Chapter 16: Little Cleverness

"Holy shit, how is the enemy Sniper getting knockback on every hit without even scoping in at level one? Is he that lucky?"

"We have to catch the Sniper first."

"Damn it, everything missed, and he hasn't even bought a Butterfly Knife yet?!"

"Let's defend the high ground..."

"He's too reckless, right? The Sniper is charging in first? Go!"

"Fuck, what is this bullshit? His health isn't even dropping."

Unlike the collapse on the other side, the VG Training Room was silent at this moment.

Whether it was the Coach or the teammates, a question popped into everyone's mind simultaneously—is their mid-laner really Jiaoyang?

At 25 minutes, before their carry could even come online, the mid-laner had already beaten the opponents into typing "GG."

Jiaoyang took the match MVP with 17 kills, 0 deaths, and 5 assists.

In the second game, the opponents banned Sniper first.

"Jiaoyang, who do you want to pick?" Coach Bai Jie asked, which was rare.

"Lina."

"Lina, huh..."

As it was Jiaoyang's signature hero, Bai Jie didn't overthink it and clicked it directly.

The result was the same as the previous game, a one-sided slaughter, though compared to the Sniper in the last game, it was much more standard, with 11 kills, 3 deaths, and 8 assists.

"Is it really because the Sniper character is special?" Jiaoyang pondered while looking at the system's results.

However, even if only the Sniper hero could benefit from the Talent System's buff, it was still a significant gain.

In games like Dota, having one more signature hero can become the team's winning point.

Adding the 100 talent points from the S-rank mission reward to 【donk's Breakthrough Bonus】.

After upgrading to level 6, the effect became: If there are no teammates in front of you, significantly increase Counter-Strafing accuracy, Positioning speed, and recoil control stability.

After the two matches were over, the teammates left the Training Room in twos and threes, and one could still hear Yang Hai's exaggerated voice not far away:

"Holy shit, why was Jiaoyang so fierce today? Once that Sniper turned on his BKB, he was shooting like a little electric motor."

"I don't know, he's been acting all mysterious these past few days."

Ding Yu, who was on the side, didn't leave and said, "Not bad, you actually didn't collapse in the lane today."

If it were in the past, Jiaoyang would have thought this sentence was implying that he often got slaughtered in the middle lane.

But under the influence of the Babel Fish, he could sense that there was some goodwill in Ding Yu's words.

"It's alright, you guys came to help too."

"Want to grab a meal together?"

"No, I'm going to watch a match."

Jiaoyang clicked on the webpage and picked a stream.

"Alright then, hope you keep it up."

Ding Yu didn't say much more and caught up with Zhang Jun to leave together.

Jiaoyang remembered that in the past, this guy seemed to mock him twice every match; could it be that he actually wanted to help him? That would be quite disgusting.

He shook his head to stop thinking about it and focused on watching the match.

"It's started, brothers! Today's main event, VG vs NaVi."

"I am the commentator Ma Xixi."

"I am the commentator captainMo."

"I am the assistant Ming Riqing."

"Who are you guys?"

The chat in the stream wasn't as enthusiastic as the commentators; apart from a small number of messages sending support and encouragement, most people didn't think this match was worth watching.

Tyloo had just lost 0:2 to Renegades, making everyone see clearly the gap between teams from different regions.

And VG's opponent was the powerhouse NaVi, featuring the 2018 top 1 player s1mple, who had just narrowly lost 1:2 to the runner-up ENCE at the recently concluded IEM Katowice Major; they were not something CNCS could compare to.

Consequently, the chat started chatting idly.

【Wan Jiji next door isn't streaming, came over to take a look】

【Does this platform even have the rights?】

【I heard he defended a cheater a few days ago and got flamed by the chat until he got depressed and went hiking】

【What kind of mountains could there be in Shimen City?】

"53"

"52"

"51"

"Right"

"Coming to this map, Inferno..."

"259 (advent) gave an order for a heavy B."

"Kaze, who was defending B alone, was taken out directly."

"NaVi took B Site, a 4v5 Clutch."

"zhokiNg was also taken out by flamie."

"flamie sprayed through the Smoke Grenade and tagged aumaN, then rushed out of the smoke."

"While s1mple picked off Freeman, he also killed 259."

"..."

The five members of VG were directly executed by NaVi, without any power to fight back; it was simply an all-around crushing.

【Sigh, nothing to see here.】

【Not getting shut out is already a victory.】

【Too trash, right?】

"Second round, NaVi actually bought four AKs, with only one set of utility."

"VG threw a defensive Smoke Grenade on Banana Path, then defended from the back."

"Is this electronic just creeping over?"

【Is this playing ranked? Playing pro without buying utility?】

【How dare he creep like this? Not afraid of someone at Car?】

【Obviously they're arrogant. Playing a weak team, no need to guard against this or that.】

【Look, this VG doesn't even dare to hold the smoke.】

Jiaoyang curled his lip as he watched the chat disparage one side while praising the other.

These two defending B Site only had pistols and utility, so they definitely had to stand in the back! How could they stand right in the smoke? Wouldn't they be finished after taking two flashes?

Sure enough, NaVi sent a flash to let electronic take a look at Bomb Site.

Seeing nothing, electronic immediately retreated.

Hearing the footsteps of the opponent retreating, advent immediately threw two High Explosive Grenades at Car with aumaN.

electronic was directly blasted to low health.

NaVi waited in place for a while, and seeing that the opponent didn't counter-flash Banana Path, Zeus immediately issued an order to hit A.

After an exchange of several pieces of utility, NaVi officially began their attack.

"Zeus discovered Freeman on the balcony in front of the Library. This 'Car King' is a bit off, but he still blasted Freeman to low health."

"Kaze sniped Zeus with the SSG 08 from the Library."

"Edward traded Freeman."

"A Zhong picked off electronic, who was scouting, from the death spot."

"s1mple coordinated with Edward to take down A Zhong."

"The situation has become a 3v3, but aumaN has already returned to Connector, and 259 is following closely behind."

"aumaN swung out and tapped down s1mple, who was covering the Bomb Planting, with a P250."

"Edward was hooked by the Library."

"aumaN wall-banged Edward!"

"flamie traded aumaN on the balcony."

"This is a 2v1 clutch with the position locked; VG has a great chance."

"flamie peeked."

"Kaze got a Headshot with the SSG 08!"

"VG wins the round with a half-buy comeback!"

【666】

【What kind of hammer is NaVi defending with?】

【They dared to full-buy AKs in the second round?】

NaVi was broken after losing the previous round and had no money, while VG had full guns and grenades.

"Eh, why did VG just leave Connector empty?"

"Zeus crept through Connector and issued the order to hit B."

"This is a 4+1 pinch on B; VG is in a precarious situation."

"259 issued the order to counter-flash from Banana Path in advance!"

"The situation has turned into a 2+3 pinch on Banana Path."

"Time is running out. NaVi wanted to use a smoke-flash to rush B, but 259 was already hiding."

"Took down electronic."

"In an instant, a pincer movement from both sides was formed, and the remaining three on Banana Path were all taken down."

"Zeus, who was still lurking alone, became a clown..."

"No suspense! aumaN took down Zeus."

"VG just returned an ace!"

【Holy crap】

【Nice】

【Wiped them out, 259's Commander skills are good.】

Fourth round, NaVi's eco round; just when it was thought VG could take it easily.

NaVi seized the timing of VG throwing utility, their aim exploded to take down advent and aumaN at B Site, and they completed the Bomb Planting.

But fortunately, the opponent had no Armor, and VG barely took the round at the cost of three lives; the score became 3:1.

"Fifth round, NaVi ignored VG's defensive smoke, directly popped a flash, and fast-pushed B."

"aumaN threw a flash at One Box; it's over, he didn't win the duel."

"What about 259? 259 was also taken down by electronic."

At this moment, the chat exploded.

【???】

【Why not hold the angle after throwing the Smoke Grenade?】

【He just lacks confidence in his own marksmanship.】

【What kind of positioning is that? Two people huddled behind One Box, why even play if you're going to be that cowardly? Push out and fight!】

【What's the point of winning a few points with cheap tricks? There's a gap in raw skill, forget it.】