Chapter 222: 226. Chapter 222: He

226. Chapter 222: He's truly, I'm crying to death!

"It's 1:1 now..."

The confrontation on Dust II ended. Xu Beifang leaned back in his gaming chair, rubbing his eyes with both hands, saying with some distress.

"We couldn't hold on in the last few rounds; it's a bit of a pity."

Throughout the entire confrontation on Dust II, they had actually played quite well. Whether on the CT side or the offensive side, the overall performance was commendable.

In terms of individual performance, only apex was slightly out of form; the rest were at their standard level. Zywoo, who had been quiet on Map 1, delivered quite a few eye-catching plays on Map 2, drawing attention from everyone.

But after being pushed into Overtime, that strange playstyle of stewie2k still held up Liquid's final link, preventing them from falling where they should have.

Both sides took one map each, which was actually within most people's expectations. Liquid remained the world's number two, and their recent performance had been very good; the only thing they were criticized for was always failing to beat Astralis.

Although Vitality didn't beat Liquid on Map 2, the mere two-round difference actually surprised quite a few people.

However, losing the confrontation on Dust II despite giving it their all was naturally a huge blow. Although they knew the match wasn't over yet, the group's mood was still a little dejected.

Zywoo racked up 37 kills in this Overtime battle, but even this "carry" performance couldn't save the world. Now, even if he threw a tantrum or vented his emotions, everyone would feel it was justified.

But after letting out a breath, Zywoo hung a smile back on his face. He didn't know if his mom was watching his match, but he hoped that the moment she saw the match, he would maintain a positive state.

"Let's go, let's go! Map 3 is our strength. We crushed NaVi on Mirage yesterday; our ceiling is very high!" Zywoo spoke up to comfort NBK beside him.

Xu Beifang, who had been feeling depressed, was stunned for a moment when he saw this, then smiled and chimed in:

"Zywoo is right. It's only 1:1 right now; this is a very normal score. Everyone, don't lose heart. You don't think Liquid is a weak team, do you?"

If the opponent is Liquid, this score is perfectly normal. Even passersby who just started watching the match would see the 1:1 score and instead think Vitality played well to have actually taken one map.

Therefore, Vitality should be the team without any burden.

Hearing Xu Beifang's rhetorical question, RpK and apex also realized this logic and adjusted their inner emotions.

apex patted his own cheeks to wake himself up a bit.

"Nice is right. Don't think we're no good just because Liquid took back a map. There's still one Mirage left; it's not certain who the winner will be until the very end!"

Xu Beifang smiled and said, "That's right, that's the Mindset we need." He reached out to fist-bump his teammates nearby and continued.

"Thinking about the worst-case scenario, even if we don't win this BO3, we still have two more BO3 opportunities. Losing to Liquid isn't shameful; the barefoot aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. But if we win this final map, in a few days we will be competing under the gaze of nearly ten thousand people."

"Think about it, when we make a highlight play, the whole arena will be chanting your name. Those sounds will make your heart race, make your blood boil..."

Xu Beifang's words made everyone in the Vitality room start imagining that scene.

As top Professional Players, it wasn't as if they hadn't stepped onto big offline stages before. But the fragments in their memories were often beautiful; those cheers and shouts seemed to appear before their eyes at this moment, and for a time, their emotions surged.

"Fuck! Isn't it just Liquid? It's not like we haven't won before. Today, we're definitely going to flip them over!"

"Fired up, brothers!"

The few people in the room shouted excitedly.

The viewers in Xiao Bo's livestream also noticed this special scene.

After losing the game, the two guys who performed the best not only didn't lose their temper but turned around to comfort the veterans who hadn't performed well.

【The Gemini are truly so kind, I'm crying to death】

【The little fatty could have clearly put on the pressure, but he chose to come over and comfort his teammates. This atmosphere is too good】

【When will I be able to have teammates like this? I wouldn't worry about being stuck in C rank】

【C rank, are you sure it's the teammates' problem?】

【If only NaVi had this kind of atmosphere, they wouldn't have to worry about winning a championship, sigh...】

【...】

Under normal circumstances, because of teammates' problems leading to a lost game, shifting blame and applying pressure is the norm.

But Vitality's current atmosphere was very comfortable; even though they lost the match, they were still encouraging each other, thinking about playing the next game well.

Many viewers saw this scene and had a premonition—as long as they were given time, with Nice and Zywoo present, they would definitely be able to become a top-tier team.

The third map of the BO3—Mirage.

After the knife round to choose sides, Vitality still couldn't secure the win and could only start on the CT side.

Under the mutual encouragement of their teammates, Vitality entered the server for Map 3.

In the Pistol Round, apex called for the simplest rush B tactic.

This frontal firefight went quite smoothly, but they never expected that for this round, Liquid chose to have 3 people group up and push Mid at the start, completely abandoning the defense of A Site.

Although the frontal attack on B Site went smoothly, facing a retake speed that was like the Flash, their subsequent responses were a bit stretched.

In the end, they lost this Pistol Round without any surprises.

0:1

Fortunately, they planted the bomb, and the trade of kills was acceptable, so Vitality could Force Buy in the second round.

"Nice, you buy Full Armor, then drop me an SSG 08. I'll go to Mid to look for an opportunity," apex said, managing the economy.

As he spoke, he tossed an SG 553 to Xu Beifang, letting the team's Dage replenish his combat power.

The other three all had Full Armor and Galil; their frontal combat capability wasn't too weak, it was just that they didn't have many grenades, so this round was destined to be a Default.

Once the countdown ended, Xu Beifang headed straight for A2.

"This Mid push just happened to bump into them!" Twistzz fist-bumped nitr0 beside him and praised, "The setup is very good."

nitr0 calmly accepted Twistzz's praise and then reminded him: "They planted the bomb last round, so they must be Force Buying this round. Everyone, be careful."

Not far away, stewie2k looked at his positioning and had an idea: "nitr0, what do you think if I push up from A2?"

"Push up?" nitr0 quickly incorporated this information into the handling of this round.

"It actually seems like it could work."

Although Vitality could Force Buy, he could also calculate their approximate economy.

Based on his current understanding of Vitality, it is most likely two Hero AKs or SG553s, paired with some pistols and utility, to coordinate an Explosive Bomb Attack with Zywoo and Xu Beifang.

Under these circumstances, their combat effectiveness is not particularly sufficient.

In this round, Vitality will definitely think they will defend step-by-step; using their positioning to push forward and look for duels is also a quite good choice.

"Then let's start with a 302 setup. Twistzz, you follow rain, jump into A2 with him to Trade Kill, and Ji Ge, you take Archway and A1."

nitr0 quickly finalized the defensive strategy for this round.

The countdown ended, and stewie2k, carrying a FAMAS, excitedly headed toward A2.

"Alright, Vitality is Force Buying in the second round; all five players have Long Guns to play with." Before Xiao Bo could finish his introduction, he saw Liquid acting restlessly on the minimap.

"But stewie2k here, taking Twistzz, has jumped straight onto A2. The two are preparing to group up and dry peek. The Default on the A Site perimeter this round is being handled by Xu Beifang alone. How will this duel play out?"

Xu Beifang had entered A2 early. Vitality's Default this round was concentrated in the Mid and Sewer areas, and he had to hold the A Site alone, so he didn't push too deep to avoid missing the timing for A1.

The SG553 was held quietly at the long angle, and then he saw a CT suddenly appear in his field of vision.

A good Headshot Line allowed him to simply pull the trigger at this moment.

"Da-da-da..."

The bullets accurately hit the opponent's head, right in the face—brains blown out! 【nice used SG553 to get a Headshot kill on stewie2k】

The moment he was killed, stewie2k immediately shouted: "nice is at the back of A2! Twistzz, Trade Kill him!!"

Twistzz did not Trade Kill immediately, but he did not retreat either.

After his teammate was killed, he considered more how to make up for the disadvantage in numbers.

After roughly knowing nice's position, he controlled his positioning and slowly moved toward the left side of A2.

He intended to use a wide swing from nice's blind spot to instantly kill nice.

Or, from nice's blind spot, catch him on a timing and take him down.

Twistzz slowly pushed forward, his Crosshair set, ready at any moment to guard against the opponent potentially peeking out.

Suddenly, a Terrorist appeared in his field of vision. Twistzz quickly opened Firing with his FAMAS, but the opponent instantly jiggled back!

Oh no!

The opponent's jiggle move directly maxed out the pressure on him.

He was creeping forward to the left; he didn't actually have the advantage in the duel, so the main thing was to catch a blind spot.

But now that he had been jiggled by nice, his position was locked down. Without cover, he was like a piece of meat on a cutting board!

Is this play by nice a bit too detailed?

Now that his position was locked, he could only hold his angle cautiously, hoping to solve the problem with Reaction.

After Xu Beifang opened the round by taking down stewie2k, although he was happy to have opened up the situation, he did not lower his guard, because stewie2k's move was too abnormal.

Pushing forward alone without anyone following up to coordinate—even if he had thrown a molly at A1 to help mask his footsteps, he wouldn't have felt it was so strange.

So he roughly guessed there would be a second person at the close angle. He jiggled with a small profile a few times to scout, and sure enough, he found Twistzz on his far right.

After confirming Twistzz's position, Xu Beifang jiggle-peeked, firing wildly with pre-fire to prevent Twistzz from retreating behind cover.

Then, with two small jiggles, he baited Twistzz's Pre-aim and went for a wide-swing crouch-peek to the left.

The moment he swung out, his Crosshair immediately snapped onto Twistzz's head.

"Da-da-da..."

【nice used SG553 to get a Headshot kill on twistzz】

"Liquid's duo pushed A2, but both were taken out by nice." Xiao Bo glanced at the match UI. "The player count is now 5v3; at this rate, a Reset is actually possible!"

Having secured two kills on the A Site, Xu Beifang was no longer in a hurry in his position.

He jumped at the A2 exit, took a look at Jungle and Jump Platform, and after confirming no one was there, he began waiting for his teammates to make a move.

While securing two kills, his position was also locked down, so the follow-up depended on how his teammates opened up the situation.

"A2 has been cleared by nice alone. Ji Ge is under a lot of pressure; the Arch Smoke hasn't dissipated yet, and he chooses to hold Archway alone." Xiao Bo commented, "The choice of a veteran like elige is still very smart; this is also the most reasonable choice."

"The main force in Mid has gathered under the Arch Smoke. Are they waiting for the smoke to dissipate? Or are they going to push through the smoke?"

"apex is pushing through the smoke directly with rpk! But elige headshots apex with his FAMAS, and a Spray Transfer kills rpk who was coming out of the smoke on the right!! Ji Ge, what are you doing!!"

Confirming the last person on the A Site was at Archway, Xu Beifang stopped waiting, quickly Pre-aimed at VIP and CT Spawn, and then jumped into the Bomb Site.

Just as he wanted to walk to the Ropz Spot to hold Archway, he saw Zywoo, who was under Archway, take action.

【Zywoo used Galil to kill elige】

"Nice shot!" Xu Beifang said quickly, "The A Site players should be wiped out. Zywoo, you don't need to rush over here, but nbk needs to be careful; no one is holding VIP straight..." Before he could finish, Xu Beifang heard footsteps at CT Spawn and immediately shouted.

"CT Spawn is Retaking! Don't rush to cross; hold CT Spawn first, eat them up and then we'll see!"

"Got it." nbk indicated he understood.

After this Force Buy, their economy was basically empty. They only had Long Guns and no utility, so even if they wanted to coordinate, it was quite awkward.

However, there was still plenty of time left in the round, and they had the opportunity to adjust.

nitr0, who had already Retaken to CT Spawn, didn't dare to expose himself immediately, but after the opponent had no movement for a long time, he considered it and threw a Flashbang into the sky, then scouted the information on the A Site.

"Ding—"

Along with the explosion of the Flashbang, nitr0 saw a Terrorist at A1 with his eyes blinded.

His heart leaped with joy, and he immediately crouched to open Firing, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Terrorist at the close angle on the left!

He hurriedly shifted his aim, but in his panic, how could he be faster than the opponent's one-tap?

【nice used SG553 to kill nitr0】

"This Default took so long!" nitr0 couldn't help but complain, "Why does it feel like playing against NAVI?"

Having already gained the advantage but not planting the bomb at all is simply speechless.

Giving away a Double Kill by pushing A2 early was just too fatal.

Stewie2k explained: "I was instantly Headshot by a 553 the moment I pushed out; I had only just seen the person."

Pushing A2 doesn't actually offer an advantage in terms of positioning; it's just about catching a psychological blind spot and timing.

But he didn't expect Nice's holding angle to be so steady, giving them absolutely no chance to adjust.

"Let's Save Weapon, that way we'll still have a FAMAS to play with for the Force Buy next round," nitr0 said.

After the intense confrontation on two maps, their attitude toward Vitality was no longer the same as before.

This respect was something Vitality had earned with their strength.

Rather than throwing away a FAMAS, it's better to Save Weapon so that there will be a FAMAS available to use in the next Force Buy round.

In today's match, Vitality has been able to rely on their hero FAMAS to Reset multiple times, and they believe they have that possibility too.

The third round begins.

Elige is holding the hero FAMAS, attempting to find some opportunities at the Archway.

Relying on the Arch Smoke, he jiggled out to look toward T Spawn, and was then sprayed down by Zywoo with an SG553.

Seeing this scene, Twistzz felt unconvinced.

Being that bold just because you have a 553?

Under the cover of the Arch Smoke, he held a Desert Eagle and seized an opportunity to peek out.

"Rat-tat-tat..."

【Zywoo used SG553 to Headshot Twistzz】

"Is he really that accurate? Let me see what's going on!"

Naf also became interested, picked up a FAMAS, and seized an opportunity to peek out.

【Zywoo used SG553 to kill Naf】

The three-man group at A Site who didn't know when to quit vanished in an instant, and the two Desert Eagles remaining at B Site were also easily taken down by apEX, who seized the opportunity to rush them face-to-face.

After losing the Force Buy round, Liquid went straight for a naked eco, setting up a five-man formation in VIP.

They successfully killed Zywoo, who had come to gather information, and NBK, who was there to Trade Kill, but were subsequently wiped out by apEX with his MAC-10.

3:1

The first Full Buy Round of the first half is about to begin!