Chapter 60: Potato Chip Endorsement; The Team Merch is Here!
[Congratulations to the Host for completing Main Quest 5. The mission reward, “Attribute Entry Function Upgrade,” has been issued.]
[Now issuing Main Quest 6: Secure a Ticket to the World Championship. (The ultimate dream of every esports player and coach is to represent their country on the world stage. Please lead your team to victory in the Semifinals, secure a spot for the Hua Country region in the World Championship, and officially join the ranks of the elite teams.)]
[Mission Reward: Acclimatization Pills × 7. (This year’s World Championship will be held in Europe, where the dietary habits and climate are vastly different from home. Those who consume this pill will not suffer from any symptoms of lack of acclimatization, regardless of time or place.)]
[Side Quest: Complete the “Too Delicious” Potato Chip Brand Endorsement. (In addition to match results, a player’s commercial value is a standard for measuring a team. As VEX’s first food endorsement, you wouldn’t want to let the fans down, would you?)]
[Mission Reward: Superb Aesthetics and Quality Control for Team Merch. (Ugly designs and poor quality control are common pitfalls for endorsements. This system will safeguard the Host, ensuring every piece of merch that reaches the fans is visually stunning and flawless in quality.)]
After deciding to collaborate with “Too Delicious” chips, Manager Li worked quickly with the professional team from Shengxing Media to finalize the endorsement plan and sign the contract with the brand.
On the afternoon they returned to Nancheng, the brand sent over several categories for the team’s merchandise.
The first type was practical: water bottles, mousepads, and fans.
The second type was decorative: badges, fridge magnets, and keychains.
Zuo Chi had the cubs vote, but including his own vote, it ended in a 3-3 tie. For a moment, he couldn’t decide which type of merch the fans would prefer.
Fugui came up with an idea: “Coach Zuo, Coach Zuo! Why don’t you use a smurf account and start a poll in our team’s Super Topic? If the fans ask, just say you’re a university student doing a group project.”
“Our Fugui is a genius after all!”
Zuo Chi immediately used his phone number to register a Weibo smurf and posted in the team’s Super Topic.
[Help needed for a university group project! I’m writing a paper titled “Research on the Communication Model of Esports Team Merchandise.” Could you please help me fill out this survey? I’ll be drawing 200 small red envelopes for participants. Thank you!]
Once the post was out, the enthusiastic fans flocked to it.
[Drawing 200 red envelopes? Sister, you’re so generous!]
[Are there only this many questions in the survey? Sister, do you need thesis guidance? I’m worried you might fail.]
[Speaking of merch—VEX, you’re a noble Top-4 team now! When are you going to release some merch? I want Zuo Chi and Land’s!]
[Beyond’s Mom-fan reporting! I want my baby’s merch too.]
[Fan of the Mad Dog Initiation King here! I want his as well!]
[Who is the Mad Dog Initiation King? Are you talking about our Wu Yang? Terrified face.jpg]
[Have some confidence. Yes, that’s him.]
[Old Wall fan here. I haven’t seen new Wall merch in over a year. My old stuff is practically polished smooth from use. Give us something new.]
[I suggest making Spring Festival couplets for Fugui. He looks so jolly and festive every day. And with a name like Fugui, how could he have any bad intentions?]
[To the person above—you really didn’t let Fugui off the hook.]
[I’m different. I want merch of Coach Zuo and the five cubs together. Where are the team fans?!]
[Team fan reporting for duty!!! Do we really have to choose between practical and decorative? I want both! Badges can be displayed on a desk or taken on trips in a bag, and water bottles or mousepads can be used directly. How great is that!]
[Supported! I hope the VEX officials see this comment section. Release more merch! I can afford it! I CAN AFFORD IT!]
In less than half an hour, all two hundred red envelopes were claimed, and the number of participants was still rising.
The vast majority of fans chose “I want both.”
“Then how about… we give them both?” Zuo Chi discussed with Manager Li. “At worst, we’ll take a slightly lower endorsement fee. I’ve asked the players, and they all agreed.”
“Fine, I’ll talk to the brand again. Which specific items should we go with?”
“Water bottles and badges.”
Manager Li gave an “OK” gesture and walked to the side to make a call.
Next, they just had to wait for the brand to notify them about which studio to go to for the shoot and the merch production.
During the wait, they naturally continued training in the training room.
There were many points to review from the match against BLUE, such as their opponent’s mid-lane carry composition from the first game. It actually suited their team’s style quite well. If Wu Yang could master it, he wouldn’t just be the “Mad Dog Initiation King” anymore.
With the World Championship tickets as “bait,” the cubs didn’t slack off in their training. They reviewed the details of their past matches, and to test the results, Zuo Chi simply scheduled a training match with BLUE for that evening.
[Storm: You’re already doing training matches right after flying back to Nancheng? VEX is too competitive. The pressure is on!]
[Zuo Chi: You can let your second team play against us.]
[Storm: Sure! Let’s do three games with the starters and two with the second team. I was just about to tell you the good news—that new mid-laner you recommended? We found him. He’s already switched from jungle to mid, and his tryout results were excellent. We’re planning to sign him. Thank you, Coach Zuo!!!]
At 8:00 PM, they entered the first training match. Zuo Chi picked BLUE’s signature mid-carry composition for the cubs.
In the public chat, Storm kept sending messages.
[Storm: This comp? Aren’t you guys learning a bit too fast?]
[Zuo Chi: ^v^]
[Storm: Fine, let me see how much mastery you have over the mid-carry style!]
In the first game, the cubs were beaten until they were scurrying in all directions. Wu Yang’s positioning for damage was always slightly off, making him an easy target for the enemy’s top and jungle.
The crowd control chaining between Wall and Fugui was also lacking. Often, one would initiate while the other failed to follow up in time, letting the kill slip away, or their CC would overlap, wasting a second or two of lockdown time.
By the fifteen-minute mark, they were huddled on their high ground, unable to leave the base under the pressure.
[Storm: Little Mad Dog Initiation King, you haven’t transitioned your playstyle yet. A mid-carry isn’t played like that.]
A long-range damage mage and an initiation assassin-mage were two different roles.
When Wu Yang first came to VEX, his long-range mages were decent, though not as good as his assassins.
But because his role in the team required constant initiation later on, his long-range mage play had regressed.
[Sea: Thanks for the guidance, Brother Storm. I haven’t practiced them much lately. I’ll work hard and pull an all-nighter.]
[Storm: Want to add me? I happen to be supervising the second team’s training tonight. I can slack off and chat with you occasionally. Let’s aim to have this comp ready for the Semifinals.]
[Sea: Brother Storm, you’re my idol!]
[Storm: Wearing sunglasses and acting cool.jpg]
The public chat was harmonious, but BLUE’s offensive showed no signs of holding back.
At twenty minutes, their crystal exploded, having given up over a dozen kills.
No one understood the mid-carry composition better than Storm. With the man himself providing guidance, Zuo Chi felt reassured and quietly slipped out of the training room. His phone held the storyboard for the endorsement commercial and the preliminary design sketches for the merchandise.
Manager Li joined him in the corridor to look: “The CEO of this brand seems to be a hardcore esports fan. I was worried he wouldn’t want to make an extra type of merch, but he agreed quite readily and didn’t even lower our endorsement fee.”
“The brand said they wanted us as spokespersons as soon as we made the Top-8. These materials were prepared back then. If there’s anything we’re not satisfied with, we can tell them directly.”
The shoot took an entire day.
On the fifth day of preparing for the Semifinals, the brand released the endorsement commercial and live photos of the merch. The VEX official Weibo immediately reposted it.
[VEX Esports Team: Mechanics must be fast! Matches must be hype! And potato chips must be thin and crispy! “Too Delicious” Chips × VEX Team. One crisp bite to boost your power! There are potato chip gift boxes and exquisite team merch waiting for you! Heart gesture.jpg]
[First! VEX finally has a new endorsement! Results really do nurture a team. Back when we were doing the one-round trip in the group stage, let alone a big brand like this, even generic brands looked down on VEX.]
[The “Too Delicious” gift box includes 5 bags each of six different flavors for only 89.9? Plus random player merch like water bottles and badges? Who could resist!]
[I’m tempted. I mostly want to eat the chips; the merch doesn’t matter much (Please let me draw Coach Zuo’s badge and bottle, thank you)!]
[Little Glutton, just eat. Don’t say a word.]
[Did no one notice the commercial? Coach Zuo and Land really look like they’re shooting a fashion spread; any frame could be a poster. Wu Yang is going for a rustic vibe, Beyond is in a campus youth style, Wall’s every move is too bot-like, and Fugui… he’s just being himself, clearly having a blast eating the chips.]
[Live photos of the merch! The water bottle has chibi versions of Coach Zuo and the players printed on it! Where did the brand find this artist? They’re drawn so accurately! And the photo selections for the badges are great. Esports players should look high-spirited!]
[I’m curious about the secret variant for the water bottle. Could it be a group photo of everyone?]
[Let me draw the secret variant. I’m willing to trade ten pounds of fat for it. Tearful face.jpg]
[Could it be that the officials really saw that merch survey post in the Super Topic? The merch they released is actually the water bottles and badges we wanted most!]
In the VEX base, a brand-new mug was placed on each of the cubs’ desks.
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