After suffering through over a hundred milliseconds of ping for so long, Su Zhe looked at the smooth gameplay on-screen and felt like he could cry.
It felt just like a few months ago, when he'd finally replaced his old, barely functioning laptop.
Just then, es3tag's voice came through TS Voice. "Arrow, do default at B2 Floor this round. Everyone else, stick to your usual positions."
There was no unnecessary chatter. Once they'd quickly settled their starting positions, the countdown ended.
Su Zhe bought Half Armor in the shop and headed straight for B2 Floor.
He first checked the sewer exit. Seeing no one there, he went directly to the kitchen and held position.
Of the ten players in the match, the most nervous wasn't Su Zhe. It was nicoodoz, one of X team's trial players.
He'd joined a professional team back in 2018, but for the first three-plus years, he'd played for various tier-two and tier-three teams. It wasn't until 2022 that he got his chance to join FNC, a legendary team.
Back then, he'd been full of confidence, thinking he'd finally made it. He'd imagined following the team to big tournament prizes and earning a cut from the Major stickers. On his first night with FNC, he hadn't been able to sleep a wink.
But he hadn't expected to spend less than a year with FNC before the organization sold him off, sending him back to a tier-three team. Then, a few days ago, he'd received an invitation to try out for X team.
"This time, I'm going to give it everything I've got!" Nicoodoz encouraged himself. The team had assigned him to defend B site.
Like Nip, X team was playing default. They hadn't given him many instructions before the match, since the point of the tryout was to see a player's style and habits.
Having done his homework the day before, he had a pretty good idea where Nip would put the newcomer who'd never played professionally.
So when he saw Nip was also playing default, he couldn't help wanting to make a good impression.
Nicoodoz first checked with TeSeS, the team's veteran, and said he wanted to quietly push up B2 Floor for information.
TeSeS didn't quite understand, but respected his choice, and boosted him up to B2.
After making sure no one was hiding in the middle of B2 Floor, nicoodoz boldly continued forward toward the kitchen.
After several years as a pro, his pre-aim was still solid. That gave him the confidence to look for opportunities on his own.
"No one's above the sewer, so he should be in the kitchen..."
Confident he'd figured it out, nicoodoz carefully crept up to close point in the kitchen. After lining up against the wall for a while, he crouch-peeked out with a pre-aim.
"Bang!"
[Arrow headshot nicoodoz with a Glock]
"WTF!"
The kill startled nicoodoz. He'd pre-aimed as he peeked out and had already lined up the shot—so how had he ended up dead?
The coach, watching from behind Su Zhe, had witnessed the whole thing. After a moment's hesitation, he wrote "Very fast reactions" and "Solid aim" in his notebook.
"Nice! Great shot!" Es3tag praised him when he saw the kill notification. After noticing where the opponent had died, he could guess what had happened.
He couldn't help finding it funny. They really think our rookie's an easy target!
He glanced at the minute remaining on the attack timer and spoke over voice chat:
"They probably know there's someone at B. Arrow, come out through the sewer and help the others take Mid. Then we'll hit A from Archway on second timing."
Hearing that, Su Zhe abandoned the idea of solo-pushing B site. He went to the sewer and silently made his way toward Mid.
After confirming that Mid was clear, he joined the two Nip players who'd been playing default at T Spawn.
"I'll go first." Su Zhe pressed close to the right side of Archway and sped up.
The coach saw this and looked pleased again.
That was a nice detail. When pushing Archway, he stayed to the right. If a CT in Side Path wanted to help their teammate at Archway, they'd have to push out into the middle of the road to get a kill.
That also made it easier for the T teammate standing on the chair to trade the kill.
It was basic play for a pro, but the coach knew Su Zhe was a complete beginner. It was already impressive that he'd done something so precise without thinking.
Meanwhile, Su Zhe's teammate at A2 was shoulder-peeking and firing to draw the defenders' aim.
Hearing the shots, Su Zhe stayed close to the right side of Archway and checked the spot where the CTs might jump. Seeing no one, he immediately turned toward Jungle and pulled out an Igoudala.
With Mid lost, Nertz, positioned in Jungle, had kept his attention on Archway.
When he saw a T burst out, he immediately tried to trade with his USP.
But the USP fired too slowly. His first shot missed the head, so he tried to adjust his aim for a second shot.
Su Zhe moved like an agile dog in the mountains, rapidly strafing as he poured bullets into the CT.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
[Arrow killed Nertz with a Glock]
After getting the kill, Su Zhe didn't push onto Bomb Site. Instead, he made straight for VIP to cut off the CTs rotating from B.
He hadn't expected TeSeS to rotate from B so quickly. Just after he entered VIP, he let his guard down for a moment and got instantly headshot with a USP from the Supermarket.
"VIP window!"
Su Zhe immediately called out the position over voice chat after dying, then quietly watched his teammates play.
In fact, after Su Zhe got two kills, the situation had already become clear.
With the CT positions all revealed, the four Nip players easily traded kills and won the Pistol Round.
"Arrow! Nice work! Keep it up!" After the round, es3tag took the initiative to fist-bump Su Zhe.
Su Zhe hesitated for a moment, then bumped his fist against es3tag's.
So this is what playing professionally feels like?
It feels great!
After winning the Pistol Round, neither team had any Set Tactics. The score quickly reached 3–0.
But once the Full Buy Round began, X team's advantage on defense started to show.
Although TeSeS and sjuush were veterans on X team and weren't calling tactics, they still did their best to accommodate their trial teammates.
At the start of the round, Nertz asked a teammate for a Flashbang and successfully flashed out k0nfig, who'd been playing default in A2 Floor.
After seeing the death at A2, headtr1ck immediately gave up his first angle at A1 to prevent the other team from flashing him out next.
X team then used their numbers to take control of Mid on second timing.
Seeing that their early Map Control hadn't gone well, es3tag hurriedly called for a B-site utility dump.
But X team had anticipated this and moved their defensive positions closer to B in advance. After a flurry of traded kills, X team won the Full Buy Round.
From there, the match gradually fell into X team's rhythm. Before long, the score stood at 3–5.
Su Zhe hadn't made any mistakes over those rounds, but he hadn't contributed much either.
In the previous round, X team had also organized a push-up to B2 Floor to clear the area. When two players peeked together, he'd managed to trade one of them.
But that was all he'd been able to do.
REZ glanced at the Data Panel and remarked, "Nertz is pretty good! His aim's so sharp!"
Es3tag nodded. "Definitely. He was already playing well on ENCE. He wouldn't be trying out for X team if his old organization hadn't wanted to put him up for sale."
Then he reminded them over voice chat, "They're clearing us out really often now. We need to figure out how to deal with that."
He didn't call any other tactics. After all, winning or losing this tryout wasn't important. What mattered most was seeing how Su Zhe handled the match in different situations.
The coach, djL, also wanted to see how the young player would deal with the pressure of being cleared out while playing default.
Su Zhe had just wiped the sweat from his hands on his pants.
He looked at the 3–5 score and thought back to how es3tag had told him before the tryout that the expectations were high. He couldn't help feeling tense and anxious.
I need to figure out how to deal with this...
They'd only Half Bought last round, so they had plenty of money this time.
Su Zhe bought Full Armor, an AK, and a full set of utility, then headed straight for B2 Floor.
In an earlier round, a CT had pushed up through the sewer and killed him from behind. So this time, he threw a Flashbang into the sewer himself. When no CT came through right away, he returned to B2 Floor.
But this time, he didn't stay in the kitchen and play default.
He'd thought of a way to deal with the clears: take the initiative and catch the opponents pushing up on their timing. He started to peek, ready to swing out at any moment.
The coach's brow furrowed as he watched. He casually wrote "Reckless" in his notebook, then turned his attention back to Su Zhe's screen.
When Su Zhe felt the timing was right, he pre-aimed at White Car and crouch-peeked out.
The moment he saw a black speck flash beneath White Car, his crosshair snapped downward.
"Tap!"
[Arrow headshot nicoodoz with an AK-47]
"Huh? He can get picked off like that?" Nicoodoz was startled.
When he heard his teammates say they were going to take control of Mid this round, he'd decided against pushing up. Instead, he'd stayed put, holding utility and jumping to check B2.
And one look was all it took to get him killed?
"Uh..." The coach was a little surprised too. Su Zhe's reaction had been so fast that he hadn't even seen where the CT was before Su Zhe got the kill.
Could he be that confident? The coach was just about to cross out "Reckless" when he saw Su Zhe start pushing forward again.
He sighed and stopped his pen. He was still too young. In this situation, he should have waited for his teammates and used their numbers to attack.
Otherwise, pushing into Bomb Site alone and giving himself away would only result in an ordinary one-for-one trade.
Su Zhe had no idea what the coach was thinking. After getting the kill, he quickly checked the angles in the same pre-aiming order he used in practice.
When he saw that B site was empty, he immediately called over voice chat, "B site's clear! You can come!"
He was about to hold the Supermarket position and cut off the CTs rotating back when the sound of a Flashbang from Side Path caught his attention.
Just after entering Bomb Site, Su Zhe quickly turned ninety degrees toward Side Path. The moment he saw a CT swing out, he crouched and sprayed.
"Rat-tat-tat!"
[Arrow killed TeSeS with an AK-47]
Su Zhe had just lowered his weapon and started to turn away when another CT swung out from Side Path to trade the kill.
He simply guessed the CT's path and fired two shots.
"Tap! Tap!"
[Arrow headshot kyxsan with an AK-47]
The coach fell silent as he watched. After a moment's thought, he erased "Reckless" from his notebook.
Then he changed it to "Good at Proactively Finding Opportunities"...
There'll be another chapter later, but it'll be a bit late. I want to watch the Grand Finals!
And please consider voting with your mid-month monthly ticket!
Before you continue