I'm Niko! I'm Niko!

[Rise Points + 259]

[Obtained a B-rank reward: Specify one pro player and randomly gain insight into one of their skills.]

Su Zhe felt a little disappointed at first when he saw the reward. He'd expected some kind of skill that would improve his talent.

But when he thought about the improvement he'd gained last time from choosing donk's skill insight, he started looking forward to it again.

He still couldn't replicate some of the simple-looking plays donk had made back then. It was like his brain had figured it out, but his hands hadn't quite caught up.

Even so, it had brought him a huge improvement. That mobile defensive technique had been incredibly useful even during his Tianlu tryout.

And this time, unlike last time, he didn't have to make a random choice. He could pick a pro player himself.

Who should he choose?

Su Zhe immediately thought of Semper, Zai Wu, and Niko. It wasn't just because he and his two roommates were always cosplaying them in the Live Room to create Show Effect...

In terms of skill alone, these three were also the first names that came to mind.

Su Zhe ruled out Semper first. Semper, who had been hailed as the number-one CSGO player, had recently withdrawn from NAVI's starting lineup because he couldn't adapt to some of CS2's changes.

There was no reason to choose someone who couldn't adapt to the new version, no matter how good he'd once been.

That left Zai Wu and Niko. One was Team Vitality's main AWPer, known for his incredibly consistent performance and almost wallhack-like Game Sense.

The other was G2's entry fragger. The nickname "road roller" was proof enough of his sheer firepower.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Zhe made up his mind.

[Would you like to randomly gain insight into one of Niko's skills?]

[Yes]

[Randomizing... Congratulations, host. You have gained insight into Niko's pre-aim technique.]

The scene before Su Zhe's eyes shifted, and he was once again transported to the setting where he'd experienced donk's skill insight.

He quickly lost himself in Niko's plays.

The map was Ancient Ruins, and Niko was on the attacking side.

At the start of the round, he was alone outside B Door, playing default Map Control. But his teammates soon fell one after another at T Spawn, and the round instantly became a 2v5.

Su Zhe felt Niko's urgency. The score was already 18–19 in overtime, and every point mattered.

When Niko heard gunfire from Small Dark Room, Su Zhe immediately understood what he was thinking.

This is a great chance to catch them on their timing! Niko silently crept into the B connector smoke the CTs had thrown. Once he judged that he was close enough, he made a wide lateral swing, spotted a CT's side, and shot him down.

Another player at the back of Small Dark Room tried to trade the kill, but the AK in Niko's hands seemed to have no recoil. His spray instantly shifted to the right, and he scored another Headshot.

The 2v3 situation was still bleak.

After confirming that no CTs were pushing out to Look for Kill, Niko decided to head to Mid with his teammate and push through Donut.

He moved from B connector to Mid, stopped for a second above the Mid cubby while aiming toward Donut, then immediately crouch-peeked with a pre-aim.

His crosshair landed perfectly, like a nail driven straight into the head of the AWPer holding a Direct Hold.

Pre-aim, crouch-peek, fire—all in one smooth motion, without a single unnecessary movement.

The sniper, the greatest threat to a rifleman, seemed like a toy in his hands.

After clearing the Close Point threat in Mid, Niko let his team's AWPer use the weapon advantage to keep pushing.

Then a CT suddenly swung out of Donut and killed the AWPer as he advanced. Catching Niko at the moment he threw utility in Mid, the CT immediately fell back.

They were now down to a 1v2.

After figuring out roughly where the opponents were, Niko kept pushing deeper into Donut.

In Su Zhe's eyes, Niko was making segmented pre-aims with every step. Yet none of it looked deliberate, and he hardly slowed down at all.

On another segmented pre-aim, Niko spotted a CT standing at the cubby on Donut's right.

He moved as if he'd done it countless times before.

Counter-strafe, fire, kill.

Without pausing after the kill, he pre-aimed CT Spawn and swung out again.

Counter-strafe, fire, spray control, five kills—an ACE.

Su Zhe stared in disbelief. Could a human really pre-aim like that?

He isn't using an aimbot? He locked onto the guy through the wall!

Just as Su Zhe was absorbed in the experience, the scene shifted again.

The map changed to Inferno. This time, Niko began the round by pushing up Banana Path.

He first hugged the right side of Banana Path. After a teammate threw a Molotov at Wooden Board, confirming there was no one at Close Point, he didn't even line up his crosshair against the wall. He simply made a Small Stance pre-aim swing.

His crosshair landed right on the head of a CT holding a Big Sniper in a boost behind the yellow wall.

"Tap~"

One bullet, and the AWPer was gone.

Su Zhe: Huh? You need to pre-aim even a boost like that? How much experience does it take to judge the angle so accurately?

After killing the AWPer, Niko pushed farther up Banana Path.

Again, he cleared the angles with segmented pre-aims.

No one behind the Stone Slab. No one behind the sandbags. He crouch-peeked with a pre-aim toward CT Spawn—no one there. Then he pre-aimed another crouch-peek toward the position beneath the first box.

"Tap~"

Another AWPer, taken out in one shot! The same suffocating pressure that left the sniper unable to fire.

The B-site defense collapsed, and Niko still had full health.

Su Zhe thought back to his own Banana Path breakthrough in his last Diamond S match.

He'd relied entirely on an unconventional Speed Up and a second adjustment to break through. The whole thing could only be described as charging in headfirst.

But Niko's plays were graceful and composed. As he advanced, either no one appeared in his crosshair, or the enemy's head did.

Crouch-peeks, wide swings, and quick shoulder-peeks—all of them used Position Control that made it impossible for the opponent's AWPer to lock on immediately.

And when it came to pre-aim alone, Su Zhe had been doing Pre-aim Challenges every day for over a month.

As he understood it, the point was to train muscle memory: stand in a fixed spot, line up a fixed piece of cover, and then swing out.

Su Zhe had wondered why his pre-aims seemed different from other players'. It was because his opponents weren't bots; they could move at any moment.

All he could do was swing out with his crosshair a little closer to the enemy, making it easier to adjust and line up the shot.

But Niko's segmented pre-aims accounted for every possible place an opponent might appear in his field of view.

Always Maintain Doubt!

Most terrifying of all, Niko adjusted his pre-aimed head level to suit the terrain, ensuring he could land a one-shot kill when facing an AWPer.

This completely overturned Su Zhe's previous understanding of pre-aiming.

The moment the experience ended, Su Zhe felt like his aim was frighteningly hot, as if Niko had possessed him.

He couldn't wait to queue up for a Ladder match and put what he'd just learned into practice.

Su Zhe bounced out of the bathroom and shouted excitedly, "Hahaha! I did it! I did it! I'm Niko! I'm Niko!"

Fat Brother and Xiao Guang exchanged a glance. They could both tell what the other was thinking.

Did he have to put on a Show Effect just for going to the bathroom?

But you're "Zai Wu," not "Niko"!