CS: Demon King C, you said I was a genius?

Chapter 135 Cheers
Early morning of October 2024, 3

The dark clouds that had been lingering for many days finally broke through and began to pour down madly on Copenhagen, a city that has existed for more than eight centuries.

This made pedestrians hiding from the rain on the street wonder if summer had arrived early. Otherwise, why would the spring rain, which should have been continuous, be so violent?

Su Zhe sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the hotel, staring blankly at the street view outside.

I could hear the sound of raindrops hitting the glass, which was dense but rhythmic.

Just last night, with NIP losing to NAVI in the bo1 with a score of 2-3, the Major's legendary group event officially came to an end and entered the next stage.

In fact, when Su Zhe lost the game and knew that he was going to be eliminated, he didn't feel much. He only felt a sense of relief in his heart, mixed with a little confusion.

It wasn't until he and his teammates returned to the hotel to rest that an inexplicable discomfort began to linger in his heart, fermenting...

Until now, he began to feel irritated and wanted to find something to distract himself, but he also wanted to be quiet for a while.

"Ding-dong~ding-dong~ding-dong~"

The sound of three WeChat notifications in his pocket gradually brought him back to his senses. Su Zhe took out his phone and looked at the messages in a daze. They were from Danking.

[Brother, what a shame, we were so close! But beating G2 and VP in the Legends group is already great!]

[Alas~ Mouz, Little Bee, and NAVI are in such good shape, it's not shameful to lose to them.]

[Brother, your performance was already great. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Keep working hard at the next Major!]

After taking a quick glance, Su Zhe put his phone back into his pocket, looked out the window again and began to daydream.

Until I heard someone knocking on my door.

Su Zhe opened the door and found es3tag standing outside.

es3tag's expression was a bit complicated: "Have you packed your luggage?"

"Ah."

"Where are the peripherals in the training room?"

"Not yet, I'll go later."

"Come along, I'm on my way now."

Su Zhe nodded and said, "Okay."

He followed es3tag and started walking towards the training room.

es3tag used his room card to open the door to the training room. After entering, he sat down in his own seat for a short while. He rubbed the keycaps on the keyboard with his fingers and said with a chuckle:
"It feels like I've been here for a long time. I'm a little reluctant to leave now."

Su Zhe followed him in, and after taking a look around the already familiar environment, he smiled and said, "Yes, after all, I have spent most of my time in this room these days."

As he spoke, he sat down in his seat and leaned against the back of the chair.

es3tag looked at Su Zhe's actions and suddenly asked, "What are your plans for the future? Have you decided which team you're going to join after the Major?"

Su Zhe was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then he realized that his days at NIP were coming to an end.

He let out a long breath, then turned to look at es3tag. After a moment of silence, he said, "I haven't decided yet..."

es3tag nodded. "Don't be in a hurry. Take your time to think about it. This may be a major event that will affect your future career."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on his face, and he looked quite relaxed. "I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, I've been a professional player for ten years. I can finally rest well again!"

Su Zhe asked, "Are you planning to retire?"

es3tag shook his head and said, "I'm not planning on officially retiring. I want to leave myself a way out, just in case I regret it later and want to keep playing."

He still had a smile on his face, but it looked a little forced.

Su Zhe asked, "Have you ever thought about playing for a second-tier team for a few more years?"

"A second-tier team?" es3tag shook his head, self-deprecatingly saying, "I'm too picky and look down on those second-tier teams. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so desperate to get into Team A..."

"It's good to take a break. If one day I want to play again and NIP can't find new players, I can step up and fill in for a while and satisfy my craving for playing again."

Su Zhe nodded after hearing this. He knew that es3tag's contract with NIP still had several years left, so this was a good choice.

es3tag looked at Su Zhe who had fallen into silence, and suddenly said, "You, don't be so honest in the future."

"Huh?" Su Zhe was a little confused when he heard these strange words.

es3tag continued, "Actually, at the end of Katowice, based on your performance, you could have relied on your contract to negotiate with management to request a replacement."

"There may be some issues with team coordination, but it definitely won't be as tiring as it is now. You might even have a chance of making it to the championship group."

es3tag sighed deeply and continued:

"Alas, many of the young players who have just emerged are too good. k0nfig, REZ, and I are all considered old guys. We really can't stand the current intensity of the competition."

"headtr1ck's performance was also disappointing..."

Su Zhe leaned back in his chair again, lifted the front end of the chair, and let his body sway.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Who can say for sure about this kind of thing? There's no such thing as the strongest team, only the most suitable one. It's actually fun playing with you guys."

"It's not entirely your fault that I didn't make it to the championship group this time. I..."

es3tag shook his head and interrupted Su Zhe: "So, don't be so honest in the future. I know your goal is more than just this."

"You don't just want to get into the championship bracket, I think you also want to win the Major, right?"

After hearing this, Su Zhe asked in return: "How many professional players don't want to win the Major championship?"

es3tag chuckled, "Yeah, everyone wants to win. Those who haven't won want to prove themselves, and those who have won want to win again. But, only one team can win the trophy each year; all the others are losers."

"After entering the championship group, the competition in the knockout stage is even more intense. If you want to win the trophy, your team must be strong enough. If you have any weaknesses, the opponent will find an opportunity to exploit them."

"Those strong teams usually lose to lesser-known teams, but entering this final stage of the Major, they will only become stronger. None of them will be easy to deal with."

Su Zhe listened to es3tag's words, but still didn't understand how this had anything to do with his own "dishonesty".

He doesn't think he is honest. He just thinks about improving himself and how to defeat his opponents in the game.

es3tag looked at the dazed Su Zhe and continued with a smile, "If you can successfully find a new team, you must adapt well. After all, this is a team game."

"Every team has a different style. The stronger the team, the fewer resources you'll have. We can't have tactics revolving around you alone like we do now."

"However, you also need to fight for your say within the team. You can't always be led by others. Don't assume that just because you're strong enough, the team will definitely consider your feelings. There might even be people secretly targeting you."

Su Zhe frowned after hearing this.

es3tag continued to speak to himself, "If you've established yourself in your new team and feel someone's lack of skill is dragging the team down, you must find a way to remove them, otherwise they'll sooner or later become a stumbling block on your path to victory."

But then, he added, rather contradictory, "But sometimes it doesn't have to be so absolute. I can't explain these things to you clearly. You have to consider them yourself."

"Just like when Senpo was in Liquid, the combined strength of him and Brother Ji was enough to win the championship, right? But what was the result?"

"Later, Moriha went to NAVI. Although people like Fat Ball and Marshal P often dragged down the team in the competition, weren't they basically invincible in 21?"

"Of course, I'm just giving you an example. It's up to you whether you listen to it or not, and it's up to you how you do it..."

es3tag didn't say anything else, but Su Zhe had basically understood what he meant.

Choosing to be a professional player means officially entering society, and intrigues often occur between teams.

Not everyone is focused on the game.

It is true that everyone wants to win the championship, but sometimes it is not so pure.

Even in the ladder, there are always teams at the bottom of the ladder that "rebellion against superiors", let alone the more complicated professional teams?

"Alright! Don't overthink it. I just want you to be less blind when choosing a new team."

es3tag stood up and said:
"Hurry up and pack up, we have to go out and get together later."

---

The result that NIP was eliminated from the Legends group caused heated discussion on the domestic CSGO forum.

Everyone hopes that a miracle can happen, but more often than not, failure is the main theme of life.

However, this time, except for some beings that were unknown whether they were human or not, the extremely demanding netizens did not make any criticism of Su Zhe.

After all, NIP's strength is there, and Su Zhe single-handedly led the team to the championship group.

In the end, they were eliminated by NAVI with a score of 2-3 in the group stage. Everyone could see his efforts and helplessness.

Even the fact that NIP has made it this far is a miracle.

A certain Long Esports made a half-hour documentary specifically for Su Zhe.

Domestic popular anchors, such as Ma Xixi, Wan Jichang, and Leon Kai, have also affirmed Su Zhe's achievements.

Subsequently, a large number of public accounts emerged to take advantage of the popularity.

People then gradually recalled that Su Zhe, who led NIP to almost enter the championship group, was just a C+ player who had just started playing CSGO a few months ago.

Some people have also counted the length of time Su Zhe has played CSGO games, and the final result is astonishing.

From the time Su Zhe gradually became known to the public through Leon Kai until now, his average gaming time is about 10 hours a day.

An insider also revealed that before Su Zhe officially joined a professional team, he had already devoted more energy than domestic professional players every day to improving himself.

With such self-discipline and attitude towards the game, people have more admiration for him, which has made him more popular.

Countless people's eyes are focused on him, looking forward to his next results and... the subsequent team selection.

"How about going to Faze later? Right now, the Cold King alone can't handle the C, so how about replacing the Rain God?"

What are you thinking? The Rain God saved Faze's boss' life, so why would he change his mind?

[Hey! I have a great idea! How about going to Green Dragon? Two people can compete, one breaking through point A and the other breaking through point B. Wouldn't that make them invincible?]

[Dude, Green Dragon communicates in Russian. Does Xiaozhe speak Russian?]

[Little Bee? I heard Spinx's relationship with the team isn't harmonious, so he might have a chance to replace her.]

[Hiss~ Xiaozhe can really be a free man again. But is he willing? ]

The combination of CNCS's Chosen One and France's Chosen One is truly remarkable!

"Why not go to G2? Nexa is a human? G2 barely even made the championship bracket. G2's management is just too atrocious."

[Alas~ No matter which team I go to, it will be much stronger than the current NIP]

259 browsed the comments on the forum for a long time, but couldn't find any comments that he could like.

"Why doesn't anyone let Arrow come to Tianlu? If they come, we will definitely be able to get a sticker spot in the Shanghai Major, right?" 259 said to zhokiNg beside him.

After saying this, he sighed inwardly. He failed to compete with LVG for the sticker spot this time, and the criticism from netizens had already made him think about retiring.

But if Arrow could return to Tianlu, he wouldn't mind burning himself again.

After hearing this, zhokiNg, the current head coach of Tianlu, thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we ask the boss to contact them?"

259 shook his head. Although he said so, he himself felt that there was little hope.

If NIP had been eliminated early in the Major, there might still be hope.

But now, NIP's results have completely exceeded his expectations. After the Major officially ends, there will definitely be more first-line teams coming to contact them.

In this situation, only a fool would return to China, right?

ZhokiNg saw Laojiu's expression and said, "What if? Have you forgotten what Kaze said before? What if you have a patriotic complex?"

"If he really had no intention of playing in China, why would he be the first to come to our Tianlu for a tryout?"

"Hiss~" 259 said after thinking about it, "Let's give it a try? I'll go talk to the boss now."

---

Near noon, Su Zhe and his teammates packed up everything and came to a restaurant near the hotel.

This time they did not choose those high-end restaurants, but a more affordable barbecue restaurant.

The few people gathered around the sizzling thin slices of beef, seeming a little silent.

Although their results in this Major were good enough, they were still only one step away from the much-anticipated offline venue, and they couldn't help but feel unwilling.

"Sorry." k0nfig suddenly broke the silence. "If only I could have caught one more shot in the long gun round behind me yesterday."

Su Zhe looked at k0nfig, who was full of self-blame, and said with a smile: "It's okay, our game is over, don't think about it. I know you have tried your best."

As he spoke, he picked up a large glass of beer on the table and raised it to everyone: "Cheers."

"Hopefully. Hopefully, we'll have another chance to drink together."

(End of this chapter)