CS: I became Top 1 by grinding my skill level

"Holy crap! All of them are Zowie monitors? And 240Hz ones at that! This is so smooth! How come this company is so rich?!"

Inside Box 7 of the Electric Snake Cup online tournament, a slightly chubby boy with a slight southern Henan accent exclaimed in surprise.

Zhang Haoran is a rising star in the campus e-sports club at Yuzhou University of Science and Technology. After entering the university at the age of 18, he was directly selected as a formal member of the Yuzhou University of Science and Technology CS campus team with his perfect Diamond S level skill.

The CS campus team from Henan University is led by a 60-star Demon King S, and the lowest-ranked of the four members under his command is a Perfect Gold S20-star. This is already considered a strong lineup among the current CS university campus teams in China.

After Zhang Haoran joined the team, the team worked together quite well. Later, captain Zhou Ping led the team to participate in the Luodu CS University League. As the Yuke team, they achieved an excellent result of reaching the top four in this competition and successfully entered the semifinals.

Although they didn't make it to the finals or even the semifinals, the 18-year-old Zhang Haoran, full of youthful vigor, is still proud of the achievements his team has made.

This time, team captain Zhou Ping led the team to participate in the Electric Snake Cup held in the capital of a neighboring province. Zhang Haoran was naturally full of confidence. After all, compared with the excellent results of the last college league's top four, everyone has made great progress in both teamwork and shooting skills.

Just hearing from the captain that playing in the Electric Snake Cup would give him a chance to be included in the CN player page on the Hltv official website, Zhang Haoran couldn't suppress his excitement and restlessness.

"Alright! Look at you! Sit up straight, we're about to start selecting images."

Zhou Ping reached out and patted the restless Zhang Haoran.

"Haha, OK! Captain, I'll hit anything as long as we start fighting!"

Not long after, the referee gave the order.

Image selection process begins

"【YUST (豫科) team chose Dust2 and banned Nuke】"

The referee's calm voice came through TeamSpeak.

"OG (Orange) team chose Mirage and banned Train."

"[Through random drawing, the winning image for both sides is the Vertigo Fatal Building!]!"

The entire map ban/pick process was within Du Si Nian's expectations before the match. Given that the opponent lacked professional-level teamwork, they would definitely ban Nuke immediately. The opponent was also afraid that if their side had a few Nuke specialists, their chances of winning would be too low.

The fact that the opposing team banned this map saved Du Sinian some trouble, since they were more proficient with Train than with Nuke.

"Both players, please enter the map. The countdown is one and a half minutes. The match will begin soon."

In the scorching desert, during the game's warm-up phase.

Zhang Haoran is always the king of warm-up. At the start of the CT game, he immediately picked up an M4a4 and rushed from the terrorist spawn to the terrorist base in the middle lane to start warming up!

"[haoran killed Help with an M4a4]"

"[haoran killed long using an M4a4]"

"[haoran killed...]"

Han Tian and the other three were listening to Du Sinian's tactical instructions. They were all AFK at home and not moving. Zhang Haoran was playing like he was playing against a bot, changing tactics and even switching to his pistol to nod at each of them.

Ike rolled his eyes as he listened to the cacophony of gunfire and the constant sound of headshots coming through his headphones.

"You little punk, how dare you be so rude? It seems like you're the out-of-town gang!"

T side had finished explaining the key points of their tactics, and with Du Si Nian's gentle voice fading, the match began.

OG (Orange Team) VS YUST (Henan University of Science and Technology).

Countdown begins!

This was a match without commentary or attention; the two were relatively unknown players with no fans and therefore no viewership.

At this moment, the commentators' focus was on the only two regular youth training teams in this competition—SD (Su Dong) and SG (Xing Kong).

After all, they are the youth training teams of two regular clubs. Although they cannot be compared with teams like TyLoo and VG, they still have some fans.

Then there's the DRG (Dragon Roar) team, composed of streamers and retired professional players. Beihai, a well-known streamer and former professional player in the game's gacha section, leads his two veteran teammates. Will they be able to recreate the fleeting glory of the NG team during the 1.6 era in this competition?

These are all excellent gimmicks, and naturally, many viewers are interested. Therefore, well-known commentators and streamers who have obtained the copyrights, such as csboy and ququ, have focused their attention on these teams.

"Beep beep beep—"

Games start!

"Watch out for that QC (Zhao Qingcheng) on ​​the other side. I saw him on the Tianlu youth training roster."

Since the first two rounds of online matches were assigned on the spot, there was not much preparation time to find out the opponent's strength, so Zhou Ping did not know the opponent's true strength.

"Hey, don't worry, I'll go test the waters at the bandit's mouth first."

Zhang Haoran was very relaxed at this moment. Although his team had played some matches and had some teamwork, to put it bluntly, they had only improved their follow-up shooting efficiency based on the ranked match strategy. They had not seriously studied map control and tactics.

With his half-armored USP, Zhang Haoran charged straight into the terrorist spawn point. He hadn't seen anyone for the first five seconds. His teammates were covering B1 for him at A site, and just as he was about to boldly move forward to continue his attack, he realized...

"boom--"

"puff--"

The instant the flashbang thrown from the bandit's house exploded, Zhang Haoran's screen flashed red and white light.

"[T aike uses a P250 to headshot and kill CT haoran]"

"Oh my god!"

Zhang Haoran was so startled that he leaned back.

"Creak, creak~" The weight of 160 pounds made the back of the gaming chair behind him creak.

"You bastard! At least give me the report!"

Zhou Ping's furious roar immediately came through the CT voice chat.

"Oh, bandits! There must be more than one."

.....

The pistol round ended, and Ekko, who had secured a triple kill with P250 in the mid lane, scratched his head, "Huh? That's it?"

"But be careful not to capsize in a ditch."

In the voice chat, Zhang Zhen replied calmly.

"No way I can turn this around. I'm confident telling you, just give me a sniper rifle, and I'll take it by a huge margin!"

Zhao Qingcheng seemed to be in a relaxed state, just like Ike, and didn't seem to be planning to treat the person opposite him as a dish.

Du Sinian simply smiled and said nothing more.

Taking advantage of the pistol round they won at the start, Han Tian's T side also won the eco round smoothly and moved on to the first rifle round.

Meanwhile, the CT team is gradually starting to feel some pressure.

Losing a pistol round and two eco rounds is a common occurrence in a match, but when Zhang Haoran finally got a long gun and was checking A short and mid in the sand at 1 minute and 20 seconds, he was shot by Ekko who had been pre-aimed and pulled out, and Zhang Haoran's mentality changed slightly.

The straight frame didn't even have time to react.

"Damn it!!"

Watching his teammate, who was playing solo B, get surrounded and another point was lost, Zhang Haoran gradually felt a sense of powerlessness. He felt that these few points were lost too helplessly. Every round, the opponent traded numbers with fewer players. It was simply because he couldn't win gunfights, not because of bad timing or poor teamwork.

After losing two consecutive E rounds, plus the first long rifle round, the score reached 4-0.

Seeing that his teammates seemed to be falling silent, Captain Zhou Ping, as the captain, commander, and sniper, quickly called the first timeout.

"How come that Aike over there is so accurate?"

In the CT voice recording, Zhang Haoran finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"They're like cheaters! We didn't even lose this badly back in our college league days!"

At this moment, LJ, the teammate responsible for guarding B and a perfect Diamond 40-star player, was also furious. "That Zero on the other side is like he lives in B1 and B2."

"Once the smoke clears in B tunnel, if I don't look for even a second, he'll sneak in, take up a huge, stupid spot, and kill me."

"What if I press forward? He'll be like someone standing outside waiting to pick up takeout; if I press him, he'll be ambushed!"

"Alright, alright! Calm down! Let's use E again, I'll pick up my sniper rifle, let's clear out B first!"

It must be said that Zhou Ping is definitely a qualified captain. He has leadership skills, can convince his team members, and has a fairly clear way of thinking.

However, this time he will be facing Du Sinian's heavy Sand 2 tactics, Han Tian's B2, an outstanding student of [Ropz Master Class], and finally Zhang Zhen's B1 mid lane, a perfect 300-star demon king.

The score reached 5:0. At the start, Han Tian and Zhang Zhen opened B1B2 as usual. Han Tian switched to the Butterfly Knife and Zhang Zhen switched to the Butcher M9. The two of them took big steps from the back garden to B2 to make the default move.

The instant I stepped into the shadow of the B2 archway, I switched weapons and moved silently.

The two walked forward silently for a second and a half.

Han Tian found this strange, because usually at this time, the opposing team would throw a smoke grenade at B-site to prevent a rush fire, and would then fire another smoke grenade before the fire went out.

This time should have been lost long ago. Han Tian and Zhang Zhen exchanged a glance as if they were on the same wavelength. Han Tian nodded, and the two began to retreat silently.

They retreated to the B2 archway, where the two men positioned their guns on either side.

Sure enough, the instant they took their positions,

"boom--"

A flash of light and the sound of an explosion came from B tunnel.

Immediately afterwards, two footsteps were heard.

"B-Tong immediately took the lead, while Zhang Zhen and I withdrew first."

Including those who throw flashbangs.

"Three people are in B"

In the T-side voice chat, Han Tian calmly gave feedback to the captain.

"Judging by the economy, the enemy has probably started using snipers, most likely at B."

Because our team had used a combination of mid and B attacks several times in the previous few days, the opponent finally retaliated.

Du Sinian guessed that the opposing team was probably targeting Han Tian and Zhang Zhen in this game, clearing B at the start to get the first kill, letting A go big to protect A small, and then playing a defensive strategy.

"Ekko, Qingcheng throws Flash and immediately heads out of A site."

Before the smoke from the X-box had even cleared, Du Sinian, who had just finished observing the mid lane with a flashbang, gave instructions to the two players at A gate and the terrorist spawn point.

After hearing the flash of light at point A, the CT scan clearly became disoriented.

Han Tian and Zhang Zhen clearly heard footsteps heading towards the spiral staircase, indicating that a CT was planning to go up from B1 to A small to support A bomb site.

"Da da—"

"【T Help】headshot 【CT Canary】 with an AK47."

Upon hearing Han Tian's message, Du Si, who had already set up his gun at the terrorist's location, easily held off the arriving CT. At the same time, Zhao Qingcheng blocked the police spawn at point A with smoke, and Ike was already exchanging fire with the CTs who were camped against the wall at point A.

Just as Du Sinian was about to continue his advance towards A short and join forces with his teammates at A long to attack point A,

The X-box of cigarettes suddenly dissipated in large swaths at that moment.

"Bang—" The sniper rifle fired.

"[CT ZPing uses Awp to kill T Help in smoke]"

The commander killed the commander. Du Sinian smiled helplessly. It didn't matter. It was a good opportunity to give command free.

Just as he was looking at Han Tian's perspective, trying to formulate an order, he saw Han Tian suddenly switch to his sword and rush directly towards point B.

Don't ask, the answer is that a top student at the [Ropz Master Class] is speeding around in his silent Porsche.

He spun the butterfly knife all the way to an angle where he could see the gap in the B door, and the sound of the Porsche engine gradually faded away.

Two dark-skinned CT scanners, resembling freshly roasted pork belly, appeared with their backs to Han Tianzhunxing.

"Da, da da da—"

One burst of fire, then another sudden stop, and recoil control!

"[T zero uses AK47 to headshot and kill CT ZPing]"

"[T zero uses AK47 to headshot and kill CT haoran]"

"Thank you, Mother!"

A single swear word, two CT scans stolen from behind, the last policeman of A-class with three drops of blood, and the Yu-Ke battle team surrounded by enemies.

.....

Counter-Strike wins!

The first map, "Hot Sand City," has ended with a score of 16:4.

Orange Team, let's start with the first map!

"[Gain 100 Proficiency Points]"

Han Tian, ​​who won the first picture, saw his [Proficiency] jump from 50 to 150, and in an instant, the slight fatigue from before disappeared.

Previously, winning a ranked match only added 10 points, and even getting MVP only added 20 points, while losing only added 5 points.

Now, in the small Aladdin tournament, winning a map directly awards 100 points.

"According to the system's initial instructions, it seems that the proficiency gained after entering the top eight will double."

In such a small competition, winning just one map in the preliminary round gives you five times the [proficiency] points.

Han Tian dared not imagine what the reward would be if it were a major... no... lowering the bar a bit, the Cato Finals, how much would he get for winning a single match? This is the top-tier S-level tournament!

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhao Qingcheng, holding the phone he had just gotten back from the referee, came over and poked Han Tian.

"The data from the Perfect app is out!"

Han Tian peeked over and saw that all the data from the 16 matches of the Electric Snake Cup had been displayed in one image.

Zhao Qingcheng opened the details page of their previous game.

"I'm boiling it! Teacher Da Ai, please stop frying it!"

Top stats overall: [aike, 25 kills, 6 assists, 13 deaths, rating 1.65]

"Huh? A fried chicken burger?"

Ike leaned closer and looked down. "What?! You have the nerve to talk back to me! Look at your own stats first!"

Second highest overall stats [ZQC, 21 kills, 7 assists, rating 1.57]

In this game of Dust2, Han Tian and Zhang Zhen focused on following Du Sinian's instructions throughout the game, and due to their positions, their stats were slightly different.

Ekko is a penetration player, and when the opponent is not very strong, he is prone to acting like a wild dog, often actively seeking opportunities to get first kills and kill streaks, and frequently deviating from Dussian's instructions.

Even in many situations where it was clearly inappropriate to engage in direct gunfights, they insisted on going out and fighting the enemy.

However, given the positive outcome, Du Sinian, as the team captain, was afraid of dampening morale, so he didn't say much.

Zhao Qingcheng had the same problem. The sniping task assigned to him by Du Sinian was turned into a forward-charging sniping task by him. He was very aggressive and didn't treat the opponent like a human being at all.

But since they are foreign players, it's really inappropriate to criticize them.

Fortunately, there were Han Tian and Zhang Zhen, two calm and reliable pillars of strength, because Du Sinian was really afraid that Ike and Zhao Qingcheng would mess things up.

"Sigh, let's identify the problem first, then solve it."

Looking at the tactical paper on his phone, Du Sinian thought to himself.

...