Wei Wendong, known as Shadow King, was an honorary member of the King’s Esports Club as part of the League of Legends team runner-up in the S4 series. After the S4 he chose to retire from the scene and became a streamer, but surprisingly had a lackluster performance in the streaming world.
But because he grasped on the historical opportunity of <New Era> coming online, he boldly chose to become a mobile game streamer that didn’t seem to have a future. He finally used <New Era>’s influence, stunning game content, and first mover advantage to become the leader in New Era streaming.
Right now, New Era’s market penetration had already far surpassed Heartstone, and even edging out the PC platform League of Legends, his influencing in the streaming world obviously increased because of that as his follower on Weibo was comparable to his old captain.
Therefore, half of his achievement today was because of Future Technology. So to the name that changed the lives of many, he had a strong connection to the company.
Just sometimes ago, Future 1.0 suddenly had a pushup notification which perked his interest.
<Dear valued users, Future Technology’s current under-development VR MMORPG <Godly Land> is in internal testing phase! To support the users’ continuous support, Future Technology decided to draw 2000 internal testing players to the tourist destination Pannu Islands, tour the beautiful Pacific and experience the astonishment of the era-defining MMORPG.>
The internal testing phase will be two months. In this period, the player can obtain 2000 USD in monthly salary with flight and accommodations covered by Future Technology. After the internal test, participants will receive a collector game helmet. The helmet will be sent to participants on the first day of the official release.
At the same time, the name used in the internal test will be retained in the official release.
Virtual reality MMORPG? Free international travel?
Disregarding the international aspect first.
With the release of this news, it erupted among domestic forums as the netizens all expressed Future Technology’s lunatic move.
The 2000 USD monthly salary, no one really cared about. People who were not dumb all knew that by being the first in obtaining information about the game, guilds would kill for you to join them. Even if you didn’t join a guild, with the experience through the internal test, it was easy to make a living through the game.
The profit by that time would far exceed 4000 USD! Even the most foolish person would know.
Just take New Era, for example, professional players could make ten thousand easily through taking players to level up and selling gold. If they obtained legendary equipment, rich players would often pay millions just to get their hands on it.
Almost no one questioned the fact that the Godly Land had a future without a ceiling.
On a forum:
“Virtual reality MMORPG? I can’t believe I can see this in my lifetime? Let me go calm down first.”
“Are the officials of Future Technology stupid? Playing games with this kind of technology? If this is used to train soldiers, our soldiers’ combat ability will increase by ten levels! The military budget for training would be reduced by 50%! But you use it to make games, what a disgrace!”
“What a dumba*s!”
“The second comment poster just connected to the Internet? Virtual reality technology is already mature overseas. Plextek’s virtual reality equipment is already used in training by the British forces, but it has yet to replace the whole training process. I don’t know where you got the ten levels of 50% data from. Also, Eve’s VR equipment could already simulate intergalactic travel, if VR is as insane as you have described, why don’t you go up in space?”
“I just want to know where the public beta is! I’m not selected. QQ.”
“Asking for internal testing spot for one million RMB, message if interested.”
“The internal spot is connected with your ID, you really can’t buy IQ with money.”
“…”
The posts on the game’s official website already exceeded twenty thousand on the first day. It was evident that the players were all eager for the virtual reality MMORPG.
As to the game itself, Future Technology left enough mystery to it and only released a one minute CG as well as a portal for the draw. Before the draw, the players must confirm that they can head to Pannu Islands. If the player cannot attend, they will be banned for ten years once the game is online.
With anxiousness, Wei Wendong pressed the button.
With the number of participants in the draw continuously increasing, he didn’t have too much hope. But happiness suddenly came around the corner when he managed to obtain a spot!
When he saw the notification <Please confirm the availability during internal testing period>, he pressed yes without hesitation, then uploaded the screenshot to Weibo which instantly caused an explosive reaction among his fans.
<Damn! The Shadow King is switching games?”
“What about streaming?”
“The Shadow King definitely did butt stuff with the president, Jiang Chen. No way he would be this lucky!”
“Brother Shadow King, could you bring me there, I’m cute, and I can warm the bed…”
Wei Wendong looked at the fans’ envious replies as he lips curled up. He ignored the comments filled with jealousy. While his vanity was fulfilled, he thought about how to grasp the opportunity.
The only information provided by the game designer was a one-minute cinematic trailer with an ancient Oriental and Western background. There were warriors, archers, mages, thieves, and a lot more.
In New Era, Wei Wendong chose an archer, but he planned to change his style and play as a mage. Since it was virtual reality MMORPG, the mage would definitely feel more powerful compared to physical damage dealers! Anyone could swing a sword and shoot an arrow in real life, but who could throw a fireball?
But just as he was planning how he would spend the two months, his phone began to ring.
“Who is calling me this late?” Wei Wendong glanced at the darkness outside and picked up his phone.
When he saw the caller, he was stunned. It was his formal boss calling him, the big boss of King, Wang Tao! Wei Wendong was deliberating on what made the boss call him personally as they didn’t have any contact for over a year.
“Hello?”
“Haha, Little Dong, do you still remember me?” Wang Tao said with a smile.
“Of course, how is Boss Wang doing?” Wei Wendong chatted with his old boss.
“Doing well, oh, do you have any interest in returning to Kings?” Wang Tao asked.
[Return to Kings? Play League of Legends? Who plays that anymore?]
Wang Tao seemed to have sensed Wei Wendong was about to reject as he immediately dropped a mega bomb.
“Twenty million, yearly salary.”
Wei Wendong held his breath.
[Twenty million, damn, two times the premium!]
Even as a streamer with the highest earning potential, Misaya was only worth twenty million. Although Wei Wendong’s influence and reputation were not far off, New Era was not a game that could easily pump up the viewership as competitive games do. It is less common for the viewers to give “666 (1)” compared to LoL, therefore his yearly income was only nine million.
“But boss Wang, I don’t want to scam you, my LoL skill has already-” Wei Wendong squeezed the words out of his mouth.
The offer was attractive, but he knew his skills well.
“Who is asking you to play LoL.” Wang Tao laugh, he paused, before he asked in a quite reserved voice, “Is the screenshot on your Weibo real?”
“Screenshot?” Wei Wendong came to a realization.
Kings made the wrong judgment call when New Era first came online. Wang Tao initially thought the game had a great promotion with great graphics, but it was still lackluster compared to the dominate LoL kingdom.
Therefore, while Kings did form a New Era division in the beginning, it didn’t invest in too many resources. But then, once the guilds that invested heavily rose with the rise of New Era, Kings began to regret their decision, but it was too late. A bunch of esports clubs with a name no less than Kings spawned out. A club named Conquerors was almost edging Kings out as the dominant club in Hua.
Therefore this time, Wang Tao would not miss the <Godly Land> ship!
Everyone knew that the big trend on internet development was virtual reality. PC games were on a downward trend, and Future Technology was the leader in domestic artificial intelligence technology. With the release of this Godly Land, it was combing their competitive edges together. The throne of Tencent’s empire might not be so secure after all.
But unfortunately, none of Kings member obtained an internal test spot.
Although Future Technology provided some spots for the major guilds in New Era, the spots were mostly targeted towards guilds with major influence. What made Wang Tao frustrated was that the Kings’ Guild had no influence in New Era at all.
He threw in some money a few months ago, but it only managed to bring the guild to above average. Compared to the top five in the server, there was still a noticeable difference.
Fortunately, Wei Wendong’s Weibo post made him see hope.
Professional player plus internal test participant! It was easy to foresee that this guy’s future in the Godly Land was bright. Therefore, Wang Tao immediately called him and extended an offer to the ex-member.
Wang Tao coughed, used a serious tone, and spoke to Wei Wendong with sincerity.
“The Kings Esports Club sincerely wishes for your return and bring Kings our formal glory. Also, you’ll be the guild leader of “Godly Kings”, are you interested?”
The guild leader of the Kings guild.
Wei Wendong’s eyes widened. He didn’t think the always cautious formal boss would bet on such a risky move.
-With Kings’ resources as well as his own professional ability, and the experience as an internal player…
He took a deep breath as he felt his heart pumped furiously.
The feeling of one step to heaven was just like this.
“Yes. I’m very interested!”
“Welcome home, my Shadow King.” Wang Tao laughed out loud.