"Damn it, how could this happen? We must make the whole world aware. They can't insult us like this!"
"Ahem, we are the Republic of Korea, so you should say 'seumida'!"
"Sorry, our Republic of Korea cannot be bullied casually, seumida!"
The above is a humorous dialogue from the internet, but it also proves that Koreans are indeed first-class complainers. Upon learning that their competition had suffered such a great injustice, they immediately and unhesitatingly launched a massive online explosion.
However, to be fair, these Korean rants only caused a significant impact domestically. Abroad, they had virtually no effect. This is because most Koreans' English proficiency is on par with Chinese people, and in this era, there were no miracles like iFlytek Translation. Therefore, foreigners couldn't understand their opinions at all.
But this time, the situation truly exploded. Many professional players and spectators were indeed enraged by Blizzard's actions. Once the news was released, within just one afternoon, Blizzard's official forums were overwhelmed and crashed by angry players. Tens of thousands of angry replies were posted every minute, accusing Blizzard of making a mockery of professional players and fans.
It wasn't just the official forums of the newspapers; social media platforms like Weibo were in the same situation. For a time, Blizzard bore the brunt of online criticism, and its reputation suffered greatly.
However, Blizzard appeared very calm. The entire company did not issue any response to the incident, as if completely oblivious to the public outcry online.
Therefore, the entire WCG organizing committee's mood was also in flux. While they were pleased with the enormous public relations crisis online, which was certainly unbearable for Blizzard at the moment, Blizzard's silence seemed to indicate that their stance was not easily changed.
"Why don't we proactively apologize?" finally suggested a committee member.
"I think Blizzard is in a difficult situation now. They actually want to save face. As long as we give them face, things will naturally return to the original point!"
"Why don't we go and apologize to that Chinese woman named Huang He, surnamed Leng, and then remove the limit on the number of clubs this time!"
"That sounds good!" Li Xianghe was still very rational at this moment. Although he found the idea of apologizing proactively difficult to accept, if the WCG were to be ruined in his hands, the consequences would be more than just difficult to accept.
To his surprise, an employee with a troubled expression said, "President, I'm afraid that won't work?"
"Why won't it work?" the President was startled, and then the employee explained, "Many of our netizens are expressing their support for us, while also demanding that we be tough and teach the Chinese a lesson. They are demanding that we directly revoke the qualification of all Chinese clubs as a retaliatory measure and teach the Chinese a harsh lesson!"
"Completely cancel the participation rights of all Chinese clubs?" Li Xianghe rolled his eyes. Were these netizens still not satisfied with the existing conflict and wanted to escalate it further, pushing things beyond redemption?
"Not only that? Netizens are also demanding that we completely ban Blizzard games. Not only will our WCG not allow Blizzard games, but all Blizzard games must leave South Korea. They demand that South Korea as a whole completely boycotts Blizzard games, and all Blizzard game-related e-sports competitions are also forbidden. They want to make Blizzard lose the most important gaming market in the world, South Korea!" the staff member repeated the online messages in a low voice.
"These morons..." Li Xianghe no longer knew how to describe these people. Of course, these words sounded exhilarating, and those who were not involved in e-sports might feel their blood boiling.
However, for those involved in e-sports, hearing such content would likely make their legs go weak.
After all, Blizzard games now almost represent the entire world of e-sports, and Blizzard games bring in over a billion US dollars in revenue and profit to the South Korean e-sports industry annually, supporting tens of thousands of people. The entire South Korean e-sports scene currently relies on Blizzard games to survive, with OGN's StarCraft league being a cash cow.
Now, with just a word, netizens are demanding a complete ban on Blizzard games. Isn't this equivalent to destroying their own electronics industry, forcing all these e-sports professionals to starve?
"There's more..." the staff member continued.
"More? What else do these guys want?" Li Xianghe was shocked. These netizens still had demands!
"Yes, they are demanding that the WCG completely withdraw from China and be held domestically instead. They believe such honor should not be given to the Chinese and should be enjoyed by Koreans!" the staff member finally said.
"..." Li Xianghe was speechless. Putting aside the enormous capital and long time required to relocate back to South Korea, the problem was that if their organizing committee could afford such expenses, who would choose to hold competitions in China!
"Ignore these online comments. Let's proceed at our own pace!" Li Xianghe said.
"But sir, what I just read was a proposal from a website, and this proposal has already been signed by over 500,000 Koreans. They said that if we fail to meet their demands and cannot display Korean spirit abroad, they will completely revoke our Korean citizenship and make us like rats crossing the street, hated by everyone domestically."
"Furthermore, they will collectively petition the National Assembly, demanding severe punishment for us!"
"..." Li Xianghe cringed. Koreans are not only complainers but also effective complainers. Mailing razor blades is considered child's play among Korean netizens. They can genuinely organize collective petitions to the National Assembly, and these assembly members will do anything for votes.
Of course, they wouldn't dare to offend talented individuals, but bullying an organization like the WCG organizing committee, which is neither loved by parents nor favored, is not a problem at all.
Thus, Li Xianghe chickened out. After all, nothing is more important than one's own life and future. Therefore, he immediately said without hesitation, "We must consider domestic public opinion. We can avoid more extreme actions, but we absolutely cannot admit fault to the Chinese, because we have done nothing wrong!" After saying this, Li Xianghe felt an ominous premonition, as if he had just blocked his only way out.
Not long after, new intelligence reached the organizing committee. Several clubs that had good relations with the WCG organizing committee secretly contacted the committee, stating that Blizzard Company had contacted them and planned to hold a video conference on QQ to address the current issue.
Upon hearing this news, Li Xianghe strongly requested that the clubs include him in the meeting.
After some deliberation, Li Xianghe obtained a QQ account from one of the clubs. This QQ account had already joined a QQ group named "Blizzard Emergency Incident Handling and Communication Group."
Seeing this name, Li Xianghe felt slightly relieved and jokingly said to the staff beside him, "Look, this group is called a 'Handling and Communication Group'."
"This means Blizzard can't hold on any longer and needs to communicate and reach an agreement with the clubs to appease them and have the clubs help them quell the online public opinion crisis."
"Therefore, Blizzard will definitely have to make many concessions. If we contact our friendly clubs, it might not be impossible to get Blizzard to change its mind!"
Li Xianghe's words gave his colleagues a boost of morale. However, when Li Xianghe clumsily used his QQ account to join the video call, he found that only a foreigner could be seen on the screen. And this foreigner was none other than Blizzard's CEO, Mike Morhaime.
"Dear friends, I apologize for summoning everyone to this video conference so urgently. Firstly, I must condemn the entire WCG organizing committee. If it weren't for their terrible and biased handling of the situation, we wouldn't need to gather here urgently to deal with this crisis!" said Mike Morhaime.
"You can't say that!" Hearing Mike Morhaime shift all the blame onto them the moment he spoke, Li Xianghe was naturally very angry and wanted to defend himself. Then he realized that even though his computer had a microphone installed, his voice could not be heard in the meeting. So, he could only listen as Mike Morhaime in the video continued to blame him furiously, describing the WCG organizing committee as the worst and most shameless organizing committee in the world.
At the same time, many others in the meeting kept echoing Mike Morhaime, unanimously condemning the WCG organizing committee's actions.
"Someone check why my computer can't talk? Why can't my voice be heard!" Li Xianghe hurriedly called for his technical staff. The technician took one look and said helplessly, "Mr. President, this QQ group's meeting function requires you to be on microphone to have the right to speak in the meeting!"
"Currently, a total of 10 accounts are on the microphone, and your account is not among them, so your account cannot speak in the meeting!"
"Why can only 10 accounts speak? Where did these ten accounts come from? Are there any e-sports clubs from our Republic of Korea among them? Why aren't they speaking up for us!" Li Xianghe asked anxiously.
"Sir, judging by the usernames of these accounts, they should be e-sports club accounts from China and the United States. There are no Korean ones. And from what I understand, these clubs usually have very good relationships with Blizzard!" the technician explained in a low voice.
"Then aren't these guys just proxies?"
"If they don't let people speak, what kind of communication and exchange group is this!!" Li Xianghe felt as if his parents had died.