After arranging for Suffering Travels in the morning, Pei Qian had lunch. He wrapped himself in a small blanket in his office and took a good nap. Then, he woke up and watched some drama.
He began to think about IOI’s global finals before knocking them off in the afternoon.
From the looks of the current situation, IOI’s global finals had basically held out. There were no major problems.
However, due to live-stream platforms and offline viewing activities, IOI’s current popularity was still far less than GOG’s.
Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation seemed to have not found a good solution for the time being. Or perhaps they were preparing and had not taken action yet.
However, if he did not do anything, the popularity would obviously not be able to catch up.
That was because even though E-Sports competitions were the most popular in the semi-finals and finals, they were also accumulated by the popularity of the first group stages.
If the popularity had been dismal at the beginning, it would not have exploded in the semi-finals and finals.
Pei Qian wondered if he could think of a way to help them.
He might not be able to interfere with the specific arrangements of IOI’s global finals nor could he give them money openly, but he still had another card in his hand: FV Team!
FV Team had also participated as the representative team of the ICL league this time. What’s more, from their performance in the group stages over the past few days, they still had a good dominance. They were strong competitors for the champion of this competition.
Of course, Finger Games had put in a lot of effort to not let FV Team win the championship. They had cut down all the heroes that FV Team was good at and strengthened the heroes that European and American teams were good at. That made it difficult for FV Team to reach the level that they did not even lose a small game last year.
However, FV still maintained its dominance as a strong team based on the players’ efforts, hero pool, and tactical execution.
That made IOI’s global finals even more suspenseful this year.
Pei Qian decided to call the boss of FV Club, Wu Yue, to ask about FV Team’s current situation.
He looked at the time. It should be morning in Europe now. Wu Yue was probably up already, so he sent a voice request.
Wu Yue picked up not long after.
“Boss Pei?” Wu Yue was obviously surprised. He did not expect Boss Pei to call him personally.
Pei Qian asked, “How’s FV Team in Europe?”
Wu Yue quickly answered, “Thank you for your concern, Boss Pei. FV Team’s logistical support here is completely fine. The team members are all very lively and in good condition!”
“The version changes in the international competition might have cut off many of the team members’ best heroes and are still being adjusted, but don’t worry, Boss Pei. The team members are adjusting very quickly. There are also special data analysis teams studying IOI’s new version day and night.”
“We will definitely work hard this time to bring back the trophy for IOI’s global finals!”
Pei Qian remained silent for a moment. “Alright.”
FV Team would definitely make the club’s value rise again if they were to win another championship. He did not know how much money they would earn, but Pei Qian could not stop them even if he wanted to. Secondly, winning the international competition would bring glory to the country. Thus, Pei Qian had nothing much to say. It would depend on FV Team’s own performance!
“Don’t give the players too much pressure. If you win, you win. If you don’t win, forget it. It’s E-Sports after all. Winning or losing is normal.”
“Don’t force yourself to improve your goal this year just because you were the champion last year. You have to do something. Maintain a relaxed mentality.”
Wu Yue quickly said, “Alright, Boss Pei. I understand!”
Pei Qian sniggered inwardly. Understand my a * s.
Forget it, let’s not worry about this. This was not the main problem.
Pei Qian decided to get down to business. “I’m calling you this time mainly to arrange a task for FV Team.”
“We’ll try our best to create some program effect before, during, and after the competition.”
“Of course, we just have to do it along the way. There’s no hard goal.”
Wu Yue perked up when he heard about the performance. “Boss Pei, we plan to do that even without you saying!”
“After all, we’ve already done it last year, and the effect is not bad. The performance is FV Team’s excellent tradition. How can we give it up?”
“However, the version of the international competition this year has been quite different. Everyone in our club is preparing for battle, so the performance has been shelved for now.”
“Don’t worry, Boss Pei. We’ve already been in the group stages for some time. We should be able to spare some time on our side. We’ll definitely continue to carry out the tradition of putting on a good show! We’ll continue to maintain the character of FV Team’s antagonist, the great demon king!”
Pei Qian nodded. “Alright, I’m relieved.”
FV Team had been working crazily during IOI’s global finals last year, bringing much popularity to the global finals.
FV Team might have stolen most of the popularity after winning the championship but that was last year after all.
Finger Games had worked very hard against FV Team this year. The version changes were so huge. The veteran teams in Europe and America had been strengthened at the epic level. The chances of FV Team winning the championship had greatly decreased.
Thus, Pei Qian allowed FV Team to continue their performance mainly to generate popularity for IOI’s global finals so that they would not be suppressed by GOG’s international invitational tournament.
As long as FV Team could not win the championship in the end and was won by the European and American teams, the popularity would go to the European and American teams. It would be very helpful for IOI to expand the European and American market.
Then, he could continue to compete with IOI in the European and American markets to burn money. Wouldn’t that be perfect?
Pei Qian would not ask about the specifics of the performance because FV Team had already tried it once last year. They were familiar with the entire performance and the effect was very good. It was trustworthy.
At the moment, the group stages of the two competitions were coming to an end. The elimination competition was about to start. It was the best time to perform.
As for the specific effect of the performance, he would be able to see it this weekend!
…
…
November 22nd, Thursday…
As noon approached, Qiao Liang continued to sleep soundly in bed.
The main reason was that he played games while watching the competition last night. It was a little too late to stay up late to cultivate. The weather today was not bad, the sun was shining, and he slept quite well.
Suddenly, his cell phone vibrated. A notification popped up.
Qiao Liang opened his sleepy eyes and glanced at it. “The winning information?”
“Where did this liar come from? How boring.”
Qiao Liang threw his cell phone aside and continued sleeping without taking a closer look at the winning message.
In the end, he could not fall asleep at all because more chatting messages came every now and then.
“Who is it! Why are you sending me messages instead of sleeping so early in the morning?”
Qiao Liang was very angry. He took his cell phone and glanced at it. He realized that it was not one person who sent the message, but several friends.
“Awesome, Old Qiao, you’re the lucky winner! How did you win something like that?”
“Quickly, rub it in my good fortune!”
“You have to record the entire process when you get there. It would be even better if you can start a live-stream. Hurry up and buy it if you don’t have the equipment. Recommended water-resistant equipment that can be hung directly on you. Show first person perspective!”
These messages confused Qiao Liang.
“What just happened?”
“What did I win?”
“Wait, was the winning information real?”
Qiao Liang quickly opened the message and followed the address of the message to the official website of the Suffering Travels. He saw the latest announcement.
Tengda Corporation had conducted a lucky draw based on the weight of all the active players, and Qiao Liang’s name was among them!
There were a total of 3,000 people selected for the lucky draw this time. According to the weighted algorithm of fame and contribution, Qiao Liang and Ruan Guangjian were ranked first and second.
Three thousand people might seem like a lot but Tengda Games still had many players!
Strictly speaking, the chances of winning were almost the same as winning the lottery.
Of course, the official platform had clearly stated that there was weightage here. Players with greater contribution would have a higher chance of being selected.
The queue after the draw was based on contribution points. Thus, Qiao Liang was not the first to be selected. Instead, the name list after the draw was based on contribution points. He was the first, so he could participate in the Suffering Travels first.
However, the players would not be dissatisfied with this. After all, the lucky draw would not cost money. It was purely a benefit. It was not unacceptable to give these outstanding players a chance.
When Ocean Stronghold first drew its epic weapon, it had the same rules. Most players approved of it.
What’s more, the prizes themselves were not that desirable…
Qiao Liang was elated at first. Then, he looked at the specific reward and wilted again.
He was elated because he felt that he had finally made it once after so many years. It was worth celebrating. At the same time, he was ranked so high. It meant that he had indeed contributed greatly to Tengda Games. He was worthy of his identity as a core player.
However… Why was the prize a free experience of Suffering Travels?
The promotional video of the torturous trip previously was still fresh in Qiao Liang’s memory. He did not want to go at all. What’s more, the Real Estate Agent Simulator was going to be released at the end of the month. He had to play games!
Thus, Qiao Liang’s first reaction was to reject it and give this opportunity to someone who needed it more.
He opened his fan group. Indeed, the fan group was exploding with discussion about this.
Many fans were even looking forward to the live-stream of Qiao Liang suffering. They could not wait for Qiao Liang to set off now.
Qiao Liang quickly posted in the group. “Don’t talk about it, everyone. I don’t intend to go at all!”
“I’ll post on Weibo right now to announce that I’ll withdraw from this event and allow the quota to be postponed to the next person!”
However, the fans in the group immediately quit.
“Not going? How can you not go?”
“F*ck, Old Qiao, don’t you know that there’s a saying that ‘The heavens give but don’t take the blame’? It’s not easy for you to get this lucky draw. If you don’t go, good luck will never favor you in the future! Just wait for you to eat instant noodles without condiments!”
“How can you not go? I’m the first to disagree. You have to go!”
“That’s right. As long as you go, it doesn’t matter if you don’t upload a video for two months. We forgive you!”
“Live-streaming on the spot. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to make a video when you get back? You’ve been using the excuse that you don’t have any material to not make videos. Now that the material has come knocking on your door, you don’t want it? I can tell that you purely want to slack off! You liar!”
