Chapter 139 Lingchi

The match wasn't over yet. SUG Club still had to fight another unlucky team for the last ticket to the IOI World Championship, but for the audience, it was really unbearable.

It was too much!

They had already watched three Bo5s all day, and all of them went the distance. Each game lasted between 35 and 50 minutes. Even the most exciting matches were starting to become nauseating.

What's more, the top seed had already been decided. Although this Bo5 was to determine the last World Championship slot, it certainly couldn't compare to the battle for the top seed in terms of excitement.

It was late, and Shanghai was so big. Some viewers were afraid of missing the last subway home, so many left early.

Although they had already bought tickets, it felt like a waste not to watch, but considering that today's three insane Bo5s were already worth the price of admission, they didn't feel so bad about it.

In short, with all these factors combined, the audience began to leave, and many seats in the venue became empty.

Pei Qian slumped in his seat, looking up at the sky, his mood complicated.

This whole day of matches felt like a death by a thousand cuts!

He had originally wanted to see FV Club lose two Bo5s and happily go home, but he didn't expect FV Club to become more and more courageous. They won both Bo5s and became the kings of bladder endurance!

Every time Pei Qian felt that FV was about to fail, these players would tenaciously find opportunities in adversity and successfully turn the tables.

Pei Qian could only sigh.

There was no way he could rush onto the stage and force the players to throw the game, right?

He looked at his watch. It was just after nine o'clock.

So, the question was, what to do next?

The other viewers left early because their homes were far from the venue and they needed to catch the subway. But Pei Qian's hotel was near the mall, only a five-minute walk away.

Nine o'clock was obviously too early for Pei Qian to sleep. He had nothing to do if he went back to the hotel now.

At that moment, Pei Qian's phone rang. It was Wu Yue.

"President Pei! Where are you? I'm planning to take the team out for a late-night snack before coming back for the send-off ceremony. Why don't you join us!"

Wu Yue's voice was full of excitement and joy.

For him, FV Club achieving such results was unimaginable just a month ago!

FV Club used to be just an obscure little club, with no star players, no strong funding, and no fame to speak of.

Even in IOI, an e-sports game that wasn't very popular in the country, FV Club wasn't even in the top ranks. It could be said that it was purely a recreational activity with no way out.

But after President Pei's investment, everything changed!

They had star players, good results, and attention. Everything was getting better!

Winning the top seed for the IOI World Championship proved that FV Club was currently the strongest club in the country, and it should soon gain a lot of attention and fans.

Once they made a name for themselves in the World Championship, they would gain even more fans!

As long as they could maintain this level of performance for a while, as a top IOI club, FV would definitely receive more and more sponsorships and endorsements, and the number of fans would continue to increase. Everything would be great!

So, Wu Yue was especially happy and wanted to treat the team to a big meal.

Since President Pei was on the scene, he definitely had to ask him.

Wu Yue wasn't sure if President Pei would come along. He might have other things to do, or he might not be able to invite this big shot, but it was still necessary to ask. This was a matter of basic courtesy.

Pei Qian's mouth twitched slightly.

What? You want to have a post-match meal and further flog my corpse?

Pei Qian flatly refused, "I still want to watch the later matches, so I won't join in the fun."

"Today's main characters are the players. Let them eat well and rest well."

Seeing that President Pei was firm, Wu Yue didn't insist, "Okay, President Pei. Call me anytime if you need anything."

After hanging up, Pei Qian sighed silently.

It was still too early to go back to sleep.

He might as well watch two more games and go back to sleep around 11 o'clock. That would be just right.

The match continued, with the remaining two teams fighting for the last spot.

Although the commentators were very professional and still tried their best to stir up the atmosphere with their hoarse voices, viewers continued to leave in silence.

Even Pei Qian couldn't muster much energy and wasn't in the mood to pay attention to the match.

There was no way around it. He had watched too many games today. He was numb. Just staying on the scene and listening to the noise was already a big favor.

Pei Qian yawned and took out his phone to browse the web.

He hadn't paid attention for a while, and there were several new messages, all from Zhang Yuan and the others.

"President Pei, your move is brilliant! You used yourself as bait to catch a big fish!"

"Long Yu Corporation thought they were the fishermen, but they're actually the fish! Now, all the hype that Long Yu Corporation worked so hard to create has been taken away by GPL and FV Club. President Pei reversed the public opinion situation without lifting a finger. Your strategic planning ability is too strong!"

Looking at these messages, Pei Qian had a row of question marks above his head.

????

What did this mean?

Wasn't the online public opinion still bashing FV Club and GPL before?

What? Did the wind change so quickly?

He quickly opened Weibo and various game forums to check the players' discussions.

"I'm laughing so hard. Is this all the IOI qualifier is? What kind of idiot came up with this idiotic schedule? It started in the morning and hasn't finished by late at night. After a whole day, they've played a full Bo10. Not to mention the players, even the audience can't take it anymore!"

"By the last few games, both sides were making frequent mistakes. Their condition had declined too much, and the matches weren't entertaining anymore. The organizers should take the blame for this. Were they in such a hurry to be reincarnated that they came up with such a bizarre format?"

"A friend of mine was at the scene, and he said that a large number of viewers left after FV's match. It was really unbearable. Watching the match for a whole day was more tiring than running a marathon."

"LOL, it's rare to see a match that drives away the audience. The organizers are geniuses!"

"Where are those who were bashing FV Club before? Step forward! What happened to 'President Pei's all-star team is just this', 'they're fragile', 'President Pei is just good at GoG, he gets beaten up in IOI'? Are you still talking smack? Didn't FV crush all your teams?"

"LOL, so many old clubs were crushed by a team that President Pei just formed less than a month ago? This is a dimensional strike!"

"Facts prove that President Pei has the power to turn the impossible into the possible. He can just casually create a club and play around in the IOI scene, and he can still dominate all the old IOI clubs!"

"Don't be so cocky. The five players in FV were originally IOI star players. They were already very strong. Are you going to credit that to President Pei too? What does it have to do with him?"

"Think carefully. Are you sure it has nothing to do with President Pei?"

"Think carefully. Who invested in FV Club and poached the right five people from different teams to put them together?"

"FV's style of play is obviously different from other clubs. It's more biased towards the tactics and routines of GoG. Who arranged that?"

"These five players have obviously strengthened their training and improved their physical fitness, so they were able to maintain a good condition in the Bo10. Who advocated this concept?"

"President Pei also went to the scene in the midst of his busy schedule to supervise the battle and cheer for the players. Do you think FV's resilience has nothing to do with that?"

"President Pei may not have participated in the formulation of the team's tactics, but weren't all these macro-level issues resolved by President Pei? Obviously, President Pei's role is irreplaceable in FV's Bo10 miracle!"

"I barely agree with the rest, but strengthening physical training to win the Bo10 is a bit far-fetched, right? The team hasn't been formed for many days, has it?"

"That's true. These people have been training for less than a month. But fitness isn't just about building muscle. It also means a regular sleep schedule, adequate rest, and a balanced diet. As long as you maintain it for more than a week, you'll definitely feel a significant improvement in your mental state."

"Although these players can't compare to muscle men like Huang Wang, they definitely have an advantage over other skinny internet addicts!"

"Moreover, the schedule is also favorable to FV. FV played the first and third matches today, while their opponents played the second and third matches. The opponents' advantage is that the second and third Bo5s were played consecutively, so they were more warmed up at the beginning. That's why FV lost the first small game without any suspense. But FV's advantage is that they had plenty of time to rest and adjust between the two matches, which is also a key factor in maintaining their good condition in the endurance battle!"

"Thinking about it this way, there's actually a problem with the format! This is unfair!"

"Yes, but it's not FV's fault. As I said before, the organizers are garbage. If the organizers hadn't arranged this idiotic schedule, and it wasn't a Bo10 played consecutively, the result would be hard to say."

"That's why I said that although Long Yu Corporation is a big company, they don't seem professional at all when it comes to organizing matches. They're far behind Tengda! Just look at the contrast between the IOI qualifiers and the GPL preseason. From the venue to the match details to the schedule, GoG completely crushes them! This is the difference between professional and amateur!"

"And to be honest, the matches on the IOI side still feel too dragging. A game takes too long! A Bo5 can take up to five hours. The pace is too slow. If the World Championship is still like this, I don't think IOI will be very entertaining."

"Yeah, there's too much of a difference. There won't be any IOI matches for a while after today. I'll go watch GPL. It's much better."

"I wonder how President Pei feels on the scene?"

"Hehe, some people say that President Pei went to the scene because the IOI matches are better than the GPL matches? What a joke! I think President Pei's idea is probably: 'You dare to organize matches like this? You can't even copy the homework!'"

"President Pei's going to the scene today is obviously a provocation! The club I invested in directly took your top seed spot, and you can't do anything about it. Are you angry? And I'm going to be there to watch FV Club win the championship, and taunt you up close. What can you do to me?"

"That's right. President Pei is probably already invincible in GoG, and he doesn't feel any threat or passion. That's why he switched to IOI with FV Club. He originally just wanted to have some fun, but he didn't expect the IOI teams to be so weak. They break with one touch! If I were President Pei, I would only feel lonely and bored. It's too boring!"

"I think President Pei won't watch IOI matches again in the future. They're too disappointing."

"I'm watching the replay of the match and suddenly realized that President Pei's close-up shot seems to have some deep meaning? Look, although President Pei is wearing a mask and is very low-key, his posture is very relaxed, as if he's sure of victory; after the camera focuses on him, he's completely indifferent and calm. Did he expect the outcome of today's match?"

"So handsome, President Pei without showing his face is my love!"

"Going to watch a match organized by a rival company, sitting in the front row, and watching the club he invested in win the championship in person. So domineering!"

"I think President Pei was probably just trying to be low-key by wearing a mask. He didn't plan to slap Long Yu Corporation in the face too hard. But he didn't expect Long Yu Corporation to actively give him the camera and put their face up for President Pei to slap! I'm laughing to death!"

Looking at these comments, Pei Qian fell into a daze.

What the hell are these sand sculpture netizens talking about!

Only one sentence here is correct, and that is that President Pei feels lonely.

Everything else is wrong!

I really just wanted to see FV lose the match. I didn't think so much!

But it was useless to say anything now. The trend of online public opinion had already formed!

Zhao Xuming and Long Yu Corporation used Pei Qian's presence as an excuse to hype up the heat by buying hot searches and hiring water armies, waiting for FV to lose, so they could guide all this heat to the IOI World Championship.

But now, the script was completely different!

FV fought a Bo10 and finally won the top seed for the IOI World Championship, so all the remarks that Zhao Xuming had prepared to guide public opinion, smear GPL, and create hype for the IOI World Championship were completely defeated!

The hard-earned heat was all concentrated on FV Club and GPL!

Winners are kings in e-sports. Whether it's a 3:0 crush or a 3:2 hard-fought victory, the audience will only remember the winner and regard the runner-up as the biggest failure.

FV Club didn't have much attention before. At most, the fans of those old players cared about them, but after Long Yu Corporation's unremitting popularization, the audience knew that this was President Pei's club. Now that they had achieved good results, the attention naturally soared!

Pei Qian sighed lightly, feeling a little hopeless.

...

"It's a pity, there's no miracle. SUG Club lost this crucial game 0-3 and failed to qualify for the World Championship."

"To be honest, it's really a pity. SUG Club showed a very good competitive level in today's first Bo5, and they were very hopeful. But maybe this is what they call taking the first blow, weakening with the second, and collapsing with the third. You can clearly feel that their preparation for the second Bo5 wasn't very sufficient, and their competitive state wasn't very good..."

"I can only hope that they will continue to work hard in the next matches..."

Under the stage, Ding Gan was so angry that his blood pressure rose, and he almost fainted.

Although he had expected this, he didn't expect SUG to be swept 3:0!

The main reason for this was that SUG had put their main energy into preparing for the first Bo5, but after failing to win, the team's mentality was greatly affected.

In the knockout stage, it's often about holding your breath. If you take that breath, you rush out. Once that breath is released, it's like a landslide, collapsing in an instant.

Ding Gan subconsciously looked at the audience next to him. At this time, the audience had already left, leaving only a few people.

After all, it was already past 11 pm, and if they didn't leave, they would miss the last subway.

In the empty front row of seats, President Pei's figure seemed so abrupt.

Although Ding Gan was very angry, for some reason, he couldn't hate President Pei at all.

Logically speaking, it was President Pei who reorganized FV Club, snatched a World Championship spot, caused SUG Club to fail to qualify, and caused Ding Gan's investment in this team to be in vain.

But Ding Gan didn't think this was President Pei's fault, but Zhao Xuming's fault!

If Zhao Xuming had come to the club earlier to talk about the IOI World Championship, would SUG have been disbanded?

Zhao Xuming patted his chest and guaranteed that SUG would definitely enter the World Championship. What happened in the end? As soon as something happened, he immediately threw SUG aside and didn't care!

Including this idiotic format, how did he come up with it?

SUG's matches were one in the early morning and one late at night. How could they arrange the schedule like this?

If the two Bo5s were divided into two days, SUG would have more time to prepare, and maybe the result of the match would be different?

Indeed, SUG Club's failure to qualify was caused by President Pei.

But Ding Gan knew very well that President Pei wasn't targeting SUG Club.

President Pei's main goal in reorganizing FV Club was to slap IOI and Long Yu Corporation in the face. SUG was accidentally hit by President Pei's AOE.

And Zhao Xuming was the one who was to blame for SUG's failure to qualify!

If Zhao Xuming wasn't such a waste and was beaten by President Pei without any resistance, would SUG have suffered the same fate?

The more Ding Gan thought about it, the angrier he became.

"Zhao Xuming! If I follow you again, I'm a dog!"

"I'd rather play GDL and never enter GPL than touch IOI again!"

For some reason, the more Ding Gan looked at President Pei, the more desperate and disheartened he felt.

He shouldn't have been involved with President Pei's competitors. It was unlucky!

Even if he had a bad relationship with President Pei before, and almost failed, it was still better than being inexplicably pulled into the AOE!

Ding Gan's face was livid. He didn't plan to find Zhao Xuming anymore. He waved his sleeves and left.

On the stage, the three qualifying teams took the stage one after another to hold a send-off ceremony.

But the audience in the front row had already left, because it was too late, and the send-off ceremony wasn't anything interesting to watch.

Pei Qian had also stood up and wanted to leave, but after walking two steps, he found that there were many people at the exit. Leaving now would mean being squeezed into the crowd. After thinking about it, he sat back down in the seat in the center and casually watched the send-off ceremony, waiting for everyone to leave before leaving.

After all, the hotel was a five-minute walk away. He wasn't in a hurry.

At this moment, a viewer who was about to leave suddenly had a flash of inspiration, took out his phone, and took a picture of Pei Qian's back in the empty front row of seats.

"Click."

In the photo, Pei Qian was sitting in the center of the first row of seats, with the match stage and the big screen in front of him. His lonely back looked particularly conspicuous.

On the stage, fifteen players from the three teams were lined up in a row. The five players from FV Club, who had returned after eating their late-night snack, stood in the center and at the front, echoing President Pei under the stage.

In fact, Pei Qian was originally sitting in a seat on the side of the front row, because he didn't want to be too noticeable. But he took two steps to leave and then sat back down, so he ended up sitting right in the center.

The enthusiastic viewer who took the photo looked at the picture and was very satisfied with the composition. He posted it online with satisfaction.

Another new world-famous painting: "The Last Audience"!