Chapter 60 Terrifying Blue Star

Night had completely fallen.

When the three of them walked out of the restaurant and headed back to the hotel, they all appeared somewhat quiet.

k0nfig looked troubled, wondering how to communicate with the club to retain his former friend, while one cigarette after another burned between his lips without stopping.

es3tag's mind was equally tangled in knots. Actually, there was something he hadn't said earlier: THREAT was planning to bench not just him, but k0nfig and headtr1ck as well...

He had originally wanted to tell the two teammates early so they could prepare themselves mentally in advance, but the transfer window had already closed. Even with advance warning, it would be difficult for them to contact new teams.

Such a cruel piece of news made it impossible for him to speak the words himself, and in the end, he thought it best to let the manager break the news afterward.

Su Zhe walked the entire way with his head down, deep in thought about how to help the team maintain its current roster.

Perhaps it was because this was his first time working away from home, or perhaps it was because of the help they had given him in daily life.

Su Zhe cared deeply about every single person currently on the team, even if the team's performance might improve after making changes.

Yet he still stubbornly wanted to continue playing matches with the four people he currently got along so well with.

"To make it to the Katowice playoffs..."

...

At noon the next day, the second round of the lower bracket officially began.

As Su Zhe followed his teammates to the player seating area, he also caught a glimpse across the space of Complexity's highly renowned player, EliGE.

A player who had been selected for the HLTV Top 20 for five consecutive years.

Back during his time on Liquid, he had helped the team set a record in CS:GO professional history, securing the Intel Grand Slam achievement in a lightning-fast 63 days.

Before that, only the peak Astralis era had ever claimed such a Grand Slam honor, and it had taken them over a year to do so.

Although EliGE was already 27 years old this year, he still retained his dominance on the server, and no tier-one or star player would ever underestimate him when facing Complexity.

"Play well, and don't let yesterday's events affect your mindset." es3tag watched Su Zhe standing motionless, giving him a pat on the back to signal him to take his seat.

Having reached this point, es3tag harbored a shred of resentment toward k0nfig. Dinner was just dinner, so why did he have to bring Arrow along?

In es3tag's mind, 18-year-old Arrow was still a child, easily influenced by external tournament factors during a match.

If he failed to perform in the upcoming games, es3tag felt that THREAT wouldn't mind adding one more ID to the benching list.

After all, there were simply too many newcomers who played well right after stepping onto the pro stage. Arrow's performance was outstanding, but he hadn't solidified his standing yet.

Only when a player had been thoroughly studied by opponents over a long period and could still deliver performances would they be able to firmly establish themselves on the tier-one stage.

Hearing es3tag's words, Su Zhe nodded and sat down at his assigned seat to fine-tune his computer settings.

From last night until now, he had only slept for four hours. He had initially thought he suffered from insomnia because he was overthinking things.

As a result, he spent the entire night silently reciting, "Heart like clear ice, the heavens fall without a stir"—a line of dialogue he had learned as a child from watching the television series *Wind and Cloud 2*, which the protagonist Nie Feng would shout whenever he fell into demonic obsession.

Whenever his mind wandered with wild thoughts as a child, repeating this phrase always guaranteed he would fall asleep, but last night it completely lost its effect, and he only managed to drift off slowly around three in the morning.

Yet he woke up naturally today at around 7:00 AM, feeling exceptionally refreshed and full of energy. Only then did he belatedly realize that the [Vigorous Energy] skill had taken effect.

Needing only four hours of sleep a day to completely replenish a whole day's worth of fatigue—and the skill's effects went far beyond just that...

This skill was far more useful than Su Zhe had imagined.

Soon, under the referee's notification, both team captains began the map ban and pick phase. After a battle of wits and strategy, the three maps for the best-of-three series were locked in.

Map one: Vertigo, chosen by Complexity.

Map two: Mirage, chosen by NiP.

Map three: Inferno.

...

The CSBOY livestream room.

"Hello everyone, I'm caster Maixi."

"I'm caster captainMo."

"I'm assistant Ming Riqing~"

"Who are you guys?"

After finishing the routine opening pleasantries, Maixi and Mo chatted casually while waiting for the match to begin.

Maixi laughed and said, "To be honest, I really didn't expect NiP to make it to the lower bracket's second round. I thought it was already amazing enough that they made it into the main event, but yesterday they actually managed to beat Falcons."

Mo nodded: "Indeed! If this were a Major and these two teams met, I'd bet ninety percent of people would predict Falcons to win. On paper, the sheer gap in roster strength between the two sides is just too huge."

Maixi uttered a long "Hmm" to show his agreement. He didn't mean to look down on NiP; it was simply that in the previous rounds, they had largely relied on the newcomer Arrow to step up.

The biggest characteristic of a newcomer was inconsistency; once targeted even slightly, they would quickly lose their voice in a match.

Therefore, what surprised him the most was that Arrow could continue to deliver impact even when facing a powerhouse like Falcons, making him look forward to today's match all the more.

"All right, the match is about to start. Mo, check the time..."

...

Maps: Vertigo

Complexity: hallzerk, Grim, floppy, EliGE, JT

NiP: es3tag, k0nfig, headtr1ck, REZ, Arrow

As Complexity's map pick, NiP chose to start on the CT side.

Right at the start of the pistol round, es3tag set up a 4A1B defensive formation to prevent Complexity from seizing immediate control of the A-ramp.

The importance of the A-ramp on Vertigo was equivalent to Banana on Inferno; once control of it was lost, it became nearly impossible to read the T-side's execution intent, forcing a purely passive defense.

To their surprise, Complexity immediately launched a 3B and 2-mid pincer movement. Su Zhe, defending B alone, had just secured a kill in the frontal engagement when he was taken down from behind by a T coming around through mid.

In the 4v4 retake, Complexity had already planted the bomb. Holding superior angles, the CTs were picked off one by one as they tried to retake.

After losing the pistol round, NiP saw the score smoothly extended to 0-3 by Complexity.

"Keep it up! Once we win the gun round, things will get much easier!" es3tag encouraged in the team comms.

Seeking safety for this round, he deployed a standard 3A2B defensive setup.

Just as Su Zhe and REZ secured their positions at the B site at the start of the round, they heard comms from teammates reporting heavy utility usage down the A-ramp.

"REZ, throw a flash. I'm going to counter-peek the stairs." Su Zhe wanted to play more proactively; once they gained control under the stairs, REZ could immediately rotate to mid or help out at A.

Hearing such a risky play, REZ wanted to offer a warning, but ultimately chose to trust him.

While REZ was cooking the flashbang, Su Zhe began creeping silently toward the stairs.

He planned to wide-swing in sync with the flashbang's pop and crosshair placement, but suddenly spotted the top of a T's head appearing on the stair boost spot.

He instantly reacted and snapped his crosshair over.

"Tac-tac-tac!"

[Arrow used M4A4 to headshot floppy]

"There's another one below! Throw the flash, I'm jumping!"

Su Zhe was far too eager to blow the game wide open for his team, so he naturally wasn't about to let go of such a prime opening for kills.

Thus, the moment REZ threw the flash, Su Zhe rushed out right behind it, stepping onto the stairs.

JT had likely been blinded by flashes too many times before; the moment he saw the black dot under the stairs, he turned around to avoid the flash, which happened to grant Su Zhe the perfect opportunity to catch his side profile.

"Tac-tac-tac!"

[Arrow used M4A4 to headshot EliGE]

"Nice! Great shots!" es3tag praised upon seeing the kill feed in the top right corner of the screen.

With a 5-v-3 man advantage right at the start, Su Zhe secured a double kill and intended to push all the way forward.

He crept all the way to the underground bridge before spotting a T holding a direct angle for the flank.

After a brief moment of thought, Su Zhe didn't recklessly challenge the duel; instead, he held his angle right where he stood, cutting off the retreating T's path.

Struggling under the pressure, the three remaining Ts ultimately decided to deal with the flanking CT first before looking for a place to save their weapons.

As a result, two of them were picked off one by one by Su Zhe alone.

The lone remaining player, Grim, was subsequently cleaned up by k0nfig, who pressed down from the A-ramp.

Having secured the crucial gun round, the teammates burst into shouts to vent the mounting pressure of falling behind earlier.

"Arrow! You got a quad-kill in the very first gun round! Absolutely insane!" es3tag excitedly fist-bumped Su Zhe.

Su Zhe smiled in response, and the team atmosphere reached an absolute peak.

Just as they intended to strike while the iron was hot and string together consecutive rounds, Complexity—having re-equipped with full guns—demonstrated firsthand how they maintained a 70% win rate on this map.

JT used a teammate's smoke at A-short for cover to creep up the alleyway, catching k0nfig right as he tried to smoke-spam for an opportunity, and then followed up with sharp aim to eliminate es3tag, who was attempting to trade.

With the forward players dropping, headtr1ck's A-site AWP was forced into a passive position, and after securing just one kill, he was blown away by a pair of grenades.

Su Zhe and REZ didn't even get a chance to retake, forced to settle for saving their weapons.

Throughout the rest of the match, Complexity's players completely caught fire, their offensive pacing growing sharper and sharper.

es3tag even called for a 4A defensive setup, yet still failed to win the subsequent trade duels.

Watching the score continue to slip away, Su Zhe attempted to push forward again to create an opening for the team, but Complexity anticipated it, setting up a default trap that cleanly claimed his head for free.

NiP tried every possible method to mount a counterattack, only to be systematically dismantled by Complexity led by JT.

In the remaining rounds, they failed to secure a single point.

By the time the first half came to a close, the score was frozen at 11-1.