Chapter 37: “I’m Not Going to Be a Grandpa, Am I?”

After finishing his daily training, Su Zhe checked his system panel. With the recent system update, a new interface had appeared under his attributes.

【Map Understanding:
Mirage: 57
Inferno: 49
......(Expand)】
(PS: The maximum value for map understanding is 100)

Su Zhe: ...
Seriously, man? I knew I was lacking in this department, but I didn't realize I was *this* bad. Since he found out that Dust II was no longer in the active map pool, Mirage had become his favorite map and the one he played most frequently in ranked matches. He had felt quite confident, thinking he had a decent grasp of the map, only to find out he didn't even have a passing score. This was to say nothing of maps like Anubis or Nuke, which he only played to complete his daily training requirements.

He had thought joining a professional team was the peak of his life, but it turned out to be just the beginning. Su Zhe felt as if there were countless mountains waiting for him to climb in the future. He combined the 1,500 "Rise Points" he had earned with the 700 he had remaining, totaling enough to exchange for two points in the 【Positioning】 attribute.

As for why he only exchanged for attributes... A while back, he had spent 1,000 hard-earned Rise Points in the store to purchase a "Random Pro Player Skill Insight." He ended up drawing the insight of 259, Qiezi, and Sudi. Once he entered the simulation, he realized—they were even worse than him! What kind of insight was he supposed to gain from that? At the time, he just wanted to scream: "Return my money, you scammers!" Since then, he had played it safe and only traded points for attributes.

He then looked at the mission panel and noticed two new tasks. Having been bombarded with "Ding~ Ding~" system notifications after signing his contract with NiP, he hadn't heard much of it clearly.

【Becoming a professional player is just a new starting point in the host's life. Please continue to work hard to improve yourself.】
【Mission 1: Raise your overall rating to A-grade. Reward: Random A-grade reward.】
【Mission 2: Help the team qualify for the Katowice Major, with an overall event rating of no less than 1.0. Reward: Random A-grade reward.】
【Mission 3: Help your team reach the top ten in the world rankings, or join a team already in the top ten. Reward: Random S-grade reward.】
【Mission 4: Enter the HLTV official Top 20 player list. Reward: Random S-grade reward.】

...

The next day, Su Zhe boarded a flight home. After landing, he didn't go straight to school but returned directly to his house. One problem remained: he didn't know if his parents would agree to him playing professionally, and this wasn't something he could do behind their backs. He couldn't just drop out of school, move abroad, cut contact with his family, and then return as a triumphant "Dragon King" three years later with his salary and prize money, could he?

"Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~"
"Coming! Coming!" The voice from inside grew closer. "Huh? Xiao Zhe, why are you back so suddenly? Is winter break starting this early?"
Su Zhe stood at the door, rubbing his stomach, and looked at his mother. "I'll tell you in a bit. Did you make food? I'm starving!"
"Perfect, your father is cooking right now. Come on in."
"Okay..."

Su Zhe took a deep breath, braced himself, and stepped into the apartment. He had no idea if his parents would support his professional career. In his mind, his parents knew nothing about esports and had a natural aversion to gaming. Even though they had bought a computer early on, he was only allowed to play occasionally. Whenever he played for too long, his father would scold him: "Can playing games put food on the table? If you don't study hard, how will you find a job and support yourself in the future!?" He knew his parents meant well, but now that the path to his future was laid out before him, he had to take it.

Ten minutes later, after he helped his father bring the food to the table, the family began their dinner. The atmosphere at the table became strangely awkward, with only the sounds of chewing and clinking cutlery breaking the silence. His parents exchanged glances from time to time before returning to their meal.

Finally, his father couldn't take it anymore and slammed his chopsticks onto the table with a "clack." Su Zhe, who was mid-meal, was startled, feeling as if someone had just landed a headshot on him while he was focused on a clutch situation.

His father said in a deep voice, "Did you get into some kind of trouble at school? If you don't talk, I won't be able to finish this meal in peace!"
"..."
Su Zhe knew he had to face it head-on. His silence earlier had been him considering how to tactfully tell his parents about his career path. However, facing their natural authority, he was still nervous, and his words came out stilted: "Actually... I... this..."

His father suddenly thought of something, his expression turning serious. "I... I'm not going to be a grandfather, am I!?"
Su Zhe: ?
He realized his father had misunderstood and hurriedly explained, "It's not that! It's something else!"
"Oh, that's a relief. You scared me." His father relaxed, though for some reason, he felt a flicker of disappointment.
"Let's talk after dinner. It's nothing major." Su Zhe chose to stall, figuring his father wouldn't be able to chase him down if he was full. And so, in an eerie atmosphere, the three of them finished dinner, each lost in their own thoughts.

...

After dinner, in the living room, his father looked at his son, who was still fidgeting, and felt a sense of frustration. He asked patiently, "Can you say it now?"
Su Zhe: "Emmm... promise me first that you won't hit me?"
His father gritted his teeth: "Fine! I promise I won't hit you!"
Su Zhe hesitated for a moment before blurting out, "Dad, Mom, I don't want to go to school anymore."
He lowered his head and glanced at his parents, ready to run at any moment. But... the chaotic scene he had imagined didn't happen. His father didn't react, and after a few seconds of contemplation, he asked, "If you don't want to go to school, what do you plan to do?"

Seeing his parents were so calm, Su Zhe explained his professional gaming career from beginning to end. He even showed them his previous streaming income and his contract with NiP. His parents studied the documents together for a long time. A few minutes later, his father asked again, "Have you decided?"
Su Zhe said decisively, "Yes! I've decided!"
"Alright, I agree." His father handed the phone back to him. "What procedures do you need to drop out?"
"Huh?" Su Zhe thought he had misheard. Was this the right reaction? Was this... normal?
His father glanced at him: "What? Do you want to go back to school instead?"
"No, no!" Su Zhe shook his head quickly. He felt as if he were meeting his father for the first time.

...

"What is he going to do? And you just agreed!?" his mother's confused voice came from the bedroom.
His father sounded indifferent: "Didn't the boy just say? He's going to play some professional game. I just looked it up, and it pays quite well."
His mother was still unconvinced: "Does that have anything to do with how much money he makes? Weren't you the one who insisted he go to university?"
His father sighed. "Back then, he wanted to drop out to work manual labor. I only sent him to college because I was afraid he'd be taken advantage of at such a young age. Spending four years at school was fine. But now that the kid has his own ideas and can support himself, isn't that a good thing?"
"I checked up on that professional player thing, too. You just sit in front of a computer and play games all day. It's quite easy."
"It's fine, it's fine..."