Chapter 127: A Gamble

"The competition must be genuine. We cannot fake it; that would lead to trouble," the supervisor said.

"I understand, but if we don't fake the results, how are we supposed to arrange his opponents?" Lin Yu asked.

"We don't need to fake the matches, but we can arrange for opponents with lower skill levels," the supervisor replied.

"I see. You mean we should match Jiang Zheng against players who are not as skilled as Wang Hong. That way, we can ensure Jiang Zheng wins while increasing his total number of victories," Lin Yu said.

"Exactly. The more he wins, the greater the profit for us. It is common knowledge that professional players are formidable, so the idea of an ordinary gamer defeating so many pros... just thinking about it is fascinating," the supervisor said with a smile.

Lin Yu nodded, agreeing with this point.

"Alright, I'll go handle it," Lin Yu said.

"Wait, one more thing. You need to foster a good relationship with Jiang Zheng, ideally becoming friends with him," the supervisor added.

"I understand. I will do my best," Lin Yu replied.

"Good, go ahead."

...

The opponent's skill level was not low; in fact, he was even more formidable than those Jiang Zheng had faced previously.

If it were the old Jiang Zheng, he certainly would not have won, but times had changed. Now, with the support of his system skills, his gaming proficiency had skyrocketed.

Jiang Zheng reflected on the match he had just finished; the opponent's maneuvers had given him a lot to learn from.

"Congratulations on winning the match," Lin Yu messaged him.

Jiang Zheng read it and replied, "Thanks! Where did you find that guy? He was actually quite good."

On the other end, Lin Yu’s mouth twitched slightly upon reading the message. Of course he was good—he was a professional player.

"Mr. Jiang, you are even better to have defeated him so easily," Lin Yu messaged back.

"So, does this mean I’ve passed your test?" Jiang Zheng asked.

"It wasn't a test. We just wanted to determine what level Mr. Jiang is at. It seems your skill level far exceeds our expectations," Lin Yu said, flattering him.

"You're too kind. I’ll officially start streaming tomorrow then."

"Sounds good. Let me know before you start tomorrow so we can drive traffic to your stream," Lin Yu replied.

Jiang Zheng was silent for a moment before typing, "By the way, my opponent tomorrow will be a professional player, right?"

"Yes, that's correct. We have specifically invited a professional player for you; you'll see when the time comes," Lin Yu responded.

Seeing this reply, Jiang Zheng felt a sense of relief.

He had put in so much effort and done so much specifically to face professional players. Playing against ordinary gamers, no matter how skilled they were, held no real significance for him.

The two didn't chat much longer.

Jiang Zheng walked out of the room. The internet cafe was quite comfortable—nicer than a standard cyber cafe—but Jiang Zheng still didn't care for it. He preferred gaming on his own computer.

When he returned to his dormitory, he heard his roommates discussing something.

"Seriously, Boss, you should just join this competition with Fourth. If you win, there's a million-dollar prize," Wang Bing said.

"Forget it. It says here that only professional players can enter. We aren't pros," Zhou Quanyi shook his head and said.

"I don't know why it has to be professional players. Are we ordinary gamers not worthy?" Liu Hua asked indignantly.

"Because there are too many ordinary players, and it wouldn't create any buzz," Zhou Quanyi explained.

"Boss, what do you mean by that?" Wang Bing asked.

"Look, the platform is heavily promoting this competition; even people like you who don't watch streams know about it. A campaign of this scale, throwing out a million dollars and the 'professional player' angle, is likely designed to manufacture a new internet celebrity," Zhou Quanyi analyzed.

"Boss, why do you say that? Couldn't it just be someone who is bored and decided to put up a million dollars for a tournament?" Liu Hua argued.

"If you had a million dollars, would you be willing to spend it to host a tournament like this? Could you beat a professional player? Would you just throw a million dollars into the water?" Zhou Quanyi asked three rhetorical questions.

"Well... probably not," Liu Hua admitted.

"There you go," Zhou Quanyi said.

"So you mean even if you win, you won't get the million?" Wang Bing asked.

"That's not it. You'd get the money if you won, but it's very hard to win. Plus, the organizers won't lose money; as long as they attract enough attention, they'll make that million back quickly," Zhou Quanyi said.

"In that case, Boss, do you think if I put up some money, I could do the same thing?" Wang Bing asked. This was essentially asking about investment.

Wang Bing's stream today hadn't gone well; he had broadcast for two hours and only had a few friends watching, with not a single real viewer.

Hearing Zhou Quanyi's analysis, Wang Bing was still somewhat tempted.

"Number Five, I advise you to just stream honestly and stop thinking about these things," Zhou Quanyi said.

"Why?"

"First, can you even come up with a million dollars? For something like this, if you don't have enough money, you won't have the appeal to generate enough buzz. Second, you have to cooperate with the platform. Only if the platform is willing to promote and advertise for you can you achieve this kind of reach. My guess is that this new streamer is likely a person from the platform, or at least in partnership with them. In any case, there is definitely a platform backing this person. That’s the only way they would put in this much effort to promote them," Zhou Quanyi said.

Wang Bing felt disappointed; it seemed he would have to keep streaming honestly and wait for his popularity to grow.

"Boss, that's not right. This guy dares to challenge professional players, so his technique must be solid. I think you should add that to your list of conditions," Liu Hua said.

"The guy definitely has some skill—maybe he's a 'king of the streets' level player—but that doesn't necessarily mean he can beat a pro. However, in this competition, even if you or I went up there, we could still win," Zhou Quanyi said.

"Me? Forget it. I'm just a Gold-ranked trash player," Liu Hua said.

"It has nothing to do with skill. With the platform arranging things, even if you put a dog up there to play, it would still win," Zhou Quanyi said.

"I see what you mean. Boss, are you saying... it's a fixed match?" Liu Hua asked.

"It's very possible, but we'll know for sure when we watch the stream tomorrow," Zhou Quanyi said.

Listening to their discussion, Jiang Zheng just smiled knowingly.

Zhou Quanyi’s reasoning was sound, and in most cases, things were exactly as he described. He just couldn't conceive that someone would actually be willing to put up a million dollars to host a competition.

Of course, Jiang Zheng wasn't going to jump in and say anything; it was their business to speculate as they pleased.

The three of them continued their heated discussion until Yang Po, who was working a part-time job, and Yu Qingkui, who had been studying, returned, bringing the conversation to an end.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zheng's stream had caused a stir in the industry, with streamers of all types speculating about his origins.