"Let us welcome the CEO of oo Game Platform and Jiangnan Computers, Ms. Leng Zhimeng, to give us the opening speech!" Soon it was time for the opening ceremony, and the host said in a somewhat dry voice.
Although it was the first Jiangnan National E-sports Championship, it had a grand name and was held at Saige Plaza, it actually looked a bit like a makeshift setup.
That is, there was an electronic big screen in the center, and ten computers were placed on both sides. The entire stage layout was very simple, and there was no stage design or anything like that. The host of the opening ceremony was just a good-looking person pulled from Jiangnan Company internally. The computers were also moved directly from the company. The entire hosting cost was less than 50,000 yuan.
As for the venue fee, it was even more free. The people in charge of Saige Science and Technology Park were quite forward-thinking. Knowing that Warcraft 3 was very popular at this time, when they learned that the first match of the National Championship was to be held in Shenzhen, they proactively invited the China E-sports League to hold the competition in their plaza, and they could provide the venue for free.
This decision proved to be very wise, which greatly enhanced the reputation of Saige Plaza and also compressed the hosting cost of the first competition to the extreme.
Some people might say that Huang He, Boss Huang, is so rich, spending hundreds of millions of yuan on people from time to time, so why is he so stingy when holding a competition?
Because spending money to buy things is a one-time thing, but this global championship is to be held continuously. Offline competitions will be held in all provincial capitals within a year, and there will be a grand finals at the end. Then, competitions of the same scale will be held every year. The money consumed is simply like flowing water.
If the first competition cost hundreds of thousands of yuan to organize, then it would cost tens of millions of yuan a year, and then tens of millions of yuan every year. Even if Boss Huang is rich, he wouldn't squander it like this.
Therefore, Boss Huang's order to the China E-sports League was very precise, which was that the preliminary rounds in various cities must be simple and economical, and it would be enough to mobilize the players' atmosphere.
The main funds should be used for one competition, which is the national finals. The scale and grandeur of this competition must be grand and high-class, because only this competition can gather the attention of audiences from all over the country. This is the real showcase project.
However, after all, it was the first time for the first competition, so the officials had to give enough attention. Therefore, our President Leng Zhimeng personally came to the venue as a guest of the opening ceremony.
What Leng Zhimeng did not expect was that when she appeared, there was a huge roar of cheers from the audience. Moreover, at least more than 100 people in the audience raised their large poster boards, which were actually printed with Leng Zhimeng's photos, and they were photos of Leng Zhimeng wearing a high school uniform when she participated in Focus Interview.
Not only that, but more than a dozen men quickly unfurled a banner with the words "Our Big Mengmeng, I Meng will love you forever!" At the same time, these people shouted in unison, "Menggu Iron Cavalry, leave no grass growing!"
"Who are you? Are you my fans?" Seeing the scene below, Leng Zhimeng was neither annoyed nor happy, but just asked curiously.
"Yes!" These big men in the audience said excitedly.
"You send a representative up to tell me what's going on!" Leng Zhimeng said generously, and then a man was pushed onto the stage by everyone.
This man was about 30 years old, bald on top. Looking at Leng Zhimeng at close range, his legs were trembling with excitement.
"Excuse me, are you my fans?" Leng Zhimeng asked again with the microphone.
"Yes, we are all your fans!" the man said excitedly.
"But I'm not a celebrity, how can I have fans?" Leng Zhimeng asked in confusion.
"No, in our hearts, you are a super big star!" The man said firmly. "The first time I saw you on Focus Interview, I was already part of the Menggu Iron Cavalry!"
"Uh... what is this Menggu Iron Cavalry?" Leng Zhimeng asked with a smile.
"Menggu Iron Cavalry is an organization spontaneously formed by all fans who like you, and its goal is to protect our best Lord Meng!" The man said with a blushing face.
"Are there many of you?" Leng Zhimeng asked curiously again.
"We currently have more than 3,000 Menggu Knights, and I am their legion commander!" The man said. "We have more than 100 people here this time, all of whom came spontaneously from all over the country after hearing that you would attend today's competition. Although others also wanted to come, they didn't have the time or opportunity. You don't know, it's really too difficult to meet you. Can you appear in public more often in the future?"
The man even sounded a bit pleading.
"No!" Leng Zhimeng shook her head. Suddenly, regardless of the man's sad expression, she said generously, "My profession is not a celebrity, but an entrepreneur. Therefore, I am destined not to appear in public in large numbers. Moreover, I do not wish to have such fan organizations, because they are incompatible with my profession!"
After Leng Zhimeng finished speaking, she walked to the edge of the stage and said to all those holding her photo posters below, "Friends, I am very grateful that you like me, but I don't like your organization like this, because I like to live my own life and do not wish to become an object of your love and imitation!"
"Because in my cognition, celebrities are a very sacred profession, because every celebrity is an idol to everyone, and their every word, every action, and every move will affect their fans! Therefore, I believe that a true celebrity must become the embodiment of a perfect image. Every word they say, every action they take, must be impeccable and able to guide fans to establish their outlook on life and values correctly. Otherwise, such celebrities should be locked up in prison forever!"
"But I personally know that I cannot achieve this, so I do not wish to be a celebrity, nor do I want to be anyone's role model, lest I harm you. I now solemnly declare that I hope you will disband this Menggu Iron Cavalry organization immediately. I am not worth your love, and you can go and like those real celebrities!"
"Okay, I have finished speaking. Thank you for your support!" Leng Zhimeng sent the tearful Menggu Iron Cavalry legion commander away.
That day, after hearing this news, quite a few Menggu Knights left the Menggu Iron Cavalry. But what they never expected was that the next day, thousands more knights applied to join the Menggu Iron Cavalry. As a result, the Menggu Iron Cavalry not only did not disappear, but grew stronger.
At the same time, because of Leng Zhimeng's speech that day, the purpose of the Menggu Iron Cavalry became not to disturb the lovely Big Mengmeng in reality, but to silently protect Big Mengmeng's existence in private, and to protect the most beautiful Big Mengmeng, so that for a long time, the organization of Menggu Iron Cavalry could not be seen on the internet and in reality.
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"This legion commander, why does he look a bit familiar!" Someone wearing a hat, standing below the stage, muttered as he watched the dejected Menggu Iron Cavalry commander step down. This guy looked so much like a programmer from the company.
At the same time, after dealing with the sudden appearance of the Menggu Iron Cavalry, Leng Zhimeng announced the rules of the competition. First, for the preliminary rounds, the format was single-round elimination. Each participant would be randomly matched with an opponent, and defeating the opponent would result in victory, or the player with the advantage in combat points after 40 minutes would win.
However, the preliminary rounds were not held on stage, as there were only ten computers on stage. The actual preliminary rounds were held in five internet cafes near Saige Plaza.
These internet cafes were temporarily rented out as competition venues, providing them to the players who arrived at the scene to compete. However, there were exceptions. Ten players would still be selected to compete on stage, as the live audience also needed to watch.
"Jiangnan has made such a big scene, how do they make money!" The person wearing the hat below the stage muttered to himself in confusion. "This time, Jiangnan will spend at least hundreds of millions of yuan to increase servers, and the monthly maintenance costs will also increase by millions of yuan. Moreover, they are holding such a large-scale e-sports competition. The annual cost will be at least tens of millions. Such a suddenly increased expenditure will be nearly 200 million yuan a year, but they have no channels to make money, and all the money is spent for nothing. What is Huang He thinking? Does he really not plan to make money, but only to eliminate my QQ?"
That's right, this hidden figure was none other than our little Pony. Although it's not good to watch the opponent's competition, and the opponent even held the competition downstairs from his own building, he still had to take a look, right?
The more Pony looked, the more confused he became, because he couldn't figure out how Jiangnan made money. It wasn't until this moment that Leng Zhimeng on the stage suddenly raised a large black and green box in her hand and said.
"Dear friends, what I am holding is the limited edition Warcraft 3 Super Blind Box launched by our Jiangnan Group to celebrate the launch of Warcraft 3!"
"Each blind box is priced at 10 yuan, and there are 24 different random gifts in total. Among them, 18 are ordinary models, which can randomly yield a small Warcraft 3 figurine. They are six types of soldiers from the Human, Undead, and Night Elf races respectively."
"In addition, there are 3 rare models, namely the Human Tank, the Night Elf Catapult, and the Undead Meat Grinder. The appearance of these 21 figurines is different from the appearance and color matching in the game. This is a special appearance to welcome the open beta. We have given it a name that is both vivid and pleasant, called a skin."