17. Dude, Are You NIKO?! (Two-in-One)

Chapter 17: Dude, Are You NIKO?! (Two-in-One)

His little niece had gone to tutoring, and his cousin-in-law had gone to work.

Once again, it was just the two of them at home. Lunch had gone cold, but neither of them felt like reheating it. They simply gulped it down with some tomato-and-egg soup.

As he filled his stomach, Jiang Yang checked what he'd earned from the system.

He'd been so engrossed in playing that morning that he'd focused solely on climbing the ranks.

It wasn't until the match ended that he noticed [Hunter's ECO Special Attack] had changed again.

[Signature Skill: Hunter's ECO Special Attack (Intermediate)]

[Progress: (12/5000)]

[Effect: When you hear the enemy's ECO weapons fire, the "You guys... went ECO, right?" buff activates. Your ID will greatly intimidate your opponents and affect their aim to some extent. The more ECO kills you get, the greater the effect.]

Holy crap!

Was it really this powerful?

Could this skill actually affect his opponents?

But when he thought about it, it made sense.

After all, the CS:GO world had the famous team NiP, who suffered from a notorious fear of forests.

Whenever NiP faced S1mple, the whole team played timidly, as if they'd been intimidated by S1mple's ID.

If Jiang Yang could put on an especially strong performance against an anti-ECO round, his opponents would naturally start paying attention to his ID.

The boost to his skill made Jiang Yang even more confident.

He just had to win three more matches to officially reach S, the highest rank among amateur players.

Jiang Yang scraped up his last bite of food and prepared to start his climb.

Ma Xixi called out, "Just stream the main perspective this afternoon. I've got something to do outside."

Jiang Yang rolled his eyes. "What afternoon don't you have something to do?"

Ever since Ma Xixi learned Jiang Yang could hold down the stream, he'd let his true nature show and turned into the ultimate lazybones.

MO's captain used to stream the main perspective in the afternoons all the time. Now that he knew Jiang Yang was covering for him, he'd started logging on every night instead.

But Jiang Yang didn't refuse. He'd planned to start climbing the ranks that afternoon anyway.

He'd be playing regardless, and streaming let him banter with the chat. If anything, it kept things from getting boring.

Having just eaten, Jiang Yang ordered a lemon drink from Mixue Bingcheng, then watched some recordings of his previous matches on his computer.

He mainly picked out matches where he'd made mistakes, reviewing them to spot what he needed to improve.

When the drink arrived, Jiang Yang thought for a moment about the title, then typed:

<Cousin's Out, I'm Lonely, So I'm Climbing the Ranks with Passion>

The CSBOY account had over a million followers. As soon as the stream went live, plenty of viewers flooded into the room.

[Your title's clickbait game is strong, Cousin.]

[Sigh, I thought we were getting demos of top teams.]

[It's just CS after all. Sigh.]

[Everyone who plays CS is a coward and a pervert.]

[Every single one of them is a horny old man.]

Seeing the last two comments, Jiang Yang immediately retorted, "Don't you dare slander me. I'm pretty brave!"

"And let me set the record straight: I'm not old!"

Jiang Yang's ridiculous remarks had the "Helmets" in the stream laughing their heads off.

[Is Cousin going to show us what it's like to get stuck in ladder hell again today?]

[Hahaha, climbing every day and getting turned into a vegetable every day. Cousin's stream is way more entertaining than Ma Xixi's ranked games.]

[Whenever I remember Cousin getting stuck in A for so long, losing a ranked game doesn't feel so bad.]

[If you ask me, Cousin should play in PL, and Ma Xixi should play in B+. Shorty's the one who belongs in this rank.]

"System notification: 'Ma Xixi, Stop Standing Around and Casting' has been muted for five minutes by moderator 'CSBOY.'"

The stream instantly went wild.

Once they realized Ma Xixi was watching, the chat filled with [Ma Xixi, I'll Top Kill You].

Jiang Yang was having a great time too, but he soon steered things back on track.

"Today's show is mainly about climbing the ranks. Let's just get to S, nice and easy," Jiang Yang said calmly.

The chat immediately started cracking jokes.

[Little Jiang said he was going for S five days ago, and he's still stuck in A.]

[Big talk before the climb, dead silence during the climb, nonsense after the climb.]

[Today's rank is tomorrow's goal.]

[Forget it, Little Jiang. C+ is your forever home! You've wandered too far from home. Time to climb back to C+!]

[That's the family legacy for you. Do you even understand the Ma brothers' CS?]

The viewers in the stream were all voicing their doubts.

It was only natural. The first time Jiang Yang reached A, he'd said he was going to ride that momentum all the way to S, and quite a few of them had believed him.

But after several days of getting battered in this rank, he was still saying the same thing. Of course they didn't believe him anymore.

Besides, they all thought Jiang Yang was still a little behind the S-rank players in overall skill.

He simply didn't have enough hours in the game.

Ma Xixi's cousin really did have a talent for CS, but he still needed time to develop.

Jiang Yang had been about to put on a show like he usually did, but suddenly he froze.

[At thirty years old, you want to challenge the platform's highest rank, but your viewers doubt you. As an old-timer destined for a comeback, you must use your skill to silence them!]

[Limited-Time Mission: Reach Perfect World S rank within 24 hours. Reward: A random pro player's signature skill.]

Jiang Yang raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected there to be a "Limited-Time Mission" alongside the "Main" and "Daily" missions.

But the timing couldn't have been better.

Ever since he'd gotten the system, pro players' signature skills had greatly accelerated his understanding of CS:GO.

He'd just bought [NIKO's Pre-Aiming], and his account in the System Mall was still in the red. For the time being, he couldn't get any more improvements from the mall.

This limited-time mission had come at just the right moment.

He opened matchmaking and showed the viewers his rank.

"I'm only three wins away. Today, I'll show you what a teenage prodigy looks like!"

"Little old S rank? Easy pickings!"

Some viewers were surprised that Jiang Yang was only 80 points from ranking up, but most still didn't believe he'd make it.

Sometimes, when you were on the verge of ranking up in a particular bracket, the game always seemed to match you with the most bizarre teammates.

They didn't think Jiang Yang would get there so easily.

Matchmaking found a game in no time. Jiang Yang rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He was ready to go on a rampage!

Meanwhile, over in Huya's League of Legends section.

A player who looked like "Jaken" saw the match load and spoke to his stream with a confident grin:

"With my skills, I ought to go pro for Tyloo."

"My aim's so good, I can kill anyone!"

The 5E Play Platform client was under maintenance that day, forcing Crystal Brother to switch over to Perfect World Platform.

He was playing on his own account there, but his rating wasn't particularly high. To him, the matches were nothing but easy games where he could stomp the other team.

Naturally, Crystal Brother was feeling cocky.

Then he saw a viewer remind him in chat: [Looks like you got matched with Ma Xixi's cousin.]

Crystal Brother immediately laughed.

He might've been a pro League of Legends player, but he actually preferred playing CS.

He'd even gotten into professional League of Legends after first picking it up on a whim.

His League ID had come from a Swedish player back in the CS 1.6 days.

He kept a close eye on the GO scene, of course, so he knew about Ma Xixi's cousin, who'd recently been making a bit of a splash.

He took a look, and the ID matched too.

Crystal Brother laughed smugly. "Today, I'm going to show Little Jiang how brutal a high-rank match can be!"

"I'm going to kill eighty people this game! He won't be able to sleep tonight without thinking about it!"

Seeing the comments on his secondary screen calling him a smurf, Crystal Brother shrugged helplessly. "Perfect World's matchmaking has forced me to play with the regulars. What can I do? I honestly don't see how I could lose this one."

His viewers immediately burst out laughing.

[Gangzi's mouth really is tough!]

[He's like an old general on a stage, covered from head to toe in flags.]

[Little Jiang's also swearing he'll get to S. Looks like Gangzi caught him this time.]

Crystal Brother's confidence wasn't baseless.

Among the major CS:GO platforms in China, the skill level at 5E was relatively high, and Crystal Brother was already one of the best public-match players.

Against an ordinary S-rank player on Perfect World, he had a considerable advantage.

Crystal Brother looked relaxed, ready to breeze through the match and gain some points.

Once they loaded into Dust II, Jiang Yang learned from the chat that he'd run into Crystal Brother.

He knew who Crystal Brother was.

He was the victim of that League of Legends BO10, and one of China's best ADCs. After that BO10, Crystal Brother had even gone through a top-tier "bloodletting" treatment, which sent his form into a nosedive. Before long, he'd faded into obscurity.

But he played CS:GO too, and apparently wasn't bad at it. That surprised Jiang Yang.

Back when he used to watch League of Legends tournaments, he'd always felt bad for that player.

Now that he'd run into a player he'd once liked, Jiang Yang immediately typed in all chat.

Miss, Get Out of the Way: "Crystal Brother, I'm your fan!"

Crystal Brother had been bragging to his viewers, but the moment he saw that, his face darkened.

[Why's my factory getting called out again?]

[The fan buff's fully stacked. Gangzi's about to get beat up.]

[Feels like the streamer on the other team is a real comedian too.]

Crystal Brother calmed down. Maybe the guy on the other team really was his fan. He typed a reply in all chat.

Bot, Please Be Gentle: "Bro, when did you become my fan?"

Miss, Get Out of the Way: "Ever since One Fish Four Eats."

Crystal Brother leaned back hard in his chair. "Another damn hater!"

"One Fish Four Eats" was one of Crystal Brother's most infamous moments. He'd gotten hit by the enemy Fizz's ultimate, then used a dash skill that caused all four of his teammates to take the full damage instead.

It was one of his legendary disaster plays.

That exchange proved Jiang Yang really was a Crystal Brother fan—just a hater.

Viewers in both streams were laughing themselves silly.

After Jiang Yang had his fun, the last teammate entered the game.

The match began!

For once, Jiang Yang started on the attacking side. He opened his mic and got the team talking. "What do you guys think? How should we play the pistol round?"

"I'll smoke CT Base and go A," the blue teammate replied.

Once they had a plan, the others immediately followed along.

It was a simple pistol-round execute with a few flashbangs, but most of the round came down to aim duels.

Jiang Yang didn't get a single kill in the pistol round. As they pushed forward, he died to a bullet from who-knows-where.

His teammates put up a good fight, but Crystal Brother won the final one-on-one duel and defused the bomb.

"Unlucky, unlucky," Jiang Yang said consolingly. That was just how pistol rounds went. There were too many unpredictable situations, and anything could happen in a one-on-one clutch.

"What do you guys think for the second round? Should we buy or go ECO?"

Thanks to Leon Kai's lessons, Jiang Yang understood how important it was to "coordinate." He was very proactive about communicating in ranked games, and if his teammates didn't speak up, he'd even take on the role of in-game leader and guide them himself.

As he spoke, he saw that his teammates had already bought their guns.

There was no need to discuss it, then. They were buying this round.

After giving it some thought, Jiang Yang bought full armor, a Desert Eagle, a smoke, and a flashbang.

When the countdown ended, he headed straight to A1.

The enemy didn't throw an early A1 molotov, which made Jiang Yang even more cautious.

His understanding of pre-aiming had improved by leaps and bounds, and he knew Dust II's angles well. At A1, for a moment, it was as if he'd turned into NIKO, sweeping the area like a robot vacuum.

But he didn't rush. First, he held the angle for a while in case the enemy pushed up early. Then, on the second timing, he pre-aimed the flowerpot position, adjusted his crosshair, and peeked toward the A1 wall to hold a tight angle.

Then he peeked Under Jump Platform, Sandwich, and On Jump Platform, before crouching to clear the Close Point corners.

He hadn't gotten any information from inside A1 right away. If the enemy had pushed up at the start of the round, they might've made it to Close Point.

The CSBOY stream didn't have many Cloud Players.

Most viewers were pretty good at the game.

It was easy to tell whether someone knew what they were doing in CS:GO.

So when Jiang Yang first filled in for Ma Xixi's stream, everyone had said he was a pure C+.

But this time, Jiang Yang's movement and pre-aims were incredibly smooth.

For players at a higher rank, just watching that pre-aiming process was satisfying.

Jiang Yang didn't know the "Helmets" in his stream were practically getting off on it. Once he focused, he stopped paying attention to anything else.

He kept pre-aiming as he moved forward. Then he swept his Desert Eagle back and forth behind the A1 wall, flicked it toward Long Box, and got some information. At the same time, he saw bullets fly out from Behind Long Box.

Jiang Yang immediately peeked out again.

"Bang!"

"At this rank, I can just run around killing people." Crystal Brother bragged to the chat with ease. Then he spotted a figure flickering past A1 and immediately opened fire.

The next second, his opponent slid out, and all he heard was the crisp crack of a headshot.

[Miss, get out of the way killed Bot, please be gentle with a headshot using the Desert Eagle]

"Fuck!" Crystal Brother rapidly called it out over voice chat. "They're pushing out from A1! I got one-tapped!"

After taking out Crystal Brother, Jiang Yang called for his teammates to move toward A site, but he didn't stop advancing. Instead, he kept moving forward, pre-aiming as he went.

After clearing behind Long Box, he pre-aimed CT Base. No one was there for now, so he slowly checked the hiding spots around Bomb Site.

Then he heard a flashbang go off and realized it was the classic A2 Floor retake from below. He immediately turned to dodge, then held his aim as soon as the flash popped.

"Bang!"

His opponent didn't even get a shot off before Jiang Yang took him out with the Desert Eagle.

With two kills under his belt, Jiang Yang's heart surged. They had a chance to turn this round around!

He'd taken out the players at Bomb Site and Short Box. Judging by the information coming in on the Minimap, one player was at VIP and another at Arch, so the last one had to be in B Area.

Jiang Yang pre-aimed VIP, then made a wide swing to the left and crouched.

An AWP was holding him from the Jungle side. Jiang Yang fired instantly.

"Bang!"

[Miss, get out of the way killed Turtle's Black Head with a headshot using the Desert Eagle]

Jiang Yang quickly moved into Bomb Site. There was an MP9 below A2 Floor, but he didn't pick it up.

He planned to head to Long Box and grab the opponent's M4.

As he moved, he spotted the CT from Arch already at Jump Platform, spraying a burst at him as he crossed. The shots nearly killed him outright.

Fuming, Jiang Yang pulled back and shot him.

"Bang!"

[Miss, get out of the way killed Liyue Breakthrough Keqing with a headshot using the Desert Eagle]

"Brothers, A site's clear! Bring the bomb to A!" Jiang Yang shouted over voice chat, full of swagger.

How could he not be? Four shots with the Desert Eagle, four kills. He'd cleared out A Area all by himself.

It was the moment every CS:GO player dreamed of.

His teammates immediately erupted in cheers and praise over voice chat.

"Holy shit, bro, are you NIKO?! You just one-tapped the whole enemy team with that Desert Eagle!"

"Insane! I'm bringing the bomb over!"

"That was huge!"

Hearing his teammates cheer, Jiang Yang took both hands off the keyboard and flashed a devilish grin at the camera.

Meanwhile, the chat on his Secondary Screen was going wild.

[Wait, that can't be right.]

[Did he turn on cheats?]

[He really took out the whole enemy team?]

[Are they bots? How did they all get one-tapped?]

[What's going on with your cousin? How'd he suddenly get it?]

[Is this really Xiao Jiang?]

[Oh no, the enemy team's broke next round. Xiao Jiang can keep using cheats.]

I didn't sleep well last night, and my brain's not working too well. I'm a bit stuck on the chapter. Sorry, sorry.