“Wait until the official investigation is over, then go to the venue and ask them for the surveillance footage,” Duan Chi instructed.
Panda nodded. “I know, I know. Oh, right, ”
He hurriedly called Duan Chi back. “A few days ago, I asked the finance department to sort out the accounts and they told me that this quarter’s budget is running a little over. The entire amount for signing Encore was charged to our first team’s budget.”
Duan Chi thought for a moment before saying, “Didn’t he lower his signing fee for you?”
That gave Panda the perfect opportunity to argue his case properly. “He did lower it but eight million is still a lot of money! We originally budgeted no more than two million for a first-team support player and Encore’s computer and peripherals were all custom-made according to your specifications. Even the bedsheets and duvet covers had to be the best ones we could buy!”
“……” Duan Chi gave a slight cough. “Got it. I’ll mention it to my brother later and have the group transfer some more funds over.”
Only then was Panda satisfied. He made a token attempt at being polite. “Actually, it’s not like we absolutely need the headquarters to transfer more money. If necessary, we can also take on some commercial deals. It’s just that I’m worried it might affect your training……”
“Fine. You handle it however you see fit,” Duan Chi said casually.
Panda fell silent.
He had only been making a couple of polite remarks!
“Let’s not do that for now. You’ve only just formed the team and you’re busy working on your coordination.” He hurriedly tried to patch things up. “Besides, signing commercial deals right now wouldn’t be worth it. Your number of followers has been steadily increasing and I estimate that after this year’s Summer Split, your popularity should be about on par with Encore’s. After all, you’ve got the looks going for you. If you sign contracts now, you’ll only be losing out!”
Ah! If they signed commercial deals for the players now, once Duan Chi’s popularity rose after the season, they wouldn’t be able to terminate the contracts immediately. The sponsors would essentially get to take advantage of them for nothing. What a loss.
The more Panda thought about it, the more unbearable it seemed. “Let’s forget about it for now. It’s only another half a year. After this season, I’ll get you guys a really big one!”
If their DG team could win another Summer Split championship this year, their contracts could be worth even more!
Duan Chi didn’t really care. He genuinely wasn’t short of this little bit of money. “Up to you. I need to go home tonight. Keep an eye on things here for me and tell me if anything happens.”
What could possibly happen at the base? Panda waved his hand. “Got it, go ahead and remember to mention our budget situation to President Duan!”
“Okay.”
Although Panda had taken over Lin Anke’s Weibo account, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what those people would be saying in the comments under his own Weibo posts.
There wasn’t a single viewer who could tolerate a professional player throwing a match, let alone doing it in the grand finals.
But the final result had yet to be announced. Lin Anke had no idea how his fans would react. After thinking it over, he still decided to start a livestream.
Danqing stared at him in disbelief. “Encore, you’re really going to livestream? Don’t. Those trolls won’t care whether there’s an official conclusion or not.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just play a few games and then get off.”
Since his Weibo account had been taken away, Lin Anke simply decided not to post any announcement either.
Before starting the stream, he instinctively glanced at the spot beside him.
It was empty.
He paused for a moment, then went ahead and started the livestream.
It hadn’t even been long since the stream began when the number of viewers online started skyrocketing. The livestream chat was filled with nothing but curses.
Lin Anke remained completely expressionless as he spotted a few messages amid the barrage of insulting comments asking him, “Did you really throw the match?”
He replied, “I didn’t throw any matches. I didn’t do it before, I didn’t do it in the Spring Finals and I won’t do it in the future.”
【Ke-ke, we believe you! Anyone with eyes can tell that you already did your best in those few games in the Spring Finals.】
【Someone already reported you and you’re still stubbornly denying it. 666.】
【One person is brave enough to say it and another is stupid enough to believe it. Number-one support in the country, just keep fooling yourself together with your brain-dead female fans. You’ll behave once you get banned for life.】
【Lin Anke, how can you possibly face Xu Sheng after this?】
【Match-fixing dog, go die!】
Lin Anke paid no attention to the people cursing him. He simply said, “The tournament organizers are already investigating the matter. Everyone can just wait for the results with peace of mind. I’m not going to do any teaching today. I’ll take you guys into a few games instead.”
After saying that, he paused for a moment and hesitantly added, “I think this is called bringing viewers into the game? Let me check how other people usually do it.”
Danqing was sitting beside him, drinking milk tea. Hearing this, he volunteered immediately, “I know, I know! Usually, they pick people from the rankings, or a fan sends a Starlight Treasure Box and then you privately send them the room number.”
A single Starlight Treasure Box cost fifty yuan, so it would most likely filter out the trolls who deliberately came looking for trouble.
However, if he wanted to bring his fans into the game, there was still one problem.
Lin Anke opened the gift leaderboard and gave it a quick glance. “I’ll take a screenshot. The top fifty, send me your playable lanes and IDs privately and I- ”
Before he could finish speaking, the livestream chat was suddenly drowned beneath a sea of dazzling, extravagant gift effects.
【User AD796BN sent Carnival ×10】 <2
【User AD796BN sent Carnival ×10】
【User AD796BN sent Carnival ×99】
A single Carnival cost three thousand yuan. This person had shown up and immediately sent nearly 360,000 yuan worth of gifts, directly knocking the previous number-one supporter off the top spot!
【User AD796BN: Take me too.】
Everyone in the livestream was stunned. The entire screen was instantly filled with question marks and messages expressing disbelief.
Where had this rich lady come from???
Lin Anke froze for a moment before finally reacting. “Send me your playable lane and your ID.”
After saying that, he took a screenshot of the current ranking.
【I’m crying. I was originally number 50 and now I’m number 51. I was only one yuan short!】
Lin Anke happened to catch that message. He added, “Number 51, send me a message too. You were originally included. Everyone else, don’t keep sending gifts. I’ll bring you guys along when there’s another opportunity.”
He followed the profile pictures on the leaderboard one by one and clicked into the top-ranked user’s profile first, taking a look at the message they had sent him.
User AD796BN: My game ID is Anshen Shiyi Support and I play ADC.
Lin Anke: “……”
He blinked, then looked once more at the name displayed on the leaderboard.
Lin Anke remained completely expressionless as, amid the barrage of abusive comments flooding the livestream chat, he spotted a few messages asking him, “Did you really throw the match?” He replied, “I didn’t throw any matches. I never did before, I didn’t do it in the Spring Finals and I won’t do it in the future either.”
【Ke-ke, we believe you! Anyone with eyes can tell that you already did your best in those few games during the Spring Finals.】
【They’ve already reported you and you’re still stubbornly denying it. 666.】
【One person dares to say it and another dares to believe it. National No. 1 support, just keep fooling yourself along with your brain-dead female fans. You’ll know better once you get a lifetime ban.】
【Lin Anke, how can you possibly face Xu Sheng after this?】
【Match-fixing dog, go die!】
Lin Anke paid no attention to the people insulting and cursing him. He simply said, “The tournament organizers are already investigating the matter. Everyone can just wait for the results without worrying. I’m not going to do any teaching today. I’ll bring you guys along for a few games instead.”
After saying that, he paused for a moment before hesitantly asking, “I think this is called bringing water friends along? Let me check how other people usually do it.”
Danqing was sitting beside him, drinking milk tea. Upon hearing this, he immediately volunteered, “I know, I know! Usually, they pick people from the leaderboard, or a fan sends a Starlight Treasure Box and then you privately send them the room number.”
A single Starlight Treasure Box cost fifty yuan. Most likely, that alone would be enough to filter out the trolls who deliberately came looking for trouble.
However, there was still one problem if he wanted to bring his fans along.
Lin Anke opened the gift leaderboard and gave it a quick scan before saying, “I’ll take a screenshot. The top fifty, send me your playable lanes and IDs privately and I, ”
Before he could finish his sentence, the livestream chat was suddenly swallowed up by a flood of dazzling, extravagant special effects.
【User AD796BN sent Carnival ×10】 2
【User AD796BN sent Carnival ×10】
【User AD796BN sent Carnival ×99】
A single Carnival cost three thousand yuan and this person had immediately sent nearly 360,000 yuan worth of gifts as soon as they appeared, directly knocking the previous number-one supporter off the top of the leaderboard!
【User AD796BN: Take me too.】
Everyone in the livestream was stunned. The entire screen was filled with question marks and messages expressing sheer disbelief.
Where had this rich lady come from???
Lin Anke was stunned for a moment before finally reacting. “Send me the lane you can play and your ID.”
After saying that, he took a screenshot of the current leaderboard rankings.
【I’m crying. I was originally number 50 and now I’m number 51. I was only one yuan short!】
Lin Anke happened to catch the message and immediately added, “Number 51, send me a message too. You were originally included anyway. Everyone else, don’t keep sending gifts. I’ll bring you guys along when there’s another opportunity.”
He followed the profile pictures on the leaderboard and clicked into the top-ranked user’s profile first, taking a look at the message they had sent him.
User AD796BN: My game ID is AnKe Shiyi Fu and I play ADC.
Lin Anke: “……”
He blinked, then looked once again at the name displayed on the leaderboard.
Top Supporter: User AD796BN
Gift Value: 357,000
The moment the other people in the livestream saw that familiar ID, the entire chat exploded.
【Bro, WTF, aren’t you a hater?】
【Are haters really this loaded these days? Thirty-five thousand in one go!】
【Then what does that make me? I’m not even a higher-level hater than the one in the livestream!】
【Did you all lose your memories? Wasn’t this ADC the one who gave our Ke-ke the blue buff last time? They probably aren’t a hater, right?】
【If someone uses a name like that, what could they possibly be other than a hater?】
Lin Anke paid no attention to the chaos unfolding in the chat and continued checking the lanes of the next fans.
The second- and third-ranked supporters both played mid. Lin Anke invited the second-ranked one into the game first, since the third-ranked supporter could wait for the next round. The fourth-ranked supporter said she could play top, so Lin Anke invited her in directly. Then he found a fan who played jungle from his message list, completing the first team.
All three girls were at fairly high ranks. It was obvious that they played games regularly, so Lin Anke chose ranked mode.
“Ke-ke, can you shot-call? I’m worried I won’t be able to keep up with your pace.” The girl playing jungle spoke through voice chat.
Lin Anke hummed in acknowledgment. “It’s fine. Just play normally.”
The moment he spoke, the other girls, who had still been somewhat nervous, relaxed considerably. While choosing their champions, they even started chatting among themselves.
Only “Anke Shiyi Support” remained silent throughout, never turning on his microphone from beginning to end.
Seeing this, the trolls in the livestream chat became active again, bluntly saying that the ADC didn’t look like a fan at all and was definitely there to cause trouble.
【They’d spend thirty-five thousand on Carnivals just to cause trouble?】
【Maybe they just don’t care about that little bit of money. They simply want to mess with you guys and watch you run around like clowns, while you all take them seriously.】
Lin Anke stared thoughtfully at that profile picture for two seconds without saying anything.
Once they entered the match, he kept a constant eye on the situation in every lane. The opposing team was also a five-player premade but they appeared to be a group of friends who already knew one another and their coordination was far better than his team’s.
Before five minutes had even passed, their mid laner had already been ganked twice. Seeing this, Lin Anke sent a signal to his ADC and headed toward mid to help them recover some of their advantage.
After helping the mid laner take down the opposing jungler, Lin Anke didn’t hurry back. Instead, he leisurely stayed beside the mid laner and helped clear the minion wave.
His hands never stopped moving across the controls but the corner of his vision remained fixed on the small minimap in the upper-left corner.
At six minutes and twenty seconds, the minion waves in the bottom lane met. The opposing ADC and support came out to clear the wave, revealing their positions.
Lin Anke watched as his own ADC’s icon moved a few steps toward the jungle, only to come to an extremely deliberate stop before turning around and heading back toward the tower to clear the wave.
Lin Anke couldn’t help curving the corners of his lips into a faint smile.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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The translator sees your coffee button usage. 👀
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · He was substituted off the fieldChapter 2 · I’ll avenge youChapter 3 · Leaving TIGChapter 4 · Point and shootChapter 5 · Join DGChapter 6 · Live stream collisionChapter 7 · MysteriousChapter 8 · Transfer NoticeChapter 9 · Want the championshipChapter 10 · Galaxy BattleshipChapter 11 · Be my DogChapter 12 · Post match ConflictChapter 13 · ReportedChapter 14 · Weibo CodeChapter 15 · Live Streaming to attract FansChapter 16 · Duan Chi’s horse was exposedChapter 17 · Emotional articlesChapter 18 · Match voice recording