Chapter 61: Why Should We Make an Eighteen-Year-Old Bear the Burden of Our Heavy Responsibilities?

Looking at the score displayed on the screen, Su Zhe was overcome by a profound sense of helplessness.

Complexity was strong, but not in the way FaZe was when they met them previously.

Unable to sleep last night, he had practiced in the simulation training ground, going 1v1 against all five members of Complexity one by one. He discovered that, apart from EliGE, the aiming mechanics of the other four were a notch lower.

Even EliGE did not instill in him the suffocating pressure that donk’s aim brought.

Yet, once actually inside the match, Complexity's wave after wave of offensive momentum gave him no breathing room whatsoever.

It was nothing like yesterday's match against FaZe, where he could find localized 1v1 opportunities.

At the beginning, when his form was hot, he could continuously pick off two or three players facing an onslaught. But as the score gap widened later on, he simply did not know how to win this match.

Looking at the dejected teenager with a hint of heartache, k0nfig walked over to Su Zhe, gently patted his shoulder, and said, "Let's go. Head back to the lounge first and adjust. Inferno is Complexity's strong map; losing on it is normal. We'll just take back the next two maps."

Su Zhe's thoughts were pulled back to reality. He turned his head to look at k0nfig, who was wearing a somewhat forced smile, and shook his head. "You guys go take a break. My form is still fine; let me warm up a bit. Don't worry, I'll definitely perform well on Map 2."

He wasn't being overly sensitive or forcing himself; he was speaking the truth.

With that, he opened the Aimbotz map, trying to recapture the form he had lost in Map 1.

k0nfig looked at the three teammates who had already walked away, and then back at Su Zhe.

He desperately wanted to stay and keep him company.

However, his 26-year-old body no longer allowed him to summon the vibrant energy of a youngster after expending so much mental and physical stamina in Map 1.

He said softly, "I know you really want to win, but don't put too much pressure on yourself. Losing this game isn't your fault—it's because our whole team didn't play well..."

He didn't know what else to say. After offering that comfort, he walked toward the lounge. The only thing he could do now was rest properly and then take back the match on Map 2.

......

"Where's Arrow?" Coach djL asked, looking at k0nfig as he pushed open the lounge door, then glancing behind him only to find no one there.

k0nfig walked straight over to the sofa and sat down. "He said he wants to find his feel for the game. You can tell he's blaming himself..."

The lounge, which had just been filled with murmurs of conversation, suddenly fell into a heavy silence.

Some stared down at their hands, rubbing their fingers; others gazed blankly ahead, lost in thought.

"I am ashamed..." es3tag's voice broke the stillness. "I think the rest of you should feel ashamed, too."

es3tag swept his gaze across the room, meeting each of their eyes one by one.

Slowly, he said, "Think about what our initial mindset was when we recruited a rookie. We went into this with the mere expectation that the rookie wouldn't drag the team down."

"And now? Now we, NIP, actually need an 18-year-old kid to carry the banner for the team!"

"What about our own form? What about our own performances? Arrow is immensely talented, but his talent is not an excuse for us to expect him to carry the team all by himself!"

"I don't know which of you has already accepted the mindset that losing is losing, and that losing to Complexity isn't disgraceful anyway. But we have to win this time! Even if it's not for ourselves!"

es3tag knew his emotions were boiling over, so he stopped talking.

He was slightly worried that he wouldn't be able to regain his composure before the match, which would be the most fatal mistake for an in-game leader.

Coach djL, who had been standing quietly to the side, clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention. "es3tag doesn't mean anything else by that, don't overthink it. I know you all tried your hardest on Map 1, but when the score started pulling apart later on, you made way too many mistakes."

"I know you're all anxious inside, and you all want to help the team break the deadlock, but don't rush."

"Let's work hard in the right direction, alright? Losing a single round doesn't matter; we'll just take the next one back. Don't let it affect your mindset. Forget about Inferno—it's already in the past and no longer exists."

"All we need to do right now is play two Bo1s. Our preparation before the match was no less than theirs! Nor was it any worse! Communicate actively, talk to each other more, and then win this damn match, alright!?"

The coach's words slowly coaxed the team's emotions back into balance.

Some of them had indeed held the exact mindset es3tag mentioned earlier—that even if they won against Complexity, they might run into even stronger teams later on.

Getting eliminated early didn't seem like such a bad thing after all; since they wouldn't make the playoffs anyway, the prize money difference wouldn't be that significant.

But then they thought of Su Zhe, who was still grinding bots in the player arena...

"Come on." k0nfig extended his hand, and the others instinctively placed theirs on top in unison.

k0nfig took the lead and shouted, "Don't let the rookie look down on us! Let him witness the strength of us veterans, let him know that our team, NIP, can win even without him carrying!"

"Let's GO!!"

"NIP!!!"

......

"Hey! Arrow! Aren't you tired at all?" Returning to the player area, es3tag reached out from behind and playfully ruffled Su Zhe's hair.

"Huh? Is the match about to start?" Su Zhe asked, watching his teammates and the Complexity players beginning to head toward their seats.

"Yeah. Let's go, keep it up! We'll definitely win the next two maps," es3tag said earnestly.

"Mhm!" Su Zhe's reply was equally serious.

As soon as all his teammates sat down and reconnected to the TeamSpeak voice channel, Su Zhe could feel a distinct change in the team atmosphere.

Even headtr1ck and REZ, who usually spoke very little during matches and only provided basic callouts and information, were noticeably more talkative.

es3tag first tested the microphone to make sure there were no issues, then said, "Alright, focus up. Let's talk about how we're playing the pistol round first."

Map 2, Mirage, was NIP's map pick, and they were starting the first half on the T side.

"Later on, at the start of the round, four of us will go B Apartments. Once it hits around one minute and thirty seconds and their guard drops a bit, we'll execute with full utility and hit a fast-paced take."

"In Map 1, their team's performance mainly relied on EliGE and hallzerk; the others were pretty average. As long as we win our trade kills, it'll be easy to gain a man advantage and take the site."

"Arrow, you just hold default in mid and watch our flank."

After assigning the tactics for the pistol round, the notification from the referee instructing the players to enter the server echoed in their headphones.

The match officially began.

......

"I think you guys shouldn't be too harsh on a rookie. After all, this is the first tournament Arrow has ever participated in," MaXiSai said, addressing the chat room's narrative.

Mo chimed in from the side, "Indeed. His stats at Katowice are already quite impressive, ranking third in Rating. Only that Spirit rookie donk and m0NESY have better stats than him."

The viewers in the live stream were clearly unsatisfied with their explanation.

[Tch, you're only allowed to praise him and not criticize him? In esports, being bad is the original sin!]

[Exactly, how is he supposed to grow if no one criticizes him?]

[Quite impressive? Are they learning from Tyloo, treating every tournament as a "glorious defeat"?]

[To be fair, the outcome of Map 1 had little to do with Arrow; it's mainly because his teammates didn't show up either.]

[His Rating is already down to 0.79, and you're saying it has little to do with him? If he had performed even a little bit, they wouldn't have gotten stomped 3-13.]

MaXiSai felt somewhat exhausted watching the chat's sentiment.

A few years ago, the environment of the Chinese CS scene wasn't like this at all. How had it evolved into what it was today?

No matter who it was, the moment anyone had a bad game, they would blindly spew hate, even when many times the reasons had nothing to do with the player themselves.

"Alright, the match is about to start..."