"Hello, hello." Chen Yiyang was still standing there wondering about this place.

A short and chubby young man came over to greet Chen Yiyang.

"You must be Mr. Chen that I talked to on the phone yesterday, right?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I'm Zeng Hai, the team leader of the Extreme Path Team. You can just call me Xiao Hai."

After introducing himself, Zeng Hai enthusiastically led Chen Yiyang into the club.

Chen Yiyang took a look at the club's decor. He found out that the place was quite well decorated, and the entire three-story building was owned by the club, without sharing with any other company or unit.

"This place is really nice," Chen Yiyang praised.

"It's because the place is nice that we're in trouble now," Zeng Hai said as they walked, revealing the club's current difficulties.

"The building was leased during our glory days. We signed a twelve-year lease contract in one go.

Although the contract stipulates that the rent increases every year, objectively speaking, the rent is still lower compared to other places of the same area.

So the tricky part now is that if we move to a new place, the rent might not be cheaper, plus we may have to pay a deposit.

And considering the team just made it to the playoffs, changing living arrangements at this critical time to save money could affect the team's morale and performance."

"Hmm, I understand," Chen Yiyang nodded.

"The team members are still sleeping, Mr. Chen, how about I take you to my office for a chat?"

"No need, let's go straight to the team's training area. I'm curious."

Chen Yiyang had never seen an esports team's training area in person, so he wanted to check it out.

"Sure," Zeng Hai agreed without hesitation, leading Chen Yiyang over.

A large living room, about seventy to eighty square meters, housed seven or eight computers and gaming chairs.

This was the training area for the esports team.

Nearby, there was a separate area for the coach to analyze players' games, with a big TV connected to a computer.

"First, tell me about the difficulties you're currently facing."

Although he was confident the team would make it to the S-Class world championships and achieve good results,

Chen Yiyang still felt the need to control his investment risk and minimize costs.

"One issue is the rent, which is two hundred thousand a month, and it's due on the first of next month.

Then there's the players' wages. Even though our players aren't very famous, and we only have one coach, it still adds up to three hundred thousand.

We used to outsource cleaning and cooking, but without money, we've stopped. The players order takeout, and I clean when I find time.

Overall, running the entire club costs over six hundred thousand a month. Additional expenses include utilities and equipment depreciation.

Then there's the cost of flights, as we need to travel to other teams' home cities for the playoffs, and that alone costs tens of thousands."

"How much money does the team have right now?" Chen Yiyang asked.

"There's no money left," Zeng Hai shook his head and said, "We had some, but the other management took it all when they left.

Now, I can cover some expenses, and I can convince the players to temporarily forgo their wages.

But I can't handle the travel expenses and rent."

"There's more to it than just this," Chen Yiyang said, "Does the team have external debts?"

Although Zeng Hai was being very cautious,

Chen Yiyang could still see that he was hiding something.

A club this large must have some fixed assets.

Even if there are no fixed assets, the players are considered assets too.

The club signed contracts with them, and even though they're relatively unknown, selling them could fetch tens of thousands per player.

Why would all the management suddenly run away?

The only explanation is that, besides the visible costs, the club has a significant amount of hidden debt.

The entire club is insolvent, which is why the previous owner and managers chose to flee.

"You figured it out," Zeng Hai lowered his head for a while before raising it again to look at Chen Yiyang.

"Then I won't hide it from you. Let me share my story with this club."

Zeng Hai told Chen Yiyang, "I was only sixteen then, just a kid who didn't understand anything. I didn't want to study, so I went to internet cafes to earn money by playing games for others.

It was the boss of the Extreme Path Team who noticed me and said I was great at games and would definitely be good in competitions.

So he found my parents, persuaded them to bring me to the Extreme Path Team, and told them that he would make me famous.

But I let him down. Back then, the club offered me a high salary and benefits to play AD.

They also made a big investment, buying the best jungler internationally at the time to be my teammate.

However, I was only good at playing games; when it came to competitions, I got nervous. Once I got nervous, I'd make all sorts of chaotic plays. There was even one game where I only dealt 443 damage.

At the time, people online speculated whether I was using a booster in games, which was why I was good in games but awful in competitions.

I thought about quitting and returning the money to the boss. But the boss said he believed in me.

So I played AD for two years in the Extreme Path Team, and our team's performance kept getting worse. Eventually, every other AD in the league would get MVP just by playing against me.

Everyone laughed at me, saying I was there to deliver warmth to others."

Zeng Hai's eyes began to redden as he spoke.

"Later, I told the boss that I should retire. The boss thought I hadn't played for long enough to retire. Besides, he promised my parents that he would make me famous.

So he let me switch to jungling, saying it didn't require as much skill. But I was terrible in the jungle too. Honestly, I was responsible for half of the fame loss of the Extreme Path Team.

Later, the boss passed away, and his son took over the Extreme Path Team. I knew I wasn't good enough, so I stepped down to become the team leader, occasionally ordering takeout for the other players.

The boss's son said that running fan clubs was very profitable lately, so he used the club as collateral to borrow money, invest in advertising, and plan to earn money by selling merchandise.

But despite all the advertising, we barely had any fans for our team. People would only remember us as the team where the AD dealt 443 damage.

So, in the end, the fan club operations failed, and instead, the club ended up in debt.

Now, the boss's son says he's not going to manage the club anymore and wants me to quickly find someone to sell it. Otherwise, if the club goes bankrupt, we might be chased for debts."

After Zeng Hai finished speaking, he grabbed Chen Yiyang's hand with reddened eyes, "President Chen, if you're not willing to invest in our club, could you lend us some money?

You don't need to lend much, just enough to help us survive the next two months. I believe our team can qualify for the tournament, maybe even make it to the world championship.

As long as we make it to the world championship, sponsors will come to invest, and then we can repay you.

If that doesn't work, I can personally sign an IOU. If the team doesn't make it to the world championship, I'll stream to repay you. What do you think?"

"Calm down first." Chen Yiyang handed tissues to Zeng Hai to wipe his tears.

Once Zeng Hai calmed down, Chen Yiyang asked him, "How much debt does the club have now?"

"Three hundred and forty thousand." Zeng Hai replied.

No wonder the previous boss decided to abandon the club and escape.

Even though three hundred and forty thousand looks small, it's already more than the club's total assets.

If the club declares bankruptcy, creditors might choose to sue the club boss for the money.

Just as Chen Yiyang was about to speak, there was a slight noise at the door.

Chen Yiyang turned his head to see a young man standing at the hallway entrance.

"This is our club's current AD player, Wen Shui." Zeng Hai introduced the young man.

Chen Yiyang noticed this young man named Wen Shui when searching online about the Extreme Path Team last night.

To be precise, this young man was the source of the club's substantial debt.

Wen Shui was originally a streamer of Dota Alliance games. He was praised for his gameplay during streams, and people wondered why he wouldn't become a pro player with such skills, instead of staying on the platform as a small streamer.

So he decided to become a professional player.

With decent skills and a fresh, lively face, he caught the attention of the new boss of the Extreme Path Team after joining.

The new boss decided to conduct fan club operations to make money based on this player.

However, this new boss made a mistake. In the esports realm, people only support who wins.

Wen Shui does have great looks and a distinctive style of play.

But he's too impulsive, often causing the team to lose matches due to rash decisions during competitions.

Moreover, this year in the domestic Dota Alliance league, a player dubbed as an AD super king emerged, winning every game this year.

This caused the main subject of the club boss's fan club operations, Wen Shui, to be constantly compared to the renowned super king and mocked by everyone.

Under these circumstances, even though Wen Shui acquired fame due to the club's advertising debt, he failed to attract fans.

"Hello." Chen Yiyang smiled at Wen Shui.

He didn't bear ill will towards the young man, after all, who hasn't been young and reckless?

"Hello." Wen Shui greeted Chen Yiyang cautiously.

"Carry on with your work." Chen Yiyang gestured to Wen Shui to continue his own tasks, and not to mind him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.