Awarded the Title of "Asia's Number One Sniper"

Chapter 50: Awarded the Title of "Asia's Number One Sniper"

Perhaps it was due to sleeping for too long; although his body wasn't tired, his mind felt a bit hazy.

Fortunately, the Asia RMR had already concluded, so the grogginess didn't have much of an impact.

Jiang Yang climbed out of bed. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the window blinds, informing him of Magic City's weather for the day.

Suddenly remembering something, he picked up his phone, which was charging by the bedside. Upon opening it, he saw a System notification from the 5E APP: An old steed longs to gallop; steel helmets defeat VG and successfully advance...

Jiang Yang didn't click to read the details, but he let out a sigh of relief.

Everything felt so surreal, sometimes giving him a sense of unreality.

He savored the memory of the past few days of competition, as if he had fallen into an incredibly beautiful dream.

Just two months ago, he was still a carefree soon-to-be university student, only concerned with what to eat and where to go.

Now, he had become one of the most outstanding prodigies in CS:GO, with the opportunity to showcase his talent on the highest stage.

His head still ached a little. Yesterday, in his excitement, he'd had a couple of drinks with Ma Xixi, and the discomfort lingered.

There was nothing he could do about it; it seemed to be genetic. He was doing better; Ma Xixi would turn into a Red Skin Duck after just one drink, which was even more ridiculous.

Having already secured a spot in the Asia RMR, and with no matches to play today, he didn't need to rush his training.

Jiang Yang unlocked his phone and slowly scrolled through some information on the forums.

He didn't realize the extent of it until he started reading, and he was truly shocked.

After they defeated VG yesterday, Steel Helmets' world ranking had been updated. They had officially climbed to 88th in the world.

Although the ranking was still low, it was a significant improvement for Steel Helmets.

Considering Steel Helmets' ranking had consistently been outside the top 300 before, breaking into the world's top 100 was quite an achievement.

Jiang Yang navigated to the post-match comment section for the Asia RMR finals. The very first comment made him cringe.

[From now on, I suggest all domestic teams try practicing against Steel Helmets first. If they can't beat Steel Helmets, they shouldn't even bother going out there.]

But a netizen replied below:

[It's over. From now on, Steel Helmets will be the only ones left. With Cousin's skill level, which domestic team can compete?]

[Do you think Steel Helmets' Crown Prince is just for show?!]

[Steel Helmets has truly become the quality inspector for CNCS.]

The netizen's comments below were also quite aggressive.

[Now even Tyloo and VG can't beat Steel Helmets. They might as well disband.]

[Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed. After all the training and boot camps every year, they get defeated by this group of Old Timers from Steel Helmets.]

[MO was feeling down on stream yesterday because he couldn't see any hope for CNCS.]

[It's not too bad; at least we still have Cousin here.]

[All I can say is that Tyloo and VG remind me of the 'honorable defeats' of recent years. Cousin makes me think of Tyloo in '18.]

[It seems the true successor of Tyloo is Steel Helmets.]

The domestic netizens were mostly disappointed. They didn't dislike Tyloo and VG; it was more about their lack of fighting spirit.

The past "honorable defeat" jokes were all hoping they would step up and make a name for themselves.

But these two domestic teams had repeatedly let them down.

They had thought that the year of 18 Tyloo would be the starting point for CNCS.

They never expected it to become the peak achievement of CNCS. The members of the 18 Tyloo team were still holding up CNCS.

This helplessness and heartache were truly difficult for domestic CS:GO players to accept.

Regarding the situation of CNCS domestically, Jiang Yang didn't know what to say.

After all, the domestic players were very passionate about CS:GO and genuinely wanted to make a name for themselves.

But esports is a brutal arena; if you don't have the skill, you just don't have it.

He had also seriously considered that CS:GO isn't a one-person game. Even if Jiang Yang was very C, winning the Asia RMR still required DD to perform well.

One person alone couldn't win the game.

Jiang Yang also planned to do as his Cousin suggested: after this Asia RMR, he would go to Europe to study for a while.

At the very least, he wanted to thoroughly understand the concepts taught in academies and address his weaknesses.

Then, he would do his best to explore his potential.

As for the current problems with CNCS, Jiang Yang couldn't and shouldn't consider them.

Just as he was about to get up and leave, he saw another notification pop up on Bilibili, indicating someone had sent him a message.

Jiang Yang instinctively clicked on it and realized it wasn't just one message; his inbox was full.

He vaguely recalled that during their meal yesterday, Ma Xixi had been in a good mood and had chatted with Jiang Yang a lot, suggesting he create a personal account so he could interact with fans.

Jiang Yang hadn't thought much of it and had simply sent Ma Xixi his Bilibili account.

Ma Xixi posted a photo of the two of them eating on his social media, tagging Jiang Yang to drive traffic.

He never expected that after waking up from a nap, his account's follower count would be close to five thousand, and it was still increasing at an extremely fast rate.

This was something Jiang Yang had never anticipated.

He casually browsed through a few comments.

[Go Cousin! It's amazing you qualified with the Steel Helmets this time!]

[Cousin, can you give me an electronic signature as a memento?]

[No time to waste, Cousin, it's you today!]

However, more messages were tagging Jiang Yang to watch a video.

Without hesitation, he clicked on the link.

At the end of the link, the familiar "You've Been Tricked" jingle didn't play. Instead, it led to a CS:GO video.

Foreign netizens are buzzing, calling young the Chinese S1mple. If he joined Tyloo, maybe Tyloo could break historical records.

Jiang Yang clicked to watch the video.

The first part of the video featured a foreign CS blogger presenting RMR data from all regions. Jiang Yang was astonishingly leading the rankings with an outstanding 1.78 rating, far ahead of everyone else.

Next was NIKO's latest post. NIKO had screenshotted a pre-aiming scene of Jiang Yang on Mirage's A1 site and commented:

"Young's pre-aiming is so satisfying to watch. If he can maintain this performance, I'll consider him for the 'Tomorrow's Star' award this year."

A casual player also chimed in: "When will Tyloo poach him?"

A reply under this post read:

[He doesn't need to go to Tyloo. If young's English is good, I'd even recommend him to an international team.]

[Young is already the number one sniper in Asia.]

Jiang Yang scrolled through, feeling quite satisfied. Domestic players had watched him climb the ranks, and their impression of him had gradually improved.

As for the foreign players, most of them directly saw an unknown sniper appear at the top of the RMR data rankings. After seeing the reports, they were even more shocked.

Of course, not everyone liked Jiang Yang.

In a discussion thread about Jiang Yang's stats, some held opposing views.

[You Asian players really know how to brag. Young just played one RMR against weak Asian teams. It's ridiculous.]

[Exactly, I'm speechless. You're hyping up young like he's punching S1mple and kicking Zaiwu, but it was just one RMR.]

[Besides, this Asian RMR was online. We don't know if he had any tricks up his sleeve. He might reveal his true colors in an offline match.]

[If he faces a few top teams, he might not even be able to maintain a positive KD.]

Seeing these unsupportive comments, Jiang Yang didn't get angry.

He understood that he wasn't money; he couldn't please everyone.

In fact, seeing them say this only fueled his determination.

They said he'd be exposed at the Major offline matches.

They said he might not even maintain a positive KD against top teams.

He planned to overcome these hurdles one by one and turn these haters into his fans.

That would be so satisfying!

Jiang Yang thought as he planned to finish watching the last bit before getting up for training.

At the end of the video, he saw another familiar ID.

Pasha: "Congratulations to the Steel Helmets' veterans for returning to the Major. Also, this kid young is amazing. He reminds me of myself when I was young, haha... He's just too skinny, though. If he could build some muscle later, he'd have the demeanor of a star player!"

Jiang Yang just smiled at this esports veteran who was trying to associate himself with him.

However, the next second, the familiar small text reappeared.

[Beep!]

[Received Building...zzzz...]

[At 30 years old, you've regained qualification for the Major, but more muscle can prevent injuries.]

[Daily Task: 1 hour of strength training per day, Reward: Comeback Points.]

Jiang Yang raised an eyebrow. He keenly noticed the initial "beep."

He realized this System was acting up quite a bit, with too many glitches.

It couldn't be that he had broken it, could it?

Also, "Received suggestion..." should have been "Received suggestion..."

Was this System originally a suggestion system?

If so, what was the strength of the previous System host?

Jiang Yang's thoughts drifted as he mused for a while.

However, he was quite pleased about the appearance of this daily quest.

In esports, injuries are difficult to avoid.

When he recalled classic matches before, he noticed that many once-outstanding players ultimately faded into obscurity due to injuries.

Having more muscle seemed like it could indeed offer some protection to certain joints.

Moreover, there were rumors that regular strength training could help maintain one's aim and keep their condition more stable.

Faze and the peak Astralis team both incorporated daily workouts into their routines.

As top-tier teams, their persistence with this habit surely had its reasons.

Jiang Yang planned to have his cousin help him get some money later, find a fitness coach, and then arrange his time reasonably.

With this thought, he entered the System again.

He took a look at the items in the System Store today.

Various physical items were still available, and the last one truly caught his eye.

[Snax's Pistol Skill.]

[Price: 5000 Comeback Points]

Something came up today, sorry sorry orz, I'll update more tomorrow.