Douyu's top management held an emergency meeting a little after ten.
When they received the news, it really was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
The impact was huge, because for them, this entire event was built around Lin Fan joining.
Other pro players were still very restrained. If not for contract clauses like "X hours of streaming," some of them wouldn't stream at all.
Take TES for example. At the start, in order to lock down TES's streaming contract, Douyu not only paid an astronomical signing fee, but also included a clause that didn't require any minimum streaming hours.
In that case, if TES wanted to "play dirty," they could totally take the money and do nothing.
No streaming-hour requirement meant it wouldn't technically be a problem to not stream.
It would basically mean Douyu paid money just to shout into the void.
Yes, they signed the hottest team, but couldn't convert it into traffic.
At best, they prevented Huya from gaining that heat.
Overall, it would still be a loss.
But TES didn't do that.
Every month, the players streamed at least a little.
And worth mentioning was the model worker, Brother Infinite Borders—he streamed almost every day.
Either he streamed from morning till night, or he came back from matches and went live immediately.
So the money Douyu spent didn't just not lose—it made them a fortune.
Traffic was traffic. If people came, there was always a chance to monetize.
After watching games for long enough, viewers would naturally get bored and wander into female-streamer rooms, spend money, help with PK battles—completely normal.
That was the original livestream platform model.
They built themselves up slowly on one game: League of Legends.
Back then, streaming League was a symbol of real skill.
After all, there were only fifty "Challenger" slots, and pros took up a bunch of them too.
So watching streams was genuinely entertaining.
But now, the problem sitting in front of Douyu's executives was this:
Brother Infinite Borders wasn't going to participate.
Honestly, that meant losing half the traffic at once—completely unacceptable.
They even deliberately scheduled the platform tournament to avoid clashing with the pro match schedule.
And now the main character wasn't coming.
What was the point of holding the tournament at all?
After paying such a huge cost, the biggest winner would end up being Bilibili.
To be honest, they couldn't accept that.
"We should go to the TES base in person and make things clear. Face-to-face is more sincere," Vice President Deng finally spoke.
After all, it was just an event.
Even if TES was a signed team, they had no obligation to participate.
If you wanted the traffic, you had to explain things clearly.
And asking in person was more appropriate.
"Agreed!"
"I support that too."
"Then who should go?"
"I'll go. I was the one who signed the contract with TES in the first place. We've worked together before, so we're familiar."
"Alright. Manager Xiong, you go," President Chen decided from the main seat.
Quick knife, quick cut—time was tight. Dragging it out would be trouble.
They had to finish it within the next two days, at least.
Otherwise, once the RNG match came—
What if TES lost?
Then TES would have even less time for anything outside matches.
Ultimately, the reason TES could be this relaxed was because their results were good.
Like a student who ranks near the top—would parents scold him for playing games instead of reading when he comes home?
They wouldn't.
Or like those top students who chat a bit in class—teachers also turn a blind eye.
In the end, people are far more tolerant of those who perform well, even if they're full of flaws.
As long as you can win championships, your shortcomings all get washed away, and nobody cares.
With the decision made, Douyu's executive meeting ended.
President Chen had been under huge pressure lately.
Profits in recent years were frighteningly low, and partners were pulling out.
He had to produce results within two years to prove his decisions weren't wrong.
The next morning, just as Lin Fan was about to queue a happy round of "paipai,"
Guo Hao came into the training room and brought him straight to the manager's office.
Lin Fan was completely confused.
"What's going on? Lately I haven't really made any big headlines. The only trending stuff was just messing around. And me and Zhan Ying—everyone knows it's nothing…"
He couldn't figure out what happened.
Guo Hao got straight to the point.
"Recently you know the three platforms are jointly holding a League platform tournament, right?"
Lin Fan nodded.
"Yeah, I know. But don't worry, I'm not going to participate."
"A lot of people asked me, but I thought about it. League comes first. We're already at this stage of the split."
"It's time to rein it in, put my focus on the league. I don't have any messy thoughts. I just want to play matches well."
"Mm…" Guo Hao widened his eyes and sized Lin Fan up and down.
Lin Fan felt uncomfortable.
What kind of look is that? Why are you acting like you don't know me?
Guo Hao thought to himself: if I hadn't just heard what Manager Xiong told me, I almost would've been fooled by you.
Isn't it just that you think joining that tournament would still feel like working…
Buddy, your "work hours" are basically scrims and official matches.
"Mm. Our club isn't forcing you. If you want to participate, you can. No problem."
"I really don't want to. If it were some other kind of tournament, maybe I'd join. But League? No," Lin Fan shook his head.
Joking aside—if he joined, wouldn't he have to scrim with them?
Scrims are at least seven or eight games.
Even if each is twenty minutes, that's still over two hours.
Doesn't that mess up his slacking system tasks?
If rewards were mediocre, fine.
But if the task rewards were rich, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Like when Syndra's repeat reward gave him another skill.
Who could guarantee he'd never roll another repeat reward again?
When the time came, he couldn't exactly refuse scrims.
Too much hassle. Better not to join at all.
Still, Guo Hao being this strange was odd.
Shouldn't he be happy Lin Fan wasn't joining random events?
Why did it feel like he was trying to push him into "messing around"?
Confess. Did someone steal Guo Hao's skin?
"Guo-ge, did someone ask you to get me to join?"
Uzi and the others? Not likely.
He already refused them directly on WeChat.
They wouldn't drag it through Guo Hao. No need. And it would just annoy him.
"Hahaha. You're smart the moment you ask," Guo Hao scratched his head awkwardly.
"Last night, Douyu's Operations Department Director, Manager Xiong, called me. He hopes you'll participate in this tournament. Actually… it was basically held specifically for you."
The moment Guo Hao said that, Lin Fan froze.
A tournament jointly held by three platforms… was specifically for him?
What?
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Seeing Lin Fan still didn't grasp his own heat, Guo Hao smiled.
"Maybe you don't have a clear understanding of your popularity yet, but honestly—if you participate, viewership will literally double."
"That's why they're trying every way to get you into it."
"So he called me last night hoping I could persuade you."
"I can only do my best. If you really don't want to, then it's fine."
"Heh… I really don't want to join a League tournament," Lin Fan scratched his head.
But he was still shocked.
He really didn't expect platforms to hold a tournament specifically for him.
"Actually, the Naraka tournament before was also run specifically for you. Didn't you notice the schedule was completely staggered from ours?"
"Honestly, a lot of us suspected it, guessed in that direction. Later, internal people even came out and confirmed it…"
"Ahem, so don't be too surprised."
Lin Fan's eyes widened.
No way. Seriously?
Was his influence really that big?
When he saw that schedule before, plus viewers' analysis, it did feel like it might be true.
But then he thought again—he was just a pro player. How could he have the face to make NetEase host a whole tournament around him?
And do it so grandly?
But after Guo Hao said it, it turned out it really was true.
Ridiculous.
That was truly ridiculous.
"Hahaha. NetEase made money off that one. Naraka's daily active users are already catching up to the game's early peak. Match viewership is climbing too."
"And because of that, the three major platforms decided to host this platform tournament."
"Manager Xiong is still on the road. He's coming from Wuhan to Shanghai. He'll probably arrive around noon. You two can talk then."
"If it doesn't affect you too much, I suggest you still participate a bit. Our club has a second partnership with Douyu, and their terms are extremely relaxed. Stream if you want, don't if you don't—no hour requirement." Guo Hao patted Lin Fan's shoulder after finishing.
"Mm… I probably can't join the tournament. Uzi wants me to mid for his team, and Crystal Brother wants that too. They're clashing. If I choose either side, it's awkward," Lin Fan said with a troubled expression.
Guo Hao frowned.
That really was a problem.
"Can we compromise? I think it'd be great if I just join as a guest caster. That way I'm there, and isn't that even better? We can also call JackeyLove and the others over—interact a bit. Isn't that more fun?"
Guo Hao pondered.
That actually sounded workable.
When Manager Xiong arrived, let him decide himself…
"Come meet Manager Xiong with me this morning."
"Okay." Lin Fan nodded.
…
Noon, 12:00.
Lin Fan went with Guo Hao to meet Manager Xiong, who had come from Wuhan.
First impression: an IT expert.
That hair density was not something you got casually.
Seeing Lin Fan, Manager Xiong immediately smiled.
"Hello, hello, hello…"
"Back when I watched your clips, I already thought you were handsome. Seeing you in person—honestly, you look even better than in the videos."
…
They found a nearby hotel, ordered some dishes, and sat down to eat.
Chinese habit—business is discussed at the dinner table.
When Manager Xiong heard Lin Fan's refusal, his brows furrowed.
He did not come here to return empty-handed.
But when he heard the guest-casting idea, his furrowed brow slowly relaxed.
No participation, but Lin Fan appearing on stream—
That was still a topic. Still heat.
It might even be more than him playing.
That could work too.
"Sure. If you're going to cast, then we'll sign you a caster contract. We'll set it at twenty percent above the current market rate—after all, no caster has your level of game understanding."
"As for the other TES players—if they want to come too, they'll get the same benefits," Manager Xiong said with a smile.
Lin Fan was also very satisfied.
He originally thought he'd be doing this for free.
Didn't expect he'd get paid.
Nice.
With both sides satisfied, the dinner ended with a happy handshake.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup