Ma Xixi woke up.
Steel Helmet had recently made it into the Asian RMR, which had put him in an excellent mood.
After getting up and washing up, he saw Jiang Yang already sitting at the computer, practicing his recoil control.
He liked his cousin's personality more and more.
He was cheerful and straightforward, and never tried to argue his way out of his shortcomings.
If he wasn't good at controlling recoil, then he'd just work hard and practice in private.
Over the past few days, after their matches ended, the other four members of Steel Helmet had always gone off to have fun parachuting into PUBG.
Jiang Yang, meanwhile, had been grinding the 5E ladder on his own.
That had also made the streamers in the CS:GO scene suffer terribly. One after another, they'd been blown to bits until they were seeing stars.
"Have you eaten?" Ma Xixi asked indistinctly as he brushed his teeth.
Jiang Yang stopped firing after finishing a magazine and turned to answer. "Yeah. Sister-in-law made noodles this morning, but they've probably gone soggy in the pot by now. Want me to go downstairs and get you something?"
Good grief. Looked like he'd been practicing all morning.
He was taking the upcoming matches pretty seriously... Ma Xixi raised an eyebrow.
But that was understandable. Their next opponents were Tyloo.
One of only two teams in China that had achieved results on the international stage.
He could tell Jiang Yang wanted to show what he could do in front of Tyloo and VG, and was a little nervous.
"It's fine. I'll go downstairs and find something to eat myself," Ma Xixi replied. "You keep practicing, but don't get too nervous. We're up against Tyloo today, after all. Just do your best."
They'd beaten a few professional teams, but the only ones that truly counted as top-tier were Tyloo and VG.
The teams that got to compete overseas were still a long way ahead of ordinary professional teams.
Ma Xixi wasn't expecting too much.
Jiang Yang turned back and continued his ten-minute recoil-control practice.
He didn't argue with Ma Xixi, but he really wasn't nervous.
Just as Ma Xixi had said, all he had to do was give it his best in this match.
In the "Your Opponent" instance, Jiang Yang had already faced Peak Sen Zai Meng Zhi Dui. How could he be afraid of Tyloo?
He'd been crushed by Peak Sen Zai, sure, but he still had plenty of confidence facing a team at this level.
He'd also spent Simulation Points to take on 18 Tyloo once before.
The final score had been 13:16.
But it was worth remembering that Jiang Yang couldn't choose his teammates in the simulations.
The script was often set up so he started at a disadvantage, found himself in a 2v4 midway through the round, and ended up facing a 1v3 in the clutch.
Those high-pressure matches had forced Jiang Yang to develop his mid-round decision-making and clutch skills.
He'd finally realized that adaptability was actually his greatest talent.
He learned CS:GO faster than anyone he'd ever met.
Saying Jiang Yang's progress was visible to the naked eye was simply an objective description.
And during his training these past few days, he'd occasionally gleaned details about 30-year-old Jiang Yang from a system notification.
It seemed 30-year-old Jiang Yang didn't practice his aim.
That Jiang Yang had believed talent alone could carry him to the top. He'd squandered the CS talent heaven had given him during the prime of his career, and when his form declined, the prodigies of his generation had shattered his confidence.
There was nothing wrong with not practicing your aim. Once you'd reached a certain level of fundamentals, aim training was only for maintaining your form.
At that point, just playing ranked was enough. Jiang Yang remembered that Zaiwu, the best active French player, did the same.
But 30-year-old Jiang Yang didn't seem to train much at all.
Once he'd figured that out, Jiang Yang got goosebumps.
On one hand, he was amazed by his own CS talent.
To reach the very top of the world through talent alone was truly the result of the God of CS favoring him.
On the other hand, he was amazed by how foolish 30-year-old Jiang Yang was.
Why be so lazy?
Why not spend more time chasing the peak of CS?
Jiang Yang couldn't understand it.
Maybe he'd have to uncover the answers bit by bit later on.
But 16-year-old Jiang Yang absolutely didn't want to become "30-year-old Jiang Yang."
With a thought, the system panel appeared again.
[Old Timer: Jiang Yang] [Age: 30] [Team: Steel Helmet] [Status: Rehabilitation] [Overall Level: Professional LV.4 Aim: Professional LV.3 Game Sense: 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 Skills: "ECO Special Attack (Advanced)," "NIKO's pre-aiming (Intermediate)," "MachineWJQ's formulaic casting (Beginner)," "SyrsoN's AWP (Beginner)"] [Personal Items: "Sleeping Black Tea" x1, "Coca-Cola" x1, "Bananas" x5] [Hex: Choose Your Opponent]
Ma Xixi had asked if he was nervous.
Daily practice, steady progress he could clearly see, and a strong mentality meant Jiang Yang didn't feel that kind of emotion.
Besides, it was only an online match.
Jiang Yang decided to stop practicing for the time being.
He'd done a little training today; now he needed to keep himself fresh for the afternoon match.
He took out his phone and casually browsed Little Break Station to kill time and give his brain a rest.
As soon as he opened the app, he saw a video posted a few days earlier by an account he followed, MTC Jun. It was footage of Ma Xixi casting Steel Helmet's match against the Mongolian team.
Jiang Yang tapped it without thinking.
He wanted to see what he looked like to the audience from God's-eye view.
Then he realized these netizens were seriously hilarious.
As Steel Helmet had played through the qualifiers over the past few days, Jiang Yang's strong performances had earned him a nickname thanks to his ID.
Since his name was Jiang Yang, the livestream viewers called him "Sheep" or "Yang."
Whenever he made a big play, the chat spammed [Yang God!!].
Whenever he gave away first blood, they all started calling him [Sean the Sheep].
The viewers in the livestream chat kept making jokes, and even Jiang Yang couldn't help laughing.
But since he'd been playing so well, the "Yang God" meme came up more often.
Quite a few comments under the video were praising Jiang Yang.
[Steel Helmet really made it to the RMR this time. Their cousin's a bona fide prodigy.]
[Niu Dongdong is insane!! He really carried a bunch of old timers into the Asian RMR.]
[This is what you call a true prodigy. He hasn't even played 600 hours, and he's already a complete freak.]
[This guy went from C+ to pro by farming noobs all the way. He climbed so damn fast, holy shit.]
[No wonder he's MO's star pupil and Ma Xixi's heir.]
When Jiang Yang saw "star pupil" and "heir," he completely lost it and burst out laughing in his room.
But as he kept scrolling, he also found people with different opinions.
Maybe they were trying to stand out, but one commenter replied:
[They've only beaten a few no-name teams. You're hyping them up like they're TOP 1. Isn't that a bit much?]
That comment naturally riled up the CSBOY viewers.
Jiang Yang really had been carrying the team these past few days. Even when they joked on the second day that he'd fallen off, it was only because his stats weren't as impressive.
It wasn't easy for CNCS to get a prodigy like him, and now a hater was acting like he was nothing?
They all started arguing in Jiang Yang's defense, bringing up his stats.
Eventually, perhaps realizing he couldn't win the argument alone, the hater replied:
[Let him go up against Tyloo, and he'll learn his place.]
Jiang Yang didn't reply. He wondered—
If Tyloo really beat him, how would those haters react?
Before long, it was already four in the afternoon.
The Asian RMR matches officially started at five. The Steel Helmet players had all gathered in TS Voice, but they were muted and quiet.
MO was doing a pre-match interview with someone from 5E. As Ma Xixi put it, it was just a way to drum up some traffic.
5E Staff: "First, congratulations on securing a spot in the Asian RMR. You're the team with the highest average age in this year's RMR. How does that feel?"
"The oldest team?" MO laughed. "So we've become a bunch of old timers without even realizing it?"
"I'm actually pretty happy. At our age, we don't get many chances to face top professional teams. My teammates have really come through this time, so I'm thrilled we made it."
The 5E staff member asked, "I heard there's a prodigy on your team. Could you tell us what you think of him?"
"What do I think of him? He's obviously outstanding. He pretty much carried us through the qualifiers. This kid's already proven he has what it takes to play professionally."
MO didn't hold back his praise.
After all, they'd come here hoping to put Jiang Yang in front of other professional teams. MO had no reason to hold back on the compliments.
And it was the truth. Jiang Yang had been a one-man army in their recent matches.
The 5E staff member moved on to the part where they were supposed to talk trash.
"So you're facing Tyloo today. Does Captain MO feel confident?"
MO was remarkably blunt. "No chance we're confident."
"Huh?!" The 5E staff member hadn't expected that answer. At this point, the response was supposed to be "Of course we are," wasn't it?
MO explained, "Tyloo's a professional team, after all. They train hard every day, while we spend all day messing around in PUBG. How are we supposed to beat them?"
"Isn't there even the slightest chance?" The 5E staff member kept egging him on.
MO said helplessly, "They're a professional team, after all..."
"If we can't even beat Steel Helmet, we might as well disband."
At that moment, MO had no idea how much impact his offhand remark would have.
More later.
Before you continue