Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Aiming to be champions?
Happy's statement was dismissed with a laugh by the pro teams.
If it wasn't that Happy had Ye Xiu, the pro teams would probably think that these guys were having delusions of grandeur after their unexpected victory against Excellent Era. However, since Ye Xiu was present, they wouldn't be so childish.
"It's joke, right?"
"They're probably doing this to get more publicity."
"They don't really need to keep coming up with these things. They already have a strong enough presence."
The teams all said different things, but their tone was generally full of ridicule. Aim to be champions? The majority of the teams in the Alliance wouldn't dare say this. Happy really was daring!
Happy was flourishing. After obtaining a sponsorship from Feike, Happy managed to x obtain another two more sponsors. These were all from sponsors who had always taken an interest in the Glory Alliance and didn't mind giving a share to Happy. However, they were like Feike, already sponsoring other teams in the Alliance. They invested in Happy, wanting to watch how things went.
With these three contracts, Happy had already received nearly 5,000,000 RMB in sponsorship money. For a grassroots team, this was a very solid support. After that, the prize money for winning the Challenger League, their share of TV broadcasting revenue, their share of ticket revenue, etc. all arrived. With the amount of attention that the Challenger League received, no matter if it was the TV broadcast or the venue tickets, the revenue gained was far greater than previous years. The Alliance was very sincere and generous with their competitions. The teams didn't just get prize money, but also shares of all sorts of profits. Many other competitions would just deal with this through just the prize money.
Just winning the Challenger League was worth 5,000,000 RMB. Considering the influence of the Challenger League, this was no small amount. The Alliance had clearly considered how the winner would be entering the pro league the following season. This money was also a source of support for the team. With the prize money on top of their shares for everything else, Team Happy had managed to earn over 10,000,000 RMB through just the Challenger League alone. This showed Chen Guo exactly how financially powerful the Glory scene was now. Of course, due to the special circumstances of this year's Challenger League, the shares of profit were naturally higher than previous years.
With over 10,000,000 RMB for funds, Chen Guo felt much more secure. Although the 18,000,000 RMB earned with the materials from selling the skill point guide could have been invested into the team by Wei Chen, this was just too much. If they really invested it all into the team, Chen Guo felt that her title as the boss would be more of a title than actual reality. But now that the team had managed to earn some money on their own, Chen Guo felt much better about using it.
As soon as the money arrived, Chen Guo didn't hesitate to take out the 5,000,000 RMB in prize money and divide it up between the members of Happy. Even though Happy's players had never seemed to care much about this sort of thing, they couldn't just go with the flow and continue like this. In the past, they didn't have the funds, so they just got by like that. Now that they had gained a significant amount of profit, it definitely had to be shared.
The division of this money was very overwhelming. Luo Ji and An Wenyi were both just university students. Suddenly gaining several hundred thousand made them at a loss as to what to do with it.
As for Ye Xiu, the bank card he was given was immediately thrown into the drawer, becoming a member of his large pile of Glory smurfs.
Wei Chen? He was a person with 18,000,000 RMB in his hands. After obtaining the several hundred thousand, he simply nodded, saying nonchalantly, "Mm, not bad." Chen Guo wanted to hit him for that.
Tang Rou smiled, thanking Chen Guo as she accepted the bank card, not at all intending to decline it. However, Chen Guo knew that she had even more of a right than Wei Chen to act nonchalant. Chen Guo looked down on Wei Chen for his response. Then, that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Chen Guo realized that Tang Ruo had forgotten her card on the table and nearly cried. With a weak password like 123456, anyone could just take the card and the money. My lady, you were never this careless with Soft Mist's account card!
Steamed Bun, having been a bouncer before for an Internet cafe, had very little wealth. He was delighted with the sum of several hundred thousand, and emotionally exclaimed that he had truly found a good boss, his future was really bright!
Wu Chen and Qiao Yifan came from pro teams. Wu Chen was even the ace of his team. Although his team had been rather weak and their income couldn't compare to the Gods, getting several hundred thousand a year wasn't hard. Qiao Yifan was a rookie, so he wouldn't have that high of an income, but since he was a part of a powerhouse team, he had a good understanding of their scene. This prize money was nothing unexpected for him.
Chen Guo had been a little hesitant when giving Mo Fan his share. Mo Fan rarely went on the field and Chen Guo had split the prize money evenly, not bothering with taking contribution into account. In these beginning stages, the team was still growing in many ways and Chen Guo felt that this sort of thing was far too troublesome to deal with. Plus, Ye Xiu, who had made the greatest contributions, had agreed with her decision wholeheartedly. Then what was there to worry about? It was those like Luo Ji and Wu Chen, who hadn't had much play time, that felt a little bad about getting the same as everyone else, but they still ended up accepting the money under Chen Guo's resolute attitude. Chen Guo's hesitation towards Mo Fan was because she wasn't sure about him. In truth, it was because they didn't interact and therefore, she had no idea what that guy was thinking. She didn't know if he was planning on staying with Happy on their journey.
But on the other hand, Mo Fan had stayed with them throughout this year. It had nothing to do with what he would do in the future. Although he had made limited contributions, he shouldn't be left out if everyone got it. Therefore, Mo Fan ended up with an equal share. After hearing the amount, he had uncharacteristically shown a hint of shock. It seemed like he didn't come from a wealthy background either.
There was another, who was resolute in declining this money.
Sun Zheping. Chen Guo called him about transferring his share of the money over, but Sun Zheping, who had already left Happy, simply laughed and told her not to bother before directly hanging up.
That was too generous, wasn't it?
Chen Guo didn't want to give up, but then Ye Xiu had said, "There's no need. He isn't someone who will change his mind."
Chen Guo, holding the final card, didn't really know what to say. Ye Xiu glanced at her. "Did you forget your own share?"
"Ah?" Chen Guo was stunned for a moment. She really hadn't thought about herself. Even if she did, she wouldn't think she deserved a share.
"Just take it as leftovers. For the capitalist." Ye Xiu said.
"Hey hey, who're you calling a capitalist?" Chen Guo objected.
Happy was dividing up their small reward while over with the Alliance, the champions had been decided and were receiving all their large rewards. The Alliance Championship prize money was, considering the influence of the Glory Alliance, a very small amount, only 10,000,000, twice as much as the Challenger League. Apart from that, there were rewards for regular season rankings, but the amount was even less substantial. Twenty teams, a total of 16,800,000. With the money split according to ranking, the highest ranked team only received 1,600,000. The last ranked team received a measly 80,000.
It was obvious that the Alliance no longer depended on prize money to sustain itself. 10,000,000 RMB in prize money? That definitely wasn't the reason any team fought so hard.
What everyone sought was the glory that the championship trophy represented, What teams depended on for survival were things such as broadcasting profits, sponsorships, ticket fees, and similar forms of revenue. And these forms of revenue were affected by the influence the team had. As for the most direct way of increasing their influence, it was winning the championships. Happy's Challenger League championship victory had brought them all sorts of income. In reality, this was a perfect example of the current system.
The season came to a close with the champions decided. However, because of this year's update, there had been a break in the middle of the season, so once the championships ended, July soon arrived. The players of the pro teams began their holiday, but the summer transfer window opened and the managers of the clubs began to get busy.
Over with Happy, the press conference Feike had wanted to hold, but never had the chance to, finally occurred, officially declaring their sponsorship of Happy. Even though they weren't giving much funds, with Happy's current popularity, they managed to do something big with very little cost. Feike was very satisfied with their investment. In this press conference, Happy had taken the chance to announce Su Mucheng's free transfer. This wasn't unexpected for anyone, but, following that, the announcement that Dancing Rain was coming to Happy with Su Mucheng was big news.
Dancing Rain was an All-Star level account. A grassroots like Happy somehow had the courage to obtain it. It looked like their goal to win the championships wasn't a joke.
Su Mucheng was free transfering, so naturally there was no transfer fee. But the media was enthusiastically discussing Dancing Rain's transfer fee. However, in the contract for Dancing Rain's transfer, the transfer fee had an NDA protecting it. Tao Xuan had obviously not wanted the special price for Dancing Rain to affect the sale of Excellent Era. If everyone thought that Excellent Era was doing a huge clearance sale and came with offers of just a few hundred thousand, Tao Xuan would probably die crying.
With Su Mucheng and Dancing Rain, Team Happy suddenly seemed far stronger. Counting Ye Xiu, Happy was a team with two All-Star level players! Not even half the teams of the Alliance had such a lineup!
What moves would Happy make next? The day the summer transfer window opened, Happy had unexpectedly become the main show. The media was making all sorts of guesses. Excellent Era was also a hot topic. The transfer window was open and Team Excellent Era had quite a lot of characters and players. After so long, the transfers should have come to the end of their negotiations. Where would they all go?
As for the Golden Generation that everyone had once been clustered around, they weren't much of a topic anymore these days. This year was the second year where the Golden Generation would have to renew their contracts, so everyone had been attentively waiting to see if any would leave their teams. But in the first half of this year, all the teams had declared that the players of the Golden Generation wouldn't be leaving their teams, apart from Su Mucheng and Xiao Shiqin who were unknowns back then.
Now, Su Mucheng had joined Happy. What about Xiao Shiqin? Where would he go? As someone who could also free transfer, he had a lot of choices.
But before any news about Xiao Shiqin came out, Excellent Era's first bomb, since the news that it was being sold, fell.
Sun Xiang, One Autumn Leaf. The two were transfering to Team Samsara for 28,000,000 RMB.
Chapter 1081: The 28,000,000 TransferTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Sun Xiang and One Autumn Leaf.
If Excellent Era were still a powerhouse in the Alliance, this would have been a very cheap price for Samsara. No character in the Alliance could compare to the Battle God, One
Autumn Leaf. Even if his three-peat had been achieved a long time ago, characters
didn't age. The legend of the Battle God's era would forever be etched onto
him. Along with his former owner Ye Xiu being excessively low-profile, all of the
people's hopes went onto the Battle God's shoulders. No other Glory character
could compare in this manner.
28,000,000. If Excellent Era hadn't fallen so far, this price might not even be enough to buy One Autumn Leaf alone. Even if his prowess wasn't that much greater than the other God-level characters, One Autumn Leaf had always been the symbol of Glory's king. If you asked any Glory player which character was number one, everyone would answer One Autumn Leaf. There was no other answer. Even though Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer had won two championships in a row, he didn't have the same legacy as One Autumn Leaf. In the past two three years, he was the most popular among the new generation of players. However, even greater achievements had been accomplished by another in the past. In more people's eyes, number one still belonged to One Autumn Leaf.
But now, Excellent Era had capsized. One Autumn Leaf hadn't stood at the top for a long time. In the end, One Autumn Leaf was abandoned along with the team by Tao Xuan.
20,000,000. This was the price that Ye Xiu had heard from Lou Guanning for One Autumn Leaf's price. Clearly, due to Excellent Era's current situation, One Autumn Leaf's value sunk along with the team. Of course, different teams might get different offers. For example, the price of 20,000,000 given to Heavenly Swords might be different than what Samsara was offered. If the price was also 20,000,000, then Sun Xiang's transfer price would be 8,000,000. Compared to the price that Excellent Era had paid for him, it was higher instead of lower. That didn't make sense. Even though his talent and genius had been recognized by the scene, after Sun Xiang
transferred, Excellent Era had been relegated. Then, after a year through the Challenger League, they ended up losing the finals. Even if these disastrous results weren't because of him, his value would still be greatly affected. Excellent Era was currently on a sale too. His value increasing instead of decreasing wasn't logical.
Neither side revealed how this price had been negotiated. However, from the total price of 28,000,000 and Excellent Era's current situation, Excellent Era had gotten a good price. Or perhaps Samsara hadn't negotiated too hard. It was also possible that there were many others wanting to buy, so with Samsara's ambitions, Samsara didn't negotiate too much and quickly slammed down the hammer.
There were numerous guesses. In the end, most people thought it was because of this type of reason.
After all, whether it was Sun Xiang or One Autumn Leaf, who wouldn't want them? Excellent Era might be in a difficult situation, but those two were very valuable. There was no need to worry that they could not be sold. The buyers had competition, so it was hard to avoid the price not being raised. If you thought about it like that, it was easy to see this current outcome.
But in any case, this wasn't the focus of everyone's concern. Everyone cared more about the result itself: Samsara had taken in Sun Xiang and One Autumn Leaf.
As the newly championed team, it was somewhat surprising to see them make such a huge move so quickly. Sun Xiang and One Autumn Leaf joining the Alliance again wasn't an easy decision to make for any team. A core-level God, the number one character, it was a huge transfer that could completely remake a team.
However, Samsara had Zhou Zekai, the indisputable number one player in the Alliance. No one believed that Zhou Zekai would choose to leave the team. Even less people thought that Team Samsara would change their core that had brought them victory all this time.
But now, there were two core players. How was Samsara planning on resolving this issue? It was a different situation than Tyranny. Tyranny's four ace players sounded even more problematic, but in reality, it was different. For one, when Han Wenqing declared something, even the club's boss would retreat. His authority in Tyranny was untouchable. What's more, Zhang Jiale and Lin Jingyan were at the ends of their career. They came to Tyranny because their desire to be the champions had yet to die. As for their core position, they didn't care anymore. They had been the core for so many years and were done it with long ago. Champions. They wanted to be champions. Zhang Jiale had given up so much for that goal. Who cared about being the core?
Samsara was different. Zhou Zekais brilliance on stage might be spectacular, but he himself was like a piece of wood. He was a reliable ace player, but he definitely wasn't a good leader. Samsara's players were able to faithfully play alongside him, but what about Sun Xiang? He was a very prideful person. His addition to the team would be a huge challenge towards Zhou Zekai's weak leadership. Would Team Samsara stay as harmonious as before? Would they put Sun Xiang as the core and Zhou Zekai as the support? That didn't seem to be possible. For one, a team had to consider the fans. Such an upstage would definitely not go well with them. What's more, Sun Xiang didn't really seem to be much of a leader? And from what they had seen from him so far, if Zhou Zekai's leadership ability tended towards zero, then Sun Xiang's leadership ability was a negative number…..
Samsara was going to be busy this summer!
Everyone in the Glory scene sighed. They clearly thought that the conflicting chemistry between the two would be a difficult problem to resolve. However, in the new Esports Home issue, besides this transfer, there was an article, written by famed author with the penname Cha Xiaoxia, commenting on the transfer.
Cha Xiaoxia felt that although Samsara's championship victory seemed to be a huge victory, a great danger hid beneath it. Tyranny's problem with their old players' stamina had given them an opportunity to win. If Tyranny had been able to keep up their peak form all the way through, it would be hard to say if Samsara would have been able to win. From the first match in the finals, Tyranny had a way to suppress Zhou Zekai and Samsara's tempo. Facing Tyrannny's stable formation, the problem with Samsara's lack of a direct attacker could clearly be seen.
Samsara had been able to win because of the tournament format. That was what Cha Xiaoxia believed. If it had been the previous format, it wouldn't have been as exhausting, and Chao Xiaoxia believed that Tyranny would have most likely won in the end.
Samsara absolutely recognized this issue. So even though they won the championships, Samsara wouldn't be like last year and not make any changes. This was because there was a team that could suppress them.
Next season, Tyranny's old generals would definitely focus on fixing their stamina issue. Samsara couldn't hope for Tyranny to stay the same. Samsara needed to take the initiative to improve. However, improving wasn't something that could be done by fixing up their original foundation. Samsara had reached a bottleneck and needed to break through. As a result, they transferred over Sun Xiang and One Autumn Leaf.
This might be why Samsara was willing to spend 28,000,000 to quickly complete the transfer despite winning the championships. Cha Xiaoxia wrote. They needed a direct attacker. This type of attacker needed to be able to break through the concrete defense formed by Han Wenqing, Zhang Jiale, Lin Jingyan, and Zhang Xinjie. Just from that requirement, very few players qualified. This wasn't something that an average pro player could hope to do. The only ones that could shoulder that burden were the Alliance's top attackers and top close combat characters.
Thus, Sun Xiang and One Autumn Leaf. In addition to Excellent Era's current plight, anyone would make this choice. The key to their breakthrough had been found. However, it came
with a problem. Sun Xiang was certainly a qualified choice, but because of how qualified he was, how to resolve the inner conflicts in the team would be big issue. With how prideful Sun Xiang was, would he be willing to revolve around Zhou Zekai as the core?
Cha Xiaoxia also discussed this question in his article. He was optimistic about Samsara dealing with this problem. First of all, he looked favorably upon Sun Xiang's transformation. Getting relegated from the Alliance, losing the Challenger League, up until now, no God in the Alliance had suffered through such losses. Sun Xiang had once been a very prideful player and he still was in the Challenger League, but after these consecutive failures, shouldn't he turn his head to look at how he fell so far and examine himself?
Sun Xiang's attitude would undoubtedly play a critical role in this problem. If he became more mature after learning from these failures, melding in harmoniously with Samsara wasn't impossible.
In addition, Cha Xiaoxia mentioned the "most underrated player in the Alliance", Jiang Botao.
Samsara's vice-captain Jiang Botao had placed fifth in total votes for All-Stars. This seemed contradictory to "underrated" since he was clearly thought of very highly.
However, Cha Xiaoxia felt like Jiang Botao was thought highly because of Zhou Zekai's halo and the team's identity as champions.There were even people who claimed that even their grandma could pair with Zhou Zekai and win the championships.
That statement was naturally an exaggeration, but the contempt inside it was clear as day. Every player in Samsara had this issue. Whenever Samsara did well, everyone would credit it with Zhou Zekai. As for the others, they were just there to bask in his light.
Cha Xiaoxia didn't think this was the case.
Chao Xiaoxia wrote that Jiang Botao was adept at communication. Anyone would feel comfortable interacting with him. He could show consideration for everyone in any scenario, and he wouldn't steal the spotlight either. Outside of the stage, Jiang Botao was this type of person. On stage, he was an expert at connecting everyone together. If he could successfully meld Zhou Zekai into Samsara, he should be able to do the same with Sun Xiang. Jiang Botao was the glue that held the team together.
Chao Xiaoxia straight up gave Jiang Botao a nickname. After excitedly analyzing the transfer and talking about his expectations for the battle of dragons between Tyranny and Samsara next season, he suddenly switched topics: people undoubtedly had high hopes for these two teams, but he felt like there was another team that shouldn't be ignored --- the other champions this year, Team Happy.
"People are treating their declaration to win the championships next season as a joke, but I believe in them. What can I do? I'm already a Team Happy fanboy." Cha Xiaoxia wrote.