Chapter 49: Damn This Fucking CS2!

"The two of them were hugging back-to-back and didn't even notice each other. Arrow got two kills and then spotted the barrel! Spray transfers to take down two! Three! Four!"

"He's spinning! A single spray transfer directly secures a four-kill! Nip's hero M4 eco-break!"

Masix's deep and excited voice echoed throughout the entire live stream.

The whole sequence started off looking quite comical, with the two players' bodies literally pressed against each other yet completely oblivious to the other's presence, but the subsequent four-kill visual was nothing short of breathtaking.

Unloading a full magazine straight to the bottom of the spray control, Su Zhe claimed Snax's head at the exact moment the 30-round magazine was completely emptied.

"Why is he so daring to push up like that? This flanking position is just way too fatal for GL!"

Mo pointed out the crucial factor in winning this round. Spray transfers were a maneuver that most professional players and even ladder matchmaking legends could pull off effortlessly.

The main reason he secured this quadruple kill was because of Su Zhe's aggressive forward push at the very beginning of the round.

His unreasonable style of play gave off a vibe of lacking game sense, yet it somehow always managed to easily seize opportunities.

Mo recalled what 259 had told him about the player Arrow, wondering if it really was a case of "a fool surpassing masters"?

A crucial eco-break directly brought the score to 5-3, allowing Nip to recover their economy once they got their hands on rifles.

Most importantly, in the subsequent rounds, Snax had no choice but to allocate resources to the side lane area to prevent Su Zhe from pushing up front again.

Their previously fluid offensive rhythm started to become somewhat bloated, even though Su Zhe didn't find any good opportunities later on.

As long as his avatar hadn't gone dark, GL had to constantly ensure the safety of their rear.

The sense of oppression brought by this ID was simply overwhelming!

Ultimately, by the end of the first half, the score between the two teams was locked at 7-5.

During the halftime break, acoR slumped his entire back against the chair, his eyes somewhat lifeless: "What on earth is this rookie's playstyle?"

Although they weren't trailing by much in the scoreline for the first half, playing it had been mentally exhausting. When attacking, they had to consider the defense from the front while constantly guarding against their backs.

Conventional flank-watching was being done, but their team lacked a dominant entry fragger; a single player watching the flank often gave away a free kill, eventually forcing other teammates to step in and clean up the mess.

Hearing acoR's words, a bitter smile appeared on Snax's face as well. When it came down to it, they simply couldn't figure out this rookie's positioning habits. Aside from avoiding fights or investing a massive amount of resources, he couldn't think of any other way to cope for the time being.

"Let's just hope he isn't this absurd on Inferno's T-side......"

After a few minutes of rest, the second half of the match resumed.

"Let's pick up the pace and execute a B-site hit this round," es3tag said, taking up the calling duties during the preparation time. "In a moment, right at the start, we'll push straight into Banana, secure the close-range control first, and then execute with utility. Arrow, you can default and hold for information at the T-spawn entrance for a bit."

After briefly laying out the strategy for the pistol round, the countdown began just as Su Zhe bought light armor in the buy menu and rushed toward the T-spawn exit.

"It looks like Nip intends to make a move on Banana this round, and GL is starting with a 3A2B defensive setup."

"acoR actively crosses the slabs at the start to hunt for information, and he actually manages to secure a kill! But k0nfig's trade behind him is very fast! The two teams trade 1 for 1."

"Let's see what Snax can do with his dual Berettas at sandbags. He picks up one, is there another? es3tag trades back, a 2-for-2 trade is huge for them!"

With both CTs in Banana falling down, es3tag had no intention of dawdling: "Drop utility directly, plant the bomb, and look for gun positions. The opponents are going to rotate back immediately!"

Inferno was a compact map; whether on the T-side or the CT-side, rotation speeds were extremely fast.

Su Zhe followed the main force into the bomb site while his teammates were engaged in firefights in Banana. With smokes dropped at CT and Coffin, REZ, carrying the bomb, quickly moved in to plant it.

However, they still underestimated GL's rotation speed, especially since GL's positioning this round leaned heavily toward Arch.

REZ hadn't even had time to find cover after planting the C4 when a flashbang came flying in from the CT spawn direction.

"GL chooses to flash out of the smoke directly! REZ is fully blinded and instantly taken down! es3tag at Triple Box successfully trades back, but isak comes out too! After a 2-for-2 trade, only Arrow is left behind One Box!"

Su Zhe had been holding a direct angle on the smoke, but after taking a full flash, he chose to retreat behind the One Box cover first.

By the time his vision recovered, es3tag had just been eliminated.

Having lost the optimal timing for a refrag, Su Zhe first peeked and fired a pre-fire shot. After confirming the exact position of the opponent, he performed a wide swing again.

"Bang! Bang!"

[Arrow used Glock-18 to headshot and kill isak]

Isak dropping to the ground made volt, who was preparing to push out through the smoke from behind, stall in his tracks. He didn't dare to step out directly, terrified of being instantly eliminated the moment he exposed his head.

CS:GO was such a magical game; when you had confidence, everything worked out, but the moment you showed cowardice, it became extremely difficult to win direct gunfights.

Volt chose to wait for the smoke to dissipate and flank the bomb site through Church, but Su Zhe had already repositioned to Banana, waiting simply for the sound of the defuse.

As the C4's beeping sound grew more and more urgent, volt, who didn't have a defuse kit on him, knew he was out of time.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself out to Banana to deal with Su Zhe, only to hear the sound of his own head being shattered the moment his body swung out.

"Bang!"

[Arrow used Glock-18 to headshot and kill volt]

After losing the pistol round, Snax opted for a force-buy with Desert Eagles to gamble on the B-site.

Although es3tag's live calling level wasn't top-tier, he was definitely not the kind of IGL who made impulsive decisions to speed up blindly.

When k0nfig poked his head out at B-apps and got traded immediately, es3tag quickly called for a rotation.

Su Zhe, acting as the lurker, held down the Arch position to watch the flank. Ultimately, backed by their weapon advantage, Nip smoothly took down GL's full-eco force-buy round.

Following another gift of a pure eco round, the score climbed to 10-5.

The first gun round of the second half, and potentially the very last gun round.

"Let's go! As long as we take this round, we're into the main tournament! At the very least, we'll have a $10,000 prize pool guaranteed!" k0nfig's remarks brought smiles to everyone's faces.

Though many professional players entered the industry purely out of passion, the prerequisite was being able to put food on the table; only with financial freedom would one think about chasing glory.

Su Zhe was no exception. After all, he still had debts hanging over his head that he hadn't paid off yet. While his current weekly salary of 400 euros converted to a decent amount, under Europe's high cost of living, he couldn't save much money at the end of the month.

"Let's go!" es3tag offered a word of encouragement before starting to layout the tactical execution for the gun round: "This round we'll still try to contest Banana control first. Arrow, you default and hold side lane for a bit, but be careful—the opponents might pick up an AWP this round."

Upon hearing this, Su Zhe nodded. Although many changes in CS2 made the AWP less advantageous compared to rifles, for someone holding solo flanks, it was still as reliable as taking candy from a baby, unless the AWPer was completely terrible and missed easy shots.

Once the countdown ended, Su Zhe bought a full set of utility and hurried toward the side lane position, then stood inside the side lane, jiggle-peeking to hold the spiral staircase.

"Good thing I didn't stay at tree room right away!" k0nfig said, lingering fear evident on his face as he retreated back to the T-spawn entrance.

He had stayed at the T entrance for just one extra second when three high-explosive grenades came flying out from behind the slabs; lingering there would have meant instant death.

"Looks like a 3B setup. Let's smoke off the slabs to prevent the opponents from pushing up, and we'll take control of A-apartments instead," es3tag analyzed and made a tactical adjustment.

As REZ also arrived at the side lane, Su Zhe walked up to the Red Door and cooked a flashbang. The moment his flash left his hand, REZ jumped onto VIP and immediately checked both left and right sides with heavy footsteps.

"A-apartments close is clear; balcony is uncertain."

With that, REZ pushed all the way to Boiler, threw a fire under the overhang, and waited for his teammates to arrive before taking further action.

"GL chose a 2A defensive setup this round. They decided to give up middle, letting the AWP and rifle hold apartments directly. It looks like Snax is both afraid of Nip speeding up and terrified of Arrow aggressively solo-lurking."

"The sound of the fire burning under the overhang was caught. GL thought middle had been compromised, and isak chose to push up A-apartments to catch a timing! But the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind! isak glanced at the spiral staircase and then looked toward Boiler! He wanted to catch a timing, but got his timing caught instead!"

Just as Su Zhe rounded the corner of the spiral staircase, he saw a huge back. There was no reason to let a free kill walk away, so a single bullet accurately struck the target's head.

"Click!"

[Arrow used AK-47 to headshot and kill isak]

The eliminated isak gave a sudden jolt, startled so badly his back straightened up instantly: "Someone came up the spiral staircase! acoR, be careful!"

acoR, who was holding a tight angle with his AWP, was left speechless at this moment. Although his teammate had rotated back to Arch to secure the link, with the side lane information lost, he didn't dare to blindly rush back to the balcony. He had no choice but to eliminate this T on the spiral staircase first.

Su Zhe didn't lower his guard after securing the kill on isak. Although his game sense wasn't stellar, during a gun round in A-apartments, a rifler generally wouldn't solo-push forward, otherwise, it was far too easy for the T-side to trade 1-for-1, which would be an absolute blood-soaked profit for the attackers.

"Get ready for the A-site execute, can apartments sync up?" es3tag asked over voice comms.

"The far side of the apartments hallway hasn't been cleared yet, I'll try."

Finishing his sentence, Su Zhe pre-aimed the radiator position. Finding no one there, he traced his crosshair across the wall for a quick flick.

acoR only saw a figure flash across his sniper scope, but he was holding a tight angle!

"Click!"

[Arrow used AK-47 to headshot and kill acoR]

"F***ing CS2!" acoR, headshot by an AK, pounded his desk in anger and frustration. Being torn apart by an AK was absolute disgrace for an AWPer, especially when he was fully prepared.

Snax glanced sidelong at acoR's reaction and knew right then that this match was already slipping away.

"Arrow just shredded the AWP with an AK! Now GL's entire A-site is completely wide open. volt at Arch wants to step into the link and try something, but there's no way out now—headtr1ck's attacking AWP has already arrived at the bomb site!"

"volt gets successfully picked by the AWP, and the two players on B choose to give up retaking and save their guns. But are these two saved rifles really going to be useful? Next round, acoR won't even have a defensive sniper rifle to use."

After securing the most crucial gun round, the members of Nip finally felt every shred of pressure dissipate.

Sanx forced-buy in the next round to salvage the saved rifles, but the firepower at the front line was simply worlds apart.

Once Nip reached match point, they closed out the map in one sweeping breath.

Ultimately, the score for Map 2 Inferno was locked at 13-5.