MO: "If We Can't Even Beat Steel Helmets, We Can Disband!"

Ma Xixi woke up from his sleep.

Steel Helmets had recently successfully qualified for the Asia RMR, which put him in a very good mood.

After getting up and washing up, he saw Jiang Yang already sitting in front of the computer, practicing recoil control.

He was increasingly fond of his cousin's personality.

He was cheerful and straightforward, and when it came to flaws, he wouldn't stubbornly deny them.

If he couldn't control recoil well, he would just practice hard in private.

During these days, the other four members of Steel Helmets would always play PUBG after matches.

Jiang Yang, however, trained alone in the 5E ladder.

This practice method was also making the streamers in the GO circle miserable, leaving them all flustered and confused.

"Have you eaten yet?" Ma Xixi asked indistinctly while brushing his teeth.

Jiang Yang, after finishing a spray, stopped and turned his head to reply, "I've eaten. Sister-in-law made noodles this morning, but they might be mushy in the pot now. How about I go downstairs and buy you something to eat?"

Good grief, it seemed he had been practicing all morning.

He's taking the upcoming match quite seriously... Ma Xixi raised an eyebrow.

But it was normal, after all, they were up against Tyloo next.

The only two teams in the country that had achieved results.

He could tell Jiang Yang also wanted to show his abilities in front of Tyloo and VG, and was a little nervous now.

"It's fine, I'll go downstairs and find something myself," Ma Xixi replied. "You keep practicing, don't be too nervous. Today, our opponent is Tyloo, just do your best."

Although they had defeated some professional teams, the only ones that could truly be considered top-tier were Tyloo and VG.

These teams that could compete internationally were vastly different from ordinary professional teams.

Ma Xixi didn't have high expectations.

Jiang Yang also turned his head and continued his recoil control training for another 10 minutes.

He didn't refute Ma Xixi, but he wasn't actually nervous.

Just as Ma Xixi said, he would do his best in this match.

In the "[Your Opponent]" instance, Jiang Yang had also faced the peak Sen Zai Meng Zhi Dui, so how could he be afraid of Tyloo?

Even though he was thoroughly beaten by the peak Sen Zai, he still had a lot of confidence when facing teams of this caliber.

He had also spent simulation points to practice against 18 Tyloo once before.

The final score in that match was 13:16.

But it's important to note that in Jiang Yang's simulations, he couldn't choose his teammates.

Often, the scenarios involved being at a disadvantage from the start, facing 2v4 in the mid-game, and ending up in 1v3 situations.

These high-pressure matches had honed Jiang Yang's mid-game decision-making and clutch-handling abilities.

Jiang Yang finally realized that his greatest innate talent was adaptability.

His learning speed in CS:GO was faster than anyone he had ever seen.

Describing Jiang Yang's changes as "visible to the naked eye" was merely an objective statement.

Moreover, during these days of training, Jiang Yang occasionally inferred some things about the 30-year-old Jiang Yang from system prompts.

The 30-year-old Jiang Yang, it seemed, didn't practice his aim.

That Jiang Yang believed his talent alone could lead him to the peak, squandering the CS talent bestowed upon him by the heavens during his prime, which led to his decline and being crushed by prodigies of the same era.

Not practicing aim wasn't necessarily a problem; once basic skills reached a certain level, aim practice was merely to maintain form.

In that case, playing the ladder was enough. Jiang Yang recalled that the current strongest French player, Zaiwu, did the same.

But the 30-year-old Jiang Yang didn't seem to train much at all.

Upon inferring this, Jiang Yang got goosebumps.

On one hand, he marveled at his own CS talent.

To reach the world's top purely on talent was truly a result of the CS gods' favor.

On the other hand, he was also amazed at the 30-year-old Jiang Yang's foolishness.

Why was he so lazy?

Why didn't he spend more time pursuing the pinnacle of CS?

Jiang Yang couldn't understand.

These were perhaps things he would have to slowly uncover later.

But the 16-year-old Jiang Yang definitely did not want to become the '30-year-old Jiang Yang'.

With a thought, the system panel appeared again.

[Old Timer: Jiang Yang]

[Age: 30]

[Team: Steel Helmets]

[Status: Recovering]

[Overall Skill: Professional LV.4

Marksmanship: Professional LV.3
Awareness: Professional LV.5
Map Understanding: Professional LV.3
Positioning: Professional LV.6
Reaction: Professional LV.8
Communication: Professional LV.2
Pistol Proficiency: Professional LV.1
Sniper Rifle Proficiency: Professional LV.6
Rifle Proficiency: Professional LV.3
Other Firearm Proficiency: Professional LV.4]

[Comeback Points: 69]

[Signature Moves: 'ECO Special Ops (Advanced)', 'NIKO's Pre-aiming (Intermediate)', 'MachineWJQ's Formulaic Commentary (Beginner)', 'SyrsoN's Bird Sniper (Beginner)']

[Personal Items: 'Sleeping Black Tea' x1, 'Coca-Cola' x1, 'Banana' x5]

[Hextech: Choose Your Opponent]

Ma Xixi asked if he was nervous.

With daily training, clearly visible skill, and an excellent mindset, Jiang Yang wouldn't experience such emotions.

Moreover, it was just an online match.

Jiang Yang wasn't planning to practice any further for now.

He had practiced a bit today and needed to maintain his condition for the afternoon match.

He took out his phone and casually browsed Bilibili to kill time and relax his mind.

As soon as he opened the app, he saw a video posted a few days ago by 'MTC Jun,' whom he followed. The video was about Ma Xixi commentating on Steel Helmets playing against a Mongolian team.

Jiang Yang subconsciously clicked to watch.

He wanted to see what his audience saw from a God's eye view.

Then he discovered that these netizens were truly entertaining.

In the past few days, with Steel Helmets playing in the qualifiers, Jiang Yang's excellent performance had earned him a nickname thanks to his ID.

Since his name was Jiang Yang, the viewers in the livestream chat called him "Yang" or "Jiang."

When he made a highlight play, the chat would frantically spam [Yang God!!].

When he got the first kill, the chat would curse [Just like Shaun the Sheep].

The viewers in the livestream were constantly making jokes, which Jiang Yang found hilarious.

However, due to his outstanding performance, the [Yang God] meme appeared more frequently.

Below this video, many comments praised Jiang Yang.

[Steel Helmets actually made it to RMR with this, this cousin is truly a prodigy]

[Niudongdong is too strong!! He really carried a few old timers to the Asian RMR]

[Can only say this is a true prodigy, less than 600 hours in, this guy is simply abnormal]

[This guy went from C+ to pro, blasting through ranks like this is too insane, holy shit]

[Truly worthy of being MO's direct disciple, Ma Xixi's successor!]

Upon seeing "true... disciple... successor," Jiang Yang couldn't hold back his laughter and burst out laughing in his room.

However, as he continued scrolling, he also found different opinions.

Perhaps wanting to express his individuality, a netizen replied below:

[They're just playing a few no-name teams, and you guys are hyping them up like they're a TOP team, is it that serious?]

This viewpoint naturally displeased the CSBOY viewers.

After all, Jiang Yang's performance in the past few days had been truly impressive, and even when they teased him for being mediocre the next day, it was only because his stats weren't as outstanding.

It was rare for the CNCS environment to have such a prodigy appear, yet in the eyes of the haters, it was just "this?"

They all started arguing with data to defend Jiang Yang.

Finally, perhaps feeling outnumbered, the hater replied:

[Let's see when he clashes with Tyloo, then he'll be humbled.]

Jiang Yang didn't reply; he was thinking.

If he were truly defeated by Tyloo, what would those haters' reactions be?

Time unknowingly flew by until 4 PM.

The Asian RMR official match time was 5 PM. The Steel Helmets members had all gathered on the TS voice chat, but at this moment, they were all muted and silent.

This was because MO was undergoing a pre-match interview with someone from 5E. According to Ma Xixi, it was to generate some buzz.

5E Staff: "First, congratulations on successfully securing a spot in the Asian RMR. You've become the team with the oldest average age in this RMR. How do you feel right now?"

"The oldest team?" MO chuckled, "So, without realizing it, we've all become Old Timers?"

"Actually, I'm quite happy. After all, at this age, we don't get many chances to play against top professional teams. My teammates were also very strong this time, so I'm really happy we could qualify."

5E Staff: "We heard you have a prodigy on your team. Can you share your thoughts on him?"

MO replied: "My thoughts? Of course, he's outstanding. He basically carried us through this qualifier. This kid has already proven he has what it takes to play professionally."

Facing this question, MO naturally didn't hold back his praise.

After all, they had come to this tournament with the intention of getting Jiang Yang noticed by other professional teams, so he naturally wouldn't hesitate to speak well of him.

And he was telling the truth; Jiang Yang had been an absolute beast in recent matches.

The 5E staff then began to steer the interview towards the trash talk segment.

"So, facing Tyloo today, Captain MO, do you have confidence?"

However, MO was remarkably straightforward: "Confidence? Absolutely none."

"Ah!?" The 5E staff was taken aback by this answer. In this segment, shouldn't it be 'absolutely have confidence'?

MO explained: "Tyloo is a professional team, after all. They train to the fullest every day. We play PUBG for fun every day. There's no way we can win this."

"Isn't there even a shred of a chance?" The 5E staff continued to prod.

MO said speechlessly: "They're a professional team..."

"If we can't even beat Steel Helmets, we might as well disband."

At this moment, MO had no idea how much impact his casual remark would have.

There's more later.