Chapter 39: Holy crap, am I seeing things?

"Arrow, here early again today?" headtr1ck walked into the training room, still chewing on his breakfast, and asked with surprise.

For nearly a month, Su Zhe had consistently been the first to arrive at the training room in the morning and the last to leave at night. Initially, headtr1ck had assumed this newcomer was just enthusiastic about joining the team and would eventually fall into the same numb, clock-in-clock-out routine as the rest of them. To his surprise, even after a month, Su Zhe remained just as diligent.

"I couldn't sleep anyway, so I came early to get some aim practice in," Su Zhe replied without turning his head.

headtr1ck sat in the chair beside him, munching on his breakfast, and mumbled, "I can't tell if you're truly addicted or just plain hardworking. You're practically like m0NESY."

Su Zhe smiled. He couldn't understand himself either; he never felt "addicted" when he played CS:GO for fun back in the day. He soon realized something was off, turned to headtr1ck, and asked, "You know m0NESY?"

m0NESY, often called "The Kid" by Chinese fans, was a professional player with immense talent. Su Zhe had heard of the handle before he even started playing CS:GO seriously. Currently, the kid was a sniper for G2 and a superstar in the professional scene. The most terrifying part was that he had joined the powerhouse team G2 at only sixteen—a true prodigy among prodigies. Just last night, Su Zhe had used "The Kid" as an opponent in his training simulator. He found that his AK could never break through the kid's AWP defense; his reaction time was barely any slower than his own.

headtr1ck swallowed a mouthful of food and said, "Of course. We were both in the NAVI junior squad. He was just like you back then, spending all his time on the ladder even after formal training was over."

"Of that batch of trainees, he and b1t were the most promising—and also the two who worked the hardest. But I have a feeling that if you keep this up, you won't be any worse than them."

Su Zhe shook his head. "How could I compare to them?"

headtr1ck clicked his tongue. "I heard you only started playing CS:GO this year. If we're talking about pure talent, you're no worse than those two."

Su Zhe smiled but didn't respond. Talent? All he had was hard work. Since he had chosen the path of a professional, he wasn't going to be satisfied with being mediocre. Before, hard work yielded no hope, but now, with his system, he would give it everything he had.

As they chatted, the rest of the NiP team arrived one by one, and another day of training began. Only after experiencing the systematic training of a professional team did Su Zhe realize the true gap between an average public player and a pro. It wasn't just about team coordination; it was about the details he once ignored, which professionals magnified infinitely. In the words of their coach, djL: "Don't underestimate these details. A tiny bit of information you inadvertently leak during a match could be the key factor that hands victory to the opponent."

Knowing when to use utility while controlling the map, when to throw defensive grenades, how to throw them based on different information, and how to control the map based on the economy of both teams—all of this required systematic study. The process was far more tedious than anything Su Zhe had experienced in school. This routine lasted about ten hours a day, and one had to not only learn the concepts but apply them. Only after completing the training tasks could they clock out on time; otherwise, overtime was mandatory.

Under such conditions, it was only natural that a professional player, with even a bit of seriousness, could crush top-tier public players in the matchmaking ladder. It was only because of his unreasonable reaction time and the erratic play of his teammates that Su Zhe had managed to scrape a win against k0nfig and es3tag in the FACEIT ladder.

That evening, after finishing their retake drills, the coach clapped his hands to gather everyone. He scanned the group and said, "Tomorrow we head to Poland for the Katowice play-in qualifier. This will be a test of all the training we've put in lately."

djL stated the reason for the meeting clearly and then turned to Su Zhe. "About to play the first match of your life—nervous?"

Su Zhe kept a calm expression. "I'm alright. Not very nervous."

k0nfig caught Su Zhe's subtle nervous tick and burst into laughter. "Not nervous? Then why are you gripping your pants so hard?"

The others laughed along. They were growing increasingly fond of this newcomer. If one sees someone more talented, they might feel envy, but when they see someone both more talented and harder working, all that remains is admiration. At the very least, they admitted they couldn't match Su Zhe's level of dedication.

Caught in his small act, Su Zhe felt embarrassed and hid his hands behind his back.

After the laughter died down, djL continued, "Don't be too nervous. Everyone can see the results of your training lately. As long as you perform well, securing the qualification won't be a problem."

es3tag chimed in, "Exactly. Your rate of improvement has far exceeded our expectations. Even if you don't perform well in the match, it's normal. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Su Zhe felt a warmth in his heart at these kind words. However, nervousness wasn't something easily dismissed by a few sentences. The Katowice play-in featured 16 teams in a double-elimination format. Two wins would secure a ticket to the S+-tier tournament—it sounded simple, a 50% success rate. This was NiP's primary goal; as for how far they could go in the main event, that would be up to fate.

Su Zhe hadn't realized the difficulty of the play-in until he saw the participating teams. He realized how naive his initial thoughts had been. The teams participating were the best from their respective regions—like C9 from North America, FURIA from South America, and veteran European powerhouses like BIG and Cloud9's rivals. Most were teams Su Zhe had only ever seen on streams or videos. This was his first professional match, and he was likely to face legendary teams. How could he not be nervous?

...

If you asked regular viewers which CS:GO tournament had the most prestige, they would say "the Majors" without hesitation. But excluding the Majors, the consensus was clear: Katowice, IEM Cologne, and the BLAST World Final. Beyond just the honor, some even compared the prestige of these three to the Majors themselves. As the first major tournament of the year, countless CS:GO enthusiasts worldwide had their eyes on it.

Wan Jiqi was a well-known Chinese CS:GO caster. His greatest trait was his deep understanding of the game and his encyclopedic knowledge of the players' histories. Knowing that the Katowice play-in was starting tomorrow, he planned to research the recent changes in the major teams—a professional attitude that had earned him a massive following.

"Hiss... This C9 roster is truly interesting. Who can tell the difference between NAVI and C9 now? Electronic as an IGL is just too wild."

"When did the 'Green Dragons' promote a rookie?"

"Huh? When did NiP add a new player? Arrow? And he has an Asian face?"

"What?"

When he saw that Arrow's nationality was listed as China, he felt as if he had seen a ghost.

"Damn it, am I seeing things?" He rubbed his eyes vigorously and looked again.

ID: Arrow
Age: 18
Nationality: CN