Chapter 23

The next morning.

Jiang Ming turned on his computer and played a few ranked matches, then slowly took a bus to the meeting spot he’d arranged with Old Xu of YY.

There was no choice—China’s server was full of grindmasters; one slip and you’d be left behind.

At noon, Laomen Dong’s blue stone pavement steamed with the residual moisture from last night’s rain.

“JM!”

“Old Xu!”

“Just call me Xiao Jiang.”

“Haha, then you stick with Old Xu too.”

The two met outside a decent private kitchen in Jin Ling; Xu Tao stepped forward with a warm smile.

Under the guidance of a server, they entered a private room.

“Order first?”

“I think we should talk about the new season’s contract first—you should be more eager than I am!”

“Haha, that’s true. Securing the title of Season’s Strongest King benefits both you and the platform.”

Chen Yu smiled and handed over a document—they were indeed desperate, or they wouldn’t have rushed from Guangzhou to Jin Ling overnight.

“Xiao Jiang, we’ve known each other for a couple years. Honestly, I have great faith in your future. I truly hope this is a win-win partnership.”

“I hope so too!”

Jiang Ming took the document and read it carefully—empty pleasantries were just for show.

Though he and Old Xu had met during a professor’s public lecture, no matter how strong the personal bond, interests always made it shallow.

Huh?

Amid the rustling of turning pages, Jiang Ming’s pupils contracted slightly.

Old Xu’s talk of sincerity was no lie.

What Old Xu handed him wasn’t a contract, but a proposal document for his livestream and team sponsorship.

He was surprised—never had he expected such an advanced plan from a 2013 livestream platform.

Had YY suddenly gained a genius advisor who saw the massive esports wave led by Tencent? Or had another gambling-addicted decision-maker emerged?

The funding details, in comparison, became trivial.

First, the resource investment plan: YY’s planning department called it three heavy punches. ① Traffic Nuke (create a dedicated “Climb to King” section on YY’s homepage for his livestream, replacing the old rotating ads; update King points in real time; add exclusive gifts to the livestream; revenue split reduced from 50% to 30%; prioritize server bandwidth for streaming—even if other channels freeze into PPTs).

② Brand Tie-in: Increase signing fee to 500,000 RMB/year (plus bonus for LPL promotion); customize NXG team livestream skins; viewers’ danmaku automatically carry the hashtag #YYWitnessesTheRiseOfTheThrone#.

③ Ecosystem Expansion: After confirming NXG sponsorship, deploy a professional team to fully package the esports team like WE.

Second, livestream tech upgrades—YY pulled off a major move.

Danmaku delay reduced from six seconds to two seconds, ensuring real-time feedback for “epic plays.”

Develop OB camera auto-tracking feature (tentatively named “Hunter Mode”).

Embed a power-query plugin in the livestream, letting viewers check the streamer’s rune setup in real time.

…

“Truly sincere.”

After a long silence, Jiang Ming looked up at Xu Tao with a complex expression.

“I’m curious—what suddenly made you commit so heavily?”

He’d originally approached the conversation hoping to leverage his livestream’s massive traffic to secure YY sponsorship and platform support for NXG, swallowing the huge traffic boost Tencent’s S3 had given to LOL.

Though both were chasing top-tier rewards, a regular King-ranked player and a top streamer with hundreds of thousands of followers—and inherent attention—held completely different value.

Clearly, they understood—and responded perfectly.

“What made us commit?”

Xu Tao suddenly pulled out a faded newspaper photo—2005 WCG finals, a sea of spectators—his tone nostalgic: “This is a story from many years ago. Back then, YY was just a small plugin offering voice chat for gamers…”

“….”

Though he didn’t understand why this suddenly turned into a nostalgic monologue, Jiang Ming didn’t dampen his mood.

In his past life, disapproved of by his parents and eventually fading into obscurity, he’d sometimes screamed into the night after drinking.

After hearing the story and finishing every detail of the document, Jiang Ming extended his hand.

Xu Tao frowned, “What?”

“Given the platform’s overwhelming sincerity, I have no reason to refuse. Let’s cooperate.”

“Cooperate!”

Xu Tao immediately stood and reached out his hand, regaining his energy.

Just as he’d once been certain JM’s livestream would succeed.

A player with gaming talent, sharp intellect, some education, clear goals, and deep understanding of livestreaming—such a person could never fail.

History proved him right: within a year, JM’s name became widely known across the entire LOL gaming circle.

Back then, JM had merely been an ordinary freshman at Jin Ling University who’d offered decent insights on gaming livestreaming during a public lecture.

But as Xu Tao reminisced about their first meeting, Jiang Ming added, “Besides being the oxygen for China’s esports scene, does your platform have any interest in expanding overseas?”

Jiang Ming: “For example, make your top streamer the #1 in both Chinese and Korean servers. Or even create a platform-exclusive team in OGN!”

Xu Tao: “???”

How the hell do you fit so many bizarre ideas in your head?

Their own league was still in planning, and Jiang Ming was already talking about launching a team in another region—Xu Tao didn’t know whether to laugh or scold him.

But… it sounded tempting.

An OGN team under YY—why not call it “TigerYard—ROXTigers”? That sounded great.

…

Inside the room, Jiang Ming reached final agreement with YY on the new contract. After signing over dinner, he personally experienced what true future livestream giant action looked like.

While they ate, the ink on the contract was still wet—YY’s homepage already blazed with crimson battle flags, and the dedicated livestream for climbing to China’s Strongest King was live.

The livestream, already surging in popularity due to WE’s group play, expanded further.

Every resource commitment described in the document launched simultaneously.

“YY Platform: China’s Top Player, LOL Veteran Tutorial Creator, National Climbing Support Event Is Here!”

First, within YY itself—any registered user, whether viewer or streamer, received this alert in their backend.

The event was simple: during Jiang Ming’s climb, enter his livestream, follow him, and send a certain amount of gifts to earn YY experience level boosts, exclusive avatar frames, and custom theme page illustrations.

In a skyscraper in Shanghai, the CEO of a rival platform, seeing YY’s homepage banner, realized he was too late—and furiously knocked over the elegant decor on his desk.