Chapter 332: Transfer

In the VG training room.

Everyone fell silent at once, all looking at the phone Duan Delian had placed on the table.

That remark was made by Long Ge, who was attending the meeting remotely via a WeChat video call with Duan Delian. On the phone screen, Long Ge's smile was a little awkward:

"Well, I just mentioned it casually; if you guys think it's no good, just forget it…"

"I have no objections!"

Duan Delian was the first to raise his hand.

Loong, Zhu Xiaolong debuted with an amateur team in the S3 season, and after two years of ups and downs, he joined VG in the S5 winter transfer period.

This guy, who never graduated junior high, has been scraping by in society—he's tightened screws, worked as a security guard, carried trays, and carries the air of a wandering martial artist.

Precisely for this reason, Zhu Xiaolong understands all the more how precious this job is. Flandre's joining is a big threat to him, and Zhu Xiaolong also knows his age is considered advanced in this line of work; as a player he definitely won't last many more years. After thinking it over, if he doesn't want to go back to tightening screws, becoming a coach is his only way out.

He had actually been considering this for a while; he'd originally planned to put it on the agenda after playing one more season, but Flandre's joining merely sped up the process.

On the day Flandre joined the team, Zhu Xiaolong had already messaged the boss and Gao Jun on WeChat, suggesting he wanted to switch to an assistant coach role. At the time, the two said if he wanted to switch, they'd just make him a coach, but they didn't give a definite answer, saying they'd discuss it with everyone.

Today the meeting was finally held, and Zhu Xiaolong took the opportunity to bring it up.

Duan Delian was the first to voice his support.

The others didn't know Long Ge well, so they dared not give a hasty opinion—you looked at me, I looked at you, and finally we all turned to Liang Yan.

Liang Yan was also thinking.

Deep down, Liang Yan supports letting Zhu Xiaolong become coach, because for Liang Yan, a new coach just starting out lacks authority and doesn't have many rules; compared to working with a star coach, Liang Yan would find it easier to get things done.

Gao Jun also turned his gaze over:

"Xiao Liang, what's your opinion?"

It was obvious that the few newcomers all took Liang Yan as their opinion leader; his vote was crucial.

Since that's the case, Liang Yan didn't shy away and spoke directly:

"I'm in favor too."

In the end, it passed unanimously.

It went so smoothly that Zhu Xiaolong could hardly believe it.

……

"Are you really letting Xiao Long be the coach?"

After the meeting ended, Gao Jun reported the outcome to Lu Wenjun, who looked somewhat surprised.

"At first Xiao Duan cast the approval vote, then Xiao Liang voiced his support, and the others just followed suit by nodding."

Gao Jun briefly explained the decision‑making process, then added:

"I don't think it's a big problem; the spring season is meant for everyone to get used to each other and serve as a buffer. If it really doesn't work out, we can just change after the spring season. What do you think, boss?"

Lu Wenjun thought for a moment and then nodded:

"Since Xiao Liang thinks it's fine, I agree. Do as you said: observe for a few months, then when Long Ge returns, you arrange it and sign the contract."

"What about the salary…"

"What level are other teams' new coaches at? Let's raise it by about thirty percent; think carefully about the exact amount."

"All right!"

……

Over the next few days, all the major LPL teams also announced their 2017 spring season rosters one after another.

The top‑tier teams basically kept last year's core lineup, adding some fresh blood on top of that.

As for the lower‑middle teams, many carried out major roster overhauls.

VG needs no explanation: they snapped up the hottest property of this winter's transfer window, Firrrrrre, poached Snake's two pillar players, and traded their original two ADs from OMG for Sima Laozei. Although VG hasn't disclosed the exact amount spent, netizens guess that VG's investment in this transfer window is likely the highest in the LPL, and even worldwide it ranks among the very top.

Other lower‑middle teams also made big moves, but compared to VG's bombshell, they look rather ordinary.

EDG seems unwilling to fade into obscurity: first they announced "Clearlove disconnects," frightening countless loyal piglets in the comment section into mourning, but quickly followed up with an official notice that "newcomer Clearlove7 is online."

It was just a matter of changing an ID; they played the fan‑pulling game blatantly.

Another top team, RNG, after two Korean imports left, promoted the former substitute top laner Letme to starter, brought in a new support Ming from YM, and poached from EDG the coach FireFox (Feng Ge), who had led IM to climb from the City Hero Championship to LSPL and then to LPL—a three‑step leap. They completed a bloodline replacement, were the first to shout the all‑Chinese lineup slogan, and, needless to say, fans ate it up, causing RNG's popularity to rebound.

Against this backdrop, other teams' transfer news barely caused a stir, except for IG's signing of Duke, which sparked some discussion.

As time went on, personnel‑change announcements on Weibo grew ever rarer.

At this point the LPL had not yet developed the atmosphere of a "holding‑breath" tournament; most teams simply announced their signings right after completing contracts, so by the latter half of the transfer window, each team's lineup for next year was basically set in stone.

Moreover, it's worth noting that although Liang Yan's contract with VG includes a streaming agreement, it only restricts domestic platforms—meaning Liang Yan can stream domestically only on a certain fish platform, while overseas platforms have no restrictions, so his streaming career on Mouse Platform can continue as before.

Well, that's the treatment afforded to a top star.

Of course, a decline in popularity is inevitable—after all, he's left Europe; although Ka Lao Si's attitude suggests he might later try to buy Liang Yan back, this year he's gone.

However, Liang Yan's skill is evident, and with the champion's halo, his stream's subscriber count actually didn't drop but rose—though the growth rate isn't as explosive as it was in the two months right after his championship win, he still ends up with a slight edge over Perkz.

One elder brother, one younger brother—their subscriber numbers far outstrip those of other streamers, and the former Mouse Platform LoL number one, Doublelift, is left so far behind you can't even see his taillights.

Mouse Platform is the world's largest streaming platform; to be a top streamer in any field is to stand on par with Hollywood film‑and‑TV stars. Moreover, thanks to G2's championship, we can expect LoL in Europe and America to surely see a surge in popularity, elevating the status of top streamers. If development proceeds well, in another two or three years the influence of Mouse Platform's LoL top streamers could perhaps rival that of global superstars.

Mouse Platform's management thinks big; upon learning that Liang Yan's overseas streaming contract has no restrictions, they immediately sent over a renewal invitation.

It's a personal agreement; the terms are triple those of the previous contract, and many other restrictions have been cut, giving Liang Yan a very high degree of freedom.

For example, Doublelift, the former top streamer, has to give Mouse Platform three‑cut of his ad‑revenue, whereas Liang Yan only needs to give two‑cut. It may seem like just a one‑percent difference, but when the base is large, that one percent amounts to a terrifying sum.

Before departing to participate in the All-Star Game, Liang Yan finally simultaneously started the first live broadcast since winning the championship on both platforms: a certain domestic fish platform and the foreign Mouse Platform.