Chapter 5: Today is a good day to rank up

After eating a classic Yellow Braised Chicken Rice outside campus, Xu Beifang and Xiao Ming returned to the dorm and started their sweet duo queue journey.

After opening 5E, classmate Xiao Ming, as the room owner, removed all maps except for the "Old Three" and started matchmaking.

Weekday nights are the active time for the vast majority of online games, and CS: GO is no exception. Not to mention the C-tier rank of 5E, which is only 1600-plus points, is the rank with the most people on the entire platform. Matchmaking started for less than a minute before the screen showed a successful match.

Xu Beifang still waited until 【9/10】 before preparing satisfactorily, officially entering the game.

Having practiced aim for half an afternoon, his forearms were still slightly sore, but he personally felt that his gunplay had undergone a qualitative change. At the moment, he was quite looking forward to rubbing his hands, waiting for the start of the match.

Classmate Xiao Ming at the opposite table didn't think so much. For him, as long as he didn't "reward" himself, he was quite confident every day. After confirming the map was Inferno, which he was most proficient in, he beamed with joy: "Looks like I'm going to break out of the C-tier cage today!"

Xu Beifang didn't care which map it was. Although he was more familiar with the "Old Three" maps at this stage, walking the path of a professional career later, he would definitely have to learn the gameplay of all maps.

But that's a matter for the future; for now, he should treat the current ladder match well.

The first ladder match was Inferno. After losing the knife round, they started as the attacking side.

In this ladder match, Xu Beifang clearly felt that his feeling for aiming was different. Before practicing aim deliberately, his aiming relied entirely on reaction, instinct, and even lucky headshots after a burst.

And now, although he still relied on instinct, the accuracy was clearly different.

After being beaten dizzy by the CT's aggressive pushing in the first few rounds, Xu Beifang decisively changed his strategy, holding the back point for a while. The CTs who liked to push aggressively suddenly found it uncomfortable to play.

After the terrorists took several rounds in a row, the CTs didn't know if they were scared or knew that aggressive pushing wasn't advisable, so they chose to defend at the back point. But at this time, the attacking side's hand feel was gradually heating up.

With Xu Beifang's enthusiastic breakthrough, the terrorists took the lead in the early attacks, and finally, when the first half ended, the score reached 11:4.

After switching sides, relying on a triple kill by classmate Xiao Ming in the pistol round, the opponent's mindset was completely disintegrated. They chose to give up, and the final score was fixed at 16:4.

"Damn, that Yellow Braised Chicken was that powerful?" Xiao Ming looked at the match stats and complained.

Xu Beifang didn't answer. His final KD was 23/4/15, with 108 average damage, which wasn't an exaggerated stat.

But looking at his 6 opening kill stats, he fell into thought:

It seems that at this rank, he should be more active in finding opponents to duel.

This playstyle seems to be easier to reduce the team's pressure.

Classmate Xiao Ming didn't care about Beifang, who was thinking about philosophy, and intended to strike while the iron was hot, winning two more games, and he would really break out of this C-tier cage!

The second map was Dust II. After winning the knife round, they started as the defending side.

The opponents on this map played quite fiercely, taking out the C-tier exclusive weapon, the P90, for a wild charge.

That frequently pulled-out P90 didn't pose too much of a threat to Xu Beifang, who was guarding A-site, but the continuous rushes to B-site made Xiao Ming, who was guarding B, start cursing.

Xu Beifang, with a hot hand, was forced to transfer to B-site for main defense and successfully defended two rounds.

But this opponent was very smart. Knowing they couldn't get any good results from Xu Beifang, they immediately changed targets. He was forced to become a firefighter, starting to rotate frequently.

Finally, the first half ended, and the score was fixed at 6:9. As the defending side, they were behind by three points.

After switching sides, classmate Xiao Ming opened his mic to "twist the rope": "Five points to tie, six points to win, everyone don't have too much pressure."

This sentence, which has spread far and wide in CS: GO, also made everyone relax.

Xu Beifang also firmly executed his idea, actively coming to the front point to find the opponent to duel, using gunplay to tear open the opponent's defense line. The duels in the first few rounds were not ideal, and he even died twice in a row.

But after entering the long-gun rounds, Xu Beifang's skilled counter-strafing and positioning allowed him to gradually gain an advantage in encounters.

After chasing back several points in a row, the attacking side's momentum gradually rose, and with their hot hands, they pushed the opponent flat in one wave.

The score was fixed at 16:11. Xu Beifang didn't get the match MVP this time; the random teammate was one kill and three assists ahead of him.

Just one more win to break the C-tier bottleneck! Classmate Xiao Ming felt the joy of being carried and hummed: "Today is a good day to rank up..."

Xu Beifang turned his head in surprise, almost thinking that the person in his dorm was that Maoming guy who wiped his mouth with the curtain and was always one-tapped without even pulling out his gun.

The third ladder match, the map they matched returned to the familiar Inferno.

In this ladder match, Xu Beifang finally got carried. It wasn't that he didn't perform, but they matched with a "smurf" teammate who chased the opponent and beat them the whole time. If he rushed a bit slower, he wouldn't even see the kills.

This situation made Xiao Ming extremely happy. After all, compared to killing it, winning this game and passing this C-tier tribulation was the most important thing.

Finally, with the crazy performance of the smurf, the score was fixed at 16:4.

"Beifang, look at you, what's the use of hitting bots all afternoon? It's not as good as matching with a big brother to carry you. Playing well is not as good as matching well..."

Xu Beifang didn't refute. Today, he could clearly feel his own changes. It is quite happy to play C-tier without practicing aim. But he doesn't want to stay in C-tier forever.

"I'm finally not a C-tier player anymore!!" At the moment the screen froze, classmate Xiao Ming got up and shouted. Now he just waited for the other roommates in the dorm to come back and brag in front of them.

But when the settlement screen came out, Xu Beifang was stunned.

Because the smurf played too fiercely in this game, the overall stats were pulled away from everyone else. Xiao Ming was at the bottom of the team, and in this kind of match, he only added less than 20 points.

This resulted in him being only 2 points away from promoting to the B-tier rank!

"Damn it!! I beg you, give me two more points!!" The previous cockiness suddenly turned into a mask of pain.

After a series of abstract actions, he turned to Xu Beifang: "Beifang, let's play one more game, help me escape C-tier!!"

Xu Beifang shook his head and refused: "Not playing, not playing. I practiced aim all afternoon, and just played three games with you, I can't take it anymore."

Classmate Xiao Ming invited him again and again, but Xu Beifang remained unmoved. Although the teammate was a smurf in the last game, he clearly felt his gunplay was a bit deformed.

Several hours of continuous aim practice, plus three serious ladder matches, he clearly felt his state starting to decline.

Forcing himself to play, he might drop the points he had worked so hard to gain. Going to sleep with a body full of anger was not worth the loss.

It was getting late. After a simple shower, Xu Beifang played with his phone on the bed.

【Fnatic defeated North 3-1, securing their spot in the ECS finals...】

【ESL announced the time for the 2018 IEM Sydney European and North American qualifiers...】

【BIG and VP announced joining the 'Sweet Home' tournament...】

There was a lot of recent team movement regarding CS: GO on HLTV, but Xu Beifang, whose English wasn't good, was also reading it with difficulty, mainly to understand the recent situation in the professional circle. Although it wasn't of much use to him now.

Rubbing his somewhat sore forearms, Xu Beifang had a sudden thought. 【Muscle Repair Potion】 shouldn't just be able to treat injuries, right?

Opening the system, he took out the rewarded 【Muscle Repair Potion】 from the warehouse and poured it into his mouth.

Delicious, just didn't have much taste...

Xiao Ming under the bed was still striving to escape C-tier, while Xu Beifang, who had practiced aim all day, slowly entered dreamland...

Today is the signing!! Seeking collections, seeking recommendations, seeking follows!

Thanks to book friend xxx8311 for the 100 starting coin tip, thanks Boss!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 6 =====