Chapter 240: 245. Chapter 240 Seem-number-one: I seem to be a rifleman (

245. Chapter 240 Seem-number-one: I seem to be a rifleman (

The entire Spodek Arena fell into carnival, and the Katowice audience cheered for their new king, and the peacock-blue lights also turned into Danish red.

The audience holding EZ4ENCE quietly changed the letters on the light board to EZ4Astralis!

Karrigan's face had a forced smile, looking unwillingly at the Danes in the center of the stage.

From Allu recruiting troops and horses, constantly training them, to walking all the way to the Major, breaking into the final of this highest hall, but in the end, it was a move short.

They were very unwilling, but powerless.

The audience on-site were all cheering for their opponents; ENCE became the biggest loser of this Katowice Major.

Under the spotlight, the Astralis members lifted the trophy again; Magisk was the second time, but everyone else had already lifted the cup for the third time.

Dupreeh, who was smoking outside the hotel before the match, finally couldn't help but burst into tears after the interview after lifting the cup; he finally won this significant match.

Throughout the Katowice Major, he couldn't help but doubt himself, wondering if choosing to participate in the match was a mistake, but in the end, he still used unprecedented history to comfort his father who had passed away.

The director's perspective flowed, and many professional players watching the match on-site appeared on the big screen.

Vitality, G2, TyLoo, Liquid, FaZe, many players' faces appeared on the screen.

They were all applauding Astralis's victory because their strength was worthy of praise.

But this group of professional players also felt heavy in their hearts.

Because everyone knew that the strongest CS: GO team in history to date had officially logged in!

Next, apart from the major giant teams, Astralis would be the last threshold blocking their path to becoming king.

A brand new dynasty had been born!

"2018 London Major 2:0 defeated NaVi, 2019 Katowice Major 2:0 defeated ENCE." apEX's eyes were slightly confused, "I don't even know what team can defeat them."

apEX, even if substituting his own peak period, with that peak Titan he occasionally dreamed of by his side, but substituting into the match, he felt unable to shake Astralis at all.

On the match field, he was always passionate, as if he didn't care about any other team at all.

But in life, apEX was still very sentimental.

NBK sighed on the side, his eyes slightly dejected.

Zywoo explained his thoughts honestly on the side: "It's okay, I'm still young, wait until I age Astralis into old men."

Actually, it was easy to understand; Astralis's ruling-level performance was still vivid in his mind, and Zywoo himself wasn't the kind of arrogant character, so letting him imagine defeating Astralis in the future was perhaps already the best answer.

However, Xu Beifang knew that Zywoo wasn't without confidence; he was more introverted. In his heart, there was also deep pride.

Different from Xu Beifang's accidental debut.

Zywoo possessed the standard template experience of CS: GO professional players — contacting CS: GO under his brother's leadership since childhood, then easily beating his brother, then beating all players in the entire region, step by step becoming a passerby king, being valued by professional brothers, and walking onto a first-tier strong team.

Zywoo's top-tier talent made him naturally have exaggerated confidence in the field of CS: GO.

Without confidence, you can't play CS: GO well.

This point could also be glimpsed from ENCE; Karrigan, who had just debuted, achieved the best result of his life under the trust of his team members.

Although he was a bit lost because of losing to Astralis today, Xu Beifang could still see the boy's high spirits in him.

Recent performance, even if you call Karrigan a gun-blazing leader, it wouldn't be an exaggeration.

And in the memory of his previous life, after Karrigan left ENCE, he drifted for several years, not only losing that aura as a leader but even his gunplay became very abstract.

In his previous life, Xu Beifang only thought Karrigan had become bad, but now thinking about it, perhaps he left his confidence here when he left ENCE.

RpK complained: "Wait until you age Astralis into old men, I'll let my son come to accompany you to play matches then."

Astralis's terror lay in their fierce strength while the players were all in peak state, which was also why the pressure on Vitality's members was so great.

"Don't be so pessimistic." Seeing the team members all saying discouraging words, Xu Beifang continued: "I don't think our members' individual strength is worse than theirs. Next, as long as we get stronger bit by bit, we will definitely be able to catch up with their footsteps."

"Astralis can go from a..." Xu Beifang hadn't finished speaking when he heard NBK, who had been a bit silent, say.

"Then you guys cheer up next, I'm preparing to go to a second-tier team to retire."

He had already handled his mood and said it very frankly.

But this sentence set off a huge wave in Vitality's lounge.

NBK clearly stated that he was preparing to leave Vitality; the other team members didn't know about this.

Xu Beifang was also a bit surprised; after all, the Katowice Major had just ended.

"When did this happen??" apEX asked urgently.

xtqzzz took over the conversation on the side: "Neo came to talk to me a few days ago, I proposed to demote NBK to the substitute bench, and later also allowed him to contact other teams, and if possible, RpK would also be demoted."

The big bald coach's tone was flat, without any concealment of such things.

"Why be so anxious." apEX grabbed his hair, asking uncomprehendingly: "As long as we slowly grind, we can play better results later!"

"The club looks forward." The big bald coach's words were very cold and very realistic, "When Neo proposed to me, I had considered it. Although the team's atmosphere has always been very good, whether it's the performance or data of the last few months, NBK's state is no longer enough to support the performance of the first-tier arena."

The big bald man didn't want to be this villain, but the period when the team changed lineups was a dangerous period; if not handled well, it could breed contradictions.

He was tougher in his attitude at this time, which would instead make fewer things happen later.

The more you cover up at such times, the more it will cause gaps between the remaining members.

apEX was silent, and for a while, his mood wasn't very good.

RpK on the side smiled: "It's okay, my and NBK's performance in the last few months was indeed not ideal, and it's too different from when I was young. But you guys don't have too much psychological burden; originally I was just called over by apEX to help, actually I still feel that retiring is more comfortable, go home and inherit the repair shop."

Xu Beifang and Zywoo both had very clear professional goals, wanting to make a name for themselves in this circle.

But RpK was already an old guy, having retired twice.

Before being invited out of the mountain by apEX this time, he hadn't played professionally for two years, and the reason he was willing to come over was just because the salary for playing professionally was good.

His life could be said to be the dream of many boys — having played both esports and car repair modification.

Although he also liked the atmosphere of this team very much, RpK knew that some things couldn't be forced, and his average rating in the last few months was only 1.06, which couldn't be counted as good performance either.

If the club hadn't found suitable members, he could continue to play.

Finding someone to replace himself, then he didn't want to play any second-tier matches either, directly going home to repair cars.

NBK wanted to stay, but his data was truly too poor.

He understood very well that if he continued to stay and his state didn't warm up, the result later might be being kicked by the team.

The team taking the initiative to discuss with him and giving him time to find a new home in advance was already a very good result.

In this Major arena, he played more of a role as a supporting member; the number of clutches he won wasn't even as many as Nice and Zywoo.

Furthermore, the increase in age made him have to admit he was old.

Sometimes watching Nice and Zywoo being omnipotent on the field, he would feel a bit dejected in his heart.

So after Neo talked to him, he also built the most reasonable plan for himself.

With the identity of a Major top-four member, go to a second-tier team to transition to become a leader, and bring a few newcomers in second-tier matches for a few years.

This was the best result NBK could think of.

Hearing the statements of the two old guys in the team, Xu Beifang didn't know what to say for a while, and his mood was very complex.

NBK and RpK's states weren't stable, and many times they would lose some good games in pain.

He wasn't Zywoo and couldn't be as calm as water; many nights he would also think, if stronger players were replaced, would the match be easier?

But it had to be said that in these nearly half a year, his relationship with these two teammates was still harmonious.

Once they were also figures who dominated the arena, but now they were about to exit the stage dejectedly without knowing it. Although RpK said it lightly, who could treat being invited out of the team calmly?

Xu Beifang became more determined to train hard.

In the CS: GO professional arena, only with sufficient strength can you win the right to speak.

Otherwise, one day in the future, the things that happened to NBK and the other would happen to himself.

Although with the increase in age, his strength would definitely decline one day in the future.

But Xu Beifang still hoped to make his peak period longer through his own training.

After the Katowice Major, major first-tier teams welcomed some breathing time, and the off-season would come.

First-tier players mostly chose this time to accompany their families or go traveling to relax and adjust their state of mind.

Xu Beifang, however, made up his mind to seize this off-season to fiercely improve a wave.

"Alright, talking about these now doesn't have much meaning, everything will have a result after the off-season," RpK said with a smile, "Astralis won the championship, we reached the top four, everyone has a beautiful future, let's not get drunk tonight."

Hearing RpK say this, Zywoo swallowed his saliva.

Because Xu Beifang was going to participate in the showmatch, they came over in advance and forgot to eat dinner, and now their stomachs were starving.

After discussion, everyone went straight to a barbecue restaurant next to the hotel.

The schedule ended today, and under the atmosphere's foil, everyone also drank a little wine.

After a few glasses of wine, Xu Beifang entered a slightly tipsy state, and he turned to ask xtqzzz:

"What is our next itinerary?"

According to the convention, it was directly entering the off-season, but it was inevitable that the club had other trivial matters.

xtqzzz lowered his head and stabbed the lobster tail with a fork, saying: "Nothing important, next if you guys want to stay in Poland, we'll play in Poland for two days; if you don't want to stay, pack your luggage tomorrow, and we'll return to Paris the day after tomorrow."

He looked up at the team members: "After returning to Paris, Neo might find you to talk... um, it's a good thing, most likely a raise."

Before this Major, Xu Beifang's salary was 12,000 Euros per month.

As last year's best newcomer, this price wasn't the highest, but Xu Beifang could accept it.

But this year, Vitality achieved better results, and the club couldn't turn a blind eye; the salary in the previous contract would be adjusted upward.

Xu Beifang predicted that he should be able to increase his monthly salary by about 5,000 Euros, and his mood was very beautiful at the moment.

No one dislikes making money, and this is the positive feedback they get from working hard to play matches.

Zywoo on the side was even happier, like a child just released from the wind.

His family conditions were very good, but after becoming an adult, he had to rely on himself, and working hard to make money was the key.

Before, he only had 1,000 Euros per month, not even as good as Xu Beifang when he was a temporary worker at VP; Zywoo had always been dejected and wanted to work hard to improve his salary level.

Fortunately, Vitality's boss Neo, although stingy, wasn't stupid.

After the Katowice Major ended, he immediately gave them a raise.

"If you don't raise Zywoo's salary again, then Shushu will run to G2," Xu Beifang teased.

This time Vitality achieved results, and Zywoo, as a newcomer, received a lot of attention in the international arena.

People in other regions just felt that this French fatty was truly awesome!

But for French fans, the next step was to start whipping G2!

Because the initial Zywoo had the intention to go to G2, but it was because of kennyS's PTSD that he missed this "sky-high wealth" by mistake.

Zywoo scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "If Neo doesn't raise the salary, I should go to play online matches."

"What logic is that?"

"It's still quite simple to make money in online matches; as long as you play a few matches a month, you can also have a few thousand Euros," Zywoo explained.

Xu Beifang also remembered.

For people at his and Zywoo's level, if they ran to form a team to play online matches, that would be purely picking up money.

Professional sky-high substitutes go to the second tier to fry fish, mainly playing invincible-style refreshing novels.

The second-tier professional brothers shouted "don't want to play anymore".

apEX was also quite happy; for these older players, dreams are important, but money is also important.

Esports is ultimately a youth meal; even as a leader, he was relatively pessimistic about his future professional career.

apEX drank a glass of wine and turned to ask the big bald coach: "Then what candidates are there for the newcomers next?"

As a leader, his overall command and playstyle needed some adjustments according to the players' styles.

If he could get the list in advance, he should be able to change early.

Xu Beifang raised his eyebrows: "I have quite a few candidates internationally who can replace NBK's position."

RpK asked curiously: "Tell me about it."

"For example, jks, who was my teammate in the showmatch, or ropz, who is now at MOUZ, these two are very good lurkers..." Xu Beifang explained his thoughts.

The cold-faced gunner jks performed very well in this Katowice Major.

In this Katowice Major, Astralis went all the way, but only lost the only map in the hands of jks's Renegades.

As an Australian veteran, jks debuted in '14, started to show his head in '15, and his level in the last two years had grown explosively; everyone's impression of him was quite good.

"jks can still be understood, ropz is really a bit bad..."

Although he was the one to be replaced, NBK still actively joined everyone's chat.

They had a good impression of ropz; after all, speaking of which, ropz's debut was quite legendary.

ropz was born in a small town in Estonia, which was an inconspicuous place even in Europe.

But ropz was a true genius; he woke up at 8 AM every day, went to class until 4 PM, then played for 8 hours until he fell asleep at midnight, very much in line with the life of an internet-addicted teenager.

But with only about 4 hours of sleep every day, ropz's grades were still far ahead in the class, and he always got first place in Olympiads.

The excellence of his grades made his parents have no way to deal with him.

ropz arranged his studies and hobbies in an orderly manner, everything was developing in a good direction, but on an ordinary afternoon, his father chose to commit suicide because of bankruptcy.

At that time, ropz was also suffering from controversy among community players because of his top-tier awareness, and the double blow in family and hobbies almost made ropz unable to recover.

At this time, ropz came to the FACEIT headquarters under NiKo's help to choose to prove himself, and proved his strength with outstanding performance.

Those players who once sprayed him as a cheater (including s1mple) also chose to shut up.

After ropz was brought in by mouz, he also began his professional career.

It's just that professional play and the ladder are two different games; ropz's performance in his first year was decent, but he soon hit the rookie wall.

Although his stats last year and this year were excellent, the team's struggles meant he couldn't produce any truly eye-catching rounds, instead earning him the image of a "lurker."

Now, whenever mouz loses a match, the forums are filled with fans bashing ropz.

But looking at mouz's current matches, ropz has only maintained a 1.1 rating despite his lurker playstyle over the last two years; nbk doesn't know why Xu Beifang recommended ropz.

Xu Beifang explained: "ropz isn't bad. The reason he's underperforming now is mainly because it's miserable playing for mouz."

"You play the lurker position yourself, so you should know how miserable a lurker feels if the team can't push through the front."

Xu Beifang continued to give examples: "With Karrigan joining mouz recently, the roster has changed a lot. With people like woxic, Frozen, and ChrisJ, the lineup is actually quite strong."

"But look at who was there last year; out of the four teammates, only Oskar had a rating over 1."

Hearing this, everyone on Vitality laughed.

They realized that ropz wasn't playing as a lurker at all; he was just a lurker being forced to play as the main star.

This was exactly like Nice last year—purely one carrying four.

A lurker is usually in the opposite area from the main force; if the front doesn't apply enough pressure, the lurker on the flank is purely playing a solo role, which can be said to have transformed into a solo entry.

This is also one of the reasons why Vitality invited him away.

With such powerful entry fraggers on the front, he, as a lurker, couldn't make much of an impact; he couldn't provide the pressure a lurker should, so he just became a pure support.

A good lurker must make the opponent constantly wary of someone coming from behind, using feints and reality to keep them guessing.

"Nice, your thinking is good." The bald coach shook his head and said: "For now, the club doesn't have any plans to fully enter the international scene, so we are mainly looking within French teams."

"As for the lurker position, shox is interested in coming over."

(Zywoo on the left, shox on the right)

apex's eyes lit up.

He and shox have been teammates for many years, and he is very clear about shox's strength.

Although shox is now considered an older player, there is still some fuel left in the tank. As one of the three gods of CSGO clutches, shox holds the title of the French No-Backer.

Although shox struggled a bit last year due to transitioning to an in-game leader, if used purely as a lurker, there's nothing to complain about. No matter how you look at it, shox is a good candidate.

Xu Beifang also nodded: "shox is indeed the most suitable lurker for Vitality right now. In the previous match against G2, I was messed with by shox several times; this guy is a true lurker!"

If shox joins, they will need a certain amount of time to build chemistry.

Because this French clutch master has a playstyle that is worlds apart from nbk's, changes will definitely be needed.

Otherwise, they might get sold out while playing, which would be really hard to handle.

"But why would shox come? Will G2 let him go?" Xu Beifang was a bit curious.

In his view, G2's results weren't bad, and although shox lacked frontal firepower, he was quite commendable as an in-game leader.

The bald coach shrugged: "G2 thinks the results aren't good, so they just kicked the leader, wanting to get a new one to change the atmosphere."

Xu Beifang raised his glass: "As expected of G2!"

……

After the barbecue that night, Vitality didn't stay in Katowice for long; everyone was feeling quite homesick.

In Katowice, Xu Beifang said goodbye to Karrigan and his other familiar friends, and made an appointment with Danking to play together back home.

Then, he seized the opportunity to find Jiuye and ask for advice on how to improve his clutch win rate.

Xu Beifang's sincerity had always been invincible, but this time he hit a wall.

Jiuye just smiled and said it was talent, without offering any advice.

Xu Beifang wasn't angry; after all, this was the skill xyp9x used to establish himself on the circuit, so it was normal that he wouldn't want to share it.

Although there was some regret, thinking that shox would join the team after the off-season, he could ask shox then, so he didn't have much of a psychological burden.

Before leaving, he pestered Niko daily like he was chanting a sutra, urging him to update, making Niko feel the pain of a web novel author.

When Niko saw Xu Beifang boarding the plane, he immediately posted a celebratory photo on Twitter.

However, he didn't intend to flake; having promised Nice to come up with the one-tap practice method, he would definitely do it.

He wasn't worried that Nice would surpass him either; in his view, top players learn from each other, constantly pushing their own limits, which makes future matches more interesting.

After more than ten hours, the supreme Nice finally descended upon his Greater Paris!

Although it was a joke, this time there were even loyal Vitality fans who came to the airport to pick them up; it was truly a display of status.

After spending nearly an hour, Vitality finally returned to the club's car.

Xu Beifang shook his hands and complained: "The fans were too enthusiastic this time."

"It's not like it's my fault, Dou Dou leaked the flight information yesterday!" nbk complained.

"How can you blame me!" apex argued, "Who would have thought that fans would come to celebrate with us this year."

Generally speaking, this is something only idol-fanbase fans would do.

But thinking about it carefully, it was quite normal.

Although French CSGO once had glory, the results in the last two years have been truly lackluster.

As the big brother of French CSGO, G2 hasn't even made it into the top eight in the last two Majors, which makes fans angry at their lack of ambition.

In contrast, Vitality, which was established not long ago, rushed straight into the top four.

Which one to support is already obvious!

The small team didn't have any experience dealing with a large number of fans; they just spent time signing autographs for every fan who came over before finally getting back into the car.

Xu Beifang took out his phone and found that his WeChat was full of notification sounds.

Classmates and many people in the industry had sent him their blessings.

Xu Beifang picked a few he had good relationships with to reply to, and sent a mass message of thanks to the rest.

It wasn't perfunctory; there were just too many, and if he replied to each one, he would spend his whole day on it.

His teammates were all savoring the feeling of being home; Xu Beifang found a comfortable position to lean back, his right hand drumming on Zywoo's belly while his left hand held his phone to check the forum activity.

Nearly a day had passed since the Katowice Major, and the players on the forum were still crazy.

Astralis winning the championship again and becoming a three-time winner sparked intense discussion.

Every time Xu Beifang refreshed, he could see CSGO video creators posting content about the finals.

【To be honest, device's form is truly explosive; it seems this year's Top 1 is already locked in.】

【Get lost, you device-fanboy. It's only the beginning of the year and he's already sitting on the Top 1 throne? Is this the result of you thinking with your ass??】

【As for snipers, s1mple and allu's performance this time wasn't bad either.】

【Forget about allu; s1mple's stats feel like they can definitely catch up to device later. Don't underestimate last year's Top 1.】

Everyone's discussion about the World No. 1 Sniper was intense; after all, different sniper styles lead to huge differences in fanbases.

Some believe that results are the expression of sniping level, while others believe that stats are everything.

However, as Xu Beifang continued to scroll down, he saw discussions about himself.

【You know, Nice is just Asia's Number One Sniper, so the gold content of Asia is constantly rising!】

【Nice is truly the World No. 1 Sniper now. In this Katowice Major, if it weren't for the old man struggling, I feel like they would have really rushed into the finals.】

【Forget it, he's already the World No. 1 Sniper? Where do you put Niko?】

【Niko used to have the strength of the World No. 1 Sniper, but now, those who know, know.】

【Why can't there be two World No. 1 Snipers?】

【……】

Xu Beifang looked at the discussions on the forum, a faint smile on his lips.

After thinking for a moment, he opened Bilibili and edited a piece of text to send out.

……

"Seeing everyone praising me as the World No. 1 Sniper, I am very happy in my heart. I will also confirm here that I am indeed..."

Seeing the dynamic push at the top of Bilibili, Xu Beifang's fans instantly became nervous.

No way, did Xiao Xu get carried away after being praised twice??

But when they clicked into the dynamic, they couldn't help but laugh.

"... I will also confirm here that I am indeed a 'Shi Yi Tui': Seemingly a Rifleman."

Seeing the content that followed, everyone was instantly amused.

"Good one!"

"God damn 'Seemingly a Rifleman'."

"Then I am a 'Shi Yi Tui': A rifleman who makes people's appetite increase."

"I am a 'Shi Yi Tui': The strongest rifleman in the dormitory!"

……

Watching everyone crazily playing with memes in the dynamic, Xu Beifang put away his phone with satisfaction.

His playstyle is crazy, similar to a rifleman version of s1mple; playing well can attract a lot of fans, and fans will also hype him up.

But once he underperforms, he also needs to bear the backlash brought by this hype.

Cyberbullying is a terrifying thing; when hampus was in a bad state, he would receive at least 50 death threats every day after matches.

And if he remembered correctly, in his past life, Niko left FaZe because of public opinion.

Xu Beifang was confident in his future performance, but he wasn't a robot and couldn't guarantee excellent performance in every match.

Fluctuations in form are inevitable.

So by taking the initiative to tease himself, he could lower the intensity of these public opinions.

As for the title of World No. 1, as long as his strength is there in the future, there won't be any controversy.

He continued to scroll down, but saw a somewhat unexpected video.

It was an interview with Niko by an international media outlet, with @Vitality and Xu Beifang in the title.

He clicked on it curiously.

Niko's expression was a bit disappointed, and his mood wasn't high; from his hairstyle, Xu Beifang could tell it was after the first day of the Champions Stage.

This media outlet was also very annoying; knowing that FaZe had lost the match painfully, the first question they asked was about Niko's mood.

Niko wasn't too angry; after all, the matches were played by himself. Since the Boston Major, he had been trained by internet trolls until now, and his mindset had improved somewhat.

"My mood isn't good. We didn't play at the level we expected, and it's still very painful now."

The media asked again: "Why couldn't you even take one map?"

The question was quite sharp, but Niko pondered for a while before speaking:

"Because Vitality is strong enough. They hid a Nuke in the BP, which was beyond our expectations. And on these two maps, Nice delivered an amazing performance. If you watched the match, you would know how explosive that guy's form was. Even when Rain and I teamed up on the outside, we still couldn't sanction him."

Rain, who was carrying his bag on the side, saw Niko like this and took the initiative to share the pressure:

"Vitality is a very good team; they really played better than us, that's a fact. It's just that our form hasn't reached its peak, and everyone's spirit isn't full, but next time we meet, I believe we can get our revenge."

The subsequent topics of the interview were a bit off, and Xu Beifang didn't pay attention.

But Niko praising him still made him feel great.

This little Niko is definitely a tsundere.

When they met offline, Niko would say he played too recklessly here or didn't handle things well there.

But in front of the camera, he was still very honest!

……

After returning to Vitality, they unsurprisingly received an appointment with the boss, Neo.

Xu Beifang still underestimated Neo's stinginess; he thought that reaching the Major top four would at least get him a 5,000 Euro raise. But Neo only offered him 3,000 Euros, bringing his current monthly salary to 15,000 Euros.

You have to know that in 2017, Hobbit's monthly salary was already 13,000 dollars.

He was a bit speechless about Neo's stinginess, but he didn't argue about it specifically.

A CSGO player's salary is only a small part; prize money, dividends, sticker revenue, and advertising are the main points.

Reaching the top four in this Major earned them 70,000 US dollars in prize money.

The club only takes 10% of the prize money, and the rest is split between the players and the coaching staff; the base prize money for this Major is around 10,000 US dollars.

But the Major sticker money is the big part.

Xu Beifang had already received the sticker money from the London Major, which was around 170,000 US dollars.

He could clearly feel that the popularity of CSGO was rising this year because the prices of various skins were constantly rising, and this year's sticker capsules would definitely sell even hotter.

Speculators all over the world are waiting for this wave of capsules to get rich.

Xu Beifang had been playing professionally for half a year, and his total income was a little over 300,000 dollars.

So he didn't insist on arguing about the base monthly salary.

However, he was also considering that this couldn't go on; later on, he might spend money to hire an agent to specifically help him negotiate these things.

Professionals do professional things; playing professionally is his strength, but talking about salaries and contracts, he is an outsider.

"By the way, Nice, xtqzzz talked to you about changing players, right." The salary increase talk went very smoothly, and Neo also asked happily: "You said to change to shox, and keep rpk for now while waiting for others, right."

Neo shook his head: "Yesterday I found a quite suitable candidate, Alex who was previously at LDLC. We'll pull him over to be the in-game leader and liberate apex..."

Before Neo finished speaking, Xu Beifang shouted: "Don't, absolutely don't!!"

"Why?" Neo didn't expect Nice to have such a big reaction; he thought Nice would gladly agree.

Why? Alex's leadership is the kind that would let Zywoo rush out to pull the gun line.

"Dou Dou's leadership might not be the best, but for Zywoo and me, it's the most comfortable." Xu Beifang explained, "And we just adapted to this playstyle; changing someone else means we have to adapt all over again."

"Neo, we can't learn from G2, changing the leader when results aren't good. A team's strength is built up slowly through chemistry, not by changing players."

Neo nodded; he was also clear about G2's state—constantly changing leaders and players, yet unable to achieve results.

"Then we won't change rpk for now?" Neo asked, respecting the thoughts of the team's big brother.

"If there is a suitable member, rpk can be changed; his form is too unstable." Xu Beifang said, "A stable role player can play a bigger role."

"By the way!!" Xu Beifang suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "If you pull shox over, can you buy other G2 players?"

"Who do you want? kennyS?" Neo shook his head, "We can't afford that guy."

Although not at his peak, kennyS is still one of the best snipers on the market, and the price is terrifying.

"Why would I want kennyS?" Xu Beifang said, "It's JACKZ; I played with him in a show match a few days ago."

"You know, I like to study the match recordings of various players. This JACKZ's playstyle is a pure role player. His playstyle can be described as formulaic, ensuring a floor for his performance."

"And this guy is a mood-maker. If we can pull him over, after our roster builds chemistry for a while, it will be a championship-contending lineup!"

If rpk's form is stable, then even without changing players, the lineup after the off-season can still compete.

The problem is that rpk's form is unstable, as if he's not even there.

When his form explodes, he can produce various multi-kills.

But now Vitality has Xu Beifang in front for entries, and Zywoo for mid-game and clutches; the two of them as big brothers have already eaten up most of the resources and can produce very good performances.

rpk's explosion isn't very necessary.

Instead, his ability to make stable trades is more helpful to the team.

Neo nodded: "Then I'll try to contact him and see if JACKZ has any intention of coming over. His buyout fee shouldn't be too expensive."

He didn't have much of an impression of JACKZ; it's good that the other party isn't a star player—because the price definitely won't be very expensive.

Buying him over to try it out is fine; after all, there really aren't many good players in the French scene.

"Alright, go call Zywoo in. Don't eat anything tonight, we're celebrating for you!" Neo said with a smile.

……

During dinner, Xu Beifang heard Zywoo secretly reveal that his income had finally reached 11,000 Euros.

Xu Beifang's understanding of Neo's stinginess became even clearer; this wasn't even as good as when he first came to the club.

This made him even more determined to find an agent to prevent being scammed by Neo when renewing his contract later.

After sleeping at the club for one night, early the next morning all team members entered vacation mode.

The bald coach took his luggage and instructed at the door: "For more than a month, I hope everyone can relax, but remember to keep a certain amount of training time every day."

Xu Beifang replied: "Understood."

"I wasn't talking about you; I'm very confident in your training attitude."

There was another burst of laughter in the room; Xu Beifang's training attitude was beyond reproach, the most self-disciplined of them all, and he didn't need any reminders.

"And Nice, I know you have many ideas. Once you have any new ideas during the off-season, you can @ me in the group, and I will follow up with you at any time."

"When we return from the off-season, we will start building chemistry and put Nuke training on the agenda. And during the off-season, you should also focus on training with weapons like AK47 and M4..."

apex was a bit confused: "AUG and SG553 are the strong meta weapons right now, aren't they."

The bald coach stroked his chin in thought: "We play AUG and 553, and ENCE also plays AUG. The strength shown in this tournament is too high. Although Valve are lazy dogs, they should make some adjustments; maybe they'll revert to their original form... We can't be unable to play without scoped rifles."

After saying these last words, the bald coach drove home.

And the other members also returned home one after another.

Xu Beifang stayed at the club for another day before boarding the plane back home.

……