Chapter 29: K0nfig, How Does That Familiar Feeling Strike You?
Page (1/3)
As December arrived, temperatures across the country began to drop. Su Zhe glanced at the live chat and saw that viewers were once again arguing over whether the north or the south was colder in winter. He shook his head helplessly and clicked to queue for a match.
One person said that in the north, outdoor temperatures had already fallen below zero—going to the bathroom was freezing torture. Another claimed it was magical damage; no matter how thick your clothes, it wouldn’t help.
Su Zhe couldn’t arbitrate the debate, having never spent a winter in the south himself. Fortunately, the school’s heating had been turned on, so he no longer had to warm his hands in his pockets like before.
By now, Su Zhe had been playing on Faceit for nearly twenty days. Through relentless grinding and an impressive win rate, he had already reached Faceit level 10 a few days ago.
He had adapted well to the gaming environment here, and the roughly 100 ms latency was easily manageable—thanks to Iguodala.
Whether attacking or defending, Su Zhe had grown accustomed to aggressively pushing out to seek engagements. Then, relying on his quick reactions and improving aim, he would secure kills. This approach worked even better on Faceit’s competitive platform.
Otherwise, standing still to hold an angle meant that if the enemy threw a utility combo, he wouldn’t even get the chance to fire before having to look down at his phone.
Noticing the matchmaking time was taking longer, Su Zhe stood up to use the restroom and checked his system panel.
[Host: Su Zhe]
[Age: 18]
[Team Affiliation: None]
[Positioning: 74-79]
[Movement: 52-57]
[Aim Control: 64-69]
[Game Sense: 48-53]
[Reaction: 85-90]
[Rising Points: 743]
[Weapon Proficiency:
AK-47 (Level 7.1)
AWP (Level 1.8)
... (expand)]
[Skills: Chosen One: Training efficiency +20%
Exclusive Weapon: Host can designate any weapon in CSGO; when using it in matches, overall status +5% (Bound Weapon: AK-47)]
[Overall Rating: B]
[Evaluation: This is what a prodigy should look like. You have already reached the level of a professional player but have yet to tap into your true potential. Above geniuses, there are greater geniuses. You must continue to improve yourself to become the brightest star among CSGO professionals.]
[Mission: Join a professional team as a starting member within one year (youth teams do not count). Countdown: 293 days]
[Reward: S-rank reward; failure will automatically sever the bond with the host]
Staring at his system panel, Su Zhe sighed quietly.
Page (2/3)
Though the system rated him at professional level, to go pro, talent alone wasn’t enough; opportunity was equally crucial.
...
At that moment, k0nfig had just finished a scrim with his teammates. Recently, he had traveled with the team to Shanghai for the CAC tournament, returning home not much later than Tianlu.
They initially lost a Bo1 to Faze, then defeated China’s Wings Up 2-0 in the losers’ bracket to advance to the playoffs, only to be eliminated by ENCE soon after.
Currently, NIP might be one of the most relaxed teams in all of Europe, mainly due to their awkward standing.
On the surface, they were still considered a top-tier team, and they disdainfully avoided smaller competitions favored by second- and third-tier teams.
But when it came to major S-tier tournaments, they were knocked out early.
This left the players with little to do beyond scrims.
K0nfig turned to a teammate and said, “REZ, want to hit the ladder? Let’s get es3tag and headtr1ck to queue with us.”
REZ thought it over, having nothing else going on, and agreed cheerfully.
Why four players? Because Alex, who had come for a trial, had already gone home to await the tryout notification.
As the four queued up, they inevitably discussed the scrim they’d just finished.
“Es3tag, do you think that Alex joining us would actually help the team’s results?”
Es3tag shook his head. “Hard to say. He’s 28 and doesn’t have much big tournament experience. But we don’t have many choices, do we?”
The off-season hadn’t arrived yet, and clubs wouldn’t sell players from top teams. They had to pick from the second or third tier.
But clubs were stingy with funds, especially after losing heavily on that 600,000 euro deal for Balo, so management was tight on the transfer budget, wary of being scammed again.
K0nfig sighed. “Let’s just enjoy the ladder. Let management worry about that stuff—I’m too lazy to bother.”
...
When Su Zhe returned to his computer after the break, he had successfully queued into a match, now in the map selection phase.
Faceit membership was required to veto maps, which he hadn’t paid for, but he was fine playing any map.
He glanced at the opposing team’s IDs and felt they looked familiar. Clicking into their profiles, he recognized k0nfig and es3tag—the same duo he had recently matched with in Perfect Match.
He checked the other players’ profiles and saw two more with pro certifications.
The live chat erupted upon seeing this.
“Whoa, it’s NIP’s four-stack! This round’s points are going to Su Zhe!”
“Not necessarily. Last time Su Zhe beat NIP’s duo; four-stack won’t be much different. Everyone knows how bad NIP is now.”
“Is that the same? That was on the Chinese server; this is Europe. They’re pros, after all! Plus, k0nfig was once a Top 20 player.”
“Come on! If Su Zhe wins this, I’ll buy a sports car!”
Su Zhe ignored the chat and exchanged a glance with Fat Brother.
Now both Fat Brother and Xiaoguang knew about his dream to find a professional opportunity in Europe.
Whenever they talked about it, Fat Brother would angrily say how foolish it was to refuse NIP’s youth team invitation before.
Su Zhe was beginning to regret that decision too, blaming his own naivety at the time.
Page (3/3)
But since he was facing them again today—a four-stack team...
Su Zhe rubbed his hands together, determined to give 200% effort.
The server and map were quickly selected.
Server: Sweden
Map: Dust2
After entering the game, Su Zhe checked his ping: 145.
“Good thing they didn’t pick the UK server, or the ping would be even higher.”
High ping was bearable, but back during Perfect Match, sometimes CT players would hide the wife’s pocket watch inside their helmets—that was truly disgusting.
All ten players loaded into the server. Both teams gathered at A1 for the knife round. Su Zhe’s team lost the knife round and was forced to start on the attacking side.
The pistol round began, and the team started to discuss tactics.
Eventually, a guy claiming to be a commander from some obscure team took command.
“This round we’ll stack A through the arches. Three of us push mid together; Blue, you and Yellow single peek A1 and A2 to coordinate.”
He finished explaining the pistol round plan just as the countdown ended.
Su Zhe, as the first man in mid, immediately drew a P250. When the three reached mid, the commander tried to signal for them to pull out and trade, but Su Zhe aggressively pushed first.
He pre-aimed the arch position, seeing no one, then pre-aimed the VIP window and quickly crouched to shoot.
“Bang!”
[Arrow used P250 to headshot headtr1ck]
Headtr1ck, NIP’s sniper, was known for his lightning-fast reactions, but facing Su Zhe’s pre-aim, he never even fired a shot before being headshotted.
K0nfig, positioned at arches, heard the callout and tried to peek and trade, but Su Zhe’s attention stayed locked on VIP and arches.
When he saw the CT peeking arches, his crosshair snapped over instantly.
“Bang bang!”
[Arrow used P250 to headshot k0nfig]
“Did I misfire that duel? Are young players really this fast now?” k0nfig wondered, bewildered.
When he pulled out, the enemy clearly hadn’t looked at arches first, yet still managed to shoot first.
The player count instantly became 5v3. With a teammate throwing a smoke for short, Su Zhe and two others quickly pushed arches.
Though CTs had anticipated a potential A split and reinforced A site, their numerical disadvantage led to losing the pistol round.
REZ laughed, “Was mid really that pressured? You gave two kills to randos right at the start. Hey, k0nfig, do you know that Arrow guy? He’s saying hi to you in chat.”
K0nfig glanced at the chat.
Arrow: “K0nfig, how does this familiar feeling feel?”