Four Split Personalities

Chapter 2572: Chapter 1215: Free-for-All Match: Awakening Dragon (I)

As one of the most powerful esports players on this planet, a star among star players, Awakening Dragon commands influence and salary that are undoubtedly top-tier in the industry. His contract with the [Red Constellation] Club alone is enough to make one’s blood boil; simply put, he earns a lot, and his terms are exceptionally good.

In fact, in most cases, clubs like [Red Constellation], which are huge, usually hold a tight grip when it comes to contracts. This can be likened to various affluent and influential parties, in other words, the contracts tend to be more ’dominating,’ with more restrictions and higher demands on the other party.

It’s quite normal, after all, society itself is survival of the fittest. And [Red Constellation] is at least a legitimate industry. While the threshold is high and the demands many, they won’t cheat you. The benefits are first-class.

However, for someone at Awakening Dragon’s level, even [Red Constellation] must treat him cautiously—though not serving him like a king, they place him at an equal level and might even lower their attitude.

Just like many international sports stars, when their influence (or should we say traffic?) reaches a certain level, even if there are many peers with similar skills, the benefits brought by their status are still insane. Moreover, from a comprehensive point of view, Awakening Dragon is simply the No.1 among domestic professional gamers.

This doesn’t mean he’s invincible, proficient in all game types, but from an objective standpoint, Awakening Dragon is just a notch better than his peers.

He might fail, but you can always trust in his strength.

Awakening Dragon is just such a person. Calling him a ’ruler’ might be an exaggeration, but he’s definitely the most dazzling star in the hall of fame.

Moreover, he has a particularly likable trait – whenever Awakening Dragon appears in any international competition and the opponent is a foreigner, regardless of the type of game or mode of competition, his error rate is zero!

Of course, many attribute this to luck and chance, but it cannot be denied that this trait indeed greatly boosts his popularity.

Beyond work, he has excellent academic achievements. Although due to training and competition schedules, he’s rarely seen on campus, now in his fourth year, Awakening Dragon has never fallen behind in his coursework. His grades are outstanding; in his strongest subject, English, he already has a professor-level mastery, not inferior to native foreigners.

After [Red Constellation] used Li Lei’s...I mean Awakening Dragon’s academic achievements as a promotion focus, many whose thinking is somewhat outdated—who even in 2049 view gaming as less than proper business—held him in high regard, using him as a positive example to constantly urge their own children.

In summary, Awakening Dragon is absolutely a well-rounded, promising young talent. Not to mention the prize money and salary he’s earned thus far are enough to ensure his livelihood for three generations, even if he retired immediately, he could live well. In 2049, as virtual games become mainstream, the career lifespan of esports players has expanded greatly. Someone like Awakening Dragon, who twenty years ago would be considered an ’old veteran,’ can nowadays still compete for another ten to twenty years at least.

Moreover, besides competitions and team practice, independent practice, and focused training, to increase exposure, players like Awakening Dragon are often arranged to participate in exhibition matches or friendly matches to strengthen ties with fans. Not only that, before officially entering The Realm of Innocence, Awakening Dragon would have two broadcasts each week for about two hours each, covering all sorts of content, but mostly related to games, such as completing tasks or competing in matches.

Without exaggeration, just the revenue generated from Awakening Dragon’s bi-weekly broadcasts, even after deducting the club’s thirty percent share, the remainder alone is enough to match half a year’s salary for Evergreen Studio’s star ’Boss Sakaki.’

But!

Despite the vast majority of virtual games supporting the broadcasting system, and the hardware and software standards of Innocent Company being perfectly compatible with any broadcast software, The Realm of Innocence simply doesn’t support live streaming!

Only after massive complaints from players, studios, clubs, and onlookers did Innocent Company reluctantly offer an explanation. Yes, rather than enabling the broadcast system, just an explanation as to why it’s not open—

[Staying up late is harmful to health]

Indeed, it’s about the much-criticized allowance of gaming only from 7 PM to 7 AM!

Honestly, if Innocent Company would make any excuse like ’due to the differing time ratio inside and outside the game, technically difficult to achieve’ or ’even in-game broadcast is technically hard to realize’ people would accept it. Instead, they put forth an ’I could probably do it, but I just won’t’ attitude, highly aggravating.

Suddenly, many star players whose primary livelihood was streaming announced quitting the game, taking away quite a number of fans as well. The official forums were in chaos, complaints everywhere, with people vocally criticising Innocent Company and The Realm of Innocence’s planners, trying to use public sentiment to reverse the situation.