Chapter 716 - 300: Breakup (Part 2)
And this time, when Koala Team won the championship, the number of global viewership for the live broadcast of the last match reached 180 million. Half an hour after the game ended, related discussions on global internet topics had exceeded 2 billion, and it was increasing at a rate of tens of thousands per second.
"The king of the internet era... This guy..."
Jiang Banxia had to admit, Li Yang really knows how to tug at the hearts of netizens.
He’s never just playing the game; he’s playing with the emotional value of his fans.
Every Weibo post he makes isn’t random; they contain things a lot of fans want to see and topics that can spur fan discussions.
"He should try developing a career in the entertainment industry..."
Jiang Banxia couldn’t imagine what it would be like if Li Yang broke into the entertainment industry.
Jiang Banxia’s own social circle was being dominated by news about Koala Team’s championship.
The popularity of this game’s events now rivals traditional top-tier sports events.
The event host began interviewing Li Yang at this moment.
"Yang God, how do you feel after winning the championship?"
Li Yang: "I can say it’s a relief. After last year’s failure, I reflected for a long time and realized relying solely on talent to play games is ultimately not stable. I know many fans had high expectations for me last year, and when I couldn’t win in the end, it was disappointing for everyone. This past year, I’ve given up on many things, increased training time, and played more matches to maintain competitive form."
"It’s evident this year you played through the entire summer season, which is rare. Many fans said your other ventures were more important than competing, thinking you wouldn’t feel pressured at all."
Li Yang: "I really wish that were the case, but having disappointed everyone once last year, if I disappoint them again this year, I couldn’t face anyone afterward."
"In the last match, you made two significant decisions. What were you thinking at the time?"
Li Yang: "My mind went blank; I had no thoughts. My teammates were calm, and they decisively made the decisions. I was just the executor."
"But in the final contest area, you managed to knock down two opponents while under the poison zone, giving your teammates valuable chances."
Li Yang: "That was what I was supposed to do; otherwise, what’s the point of my presence in this team? If I couldn’t achieve this, anyone could replace me. Competing isn’t about proving ’I can do it too.’ It’s a profession, and if you choose this path, you must give it your all to do the best you can; only then can you live up to the fans and yourself."
Li Yang continues separating traffic.
He won’t appear on the field in the future, not because of time constraints but because it’s unsuitable.
The field doesn’t ultimately provide strict security, and he wouldn’t want to risk his life just to play games.
Sooner or later, someone might want to finish him!
However, he didn’t say he was retiring; this isn’t the suitable time for such words, as saying them would have major repercussions.
He could imagine the heat online and knew he had to maximize the traffic.
"A netizen just asked, with your current status, how do you plan to handle the prize money?"
Li Yang: "I hadn’t thought about it before, but now I’ve decided - all the prize money from this match, plus my salary for the year, I plan to donate as a PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds participant to those in need. The sum is roughly 11 million; I’ll personally add 9 million to make it 20 million to donate."
The champion prize is ten million US dollars, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds takes away three million dollars, leaving seven million dollars for the club.
Koala Club doesn’t take much, probably around twenty percent, so Li Yang can receive over a million US dollars.
Combined with the two million prize from the summer season and his two million-plus salary, it’s a total of 11 million pre-tax.
When donated, it doesn’t need to be taxed.
It’s not a lot overall, but it depends under what name it’s donated.
If donated under Li Yang’s name, it’s at most getting a few praises online.
But donating under the name of all PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds players increases participation.
Also, the question wasn’t really asked by a netizen; Bai Qing arranged it as a rehearsal.
Nowadays, actual online questions couldn’t possibly appear on stage.
There are only a few moments of glory in life, and Li Yang doesn’t want to miss this one.
No one knows if there will be a next time.
...
Song Qihua’s team also made it to the World Championship but ended up in sixth place, and within the PCL, they’re only third.
The second place was last year’s world champion, who took third this time and couldn’t create a miracle.
Nevertheless, the difference between third and sixth is significant.
This year, Song Qihua’s team achieved remarkable results, with prize money over thirty million.
But after deducting various expenses, they barely netted fifteen million, and half of it had to be distributed among the players.
He’s still losing money, as the transfer fees for buying players haven’t been settled yet.
After listening to Li Yang’s interview, he’s very confident about next year.
Li Yang’s determination to distribute traffic is quite strong; next year, other teams can properly start drawing traffic.
This entire year, because Li Yang appeared too frequently, the traffic was mostly concentrated on him.
Koala Team’s endorsement fees already exceed thirty million, while last year’s champion OMG can only get a small share, and other teams have no chance at all.
Next to him is Song Xi, who specially took leave to be there. Upon seeing Li Yang on stage, Song Xi’s eyes sparkled with admiration: "So handsome!"