Saturday afternoon, March 24th.

With nothing particular to do today, SUG club owner Ding Gan decided to pay Wu Yue a visit. Neither FV nor SUG had matches scheduled for the day, making it a perfect opportunity.

Since returning from the World Championship in the United States, the relationship between SUG club and FV club had been steadily warming up, almost resembling sister teams.

This was perhaps what they called “you and I had no connection, until I became rich.”

Originally, these two teams had no association. SUG was a well-known team from the early days of domestic esports, while FV was barely on the radar. Wu Yue couldn’t have aspired to such a connection even if he’d wanted to.

But during the World Championship, both teams traveled to Los Angeles together. SUG benefited greatly as a practice partner, and with Mr. Pei’s connection, the two owners grew closer, with their relationship improving steadily.

Of course, Ding Gan’s frequent visits to FV were also to learn from their advanced experience, hoping to improve SUG’s performance.

However, unlike previous visits, Ding Gan immediately sensed something different as he entered today.

FV’s main roster wasn’t training. The training room was empty except for Manager Lu and a few substitute players from the second team.

Seeing Ding Gan enter, Manager Lu immediately stood up to greet him: “Mr. Ding.”

They were old acquaintances, so there was no need for formalities. Ding Gan asked directly: “Where are Mr. Wu and the players? Why aren’t they training today? Is there some special event?”

Manager Lu explained: “Mr. Ding, they’re all in the conference room. Representatives from Finger Company came today to discuss the championship skins with the players.”

Ding Gan was surprised: “Oh! They’re only starting to discuss championship skins now?”

Manager Lu nodded: “Yes, it seems Finger Company has been busy with ioi version updates and preparing overseas leagues, so they’ve only now found time.”

“After all, representatives from Finger Company headquarters had to come in person, so it was delayed for some time.”

Ding Gan nodded, having heard some rumors about ioi version updates.

The executives at Finger Company and Dayake Group were certainly displeased about FV winning the championship.

It wasn’t because they had any prejudice against domestic teams. The key issue was that FV was a competitor’s team, and their victory hinged on Tenda Games’ data support. This essentially slapped Finger Company in the face in front of players worldwide, proving that Tenda Games’ designers and balance team were superior to Finger Company’s.

It also reinforced rumors that “ioi was copying GOG.”

So to weaken FV’s strength and regain face, Finger Company would certainly plan a new round of version updates. Additionally, overseas leagues, including North America’s, were in preparation, which explained why they only now had time to send a design team to discuss championship skins with FV.

Manager Lu said: “Mr. Ding, they might need some more time. Would you like to take a seat and wait?”

Ding Gan nodded, sat down on the nearby sofa, and waited for the meeting to conclude.

—

Meanwhile, in the conference room.

FV’s owner Wu Yue, a translator, and the five main roster players sat on one side of the conference table, with two skin designers from Finger Company on the other.

Wu Yue said: “We’ve pretty much finished discussing the championship skins.”

“The heroes chosen are our players’ signature champions from the finals, including Lava Ancient Tree, Storm Swordsman, Blade of Wings…”

“Then there’s the overall skin style.”

“Since these are FV team skins, they must feature our logo. Add the recall effect and signatures—those are the basics.”

“Then there are two elements our team particularly likes and hopes to include.”

“As you can see, our team logo has gold elements, and our players really like the brilliant gold effect. So we hope to incorporate gold elements extensively in the skin effects, such as area skills bursting with golden light.”

“Second, our players use their brains to play games and prefer cooler, tech-inspired skins. So we’d like to add effects resembling program code or scientific formulas, displayed during channeling, recalls, and so on.”

Wu Yue first explained FV’s overall concept for the championship skins.

After finalizing the overall style, the players would propose specific customization requests for their personal skins, such as what recall animation to use or what special elements to add.

The two designers listened to the translator, nodding and taking detailed notes.

FV team’s requests sounded quite reasonable.

Everyone loves bling, and the tech and digital elements perfectly matched the preferences of gaming enthusiasts. This skin series would likely be well-received.

One designer considered carefully: “We can set the skin theme as ‘Black and Gold Tech.’ The default skin would have black as its primary color, complemented by golden lines. The armor would be high-tech battlesuits, and all weapons, whether melee or ranged, would be redesigned with a high-tech appearance.”

“As levels increase, the gold elements would gradually become more prominent, and the tech elements would intensify.”

“As for program code effects, we can heavily incorporate them during channeling abilities or recalls, creating a hacker world atmosphere.”

Wu Yue was delighted: “Exactly! That’s precisely the feeling we want!”

“Now let the players explain their specific requirements for their skins in detail. I’ll take my leave now.”

—

Leaving the conference room, Wu Yue couldn’t help but smile.

Good—these designers from Finger Company headquarters had no suspicion whatsoever.

In fact, Wu Yue and the players had already discussed the championship skins many times and reached a consensus.

Who deserved the most credit for FV’s championship?

Mr. Pei, of course!

Without Mr. Pei’s generous funding—covering food, accommodation, internet cafes, providing a perfect training environment, hiring a specialized data analysis team and practice squad, and rapidly improving FV’s game understanding—how could FV have possibly won the championship with their original level?

So these championship skins had to commemorate Mr. Pei!

But this couldn’t be too obvious. Ideally, Finger Company’s designers wouldn’t notice, while domestic players would immediately recognize it.

So after lengthy discussions, Wu Yue and the players settled on gold and digital elements.

The gold elements were similar to GOG’s coin-tossing hedgehog Modist, commemorating Mr. Pei’s lavish spending on FV. The digital elements represented the powerful data support from Tenda Games.

Creating the first set of championship skins in ioi as a tribute to Mr. Pei was a modest way to repay his generosity toward FV!

Ding Gan was sitting on the sofa in the training room when he saw Wu Yue emerge from the conference room and immediately stood to greet him.

The two were quite familiar now. They sat on the sofa, exchanged pleasantries, and discussed recent events at both clubs.

Looking at the second team players training in the room, Ding Gan suddenly felt something was off.

“Wait, Mr. Wu, why do your players seem even more muscular than when I last visited? The results are coming too quickly—they’re almost catching up to those monsters from DGE!”

“Why do my players show no results even after training for so long?”

Wu Yue was taken aback: “How would I know? Maybe people’s physiques just can’t be generalized.”

Ding Gan pondered: “That doesn’t seem right. Your players have different physiques, but they’ve all improved overall. My players also have different physiques, but the fat ones stay fat, the skinny ones stay skinny—no change at all!”

“Are my players going to a fake gym?”

Wu Yue thought for a moment: “Maybe it’s… a diet issue?”

Ding Gan slapped his thigh lightly: “That’s it! That must be the reason!”

“When Zhao Xuming told us to hire our own cooks and find nearby gyms for memberships, he said the subsidies were the same for everyone, so I didn’t think much of it.”

“But now I see that’s not the case at all!”

“The subsidies might be the same, but the results are worlds apart!”

As a second-generation rich man, Ding Gan didn’t visit the club often, just occasionally. Since Zhao Xuming provided the same subsidies to all clubs, Ding Gan hadn’t thought much about it.

He never expected to see such a massive difference after some time!

Ding Gan couldn’t sit still: “This won’t do. I need to go back and check!”

—

After leaving FV club, Ding Gan drove straight back to SUG club.

This time, instead of going inside directly, he parked by the roadside and waited patiently.

According to the club’s schedule, after finishing afternoon scrims, players would have gym time, then return for dinner, rest a bit, and continue with evening practice matches.

Checking the time, the scrims should be finished. By staking out the entrance, he should be able to catch the players heading to the gym.

Ding Gan waited in his car for over half an hour and finally saw SUG players leaving the club and walking toward a nearby gym.

There were many parked cars on the street, and Ding Gan had deliberately chosen a distant position to hide, so the players had no idea their every move was being observed by their boss.

After the players had gone some distance, Ding Gan got out of his car and quietly followed them.

SUG players had been training at the nearby gym for some time, but with absolutely no results. Not only had they failed to close the gap with FV players, but the difference was growing even wider.

This was unacceptable for club owner Ding Gan!

He silently tailed them to the gym near their training base and followed them inside.

Initially, Ding Gan was worried about being discovered, but he quickly realized his concern was unnecessary. The gym was crowded on weekend afternoons, allowing him to blend in, completely unnoticed by the players.

To avoid exposure, Ding Gan deliberately lay low for a while, waiting until the players had all changed and started exercising before observing from within the crowd.

He watched as the players found their personal trainers and began their workout.

However, Ding Gan’s brow quickly furrowed as he realized these players weren’t training seriously at all—they were slacking off as a group!

The gym was already crowded, with many machines occupied, requiring people to wait in line. The trainers were only guiding players through some endurance exercises on yoga mats, and the players weren’t particularly dedicated. As soon as things got a bit tough, they’d collapse on the mat and give up, not achieving optimal training results.

Ding Gan now understood why there were no visible results despite training for so long.

Because regular cooks and ordinary gyms couldn’t replace Slackin’ takeout’s fitness meals and Tuoguan Fitness!

Although the gym’s trainers were relatively conscientious, on one hand, the equipment wasn’t as freely available due to the need to wait in line. On the other hand, the personal trainers weren’t pushing the players hard enough. When players slacked off, trainers felt awkward about being too harsh and just let it slide.

So the fitness training gradually became a mere formality.

Ding Gan even suspected these players only came to the gym based on their mood. When the club manager wasn’t around, they wouldn’t show up, and the gym’s trainers wouldn’t say much about it.

And it wasn’t just SUG club—all other clubs except FV were likely in the same situation, as evidenced by their players’ physiques being roughly on par with SUG’s, with no noticeable difference.

Ding Gan was immediately displeased.

Why should FV team get Slackin’ takeout and Tuoguan Fitness with such effective training results when we’re all getting the same subsidies, yet we only get regular cooks and ordinary gyms with no visible results?

He hadn’t raised the issue before because he hadn’t realized the difference would be so significant.

Now it was time to team up with other club owners to approach Zhao Xuming and switch to Slackin’ takeout and Tuoguan Fitness. There shouldn’t be any problem with that, right?

After all, Shanghai had recently opened branches of Slackin’ takeout and Tuoguan Fitness, which should be able to accommodate these professional players.

With this in mind, Ding Gan left immediately to contact other club owners and pressure Zhao Xuming together.

Players not taking fitness seriously and trying to slack off? Absolutely unacceptable!

—

Monday, March 26th.

Pei Qian arrived at his office as usual to check on the status of various departments.

“It’s been a while since I looked at these brick-and-mortar businesses.”

“Let me take a quick look today.”

Pei Qian found reports from Slackin’ Internet Café, Slackin’ takeout, and Tuoguan Fitness among the departmental work reports and opened them one by one.

Since these physical businesses had expanded into first-tier cities, Pei Qian hadn’t checked their work reports for some time.

Mainly because he feared seeing reports of booming business and full capacity, which would only depress him.

But today Pei Qian was in a decent mood and had mentally prepared himself, so he decided to take a look.

“Slackin’ Internet Café was indeed at full capacity shortly after opening.”

“Well, as expected. Nothing surprising there.”

“Hmm? Tuoguan Fitness is doing relatively well? Quite a few people have asked for refunds?”

Pei Qian was delighted to see Tuoguan Fitness’s report from the previous week.

It seemed Tuoguan Fitness was struggling to adapt in Shanghai!

While many people signed up when Tuoguan Fitness first opened in Shanghai, a batch was quickly discouraged.

Because Tuoguan Fitness had too many requirements—mandatory purchase of Slackin’ takeout’s fitness meals, strict adherence to workout schedules—many people simply couldn’t persevere.

Actually, Tuoguan Fitness in Jingzhou had experienced the same situation initially. It was only after several waves of customer attrition that the clientele stabilized. After some time, as these customers’ fitness results became evident, Tuoguan Fitness finally took off.

Clearly, these Shanghai white-collar workers had overestimated their willpower.

“Not bad. This situation should last at least a month or two. I’m not asking for losses—just slower profits.”

Pei Qian then opened Slackin’ takeout’s report. The situation was slightly better than Tuoguan Fitness but still far from the popularity it enjoyed in Jingzhou.

The reason was simple. On one hand, Shanghai didn’t yet have garbage sorting requirements; on the other hand, Shanghai already had plenty of excellent food options, making Slackin’ takeout less competitive than it was in Jingzhou.

“Well, the situation seems much more optimistic than I imagined.”

Pei Qian was delighted.

Just as he was enjoying this moment, new work reports for the week started coming in.

Pei Qian opened Tuoguan Fitness’s latest report.

However, after reading just a few lines, his smile froze on his face.

“All ICL league club players have switched to Tuoguan Fitness? And they’ve all changed their daily diets to Slackin’ takeout’s fitness meals?!”

The bombshell left Pei Qian dazed.

What was going on?

Wasn’t everything fine just last week?

Didn’t ICL previously avoid using any Tenda businesses? So what happened now?

Pei Qian immediately called Guo Licheng.

“What’s this about all the ICL league teams in Shanghai switching to our gyms?”

Guo Licheng sounded surprised: “Oh, you don’t know yet, Mr. Pei?”

“That makes sense—you might not have been following the Shanghai operations.”

“Here’s what happened: SUG club owner Mr. Ding discovered his players’ fitness results were poor, showing no improvement despite extended training. He found out it was because the gym they were using was inadequate, and players weren’t training properly—they were all slacking off.”

“Other clubs faced similar issues. Only FV club, using Tuoguan Fitness, showed rapid results.”

“So these club owners became dissatisfied. We all get the same subsidies, so why are we receiving inferior services?”

“These owners really care about such matters. With equal subsidies, poor training results not only affect appearances but also waste time.”

“So several club owners approached Zhao Xuming together, demanding a switch to Tuoguan Fitness and Slackin’ takeout’s fitness meals, insisting there should be no differential treatment.”

“Their reasoning was compelling: players’ physiques are part of their appearance, benefiting the club and ICL league’s commercialization. Better training quality means better chances of bringing glory to ICL in world championships…”

“Zhao Xuming probably figured since they’re spending the same money anyway, and they’ve already collaborated with Tenda through Tuwi Live, a bit more cooperation wouldn’t hurt.”

“Fortunately, our Tuoguan Fitness branches still had enough capacity, so we signed them all up and even gave them a friendly discount.”

“I’ve already instructed the trainers there to be strict with these professional players, aiming to transform them all into muscle men and build Tuoguan Fitness’s reputation in Shanghai!”

After hanging up, Pei Qian fell into silence.

Things were getting worse!

ICL had already dealt Pei Qian a heavy blow once, with Tuwi Live mysteriously gaining popularity from ICL matches, attracting more and more viewers who refused to leave.

Now even Tuoguan Fitness and Slackin’ takeout hadn’t escaped ICL’s clutches!

Pei Qian couldn’t sit still any longer. He immediately stood up, preparing to visit Tuwi Live.

He had to do something to salvage the situation!