I'll think about it (Monthly Votes)

Chapter 21: I'll Think It Over (Monthly Votes Please~)

By the time Su Zhe arrived in Hangcheng by high-speed rail, it was already noon, so he took a taxi straight to the club.

At the club entrance, someone glanced at a photo on their phone, then looked up at Su Zhe.

After confirming it was him, they walked over: "You're Su Zhe, right? I'm the trial coach for Tianlu. Follow me up."

Su Zhe followed the coach through the club's doors, looking around as he walked, growing more satisfied with what he saw.

The Tianlu club was far more impressive than he'd imagined; he'd heard that some domestic CS clubs even rented apartments in residential complexes to use as training rooms.

The coach led him all the way to the youth training room. Su Zhe peeked inside—there were at least a dozen people, all around his age.

The youth coach asked, "Do you want to rest a bit? We can arrange your trial later."

Su Zhe shook his head: "I can do it now, but I need to warm up first."

He'd slept a few hours last night and dozed off again on the high-speed rail this morning—it was the most rest he'd gotten in over a month, and he felt fully refreshed.

Hearing this, the youth coach directed him to a computer: "Then warm up here. I'll set things up. We'll start the trial in twenty minutes."

Su Zhe sat down and turned on the computer. A youth trainee next to him, who looked even younger, proactively struck up a conversation: "Hey, I'm Xiao Zhou. What's your in-game ID? Maybe we run into each other on the ladder all the time."

Su Zhe didn't know how to answer. Back when he'd picked that ID, it felt great—now, having to say it out loud to a stranger was just embarrassing.

He skipped the topic and asked instead, "What's this trial like? Is it hard?"

Xiao Zhou didn't mind and smiled: "It's simple. Later, they'll get ten of us together, play three practice matches, and the coach watches your plays from behind to decide if you stay."

"What, a little nervous?"

Su Zhe nodded. It was his first time—no experience—so some nerves were unavoidable. This was a big deal, after all, something that could shape his whole future.

Xiao Zhou reassured him: "Don't sweat it. Just play like you do on the ladder. The coach looks at stats, sure, but mainly at your decisions and moves during the match."

Su Zhe hummed in acknowledgment, said thanks, then asked the question he most wanted to ask: "If I pass the trial, how long until I can get into the main team as a starter?"

Xiao Zhou laughed like he'd heard a joke, his grin widening: "You're thinking pretty far ahead, huh. See that big guy behind you?"

Su Zhe turned to look. A man at least 1.9 meters tall was hunched over, staring intently at his screen.

He turned back, puzzled: "What about him?"

Xiao Zhou said, "He's got the best evaluation scores here, but he's been in youth training for two years already."

"Huh? That long?"

Xiao Zhou shrugged: "Totally normal. The main team has six people on the bench alone. Getting up from youth training isn't easy."

"If you perform well, the club might sell you to another team. But there aren't many domestic CSGO teams these days, so it's hard to move."

"If you'd come a few months earlier, there'd be more people here. A lot of them got transferred to the Valorant division."

Su Zhe fell silent. This wasn't what he'd imagined.

He pressed on, unwilling to give up: "No exceptions? Like, someone who does really well in youth training and goes straight to the main team as a starter?"

Xiao Zhou thought for a moment, then said, "You know Danking, right?"

Su Zhe nodded: "Yeah, he's strong. I ran into him once on the ladder."

Xiao Zhou continued: "He's got the best sniper stats domestically, and his streams are huge. He got promoted straight from youth training to starter back then."

Su Zhe pushed: "How long was he in youth training?"

Xiao Zhou answered: "Two or three years? Not sure exactly, but definitely not less than that."

Su Zhe went quiet again. Danking's talent and skill were already top-tier, and people online called him "Asia's Number One Sniper." Even someone like that had to spend two or three years in youth training?

Still unwilling to accept it, Su Zhe asked, "What about someone exceptionally strong? Any exceptions then?"

He had the system. If he could get a spot in youth training, a few months of hard work to improve himself—getting into the main team as a starter within a year shouldn't be that hard, right?

Xiao Zhou shook his head: "Basically impossible. What's the point of being strong on the ladder? The coaches don't care about that. Without match experience, there's no way you're playing. The club cares about results too."

He chuckled again: "Even though they haven't had results in a while, they still won't let new players on. There might've been a tiny chance before, but now it's completely out of the question."

Su Zhe followed up: "What happened now?"

Xiao Zhou looked surprised: "You don't know? Tianlu just acquired the 5yclone team a few days ago. This morning, they flew to Shanghai for the CAC event."

"Those guys have been playing matches for years, even participated in various S-tier tournaments. No way they'd suddenly swap in an inexperienced rookie."

Then Xiao Zhou joked, "Even if someone had talent like Zai Wu, coming to Tianlu's youth training would probably mean waiting a year or two before getting a match chance."

"By the way, aren't you warming up? They're about to start your trial."

"Oh! Right! Thanks!" Su Zhe's mind was a tangled mess. Mechanically, he plugged his peripherals into the computer and started adjusting his settings.

Two or three years... How could he wait that long? The system's countdown was only a little over 300 days... Once the system was gone, relying solely on his own effort—could he go far on this pro path...

Su Zhe pressed hard on his temples, trying to shove the restless thoughts deep down.

"One step at a time. Just focus on acing this trial first..."

After Su Zhe had killed five or six hundred bots, the youth coach walked back into the training room to arrange his trial.

He even had Su Zhe pick his three best maps from the current active pool, then randomly selected nine other youth trainees to join him in a custom lobby.

After more than two hours of tryouts, a total of 36 rounds were played.

The training matches were split into halves—the Attacking Side played 12 full rounds, then exited and switched sides for another 12 full rounds.

The coach stood behind him the whole time, constantly scribbling notes in his own notebook.

When the training match ended, Su Zhe felt a bit dazed. After 36 rounds, it felt like the first time he'd ever played ranked on S rank—completely out of his element.

The pace was too fast! The communication was too fast! The slightest mistake and the opponent would seize the opportunity.

He'd forgotten that everyone here in Youth Training was the strongest on the ladder—each one breezing through Demon King S every season, and all of them had gone through systematic training.

He himself was barely at Gold S level, and his performance in this training match could only be described as terrible.

Everyone who could make it here was a Genius Youth in their own right.

He finally understood a line he'd once seen Semper say: "Genius is just the threshold to be seen."

Arrogant as it was, in that moment, it became real.

The coach closed his notebook and said, "Come to the office with me for a chat."

Su Zhe hummed in acknowledgment and stood up. Xiao Zhou next to him gave him an encouraging gesture as he rose.

Once in the office, Su Zhe had already braced himself to be told to leave. To his surprise, the coach smiled at him and said, "Have a seat first. You did pretty well today."

"Huh?" Su Zhe thought he'd misheard. Across all six halves, his KD had been negative—he couldn't keep up with his teammates' rhythm at all.

The coach, now seated in his chair, seemed to see right through him. He picked up the water cup on the table, took a sip, and said:

"Playing poorly is normal. If you were out here slaughtering everyone in a training match, wouldn't that mean I've been wasting my time teaching them all this time?"

"But you had your own bright spots too—don't lose heart. I hear you've got less than a thousand hours in-game. Having this foundation already is pretty rare."

"As long as you join our Youth Training, settle down, and train hard, you'll definitely surpass them in the future."

As the head of Youth Training, he'd been in this position for years and knew how to handle these young people whose confidence had taken a hit.

Then he pulled a contract out of the drawer and said with a smile, "Congratulations on passing the tryout. Sign this contract, and you're officially a member of Tianlu."

Su Zhe took the contract and glanced through it. The content was complicated, but he got the gist.

A five-year Youth Training contract. Tianlu had the right to buy or sell him. If he wanted to jump ship or leave early during that period, he'd have to pay a massive penalty.

After reading it carefully, he asked cautiously, "Um... is it possible to sign a shorter contract? Like half a year, or three months..."

The coach laughed at that. Their Tianlu club might be bleeding money, but they weren't running a charity. Signing such a short contract would just be training talent for someone else.

He shook his head. "Youth Training contracts are all standard. No exceptions."

Su Zhe pressed on. "Then if I improve fast, how soon could I become a starter on the Main Team?"

The Youth Training coach fed him a line. "Hard to say. If you perform well and work hard enough, maybe in a year or two you'll have a chance."

Su Zhe sighed quietly and placed the contract back on the table.

"I'll think it over..."