Children who play video games won’t turn out bad and may even attain fame and fortune through the virtual world. Hu Shuo-chieh, who goes by the name of “SwordArt,” has signed a record-breaking US$6 million (approximately NT$173 million) contract. Hu’s salary is believed to be higher than the previous record held by a League of Legends championship player. Born in Taiwan, Hu is only 23 years old.
According to reporting by the Washington Post, US-based professional esports organization Team SoloMid (TSM) has shelled out an unprecedented amount of money to sign Taiwan’s top League of Legends player onto a two-year contract that will pay Hu US$3 million each year. The signing surpasses the previous record-high salary of US$2.3 million over two years, netted by South Korean gamer Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon.
Two years ago, Hu joined China’s Suning professional esports organization and this year made it to the finals of the League of Legends Pro League in China, but lost to South Korea’s DWG by 3-to-1. However, Hu’s potential caught the attention of TSM’s Vietnamese-American founder Andy Dinh, who says he sees the US$6 million contract as “a really small investment a decade down the road.”
Photo: screengrab from the Internet 照片：取自網路
Hu’s phenomenal rise to become the highest paid League of Legends gamer in the world is a story of dogged perseverance and hard graft. Hu was born into a low-income family and his father left home when he was only three years old. All he had to rely on was his mother, who worked her socks off to raise Hu and his sister, all on her own.
Hu’s first contact with League of Legends was during junior-high school. He and his friends formed an amateur team and soon began to make a name for themselves. The team then started to compete professionally and Hu became so absorbed in gaming that he would neglect sleep and meals. Hu’s mother naturally became worried and his gaming became a frequent point of friction between the two, placing a strain on their relationship. However, things improved after Hu’s mother saw that her son was not only achieving success, but also hadn’t “gone bad.” Hu’s annual salary broke through the NT$1 million mark and he was able to use his earnings to subsidize the family’s outgoings. Hu’s mother was finally able to understand and accept her son’s unfamiliar line of work, and she is now his number one fan.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
打電動的小孩不會變壞，甚至還能透過虛擬世界名利雙收！來自單親家庭的「蛇蛇」胡碩傑（SwordArt），已獲六百萬美元（約一．七三億台幣）的史上最大合約，一舉打破北美LCS聯盟紀錄，這名土生土長的台灣囝仔，不過年僅二十三歲。
華盛頓郵報指出，北美電競聯盟知名戰隊TSM相中台灣「英雄聯盟」高手胡碩傑，不惜祭出空前重金，這份保障合約將支付他明、後年各三百萬美元，大幅超越南韓許勝勳（Huni）先前簽下兩年兩百三十萬美元紀錄。
胡碩傑前年加盟中國蘇寧電競俱樂部，今年以中國LPL賽區第三種子，殺入英雄聯盟世界大賽總決賽，儘管一比三不敵南韓強敵DWG，潛力仍獲TSM美籍越裔創辦人丁安迪青睞，「六百萬美元不過是十年內一筆很小投資。」
躍居北美LCS聯盟最高身價，胡碩傑靠的是永不放棄的堅持與努力。他從小家境辛苦，父親自他三歲出走，只能靠上班族母親含辛茹苦，獨自扶養兄妹長大。
胡碩傑國中接觸英雄聯盟，與好友組業餘戰隊，很快打響名號，跨入職業電競，但媽媽難以接受兒子每天廢寢忘食打電動，經常發生摩擦關係緊張，直到他迭創佳績也沒變壞，甚至年薪破百萬貼補家用，才逐漸理解並接受這陌生領域，甚至變成頭號粉絲。
(自由時報梁偉銘)
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