Rise

ly,” Zeng Rui replied.
He looked at everyone and said, “I hope we all understand that we need to pay close attention to this team.”

Lin Feng shrugged and said, “I don’t know.
It kind of feels like we’re watching one of those soap dramas, you know? We’re the main characters watching all these side characters come and go!”

“Idiot,” An Xin said, shaking her head.

It was in this fashion that the morning drew to a close.
Team Shanghai left the stadium and took a cab to a restaurant.
They had a quick lunch, after which Zeng Rui made them hurry back to the Tianhe Stadium for the afternoon matches.
Su Xue didn’t tag along for these games, though.
She waved Team Shanghai off and said, “I’ve got my meeting with HuyaTV! Enjoy the games!”

“Thanks!” An Xin said.
She smiled and added, “Goodluck with your interview!”

Lin Feng struck his victory pose and shouted, “You’re going to stomp the interview!”

Su Xue looked at Lin Feng, incredulous.
Then she chuckled and replied, “Thanks! See you guys later!” She watched the players from Team Shanghai get in their cab and waved them off.
She then hailed a cab for herself and went to the HuyaTV headquarters.

The HuyaTV headquarters were located in the center of Guangzhou.
Su Xue stood in front of the large building and looked up at the massive glass panels.
She mumbled, “Wow! So impressive…” She chewed on her lips and took a deep breath, then she walked through the revolving door and into the building.
When she saw the interior, her eyes went round in surprise. This all looks so clean and professional! I love it! And they want me to work here! She smiled and nodded at herself.

After receiving a visitor tag from the receptionist, Su Xue walked around the entrance hallway and looked at the other people there.
Many of them were men in expensive suits.
But there was also a group of young women dressed in short skirts and low cut shirts.
She watched them, chewing on her lips, and felt her heart slamming against her ribcage.
Harder.
Faster. They look like streamers… I think… That’s… Shit I forgot her name but I’ve definitely seen her on the frontpage before! Shit! Her stomach twisted into a knot. They’re all dressed the same! Is Huya going to ask me to also wear those kinds of clothes? I really don’t want to…–

“Excuse me, Miss Su,” a man said to Su Xue.
He waited for her to turn around and then continued, “If you could follow me please.”

Su Xue nodded and followed behind him.
They took the elevator up to one of the top floors and walked through several long hallways before stopping in front of a room.
The man opened the door and pointed inside.
He said, “Miss Su, please take a seat.
Zong Yao will be with you shortly.”

“Okay, thanks,” Su Xue replied.
She walked inside and sat down at the small wooden table.
There were only two chairs and she chose the one that let her see the door.
She waited for a few minutes when a man in his 30s walked inside.
She recognized him as Zong Yao, the HuyaTV admin she’d been in contact with.
He sat down across from her, smiled at her and said, “We’ve talked a few times over QQ already.
It’s good to finally meet you in person, Miss Su.
I’ve already given you a rough gist of the situation.
Have you had time to think about the offer?”

Su Xue chewed on the inside of her cheek, caught off guard by how to the point Zong Yao was. He sounded far more chilled on the QQ chat? And he only gave me a rough idea.
Am I supposed to reply to that? Or did he forget that he didn’t tell me more…? I’ll just… “Uhm…” She briefly hesitated but then said, “I’ve thought about it a lot, yeah.
I think I have a decent idea of what you’re asking me, but I’d like to know a few more details before making my decision.”

Zong Yao smiled and replied, “There’s nothing to worry about, Miss Su.
We aren’t trying to cheat you here.
Our goal is to grow together! You’ll get the full package! We will help you with everything! And I’m not just talking about promoting your HuyaTV channel here.
We’d like to see you expand into different markets as well!” He briefly paused, smiling a little brighter, before he continued, “You’ve already had a go at making video’s correct? So we want to help you out with that! What we will do is basically to help you with promoting the videos and adding in advertisements.
You’ll also be interested to know that we’ve partnered up with several gaming companies recently.
That means early access to new video games, guest appearances on popular programs, you name it! Better yet, we can even get you casting positions in official League of Legends tournaments! Just think about how many people will see your face! And in the description of these streams, there’ll be links to your channel.
Everyone will find you!”

Su Xue’s mouth fell open a bit.
A lot of what Zong Yao told her she already expected, but hearing him say it was still a shock to her.
She wanted to say something, but Zong Yao raised his finger and interrupted, “Now for the important part.” He briefly paused and made sure he had Su Xue’s full attention.
Then he continued, “When you grow big enough, we’ll organize fan meetings for you! We’ll open a webshop for you and help you create your own merchandise! After, of course, helping you create your brand! You’ll sell tens of thousands of ‘Su Xue’ T-shirts!”

Su Xue lightly shook her head. It’s too much! I don’t get it! They’re giving me so much! What are they getting out of it? And why me? I’m not even that big! There are other streamers far bigger than me! Why me…? She took a deep breath and asked, “This all sounds really tempting, but I’m just… Can I ask why you chose me?”

Zong Yao smiled and replied, “Because of your endless potential of course! You’ve grown from nothing to tens of thousands of concurrent viewers in only a few months! You know how many streamers manage that?” He made a zero with his fingers and continued, “None.
Just you.
And it still looks like you’re growing quickly! Sure there are other streamers out there who have more viewers right now.
But in a few months from now? In a year from now? We can see you blow them away with far greater numbers! You should know, your audience retention rate is one of the highest on all of HuyaTV! And the same is true for your conversion rate for followers and subscribers!”

The sudden burst of compliments caught Su Xue off guard.
Her face heated up and she slumped back in her chair a bit.
She looked down at the table and smiled. I’m really doing good! I knew my stats were okay, but he’s saying they’re some of the best! That’s like, like so much more than just okay!

Zong Yao gave half a minute for the information to settle and then asked, “Do you know why this is?”

Su Xue looked up at Zong Yao and mumbled, “Why this is…?” She looked back down at the table and bit on her tongue. What is this for a question? How am I supposed to answer? Whatever I say, I’m going to sound like a narcissistic bitch! ‘Because I’m so good’ or ‘because no one is as much fun as me’…

Zong Yao didn’t wait for an answer.
He continued, “It’s because you’re genuine.
A lot of streamers sit behind their camera and play a role that is specifically aimed at making money.
You’re not like that.
You’re yourself, even if that means you don’t make that quick buck.
And people connect with that.
They connect with you.
They form a kind of kinship that runs far deeper than the artificial relationships a lot of streamers build up with their fanbase.
That’s why your retention and conversion numbers are so high.
Because consciously or unconsciously, people can tell the difference.”

Su Xue waved her hands and said, “No, no! I’m not better than other streamers! They’re also doing good! I was just trying to build a community that I’d want to be a part of myself, and, and…–”

Zong Yao winked at Su Xue and interrupted, “Miss Su, I see so much potential in you.
Will you please consider my offer?”

✹

It was already late in the afternoon when the host of the Winter Collegiate Cup announced the eighth game of the day.
Team Beijing, the first high school team to play in the main tournament, was facing off against Nanjing University.
When the audience heard this, they sat up a bit straighter in their seats.
The announcement that three high school teams were competing in this university event had initially led to a lot of resistance from both fans and the university teams.
But after all three high school teams qualified for the main tournament, most people became excited to watch them play.

“Didn’t Team Beijing scrim against the best teams from North China and beat all of them?”
“Not just the scrims.
They won the North China Regionals!”
“Damn high schoolers… Those kids are on steroids or something!”
“No kidding.
It’s like they’re all A grade teams!”

The discussions in the audience suddenly came to a stop.
Everyone had done a bit of research on the three high school teams.
They knew the players.
And they could now all see that Team Beijing was not playing with their strongest line up! They were playing with the same team that had helped them win the North China Regionals! A murmur went through the crowd.

“Are they for real? What the hell! This is the main tournament!”
“Holy shit! It’s the same line up as the regionals! They’re playing with their subs!”
“Two subs, right? Damn! They’re so cocky!”
“I don’t think their real Toplaner and Midlaner have played a single game this entire tournament!”
“Do they really think they’re that much better than Nanjing?”
“Maybe this is their best line up and they’re just saying those two are their subs…?”

Zeng Rui looked over his shoulder at the stands rising up behind him.
He listened to the discussion, knitting his brows.
He finally turned back around and mumbled, “They’re not being cocky.
More like, they know exactly how good they are and how good their opponents are.
They know they won’t need their best players for this series.”