CS: You are only 16 years old, and you want me to make a comeback?

Chapter 327 An Irresistible Temptation

Saturday, September 2022, 10.

For most office workers, today will be a pleasant weekend.

But sh1r0, the C9 sniper, was still diligently studying match recordings in the training room.

The screen showed a replay of Team A playing against Forze. sh1ro watched Team A leave the court with a score of 14-16, feeling quite emotional.

"Who would have thought that the once-dominant team can't even qualify for a Major now?" sh1ro lamented.

Although they are not in the same region, they still have some affection for Team A.

During their rise to prominence, they learned many of their highly disciplined playing styles from Team A. Now, seeing Team A suddenly collapse, their feelings are inevitably complicated.

Ah Le, whose physique was already slightly puffed up, pushed up his glasses and said, "I'm not surprised. Ever since Da Zhuang joined, Team A's performance has had a strange smell."

"Team A's club doesn't have the patience to let them adjust and keeps changing their formation. How can they possibly achieve results like that?"

sh1ro also agreed with Ale's statement that CSGO teams are not 1+1=2. Players need a lot of time to work together and gradually develop chemistry.

But a rebuttal-type personality stepped forward in the room, saying, "It doesn't necessarily take time to adjust to something like this."

"Then tell me, which team didn't take time to gel?" Ah Le retorted.

Without hesitation, Nafany replied, "The falcon."

Upon hearing Ah Le's theory, he immediately thought of his former friend, Young.

Ah Le: "..."

Upon closer reflection, he realized it was indeed true; the Falcon team was a complete numerical monster, ridiculously overpowered.

This group has only been around for a few months, yet they've already made it from the RMR to the Major Legends.

“Falcon was an accident…” Ah Le said speechlessly.

Nafany was overjoyed to have won the argument.

The computer screen was still showing the footage of Team Astralis leaving the stage. sh1ro couldn't help but say, "Team Astralis has a huge fan base all over the world. Now that Team Astralis has missed the Major, we can properly receive the heartbroken fans of Team Astralis."

It's easy to imagine the confusion that Team A's fans will feel next.

While fans of other teams were debating whether to put their team in a 3-0 position or advance, A team fans could only wonder, "Where are my favorite team members?"

Sh1ro couldn't help but smile at the thought of that scene.

Nafany's argumentative personality kicked in again: "It's not our place to take in the Team A fans. They'll soon be joining Team Vitality and Team Falcons. After all, the members of the peak Team A have already scattered to different teams."

Hearing his Genshin Impact team's unusual command angle, A-Le felt a sense of enlightenment. He laughed and said, "You know what, if Falcons face Vitality next, I'd like to see what kind of expression the Falcons fans will have."

sh1ro clicked his tongue twice and said, "A returning player from 18 came back to watch the game and saw device relentlessly attacking the 'Magic Man' Adu. The sky was falling."

Old Sauce Hobbit stepped forward and said, "Why can't it be Demon Man Adu smashing the device? Why can't it be Old Sauce's rise?"

As an old-timer, he believes in the worldview of Old Deng's comeback.

He felt that both Mo Nan and A Du were traditional veteran riflemen, and even as they got older, their rich experience still allowed them to deliver outstanding performances on the field.

The relatively younger Device hasn't been performing as well for the Falcon lately.

The discussion couldn't reach a conclusion. Ah Le yawned. Six hours of sleep yesterday had left him feeling a bit tired, but he still needed to go for training.

sh1ro then turned off Team A's replay, found a file called "young demo" in a folder on his computer, and started talking as he opened it:

"It's not that Magic Man and Adu are in bad form, the main problem is that Falcon is in such good form. This team's frontal firepower is really frightening."

No one could refute this statement. They hadn't expected Jiang Yang to pull out another team and be able to demonstrate its combat power in such a short time.

The current Falcon is a complete anomaly among the teams at the Rio Major.

It's terrifying, but it also inspires fighting spirit.

"Watching Young's videos again?" This wasn't the first time Hobbit had seen sh1ro do this.

"Hmm." sh1ro picked up a small notebook from the side and started taking notes, entering a state of focused concentration. "Young is simply a freak. His playing style is clearly that of an aggressive sniper, but when it comes to defensive positioning, he's rather conservative, or rather, cunning?"

“I learned a lot from his videos,” sh1r0 happily shared with his older brother.

For sh1r0, Jiang Yang has been his mentor for the past six months.

Unlike snipers like S1mple and Zaiwu, whose personal styles are too strong, Jiang Yang's style of play also has many 'VAC' moments.

However, Jiang Yang's VAC moments can all be deduced from the information. sh1r0 can capture how Jiang Yang thinks during the game and how he makes that shot in a reasonable way.

As one of the most iconic defensive snipers, sh1r0 is acutely aware that he has been stuck at the same level for too long and desperately needs new techniques or changes to make himself stronger.

By chance, he came across a highlight reel of Jiang Yang's first year in the industry.

This compilation is edited linearly in time. sh1r0 can clearly feel that the further the time goes, the more comfortable Jiang Yang's perspective becomes.

He specifically looked for the video recordings and gradually discovered from them that Jiang Yang's tactics and techniques were changing rapidly.

Jiang Yang has made rapid progress in his skills in such a short period of time.

As fellow prodigies, he firmly believed that if Jiang Yang could do it, so could he.

He understood that in the entire professional circle, perhaps only Zaiwu possessed Jiang Yang's outrageous talent.

If you lack talent, you can make up for it with hard work!

He spent more time making himself stronger!
As the older brother, Hobbit could only feel a pang of sadness as he looked at sh1r0's increasingly dark circles. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he could only helplessly pat sh1r0 on the shoulder.

He wanted to give sh1r0 a break, but the Major was coming up, and all the teams were trying to climb higher.

The painful part is that there's only one place to stand on the mountaintop.

He took a deep breath and returned to his position to begin practicing his shooting in a deathmatch.

sh1r0's diligence has successfully inspired the other members of the team, and now the entire C9 team is filled with a positive and energetic atmosphere. Hobbit has a strong premonition at this moment.

They had the opportunity to reach that summit, and he had the chance to stand on the Major trophy stage again after 5 years.

This time, it seems that the goddess of fate has taken notice of them.

Upon entering the deathmatch server where professional players were gathered, he noticed that the top right corner was being spammed with messages.

Young used an AK47 to headshot and kill NIKO.

Young killed Twistzz with an AK47.

JKS used a Desert Eagle to headshot and kill Twistzz.

Young used an AK47 to headshot and kill SpinX.

【…】

Hobbit understands very well that the falcon may be the biggest variable in their mountaineering journey!

But after carefully scanning the deathmatch server, I found that all four of Falcon's gunners were there, but the Falcon commander was nowhere to be seen.

"You really don't practice shooting?"

The Falcon team is quite unique.

This team has some of the most firepower superstars in the entire Major, as well as the in-game leader with the lowest firepower in the entire Major.

For the commander position, expectations for their shooting skills are relatively low. Generally speaking, someone who can occasionally deliver a standout performance with stats close to 1 can already be considered a gunfight commander.

Just like nafany hasn't been playing Genshin Impact lately, but his marksmanship is incredibly good, and he's once again earned the title of "steel gun commander".

But breathing is a bit special.

If Jiang Yang's firepower is on a different level than everyone else's, then the same goes for Breath's firepower.

However, one is far higher than the other, while the other is far lower.

After completing this RMR phase, Falcon was in perfect form, but his breathing stat was still in red, placing him at the lowest level among all players.

Just how bad was his marksmanship?

Many times when he turns his back to the enemy, he is caught off guard and killed.

From a visual perspective, his shooting performance was even worse than many ordinary players, but his excellent command skills made up for his shortcomings in shooting.

The difference in command is extremely difficult to discern during a match, but firepower is very obvious.

As professional players, C9 could see that their breathing was enough to keep Young, NIKO, and device performing consistently.

However, their poor marksmanship, particularly their breathing difficulties, still sparked a discussion among them.

After all, as a professional player, his current shooting skills are still too eye-catching.

They had been discussing it not long ago.

Could breathing be a foreshadowing of the Falcon's fatal explosion?

C9 is also looking forward to that scene happening.

……

Inside the Falcon training room.

Jiang Yang's intense, one-shot kill phase in the deathmatch has ended.

The falcon also took a short rest.

While Jiang Yang was live-streaming, he received a question from a viewer: "Young, could you share some assignments from the Challenger group so we can copy them?"

With the RMR over, many teams have been eliminated, and the Major Challengers Tournament is about to begin.

As a team that advanced to the Major as the top seed from their group in the RMR stage, Falcons do not need to participate in the Challengers Stage, allowing them to relax a bit.

However, we still need to pay attention to the performance of the challenger teams.

Meanwhile, for ordinary players, in addition to watching the matches and the post-match discussions, another important aspect of participating in the Major is the predictions about the Major.

If you can guess correctly and get the diamond coins, you can then taunt your best friend, "Do you even know CSGO?"

Many players who have difficulty making choices will also copy the predictions of professional players or commentators at this time, because they feel that the commentators and professional players have better understanding and may be able to make better predictions.

NIKO and Breathing also came over upon hearing this, intending to see how Jiang Yang selected the challenger group assignments.

Even within the same team, they had disagreements about choosing assignments.

"You guys really copied the right person. As the winner of the previous Antwerp Major Diamond Coin, the streamer will definitely make you look good."

Jiang Yang opened the prediction page in the client: "However, I haven't decided on my predictions for this year yet. I'll just confirm them today."

Upon hearing Jiang Yang's words, the players who had originally planned to copy his strategies suddenly felt uneasy.

Because Jiang Yang's attitude was too casual.

Jiang Yang opened the betting platform and was surprised to see 16 betting teams at the top.

Having already purchased the betting coins, he has now received a Rio bronze coin.

If he can successfully predict the winner in the Rio Major Challenger Group, he can upgrade his Bronze Coin to Silver Coin.

Winning in the subsequent Legends and Champions groups will also upgrade your betting coins once.

(Replace GL with Green Dragon and Greyhound with RA)

江阳给新观众解释：“这个竞猜啊，就是需要在晋级以及3-0、0-3的9个竞猜中对5个。”

"But as a professional player, I will show you what a perfect play is, and let you know what it means to advance with a perfect score."

Jiang Yang's two teammates wouldn't believe a word he said.

"First, let's turn our attention to my hometown team, RA. My fellow countrymen have performed exceptionally well this year, successfully qualifying for the Major. I've already seen the changes in CNCS from them." Jiang Yang said, placing RA in its proper place.

NIKO said, "Is that your reason for putting your fellow countrymen in a 0-3 situation?"

After all that talk, it turns out I have absolutely no expectations for my hometown team.

Young is hilarious, so I've decided not to copy his homework anymore.

[It feels like Young is trying to sabotage our assignment.]

Jiang Yang shook his head: "That's called having a clear understanding of their strength."

RA narrowly escaped the Asian RMR competition this time, and Jiang Yang was very happy to see his compatriots on the field.

However, he also watched RA's match videos carefully and knew that RA's current problems were not bad, at least they were still a bit lacking when fighting against these European teams.

No one can become fat overnight. RA got a good beating at the Rio Major, so it's good to learn from the experience and go back with it.

"As for the 3-0 team, I choose to believe in my good buddy siuhy. With Mouz leading the way, winning this challenger group shouldn't be too difficult."

NIKO, standing next to him, could barely contain her laughter.

For most players, there is one principle they adhere to when working on Majors.

The 3-0 and 0-3 positions are too difficult to achieve; these two positions are generally given away for free, and you can basically just pick them randomly.

Teams that are truly worth looking forward to will be placed in the advancement category.

Jiang Yang boasted for so long, but in the end, his hometown team and his good friends all got carried away.

Good for you.

"Then let me think about the teams that will advance..." Jiang Yang said, while placing the logos of the teams he thought could advance down.

"Black Panthers' home advantage, VP's consistent dominance over weaker teams, C9's dominance, Little Bee's carry potential, BNE's dark horse legend..."

NIKO interrupted Jiang Yang's rambling: "I could understand the previous ones, but what is this BNE Dark Horse Legend?!"

He felt that BNE was a standard sticker team. Although they had a breakout performance in the RMR stage, once they entered the Major main event, the established powerhouse teams should have crushed them.

In NIKO's work, BNE is placed in positions 0-3.

Therefore, he completely failed to understand Jiang Yang's decision to advance via BNE.

"Why can't BNE advance?" Jiang Yang retorted. "They were in good form during the RMR stage, and their overall strategy is very simple: they basically group up and finish off enemies in one go."

"This style of play is too simple, so simple that it's hard to counter it. You can only win by relying on your raw strength. But their individual form is very good. I don't think there are many teams in the challenger group that can reliably beat them."

Jiang Yang truly admired the guys from BNE.

As a team primarily composed of internet cafe players, they have performed better and better in several Majors, and have made a name for themselves through their love and support for CS.

Jiang Yang really likes the team's spirit.

“If I could, I would even want to put them 3-0. If they have a good enough draw, they have a real chance to make it into the Legends group with a 3-0 record.”

NIKO's face still showed a strong sense of skepticism.

He still didn't believe that such a niche team could make it to the Major Legends stage.

江阳这时候果断将BNE放到3-0当中，转头问NIKO：“打个赌怎么样？如果BNE最终3-0了，夺冠后你给我买30把钥匙让我开箱。”

Upon hearing this, NIKO replied without hesitation, "If I really win the championship, I'll give you all the prize money."

For Niko, although the prize money for the Major is substantial, he values ​​the honor it represents even more.

Jiang Yang smiled and said, "No need. It's really BNE 3-0. Just buy me 30 keys to open the box. That way, I can open one box every day and I'll be in a great mood."

As he was saying this, Jiang Yang suddenly felt a bit itchy and directly used the remaining balance on Steam to buy a few keys.

Just as I was about to open it, I suddenly had a stomachache.

"NIKO, can you play it for me for a while? I'm going to the bathroom. I'll wash my hands and come back to properly unpack it."

As he spoke, Jiang Yang rushed into the restroom.

NIKO, on the other hand, became a tool and took over the live stream.

How does NIKO view G2's failure to qualify for the Major?

“Uh…” NIKO was silent for a while before saying, “I didn’t want to see this result, but that’s the Major. The Major is so cruel. All your flaws will be magnified infinitely in this competition. G2 tried their best, but it’s still not enough.”

"As for Hunter, I called him after the match, and he told me he would work hard to prepare for the upcoming matches."

Niko has mixed feelings about G2.

He spent a long time with G2 and almost won a Major trophy. He also played CS with his cousin for a long time.

After repeated unsuccessful attempts, they could only seek their own future.

What made you decide to join Falcons?

"Young's phone call!"

NIKO answered without hesitation, "You know, when you're sitting at home feeling lost about the future, and the best professional player in the entire scene calls you, who can resist that charm?"

He asked in surprise, "He really called you?"

NIKO nodded: "Otherwise, he just made a video call to me and said he was joining Falcons and asked if I wanted to come. Who could refuse that?"

NIKO said cheekily, "The moment he said that, I felt like countless trophies were beckoning to me, you know?"

[@falcons NIKO: Sorry bro, please see the Major trophy for details]

Young: "NIKO, I'm coming to Falcons, are you coming? Can I borrow your USB drive?"

[An irresistible temptation]

Young's words were like saying, "I couldn't refuse when he played well in a ranked match and then invited me to play pro for his team."

[NIKO, I also received a call from Young. He even said he wanted to send me a gift.]

【…】

Just then, NIKO noticed a few unusual comments on the screen.

[hooxi, can you explain why your marksmanship is so bad?]

If hooxi could be replaced by a strong-gun commander, then this team would be complete.

NIKO immediately said, "Don't smear my teammates in this live stream. Hooxi is an excellent commander."

Even though Hooxi's shooting skills were indeed somewhat lacking, he still protected his teammates immediately.

Hooxi patted NIKO on the shoulder.

His decision to draw fire lines for the entire team was naturally influenced by data considerations.

He appeared on the live stream camera and replied, "Because in this team, even if I don't kill anyone for six months, my team can still keep winning!"

From the first time he saw Jiang Yang go on a killing spree in the training match during the Falcon training camp, Hooxi had this idea. At that time, Jiang Yang still took the initiative to take over in a 1v5 situation and even pushed the opponent all the way. How could he not be amazed?

He had already concluded that even if I didn't kill any of them, Jiang Yang and his two companions could still lead him to victory in the game.

Now, when faced with netizens' doubts about his marksmanship, he simply expressed his thoughts at the time.

In the Falcon team now, his marksmanship isn't required to be very good; as long as he can win the game, that's enough.

After answering, hooxi stopped replying to this topic.

NIKO looked at Hooxi with considerable admiration.

CSGO is a community game, and it's almost impossible for professional players to avoid being talked about by the community.

Moreover, Hooxi is part of such an outstanding team as Falcon, so his marksmanship is bound to be discussed in the community.

But now that Hooxi has chosen to respond directly, there will be relatively fewer rumors and gossip.

Just then, NIKO heard the sound of the toilet flushing coming from the bathroom, and he smiled slyly.

Then he picked up the mouse and started operating in Jiang Yang's personal inventory, intending to open and use all the keys that Jiang Yang had just bought.

Before Jiang Yang came out of the restroom, he began his rapid unpacking process.

I quickly opened it, then pressed ESC, and a blue screen flashed by.

Open it again, press ESC again, and the white screen flashes by.

As the image of blue sky and white clouds flew by, NIKO's smile became increasingly grotesque.

Just then, Jiang Yang came out of the restroom and saw NIKO frantically unpacking things on his computer. "Holy crap, NIKO, you owe me five keys!"

"Absolutely impossible!" Upon seeing this, NIKO used the fastest hand speed of her entire career.

Use the key quickly, then press ESC; a red screen flashes by...

NIKO's smile grew increasingly joyful.

"Wait a minute... why is it red?!"

The evil old nun panicked instantly.

Jiang Yang then grabbed the mouse and entered his personal inventory.

Suddenly, the latest items in the warehouse popped up.

It was clearly a 'butterfly knife | Doppler'.

Jiang Yang moved the mouse pointer over it; it was even brand new from the factory!

WTF!!!

What incredible luck!

[Is NIKO really that lucky?]

[Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that Young was just incredibly lucky and got lucky with the gold?]

[This brand new factory price is probably around $3000! This is a steal for Young!]

[This is hilarious! NIKO tried to secretly open all of her cousin's boxes, but ended up getting a gold one on the last one!]

After Jiang Yang clearly saw the details of the butterfly knife, his expression changed completely. He gave Old Ni a big kiss and exclaimed, "Oh, brother, I absolutely adore you! You're my lucky star!!"

NIKO didn't expect that after all the good things going for her, the last shot would be a gold-tier weapon for Jiang Yang. You could say it's just a low-tier gold weapon, but this is a top-tier butterfly knife Doppler.

He was still completely bewildered, staring blankly at the screen: "This... isn't right."

He quickly realized what was happening and shouted at Jiang Yang, "Give me half of the butterfly knife...give me half of the butterfly knife."

Jiang Yang immediately went into "playing dead" mode, pretending he couldn't hear anything.

"I'm going to the FaZe training room right now to tell Broky that I just got a butterfly knife worth $3000! NIKO, you're my lucky star!"

"No, you should at least give me half!" NIKO's sorrowful voice echoed in the corridor, but all that remained was the sound of Jiang Yang's departing footsteps.

While complaining about Jiang Yang's stinginess, NIKO returned to her seat in a huff.

That should have been my luck!
Why was Jiang Yang given a gold medal?
NIKO was quite unconvinced.

20 minute later.

Looking at the 500 blue sky and white cloud images in his warehouse from his seat, NIKO felt like dying.

……

(End of this chapter)