HLTV's Interview

"The game is over! Congratulations, Fnatic!"

"Before the tournament began, no one could have imagined that Fnatic would secure a spot in the Legends Stage with a 3–1 record."

The commentators on the main stage shouted themselves hoarse, seemingly trying to convey their excitement to the audience.

"Since the 2018 Faceit Major, a Chinese player has once again stepped onto the stage of the Major Legends Stage."

"Congratulations, Aether!"

"..."

As for the Fnatic players' area, everyone was already struggling to contain their excitement.

The whole team pulled off their headsets and slammed them onto the table, then threw their arms around one another, cheering and celebrating without a care in the world.

Coach Samuelsson was even more unable to contain himself, pumping his fist and shouting at the top of his lungs.

Fnatic's slump before the Major Qualifiers had led Samuelsson to prepare for an early exit.

After all, Aether had only recently joined the team and was still an unknown young player, while the team's coordination was nowhere near where it needed to be.

Who could have guessed that they'd charge all the way into the PGL Major Legends Stage with unstoppable momentum?

"Aether, you were incredible today!"

Once Fnatic had finished shaking hands with forZe, Samuelsson rushed over to Qin Feng, his face beaming with excitement.

Of course, besides Samuelsson, an HLTV reporter who had been waiting in the PGL live studio also came over to Qin Feng with a camera:

"Hello, Aether. I'm KingDempz, a reporter for HLTV. Would you have a moment to give us an interview?"

Samuelsson glanced at Qin Feng, grinning like a child who weighed two hundred pounds. "Go ahead, Aether. You're the reason our team made it into the Legends Stage."

"Sure." Qin Feng nodded slightly.

KingDempz held the microphone up to Qin Feng's mouth and smiled as he said:

"First of all, congratulations on beating forZe and qualifying for the PGL Major Legends Stage! What did you think of the match?"

Qin Feng took the microphone. "I think forZe is a worthy opponent. It's just that our players performed better."

KingDempz nodded, then looked at Qin Feng with curiosity:

"By the way, the 2022 PGL Major Antwerp was your first-ever Major."

"And yet, in your very first Major, you helped Fnatic secure a spot in the Legends Stage."

"How do you feel right now? Is it the best start you could ever have imagined?"

Qin Feng blinked. "How should I put it? I feel great right now."

"Of course, making it into the Major's Legends Stage is only one reason."

"The biggest reason is that I get to share a bigger stage with my teammates."

"And I don't want to let down the expectations of the Chinese fans, either."

KingDempz continued:

"Oh, and did you know? Aether, a lot of people on HLTV have mixed opinions about you."

"Some think Fnatic's new system is what brought out your Sniper Rifle skills. Others think you're the next s1mple or ZywOo."

"What do you think, Aether?"

Coach Samuelsson suddenly took the microphone from Qin Feng:

"The truth is, Fnatic didn't make Aether."

"He made himself."

"Aether's Sniper Rifle skills are good enough to warrant building our system around him."

KingDempz looked at Fnatic coach Samuelsson in surprise. "Oh, is that so? But I heard Fnatic only signed Aether for two months."

"Was that because you didn't think he'd perform well at the PGL Major at first?"

The corner of Samuelsson's mouth twitched. He forced himself to calm down. "Of course not. It wasn't because we didn't believe in Aehter."

"The truth is quite the opposite. We have great faith in Aether's potential."

"After Aether joined the team for a trial, I already felt that he had the potential to become a world-class star."

"He isn't the next dev1ce, as people say, and he certainly isn't the next s1mple or ZywOo."

"He's Aehter. The one and only Aether."

At that, Samuelsson let out a sigh.

It was all that damned manager's fault. Otherwise, he probably would have signed Qin Feng to a long-term contract of at least a year.

Pursing his lips, Samuelsson continued:

"The reason we only signed Aether for two months was that we wanted to respect his own choices."

"We know that Fnatic and the PGL Major are only the beginning for Aether, not the end."

"He's good enough that every team in the world would be lining up to make him an offer."

"We hope Aether will be free to choose whichever team he wants."

"Fnatic is a great club, but it shouldn't become a shackle holding Aether back."

"That's why we only signed Aether to a two-month contract."

"Yeah. That's exactly it."

Samuelsson nodded when he finished.

Reporter KingDempz: ...

If Samuelsson's expression hadn't looked like the whole world owed him a hundred bucks, KingDempz might actually have believed him.

The brief interview soon came to an end.

Back in the lounge, Qin Feng first turned on his computer as usual, then looked toward the translucent, pale-blue screen in the upper-right corner of his vision.

After the match against forZe ended, the system, silent for a long while, once again displayed a mission-completion notification.

[Congratulations on your outstanding performance in the Major Challengers Stage. Reward: 1000 Dream Points.]

[Congratulations on completing the special achievement: Entering the Major Legends Stage. Reward: one free ten-pull wish.]

It was time for the long-awaited wish-drawing.

But this time, Lady Luck didn't seem to be on Qin Feng's side.

The results were just a few points and ordinary potions, making the whole draw feel instantly underwhelming.

Blinking, Qin Feng looked at his status panel.

After using Dream Points to raise the caps on some of his attributes, Qin Feng's status panel was already far beyond what it had once been.

[Qin Feng]

[Professional ID: Aether]

[Age: 19]

[Team: Fnatic]

[Aim: 94 (S+)]

[Movement: 90 (S)]

[Game Sense: 95 (SS+)]

[Appearance: Data Overflow]

[Specialties: Sniper Rifle Mastery (A+), Pistol Mastery (A)]

[Skills: Killing Intent Perception, Absolute Focus, World's Best Utility Player.]

[Current Stability: 64.22]

[Current Stamina: 77.35]

[Available Daily Mission: Get 30 headshot kills with the SSG-08.]

Looking at his status panel, Qin Feng casually opened the AIMBOT Map.

As the BOTs on the map were repeatedly killed with headshots, Qin Feng's stability rose to 66.57, while his stamina dropped to 75.53.

Based on his previous tests, Qin Feng knew that when he played for too long and his stamina dropped below 60, his stability would fluctuate significantly.

The reason professional players constantly ran maps and trained before a match was, at its core, to keep their performance steady.

A big part of why studying and working in real life felt tedious was the lack of feedback people could see for themselves.

But Qin Feng could clearly see his own condition through the status panel.

And that made it all the more enjoyable for him.

"I've still got enough stamina today. I can play some FPL." Qin Feng rubbed his eyes and opened the Faceit platform.

Thanks to the generous reader Lengxi__ for the 1,500-point tip.

Thanks to Jing Xiaoniu and Mr. Wei for the 500-point tips.

Thanks, everyone, for the tips, monthly votes, and recommendation votes.

Two more chapters will be posted later.