Chapter 95 1/2

The Polar Global Championship was about to become a global spectacle. All countries were the same: media coverage, public attention, everyone’s gaze.

except for China.

The enthusiasm for the Global Championship in China was like night and day compared to other countries. Esports fans perfectly demonstrated what it meant to “love but turn hostile.”

Since it was known that China was destined to have no presence in the Global Championship, why bother paying attention?

Otherwise, why are major clubs gradually struggling? Chinese esports fans could become so disheartened that they no longer supported

Because there was no audience, even if the media broadcasted, no one would watch. With reduced coverage, interest naturally declined, and even fewer people watched. It was a vicious cycle.

Esports is also a youthful industry. If the “elders” leave and there are no “newcomers” to replace them, it quickly deteriorates.

Wu Liuqing was one of the “hostile” esports fans.

Once, when Chinese esports were still glorious, she, still young at the time, delved into esports. The major teams competed fiercely, and the domestic matches before the Global Championship were already as exciting as drinking ice-cold cola in the summer.

Wu Liuqing supported a team and generously invested money, bought tickets, joined the fan club, and watched them step by step toward victory.

She witnessed her home team’s efforts, rise, glory, and ultimately, shining brightly in the world.

The cheers of the fan club at that time almost echoed across the field where they gathered.

After the peak, there was a decline, a truth every esports enthusiast knew.

But it was too fast.

Wu Liuqing watched as the team that had just won honors was disbanded by the club. They were either forced to go out of business, loaned out everywhere, or not allowed to play domestic matches.

Because the Global Championship only happened once every three years, clubs didn’t want to “waste time” on these “old” esports players.

Wu Liuqing and the fans who had witnessed their home team win glory could be considered the most loyal and sticky fans in the history of Chinese esports.

And their beloved team was disbanded.

Esports players who had won glory either disappeared or changed careers. All the public platform accounts they had been using were now in the hands of the clubs.

These esports players, who were supposed to be in their prime and once praised by the media as genius girls, now faced dissolution.

 The young victors, after being exploited and drained of their last bit of utility, are discarded like trash.

Who can endure this?

When Sheng Quan was reviewing the information, she thought the club’s operation was quite impressive.

In esports, pursuing victory is essential, but they also need team spirit. A team that has both victory and team spirit, even if they can’t catch up to the Global Championship three years later, at least gives them a dignified retirement.

Tan Chen briefly explained the situation at that time.

Simply put, there were too many shareholders involved in major clubs, making them prone to internal conflicts. With esports attracting substantial funding, this “good business” also drew the attention of other wealthy individuals.

They just wanted to make a quick profit without a long-term commitment. For the sake of making money, they disrupted the entire market without any psychological pressure.

Internal management within major clubs was chaotic. “He’s related to him,” “She’s related to that person,” and these people often liked to show their authority. However, most esports players were young and unwilling to tolerate this, and the “relatives” didn’t care about the club’s interests.

Even more outrageous were those who set their sights on the “talented boys and girls,” wanting to take advantage. But players who could achieve results were full of pride; who could endure such an attitude?

Take Lang Zhong, who has already returned to the team. Despite her young age, her achievements were outstanding. Before Sheng Quan acquired DE, she had noticed Lang Zhong while watching various esports player match videos.

As a player specializing in assassins, Lang Zhong’s assassination methods were always beautiful and smooth. She even achieved a record of successfully killing three opponents, all in near-full health, while still in the youth training camp.

The emphasis was that all three opponents were nearly at full health.

At that time, Lang Zhong was still in the youth training camp.

If properly cultivated, she could have achieved even more remarkable results. However, due to an “equipment supervisor,” she had to leave DE.

This was even during the decline of eSports. It was easy to imagine how many similar incidents occurred when eSports was still relatively prosperous.

No wonder fans were so frustrated that they no longer paid attention to esports.

Translating it into her novel-reading experience, it was like passionately following a story for 800 chapters only to have the author suddenly make the protagonist tragically die from stumbling on the road in the last chapter. Moreover, the author wrote 8,000 words describing how miserable the protagonist’s death was.

Then the author ended the story abruptly and advertised in the last chapter: “The protagonist is getting old and can’t have fun anymore, so I’ve started a new fun novel. Everyone, come and pay attention to the protagonist of the new book; they’re all paper people anyway, right?”

Who wouldn’t go crazy in such a situation?

Sheng Quan swore that if she encountered such an author, she would ignore her own ironclad rule of “never staying up late,” put on an “overnight repair mask,” and sit in front of the computer, crazily engaging with the author.

She might even start avoiding such authors or genres altogether, unwilling to read even the synopsis.

However, there was a solution.

If, during such times, she accidentally stumbled upon another author who wrote a similar theme exceptionally well, providing a satisfying and enjoyable journey all the way to the end, she might hesitate. But once she tried it, she would feel that the world was full of love again.

Esports worked the same way.

Those large numbers of old fans were unwilling to believe in clubs that didn’t treat their supported players as human beings. But the Ruptured Water Club was brand new.

She just needed to make them see it.

This was where financial capability became useful.

Overnight, news of “Ruptured Water advances to the global semi-finals” flooded various platforms.

The main strategy was to emphasize that “100% can watch as long as you are online.”

“Will this kind of promotion cause some people to rebel?” Xu Man also participated in the publicity plan. Her fame, both domestically and internationally, was not low. Just by congratulating her advancement on social platforms, she could already attract attention.

Xu Man’s growth in the past two years was also visible to the naked eye. The immense popularity brought her more and bigger opportunities. Initially feeling a bit at a loss, she decided to enroll in a course after seeing Sheng Quan and others attending classes. Learning more and seeing more, she could now see the “drawbacks” of this overwhelming promotion plan:

“Originally, domestic old esports fans were already resistant. Won’t this make them even less likely to come back?”

“If it were in other industries or other teams, it might.”