Rebirth is fine, but I get eight hundred dollars right from the start?

"How can a person be so smart?"

Beside Gu Feng, the middle-aged man in charge of marketing slumped back in his chair, clutching a half-cold coffee cup, his eyes fixed on the screen where the friendly match had just ended.

He shook his head, letting out a self-deprecating sigh: "My son, he's twenty-three this year, but he's still like a baby who hasn't been weaned. Every time his WeChat buzzes, it's a transfer notification. He can't even be bothered to ask, 'Dad, have you eaten?' Look at Emperor—"

He tapped the screen with the cup lid, his tone a mix of envy and admiration: "His individual skill is undeniable; the aura he exudes when he enters the game tells you he was born for this. What's even more amazing is his keen sense of the esports industry—it's more accurate than any of us market veterans' research. Where can you even begin to argue with that?"

The technical department manager leaned against the window, adjusted his glasses, and continued, "As the old saying goes, success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. But—that 1% inspiration is often more precious than the 99% perspiration."

"Like us coders, when you encounter a tricky low-level logic vulnerability, you rack your brains for three days and three nights, but a real expert comes along, glances at the logs, types a few lines, and digs it out in no time. There's really no comparison."

None of this matters.

In the corner, Dong Rongjie, who had been silent until now, suddenly sat up straight. "Let's put talent aside for now. What I'm curious about is something else—"

"Everyone knows that at eighteen, according to physiological and psychological laws, it's a critical juncture where a person's reaction speed, judgment, and even ambition begin to peak, but it's also the age when young people are most prone to acting impulsively and being hot-blooded. But can we see even the slightest trace of impetuosity in Emperor?"

"I can't see it!"

"Take that live-stream closing event that just ended—Logically speaking, an 18-year-old boy, standing at the pinnacle of a global competition, with a fan base that surpasses many A-list celebrities, and a solid eight-figure bank account. An ordinary person would be strutting around like crazy, wanting to turn every live stream into a personal cult classic. They would never suffer any loss, nor would they accept anything that would damage their image."

"But what about Emperor? He insisted on letting his viewers choose the heroes for him, getting solo killed and outplayed by fans, then grinning like an idiot and joking around with the chat. He turned being 'abused' into a regular performance, just so his longtime fans wouldn't think he was getting arrogant."

The people in the room nodded in unison.

Old Dong is absolutely right; the above phenomenon is actually most common in the entertainment industry.

Many comedians, in their early years when they were poor and down on their luck, would wrestle on stage, make ugly faces, and joke about themselves, doing whatever was most down-to-earth, wishing they could bury their faces in the mud just to get a laugh from the audience.

But what happened next?

Once he's made it big, his acting opportunities have increased, his status is secure, and his wallet is bulging—would you really ask him to play that ugly character who gets splashed with water and falls flat on his face? No way.

Of course, that's not because she's changed, it's just human nature;

When you're stuck in the mud, you can endure humiliation, but once you're on a high place, you never want to look back at your pathetic self again.

That's true, but the problem is that the fanbase built up by the "clown" persona is gradually dissipating.

He turned his head, his gaze returning to the young face on the screen who was joking and laughing with fans, and his tone held an inexplicable admiration: "But our young shareholder is doing the opposite."

"It's not that he lacks the ability to put on airs, nor that he lacks the confidence to act tough. In the League of Legends field, with the dozens or hundreds of game tutorial videos he's uploaded that start from scratch, as long as he doesn't make any fundamental mistakes, those millions of gamers will never leave him."

"But he knew better than anyone—the higher he stood, the more crucial it was to not abandon those who supported him. His willingness to stoop at his peak was not weakness, but foresight."

"Being able to laugh at your own 'mishaps' is not being pathetic, it's being mature."

"An eighteen-year-old can suppress the vanity and arrogance in human nature and be willing to play the 'loser' a few more times for the sake of a longer game—to be honest, I couldn't do that."

"Old Dong, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Gu Feng finally spoke, asking curiously.

Dong Rongjie stood up. "Let's be frank. I want to say... based on the data from today's premiere, the previous cooperation plans were all too conservative."

"Be bold, go all in!"

……

Huya Live, room number 88888888.

Lin Shu, who had just achieved the "super ghost" achievement, looked utterly hopeless and lay straight down in the chair.

"I'm not playing anymore, all nine people in the game are targeting me."

Hey, how can a man say he can't? We've only played a few rounds!

[Exactly! We were just getting into it, how can you just quit?]

[You just want a gift, right? Here you go! I only have one request: pick me next game, I want to solo kill your Teemo! (laughs)]

[Just asking, is this Teemo player with a 1-14 record the current best player in League of Legends?]

[Upstairs bro, you've got the wrong guy. He's an imposter, posing as a professional gamer.]

[Haha, I can't hold it in anymore, guys, let me laugh for a bit.]

[Let's laugh together! Who would have thought that E-God, who used to treat all the top players like speed bumps on the battlefield, would have this day?]

[Teemo: From today onwards, my million-kill streak will include the highest number of deaths in the league, making my achievement even more impressive.]

The comments section was filled with a continuous stream of laughing messages.

However, Lin Shu did not continue to listen to the audience's opinions and drew another round of votes from the viewers.

He glanced at the time and said, "Oh dear, it's already 23:30 PM."

【? ? ? 】

[Wait a minute, guys, someone rich need to interrupt this guy's spellcasting!]

[Oh no, the live-streaming civil servant is going to run away again.]

[No! Waaaaah! I just got off work and only watched two games. E-God, you can't abandon us!]

The viewers in the live stream wailed as they realized Lin Shu was about to run away.

Lin Shu chose to turn a blind eye.

"Ahem, well, happy times always fly by, so that concludes today's live stream..."

Before he could even utter the word "here," the young man's smile suddenly widened.

"Hehe, just kidding."

"I wonder if any of you remember that the streamer mentioned on Weibo that he had a surprise for everyone today."