CS: Oh no, he's really become the GOAT!

Chapter 23: Give him a little more time, and wouldn't he be able to take the top spot?

"No wonder I felt something was off!" Danking slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing what had happened.

"After that game, I thought to myself, even if the other side has a genius teenager, we shouldn't have lost so badly."

Danking's premonition was correct; he played very strangely in that game, and sure enough, something was wrong afterward.

He just didn't expect that not only did the other side have cheats, but his own side did too.

Then, looking at the post-match stats, he joked, "But this potato guy is really freakish, isn't he? None of those three cheaters could kill him."

"Looks like we've struck gold this time."

The more Danking looked at the results, the more satisfied he became with Yang Yu.

A prodigy should have this kind of domineering presence when he debuts, just like he did back then.

Danking laughed: "I'll text him now and schedule a time for him to come over for a tryout."

"Still schedule a trial?" Tianlu manager asked rhetorically.

"What do you mean?" Danking sensed the manager's displeasure.

"I feel like he's cheating," the Tianlu manager stated, explaining his opinion. "There's no one that strong; even cheaters couldn't kill him."

"And if what you just said is true, this guy hasn't even played CS:GO for two months. In two months he'll be able to...arm wrestle with you in ranked matches." The TyLoo manager joked, thinking about the upcoming HLTVTOP rankings, "Give him a little more time, and won't he take the top spot?"

“Some people pick up games quickly…” Danking thought of former CS:GO pro player Shroud, who was an FPS genius and could pick up any game very quickly.

The manager's words made him feel that Yang Yu's talent was exaggerated, but he could understand it; he was able to accept that there are always people more talented than you.

Yang Yu's initiative to try out and play professionally offline demonstrates, to some extent, that he is not afraid to prove himself offline.

"Giving him a trial opportunity is no big deal. He can find out whether he's cheating or not by playing some offline practice matches, right?" Danking already understood Tianlu's manager's attitude, but he had promised Yang Yu and still wanted to fight for a trial opportunity for him.

The manager thought for a moment and decided to give Danking some face: "Do you know how old this passerby is?"

Danking smiled slightly awkwardly after hearing this: "It seems to be 18."

“Then there’s no need for that,” Tianlu manager said. “Personally, I’m more inclined to believe that he’s cheating. Even if he’s not cheating, he’s already 18, and he’s too old to stay in youth training for a while.”

Eighteen is the prime of youth, but for esports, it's a bit too old.

Danking didn't say anything either.

Although the average age of professional CSGO players is still increasing, most players who get involved in professional play start their training at the age of 14 or 15.

They train in youth training programs for one or two years until they have a solid foundation before entering the professional arena.

Potato is 18 years old now. Even with his outstanding talent, it only took him less than a year to break into the main team after entering the youth training program. He's almost 20.

Once they join the home team, they'll have to be guided by these veterans like Deng.

By the time Potato truly had the fighting power, he was already past his prime, and his skill level began to gradually decline.

Thinking about this, Danking felt a real headache coming on.

Dude, you should have gotten into CS:GO sooner!
What did you do earlier?

Yang Yu: "Going to make tiles."

Tianlu's manager spoke again: "Unless he has outstanding talent and can be promoted to the main team now so that you can lead him, do you think he has the talent of Senzai to become a star player?"

"Most importantly, I really don't think a legitimate player can beat a cheater."

Just this July, NAVI was brutally defeated by a cheating team in an online competition, with S1mple, who was ranked number 1, even being downgraded to a rating of 0.2.

Keep in mind that S1mple is TOP1, the strongest active professional player, and he still managed to fight against cheaters.

He didn't think that China could produce a more extraordinary prodigy than S1mple; he was more inclined to believe that perfection hadn't yet been bestowed upon this prodigy.

It was with this in mind that Tianlu's manager felt there was no need to waste time on trial training.

He understood Danking's temperament, but he felt even more that this prodigy was using Danking and the popularity of their Tianlu to whitewash his image.

"Danking, if you have any ideas, we can also bring in players from our youth academy to change the formation. We have quite a few usable talents in our youth academy now, such as ZDR, who is quite good. We have been training him for more than a year."

The manager of Tianlu felt that Danking was dissatisfied with the situation in the past year's competitions and wanted to hint to him to make a change in the lineup.

"I didn't have that intention. I just wanted to help this guy get a trial opportunity. If you really think it's not going to work out, then forget it."

Danking no longer wanted to argue with the manager.

As a professional player on the team, discovering new talent is not his responsibility.

He couldn't be too proactive, otherwise it would easily cause conflicts within the team.

After all, there are only five positions in a team. When a new person comes in, it means that some veterans will have to step down.

The change of position is not only about whether you can play in the game, but also about salary, fame and other things.

If it's just about introducing someone to TyLoo to play professionally, letting Potato compete fairly in the youth training program, and gradually rising through the ranks based on his performance, or even making it to the main team and replacing someone, then Danking thinks no one will have any objections.

After all, esports is all about skill. If you're replaced by a newcomer with superior ability, what can you say? But if he's too proactive, the player he replaces might have some reservations.

There's no way around it; wherever there are people, there's a social dynamic, especially in a small circle like CNCS where everyone sees each other all the time, so you have to be extra careful.

The manager rejected him based on his age and the suspicion that he was using cheats, and he was completely helpless.

He felt that the manager had foreseen the potential for a lot of public criticism and had no intention of engaging with the matter.

After all, there were four cheaters in this match, and there was already a lot of discussion about Potato in the community. Now, things are even more uncertain.

However, he felt that Potato was really talented. They had played ranked matches together before, and Potato was full of information, whether he was breaking through from the front or covering the rear from the side, which made him very comfortable to play against.

Danking even fantasized about the two of them playing together in a future competition.

Looking back now, it seems that this idea is not feasible for the time being.

However, Danking felt a little guilty for promising Potato a trial opportunity, only to receive a bad response.

He was quite dismissive of what the manager said.

He doesn't believe in age issues at all.

Potato is indeed a bit old for youth training, but who says that 18-year-olds can't just start playing this game?

My cousin is over 30 and still competing in professional esports.

French male model Jack Z didn't actually enter the top-tier arena until he was 27 years old.

So as long as you have the ability, age is not a big problem, especially since Potato's age isn't that exaggerated.

"No, I still have to try out for Potato." Danking suddenly thought of a chicken in Purgatory Town.

He quickly found 259 on WeChat, who is the current commander of RA, and sent him an emoji.

Player 259, who was on the ladder and didn't understand, replied with an emoji.

Upon seeing this, Danking immediately made a voice call.

"Isn't this my boss, Egg? What brings you to call me?"

Danking laughed and said, "Ninth Brother, do you want a prodigy? Just say the word and I'll have him come here for a trial."

259 countered, "Won't Tianlu accept this genius youth?"

"Isn't it because you're so good at nurturing talent, Ninth Master? Look at Freeman, Jamyoung, Mo Siyu, and Hamburger, all these young people are products of your training." Danking said tactfully, "I finally saw a prodigy on the Heavenly Ladder, and I'm afraid I'll spoil him."

259 smiled and said, "Then send me your ID. I'll check the replay after the ranked matches end."

Danking breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, I'll send you the ID. You can watch the recording later. If you think it's okay, I'll schedule a time for him to go to RA."

“Okay, wait for my message. I’m going to duo queue with Zhong Weijie first,” 259 said.

"Alright, I'll treat Ninth Master to a drink sometime."

……

"Who?"

Zhong Weijie is a former rifleman for VG. Due to his extremely low mouse speed during matches, his mouse would move like a gear shifter during intense firefights, earning him the nickname "Gear Shifter Old Driver".

"It was Danking who called. He said he saw a child prodigy and asked if I could give the kid a trial training session," 259 explained.

"He, Tianlu, doesn't want it himself?"

"How would I know?" Despite saying that, 259 immediately prepared to check the battle record on Perfect World. "I'll go see what's going on with this kid."

But just then, the match was successfully matched.

Upon seeing the ID on the other end, 259 glanced down at his phone.

He turned to Zhong Weijie and suddenly smiled: "Looks like we don't need to look anymore."

"What's the meaning."

"That kid has crossed to the opposite side of us."

There was a player on the other side with a potato mine icon.

The ID was the one Danking had sent him.

Calm down!
……

PS: In reality, TyLoo has never done such a thing, but there are some clubs in Europe that do refuse to even give trial opportunities because of their reputation or something.

The most classic example is when Zaiwu wanted to try out for G2, but G2 thought Zaiwu was too much like a cheater and didn't even let him try out.

　There will be another chapter later

　　
　
(End of this chapter)