Lin Wan nodded. “Good, that’s it then! We’ll buy this company outright for a permanent solution. We can keep all the copyrights for gradual development. It’s quite cost-effective.”
“The Multi-faceted Hero image can be used for ground promotion. Many foreigners are familiar with this character. Firmly binding GOG with the Multi-faceted Hero image might be even more effective than hiring celebrities.”
“We’ll also notify Tenda Games to fully develop Multi-faceted Hero as their next character. Then we can center all our overseas promotional campaigns around this new hero!”
…
That evening.
DGE Club, solo queue relaxation time.
Huang Wang was packing his things, preparing to relocate.
He had no choice—he talked too much during his streams, so everyone complained. Zhang Yuan specially prepared a well-soundproofed private room for him upstairs, exclusively for streaming.
By now, everyone knew something about Huang Wang’s contract, with varied reactions.
Some were envious and wanted to try streaming themselves. After all, for those who were just gaming addicts a year ago, the temptation of earning two million yuan annually, plus gaining fame, was overwhelming.
Others weren’t interested, like Jiang Huan, who felt that his food, lodging, and daily needs were already well taken care of by the club. The amount of money didn’t matter to him—he focused entirely on gaming.
Nevertheless, though they verbally complained about Huang Wang being too noisy and sent him upstairs, they were genuinely happy for him.
After all, they all started as gaming addicts. They had eaten, lived, and trained together during this time, sharing a bond like comrades who had fought together.
Huang Wang was like the first one to try something new, exploring a path for everyone else to follow, thus expanding their future options.
The relationships between teammates weren’t a zero-sum game. Once the DGE Club became famous, all players’ values would rise accordingly.
While waiting in queue, Lao Zhou casually browsed the web while checking Huang Wang’s channel on YiYi Live.
Sure enough, Huang Wang was putting on another show, flexing his muscles.
However, compared to before, his popularity had skyrocketed!
The resources provided to contracted streamers were vastly different from before. Huang Wang already had decent popularity, and after signing with the platform that was actively promoting him, with some artificial inflation and boosted viewership, his popularity soared in a very short time.
After all, streaming platforms focused on “creating stars.” For streamers with talking points and entertaining content, as long as the platform pushed them hard enough, they could rise to fame!
Besides this, Lao Zhou keenly noticed several official verified tags in Huang Wang’s stream description:
Strongest Club DGE Second Team Captain / Entertainment Master / Undefeated in Offline Tournaments / Popular with the Ladies…
Below that was the DGE Club logo, beautifully designed to leave a deep impression at first glance.
YiYi Live was working hard to connect Huang Wang with DGE Club, building an invincible image of DGE Club in the fans’ minds.
Originally, searching for “DGE Club” online yielded almost nothing useful, since the club hadn’t created—and didn’t need—an official website yet.
But now, searching for “DGE Club” immediately produced a long list of results!
The first result was YiYi Live’s DGE player Huang Wang’s streaming channel, the second was an encyclopedia entry, followed by various platform and forum posts, as well as news from many websites.
“GOG Clubs: First Place Unexpected?”
“Unveiling the Mysterious DGE Club”
“DGE Club Second Team Captain Signs with YiYi Live”
“This Club Once Crushed H4 Club: Pang Ling: ‘I Felt Hopeless'”
“DGE Club: GOG Official’s Secret Weapon?”
“Leaked DGE Mysterious Training Methods”
“Rumors Say Huang Wang Switched from Boxing to Esports—Is It True?”
“Shocking! Rich Fan Sends Ten Rockets, Male Streamer Does the Unthinkable…”
Seeing these search results, Lao Zhou knew this must be YiYi Live’s handiwork!
Since they had already signed Huang Wang and sponsored DGE Club, they naturally wanted to maximize commercial value.
Some of this content was deliberately created by YiYi Live to generate enough heat and discussion online, while other content shamelessly used clickbait titles.
But undeniably, the effects were immediate. The powerful, mysterious image of the DGE Club quickly established itself in players’ and viewers’ minds!
Moreover, these pieces of information mixed truth with fiction, making them difficult to distinguish.
Some truths were taken as falsehoods.
Many people thought: GOG officials are maintaining their club? Daily fitness training? Even crushing H4 Club? This must be nonsense!
Even if they sponsored a club, why would it be so much better than other clubs? Unless officials were cheating!
Some falsehoods were taken as truths.
Some fans who enjoyed stirring up trouble photoshopped boxing credentials for Huang Wang, putting his photo in a boxing ring. The Photoshop was so realistic that it fooled many uninformed onlookers.
As a result, whenever Huang Wang queued for games, viewers asking him to show his muscles and those asking him to demonstrate boxing moves reached an equal split.
Huang Wang repeatedly emphasized that he wasn’t a boxer, but he couldn’t stop the barrage of comments deceiving others.
Eventually, Huang Wang gave up and simply changed his stream title to “Former Professional Boxing Team Member Slaughtering High-End Divine Summit Matches.”
Surprisingly, after changing the stream title, even more viewers were fooled into watching!
Sometimes Huang Wang himself felt the world was too surreal.
…
Meanwhile, at ZZ Live headquarters in Yangcheng.
Company Vice President Liu Liang was furious. Several department heads stood with their heads down, not daring to breathe.
“You’re all useless! Dawdling around, you can’t even catch warm shit!”
“I told you to pay attention to promising technical streamers on GOG. Where have you been looking?”
“This Huang Wang had already been duo-queuing with Pang Ling on YiYi Live for several days, and you didn’t notice he was a good prospect? If you had discovered him earlier and signed him, YiYi Live wouldn’t have had a chance!”
“Now look what’s happened. How much traffic has YiYi Live’s promotion campaign brought them? Are we passive or what?”
“I’m furious!”
After scolding them, Liu Liang calmed down a bit. “Have you found the contact information for DGE Club’s manager?”
One of the managers nodded. “It’s been sent to you.”
Liu Liang waved his hand. “Fine, get out! I’ll handle this myself!”
The managers slunk away.
Liu Liang still felt angry. Such a promising talent had been snatched by their biggest competitor, YiYi Live. How could he not be upset?
The key was that they had plenty of time to react. They should have recognized his potential when Huang Wang started duo-queuing with Pang Ling. However, those useless subordinates were just coasting along, completely missing it.
Fortunately, there was still a way to remedy the situation. Liu Liang decided to take charge personally.
He heard that YiYi Live had given DGE Club a sponsorship and was frantically promoting the concept that “DGE Team is the strongest team.”
If this concept took off, it would be significant.
Players admired strength, and there was a huge difference between first-tier professional players and super-elite professional players.
Most interestingly, when Liu Liang inquired with managers of several clubs he knew, he discovered that much of the eye-catching information released by YiYi Live was true!
DGE really was a team maintained by Tenda, they really had crushed all domestic clubs, and their training regimen really included fitness training!
It wasn’t YiYi Live bragging after all.
Liu Liang realized there were many topics here ripe for promotion!
In the streaming industry, attention was everything. To attract viewers’ eyeballs, these streaming platforms would go to any length within legal boundaries.
Ready-made attention delivered right to their doorstep—how could they not capitalize on it?
Now, YiYi Live had already secured a sponsorship for DGE Club and was attempting to tie DGE Club to their streaming platform.
Fortunately, it wasn’t an exclusive sponsorship, so ZZ Live still had a chance.
Liu Liang checked the time. It was a bit late, and calling might seem impolite, but the situation was urgent, so he couldn’t worry about such formalities.
Soon, the call connected.
“Hello, are you Manager Zhang of DGE Club? I’m Liu Liang, Vice President of ZZ Live. I’d like to discuss club sponsorship with you!”
Liu Liang got straight to the point with a sincere attitude.
However, Zhang Yuan on the other end remained silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, Mr. Liu, you’re too late.”
Liu Liang’s heart sank. “Why is that?”
Zhang Yuan explained, “Our club has a rule that we accept a maximum of three sponsorships, and only one sponsorship per industry. YiYi Live has already sponsored us for one year. If you want to sponsor us, you’ll have to wait until this time next year.”
Liu Liang felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
Only accepting three sponsorships?
And only one per industry?
Were they crazy?
Who would turn down money like this?
Other clubs accepted advertisements without hesitation, willing to print their jerseys like seven-spotted ladybugs if necessary. After all, why refuse easy money that just requires adding a logo?
But now, they couldn’t even give sponsorship if they wanted to!
This was truly unprecedented.
Liu Liang was caught off guard.
He had another option: sign contracts with other DGE players, since they were all very skilled.
But obviously, other players didn’t have Huang Wang’s entertainment value, so signing them might not generate the same buzz.
Moreover, even if he signed the players, his company wouldn’t be a sponsor of the DGE Club, putting them at a disadvantage compared to YiYi Live.
Liu Liang couldn’t help but curse those useless department heads again in his mind.
Zhang Yuan said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now, Mr. Liu. We can stay in touch for future opportunities.”
“Wait, Manager Zhang!” Liu Liang quickly interrupted.
He knew clearly that he couldn’t just give up. There must be other ways to ride the wave!
If he gave up so easily, he could forget about capitalizing on any DGE Club-related buzz in the future.
But how to capitalize on it…
Liu Liang suddenly had a flash of inspiration, remembering some information he’d obtained when inquiring with other club managers.
“Manager Zhang, from what I understand, DGE Club is currently conducting practice matches with other clubs, is that right?”
Zhang Yuan: “Yes.”
Liu Liang considered for a moment, then said, “How about this: ZZ Live has decided to organize an online competition and invite all clubs to participate!”
“We’ll call it the ZZ Cup Fun Competition!”