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Sharpening The Knife Doesn't Delay The Cutting of Vegetables With The Bow

Sharpening The Knife Doesn’t Delay The Cutting of Vegetables With The Bow[eSports]: Chapter 51

51. Stiff Clenched Fist

The next day, Chen Xingran woke up and, looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, was briefly puzzled.

Shaking off the confusion, he got out of bed, ran his hand through his messy hair, and began to freshen up.

The main building of the ZMD base was quite large. The second floor served as the resting area for the official team members. His room was much larger than the single-person dorms at school. The minimalist decor was comfortable, and all the necessary life amenities were in place.

After finishing his morning routine, he went downstairs, where two figures were already present: Fu Zhou and Yang Yuche.

They were chatting. When they saw Chen Xingran coming down, Yang Yuche raised an eyebrow, “Awake?”

“Yeah,” Chen Xingran replied. “Where are Luo Baibai and Xiao Nan?”

“They haven’t woken up yet. They usually get up around noon. No need to make breakfast for them, saving money,” Fu Zhou said. “Come down and eat. Later, change your clothes; I’ll take you to sign the contract.”

Chen Xingran agreed and sat down across from Yang Yuche to have breakfast.

“By the way, I remember you signed with Starry River Platform, right?” Fu Zhou asked.

“Yes,” Chen Xingran nodded.

“After you sign with ZMD, I’ll renegotiate with Starry River about your contract. We’ll discuss the gift distribution and signing fee again,” Fu Zhou said. “The new season is coming up soon, and we need to put in more effort. Let’s quickly adapt, train the lineup, and improve our coordination.”

Yang Yuche chimed in, “How are the arrangements for the training matches?”

As a battle royale game, even in training matches, they needed a full complement of 100 players. Although ZMD’s internal training recruits and members from the second and third teams could be pulled in for practice, the effectiveness was undoubtedly not comparable to playing against formal professional teams.

As the team manager, Fu Zhou was usually responsible for arranging training matches. For other teams, gathering 25 teams for a training match might be challenging, but for ZMD, it was simpler. Once the word was out, numerous professional teams were eager to train with ZMD.

“I’ve already contacted people. AUG, Autumn Waters, and VG are available. All Stars hasn’t given a clear response yet, but I guess they’re still busy finding an assault player,” Fu Zhou said. “When do you want to schedule the matches? I’ll arrange the timing.”

“Not in a hurry,” Yang Yuche shook his head. “Our new team member still has a lot to catch up on.”

Chen Xingran, engrossed in his meal, heard Yang Yuche mentioning him and looked up in a daze, “Huh?”

With rice still clinging to the corners of his mouth, he had a bewildered expression, resembling a squirrel caught stealing something.

Suppressing a laugh, Yang Yuche’s hand itched, and he reached over to wipe the rice off the corner of Chen Xingran’s mouth.

“…Thanks.”

“Are you two already so familiar?” Fu Zhou watched from the side and found the scene oddly harmonious.

Ignoring him, Yang Yuche said to Chen Xingran, “The proficiency of your Demonic Blade is already quite high, but just mastering one hero is not enough. Let’s not rush the training matches. In these few days, focus on learning other heroes. Catch up on proficiency before we decide.”

To step onto the professional stage, specializing in one hero was far from sufficient. They needed to be flexible in choosing heroes, coordinating with the team’s tactics, and familiarizing themselves with various lineup combinations. This was an area where Chen Xingran still needed practice.

“Yeah, got it,” Chen Xingran nodded.

Professional matches were entirely different from the ranked games and the New Star Cup he played before. Professional players were sharp-minded, and the execution, focus fire, and firepower dismantling abilities were not something ordinary players could contend with. Chen Xingran’s individual combat abilities were like a high-quality sword, and to truly unleash its potential, it needed more refinement.

Chen Xingran also understood this. It was his first time dealing with a professional club, his first time undergoing formal competition training, and he was quite looking forward to it.

After finishing their meal, the three of them tidied up briefly and left the main building, heading towards the office building on the other side. There were a lot more people in the office building, including departments like finance and legal affairs, as well as staff responsible for various peripheral industries of the club. There were almost a hundred people, and these departments operated smoothly, like gears maintaining the colossal entity that was ZMD in the gaming world.

“This is your contract; take a look.”

Fu Zhou handed a stack of documents to Chen Xingran. “The monthly salary is the same as Luo Baibai and the others, 350,000 per month. The club doesn’t take a cut from the match bonuses; it’s divided equally among the team members. There are also various insurances and allowances…”

Fu Zhou briefly introduced the contents of the contract to Chen Xingran, then said, “As for the signing fee, we managed to negotiate it up to 13.5 million. Though it might seem a bit low, it’s the maximum amount Yang Yuche could secure for you. Once you achieve good results, your value will gradually rise. When it’s time to renew the contract in two years, the fee could be much higher.”

Chen Xingran: “…”

Is this… a bit low?

Just how wealthy are professional players?

As one of the top clubs in the country, ZMD was quite generous with its players, especially for the main team members like Chen Xingran. Their various benefits were maximized. Monthly salary was just one aspect; the focus was on the bonuses from various competitions, shares from GG, peripheral earnings, commercial endorsements, and more. Each of these was a substantial amount.

The scale of the esports industry in this world was incomparable to Earth, especially for teams like ZMD. Even players with B-level contracts, like You Hongwei, could accumulate enough money over the years to buy one or two houses in the capital without any issue.

Chen Xingran was amazed when he did the calculations.

In that case, Yang Yuche sitting beside him must be incredibly wealthy…

No wonder all the streamers wanted to become professional players. The money they received as streamers was incomparable to the treatment professional players enjoyed. It also explained why Fu Zhou and the others seemed so relaxed when talking about the surgery cost yesterday, as if five million was nothing.

“I have no objections.”

Chen Xingran nodded, glanced over the contract briefly, and signed his name on it.

Fu Zhou visibly relaxed, a weight lifted off his chest.

Yang Yuche stood up, extended his hand to Chen Xingran, and said, “Though I’ve said it before, welcome to ZMD.”

Chen Xingran shook hands with him, “Please take care of me in the future… Captain.”

The word “Captain” made Yang Yuche pause for a moment. Then he smiled gently.

So obedient.

“Your team uniform was ordered a few days ago; it should be delivered today,” Fu Zhou said, putting away the contract.

“Can I use the training room’s operation cabin now?” Chen Xingran asked.

Fu Zhou smiled, “Of course, feel free to use it. It’s yours now.”

“What about when we have matches?” Chen Xingran suddenly thought of this issue and asked, “Are we going to move the base’s operation cabin to the competition venue?”

Fu Zhou waved his hand, “Impossible. ZMD has its dignity.”

“The competition venue usually provides the match operation cabin,” Yang Yuche explained. “But ZMD has dedicated competition operation cabins, just like the ones in the training room. Before the match begins, specialists will adjust the equipment and then deliver it to the competition venue for testing. You don’t need to worry about any discomfort.”

Although the event organizers provide operation cabins, if a team chooses to use their own, it’s allowed by the rules. After all, the level of the operation cabin doesn’t affect performance; it only brings sensory differences and doesn’t impact balance. Teams like All Stars, VG, Autumn Waters, and other elite teams, with abundant resources, use their own operation cabins during matches. If other teams don’t have this condition, they can only use the equipment provided by the event organizers.

Of course, before the match begins, the event organizers will also inspect the operation cabins of each team. This is to ensure that the equipment won’t have issues during the match and, on the other hand, to prevent any tampering with the operation cabins to maintain fairness.

The professional league is extremely strict in controlling this aspect. There was a historical incident where a player tampered with the operation cabins of other teams before a match, causing delays in the equipment of that team. The player was permanently banned by the professional league and faced criminal charges.

—Yes, in this era, such behavior is considered illegal…

When Chen Xingran heard this story, his reaction was also somewhat unbelievable.

However, it is precisely because of such a comprehensive system that the fairness of the game is guaranteed, eliminating some backstage dealings and irregularities, and enabling the entire gaming esports industry to flourish, eventually reaching its current scale.

Back at the base, the lobby had an additional package.

“So fast?” Fu Zhou was somewhat surprised. “Efficiency is quite impressive… Xingran, come and open it, try on your team uniform.”

Chen Xingran nodded and carefully opened the package.

Inside was an exquisitely crafted box with a material close to metal but very lightweight. The ZMD team logo was imprinted on it.

Inside the box were two neatly folded team uniforms. The overall color scheme was blue and white. The outer layer had a rough texture, feeling like tiny particles when touched. Instead of the usual split into top and bottom pieces, it was a one-piece design, somewhat resembling the exosuits from sci-fi movies that Chen Xingran had seen in his previous life. The ZMD team logo in gold was on the left chest, and his name was on the back of the uniform.

“Looks cool, right?”

Fu Zhou blinked, “This set is quite expensive. In the future, when you go out to compete, it will definitely overshadow ordinary teams in terms of style. Try it on and see if it fits?”

Chen Xingran nodded and was ready to change immediately.

Knowing his somewhat careless nature, Yang Yunche had experienced it before and quickly reached out to stop him from taking off his shirt, “Change in the room!”

Chen Xingran: “…Oh.”

After changing and coming out of the room, Fu Zhou assessed him with a glance, and his eyes lit up, “I think his merchandise will sell exceptionally well in the future.”

Chen Xingran has excellent body proportions, broad shoulders and long legs. This tight-fitting team uniform highlighted his figure even more, blending smooth lines with the white patterns on the clothes. Coupled with his already handsome facial features, he looked like the teenage protagonist in a movie controlling a mecha.

Yang Yunche, with a playful smile, raised an eyebrow, “Encountered a competitor in sales.”

Chen Xingran stood in front of the two, “Is it okay?”

“This is not just okay, it’s fantastic!” Fu Zhou gave a thumbs-up.

“This color suits you well,” Yang Yunche said. “Our team uniform looks much better than All Star’s. See, I told you ZMD is the most suitable team for you. You should thank me quickly.”

Seeing Yang Yunche looking proud, Chen Xingran couldn’t help joking, “If I didn’t join ZMD, you couldn’t even keep the position of the captain. You should be thanking me.”

Fu Zhou was confused, “Huh? What do you mean by not keeping the position of the captain…”

Yang Yunche felt a shock in his heart.

Chen Xingran curiously asked, “Last time I came to ZMD, didn’t you say that bringing outsiders into the training room would lead to disqualification or even removal from the captain’s position?”

Fu Zhou: “Ha, how is that possible? Yang Yunche is ZMD’s money tree. The board would go crazy before considering removing him. The matter of a few thousand yuan in fines is not that serious.”

After a pause, he seemed to realize something and looked at Yang Yunche, “Did you tell him that?”

Chen Xingran: “…”

He slowly shifted his gaze to Yang Yunche, and Fu Zhou keenly noticed that his fists had quietly clenched.

Captain Yang’s expression remained unchanged, and he hurriedly said, “I have something to attend to. I’ll leave first; we can talk later.”

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TomatoLemonade
1 year ago

Oops. busted~ HAHAHHAHAHA

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