Chapter 9: Could He Truly Be a Genius?

After the match ended, Su Zhe savored the scene of his triple kill from the white car position.

“Could moving while aiming really be effective?”

Although his total game time still qualified him as a newcomer, he was barely considered a veteran of two eras.

What left the deepest impression on him about CS2 was how much faster the characters moved.

If previously a stationary long rifle could hold off two enemies, now it could at most handle one and a half.

And that was only when the opposing team was unaware of his exact position, which made defenders more willing to actively pull out and duel.

But the risk was immense, and it meant deliberately exposing one’s location.

With this in mind, Su Zhe immediately opened the demo from that match, shifted the perspective to the bandit’s viewpoint, and watched carefully. Only then did he confirm the thoughts swirling in his mind.

The value of donk technique insights was still rising!

“Tsk tsk, you even watch your own demos? Didn’t expect you to stick with it for a whole week. These past few days, you’ve been practicing your aim non-stop as soon as I come back to the dorm...” Xiao Guang’s voice came from the bunk above.

Last night he had read novels until 4 a.m. and was only just waking up around noon.

He yawned and said, “Want to duo this afternoon? I’m just one win away from ranking up to B...”

Su Zhe smiled in reply, “No more duo for me. I just reached A rank.”

“No way you can’t duo! Under 400 points... what?!”

Previously a little dazed, Xiao Guang suddenly snapped awake and jumped off the bunk.

“No way! A few days ago, I saw you still hadn’t reached B+, how could you be at A now!?”

He grabbed Su Zhe’s mouse, opened the Perfect Platform, and stared incredulously at the displayed score.

He even leaned in to peer through the transparent side of the PC case, but saw no extra hardware inside.

“No, dude! Did your talent just awaken?”

A week ago, both were still C+ rank; now, a gap of over 400 points separated them!

Seeing Xiao Guang’s sense of disparity, Su Zhe comforted him, “There’s no talent. If there were, I wouldn’t have stayed at C+ for over 500 hours. Just practice more, and you can get there too.”

“Sigh... no way,” Xiao Guang sighed deeply. “During summer break at home, I practiced just as hard as you, but it didn’t help at all…”

He gazed at Su Zhe meaningfully. “Maybe you’re like Coldzera — that kind of player who’s all about hard work and sudden breakthroughs…”

Typically, pro players show immense talent as soon as they pick up the game.

Some qualify for FPL in their teens, joining top-tier professional scenes before adulthood.

But Coldzera was often labeled a noob before turning pro, doubted for lacking any pro potential.

Yet he refused to accept fate and worked relentlessly, eventually stepping into the pro scene.

Within six months of debut, he won the highest honors in CSGO tournaments, with legends like s1mple and NiKo playing second fiddle to him.

Moreover, Coldzera was voted HLTV’s top player in 2016 and 2017 consecutively.

He epitomizes the perfect blend of hard work and epiphany!

Su Zhe: “Huh? Me? Coldzera?”

Xiao Guang, who had once joked about turning pro, was now daring to compare him to Coldzera.

Su Zhe smiled and patted Xiao Guang’s shoulder, “You’re overthinking. As long as you work hard, you’ll improve. It’s just a matter of how much.”

Xiao Guang shook his head slightly, “I’m fine just playing for fun. Keep it up — maybe you really will go pro someday. Don’t forget to sign an autograph for me then...”

...

At lunch, Su Zhe was casually scrolling through Douyin when he stumbled upon a video Leonkai had specially made for him.

He couldn’t help but praise Leonkai’s character. If it were any other streamer, how could you expect them to craft a demo review video just for you without charging dozens or hundreds? Plus, they worried about him not being in the livestream, so they made a separate video.

Truly, Leonkai is someone with integrity, skill, and good looks all at once!

Listening to all his detailed advice, even though it had only been a week, Su Zhe felt as if everything had changed.

A week ago, he was just a C+ player; a week later, he was already a rising star.

At this rate, another week and he’d be S brother; a month and he’d top the platform, able to try out for Tianlu’s training with 259 before the new year...

He casually opened the Douyin comments, finding the same old remarks as during the livestream.

“This guy’s not a hacker, right? With moves like that, he wants to go pro? Must have been dazed from all the flashbangs.”

“With that positioning and recoil control, even I’m better using my feet.”

“Who is this C+ player thinking he’s better than S brother?”

“I know this spot. We C+ players just lack S brother’s game sense; our aim is just as good!”

Su Zhe read through the comments, many tagging friends to come laugh at him. He sighed.

He had been pretty happy reaching A rank, but now all that joy was gone. Don’t these keyboard warriors want the “prodigy” even a moment to develop? Eight out of ten of them couldn’t be better than his previous self.

Feeling annoyed, Su Zhe opened his Perfect APP on his phone, took a screenshot of his stats and rank, and posted it under that video’s comment section.

“Here I am. Thanks for the advice, Kai Ge.”

“After following your guidance, I identified my weaknesses and have been training intensively in aim and ranked matches this past week. Today, I finally made it to A rank.”

“Still, my dream of going pro hasn’t faded. Fellow netizens, can you give me some advice?”

After sending this somewhat boastful comment, Su Zhe felt a lot of his frustration dissipate.

If any keyboard warrior dared mock him here, he’d just open a solo match and prove them wrong.

Even if he lost to higher ranks, it wouldn’t matter — he was now a bona fide A rank player.

Finishing the last bite of his braised chicken, Su Zhe wiped his mouth with a napkin from the restaurant and headed back to the school dormitory.

Unbeknownst to him, his comment rapidly gained likes and climbed to the top.

Instead of the expected sneers, the replies were full of shock!

“Damn! I just checked — bro, you’re not photoshopped!”

“No way! Only one week? Leonkai’s advice really works that well?”

“I hit C+ at 100 hours, but only reached A around 2000 hours…”

“@LeonKaiSHYEARKMIU Kai Ge, give me some advice! I want to improve too!”

“One week from C+ to A — is he really a prodigy?”

At home, Leonkai stared at the flood of new notifications on his Douyin account, feeling a bit stunned.

“Am I actually blowing up?”