League of Legends: Reborn in Season 3, Tuning the Entire League

Chapter 267 Buying People and Teams!

The decision of which of the championship-winning players stays with the team and which doesn't;
This might be an extremely difficult decision for other clubs, but for NXG, it seems like it's never been a choice at all.

Even after leaving, the players can still receive high-salary offers from external clubs. After all, a club that is trying to balance its budget and has several teams of similar strength can hardly offer the same treatment as those teams that pursue results.

Especially when the team's biggest star has already been identified, and it's the undefined, unknown Cthulhu-like boss, the players simply can't get the club's biggest resource support.

Simply put, NXG already has its biggest stars, and everyone else will most likely end up playing supporting roles.

It seems we really did misunderstand JM...

Online, once the first player accepted this viewpoint, public opinion quickly reversed.

[Still calling him JM, Brother Ming, God Ming!]

[This isn't a boss, this is a domineering father! Not only did he provide top-notch treatment at the club, but after winning the championship, he also thoughtfully considered the players' well-being, not only refraining from using emotional appeals to force them to stay, but actually willingly letting them leave.]

Most importantly, for players who are about to leave, all proceeds from the club's championship commemorative jerseys will be given to them.

The glory of winning the championship belongs to NXG, but I, JM, will never keep the benefits that come with that glory to myself.

[When criticizing JM, don't forget that these people from NXG were trained by him personally; it's no exaggeration to say that their kindness is greater than the sky.]

No need for further explanation, NXG loyalty is guaranteed!

When public opinion shifted from fiercely criticizing NXG to praising Jiang Ming and NXG's humane arrangements, the players' focus changed instantly.

So the question is, which of the five NXG players will leave, and which clubs are in talks with JM?

There seem to be quite a few teams lacking a top laner, including WE and the newly formed EDG, both of whom are in a good position.

Get lost! Don't compare us to WE with some traitorous team. If Norsha really goes to EDG, I'll criticize him too.

[Wow, I can't believe it's almost the end of 13 and there are still WE fans obsessed with the game. You dare criticize Norsha if he transfers to EDG? Go ahead and criticize him, do you think we NXG fans don't exist?]

WE's peak fanbase was said to be 60 billion, but that was just a joke. Not to mention worldwide, even within the LPL region, there are still many IG fans standing on the front lines to fight against them. Nowadays, NXG surpasses them in every aspect, including fans, achievements, and popularity. After a major battle that severed ties, WE fans are no longer comparable.

[Hmph, so you EDG guys have money, huh? Your jungler and support left, which is perfect for bringing in NXG's jungler and support. Aren't Little Stone and Pangpang better than that Pig Farmer and Curly?]

[Sigh... You WE fans are really something. Didn't you ever think that NXG chose not to renew contracts with most of their first-team players for the sake of the club's healthy operation? Where would WE, who are much poorer than NXG, get the money to bring in new players?]

As they talked, the audience suddenly realized a very scary problem.

[Is EDG really going to buy NXG's top, mid, and AD carry?]

[Oh no, is the true S3 champion lineage in EDG?]

[What do you mean by "the true successor" in EDG? I, JM, am still here! Can't you guys tell the difference between the big and small kings?]

……

With the start of the transfer window, the wave of speculation sparked by NXG has swept across the entire league.

Yes, not just LPL, but the entire league.

When they learned that the NXG first team players and the club did not have a strong desire to renew their contracts, countless team managers swarmed over overnight, like sharks smelling blood!

They don't care about the touching and admirable "mentor-disciple relationship" between Jiang Ming and his teammates. All they know is that the five members of NXG now represent the highest level of competition in the entire League of Legends. Buying the whole team is equivalent to winning the S3 championship!

It's unrealistic to try and take over the entire team from these fierce competitors, but acquiring just one or two would suffice. The five players from NXG are undeniably skilled, and they are also completely imprinted with NXG's training system. Buying them would be a steal.

Don't you see how IG next door, with just the addition of NXG's coach and two players who didn't even compete for a spot on the second team, made it all the way to the semifinals of the finals!
11 month 9 day.

Jinling, the base of NXG eSports Club.

"I can't figure it out!"

"Is it meant to be this way..."

After returning to China, Jiang Ming's anticipated barrage of phone calls arrived as expected. Since the end of the summer finals, this was already the umpteenth call about player recruitment.

Jiang Ming glanced at the caller ID; it was coming from North America!
He wasn't the person in charge of C9. That guy had spoken to him on the phone a few times, and they had already saved each other's numbers.

"Hello!"

"Hey JM, I'm Reginald, the manager of TSM. As a partner who's played several scrims with me during the World Championship, I don't think you'd have the heart to refuse to chat with me for a bit, right?"

Captain Gorilla!
It seems that TSM has successfully secured sponsorship thanks to Captain Gorilla's mid-lane Teemo performance at Worlds, otherwise they wouldn't have called me today.

Jiang Ming smiled inwardly and asked, "I just don't know what Captain Gorilla wants to talk about. If it's just catching up or chatting, I'd prefer to personally host you when you visit China."

"Haha, JM, I have to say, you are a very interesting person. I love your mid-lane Master Yi to death. Dude, I will definitely buy a set as soon as the championship skin is released."

After two minutes of mutual flattery and back-and-forth, Captain Gorilla finally revealed his purpose:
"JM, following Chinese custom, I'll get straight to the point. We at TSM hope to acquire your team's jungler and support, namely Stone and Door."

"You don't need to worry about the transfer fee. We will offer a huge contract, and both players will be able to receive an annual salary of at least $25."

“We’ve looked into the specifics of NXG. You might not know this, but there are several entities in North America that are very interested in esports and are willing to invest in your NXG.”

Wow, Captain Gorilla has really gone all out. Not only is there a high annual salary and a high transfer fee, but he has even taken the initiative to help his NXG secure sponsorships.

"Thank you very much, but both my players and I need to consider this. To be honest, the European side was the first to contact us..."

"Oh NO! NO! NO!"

"How can those Europeans' conditions compare to ours?"

Captain Gorilla got a little anxious, thinking that Jiang Ming was trying to refuse him in his Chinese-style way of communicating.

"Dude, let me put it this way. After S3, I realized that my competitive level was seriously lagging behind the times. I will announce my retirement at the end of this year. At the same time, I have found a genius young man who is absolutely no less than you to take over the mid lane. Just imagine Dyrus and Wildturtle paired with Stone and Door in the jungle and support. Next year, TSM will be a strong championship contender. The players should also consider the future development prospects of the team more."

Jiang Ming was speechless. Dude, where does TSM, who are always in the top 16, get the confidence to say that their future development prospects are better than FNC? At least the European powerhouses can make it to the knockout stage. In the original timeline, they even made it to the finals and won the S8 runner-up title. Am I crazy to send the jungler and support to TSM to be the carry alongside Bjergsen?

That's right, the genius mid laner that Captain Gorilla mentioned is Bjergsen.

A tragic figure who has struggled for nearly ten years but has yet to realize his dream of winning a major championship. This is why Jiang Ming told Yihan that S3 might be his only chance in his life, because sometimes, being strong and winning a championship are not necessarily equal.

Speaking of which, when Jiang Ming was leading his team to compete in North America, he even considered trying to recruit the CW team.

It was unexpected that Captain Gorilla acted so quickly, poaching the player to his team as soon as the opposing team failed to achieve results in the Summer Split.

Faced with Captain Reginald's eagerness, Jiang Ming did not refuse, but still used the excuse: "I'm sorry Reginald, to be honest, I also really want to cooperate with TSM, but this is not a matter for the club alone. I still need to communicate with the players."

"Okay, okay, guys, I'll wait for your reply."

……

Jiang Ming leaned back in his leather chair. Lin Jingyi silently walked behind him and gently pressed her fingertips against his tense shoulders and neck.

"Is this the sixth phone call today?"

"It is the ninth one."

He chuckled softly, "A few calls were from teams in Europe and America. They probably ignored the time difference and called in the early morning to avoid waking you, so I answered them in the bathroom."

"What are your plans?"

"What can we do?" Jiang Ming rubbed his temples. "This year, capital has just entered the market, and although the players' value has increased, the increase is limited. Instead of focusing on the immediate benefits, we should try to secure more guarantees for the players in terms of contract length and commercial revenue sharing."

"Is there any impact on Jingjie Culture and JM Food?"

"It's not a big impact. Jingjie Culture has recruited a new batch of commentators majoring in hosting, as well as graduates majoring in program production, and they are currently training them. JM Food's cooperation negotiations with Youchen Panpan and others are also going very smoothly, and they have also reduced the supply price for us by two percentage points."

Lin Jingyi knew what Jiang Ming meant by the impact, and she sorted out her thoughts.

"The pace of store expansion is relatively slow. So far, including the four stores in Jinling University Town, we only have a total of seven offline stores."

"That's good. Everything is difficult at the beginning. We've already achieved this much in the first quarter, which is a very smooth start."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Jiang Ming said, rubbing the back of his senior's hand.

"Hmm, let's not say such silly things between us."

Lin Jingyi leaned closer, and their heads gently touched.

What she liked from the beginning was his creative personality and his adherence to his own bottom line in all business dealings.

jingle!
The cell phone ringtone pierced the tenderness.

The unfamiliar number flashing on the screen made Jiang Ming raise an eyebrow and answer: "Hello, Jiang Ming."

"Hello, Mr. Jiang, good afternoon."

"I am a member of the royal family, and I would like to discuss a collaboration with you."

"About the players?"

"Yes, that's right. We talked to Tabe about this before. After the World Championship, we also communicated with him. He's not able to play anymore, so he wants to step down and try to get a coaching position. We are willing to terminate Tabe's player contract, but we hope to bring in a support player from NXG."

"Pang Pang might not be able to do it," Jiang Ming said bluntly.

"Don't rush to refuse! We haven't even heard the conditions yet—"

"No, Mr. Tian, ​​you misunderstood. Pang Pang is mainly thinking about transitioning to coaching in the future. He took the initiative to reduce his salary to stay with the team, and we have already signed a contract."

The Royal Family under Tianci's command is not the RNG that will become the God of Contracts in the future, so Jiang Ming doesn't have too many opinions about them. Moreover, with his intervention, the league has been working on regulating player contracts since the summer split. It won't be so easy for the God of Contracts in the future to repeat his old tricks.

Tianci's tone suddenly became urgent: "A loan is fine too! Bro, you know what's going on with our team right now—our mid and jungle are leaving, our shot-calling support is retiring, and if this continues, we'll really be relegated! Do you think we could lend them to us for a year, like we did with IG?"

"..."

A few minutes later, Jiang Ming hung up the phone.

Tianci was clearly in a real hurry – in order to stabilize the team's current ranking, he was even willing to seek cooperation through a loan.

PangPang and UZI in the bottom lane?
That's something to look forward to.

After winning his first championship, Jiang Ming is trying to detach himself from his identity as a player and also trying to break free from the fixed perspective of the NXG club owner, striving to view issues from a higher and broader perspective.

Considering both the club's interests and the overall improvement of the LPL's bot lane strength, loaning the support player to Royal Never Give Up (RNG) is clearly a win-win decision.

Many players in the original timeline overlooked a crucial fact:
The turning point that truly transformed UZI was the year he partnered with Mata in Season 6. While retaining his own aggressive style, he incorporated the Korean AD operation concept brought by Mata as a support, which led to the "all-around" Mad Dog in Season 9.

Now, this chubby guy has neither the halo of a world runner-up nor the "god-making" traffic boost from Riot Games. In essence, he is just a hot-tempered, eccentric young man who plays games.

If this loan opportunity allows him to receive systematic training under Pang Ran's support and activate the "S9 Constant Temperature Jujube" mode in advance, it will have an excellent positive effect on the bot lane ecosystem of the LPL region.

While the conservative playstyle of Korean AD carries, which focuses on "safe farming and following up in team fights," is stable, it also greatly limits the growth potential of bot lane AD players.

In comparison, in their LPL region, as long as this chubby guy is there...

development?

If you want to develop against LPL's bot lane, you have to survive first.

……

Jiang Ming was still pondering the arrangements for Pang Ran when a series of phone calls kept him busy for a moment.

"Haha, Mr. Jiang, we've finally gotten through! We'd like to discuss a collaboration to purchase NXG's LPL league spot. When would be a convenient time for you?"

"Convenient, of course convenient. How about we go see it this weekend?"

……

(End of this chapter)