4. Sign an OT contract
"Hello, I'm Duren, the manager of the OT team. You can call me Lao Du."
Lin Jiang looked at the young man in front of him, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a tight-fitting suit, and covered in sweat from running, and extended his hand in a friendly manner, "Hello, I am Lin Jiang."
Duren was a little agitated. He quickly asked the receptionist to make two cups of tea and invited Lin Jiang to his office for a detailed talk. "I'm sorry, I had something to do earlier and couldn't leave for a moment."
"It's okay, I only waited for 10 minutes."
Lin Jiang took his seat and the interview began. Throughout the interview, he kept observing the club's environment through the office window.
OT is a small team, without even its own home stadium. The club is still located in the old site from years ago, and many of the facilities inside are outdated, even the coffee machine is an old model.
Duren noticed his gaze and looked a little embarrassed. "Our team's coffee is really good, would you like to try some?"
Lin Jiang paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay."
To be honest, Lin Jiang was much better than Du Lun had imagined. He was calm, gentle, and the whole conversation was very pleasant.
But in front of such a bigwig in the industry, Duren always felt a sense of embarrassment and had to put on a brave face. When the topic of salary came up, Duren couldn't make up his mind. "Ah Jiang, wait a minute. Our big boss is here. I'll have him talk to you directly."
Lin Jiang was a little confused: "Talk to the boss directly? Shouldn't we talk to the person in charge first?"
Duren awkwardly introduced himself, "I'm the person in charge."
He is not only in charge, but also the team manager, operations manager, department manager, and team leader. When necessary, he can also act as a field agent and driver.
A faint awkwardness filled the air. Lin Jiang laughed, his bright smile seemingly out of place in the small office. His voice was as melodious as a wind chime: "The coffee is delicious."
Duren felt like he was courting death. Even if such a big shot did condescend to come to OT, what would OT use to retain him? Money? Traffic? OT had nothing!
He took out his phone and texted his boss: Help! Help me! I'm really at my wit's end. I don't know how to talk to him about salary!
Boss: Calm down, we've seen it all.
After he arrived at the office and finished talking with Lin Jiang, he secretly ran out to wipe his cold sweat: "The salary he asked for is too high. OT can't afford it, but he said that the salary can be used as equity. He will sign a betting agreement with us. If we make it to the World Championship this year, he will get 120% of the profits. If we don't make it, he will only get 50%. What do you think?"
Durren: ?
Taking only 50% is equivalent to buying a top player at half price, and it's even funded by your own investment. Where else can you find such a good deal?
Moreover, OT is still hovering on the verge of being downgraded. Once downgraded, his assets will shrink by 100 million. Compared to that, Lin Jiang's salary is simply not worth mentioning!
"Then hurry up and sign it!"
The boss quickly went back inside, and came out again shortly after: "Call the finance person in here, and draft the contract."
Durren: ?
Is this speed of development no joke?!
Duren watched as they finished their discussions in half a day and finalized the contract the next day. The whole process was smooth and efficient, and neither side had any objections.
The final contract was in triplicate and needed to be notarized at the notary office. When Duren drove them there, he felt it was unbelievable, as if he were floating on clouds, unable to get down to solid ground.
He turned on his phone and contacted his best friend: Lin Jiang has joined our team.
Dude: Still dreaming? What kind of pipe dream are you having?
Duren then sent another message to a friend: It's true, Lin Jiang really came to our team! The contract is already signed!
Dude: You should go to the hospital to check if you've gone crazy.
Duren really wished he was going crazy, but looking at the thick stack of contracts in his hand, the heavy weight of them felt so real.
Let alone others, even he himself couldn't figure out how Lin Jiang could possibly have taken a liking to OT!
*
During the time Lin Jiang left KUG, the online sentiment continued to shift.
At first, everyone thought it was impossible, but later they found out that the person was really no longer at the base, and everyone rushed to the official Weibo account to ask why.
Fearing negative public opinion, KUG urgently contacted its team to conduct public relations for this unexpected event. Almost overnight, online public opinion suddenly turned overwhelmingly against Lin Jiang.
[It's said that salary negotiations broke down.]
[He chuckled and tore up the contract on the spot.]
[Lin Jiang, relying on his fame, started acting like a big shot. He didn't take training seriously, ignored instructions during matches, and even bullied his teammates.]
[To be honest, Lin Jiang is a complete noob now. Look at how badly he feeds in matches, and he still wants a high salary? What a nerve!]
The overwhelming public opinion, a mix of truth and falsehood, swept up unsuspecting bystanders, causing Lin Jiang's reputation to collapse in an instant.
Lin Jiang's fans are mostly long-time fans who have been in the industry for many years. They are generally easygoing and can tolerate being criticized online, but they really can't stand being criticized for being bad at the game!
They unceremoniously threw screenshots at their faces—
[This is a screenshot of your dad carrying you four teams through the qualifying rounds to get you into the World Championship.]
[This is a screenshot of your dad pulling out a pentakill LeBlanc in the decisive game and carrying you to victory.]
[This is a screenshot of your dad Galio carrying all three lanes.]
[This is a screenshot of your dad, Naruto Zed, with 12 kills and 0 deaths.]
[This is a screenshot of your dad taking on three opponents at once.]
[This is a screenshot of your dad being dragged down to the point of vomiting blood by the AD carry and top laner back in the day, but still having to smile on stage.]
Faced with a series of authentic and valid screenshots, no amount of bashing from haters could cover up the damage; they could only turn their attacks to Lin Jiang's character.
As a result, passersby couldn't stand it anymore—
[What kind of good reputation does KUG have in the industry? Saying Lin Jiang betrayed him, I'd rather believe KUG is just being inhuman.]
[Isn't River good to his teammates? I even saw him ordering takeout for them during the stream. If he can't even get along with that, is it because the other KUG players are... something else...?]
[He was so badly let down at the World Championship that his eyes welled up with tears, yet he still had to smile at the camera. How many people could do that?]
[River seems to have a very stable personality; I've never seen him get angry or lose his temper in four years of competition.]
[I'm not a KUG fan, and I've never been a River fan. I only know that people in the industry like Lao Mao and Yu Ge are good friends with him, so I believe he must be a very good person.]
[What? River has character issues? I think you guys have problems with your eyes.]
In this overwhelming online bullying, no one expected that Lin Jiang's good public image would help him win.
The investors behind KUG were completely bewildered.
This is the first time that capital has failed to compete with unregulated traffic.
Subsequently, news broke that KUG had signed Alike. Someone saw Alike in Zeng Yuan's live stream, suggesting that KUG's signing of Alike forced Lin Jiang to leave, which instantly ignited public opinion.
In addition, some people on the internet have come forward to reveal that KUG played very dirty tricks during the transfer period. They wanted to sign Alike to gain traffic, but were unwilling to let River go to other teams, and dragged Lin Jiang into signing an unequal contract.
Generally, teams must announce contract renewals in advance to avoid delaying player transfers; this is a league regulation.
Lin Jiang had been with KUG since his debut, and thought he had a good relationship with the management, so he didn't think too much about it. It wasn't until he renewed his contract that he realized he had been tricked.
Lin Jiang then faced two difficult choices.
One option is to renew the contract and compete fairly with Alike; if they can't compete, they'll be sidelined.
Secondly, he could terminate his contract. With the transfer window about to close, even if he did, he wouldn't have a team to join, posing no threat to KUG's chances of winning the World Championship.
This strategy is entirely beneficial to KUG, but it is extremely malicious to Lin Jiang!
Lin Jiang's fans were furious.
[Is this how you treat the father who got you into the World Championship? Without Lin Jiang's support, you KUG would be nothing!]
[How can there be such a disgusting team?! Can I file a complaint?! Can someone give me a complaint hotline?!]
[Management, I swear to you!!!]
[Were the management team all raised in orphanages?]
Alike's fans were also crying out: [Alike, you're so stupid! Of all places to go, why did you have to go to KUG?!]
In just a few days, KUG became the target of ridicule and a major source of memes in the entire community, to the point that even casual observers would spit on it.
KUG's capital couldn't overcome public outrage, so he could only play dead to save his life. He originally planned to hold a grand induction ceremony for Alike, but in the end, he only posted a Weibo post to briefly mention it. It can be said that this move ruined his reputation.
While the online debate raged on, fans who had calmed down suddenly realized the crux of the matter:
Where did Lin Jiang go during those ten days he disappeared?
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