LPL didn't want me? I joined SKT instead!

cCarter pulled up a chart, "Everyone should remember that at the beginning of the Summer Split, our bot lane duo was in extremely poor form, and the team suffered a humiliating nine-game losing streak, even facing the danger of not being able to enter the playoffs. At this time, Xiao Yan arrived by plane."

"His first match was against the then-dominant KT team. In that match, he picked Kalista and dealt 45% of the team's damage in 25 minutes. From that day on, SKT began a terrifying winning streak."

cCarter pointed to the data on the screen: "Throughout the entire Summer Split regular season, Xiao Yan ranked first among all LCK ADC players in four core metrics: damage per minute, damage conversion rate, KDA, and gold difference against his opponent! And it was a commanding lead!"

"At the World Championship, his performance was not affected by the larger stage; on the contrary, it became even more terrifying..." cCarter switched to the World Championship data.

cCarter closed the report, looked up, and stared firmly at Kim Sun-joong: "General Manager, from a tactical perspective, Xiao Yan's importance to SKT is now no less than Faker's. In the past, SKT was carried by Faker alone, with all the tactical focus on the mid lane. But Xiao Yan's appearance has completely changed SKT's ecosystem."

"He not only possesses exceptional mechanics, but what's even more terrifying is his extremely high game intelligence and tactical awareness. SKT now boasts the most terrifying dual-core system in League of Legends history. Faker orchestrates the mid-lane, drawing enemy fire; Xiao Yan dominates the bottom lane, taking over the game. As long as these two are still around, SKT's dominance can continue for at least another three years!" cCarter stated decisively.

After listening to cCarter's report, the meeting room fell into a brief silence once again. Everyone clearly realized one fact: the young man who had only been a starter for one season had unknowingly grown into an indispensable core player for SKT. His status in the eyes of the management and coaching staff had quietly risen to a level comparable to Faker's.

"Since he is so important tactically, what is our biggest problem right now?" Kim Sun-joong turned to look at CFO Park Tae-joon.

Park Tae-joon gave a wry smile and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "General Manager, the biggest problem is... money. Or rather, it's not just about money."

He opened the laptop in front of him and pulled up several top-secret internal intelligence documents.

"According to reliable sources we have, within just one hour of Xiao Yan winning the FMVP tonight, the managers of the top five LPL clubs—EDG, IG, WE—and even several newly established teams that have just received huge capital injections, have begun frantically contacting Xiao Yan through various channels."

Park Tae-joon swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly: "The big spenders in the LPL have completely gone crazy. The owner of IG reportedly slammed his fist on the table and offered a three-year, 150 million RMB contract, plus a large river-view apartment in downtown Shanghai as a signing bonus. EDG is not to be outdone; they not only matched his salary but also promised to allocate all tactical resources to him and build the team around him."

Several franchised teams in the North American LCS, such as TSM and TL, have also sent offers. Although the salaries are not as extravagant as those in the LPL, they have promised extremely high revenue sharing and additional conditions such as green card processing.

"Even within our LCK, teams like KT, Samsung, and Longzhu are all eager to poach him, even at great expense."

Park Tae-joon looked at Kim Sun-joong and said in a heavy tone, "General Manager, Xiao Yan only signed a one-year performance-based contract. This contract seems like a lot, but given the value he has shown now and his terrifying popularity worldwide, if we only renew his contract according to the standard salary for top players, we will definitely not be able to keep him."

Kim Sun-joong's brows furrowed tightly, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table, making a dull "tap tap tap" sound.

He certainly knew what this meant. Although SKT was backed by South Korea's largest telecom operator and had abundant financial resources, it would still struggle in a pure salary competition when facing the wealthy second-generation owners and massive capital of the LPL.

But, let Xiao Yan go?

The thought flashed through Kim Sun-joong's mind for only a moment before he completely extinguished it.

Absolutely not!

Xiao Yan is not just a player; he is now SKT's cash cow and the cornerstone of SKT's team building for the next few years!

"Everyone," Kim Sun-joong stopped typing, abruptly stood up, placed his hands on the conference table, and his gaze sharpened, "we must face a reality. From tonight onwards, the landscape of League of Legends has changed. Xiao Yan is no longer a promising rising star; he is a superstar on par with Faker, capable of influencing the entire World Championship!"

"Faker is our totem, a symbol of our past glory. Xiao Yan is our guarantee for the future! These two are indispensable!"

Kim Sun-joong took a deep breath and made an extremely bold decision: "CFO Park, draft a new contract immediately. We need to show Xiao Yan our utmost sincerity, an unprecedented sincerity!"

"First, the base salary should be directly aligned with Faker's current maximum contract, not a penny less! We need to let him know that within SKT, his status is on par with Faker's!"

"Secondly, increase the prize money sharing for tournaments and individual honor bonuses. As long as he can lead the team to a championship, money is not an issue!"

"Third, and this is the most important point," Kim Sun-joong's eyes flashed with a shrewd light, "I know the LPL can offer cash, but what we can offer is the foundation and commercial value they can't provide."

"We'll give Xiao Yan 70% of his personal commercial development rights! SKT will only retain 30% of the revenue. At the same time, we'll contact the parent company, SK Group, and we'll tailor a series of global endorsement plans specifically for Xiao Yan. His face, combined with his current popularity, makes him perfectly suited to be packaged as the top e-sports idol in Korea and even all of Asia! We need to make him understand that staying with SKT will maximize his commercial value!"

"Fourth, give him some advisory power regarding team personnel. During future transfer windows, the coaching staff must fully consider Xiao Yan's opinions on what type of support player to bring in, and even the rotation of top and jungle positions."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room gasped.

A top salary comparable to Faker's? 70% of the commercial development rights? And even the right to make personnel recommendations for the team?

This isn't just signing a player, it's practically signing a business partner!