Chapter 139: So you were the one who stole Flusha's USB drive yesterday

"This is what I said before, Nice's thought process is a bit different from others."

Wanjiqi summarized in the livestream: "Normally, most players would use a Flashbang to help their teammates speed up the coordination between Archway and A1, but this player Nice just used his own body to peek and get information; NaVi completely didn't anticipate this situation."

"Another point is that Edward messed up his Smoke Grenade throw; otherwise, NaVi wouldn't be in such a miserable state."

"Their control of Mid is very skillful, adopting a playstyle of continuously extending the Arch Smoke to seize control of Mid, but Edward failed to extend this Arch Smoke, which left s1mple and Electronic in a passive position."

With the gun positions lost and a clear shortage of manpower and utility, the remaining trio of NaVi chose to save three Long Gun Rounds to plan for the next round.

But the subsequent battle was terrible, just like their mood.

Under the absolute crushing force of the economy, VP began to score wildly, and although their defense wasn't exactly made of paper, the final result was the same: they couldn't stop VP's offense.

Only by relying on a wave of unconventional aggressive peeking, plus the occasional performance of s1mple's Sniper Rifle, could they score for the team.

The numbers at the top of the screen also unknowingly reached 14:11.

NaVi was forced to call a timeout.

The relaxation from before the match was gone from their faces; the victory they thought was in the bag had once again run into problems due to their own performance.

They were having a massive headache right now.

The moment the timeout was called, s1mple couldn't hold it in anymore; he opened his mic and said directly: "Can we do something??"

"Stop giving away free kills the moment you see them. Electronic and I are restricted by utility in Mid and it's hard to get an Entry Kill. I'm not asking for kills, can you just not die? Just hold your own area!!"

Ever since they were led by the opponent in the second half, s1mple's heart had been very anxious—he didn't want to lose, and even if the score was trailing, he believed that as long as he worked hard, he would definitely be able to turn the situation around.

But he had to admire VP's offensive strategy today.

The overall cohesion was very strong; there were basically no moments of reckless solo lurking, and they were all pushing with utility, which made it very hard for him to get kills.

He and Electronic were restricted in most situations, but the Nice on the opposite side was like he was window-shopping in A Site, always able to instantly kill Flamie during the push.

Once Flamie died, the first wave of contact ended instantly, and control of the Bomb Site changed hands; where would they have a chance to fight back?

s1mple felt very annoyed; clearly, if they could just hold on for a few more seconds, he could find an opportunity to counter-attack.

But why were they always getting killed instantly?

They couldn't execute effective coordination.

Flamie fell into silence; he actually didn't want to be killed every single round either.

But the team's defensive focus was in Mid, and as the solo player at A, if he wanted to get information, he could only jump and scout from CT Spawn.

But after several times in a row, his defensive habits had already been caught by the opponent.

That Nice even came out of A1, not looking at other places, only looking at CT Spawn.

The opponent's touch was hot; the moment they met, he was often down to half health, and a follow-up HE Grenade would blow him up directly.

There was another round where that Nice peeked out from A2 and killed him with one shot to CT Spawn.

He wanted to survive, but the opponent's touch was too good; what could he do about that?

"Adjust a bit, Flamie, your positioning is a bit too rigid," Zeus said with a frown. "This round's economy isn't great, how about we shift the overall A Site positioning closer to the Bomb Site later?"

"It's indeed hard for Flamie to hold the Bomb Site alone, and you and Electronic haven't achieved very good results in Archway/VIP either."

s1mple didn't refute this; in fact, he wasn't satisfied with his own performance in these few rounds either.

This round, they only had 4 Long Gun Rounds and didn't even have much utility to use, so they didn't have the advantage in fighting for Mid control.

Choosing to give up Mid to hold both sides was a decent choice.

The countdown ended, and according to Zeus's idea, s1mple took his Desert Eagle and went straight to A2, preparing to coordinate a pincer attack with Flamie at the Bomb Site.

And Electronic, holding an M4, was still playing in Archway; he had one Smoke Grenade to use to ensure VP wouldn't get control of Archway too early.

Xu Beifang took his AK47 to A1, then crouched and quietly moved to the left side of A1.

He had calculated the opponent's economy; if they were stubborn enough, s1mple could still have a Sniper Rifle to use.

So he was extra careful when controlling A1.

CS: GO is just this kind of game; the more you think compared to others, the more kills you tend to get.

The fire at A1 slowly extinguished, and soon a Smoke Grenade flew over, exploding at A1 and blocking his vision completely.

"I can't get information at A1, Byali, be careful of the Headshot Position at A2 later."

After Xu Beifang reminded him, he was in a cycle of constantly turning his head—looking back—turning his head.

As a player who loved anti-flashing, he lived every day in fear of being anti-flashed himself.

Looking at the minimap, Xu Beifang's perspective was spinning wildly.

"Very decisive, they didn't save any utility at B2," Neo had a headache; he could only say that this guy Zeus's thought process was indeed different from other IGLs.

Who throws a fire and a smoke right at the start of the round!

Being so extravagant and wasteful made it impossible for him to judge for a moment whether B Site was a gamble or a bluff.

"There's one in Archway," Michu said, listening to the sound of the fire being extinguished, indicating the situation in Mid.

Neo thought for a good while and finally chose to keep the tactic unchanged: "Walk back silently, we'll still play the standard Archway pinch A, but this time Michu, you go solo, pay attention to the timing of the entry."

After arranging things for Michu, he and Pasha huddled together and returned to T Spawn.

At this moment, the time had reached 55 seconds, and Byali also retreated from A2 to help his teammates throw a CT Spawn Smoke.

Xu Beifang got ready at A1, waiting for utility assistance from his teammates.

Inside the 6657 livestream.

"VP has returned to A Site for the second time, preparing to play a standard execute; they know the opponent doesn't have much economy and are preparing to play a frontal crush, using their momentum to overwhelm them!"

"But can a standard execute help VP reach Match Point?"

Before Wanjiqi could finish his frontal analysis, he saw Electronic inside Archway kill Michu, who was in the Mid Crossing Smoke, with a single burst!

"Whoa! Electronic mixed one to death in the smoke, he killed the person going solo in Mid!"

"A Site execute is unfolding, Flamie is standing at Short Box and hasn't come out yet; if he doesn't act now, s1mple on the Second Floor is going to be sold out, he's still playing like a lurker!! Flamie's playstyle today is very problematic."

"But Electronic!! He has already snuck to the edge of the Connector Smoke. VP had a detail issue this round; no one threw the Bench fire, and Electronic is clearing the screen with a spray!!"

"This guy is playing out of his mind!! Flamie finally decides to come out and trades the side of Nice."

"He first killed Michu who was walking Mid alone, and then turned back to handle the problem in front! Although Flamie is a lurker, Electronic has already completed all his tasks."

"A hearty Four Kill helps the team solve the problem, but VP still couldn't reach Match Point."

【No, what is VP doing! This offense is suddenly terrible.】

【I just saw they still had two fires in their hands!】

【Speechless, they were on a roll, and then suddenly choked one point away from Match Point...】

【I guess you're looking for G2.】

【Don't! Can they hold on? Xu Beifang is just two rounds away!!】

"Did no one throw the Bench fire?" Xu Beifang asked, somewhat puzzled.

This side-angle was completely caught off guard; they didn't have any chance to fight back and were all wiped out.

Byali said, somewhat awkwardly: "I thought Neo and the others threw it."

"I thought you guys threw it."

"Same..."

This tacit assumption in their offense was the real reason for their collapse.

"Everyone, communicate! You must say what you are doing; we can't just assume like this anymore," Xu Beifang said, somewhat speechless. This Reset was purely because the offensive details weren't executed properly.

But he didn't put too much pressure on his teammates; he just pointed out the mistake, and that was it.

Although they were still in the lead, the mindset of the VP members could be described as walking on thin ice.

Everyone's psychological pressure was already high, so he couldn't add more pressure on top of that.

Fortunately, the previous winning streak meant the team's economy was still decent.

Xu Beifang glanced at his position and then suggested: "I want to take a chance at A1. Who can throw a high flash for A Site for me?"

Upon hearing this idea, Neo added directly: "Then let's just do a fast A Site execute. Byali, you follow Nice; if there's fire at A1, extinguish it for him. I'll handle the flash, and Pasha, you prepare to smoke the inside of the Archway."

"Just like in the Pistol Round, we'll rush the VIP area, but be careful, S1mple should have bought an AWP this round."

"Any more questions?"

"No."

After the group answered, they began to execute the tactic according to the previous plan.

Xu Beifang pulled out his knife and rushed straight to A1.

The moment he arrived at A1, he switched weapons and looked at Under Platform. After confirming there was no AWP holding the angle, he didn't stop his pace and called for a flash, "Flash!"

"Thrown!"

As the flashbang exploded, Xu Beifang followed it and strafed out.

At a glance, he saw a blinded Flamie in the Bomb Site, who was throwing a Smoke Grenade toward A1.

"Someone at Long Box!! There shouldn't be many people at the Bomb Site!" Xu Beifang shouted a reminder in voice chat, and then saw the CT behind the Long Box rush out.

Counter-strafing - Crouching - Firing!

The three movements were done in one go.

【Nice used AK47 to headshot and kill Flamie】

Flamie just wanted to peek to get some vision, but was directly headshot and killed.

"A Site is speeding up, there are many people!!"

Hearing this, Electronic and S1mple inside the Archway turned their heads in a hurry.

They had originally intended to use the AWP and utility to completely take control of the Archway.

But the firefight suddenly broke out at A Site, catching them off guard.

Taking advantage of the fact that the smoke hadn't exploded yet, Electronic quickly moved to the edge of the smoke, wanting to use the One-Way Smoke to fight.

But VP's utility didn't fail; he exposed a thick thigh at the edge of the smoke.

After seeing the thigh, Xu Beifang immediately pulled his crosshair over and sprayed at Electronic's head inside the smoke.

【Nice used AK47 to headshot and kill Electronic】

The moment Xu Beifang killed Electronic, he immediately turned to hold the VIP, guarding against S1mple in the VIP area trading the kill.

This movement was a bit based on intuition, but in CS: GO, during fast firefights, many movements are pre-planned, which is the only way to get quick kills.

However, after holding for two seconds, he didn't see anyone in the VIP.

Did he go to B at the start? Or...

Xu Beifang held his AK47 and sprayed a burst through the right side of the Archway.

"A sudden change of pace at A Site, Nice wants to play fast! Flamie, who was gathering information, was instantly killed, and Electronic, who wanted to use the One-Way Smoke, was also traded by Nice. A Double Kill successfully secured control of A Site."

"Nice even held the VIP angle the moment he got the kill, but he didn't know that S1mple was actually inside the Archway... Wait!! What kind of play is this!!!" Wanjiqi was truly stunned.

The sudden battle at A Site made S1mple frown.

The successive deaths of Flamie and Electronic further increased the difficulty of this Clutch.

But with his vision blocked by the Arch Smoke, S1mple couldn't do much for the moment and could only wait for the two old men at B Site to Retake, then plan accordingly.

Abruptly, bullets came through from the Bench direction, continuously hitting him through the Smoke Grenade.

S1mple was startled and subconsciously fired a shot in that direction.

【Nice used AK47 to kill S1mple through the smoke】

"WTF!!!" S1mple was stunned after realizing what happened.

He did not know how the opponent determined his position; the opponent had already mixed into him by the third shot, showing that he was very clear that his position was here.

He, who had been called a VAC expert for years, showed confusion in his eyes for the First Time.

Wanjiqi was also stunned in the live stream:

"This is inexplicable, s1mple didn't make a sound at all, and in a situation with absolutely no information, nice sprayed down s1mple in the Archway through the smoke!! How was this play achieved??"

"A wave of fast attacks on A Site, nice relied on his individual ability to crush NaVi, and the final shot was completely unreasonable. Seeing this, Edward and Zeus could only Save Weapon for s1mple's sniper rifle, leaving it to prepare for Match Point!"

After finishing his commentary, he still had an expression of disbelief.

At this moment, the screen of the live stream was already filled with question marks like snowflakes, and the audience watching the main perspective also couldn't understand this shot.

【Brothers, there's a hack!!!】

【Wuhu~~~】

【Is nice's offense okay? Haters, speak up!!】

【Investigate strictly!!】

【He forcibly turned a competitive match into a HvH game】

【Young people can't win so they cheat, right? Simply no sportsmanship!!】

【Brothers, there is a superman in the server!】

"The director must give a replay, that aim just now looked like it was sucked onto him, it's too outrageous!!" Wanjiqi was still lamenting.

As a Professional Player commentator, he knew that collisions between high-level players could often produce incredible kills.

But he didn't expect that just as VP was about to enter a choke, nice suddenly stood out and made this kill, which was truly too outrageous.

Entering the garbage time of saving weapons, the director was also very savvy and directly brought up the kill replay.

Xu Beifang's first two kills had no issues; they were simply pleasing to the eye, the aiming was very smooth, and one could tell at a glance that his fundamentals were very solid.

But when it came to the third kill, Xu Beifang was originally aiming at VIP, when suddenly it was as if he saw s1mple behind the smoke, his Crosshair abruptly pulled over, and he sprayed a burst at that spot.

The director also put out s1mple's camera, and for those few seconds, he was completely motionless at the far point, not even leaking the sound of opening his scope.

The netizens in the live stream were even more confused after seeing this kill.

How is that possible!!

Even if you are a Professional Player, shouldn't there be some logic to spraying through smoke?

【Suggest strictly investigating nice's computer】

【This shot reminds me of s1mple's SSG 08 wallbang Headshot on Nuke, equally outrageous】

【One of the strongest rookies this year, nice is too fierce!】

【So nice, you touched Flusha's USB Flash Drive yesterday, right】

【……】

"Nice, boy!!" Neo shouted excitedly at Xu Beifang, "Nice, you played this round beautifully, a critical round!!"

Match Point appeared on the big screen, and at this moment, it was so inspiring.

Kuben bumped fists with the players with an excited expression, then opened his mic and shouted quickly: "Come on boys, win our final confrontation, no matter what method you use, let the other side feel our power!! Let us end the match, come on!!"

"Let's go! Let's go!!"

Xu Beifang clearly heard his teammates' breathing become heavier.

Although they didn't have high expectations for this match before it started, having fought all the way to now, they were the first to reach Match Point, and they were only one step away from victory!!

How could they not be expectant?

As long as they won one more round, they could enter the Champion Stage and become the Top Eight of this Major.

Even to put it bigger, they could go and compete for that Major Trophy!

Neo let out a long breath; he had to admit that the arrival of Match Point made his emotions start to fluctuate.

"Let's change our thinking for this wave; we've played Archway pinch A so many times before, let's change it up now."

"Byali, go hang out at A2, defend against their early push at the start, and when the second timing comes, use utility to harass A Site, while the others execute a fast bomb site take from B2 to B Site."

The countdown ended, Xu Beifang threw a VIP Smoke at the start, and then headed straight for the B2 area.

Arriving at the Sewer, he moved with extreme caution, peeking back and forth to guard against a possible early push from the Sewer.

Only then did he throw a Flashbang into the Sewer and used a Spin Jump to clearly see the information in the entire Sewer.

After confirming no one was pushing, Xu Beifang turned back to counter-hold B2.

He wasn't worried about leaking footsteps in the Sewer this time; it was even intentional, just to perform the same actions as before to make NaVi think they were pushing into the Sewer.

His Crosshair was locked tightly on B2 when suddenly, he saw a head peek out.

Xu Beifang micro-adjusted his Crosshair and immediately started Firing.

"Da da da..."

【nice used AK47 to kill Edward】

"Good shot!"

Neo praised.

But at the same time, the sound of a sniper rifle rang out on A Site, and a kill notification appeared in the top right corner.

【s1mple used AWP to kill Byali】

"There's a sniper rifle holding the end of A2!" Byali's voice was somewhat self-reproachful, "The opponent walked back, but we can't rule out that it's fake information."

In a critical round like Match Point, he hadn't done anything before being taken out by s1mple's forward push, which was very frustrating.

"Should we speed up and hit B directly?" Xu Beifang asked.

Neo looked at the mini-map for a long time and said, "We can't hit it anymore, the opponent has full information, and they must have rotated two people to B Site by now."

s1mple's forward push this time was somewhat unexpected; now the player count for both sides was back to 4v4, and with the information of the solo defense at A2, plus Xu Beifang's information at B2, it wasn't hard for the opponent to deduce that their focus was on B Outside.

Sure enough, before Neo could decide on the next step, B2 was already sealed off with a Smoke Grenade.

"Pasha, can you go back and clear A2? I'm worried the opponents are hanging out in A2 right now."

Their aggressive pushes were too frequent during the match; VP understood how much of an impact someone holding A1 and A2 could have on the entire game.

"Can do."

"Be careful."

Pasha cautiously walked back from T Spawn, while Neo, who still had plenty of utility, stayed at T Spawn.

"I'll throw a VIP fire, then we'll come back and hit Archway; given the situation, we still have to hit Archway to pinch A."

After saying this, Neo began aiming and threw a VIP fire.

Then, he jiggled to confirm no one was holding Archway directly before quickly moving behind the Sandbag and throwing a fully sealing VIP Smoke.

The opponents were also quite cautious; seeing them continue to control Mid for the second wave, they immediately threw an Arch Smoke to stall for time.

Xu Beifang frowned, then tossed a trash Flashbang outside Archway.

This Flashbang was intended to affect anyone potentially holding the left side of Archway.

After the Flashbang popped, Xu Beifang peeked out and found no one holding the angle.

"Neo, can you throw an Archway flash? Michu, follow me closely; we'll hide in the smoke and clear Archway directly."

"Sure, I'll throw it once you're ready."

Neo looked at the minimap, confirmed the two were ready, and threw a Flashbang directly.

The Archway flash popped, and Electronic, having been prepared, strafed out immediately.

But he didn't expect two Terrorists to be right in his face; his spray failed to get a kill, and instead, he was focused down and instantly killed!

【Nice used AK47 to kill Electronic】

But before they could celebrate, a Sniper Rifle bullet flew from the CT Spawn direction, hitting Michu square in the chest.

【S1mple used AWP to kill Michu】

"A rapid retake through Archway; although Electronic was prepared, he still couldn't withstand the focus fire from the two."

"S1mple realized this retake from the CT Spawn Phone Booth and got a trade kill; the player trades are happening so fast now that we've reached Match Point!!"

"Nice turned and landed a shot too, what Reaction! Pasha rushed out from A2 looking for an opportunity, but was also one-tapped by S1mple; both sides are frantically trading kills across the map."

"But before they knew it, only the double-N duo remained to face this 2v3 Clutch."

A 2v3 Clutch, and unsurprisingly, the opponents had already locked onto their location information.

"One at B, the other two at A, right?" Xu Beifang confirmed the opponents' positions in his mind while considering how to handle this Clutch.

Standing inside Archway, he tried hard to adjust his Positioning, doing his best not to expose too much to the opponents' line of sight.

Finally, after several slow pushes, he saw a figure standing next to the Short Box holding Archway directly.

"Bang!"

A precise One-tap! The bullet blew the head of the guy at Short Box clean off.

【Nice used AK47 to headshot kill Flamie】

"That One-tap!! Nice's dream Positioning!! I'm actually sweating," Wanjiqi gasped, continuing the commentary, "The situation is now 2v2; Nice knows there's one at CT Spawn and likely one still at B Site."

"He wants to find Zeus at B Site, but Zeus hid directly inside the Supermarket to hold an angle and wasn't in a hurry to Retake."

"30 seconds remaining, Nice threw a Flashbang to help Neo cross."

"S1mple missed his first shot with the Sniper Rifle this round, and Neo successfully entered the Bomb Site."

As his teammate was Planting, Xu Beifang found a very tricky angle to counter-hold B Small.

Because at this stage, the biggest threat to Neo was a CT potentially appearing from B Small.

But to his surprise, no one came out of B Small; instead, footsteps came from the Jungle.

Even for a split second, Xu Beifang heard them; he adjusted his Headshot Line and Crosshair placement, and the moment he saw the opponent, he started Firing.

"Da-da!"

【Nice used AK47 to headshot kill Zues】

"Nice is firing on all cylinders, he's picked up another kill; could it be that we'll actually see Xu on the stage of the Top Eight?" Wanjiqi finally abandoned his neutrality.

"But what is this!! S1mple just wallbanged Neo, who was Planting, with his Sniper Rifle!!"

Wanjiqi felt extremely regretful for what he had just said, as it really sounded like a jinx.

With 10 seconds left on the clock, Xu Beifang hurriedly picked up the bomb and performed a fake Plant.

S1mple remained unmoved.

The countdown ticking overhead sounded like a death knell, ticking away in his heart.

Xu Beifang performed a second fake Plant, then controlled his Positioning and did a quick jiggle.

—Bang!

S1mple never expected Xu Beifang to peek out on the second fake Plant.

Xu Beifang saw S1mple's figure and also saw that there were only 6 seconds left on the clock.

"S1mple was forced back, 6 seconds remaining; having confirmed he's at CT Spawn, he can just Plant for Archway."

"S1mple repeeked directly to look for an opportunity!! But Nice didn't Plant at all this time, instead chasing forward!! The man who has been pushing aggressively throughout the entire Major has made his own judgment in the Clutch!!"

S1mple was startled to see Xu Beifang chasing him down and hurriedly adjusted his Crosshair, intending to take a Blind Shot.

But Xu Beifang was on him too tightly; he couldn't even finish cycling the bolt.

The movement from his previous right-side repeek had now placed him in a dangerous position.

"Da-da-da..."

The sound of the AK47 rang out.

The Sniper Rifle bullet remained stuck in the barrel; S1mple covered his face in agony, unable to believe the scene before him.

He had taken out four in this round, yet failed to secure the most critical kill.

The Bomb Site after the battle was a mess, and a half-health Xu Beifang was unhurriedly changing his magazine, the kill feed in the top right corner clearly displaying his combat record.

【nice used ak47 to kill s1mple】

As the final victor of this round, he had obtained the only one of this match—

Ace!

Only eleven thousand words updated today, not counting the bonus update.

The recent updates have truly been a difficult labor; I feel like I've reached a bottleneck period where my theoretical knowledge has improved a lot, but my practical skill level isn't that high, so I'm leaning a bit towards perfectionism, which leads to frequent writer's block, it's tough.

(End of this chapter)