Chapter 23: Is this guy the reincarnation of a bulldozer?

After failing to secure a starting position on a domestic team within a year, Su Zhe realized that even with a system, things wouldn't always go smoothly. He had initially thought that working hard with the system's assistance would be enough, but it was now clear that he needed a detailed plan to progress step-by-step; otherwise, charging ahead blindly would only lead to repeated setbacks and disappointment.

Since he couldn't find an opportunity to go professional domestically within a year, he had no choice but to try his luck abroad. Furthermore, watching the CAC tournament at noon and seeing all three Chinese teams defeated had been a massive wake-up call. After investigating the recent performance of domestic teams, he no longer felt attached to the idea of building a career in China. As for the state of Chinese CS—whoever wanted to save it could go ahead; Su Zhe felt that even with two systems, it was unsalvageable and would only become a shackle dragging him down.

He grabbed a pen and paper to organize his immediate priorities. The first step was to continue improving himself, aiming to reach the top of the Perfect World platform rankings to complete two system tasks simultaneously and claim both B-rank and A-rank rewards. The second step was to transition to the European Faceit platform. He had learned online that there was a significant gap between domestic and international playstyles; European players prioritized team coordination, whereas domestic play was almost exclusively centered on raw aim. To find opportunities abroad, he had to adapt to their style. In his view, Europe was the best choice—it had a high density of strong teams and a vast tier-two and tier-three scene, which meant more opportunities.

The third step... Su Zhe glanced at the college English textbook on his desk. Naturally, it was to improve his English as quickly as possible during the times he couldn't play CS:GO, aiming not for academic excellence, but for basic daily communication. As for the final step, it was to continue streaming to save up money, which would serve as travel funds should a European team invite him for a trial. He couldn't bring himself to ask his parents for that kind of money.

With his plan written down, Su Zhe felt a sense of relief. Now that he had a goal, all that remained was the hard work. As for the final outcome, it didn't matter. If he ultimately failed to complete the tasks and the system unbonded from him, he would simply return to his original life path. Perhaps years later, he might suddenly remember that he had once strived to become a professional player, and that would be enough.

He closed his notebook, turned his head, and called out, "Fatty, where is my ZywOo jersey?"

***

[Is Xiao Zhe planning to stream for over ten hours again today, even though it's the weekend?]

[He's truly so hardworking. If I were this motivated at work, I'd be raking in the overtime pay!]

[By the way, hasn't Xiao Zhe already reached 24 stars? Looking at his current stats, he'll hit Diamond S if he wins this game!]

[Not just hard work, but his ranking speed is insane. At this rate, hitting Master S is just a matter of time.]

[Sigh, he’s just being too ambitious. Doesn't he have any self-awareness? He hasn't even joined a youth training academy and is already dreaming of the Tyloo main roster.]

[Honestly, if they put Xiao Zhe on the main roster to gain some tournament experience, wouldn't he be better than those guys currently on Tyloo?]

[Is he planning to pivot to full-time content creation and streaming?]

The stream chat was a mix of admiration, envy, confusion, and mockery. Su Zhe didn't have the energy to respond to the comments, as the score in his match was now 11-10. They could have ended the game earlier, but they had accidentally lost a round to the CTs' force-buy, leaving Su Zhe’s side with no economy. If they lost this gun round, they risked a comeback.

Su Zhe turned on his mic and gave a simple directive: "Let's hit B this round. I'll take the first position, you guys just throw the fire for Banana and the flash over the wall for me."

"Sure, no problem," his teammates replied. That was the environment of domestic ranked play—as long as your performance was good, people would listen to your calls.

After the countdown, Su Zhe pulled out his knife and dashed forward. Just before reaching the terrorist entrance, he threw a molotov at the wooden boards to prevent the CTs from pushing out to catch them off-guard. A flame bloomed in the middle of Banana, but Su Zhe ignored it and pushed through. By the time he reached the stone wall, his teammates' flash hadn't arrived yet. He couldn't blame his random teammates, but there was no turning back now; the enemies had heard him running through the fire and knew someone was near the stone wall.

If he backed off now, he would either be caught out or forced to wait for a second opportunity. Eager to break the deadlock, Su Zhe chose to pre-aim and peek. Seeing the CT holding the angle from the yellow wall, he performed a quick counter-strafe and fired.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

[Cape's Top Entry Fragger killed Liqun Superman with AK-47]

The CT behind the sandbags immediately peeked out to re-frag after seeing his teammate die, but Su Zhe’s reflexes were too fast. He adjusted his aim to compensate for the recoil and followed up with a burst transfer.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

[Cape's Top Entry Fragger headshotted "I Miss You, Kobe" with AK-47]

"Push into the site! There's at most one left! Throw a CT-spawn smoke, I'm going to clear the angles."

Su Zhe checked his minimap and pushed forward on low health to hunt down the remaining defender. As it turned out, the defense had gambled on a 3-man B-site setup. The CT behind the single crate had intended to throw a defensive smoke for B-connector while waiting for rotations, never expecting the terrorists to push so aggressively. After securing two kills, Su Zhe didn't stop; after confirming the coffin position was clear, he pre-aimed the single crate and swung wide.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

[Cape's Top Entry Fragger headshotted "Thinking About What Niko Would Do" with AK-47]

Like a freight truck, Su Zhe smashed through the three-man CT defense. Facing a 2v5, the remaining two CTs tried to save their weapons, but they were quickly hunted down by the rest of Su Zhe's team.

"Damn! I couldn't even react to that speed!" Liqun Superman complained. "Is this guy a reincarnated bulldozer?"

"I Miss You, Kobe" was equally helpless: "The kid's reaction time is just too fast. I tried to peek to re-frag, and I just walked my head into his bullets. Sigh, let's do better next round!"

Having lost the key round, the CTs couldn't afford a full buy in the next, and this time, Su Zhe and his team gave them no chance. Leveraging their superior weaponry, they slowly choked out the CT defense.

[Match Result: Victory]
[Score: 13-10]
[MVP: Cape's Top Entry Fragger]
[KAD: 22-15-2]
[Rating: 1.43]
[Score: 3019 -> 3035]
[24 Stars -> 25 Stars]

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the task and reaching the requirements for Diamond S on the Perfect World platform. Reward: B-Rank.]

Hearing the heavenly notification sound, Su Zhe stood up and said, "Fatty, Guang, you guys chat with the viewers for a bit. I'm going to the bathroom."

Once inside, he couldn't wait to pull up the system interface.