Chapter 206 DM Team
On the evening of November 10th, FPX defeated G2 3-0 to win the League of Legends 2019 World Championship, once again validating Jiang Shu's live broadcast prediction.
With a series of predictions coming true, Jiang Shu's reputation in the esports circle also took a turn for the better, especially on the LPL side, where he was almost described as a spy working for LPL while seemingly being on LCK’s side.
On the LCK side, there was a mix of joy and concern; joy that Jiang Shu didn't seem to be an LPL person, and concern that he wasn't an LCK person either.
Even Zeus, whom Jiang Shu sent to T1 and regarded as the future world's top laner, received extremely high exposure.
Shortly after the S9 World Championship concluded, the LCK league unexpectedly announced the LCK Casters Cup event, revealing seven teams composed of various casters and retired professional players, and also announced that a special team would participate.
At first, everyone thought it was a professional team or a second-string team, but when the tournament began on November 20th, they realized something was off.
On the morning of November 21st, Jiang Shu was awakened from his sleep by the piercing ringtone.
He groggily picked up his phone, turned off the alarm, and sat up from the bed.
Rubbing his messy hair, he unlocked his phone.
He habitually opened the forum and saw the top trending topic.
#IZONEAllMembersParticipateInCasterCup#
Jiang Shu instantly sobered up. Was yesterday the opening live broadcast of the Casters Cup?
Thinking this, he clicked on the topic, and the very first item at the top was a video.
The Casters Cup was an official event organized by the LCK league, so the competition venue used was the official LCK league arena.
There were a total of eight teams in the Casters Cup, with seven teams composed of retired players and casters appearing one after another.
Soon, with the host's announcement, the eighth team, as a mysterious guest, was about to make its appearance.
The piano music suddenly started, and the next second, Jiang Shu opened the bullet comments, and the previously empty screen was instantly filled with a flurry of comments like snowflakes.
As soon as the prelude to 'La Vie en Rose' began, everyone guessed the origin of this mysterious team.
The audience in the venue and the other participating teams all stood up, watching the girls who walked out one after another and cheering them on.
"The eighth participating team of the LCK Casters Cup, they are the DM Team, composed of members from the popular group IZONE!"
As the host introduced them, under the backdrop of 'La Vie en Rose' music, the members of IZONE lined up.
"3, 2, 1."
"Hello everyone, we are IZONE!"
"Oh!!!"
A deafening cheer suddenly erupted from the audience.
With the foundation laid by the survival show, IZONE's national popularity was extremely high, achieving a complete surpassing of the previous girl group ceiling, IVE, just three months after their debut.
Currently, except for awards, they have completely crushed IVE in all other aspects, and their data continues to break the records set by IVE.
"Starting Top Laner, Yujin!" The host began introducing the members. Ahn Yujin grinned and waved vigorously at the audience, looking like a large dog greeting its owner.
The audience below naturally did not hold back their cheers.
"Substitute Top Laner, Nako!"
Normally, substitutes wouldn't have their positions specifically introduced, and they would only be introduced after the starters. However, the DM Team was special, so they broke with tradition and introduced them by position.
"Starting Jungler, Sakura!"
This time, the cheers were even louder than for Ahn Yujin and Yabuki Nako before. After all, Miyawaki Sakura was famous for loving games, and the audience, who didn't know her true skill level, had high expectations for her.
"Substitute Jungler…"
The ten members were introduced by position one by one.
The five starters were composed of the most popular members Ahn Yujin, Miyawaki Sakura, Kim Minju, Zhang Yuanying, and Choi Yena, who had the relatively highest skill level among the others. The other five served as substitutes for various positions.
"Head Coach Eun Bi! Coach Chae Yeon!"
"Let's welcome the DM Team!"
The video ended there. After turning off the video, Jiang Shu saw that the trending topics list was full of hot searches related to the LCK Casters Cup.
Even the news of the Qilin sub-unit's comeback at the end of the month was pushed down.
The overwhelming amount of IZONE-related content saved DM Entertainment's promotional budget. This kind of free ride on the un-dissipated heat of the S-Championship seemed like a profitable deal no matter how you looked at it.
Many entertainment companies wanted to get a piece of the esports pie, but they always lacked connections. However, Jiang Shu sent over a certain 'Great Teacher Zhou,' and by a strange coincidence, he managed to break into it.
He wondered if other companies would be envious when they saw such high popularity.
Jiang Shu chuckled at the thought.
Now that he had gotten into the esports circle, it wouldn't take too much effort to arrange for other groups to make guest appearances later.
"Should I offer courses on esports-related knowledge?" Jiang Shu wondered.
He remembered that back then, Cheng Xiao came to watch games and marketed her persona, attending all sorts of events. Then, after filming a drama, she completely ruined her reputation in the esports circle, to the point where it was impossible to clear her name.
Jiang Shu wondered if he should provide some insurance for the company's artists. He didn't want to give up on the tempting cake that was esports.
He didn't have as much capital as large companies to operate a club, but if he couldn't eat the meat, he could at least have some soup, right?
After thinking for a while, Jiang Shu came to a conclusion.
He could offer similar courses.
If they were going to piggyback, they should do it seriously, without any mishaps.
After a simple wash-up, Jiang Shu went to the living room and looked at November 30th circled on the calendar, with a line of Chinese characters written below it.
Qilin Debut.
"After Bae Joo-hyun and Seulgi debut, the doubts about Bae Joo-hyun's strength will be dispelled. At that time, we can seize the opportunity to announce the dates for the family concert and the comebacks of various groups," Jiang Shu murmured.
As the end of the year approached, most groups, apart from the Qilin sub-unit, were on hiatus from comebacks, busy with various activities and schedules.
Even ITZY, who urgently needed to build up their popularity, had stopped their comebacks. This time, they needed to speed things up.
He couldn't keep Tian Xiaojuan from debuting forever. He needed to quickly build up Wangdao Passion and then arrange a good exit for both ITZY and Tian Xiaojuan.
Aespa had already appeared, and (G)I-DLE should also make their debut.
Jiang Shu already had a vague idea for ITZY's exit strategy.
Currently, ITZY had already reached a second-tier level, just one comeback away from the first-tier. As for (G)I-DLE's debut, there was no rush this year or next; there was still a year's time, and ITZY could definitely reach a super-first-tier level.
As for a top-tier group…
Jiang Shu wasn't sure if he could achieve it, but wasn't there one right now?
Back then, T-ara was at its peak, once considered capable of challenging Girls' Generation's dominant position.
Now, with no T-ara and Girls' Generation no longer existing, it would be a bit of a shame if that iconic scene didn't happen.
ITZY, pushed to its limit, challenging peak IZONE?
Who would win?
Jiang Shu wasn't sure, but just thinking about it was exciting.
Jiang Shu smiled slightly, withdrew his gaze, and left his home.