"How about I try my luck with a shot?" iM asked tentatively, holding his Desert Eagle and glancing at Zero beside him. "I've got no armor, just a Desert Eagle, so there's no point saving it. I'll take a shot. If I get their AWP, we can still play; if I miss, you two save your guns."
Zero nodded without hesitation. "Sure, go for it."
Five seconds later...
[Fnatic.Aether killed GL.iM with an AWP]
The two remaining GL players had no choice but to save their two fully armored Galil ARs.
"Aether, again!" Ma Xixi exclaimed. "First, he gets a one-versus-two, then he holds an angle and takes out the Desert Eagle player who tried to peek."
"We just said Aether's positioning was a little risky, but he didn't miss."
"He pulled it off. Two shots, three kills, and the remaining two Terrorists were forced to back off."
The PGL director cut to a close-up of Qin Feng, AWP in hand at the sniper position.
[Aladdin, the director.]
[Did poizon just sign on only to get fired at lightning speed?]
[Aether! Aether! Aether!]
"Nice!" mezii shouted in the practice room.
The two remaining Terrorists didn't dare take a fight with the CTs. They went straight back to the innermost part of Terrorist Base to save their guns.
"Should we go hunt them down?" KRIMZ, at Outside K1, was eager to give chase.
"No need. Those fully armored Galil ARs are worth 2,800 together, and if they die, they'll get another 2,400," ALEX said, remaining calm as the team's in-game leader. "That means they'll either have to force-buy next round, or someone won't have a full buy in the fourth."
As it turned out, ALEX's assessment was spot-on.
To make use of the two fully armored Galil ARs they'd saved, the GL players decided to buy guns again.
But since they hadn't planted the bomb in the second round, three of them—everyone except Zero and RuStY—could only afford Tec-9s and a few Grenades.
Naturally, they didn't dare challenge Aether's AWP at the Connector.
They rushed A Site through Iron Door again, but this time poizon, already prepared at A Bomb Site, opened fire through the main entrance and sprayed down three Terrorists in the Iron Door smoke.
The two Tec-9 players who came out of Yellow Gate to trade were instantly taken out by ALEX, who swung out from behind the Bomb Site pillar.
GL's plan to rush A Site through Iron Door had been crushed in an instant.
The score reached 3-0.
In the fourth round, the Terrorists went for a Full Eco, smoked off the entrance to the vents, and planted the bomb.
Fnatic won the round without losing anyone, but iM managed to plant the C4 before dying, giving the Terrorists some extra money.
The fifth round of the half was finally GL's first full Gun Round.
"I'll buy an AWP and head Outside." Seeing that everyone on the team had plenty of money, poizon dropped his M4 for mezii, who was still holding an MP9, and bought an AWP with his own money.
"Yeah. You can snipe Outside or from below Heaven. Aether's holding the Sniper Rifle at Squeaky," ALEX said with a nod. "They don't seem to have many tactics. As long as we don't get wiped out right away, it'll be hard for them to get onto a Bomb Site."
Fnatic already had a 4-0 lead, but ALEX remained extremely cautious.
Nuke was a map that heavily favored the CTs, and ALEX hoped Fnatic wouldn't give up even a single point on defense.
"Fnatic's formation looks very solid," Ma Xixi remarked as he watched the minimap. "poizon bought an AWP, but he's not watching Outside at all. He's crouched below Heaven instead."
"That means Fnatic have basically given GL Outside K1."
"They're counting on KRIMZ, hiding outside B Bomb Site near the headshot angle, to hold off GL's push from Outside down to K1."
"But after losing four rounds in a row, GL seem a little impatient. They didn't use fire to force the CT at the headshot angle to move. Instead, they just dry peeked."
"An exchange of one for two. Although eraa traded him with an AK headshot, KRIMZ had already given Fnatic the advantage."
In the Fnatic practice room, KRIMZ sheepishly rubbed his bald head.
"Sorry. I got two kills and could've backed off, but I was feeling it, so I wanted to keep fighting."
ALEX and the others didn't blame him.
"It's fine. Two kills are enough." Seeing that K1 had fallen, poizon rotated from below Heaven toward Connector. "Aether, I'll hold Connector for you. Just go to B Bomb Site and watch the bomb."
If Aether could catch one of the enemies at Squeaky, Fnatic would have an easy four-versus-two retake.
"Okay." Qin Feng quickly assessed the situation and ran toward B Bomb Site with his knife out.
As long as he held one of the exits, Fnatic would have a four-versus-two retake waiting for them.
They had a huge advantage.
The Terrorists, however, came out a little faster than he'd expected.
GL hadn't even used a smoke or a molotov to block off Squeaky when three players pushed into the Bomb Site together.
They came out simultaneously through Control Room, Double Doors, and Yellow Gate.
Qin Feng instinctively flicked to the enemy behind the Control Room glass, but the sniper coming out of Double Doors shot him in the leg.
"Two players are in the Bomb Site."
"I'm down to 7 HP. Wait for your retake."
"We've got five defuse kits. We can flank whenever."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Feng retreated to the sniper position at the back of Squeaky, holding the angle in case anyone rushed straight out of the Bomb Site.
"Wow, how did he flick onto that?" Ma Xixi said dramatically. "The player at Double Doors pushed through first to draw Aether's attention, then the Terrorist from Control Room came out to trade."
"But Zero, coming out of Control Room, was met by a bullet from Aether's AWP, flicked right onto him."
"eraa traded quickly, but unfortunately, only hit Aether in the leg."
"Aether's down to 7 HP and has retreated to the back of Squeaky."
"This is a four-versus-two retake, and the Terrorists have no Grenades left to buy time."
Having just planted the bomb, eraa knew how difficult this clutch would be.
If he waited for the Fnatic players to get into position for their flank, they'd be facing a crossfire in a two-versus-four.
In a clutch like this, eraa had to do something.
But the moment he stepped out of Double Doors, ALEX, who had already come down from the vents, caught him in his sights and took him out.
Four versus one.
iM was isolated in the Bomb Site. After trading poizon, who swung out from Squeaky, he was instantly traded by mezii, who pushed through Yellow Gate.
The score was locked at 5-0.
Just as Qin Feng and his teammates were high-fiving, a message suddenly appeared in the game chat.
GL.erra: HP?
Qin Feng thought for a moment, then replied to eraa.
Fnatic.Aether: ME?
GL.erra: Yes.
Fnatic.Aether: 100.
After sending the message, Qin Feng glanced at the Sniper Rifle in his hands.
Well, as long as a sniper was alive, he still had the means to kill with one shot.
So saying he had 100 HP was perfectly reasonable and logical, wasn't it?
On the other side, eraa stared at his hands, looking a little dazed.
Had he really missed even that shot?
The players in the match couldn't see their opponents' health, but the commentators in the Livestream Room could see it clearly.
Ma Xixi nearly laughed himself breathless. "Aether's such a troll. He only had 7 HP, but told eraa he had 100. He was trying to mess with eraa's head!"
Many thanks to This Concubine Is Not Dead for the 1,666 reading points.
And thanks as well to Listening to the Wind Kiss You... for the 300 book coins.
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