April 29th, Friday.

Early in the morning, Pei Qian took a car to Mingyun Villa.

Not to eat at Mingyun Private Kitchen—he had no reservation today.

This time, Pei Qian came to check on the DGE Club’s situation.

They got a friendship price for rent, property management fees waived, and it was in a territory very familiar to Zhang Yuan…

Was the DGE Club starting this smoothly?

He had to see the place in person and make some arrangements!

The villa housing the DGE Club was at a slight distance from Mingyun Private Kitchen, but not too far—about a five-minute walk.

Upon entering the villa, the first thing that caught his eye was the somewhat empty hall.

Since it was a different house type, the layout wasn’t the same as Mingyun Private Kitchen, but overall, it was quite similar.

The living room was already furnished with computer desks and gaming chairs, with ROF computers uniformly arranged in rows. This largest space was intended to be the training room for the players.

As for the other rooms, they were probably meant to be the players’ dormitories.

Mr. Li had bought three villas at once for appreciation, so there was no need to spend big money redecorating all of them according to his preferences. This villa maintained its original decoration, with only basic finishes like walls, floors, and lighting fixtures.

This saved Zhang Yuan quite a bit of trouble—he could use it after minimal preparation, without wasting too much time.

There were twelve computers in total in the great hall, with ten internet-addicted-looking young men intently staring at their screens, clicking their keyboards and mice with full concentration, rarely speaking.

Pei Qian felt a bit surprised.

Were they playing 5v5 GOG?

Shouldn’t they be shouting to coordinate with teammates? Why were they so quiet?

Looking at the computer screens again, he confirmed—it was indeed GOG. And it seemed to be the same game session?

Then why wasn’t anyone talking?

Seeing that Mr. Pei had arrived, Zhang Yuan hurried over to greet him.

Pei Qian looked around: “Ma Yang isn’t here?”

Previously, Pei Qian had said to let Old Ma come to the club to help Zhang Yuan when he had nothing else to do.

And yesterday, Zhang Yuan had said, “ROF’s computers work great, Mr. Ma is very satisfied,” indicating that Ma Yang had been there yesterday.

Zhang Yuan smiled somewhat awkwardly: “Mr. Pei, Mr. Ma has been here regularly lately, but today he doesn’t seem to be planning to come.”

“He was a little upset yesterday…”

Pei Qian: “Hmm?”

In his opinion, Old Ma was an optimist. Besides getting 59 on a test, what else could make him unhappy?

Zhang Yuan explained: “Yesterday, after these players arrived, Mr. Ma was very excited and said he wanted to test their skill level, so he joined them in a game.”

“These kids don’t understand social cues at all. Despite my repeated hints through eye contact, they still slaughtered Mr. Ma 0-28…”

Pei Qian couldn’t help but laugh.

Oh, Old Ma, so even a slacker like you has days like this?

It’s delightful!

Always slacking off and sabotaging me, then complaining I don’t carry you enough?

Now you know—have you got a better sense of your true skill level?

After getting a harsh lesson from society, will you still dare to boast about your game understanding in front of me?

Pei Qian looked around the room: “Which brave souls did this?”

Zhang Yuan thought Mr. Pei wanted revenge and quickly said, “Mr. Pei, I’ve already severely criticized and educated them. This kind of situation definitely won’t happen again!”

“Moreover… this matter, I bear some responsibility too.”

“When I saw Mr. Ma die twice, I quickly signaled everyone with my eyes, indicating they should go easy on him, but they became even more aggressive.”

“When I asked afterward, I found out they thought I was telling them to increase their efforts…”

Pei Qian felt like laughing out loud: “How could we criticize them for this?”

“Commend the entire team immediately!”

“If they don’t even have the spirit of fair competition, how can they become good professional players in the future? The fact that they can be merciless and give their all even against Mr. Ma precisely proves that they are all good candidates for professional players!”

“This spirit must be encouraged!”

Zhang Yuan pressed his lips together, his eyes full of emotion: “Yes, Mr. Pei, I understand!”

He had thought Mr. Pei would be angry because his good friend had suffered such cruel treatment, but unexpectedly, he didn’t mind at all and even wanted to commend them.

Mr. Pei’s spirit of fairness was worth learning from!

As the two continued chatting, the players remained focused on their games, wearing headphones and completely undistracted.

While talking with Zhang Yuan, Pei Qian continued observing and noticed these people really weren’t speaking at all. He asked puzzledly: “Are they playing solo queue? Or competing against each other?”

Zhang Yuan: “They’re divided into two teams competing against each other.”

Pei Qian became even more confused: “Are they communicating through eye contact or brain waves?”

“Don’t tell me you found two teams of quintuplets who share thoughts?”

“They don’t even look alike.”

Zhang Yuan laughed awkwardly: “Ahem, you’re so humorous, Mr. Pei.”

He turned to look at the players, then invited Mr. Pei out of the living room to continue their conversation in the courtyard: “These players are all a bit… how should I put it, overly introverted. In common terms, they’re socially withdrawn—they especially hate talking. I’m working on training them.”

“I know GOG is a team game, and players need to communicate with each other, but personality is something that can’t be changed overnight.”

Pei Qian was surprised: “All ten of them are socially withdrawn? Even for internet-addicted youth, this probability can’t be so high, right? Or…”

“Did you deliberately pick them?”

Pei Qian couldn’t help wondering if Zhang Yuan had figured it out.

I didn’t even specifically guide him, and he already thought of specifically selecting socially withdrawn children as professional players?

Zhang Yuan looked slightly embarrassed: “Mr. Pei, I didn’t deliberately pick them. These were the only choices left—I had no options…”

Pei Qian: “Hmm? What do you mean?”

Zhang Yuan sighed softly: “It’s all because of the nature of the DGE Club!”

“Mr. Pei, you’ve always emphasized that we should be open and honest, not concealing or deceiving, and I’ve always adhered to this philosophy in my work.”

“So when recruiting from the GOG ranking ladder, I was also completely honest.”

“At first, I briefly explained the club’s conditions, including base salary, bonuses, and so on. The prospects were very satisfied because our club offers better treatment than other clubs, with various attractive benefits.”

“But as soon as I mentioned that our club couldn’t participate in any official GOG tournaments, they immediately refused.”

“Those willing to go professional all want to win championships. In our club, let alone winning championships, they can’t even compete.”

“No exposure, no prize money, just a base salary.”

“Professional gaming is a young person’s career—who would be willing to just take a base salary?”

“So in the end, those who joined were players who had no other options, poor communication skills, and introverted personalities.”

“Even so, when I signed contracts with them, they were unwilling to sign for three years, only willing to sign for one year…”

“But don’t worry, Mr. Pei, these ten people all have high rankings, they’re young, and their game understanding is good. They can be considered promising talents.”

“I’m trying to correct their mindset.”

Pei Qian understood now, and the corners of his mouth curved upward slightly.

Good, very good!

Indeed, for those internet-addicted youths truly aspiring to go professional, even when signing with a club, they would compare options.

Professional players have short careers—the most important things are prize money and exposure. How would they manage when they get older if they only rely on their basic salary?

Since the DGE Club couldn’t participate in any official tournaments, prize money and exposure couldn’t be expected—who would want to join?

Even though they had recruited a few unwanted internet-addicted youths, they all saw this place as a stepping stone. After playing for a year to improve themselves slightly, they would jump ship to another club as soon as the opportunity arose.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this.

Great!

This way, the club was even less likely to make money—it could only burn money!

However, he still couldn’t be overly optimistic.

Zhang Yuan said he was “trying to correct their mindset and properly train them,” and he was serious.

“So, what do you plan to do?” Pei Qian asked.

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment: “I plan to give them two days to adjust. Meanwhile, I’m also looking for a coach.”

“Preferably someone with extensive experience who has coached in other esports departments and commands respect. I’ll bring them in to completely transform these players, requiring them to communicate with teammates and actively develop various tactics.”

“Coaches or assistant coaches from certain ‘Divine Awakening’ teams would be good.”

Pei Qian fell silent.

That seemed like quite a reliable approach.

Indeed, a good coach was crucial for team improvement and could even have a transformative effect.

So he definitely couldn’t let Zhang Yuan go looking!

Pei Qian coughed lightly: “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

Zhang Yuan was taken aback: “Does Mr. Pei have a better idea?”

Pei Qian slowly paced in the villa’s garden while Zhang Yuan quietly followed, listening attentively.

“First of all, GOG is a brand-new game with significant differences in game mechanics compared to ‘Divine Awakening’ or other similar competitive games. Bringing in a coach from another game might affect the players with rigid thinking.”

“These players are all high-ranked solo queue players. If you have someone with less game understanding than they coaching, it might superficially improve team cooperation, but would seriously suppress their natural talent!”

“Secondly, as you said, withdrawn personalities are innate and can’t be changed overnight.”

“Forcing them to communicate might not only fail to achieve the desired effect but could also cause them to lose their advantage of focusing on individual mechanics, like trying to walk like someone from Handan, ending up worse off.”

“Finally, ‘Divine Awakening’ and many other esports are not developing well currently and are very irregular.”

“The main esports clubs in the country now are either players doubling as account boosters with clubs functioning as studios, or rich kids playing for fun. Both types of clubs are chaotic internally and can’t provide any useful experience—they might even bring bad influences.”

Zhang Yuan was silent for a long time before nodding in realization: “Hmm… this perspective you’ve mentioned, Mr. Pei, I hadn’t considered before…”

“But according to what you’re saying, this problem seems unsolvable?”

“The players are all withdrawn, so we simply don’t make them communicate? Clubs are all irregular, so we simply don’t find a coach? This… seems somewhat inappropriate, doesn’t it?”

Pei Qian was a bit speechless.

Why aren’t you filling in the gaps with your imagination now?

I have to think of a way to explain.

Pei Qian coughed lightly: “What I mean is, don’t be so eager for quick results in these matters. We need to proceed gradually.”

“Slowly let these withdrawn children open up to each other.”

“We don’t have to invite coaches from other clubs—we can use other methods to find one!”

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment: “Alright, Mr. Pei, just tell me what to do!”

Pei Qian nodded slightly. Ah, this was the normal pattern!

“Let’s do this.”

“Cancel all group training programs and let them continue playing solo queue.”

“As for the coach, I’ll find a way to locate one and bring it to you within two weeks.”

Zhang Yuan didn’t doubt him and nodded: “Alright, Mr. Pei. I have absolute confidence in your eye for talent!”