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

Chapter 291 That Man Like the Wind!

"JM, I wish us a happy new year of cooperation! I think you have felt my sincerity."

The representative from Huya, beaming, handed over the heavy contract.

"It's a pleasure to work with you." Jiang Ming stood up, shook hands firmly with the other person with his right hand, and steadily took his own document with his left.

Touching the thick contract paper with my palm, I could sense its immense value just by touch—a personal contract agreement that was enough to shake the e-sports industry!
The New Year had just passed, and the air was still filled with the lingering festive atmosphere when the newly renamed Huya Live team rushed to the door of NXG amidst the sounds of firecrackers on the Lantern Festival. Their goal for the day was very clear: to renew contracts with JM, YY Live's absolute traffic driver over the past year, and NXG, the phenomenal traffic kingpin in the LOL esports scene and the S3 champion club.

Fortunately, the trip was uneventful. When Jiang Ming steadily pressed his fingerprint to complete the signing, the Tiger Tooth team members, who had been on tenterhooks all night, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Some even subconsciously wiped their foreheads—good, now they not only don't have to worry about losing their jobs, but they also have a chance to get promoted and receive a raise when they get back.

This is not a typical contract renewal.

At the end of last year, NXG's championship victory ignited a powder keg of capital. Countless newcomers, waving checks, flooded into the esports scene, and the land grabbing ferociously became a menacing spectacle.

Although Huya has a past relationship with JM and NXG based on their collaboration with the Korean ROX team, there is no room for sentimentality in the business world.

If we are even slightly slow to act, our competitors with deep pockets will seize the opportunity to exploit our weakness.

Huya's top management understood that in the fiercely competitive live streaming market of 2014, where exorbitant contracts for poaching talent were commonplace, losing JM, a "golden brand," would mean losing immeasurable user stickiness and platform popularity. Letting go of the NXG team, which had a massive fan base and high profile, especially JM, who was at the height of his popularity and almost became the representative figure of LOL in the Chinese region, was tantamount to handing over the strategic high ground of future esports live streaming.

It's worth noting that their decision to reorganize YY's gaming division into Huya Live was driven by a desire to deeply cultivate the gaming live streaming field.

For the emerging Huya platform, losing top streamer JM or letting the NXG team fall into the hands of another company would be an unbearable loss.

If they don't sign the contract in the end, their efforts to deeply cultivate the gaming industry and reorganize Huya Live will be nothing short of a joke.

Fortunately, the platform prepared an irresistible and generous contract for JM and the entire NXG team.

The signing fee for NXG eSports Club was 9.9 million RMB, while JM's personal signing fee was as high as 17 million RMB.

While the primary purpose of this fee was to secure JM's exclusive live streaming rights, it also represented a significant bet on NXG's brand value and future potential for the entire club in Season 4.

These two contracts are crucial pieces that must be secured before the start of the new season.

“Then I won’t bother you any longer,” the Huya representative said, putting away the signed documents with a much more sincere smile. “The platform will immediately launch the pre-season promotion for Season 4. JM, if you need anything afterward, please have your assistant contact me.”

"Understood." Jiang Ming nodded, his tone steady. "I have no problem with my side. We will coordinate the team members' live streaming time as soon as possible. Once the specific live streaming plan framework is drafted, we will send it to you for confirmation as soon as possible."

"Thank you very much. Then I wish you and NXG continued success in the new season!"

"mutual encouragement!"

Before parting, the Huya group exchanged pleasantries and left with a sense of relief that everything had finally settled down.

……

After seeing off Huya and his group, the office door closed gently, shutting out the noise from the outside world.

Jiang Ming's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

With a hint of tired languor, he casually rested his chin on Lin Jingyi's shoulder, his voice revealing the relief of having accomplished something great: "Phew... I've finally completed another task."

From the transfer battle that ended with S3 to the subsequent club sponsorship and investment cooperation, he only got a little rest during the few days of the Chinese New Year in 2013.

Who says being a boss is easy? Bosses in the startup phase can't afford to be stressed, you know.

However, Huya's multi-million dollar live streaming contract came at just the right time.

With the addition of revenue sharing from its own league and the S3 championship prize money from Riot Games, NXG, which originally needed to bleed heavily on equity due to its rapid expansion, only paid the necessary "price" this time, raising sufficient ammunition for its development next season.

While sponsorships worth hundreds of millions are certainly tempting, Jiang Ming, who is very confident in the future development of his club, would not be willing to give away so much of the pie to others unless absolutely necessary.

"Completed?" Lin Jingyi turned her head, a faint, enigmatic smile playing on her lips. Instead of patting her boyfriend reassuringly as usual, her slender fingers pointed precisely at the thick, still-wet copy of the contract on the desk.

“My dear Boss Jiang, look carefully. This is not the end, but the beginning. It’s the start of a contract of servitude.”

"Those capitalists' money isn't so easy to get. If your popularity doesn't meet the target, all you'll end up with is that guaranteed few million." Tsk, how come I never noticed before that my senior had a Versailles-like constitution, only a few million left as a guarantee...

"Hmph!" Jiang Ming snorted, jokingly but with a hint of dissatisfaction at being questioned, "You don't trust your man's abilities?"

Jiang Ming was well aware of the significance of Huya's 14 contract; those layers of popularity clauses were nothing short of a death sentence to outsiders.

But for him, countless plans to achieve his goal were already swirling in his mind.

His gaze swept across the computer screen, which displayed Riot Games' latest hero update announcement—a confident smile played on the young man's lips.

This is precisely where his confidence comes from.

On January 9, 2014, Riot Games released the first champion of the new season.

The Unforgiven Swordsman - Yasuo!
For later generations of players, the name "Nursery" and "Happy Wind Man" Yasuo is known to everyone.

However, this hero, who is destined to be incredibly popular for the next decade or so, was initially intimidating to many new players when he first appeared on the field due to his unique passive damage mechanism and the high skill threshold of needing to "blow a gust of wind" to trigger his ultimate. There were even comical scenes of players repeatedly struggling between Bloodthirster and Infinity Edge as their first item.

The result was obvious. At the beginning of the season, Yasuo naturally sat at the same table as "Baby Fish", "Fish Tail Wrinkle", and "Child Zed" in solo queue games, becoming a representative of bad players that players avoided like the plague.

Mid-lane players quickly discovered that Yasuo's damage was unpredictable; in team fights, he either couldn't unleash his ultimate or died instantly upon entering the fray, making his output efficiency far less straightforward and efficient than Zed and Talon.

The guy who refused to believe it and switched to the top lane got repeatedly taught a lesson by the Renekton and those Riven players who were proficient in lightning-fast QA. After several brutal beatings, he decisively threw this idiot into the trash heap.

As is customary, JM Studios should be following Riot Games' lead and producing a tutorial video for the new champion right now.

However, Jiang Ming abruptly stopped Yasuo from appearing in this episode.

The stated reason is that there are countless club affairs to handle at the end of the season, leaving no time to spare.

His true intentions, however, remained hidden in his heart.

Regardless of whether the player using Yasuo is good or bad, his ability to combine agility, handsome appearance, and captivating backstory, along with his extremely high skill ceiling, is an undeniable strength.

As the saying goes, strength is only one version, but being handsome is a lifelong thing.

What's more, the first version of Yasuo in Season 4 was incredibly powerful.

First, there's the passive ability: the shield provided by [Way of the Wanderer] ranges from 60 to 650 points from level 1 to max level, and lasts for a full two seconds.

What does a shield thickness of 650 points mean? A Despair Belt doesn't even provide 400 health.

Secondly, the time it takes for Yasuo's Q skill, Steel Tempest, to build up, which earned him the nickname "The Unforgiven Swordsman," is now a full ten seconds!

What does ten seconds mean?
This means that Yasuo can leisurely walk from the mid lane to the jungle to provide support, unlike in later generations where he had to nervously find minions to build up his wind before each battle, completely losing any semblance of the swordsman's appearance.

Furthermore, the values ​​of Yasuo's E skill, "Striking Forward," are outrageous, almost as if the designer was drunk when they put them in; with an AP ratio of 1.0, plus four damage-increasing effects (each E increases base damage by 25%), plus the 20% extra shield charge efficiency provided by his W passive, this is one of the main reasons why Yasuo was able to suppress countless traditional mid-lane mages to the point of being unable to breathe after the development of the E-max playstyle.

Learn E at level 1, slide across minions and rush in to trade blows. Mages' pitiful early-game skill damage is barely enough to break shields, so who can withstand that?

The final [Whirlwind Slash] goes without saying. With a casting range of 1,500 yards, which is basically the size of a screen, the 50% total armor penetration is a noble fixed percentage effect that can be triggered without a critical hit, rather than a useless extra penetration.

Players haven't quite grasped its essence yet. Once he personally explains it and reveals those cool, advanced maneuvers, the "Happy Wind Man's" innate deadly charm will inevitably ignite the new season's attention.

Building popularity? That's his old profession as a former broadcaster, he's an expert in it.

what?
You say this description is a bit exaggerated?
Alright! Then please recall—recall the beginning of Season 4, when you were in a high-ranking match and witnessed that graceful figure who learned E at level 1 and dared to tower dive and solo kill the opponent while sliding through minions;
Recall that peerless swordsman who, with a sliver of health, regenerated a shield and instantly secured a 1v2 double kill with a single Gale Slash.
Recall that EQ flash into the crowd during the team fight, sweeping up five people with a single sword strike, delivering critical hits with every strike, and dominating the battlefield like a god of wind!

Each cry was a painful scream from Ak.

Tell me, when you were watching on screen, was your heart pounding with that graceful figure? Did your blood boil for that incredible skill? Did that mind-blowing visual impact and adrenaline rush instantly captivate you?

After watching the video, I wonder who was the person who didn't have enough gold coins and instantly spent 45 points to buy the new hero? It's so hard to guess!

(End of this chapter)