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

Chapter 82 Keep burning yourself!
Su Zhe grabbed the phone next to his pillow and couldn't help but sigh when he saw that it was just past seven in the morning.

This [Energetic] skill really has both advantages and disadvantages.

After playing games for several days straight, I couldn't even enjoy myself! I woke up naturally after less than five hours of sleep.

Su Zhe wanted to lie on the bed and check his phone, but the hunger in his stomach forced him to get up and go downstairs for breakfast.

"What kind of heating system is this hotel using? It's not even as good as the floor heating in my house!"

Su Zhe put on his clothes quickly with a shivering body. After having a big meal in the buffet area downstairs, he walked towards the gym floor to start his first daily task.

He took the elevator all the way to the fitness area on the seventh floor of the hotel and walked towards the treadmill with ease.

As Su Zhe took out his headphones and prepared to sweat profusely, he suddenly saw a familiar figure on the treadmill.

Niko, who was trying to adjust his breathing rhythm, saw a familiar yet unfamiliar face and took the initiative to smile and greet him: "Hello, Arrow! You're here so early too!"

The reason for being unfamiliar is simple. Su Zhe is a complete professional newcomer, and this Katowice event is also his debut.

The reason for their familiarity was that they met in the first game of the main competition, and Niko had a very deep impression of Su Zhe.

However, with Su Zhe's playing style, it is hard not to be impressed.

Su Zhe responded with a smile: "Hello, Niko~"

It was the first time he met and communicated with this legendary professional player in private.

If it were when he was still in school, Su Zhe would inevitably appear a little uneasy and nervous. After all, he is a real star player. In addition to the Major championship, he should have all other honors.

However, after joining NIP, under the influence of several social leaders such as konfig, his personality has gradually become more extroverted.

After saying hello, Su Zhe turned on the treadmill next to Niko. It was not that he wanted to get together. There were only three treadmills in the hotel, and Niko was using the middle one.

Niko was a sociable person. Observing Su Zhe's running posture and rhythmic breathing, he took the initiative to strike up a conversation, saying, "I can see you work out regularly!"

Su Zhe hummed and said truthfully, "I practice almost every day."

After hearing this, Niko couldn't help but look up to Su Zhe, the newcomer. Fitness is a matter of self-discipline, and people who can maintain fitness are not much worse in their professional attitude.

After a conversation, the two fell into silence again. They were not familiar with each other and did not have much to talk about.

After a few minutes, Niko couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did you tell the truth in that HLTV report?"

"HLTV report? Which one?"

"You said you only started playing CS:GO last year?"

"Oh, that's true."

Niko gave Su Zhe a thumbs up and said, "You new guys are all monsters now. You are much better than me now. When I played CS:GO for a year, I didn't even know what a professional was."

"But you've just entered the professional arena and you've already made it into NIP's starting lineup. Is NIP's management so unrestrained now?"

I don't mean to mock you, but letting a newcomer who has never had any major competition experience start directly is a bold decision for any team.

When talking about this, Niko couldn't help but recall the time when he first entered the professional arena.

When he knew that he had talent in FPS, he was determined to revitalize CS in his hometown, but reality gave him a big slap in the face.

Although he was still imprisoned after joining Mouz, he did enter the field of international competitions, which was also the most important step in his career.

Although the conditions of the other members of NIP are also average now, Su Zhe's joining NIP definitely saved him several years of detours.

Su Zhe smiled and replied, "Yes, I'm lucky, otherwise I would probably still be in our domestic youth training team."

Niko nodded slightly and said, "Keep going, young man. I'm optimistic about your future!"

"You're pretty famous now. Many people know that NIP has a kid who's even more hardworking than m0NESY."

"I have a feeling that as long as you can maintain this training attitude, you will be able to enter the top 20 players next year!"

Niko has always had a good eye. Broky, the main sniper of the world's top team FAZE, was invited by him.

You have to know that Broky had just joined the professional arena for less than a year at that time, and he joined a team that was not even considered a second-tier team.

Later, Broky joined FAZE at Niko's invitation and did not disappoint his vision.

Not only did he become more and more mature in appearance, he also successfully took over the mantle of the King of Guardians and was once known as one of the top three snipers in the world.

It was only after the CS2 update that he began to feel uncomfortable and his data declined.

Su Zhe was naturally very happy after receiving Niko's recognition. He smiled and said thank you and then said, "But in the elimination match in three days, I won't lose as badly as last time."

Last night, the entire Katowice main competition ended. Green Dragon and Mouz, as the first place in the winner's group, will directly enter the semi-finals.

And their first opponent in the knockout stage has been determined, which is G2.

"Then I'll be waiting to accept your challenge." NIko said with a smile, but didn't take it to heart.

He has also looked at the data of the recent NIP games. Arrow's current rating data ranks second among all players, second only to the newcomer donk of Green Dragon.

But these are just his past. In Niko's eyes, Arrow is no different from when he first entered the professional arena.

It's not about underestimating Su Zhe. It's just like playing basketball. Su Zhe just has a high shooting percentage now, but playing professional basketball requires more than just shooting.

In his opinion, there are so many areas where this newcomer needs to improve, such as his judgment of the situation, etc. These require going through a large number of games to improve little by little.

There is no need to rush.

"Oh right," Niko seemed to remember something. "Would it be convenient for you to add me as a friend? IEM Chengdu will be starting at the end of next month. When you're playing in your country, you can take us to visit the surrounding attractions."

There are still benefits to making friends widely. For example, when going to other regions to play games, if you want to play on high-end deathmatch servers, you need special memberships, and it is difficult for them to purchase them because of different payment methods.

These troublesome little things are easy for local players, and taking them to visit tourist attractions is just an excuse.

He is not very familiar with the professional players in China at present. The last time he went to China to participate in a competition, he still asked fans on Twitter to borrow a membership account to play TG Deathmatch.

More friends, more paths. As a well-known social succubus in the e-sports circle, he chose to actively interact with Su Zhe.

Su Zhe immediately agreed. He always knew that G2's players liked to play tricks, and he thought they were just following the club's established persona to attract fans. Surprisingly, he didn't expect Niko to be so easy to get along with in private.

In his opinion, it was reasonable for these well-known star players to look down on him, a newcomer, and say, "You are just the threshold for me to see myself."

After adding Niko as a friend, Su Zhe said, "But if IEM Chengdu is at the end of next month... I may not have the chance to attend."

NIko asked in confusion, "That shouldn't be the case. Your NIP club won't give up participating in this tournament, right? And with you here, we're definitely the home team." Su Zhe explained, "My contract with the NIP team is expiring next month, and the team may not even renew my contract by then."

"???"

A big question mark appeared in Nikko's head. "How many months did you sign the contract? I remember you joined them at the end of last year, right?"

"Only three months."

"Three months!? Are your management idiots?" Niko showed a surprised expression. He thought the management of his G2 team was stupid enough, but he didn't expect that there were masters among them.

Such a talented rookie should not be tied down by signing a contract for a few years. Even if the team wants to change the lineup later, selling the contract will bring in a considerable amount of income.

The contract was only for three months? This management is stupid.

When he first joined Mouz, he signed a contract to sell himself for several years, which allowed Mouz to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars just from the trading contract.

Su Zhe agreed with Niko's words: "Their brains really aren't working very well." He was thinking of the management's plan to delegate es3tag.

"Here! When your contract expires, don't sign a long-term contract with NIP!"

Niko gave some advice. Although discussing contracts with players in private was unethical, he had been caught in the rain before and he couldn't bear to see newcomers fall into the same trap as him.

"why?"

"Look!" Niko explained patiently, "Isn't the Major coming up soon? As long as you can perform well in the Major, you can definitely find a better contract..."

Su Zhe shook his head: "I have no intention of leaving NIP for the time being. My relationship with my teammates is very good."

Niko smiled and said, "You don't have to change teams. You can sign a short-term contract first, and then ask NIP for a higher salary after you achieve results. Anyway, the initiative will be in your hands at that time."

Su Zhe was thoughtful after hearing this.

Seeing him lost in thought, Niko didn't bother him any further. Instead, he picked up the sweat towel next to him, hung it around his neck, and said, "Think about it yourself, but don't tell anyone else about our conversation..."

"Ok, I know!"

"Okay, then you continue. I have to go shopping with my wife."

The gym fell silent again after Niko left.

As a college student who had just taken a leave of absence, Su Zhe really lacked experience in social work.

When I first became a professional gamer, I thought all I had to do was immerse myself in gaming. Now it seems there are many twists and turns...

……

After a morning of training, Su Zhe completed all his daily tasks and started preparing lunch.

After lunch, they planned to review the game against NAVI and study their opponent G2 in the next round of eliminations.

After more than two hours of review, Su Zhe and his team finally understood why they were able to defeat NAVI.

"Why do these NAVI guys give me a weird feeling..." k0nfig said while sitting on a chair with his legs crossed.

es3tag nodded and said, "Yeah, they played a little too conservatively, a little too conservatively, both on offense and defense."

In es3tag's opinion, in terms of shooting skills alone, NAVI's overall individual abilities are much stronger than NIP's, and the only one with relatively strong shooting skills in their team is Su Zhe.

If NAVI had played a little more proactively, their tactics on the offensive side would not have been so easily implemented.

When on the defensive side, we will not give them any opportunities to touch the front alone and gain numerical advantage.

Then there was a series of chain reactions. NAVI was beaten to the point where they completely lost their touch, their condition gradually declined, and they eventually lost the Bo3 game.

Coach djL sighed, "NAVI has completely overturned their previous style of play. Before, they were all trying to create opportunities for Senpo to fight for the team's upper limit."

"Now, in order to ensure the team's lower limit, they are actually limiting the individual abilities of their players."

Rez jokingly said, "No wonder! If we had faced another top-tier team in the last Bo3, we would have already boarded a plane back to Sweden."

This is not self-deprecation, but self-awareness.

headtr1ck asked in confusion, "How did NAVI become the third-best team in the world? It just seems like that!"

After hearing this, Su Zhe nodded in agreement.

es3tag explained: "The advantage of this minimum limit is that it is extremely stable, and their counter-strategy is very good. Didn't you find it difficult for us to score points against NAVi consecutively?"

"I feel like they'll change their style of play after they go back this time. I guess they'll become even more terrifying in the future."

DJL nodded in agreement, but what happened to NAVI afterwards was no longer relevant to them. He sighed deeply and continued with their next round of work, studying G2...

Although there are three days of preparation time before the elimination round, DJL already feels a tingling sensation on his scalp.

NAVI's research is quite good, a typical "academic" approach, and the movements of each player can be traced.

However, G2 and NAVI are two teams with completely opposite ideas, and they often make inexplicable and incomprehensible moves in the game.

But now it is precisely this tactic that is most effective in restraining them.

djL smiled bitterly. What else could he do? He just had to keep burning himself.

……

The three days of preparation passed in a flash, and all the players who like to watch CSGO events once again turned their attention to the first major competition in 2024.

At 11 o'clock in the morning, Su Zhe, who had finished lunch early, had already boarded the bus to Spodek Arena with his teammates.

"I heard that the tickets for the venue have been sold out long ago. What does it feel like to play in front of 1 people?" headtrck said excitedly.

The other people on the bus were not much better, they were all very restless.

Although djL was equally excited, as a coach, he had to remind them: "We still have new players on our team who have never played in an offline competition."

"Remember one thing, don't get too emotional or too nervous, otherwise it will affect your performance."

"Also, there's the offline audience reporting. If you're going around the back or something like that, as soon as you hear the audience shouting, you have to pay attention..."

"..."

Following djL's instructions, Su Zhe prepared himself to be the center of attention.

(End of this chapter)