CS: The Last Dance, a Dance That Leads to Professional Success

Chapter 80: Recognition from the Legendary Group! (Double votes and subscriptions requested!)
"Tsk tsk, who is this newcomer Jabbi? So arrogant."

The child muttered somewhat resentfully, his tone clearly showing his displeasure.

On the one hand, he genuinely felt that Meng Lang's performance yesterday was undeniable, with his overwhelmingly high rating and other data standing out. The other party's immediate response of "it's hard to agree" was as if he were blind.
On the other hand, he just debuted this year and originally thought he was the most dazzling supernova in the CSGO world. Now that Meng Lang has suddenly appeared and his brilliance is even greater, it is not unacceptable that he is ranked as the "top 2 newcomer".

After all, Meng Lang's performance certainly deserved it.

But now you suddenly have this Jabbi, and judging from her tone, she thinks she can ride roughshod over them? Doesn't that mean her kid has to drop from TOP2 rookie to TOP3 rookie?
Can this be tolerated?
Old Ni immediately saw through the kid's little thoughts and dissatisfaction, and explained with a smile: "Jabbi, he joined HEROIC the year before last, and he's 19 years old this year. He's indeed a flex player with good potential, and his playing style is quite ingenious."

After saying that, he glanced at Meng Lang, who was busy showing off his fries while the child was talking, and couldn't help but admire the guy's mentality again. He seemed to be completely unfazed by the comparisons and provocative comments from the outside world.

But Old Ni added, stating his position: "However, I think he's still far inferior to Meng. I don't know what Stavn was thinking, saying something like that."

Stavn, nicknamed "Little Angel".

He is the star rifler of the HEROIC team and TOP, who was ranked in the world's top ten last year.

"What else can I think? A good brother should definitely support him."

Leonardo DiCaprio chimed in with a laugh, "They do seem to have a good relationship, but then again, HEROIC is a tough nut to crack, and tomorrow's match might not be easy."

This is true.

After all, they are a top-five team in the HLTV world rankings, and they also have the top-notch commander "IdeaN" cadiaN.

cadiaN is known for his imaginative and often unexpected tactical ideas, which have transformed HEROIC into a team renowned for its "world's best dynamic defense".

This team once rose to prominence in online tournaments, winning numerous online championships including ESL Cologne, and at one point reached the top of the world rankings, earning the title of "King of Online".

Of course, at that time, many people mocked them for "only being able to play online matches".

But these doubts were completely crushed at last year's Stockholm Major – although they didn't win the championship, they made it to the semifinals and silenced all doubts with their hard-earned strength in the offline tournament.

At this Antwerp Major, HEROIC, as the "predator" of the Legends group, kicked Liquid, who had finally fought their way from the Challengers group to the Legends group, right off the bat, showing a very strong momentum.

Old Ni suddenly recalled Meng Lang's occasional "strokes of genius" during the tactical discussion when they faced the formidable Legendary team FAZE for the first time today. He couldn't help but ask with a hint of anticipation, "Meng, do you have any good ideas or thoughts about playing against HEROIC?"

This morning, Meng Lang's groggy, sleep-talking remark, "You have to be aggressive when playing FAZE," was spot on. Today, Lao Ni himself played with exceptional aggression.

And then they actually won.

This made him somewhat convinced of Meng Lang's seemingly mystical but often insightful "intuition," and he couldn't help but want to see if there was anything else he could do.

Upon hearing what Old Ni said, everyone curiously turned their gaze to Meng Lang.

Meng Lang had just finished showing off the last French fry, smacked his lips in satisfaction, ignored the slightly resentful look the child gave him because his fries had been snatched, stroked his chin for two seconds, and then said in a very self-righteous tone:

"I don't have any good ideas."

Just kidding, FAZE is like his "starter village" in the system simulation space. He practices like crazy with the FAZE lineup led by his cousin Karrigan every day. He's almost developed muscle memory for the matchups.

If it weren't for the fact that more in-depth details couldn't be unlocked in the simulation space yet, he might actually know exactly what color underwear each of FAZE's players liked to wear.

He had never actually played against the HEROIC team in a simulated environment; his only understanding of them came from watching match recordings and external analysis.

How can a "good idea" just appear out of thin air?
Hearing Meng Lang's confident yet utterly pointless reply, the old nun was speechless for a moment, then rolled her eyes at him in annoyance.
"You've been pondering for so long without any ideas. I thought you had some brilliant suggestions!"

Seeing this, Leonardo DiCaprio couldn't help but laugh and clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention: "Hey hey hey! It's just playing HEROIC, don't make such a fuss."

With a relaxed smile, he said, "Don't think about it too much now. We even beat the in-form FAZE Galaxy team today, and our morale is high! No matter how many tactical ideas cadiaN has or how good his command is, don't forget, we have Dark on our team now! At worst... I'll just give Dark the AK in the crucial rounds!"

Hearing Leonardo DiCaprio's half-joking, half-serious words, everyone recalled the thrilling moment in picture three when the Challengers team fought the little bee, and couldn't help but smile knowingly.

At that time, the two sides fought fiercely for more than seventy rounds. Little Li's brain CPU was almost overloaded and smoking. Seeing that the star guy on the other side was starting to perform well again, the situation was about to be stuck. When the countdown ended, Little Li couldn't think of any brilliant tactics. So he gritted his teeth and, despite not having much money, gave Meng Lang an AK.

As it turned out, Meng Lang really did carry this AK and staged a "Legend of the Fastest Speed ​​in A" in the second desert area, sweeping through thousands of troops with his personal ability!
A pentakill sealed the game!

Looking back now, I'm actually quite glad that I made that "simple and crude" decision back then, and upon closer reflection, it seems to have been a tactical one at all.

Yeah, the AK tactic.

……

After enjoying the Belgian specialties treated to by Old Ni, the G2 team returned to the temporary training room at their hotel.

Meng Lang walked into the training room again under everyone's familiar gaze.

Although he hasn't been with the team for long, everyone has quickly become familiar with his daily routine: without fail, he goes to the gym first thing in the morning, followed by high-intensity CSGO practice, continues training after lunch break, and drinks a glass of milk before going to bed on time in the evening.

His daily routine consisted of going between the hotel room, the gym, and the training room. His self-discipline and focus earned the admiration of the veteran players on the team who were used to seeing geniuses.

After all, geniuses aren't scary!
What's terrifying is that people who are more talented than you are also working harder than you!

The most terrifying kind of genius is the one who works hard!
After finishing his training in the evening, Meng Lang washed up and lay in bed, then looked at his system data panel.

After a period of intense practice through matches and daily training, his [Basic Gun Skill] value has increased from 79.2 to 79.9.

Although the status bar still displays the glaring "(Damaged)", the repair progress of the [Hand Injury Time Delay Entropy Bandage] has increased from 88.8% to 94.5%.

Meng Lang could occasionally feel a subtle, tingling sensation in his bandaged hand, as if the fascia was being reorganized and reconstructed.

He guessed this was a sign that things were gradually getting better.

In addition, Meng Lang's [Consciousness] value also increased from 72 to 73, thanks to his more thinking and tactical communication with his teammates in the simulation space.

Another factor is familiarity with each map.

Currently, besides his signature Sand City run remaining at the highest level, his proficiency in Mirage has reached 90, placing him at the T0 (top-tier) level. His proficiency in Inferno and Nuka-Crisis has also reached 89 and 85 respectively, both stable at the T1 (top-tier) level. Unfortunately, ever since that five-kill streak in Mirage with a pistol and no armor using a Glock, earning him the system's "Goat" rating...

To date, he has not yet made another "Goat play" in an official match that the system recognizes—meaning he cannot obtain the simple, direct, and freely assignable attribute points to improve his stats.

Only through arduous training day after day,

Like a whetstone,
Improve yourself little by little.

However, Meng Lang was not anxious about this.

On the contrary, they were quite satisfied.

At least, he can clearly "see" his daily progress through the panel, and this real positive feedback makes him feel very happy.

Moreover, the existence of the system is equivalent to providing "insurance" for his various abilities. Once he improves through training, he can "obtain the certificate forever" and will not easily decline due to fluctuations in his condition or short rest.

As for the slow progress, which requires time to hone... Meng Lang felt that this was precisely the meaning of time.
True strength
It's never something that can be achieved overnight.

After looking at his own panel, Meng Lang casually opened domestic CSGO forums and communities.

As expected, G2's match against HEROIC tomorrow, as well as the obviously fiery interview between X's "Danish buddies" Stavn and Jabbi, have already attracted great attention and heated discussion among domestic players.

The comments section was filled with a mix of opinions:

"stavn, are you pretending to be your mother while your father is your father? Dark's 1.84 rating yesterday was from playing FaZe, and you, Jabbi, are making a fuss over playing Liquid?"

"To be fair, what stavn said isn't entirely wrong. Jabbi has consistently performed well for at least two years with Breathing Bro's Fire team. Putting aside everything else, his consistency and experience in major tournaments are undeniable. As for Dark's performance with EG, let's not even mention it. So far, all the evaluations of him are based on his first match in the Challengers and Legends groups. He's only faced four opponents in total. What will happen in the future is still uncertain. It's not certain how far he can go in this Major."

The comments section immediately erupted with people stirring up trouble:
"Indeed, this is G2's traditional style: go all out at the beginning, then suddenly agree at the crucial moment. Brother Shrimp is the first to agree!"

Immediately, someone continued the chain:
"Dark would definitely be the first to disagree!"

"Oh no! Is G2 going to have a power struggle over whether to 'agree' or 'disagree' this time?! (doge)"

As Meng Lang watched the growing fervor surrounding tomorrow's provocation from their opponent, and the slowly increasing [Goat] popularity rating on the system interface, he silently thanked his "good Danish brother."

Yes, in his personal opinion, everyone who can provide him with [Goat] value and attention before the competition is a "good brother"!
But that's what I really thought.
He won't just let it go, neither verbally nor in his actions.

Not only that, before going to bed, Meng Lang took out his phone and specifically updated his status on both Instagram and Weibo in China.

"Strongest Rookie? Is that even useful?"

"Brothers, watch my performance tomorrow!"

This post caused the topic to surge in popularity once again.

Old Ni next to him also followed Meng Lang on Instagram, and when he saw that funny peace sign expression, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

At the same time, he was once again impressed by Meng Lang's strong mentality!
His strength lies in the fact that almost no one can affect his mentality through pre-match interviews or media pressure!
I can't do that.

Ok?
The old nun suddenly paused slightly.

Was his soft-legged shrimp texture caused by high pressure?

Old Ni began to have some doubts.

……

The following day marked the second day of the Antwerp Major Legends Tournament.

Just after noon, the G2 team arrived at the studio in high spirits.

Today's match between G2 and HEROIC was scheduled as the first game of the 1-0 winners' bracket, making it an absolute highlight.

That's why many players and coaches from teams whose matches are later in the day or haven't even started yet are watching the showdown with great interest from the locker room or backstage.

Meng Lang's terrifying performance against the Galactic Battleship FAZE yesterday was evident to all, and everyone also saw Stavn's fiery interview yesterday.

Therefore, many people feel that today's match is not only a contest between two strong teams, but also a head-to-head competition between top players of the new generation, making it a very exciting match.

When Meng Lang and his teammates entered the studio venue today, they noticed a significant difference from yesterday.

Many well-known professional players whom he had only seen in live broadcasts of international competitions and had never interacted with before would smile or nod or simply greet him with "Hey Dark, good game yesterday!" as he passed by.

This includes top-tier players such as "Wu Zhuge" Breathing Bro, YEKINDAR, KSCERATO, and sh1ro, who are ranked high on the HLTV charts.

What surprised him even more was that
Today, FAZE, who was going to be in the 0-1 group, even came over to greet Niko and Meng Lang, and then jokingly said to Meng Lang:

"Guys, let's give it our all today! We can't let our performance slip after winning yesterday and then lose to those HEROIC guys today. That would be such a disgrace for FAZE!"

Old Ni seemed a little bewildered by this sudden change when he saw Meng Lang. He was usually very outgoing and energetic in the team, but he was unusually shy at this moment!
Unable to contain his laughter, he leaned closer and whispered to Meng Lang:
"Hey, remember what I told you when I got off the plane? Soon more and more people will know you. How does that feel?"

“Excellent!”

Meng Lang laughed as he realized what was happening!
Feeling emotional:

This is esports!
Might makes right!
If you are strong enough and deliver a convincing performance, you will quickly gain recognition and respect from the entire community.

No matter where you come from or what your past was like.

The rules here,
Always so pure and direct!
Of course, the premise is—you must remain strong!
Let's go! HEROIC!

(End of this chapter)