Chapter 2: Sleepy Tea |
[At 30, your professional career was dismal, crushed by the prodigious talents of your contemporaries, leaving your resolve shattered. Making a living by streaming, you visited your cousin Ma Xixi’s home, where his quirky gameplay reignited the pure joy of CS within you. Resolving to walk the path of CS:GO once again, you set out on your final dance!]
[Reopen CS:GO. Reward: Old Veteran Gift Pack.]
While Ma Xixi was debating the legitimacy of his 3-15 match record with his stream viewers, Jiang Yang's full attention was drawn to the sudden appearance of a few lines of text before him.
Seeing the system panel, his first instinct was to chuckle maniacally.
"A system? As a soon-to-be university student with wide-ranging interests, I know exactly what this is."
Jiang Yang smirked. "Deep Blue, let's see how far you can go!"
If it weren’t for the risk of Ma Xixi thinking he'd lost it, Jiang Yang would have laughed out loud on the spot.
But after a closer read, his expression grew peculiar.
"Wait, not me?"
Then, he paused, realizing something. "Wait… it really is talking about me?"
He noticed the mention of "cousin Ma Xixi" in the system notification, which clearly pointed to the 30-year-old with shattered resolve being his future self.
"So... the system arrived early?"
Which also meant, even without the system's intervention, he might have been inspired by Ma Xixi's "performance" and later shone in the world of CS:GO? Achieving great heights?
"Wait, I was destined to be a CS:GO prodigy?"
Jiang Yang was taken aback.
Then, thinking it over, he realized that he did seem to have better mastery of the game compared to his peers.
Back in his second year of high school, when Chaozi’s "WDNMD" line went viral, CS:GO became a hit among the youth.
That was when Jiang Yang got back into CS:GO.
Mostly, though, he played casually with classmates, joking around and never seriously climbing the ranks. Their weapon choices were as unconventional as possible.
Despite that, Jiang Yang often ended up as the top scorer.
Back then, their style of play was partly due to the limited time high school allowed for gaming.
But now, Jiang Yang felt genuinely motivated.
[Would you like to return to the path of CS:GO?]
His focus shifted to the prompt, vaguely making out the options "Yes" and "No."
For a young gamer, knowing they had the potential to become a professional player, there was no reason to hesitate.
He was also curious about the contents of the system’s Old Veteran Gift Pack.
However, since he didn’t have a computer at hand and was still at his summer job, he decided to put the thought aside until Ma Xixi’s shift ended.
Just then, Ma Xixi, having finished a game, clutched his stomach with a grimace and looked at Jiang Yang.
"Yangyang, take over the stream for me. My stomach’s acting up."
Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Yang asked, "Can I play a game on my account?"
Ma Xixi, clearly in distress, waved him off urgently. "Sure, just don’t mess with my match footage!"
After briefly addressing the stream viewers, Ma Xixi dashed to the restroom.
With Ma Xixi out of commission, Jiang Yang temporarily became the host of the CSBOY stream.
After a quick greeting to the viewers, Jiang Yang logged out of Ma Xixi’s Steam account and into his own.
As he logged in, he answered questions from the live chat.
"What rank is Cousin in CS?"
"I played it a bit back in high school. I was Rank C+ then."
"How old are you?"
"16, starting college soon."
Once logged in, Jiang Yang launched Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and selected the Chinese servers.
While waiting, he turned to the audience, "It’s been over a year since I last played. Who’s the top CS:GO pro these days?"
The chat instantly exploded.
【Obviously S1mple!】
【NIKO!!】
【Simple Boy!】
【Big Sweet Potato!】
Scanning the responses, Jiang Yang noticed several names.
"In League of Legends, it’s clear-cut—Faker is the best. But in CS:GO, there seem to be a few contenders."
The name "S1mple" appeared most frequently.
"S1mple, huh?" Jiang Yang repeated. He had heard the name before.
Back in high school, it wasn’t uncommon to encounter players with names like "NAVI’s S1mple Himself" in games. Seeing it repeatedly left an impression.
Curious, Jiang Yang opened a highlight reel of S1mple on a streaming platform. "Let’s see how the best CS:GO player plays."
If the system was right and he had the talent to become a professional, watching the gameplay of a top-tier player seemed like a good way to understand the game’s potential.
The first clip showed S1mple wielding an AWP on the Dust2 map, aiming at the oil barrels in mid-long. The moment an opponent appeared, S1mple fired a single shot, killing them instantly.
"A sniper, huh," Jiang Yang murmured.
The next moment, S1mple repositioned and randomly fired toward the right side of the mid-doors. The kill notification popped up immediately.
Jiang Yang: "?!"
"The opponent wasn’t even visible, and you just wallbanged them?"
The rest of the clip was a series of absurdly high-difficulty shots and pre-fires.
S1mple decimated his opponents with methods Jiang Yang couldn’t begin to comprehend.
"...Huh?" Jiang Yang blurted. "Is this how S1mple plays? This is the best CS:GO player right now?"
Before he could fully process it, the clip shifted to the Nuke map. S1mple was near the main entrance, accompanied by the intense voice of a commentator.
"But the second main door push... He intercepts just in time..."
"Wait! And K1 is sniped too!"
Jiang Yang’s eyes widened as he watched S1mple perform an unbelievable flick shot.
S1mple had only a sliver of information from his peripheral vision, yet he made a high-tension flick, perfectly landing the shot and eliminating his opponent.
"Insane!" Jiang Yang muttered in disbelief.
At that moment, the loud background music from CS:GO startled him, nearly causing him to drop his headset.
Valve games were notorious for their excessively high default volume. Jiang Yang quickly pressed ESC and lowered the audio settings.
Finally, he could enjoy the game’s intense, action-packed music without feeling overwhelmed.
As the music played, Jiang Yang felt the adrenaline surge through him. Not even a boring manga could extinguish this newfound excitement.
Just as he prepared to start a match, the lines of text reappeared before him.
[Post-retirement, you rediscovered the pure joy of CS:GO, reigniting your resolve. Opening CS:GO, you have regained your sense of self.]
[Reward: Old Veteran Gift Pack is being distributed...]
[Congratulations, Host, you’ve received 259 Comeback Points...]
[Congratulations, Host, you’ve received ‘Sleepy Black Tea’.]
Jiang Yang: "?"
Staring at the system notification, Jiang Yang couldn’t help but ask, "System, are you serious about this tea?"
...
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