August 22nd, Monday.

At the entrance of DGE Club, Huang Wang and Team Leader Su were preparing to leave for Magic City, while all the other team members had gathered to see them off.

“Get along well with your new teammates when you get there. If you don’t play well, you’ll be bringing shame to us at DGE.”

“You’d better maintain your standard. If we meet after some time and find that you’ve gotten worse, prepare to be looked down upon!”

“Come back and visit when you have time.”

Coach Ya Ling smiled and said, “Remember to maintain your workout routine there. It took several months to build your physique, and if you give up, you’ll quickly gain the weight back. All your previous persistence would be wasted.”

Zhang Yuan patted Huang Wang’s shoulder: “If you have any difficulties, you can always tell me. We’ll find a way to help you. Don’t be shy. Even though you’re going there, you’ll always be a member of our club!”

Huang Wang was moved to tears, nodding repeatedly.

Unfortunately, Mr. Pei hadn’t come today.

Perhaps Mr. Pei didn’t want to witness this farewell scene?

Team Leader Su said, “Manager Zhang, rest assured, we’ll make good use of the money Mr. Pei has given us. Once we return to Magic City, I’ll discuss with the club’s management and do our utmost to fulfill Mr. Pei’s requirements. We’ll create the most suitable training environment for Huang Wang and other players, matching everything with DGE. You’re welcome to come and supervise anytime!”

Zhang Yuan nodded: “Of course, if you need anything, just ask.”

Team Leader Su was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something, turned back, and said, “By the way, your second team is now missing a player. Won’t that affect your training matches?”

The Meme Competition organized by ZZ Streaming had finished, and inter-club training matches were resuming according to the previously arranged schedule.

However, Huang Wang was the captain of DGE Club’s second team. With him gone, the second team had only four people left. Team Leader Su was concerned that his purchase might disrupt the training match schedule.

Zhang Yuan smiled: “Don’t worry, we already posted a new recruitment notice the day before yesterday, and many people have already applied. We’ve decided to reimburse their travel expenses, try them out one by one, and select the one with the best performance and most potential to fill Huang Wang’s vacancy.”

“We’ll rebalance the strength of both teams, and the training matches won’t be affected. Rest assured.”

Team Leader Su nodded: “That’s good, then. We’re off now, see you later!”

Jiang Huan suddenly remembered something and quickly walked over to Huang Wang, saying: “The newly released hero Multi-faced Man has good numerical strength. The mechanism of transforming into other heroes and stealing ultimates will be very useful in competitions. It might become a popular hero in this World Invitational, so be sure to practice with it.”

Huang Wang nodded: “Don’t worry, I know.”

Only after watching Huang Wang’s taxi completely disappear from view did everyone return to the club.

“Even though this guy talks too much, I still feel a bit sad seeing him go,” Zhang Yuan sighed.

“It’s alright, a new person will come soon. I wonder if the newcomer can withstand the same training intensity as Huang Wang,” Old Zhou expressed concern.

After all, Huang Wang was the captain of the second team, the one who practiced the most among the ten players.

Of course, Coach Ya Ling’s extra training would be tailored to each person’s physical condition.

But even so, it would be tough for the newcomer.

Jiang Huan smiled slightly: “No worries, I’ll take good care of this newcomer.”

Zhang Yuan gave him a meaningful look: “Jiang Huan, do you all think you’re safe now? With a new mid laner in the second team, you think they can’t beat you anymore?”

“Dream on!”

“When the new mid laner arrives, he’ll play mid for the first team, replacing Xiao Zhou, and Xiao Zhou will go to the second team as mid laner and captain!”

The players of both first and second teams were all dumbfounded.

“Huh?”

The situation suddenly became complicated again.

Originally, the first team was stronger than the second team, but now with the first team’s mid laner going to the second team and a new mid laner joining the first team, both sides would be back to the same starting line.

The first team had Jiang Huan as the shot-caller with better tactical understanding, but a weaker newcomer in mid; the second team consisted entirely of veteran players but would need to rebuild coordination.

Now, who would have to do extra practice was uncertain.

Especially Xiao Zhou, who was even more bewildered—everyone knew the captain had to practice the most and suffer the most!

He didn’t want to become a boxing player like Huang Wang!

Xiao Zhou hurriedly said: “No, please! I can’t command at all. How could I be the captain? Let’s reconsider this, please?”

Zhang Yuan chuckled: “Can’t command? No problem, after some extra practice sessions, you’ll learn how to command.”

Everyone: “…”

…

Evening.

Old Zhou was playing solo games while checking Huang Wang’s streaming status.

Indeed, Huang Wang was quite dedicated, streaming on his first day in Magic City.

In the streaming room and across the internet, news of Huang Wang’s transfer had spread.

“Boxing Player, have you transferred to H4 Club? Playing mid and jungle with Pang Ling? Is it true?”

“The rumors are going crazy, can you confirm it?”

“If it’s true, then H4 has fixed their weakness and will take off at light speed! This is a new Galactic Battleship!”

“No, DGE Club’s first team is the real Galactic Battleship. Haven’t you seen them in the Meme Cup these past few days?”

“DGE is indeed a Galactic Battleship, but they can’t participate in official competitions! Among teams that can compete, H4 has the strongest lineup on paper.”

“Buying players from DGE when you can’t beat them is brilliant. Other clubs never thought of this move—it’s absolutely genius!”

“What are the other clubs waiting for? Hurry up and buy! There are still nine people left there!”

“They probably haven’t reacted yet and need to observe for a few days. After all, everyone says DGE players are quite expensive. Reportedly, Huang Wang’s transfer fee reached 3 million. That’s terrifying. H4 is an established club and still had to scrape together that much money. What other clubs have that kind of financial strength?”

“3 million? Wasn’t it 5 million?”

“Stop arguing, it was 100 million!”

“Damn, in the end, esports has become a competition of money power.”

“Boxing Player has been practicing this new hero, Multi-faced Man, all day on stream. Looks like he’s preparing for competitions. Great! We’ll get to see a Boxing Player on stage at the Global Invitational! Just thinking about what the scene will be like feels amazing!”

Old Zhou couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly rumors spread in the internet age.

But it didn’t matter since it wasn’t a secret anyway and would be officially announced in a couple of days.

The only thing that needed to remain confidential was the exact amount of the transfer fee, which was why various figures were circulating online—1 million, 3 million, 5 million—with each rumor exaggerating the amount.

Many of these false rumors were probably spread by Yayi Streaming. After all, the higher Huang Wang’s transfer fee was reported to be, the more players would discuss it, bringing more attention to Yayi Streaming.

However, this created a problem… it temporarily scared off other clubs.

Other clubs already thought DGE players were non-transferable and would certainly be expensive. Now it was confirmed they couldn’t afford them.

Clubs without money abandoned the idea;

Wealthy clubs didn’t dare to spend several million at once on players, preferring to wait and see the effect of H4 Club’s purchase.

The awkward position belonged to clubs that wanted to buy but didn’t have enough money. They started devising plans to persuade streaming platforms to split the cost with them.

In any case, H4’s player purchase undoubtedly provided other clubs with a new approach they hadn’t seriously considered before.

Need players?

Just pay the DGE Club and buy them! All five positions available, guaranteed satisfaction!

And for internet-addicted youngsters who wanted to make a name for themselves, coming to the DGE Club for trials became very promising.

So what if they couldn’t participate in competitions temporarily?

As long as they persisted for a while, they would eventually be bought by other clubs at a high price!

…

…

August 23rd, Tuesday evening.

Pei Qian was drinking coffee at Slackin’ Internet Café while keeping an eye on Huang Wang’s situation.

Although Huang Wang had transferred to another club, the potential problem hadn’t been eliminated.

Other players could still be bought!

However, H4 and DGE had signed a confidentiality agreement preventing disclosure of the specific transfer fee, and H4 didn’t want other clubs buying DGE players to compete with them, so no concrete details of this transfer had been revealed.

Other clubs wanted to buy but thought it was expensive, so they were generally still observing.

After all, Huang Wang wasn’t just a powerful mid laner but also brought his popularity and traffic. Paying a 3-4 million transfer fee wouldn’t be a loss.

But the other players currently didn’t appear to be streaming talents. Buying them would just mean getting ordinary team members, making the same price seem less cost-effective.

Pei Qian was fairly satisfied with the current situation, but he also knew it could change at any moment.

Once other clubs started competing for DGE’s players, Pei Qian would have to tearfully sell all his players and restart the entire club from scratch.

After all, these ten people were very strong, largely because they had undergone professional training two months in advance. A new batch of players certainly wouldn’t have the same dominance.

Pei Qian had prepared for this worst-case scenario.

After considering DGE Club’s situation, Pei Qian placed his phone on the table and looked out the window while drinking his coffee.

Perhaps because he hadn’t stayed at Slackin’ Internet Café to view the night scenery at this hour for a long time, Pei Qian suddenly felt that, for some unknown reason, Jingzhou’s night seemed less noisy and more melancholic today.

So he gazed at the lights outside and his silhouette reflected in the glass, inexplicably recalling many things.

…

Under the night sky, Jingzhou was brilliantly lit.

People came and went on the busy streets. For those living in the center of Jingzhou, nightlife was just beginning.

Dazzling billboards hung overhead, their flashing lights mesmerizing.

In the display windows of roadside shops, under soft lighting, various exquisite ornaments emitted an alluring glow;

Mannequins in flawless attire showcased their graceful figures, seemingly mocking those outside who looked on with envy but didn’t dare enter;

Young couples nestled together as they entered bars, lifting elegant wine glasses, the aroma of fine wine permeating their senses.

Restaurants, bars, KTVs… the city had many places for enjoyment, occasionally sending out bursts of laughter.

Whether poor or rich, ugly or beautiful, everyone had their laughter, though some laughed from satisfaction while others laughed from loss.

In brightly lit office buildings, someone was working overtime, standing up to get hot water from the dispenser, involuntarily looking out at the night sky.

In a cheap rental apartment, someone was battling a leaking pipe with a wrench and tape.

In a small internet café by the roadside, amid swirling smoke, someone was editing their resume word by word, then opening recruitment websites to send it to various company inboxes.

At a street food stall, someone who had eaten a few skewers and drunk two bottles of beer suddenly covered their face and wept bitterly for no apparent reason.

…

Such scenes played out in every city worldwide, but most of the time, human joys and sorrows didn’t resonate with each other, and no one cared how others were living.

After all, for most people, trying to live their own lives well already took all their strength.

At this moment, on a computer at Fei Huang Studio, the words “Review Passed” appeared.

In the next instant, countless accounts received notifications of Fei Huang Studio’s video update. Countless fingers clicked on screens, countless eyes saw “New Life,” and countless ears heard Chen Lei’s voice.

…

Melodious singing accompanied by guitar strums flowed gently.

The scene appeared, first showing a wide lake view.

Chen Lei sat playing guitar in a semicircular living room, back to the camera, singing softly.

In the spacious living room, warm sunlight poured through 180-degree floor-to-ceiling windows, creating an inexplicably cozy feeling.

The camera passed through the floor-to-ceiling windows to the vast lake surface, then quickly rose to capture Jingzhou’s cityscape.

In the video, skyscrapers stood tall, making Jingzhou look like a massive steel jungle from an aerial view.

Vehicles moved rapidly, pedestrians walked hurriedly.

Everyone was busy with their affairs; the entire city seemed to never stop.

In Slackin’ Internet Café, Chen Lei sang while playing guitar.

On the street, Chen Lei passed by countless pedestrians.

At the airport, numerous planes took off and landed.

The camera followed the planes gradually ascended, again becoming an aerial shot.

It weaved through high-rises, seemingly moving away from the bustling city center as the surroundings gradually became desolate.

Two ordinary, lifeless 8-story residential buildings appeared quite desolate.

Then, Liang Qianfan’s figure appeared in the frame, walking into one of the residences.

He began observing, surveying, and drafting within the room.

Piles of design drafts covered the desk. Liang Qianfan picked up his coffee but, lost in thought, forgot to drink it and set it back down.

Soon, diligent workers entered the run-down house. They bustled about, blocking the camera’s view, preventing viewers from seeing the true appearance of the decrepit house.

Under the workers’ efforts, this seemingly old, damp house began changing rapidly.

Liang Qianfan’s desk was piled high with various design schemes as details were continually refined.

Finally, the house’s construction was completed.

Its true appearance was finally revealed. The living room’s arrangement matched exactly with the house where Chen Lei had played guitar earlier. The full view, deliberately hidden through editing, was now displayed, with 180-degree floor-to-ceiling windows confirming this was the same house from the beginning where Chen Lei had been.

At the community entrance, Chen Lei, carrying a guitar and pulling a small suitcase, arrived at the building and walked in.

The angle matched perfectly with when Liang Qianfan had entered the building, like some sort of scene recreation.

Finally, Chen Lei arrived in the living room, sat on the sofa, and held his guitar.

The song reached its conclusion, falling into silence.

Chen Lei gently strummed the guitar again, singing lyrics with the same melody as the opening but different words as an ending.

The ending and opening scenes completely merged, forming a closed loop.

Several lines of text appeared on the screen.

“If you’re tired, why not slow down and be a sloth?”

“Don’t just bear the pressure of this jungle without taking time to enjoy its prosperity.”

“You deserve a better life.”