A Sniper Rifle as Fast as Lightning!

"Damn, really one shot, one kill!"

Crystal Brother complained miserably on stream.

Losing a gunfight with rifles against a Desert Eagle felt awful.

It felt even worse that every player on their side at A site had been instantly killed by that Desert Eagle.

Crystal Brother had been the first to die, so he'd watched all his teammates' perspectives. That round, he'd completely turned into an esports Medusa: whoever he looked at died.

One after another, his teammates got taken out instantly. The only one who managed to land a shot was the teammate on Jump Platform.

But the Jump Platform teammate's death cam was even more terrifying. He'd peeked at the wrong time and only managed to hit Jiang Yang three times before the other guy seemed to get mad, turned around, and instantly killed him.

The pressure was through the roof!

What kind of horror game was this?!

At the sight of Crystal Brother's expression, the stream chat instantly filled with laughter.

Crystal Brother bragged on stream every day, so of course they wanted to see him get wrecked. They just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

"It was just luck," Crystal Brother said. "And it's only a Desert Eagle. It's not like I don't know how to use one!"

"This round, I'll show you what my Desert Eagle can do!"

After losing the pistol round, the CT side had an average of only 1,400 in cash. Players at this level knew how to manage their economy, so the CT side went for a force buy.

When the countdown ended, he headed straight into VIP and carefully tucked himself into a head-glitch position, hoping the angle would let him squeeze off a couple more shots with the Desert Eagle.

Then, in the next moment, he saw a T moving toward Sandbag.

"Bang!"

[Miss, get out of the way used AK47 to headshot and kill Bot, please be gentle]

"Someone Mid, carrying an AK." After making the basic callout, Crystal Brother gave a helpless shrug. "Wait, did he even counter-strafe?"

His opponent had moved so fast that it felt like Jiang Yang hadn't even counter-strafed. He'd just fired while moving and instantly killed him with a single bullet.

That was why Crystal Brother was so surprised.

His viewers were having an even better time.

[Really loved the streamer's words: "I'll show you what my Desert Eagle can do."]

[Gangzi's mouth is as stubborn as ever, haha.]

[That's young people's reaction time for you. Gangzi still hadn't processed it by the time he died.]

[Jiang Yang: "I heard the sound of an ECO!"]

However, what happened next put even more pressure on Crystal Brother.

After he died, his view switched to his teammates at Arch and B Short.

Players at this level were usually at least somewhat confident in their Desert Eagle skills. So when they realized they'd lost control of Mid, they instinctively wanted to come over and look for an opening.

Once again, they got killed one after another. In the top-right corner, all that remained was a stream of kill notifications from "Miss, get out of the way."

Watching Jiang Yang's ID flood the screen, Crystal Brother felt immense pressure.

While the other side was short on money, Jiang Yang had racked up seven kills in just two rounds, bringing his stats to 11 kills, 1 assist, and 2 deaths. It was an outrageous performance.

Jiang Yang's excellent showing had also boosted the morale of the whole team.

The match went much more smoothly after that.

Still, they didn't steamroll the other side all the way through. Crystal Brother might have liked to talk tough, but he did have real skill, and he helped the defenders withstand several waves of pressure in the middle of the half.

Besides, players at this level all had their own playstyles and knew how to step up and get kills, unless they were having an off day or were especially unlucky.

At the end of the first half, the score stood at 10–5, with Jiang Yang's team leading Crystal Brother's side by five rounds.

And they'd been on the attack during that half.

Throughout the first half, Jiang Yang had continued to absorb and master [NIKO's Pre-aim Technique].

He'd had a moment of insight before and gained a complete understanding of some of the mechanics behind pre-aiming.

But [NIKO's pre-aiming] taught him how to pre-aim in specific spots and which techniques to use.

For example, when clearing the close right side of A1, he needed to crouch and inch forward. For a position that was hard to clear, like Long Box, it was better to use a body swing first.

As he got kills and died, he gradually came to understand why.

He couldn't help but admire NIKO. His pre-aiming was frighteningly good.

And there was no denying it: pre-aiming felt incredible.

Once he was ready, he could peek out and instantly kill his opponent. The thrill of landing a single headshot made his whole brain feel clear and exhilarated.

He finally understood why some pros liked using single-shot fire, even though it left little room for error.

Because it felt so damn good!

Jiang Yang also realized that his newly improved abilities, [NIKO's pre-aiming] and [Hunter's ECO Special Attack], complemented each other.

[NIKO's pre-aiming] had greatly improved his attacking ability, letting him get more out of his rifles when facing ECO rounds.

Every map in CS had a different layout. Submachine guns weren't suited to every map.

Meanwhile, [Hunter's ECO Special Attack] taught him how to handle ECO rounds. That let him work backward and figure out how to position himself during an ECO round so the other side would have a harder time dealing with him.

Combined with [NIKO's pre-aiming], his ability to turn around ECO rounds became even stronger.

That was a win-win!

Jiang Yang had won twice all by himself!

So this was the bond between you two... Jiang Yang couldn't help thinking.

NIKO and Hunter were both top-tier professional players, and they had a special relationship.

They'd grown up together and were cousins, though many people in China had initially misunderstood their relationship and thought they were maternal cousins.

That was why they were also nicknamed Older Cousin and Younger Cousin.

As he thought about it, they entered the second half.

Their aim was still on point, and they got off to a smooth start in the second half.

But once Jiang Yang's side reached 14 points, Crystal Brother began to step up.

Crystal Brother might have liked to talk tough, but he really did have skill.

After scoring a four-kill while breaking through B Area, Crystal Brother's side finally started picking up points again.

After taking that round, his team gradually found their rhythm again and began a fierce comeback.

Wave after wave of attacks left Jiang Yang's team struggling to catch their breath.

The score climbed all the way to 14–12, leaving them just two rounds away from a tie.

Being hit by a string of rounds had dampened the mood a little.

Once they'd finally saved up enough money, Jiang Yang spoke up. "Open the door for me. I'll buy an AWP and go Mid. See if I can get the first kill."

"Sure. I'll throw you two mid-to-long flashes from Long Box," said Purple, one of his teammates.

Jiang Yang nodded. Players at this level still liked dry peeking, but they'd learned a few basic forms of coordination.

When the countdown ended, he switched to his knife and headed toward VIP.

The other side had been throwing VIP Smoke in the previous few rounds, so he didn't think he'd be able to see Mid right away.

But then he remembered a moment from a S1mple POV and immediately switched to an Incendiary Grenade, throwing it into VIP.

The incendiary went off in VIP first, and the other side's VIP Smoke landed shortly afterward.

But because smoke extinguished fire, it didn't land where it was supposed to. That left a huge gap on VIP's left side.

The T coming to take control of Mid didn't know about the gap. He thought the VIP Smoke had covered the whole area, so even after getting blinded by a flash, he kept moving toward Sandbag.

Jiang Yang flicked his AWP and easily got the kill.

"Nice flash!" Jiang Yang praised his teammate.

But before he'd finished speaking, a teammate shouted urgently over voice chat:

"Utility dump at A site!"

"Someone's coming straight out of A1!"

"Someone's at A2, too!"

Gunfire erupted across A site within seconds, and then Jiang Yang saw three kill notifications appear in the top-right corner.

He hadn't communicated with his teammate in B Area, but that teammate had instinctively started rotating back through B Short, clearly hoping to make a play in the clutch.

Jiang Yang was also moving from Jungle toward Jump Platform.

Wherever he looked, Connector Smoke and Jump Platform Smoke were both up. The other side's utility had given them very few openings.

Then, in the next moment, gunfire erupted behind Long Box, and another kill notification appeared in the top-right corner.

[Bot, please be gentle used AK47 to headshot and kill Tyloo.NIKO through smoke]

"Save your guns. I just got killed while lurking." His teammate sounded helpless.

It was a 2v4 clutch, so there was still room to make a play. After all, their "Miss" really was good enough to carry.

But in a 1v4 with only an AWP, it wasn't going to be easy.

Jiang Yang sighed to himself. He'd gotten one kill at the start, and his teammate had rewarded him with a 1v4 clutch. That was a bit much.

The viewers watching the stream didn't mock Jiang Yang. Instead, they all started complaining.

[Looks like this one's going to be a long, painful loss.]

[Sometimes, playing well isn't as important as getting good teammates. If this doesn't work, just queue with Crystal Brother next time. Ranking up is easier in a duo.]

[Jiang Yang really did nothing wrong here. He carried so hard and still couldn't win.]

[These teammates are unreal.]

Jiang Yang crept back toward CT Base, hoping to save his AWP, but someone boldly came out beside the Connector Smoke. Before he could even think, his hand had already flicked the AWP toward them.

"Bang!"

[Miss, get out of the way used AWP to kill Turtle's Black Head]

After getting the kill, Jiang Yang quickly changed position.

The smoke was about to dissipate, and staying in that area would leave him exposed to the other side's utility.

But getting a kill had also given him some unrealistic ideas.

Standing inside Arch, he used the height difference to show only the top of his head. He held his AWP on the right side of Long Box, waiting for the other side to make a mistake.

There wasn't much room to work with in this clutch. His only option was to wait for the other side to slip up.

Crystal Brother had killed the B Short teammate behind Long Box earlier, but the kill notification showed the wrong ID. That meant someone else had to be behind Long Box.

He kept his AWP trained on the smoke, perfectly still. His teammates stayed quiet, not wanting to interfere with Jiang Yang's thinking in the clutch.

The Connector Smoke dissipated, and in the next moment, he saw one player appear on the right side of Long Box and another above the Phone Booth at CT Base.

At that moment, Jiang Yang's reaction speed came into play.

Almost as soon as the two of them appeared, Jiang Yang—who'd been aiming at the left side of Long Box—flicked his AWP toward the upper right.

The viewers watching the stream hadn't even registered what they were seeing yet. He'd already fired and was crouching to work the bolt.

Only then did many viewers notice that a kill notification had appeared in the top-right corner.

[Miss, get out of the way used AWP to headshot and kill Liyue Breakthrough Keqing]

In an instant, the stream chat filled with question marks.

[Did he even see them?]

[Holy shit, Younger Cousin's reaction time!]

[That was so fast!]

That shot made plenty of people's eyes widen. It was genuinely terrifying. Many of them hadn't even figured out what was on the screen before Jiang Yang had already flicked, fired, and even crouched to dodge bullets.

After the bolt finished cycling, Jiang Yang shifted slightly to the right and stood up to watch Long Box.

Crystal Brother was a little afraid after that shot. The situation had gone from a 1v4 to a 1v2 in an instant.

On Jiang Yang's side, the teammates who saw the kill notification got excited.

"There's a Defuse Kit by Short Box," one teammate quickly reminded him.

That gave Jiang Yang a lot more confidence. With a Defuse Kit, he'd have a few extra seconds to work with.

Jiang Yang quickly moved onto Jump Platform and began checking his surroundings.

He peeked at Long Box first. No one appeared, so he turned to check Short Box.

But as he adjusted his angle, Crystal Brother at Long Box seized his timing, came out, and sprayed at him.

Jiang Yang was completely focused. Almost by reflex, his hand flicked toward the target.

"Bang!"

[Miss, get out of the way used AWP to headshot and kill Bot, please be gentle]

Crystal Brother: ?

The instant he killed Crystal Brother, Jiang Yang used a quick peek during the bolt cycle to get information. He clearly saw someone at A2 Floor making a move to scout.

His teammate shouted excitedly over voice chat:

"The last one's A2 Floor!"

"There's a kit at Short Box!"

"You have a smoke and a flash!"

They were all worked up, but the moment they'd finished shouting, they went quiet again so they wouldn't interfere with Jiang Yang's clutch.

Jiang Yang had been surprised himself when he flicked and killed Crystal Brother. Then he realized he had a chance to win the clutch, and his nerves tightened even more.

The more critical the moment, the easier it was for something to go wrong.

But his teammates' reminders quickly cleared his head.

Jiang Yang threw a Smoke Grenade at A2 Floor. Once it bloomed, he cautiously moved to Short Box.

Then he tapped the bomb as if to fake a defuse before bringing up his AWP and holding A2 Floor again.

The last T was at A2 Floor. He couldn't afford to gamble in this clutch.

Hearing the bomb tap, the enemy counted for two seconds, then swung wide.

Jiang Yang had been waiting for him. The instant he appeared, Jiang Yang scoped in and fired, but he got nervous and clicked too quickly, making the shot a no-scope.

[Miss, get out of the way used AWP to kill Pure Love God of War with a no-scope]

The shot startled Jiang Yang. Then he realized he'd killed the enemy, and his adrenaline surged.

His blood rushed all at once, and he felt an invisible force shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!

"Nice!!!"

"Holy shit, bro, you're insane!!!"

"Dude, your AWP is crazy strong!!"

"An ace in a 1v5—you're actually a freak, aren't you?!"

His teammates were already shouting excitedly over voice chat, hollering like a bunch of banshees.

After letting the other team claw back so many rounds in a row, and then switching to the defense side with their guns at a disadvantage, their aim had gradually gone cold.

They all had a bad feeling about things now, worried that this match was going to turn into a long, painful slog.

At a time like this, Jiang Yang had forced the tide to turn with a 1v4 ace, helping his team reach match point.

They couldn't have felt better!

That was the charm of CS:GO.

So what if Crystal Brother was better than them? CS:GO was a game about constantly pushing past your limits!

With his lightning-fast reflexes, Jiang Yang had an almost instinctive talent for sniping.

Ma Xixi had joked before that reflexes were the greatest talent a sniper could have.

Even if this round had been a lucky fluke, the sniper rifle's one-shot-kill potential had given him a huge margin for error in that clutch.

So what if Crystal Brother had caught him from the side? As long as Jiang Yang reacted in time, he could turn around and kill him!

The AWP's $4,750 price tag wasn't for nothing!

After that clutch, Jiang Yang felt utterly exhilarated.

He rallied his teammates over voice chat, too. "Come on, guys, let's go! Let's take this match!!"

This chapter's 4K words. Don't say I shortchanged you on coffee—there's another chapter today.