CS: I became Top 1 by grinding my skill level

"Sizzle—"

The incendiary bomb exploded, and the scorching flames baked Han Tian's fragile body.

"Two seconds left—" Ignoring his rapidly decreasing health, Han Tian pressed the C4 button with all his might. Just one more press and he could plant the bomb and escape the scorching flames beneath his feet.

If... just one more second... he can plant the bomb... and survive, then he can use the last bullet, fully charged by the "Lightweight" buff, to kill the last CT, hold the C4, and win this incredible 1v5 clutch...

But at this point, Han Tian's already meager health was no longer enough to support his...wonderful vision.

"drop--"

C4 was installed.

"Uh~"

Han Tian's mannequin fell straight down next to the installed C4.

"[CT 1young used an incendiary grenade + CT toto to kill T zero]"

Shi Yang, who was at the corner of A1, sighed and quietly came over with the detonator. "Beep beep—" The bomb disposal sound rang out. Shi Yang disarmed the C4 in just five seconds. It was the C4 that Han Tian had struggled for a long time and risked his life to put down.

"Even though I won... I still feel like I lost." Shi Yang shook his head. He didn't feel the joy of winning the endgame. Perhaps because they were both free agents, he even felt a little sorry for Han Tian.

"Counter-Strike faction wins"

In the arena, a line of small text on the huge LED screen announced CT's victory in this point to the entire audience.

However, the stands were quiet, with no cheers from the audience, whether they were SD fans, people just watching the game for fun, or the small group of Orange team fans.

Everyone stared silently at the big screen, unsure of what to say.

Should we cheer? For whom? For SD youth training? They were beaten like this by Han Tian in a 1v5 situation, should we cheer for Orange? But they still lost in the end!

Just as the audience was getting caught up in a mix of emotions, the big screen flashed and switched to the camera of an orange contestant.

Han Tian slowly lowered his head, placed one hand on his forehead, and silently looked at the shimmering keyboard. The boy's bright eyes gradually dimmed. He did not slam the table in anger, nor did he let out a sigh. He just lowered his head and remained silent.

However... anyone could see that the boy's expression was full of disappointment and self-blame.

"If... I had planted the bomb somewhere farther away... I wouldn't have gotten burned..."

"We've already lost one map, if this one too..."

Han Tian's mind was in turmoil. He felt he could have made a better decision to save the team from this point...

Without the help of [Bohe Shrimp Oil], Han Tian's emotions seemed to be magnified several times during the offline finals. A deep sense of loss spread through his mind like ripples.

Seeing Han Tian like this, his teammates felt even worse and were filled with self-blame.

Ike raised his hand and slapped his face hard—it was all his fault for rushing in too quickly.

Du Sinian rubbed his forehead, feeling uneasy. It was obvious that he had made a big mistake in his command, but in the end, Han Tian had to clean up the mess. He clicked the mouse and decided to pause the game to clear his head.

Zhou Wanli's face was very grim. The guy who bought him the steamed buns had already done his best, and he could no longer use "still getting used to each other" as an excuse. He had to perform at the same level he had in Europe.

With a slight pursing of his lips, Zhang Zhen looked at Han Tian, ​​who was covering his face in silence. He was tongue-tied and couldn't find any words of comfort. All he felt was regret: if he had been able to take down one of the opponents, Han Tian would have won that point.

"Let's call a timeout and take a break."

Duss said in a low voice, and then called the first timeout of the first half in the game.

"Hey, look up, look over there..."

Han Tian, ​​who was deep in thought, felt a light tap on his back.

He looked up and saw Du Chengzi pointing forward with his fair finger, raising his chin to signal Han Tian to look over.

In the audience, a large crowd stood up, some raising their arms, some waving glow sticks, but they all seemed to be shouting something.

Separated by a glass soundproof room and wearing heavy noise-canceling headphones, Han Tian could only feel a slight vibration and could not hear the specific content they were shouting.

"During the pause, you can take off the external earphones, right?"

Du Chengzi asked the referee next to her a question, and after seeing the referee nod, she gently removed one of Han Tian's earphones.

"Look again, listen carefully..."

Han Tian raised one ear and listened intently.

"Zero—, Han Tian—"

The rhythmic shouts of thousands of people suddenly pierced Han Tian's eardrums, "Han Tian—", his name and game ID were being shouted loudly by so many people.

"Even though you lost... they're still cheering for you..."

Du Chengzi moved slightly closer and said softly.

Han Tian listened blankly. In his previous life as a corporate slave, he had never felt so the center of attention.

The few small characters on his ID card were being shouted out by countless spectators.

Only for him.

The intense shouts, like an overly strong perfume on a blonde woman, forcefully pierced his nostrils, bringing a sense of unreality and disorientation. They were also like a sudden surge of waves on a summer night, rushing past his ears and completely engulfing him in a warm and boiling ocean.

"Never before... so many people have looked at me with such fervor..." Han Tian felt a slight sting in his nose. He raised his arm and waved it vigorously at the audience.

Perhaps this is the significance of offline events: regardless of success or failure, as long as your performance is worthy of respect, people will naturally cheer for you.

......

"It seems we... have failed at the last hurdle, NIKO..."

Electric Snake Cup, Guest Lounge.

A white man silently watched the screen in the room, which was showing the scene of Han Tianchong waving to the audience.

Niko, who was the award presenter after the match, arrived at the venue early and turned on the broadcast screen provided by the organizers. As a special guest, he didn't actually need to watch the match. He just needed to go out and present the award at the end of the match, say a few words, and then come back to wait for the next event notification.

However, Niko's high level of professionalism made him subconsciously unwilling to be perfunctory, so he opened the game and watched it carefully. Then, naturally, Niko was completely attracted by Han Tian's amazing AK positioning.

We also witnessed Han Tian's near-miss in a 1v5 situation where he stepped on the fire and planted the bomb.

"Stepping on fire..." Niko slowly turned his gaze away from the screen, lost in memories.

A long time ago, during the quarterfinals of the Boston Major, there was a young man who stepped up when the team needed him most.

Both players were caught in a fire-stepping situation, but while that young man successfully won the clutch, he also dragged his team into the nightmarish Major finals...

"It seems we... failed at the last hurdle, NIKO..." After their defeat in the finals, their commander, Karrigan, said to him in a trembling voice, his eyes brimming with tears.

That failed major final also led to the subsequent disintegration of their team—the super team FaZe Clan.

"Maybe I really need to take a break for a while..."

Since Niko took over as the team's in-game leader last year, perhaps due to the pressure, he often recalls some long-forgotten memories—mostly regrets. These memories, like sharp knives, scrape and slash at Niko's heart again and again.

Shaking his head, Niko took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing these unpleasant memories.

He turned his head and looked at Han Tian on the screen, who was awkwardly waving his arms and greeting the audience. The boy's ID was zero, which was being called out by the audience over and over again.

Niko smiled knowingly. A long time ago, he was just like that—the chubby little Bohe back then. Playing in a small offline tournament, he'd get incredibly excited hearing hundreds of spectators cheering for him, awkwardly waving back. Back then, he thought the world had finally seen him…

"Let's go! Zero!!"

Niko raised his thick arm and suddenly shouted.

People always like those who are similar to themselves, and he was no exception.

He precisely positioned himself at a single point, endured all the fire-starting and bomb-dropping, and awkwardly waved back to the audience.

Niko believes that such players deserve respect, but... he doesn't want them to end up like he did, failing at the last hurdle...

"I hope to see you on the podium, Zero." Niko had been invited to present the award to the winning team.

But at this moment, he became interested in Han Tian, ​​this boy with an incredibly accurate positioning, and wanted to see up close what kind of young man such a crazy contestant in the competition was.