Translator: Star River from w.a.n.gmamaread
Proofreader: Rhith
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Chen Xiao drove his sports car out of the underground garage. The silver-white levitating sports car dashed along the aerial levitation lane, as if it was flying in the sky. Xie Mingzhe opened the car window, enjoying the excitement caused by being a flyer.
Chen Xiao sat in the driver's seat, wearing a pair of sungla.s.ses. He looked really cool when driving a car.
Xie Mingzhe sincerely thought that he looked better after dressing up. The previous s.h.a.ggy hairstyle really distracted people's attention from his handsome features. What was he thinking? Even if he was a booster, he didn't need to be that slovenly and dispirited……
Chen Xiao knew that Xie Mingzhe must be complaining about him secretly, but he ignored it and got to the point, "You must have known my brother Chen Qianlin's story. You didn't ask me last night, so I a.s.sume that you looked it up yourself."
Xie Mingzhe smiled and said, "I was afraid that it would be hard for you to say things about your brother. So I just looked for information about him online. All the news said that Legend Lin left because he lost the case and became hopeless. What was the case really about, could you tell me?"
"I'm about to." Chen Xiao took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts, then he said in a low voice, "Ten years ago, during the first season of Star Card League, my brother and Shao Bo built the Sanctuary Club together. My brother was responsible for making cards and partic.i.p.ating in compet.i.tions, while Shao Bo had charge of management and logistic works. Shao Bo was his friend since childhood. They grew up together and went to the same university. My brother extremely trusted the man.
"My brother was outstandingly talented. His original plant cards were powerful and thus he won individual prizes in three successive seasons. Many investors came forward and the club was gaining money. Everything went so well. However, at the beginning of the fourth season, taking advantage of my brother's growing fame, Shao Bo secretly took my brother's cards to auction. A card could casually be sold at several thousand crystal coins. Making hundreds of duplicates, he could earn millions in one day merely by selling cards……
"At that time my brother was too busy playing games to discover this. When he found out, his cards had been duplicated by the club without permission and hundreds of cards had been sold already. My brother disapproved of his behaviour and wanted to retrieve the card copyrights. The problem was that the contract didn't clearly indicate that the card copyright belonged to him. On the contrary, there was a clause saying that 'When working at the club, 30% of the player's income belongs to the club; 70% belongs to the player'. Shao Bo got hold of it and went to town on it. He claimed that my brother's original cards should belong to the club's income during the contract……
"When they originally set up the club, he gave verbal agreements so many times to my brother that my brother could dispose cards in whatever way he wanted. My brother trusted him, so he didn't record his words, thus those verbal agreements could not be considered as evidence in court. According to the contract, my brother was not in the right. And it was legal for Shao Bo, the club's manager, to sell his cards." Chen Xiao frowned, and said indignantly, "He insisted on the clause, so we lost the cards in the end."
"…………"
Being betrayed by the best friend? Xie Mingzhe could imagine how furious and disappointed Chen Qianlin was. They grew up together and Chen Qianlin trusted him so much. However, the man even set a trap for him. If Xie Mingzhe was him, he would kill him. Xie Mingzhe sympathized with him and couldn't resist asking, "Legend Lin was the founder of the Wood card group. He must be very exalted in the league. Didn't anyone in the league try to help him?"
"Nie Yuandao, Zhen Feng and so many legends who had personal friendships with my brother were trying to help him. Nevertheless, laws and relationships are separate. My brother couldn't submit some more persuasive evidence. There was nothing they could do."
Xie Mingzhe's mood was complicated. If you didn't major in law, then there would indeed be a risk of being cheated when it came to signing a contract. He had already heard about innumerable disputes over the copyright earlier on Earth. It was Chen Qianlin's fault for innocently putting too much trust in his friend. Still, his friend was a jerk.
Being betrayed by his childhood friend, plus losing the card copyrights because of losing the case. No wonder Chen Qianlin chose to retire.
Xie MIngzhe didn't know what to say. After a while, he sighed inside and said, "……Your brother's experience was sad. Did the penalty cost your brother a bundle?"
Chen Xiao said, "Yes. And he couldn't get his copyright. The copyright of many good cards my brother had made still remains with Sanctuary today."
Xie Mingzhe couldn't resist swearing, "f.u.c.k! Sanctuary still exists?"
Chen Xiao shrugged, "As long as it has money, there are still many players willing to sign with it. However, the influence of the dispute between my brother and the club was strong, so players with real capabilities won't choose Sanctuary. As a result, these last few years Sanctuary has gone downhill. Nowadays it just relies on my brother's card group and fosters several second and third-cla.s.s players, who couldn't even survive for one minute in the arena when they fought against Tang Muzhou."
Xie Mingzhe praised, "Good for Tang Muzhou! Even if Sanctuary holds the copyrights of your brother's Wood cards, the most powerful players with the Wood attribute are in the Fenghua Club built by Tang Muhzou, which puts shame on Sanctuary. Shao Bo is really shameless. I can't believe that he is still using your brother's cards."
Chen Xiao gave a scornful laugh, "The players in his club don't have the ability to make cards themselves, so they have to use the old cards created by my brother. Fortunately, the Star Card authorities keep updating data and a lot of my brother's cards are out of date and thus impractical currently. They are just marking time, which means they have no choice but to be continuously surpa.s.sed by other clubs. In the last season, Sanctuary didn't reach the final, not to mention winning a prize. That's very disgraceful."
This could be seen as karma. Shao Bo was actually short-sighted. If he took a step backwards in the first place and gave the copyright back to Chen Qianlin, instead of selling his cards everywhere, he could hold onto Chen Qianlin, the legend. If Chen Qianlin stayed in Sanctuary, maybe Tang Muzhou would follow his Shifu and sign with the club. With these two talented players, Sanctuary could remain on the top of the league's pyramid for a long time.
Now look at what he had done. He was greedy for the short-term shoestring margin and made Chen Qianlin leave. Consequently, he ruined his reputation and made himself a dreadful enemy, Tang Muzhou. No amount of money from the short term could compete with a gold mine. What an idiot!
Xie Mingzhe cursed a little inside and changed the object, "Brother Chen. The reason that I want to cooperate with you is that I appreciate your candour and open mind. Originally I was just a novice who knew nothing. You offered me an opportunity to be an intern in your studio. We had already reached a consensus on the 1500 monthly salary. However when we signed the contract, you proactively proposed to pay me 3000 a month as a regular employee. I don't think that there are so many bosses who would like to proactively give a raise. Your gesture alone already made me feel that you're not a man greedy for slight profits. Other people must save as much money as possible, and it would be better to get free labour. You're different than them. You treat everyone well. You treat us to lunch every time you make money. And the studio's atmosphere is really harmonious."
Chen Xiao laughed, "It seemed that I did the right thing to give you a raise."
Xie Mingzhe laughed too and went on saying, "I don't want us to become enemies some day like your brother and Shao Bo did. In order to avoid the situation, if we decide to set up a club in the future, we should put every clause in the contract, stipulating everything, including right, responsibility and profit sharing. We also scrutinize every clause, then find a professional lawyer to review the contract. Everyone would be a.s.sured if we were restricted by the contract."
Chen Xiao nodded briskly, "Sure. Even reckoning makes long friends. I don't want to have disputes with you, and our team should be unified. When you meet my brother later, do not talk about the copyright stuff. I'm introducing you to him only because I want him to instruct you, so that you can make cards suitable for the game as soon as possible. If he agrees to make you an apprentice, would you be on board?"
Xie Mingzhe said, "Of course. It would definitely be my honour to have him as my Shifu!"
Although he had played some games in his previous life, they were not card games. Xie Mingzhe was still perplexed about how to design a card group. It would be like a timely rain if a legend like Chen Qianlin was willing to instruct him. More importantly, Chen Qianlin had retired, which meant he was a freelancer and didn't have a connection with any clubs. So some sensitive issues, such as clubs as well card copyright, wouldn't be involved. And it wouldn't clash with building his own club at all.
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