 3-2…”
Christian didn’t continue, because that was the scenario he least wanted to see.
Jin Yong finally understood, his eyes widening slightly. “I see!”
If this final were an absolutely fair contest, then whoever won the championship would undoubtedly be the biggest winner.
But the critical point was that Fingertip Company’s tournament version had heavily nerfed the heroes FV team excelled at while significantly buffing the heroes favored by European and American clubs. This was essentially writing “We don’t want FV to win the championship” on their foreheads.
When this version update was first announced, players had already hotly debated it, believing that while Fingertip Company’s actions were completely within the rules, they still seemed somewhat shameless.
If a game company adjusted game balance not to make matches more entertaining but to favor certain teams, then as the organizer, this was clearly an unfair stance.
Similar situations existed in traditional sports too, like how table tennis rules kept changing.
But changes in traditional sports weren’t so obvious—not like IOI, where everyone immediately understood the implications once they saw which heroes were being buffed.
Although it caused some controversy, the world championship hadn’t started yet, so no one could predict how things would unfold, and thus it didn’t spark too much opposition.
Many foreign clubs weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Since Fingertip Company had made changes favorable to them, they simply accepted the advantage, prepared seriously, and focused on winning the championship rather than saying too much.
But this didn’t mean that the audience’s concerns had completely disappeared—they had merely been temporarily buried.
When the tournament actually began, each match FV team played served as a reminder of this issue to the viewers.
From their nerve-wracking group stage matches to their stumbling progress through the elimination rounds, and now being able to compete with CEM—the team that excelled with powerful heroes—on pure skill using the current version’s compositions, FV team’s players had raised their proficiency with these heroes to championship-caliber levels through extensive practice.
When CEM team picked the powerful meta heroes, the audience wasn’t surprised because everyone knew they were already good with them.
But when FV team picked these meta heroes, the audience was amazed because FV team didn’t originally play these heroes, and now everyone wanted to see how well they could perform!
And if they could perform well with heroes they previously weren’t good at, it was enough to show the audience FV team’s behind-the-scenes hardship and effort.
That’s why Christian said only one scenario was acceptable: CEM team crushing FV team.
Audiences don’t have much sympathy for losers who put up no resistance. If FV team suffered a devastating defeat, those who would mock and kick them while they were down would far outnumber those who sympathized with them.
If any viewers brought up the version issue then, they would only be ridiculed by others.
“Who can you blame if you can’t master the meta heroes?”
But now, FV team had actually managed to learn these heroes. Although they still couldn’t match the proficiency of specialists, they had fought the version’s darling CEM team to a fifth game through excellent team coordination and powerful tactical execution.
So even if they lost the final game, FV team would become tragic heroes, innocent victims in the battle between IOI and GOG, and solid proof of Fingertip Company’s “version adjustments to nerf the champions”!
The value of CEM team’s championship would naturally be questioned and remain highly controversial.
If FV team ultimately won, it would be even worse!
It would be even worse than if FV team had crushed CEM team.
If FV team crushed their opponents and easily took the championship again, it would prove this team was simply strong regardless of version changes, making Fingertip Company’s version adjustments appear less deliberate.
The defeated teams would accept the outcome, FV team’s fans wouldn’t dwell on the issue, and the matter would simply be laughed off.
But now with the teams tied at 2-2, with such closely matched skills, global audiences would certainly have many opinions about Fingertip Company’s version changes. Regardless of the final result, heated debates online would be inevitable after the match.
Jin Yong thought through the whole situation from beginning to end and realized that Fingertip Company didn’t have a good solution.
The FV team, which Mr. Pei had invested substantial resources to build, was like a nail firmly driven into Fingertip Company’s heart, impossible to remove!
FV team had gathered the best players in the country, then forged them through rigorous training, excellent conditions, and professional data analysis from the GOG team. Their level compared to other domestic teams was unparalleled.
And this team stood out so strikingly against the backdrop of IOI’s declining domestic server.
If FV team won, it would further highlight the tremendous strength of Mr. Pei and the GOG team in developing esports teams, especially given the overall decline of the domestic IOI server.
If FV team lost, it could only be attributed to one tree being unable to support a forest—a problem of IOI’s domestic server decline. Ultimately, it would still show that GOG was superior and had captured IOI’s market.
In contrast, Fingertip Company had very few options against FV winning the championship.
If the version remained unchanged or had minimal changes, hoping that foreign teams would naturally develop enough to reliably beat FV team over a year? That wasn’t realistic—they might catch up, but not necessarily surpass them.
Besides, the version couldn’t remain static because players wanted new content.
Once the version changed, it would inevitably weaken FV team to some extent, with the hope that other teams could win the championship.
But this would leave everyone with the impression that “Fingertip Company is targeting FV, the only remaining domestic team.”
The fact that the finals were so closely contested only reinforced this impression…
It seemed to be a dead end, with no way out!
Any decision Fingertip Company made would have to account for FV team, and whether FV won or lost, it would seem justified either way.
As long as FV team stayed true to their principles—not self-destructing, not getting overconfident, not being embroiled in major scandals, and not experiencing a cliff-like drop in player performance—they would remain a thorn that Fingertip Company could never remove, forever lodged in their heart, causing constant pain!
Although stirring battle anthems were now playing in the venue and the atmosphere had reached its peak, Jin Yong’s previous excitement had completely vanished.
Like Christian, he began to seriously worry about the public opinion that would follow the match.
…
“Congratulations to FV team! When everyone thought they would miss their second consecutive championship due to version changes, they successfully adapted through great perseverance and determination, ultimately defeating CEM team in a grueling five-game series to claim the championship of this IOI global finals!”
“Let’s congratulate FV team once again, and also give a warm round of applause for CEM team’s brilliant performance!”
The commentators were professionals after all, and unlike the Fingertip Company executives, they didn’t completely favor CEM team during their commentary, instead maintaining objectivity and fairness.
Perhaps the commentators were also moved by FV team’s performance, as they truly understood the game.
Confetti and gold streamers instantly shot into the air, accompanied by thunderous applause and cheers throughout the arena. The five members of FV team excitedly embraced each other again and ascended the award podium!
As for the executives from Dayak Group and Fingertip Company who presented the awards, they could only force smiles as they handed over the trophies.
Perhaps some of them were still lamenting: Why couldn’t CEM team do better?
If only they had persevered a bit more, made fewer mistakes, won one more team fight…
Then they would have won, wouldn’t they?
But it was too late for such thoughts now.
Jin Yong glanced at the empty seat beside him. Christian had learned from his previous experience and slipped away early when things looked bad, avoiding the awkward moment of FV’s championship victory.
Besides, Christian’s position was different from last year. Last year he was a host; this year he was just a bystander. Why stay and make himself miserable?
After the awards ceremony came the interview segment.
Although the organizing executives were reluctant, this necessary procedure still had to be followed.
Unlike the previous interviews, FV team members’ responses this time were more emotional.
After all, for professional players to physically overcome a version nerf was something that sounded difficult and was even harder to actually accomplish.
Compared to last year’s dominance thanks to version advantages and tactical superiority, winning the championship this year despite being targeted by the version update was clearly more touching.
Finally, the host approached Pan Ying, FV team’s captain.
As the team’s support player and shot-caller, Pan Ying’s reputation as an “interview black hole” was quite endearing, and he was already familiar to both the audience and hosts.
After asking several standard questions about tactical understanding and team coordination, the host suddenly had an inspiration and decided to improvise.
“Last year during your championship interview, you said the person you wanted to thank most was your boss, Mr. Pei, because he arranged everything. This year, who do you think you should thank the most?”
After considering for a moment, Pan Ying said: “This year, I want to thank all the fans and players who supported us, especially the players on the domestic server.”
“Please rest assured, FV team will fight alongside you until the very end, defending the honor of the ICL league!”
For some reason, though this should have been a joyous award ceremony, Pan Ying’s words carried an unexpected air of heroic tragedy, as if of a hero in his twilight years, leaving the audience sighing with emotion.