Chapter 2

Two years ago, I had just become a college freshman. Upon arriving at school, I threw my luggage onto the bed and rushed to take care of the first order of business: finding an internet café!

"This place doesn't look bad..." There was an internet café right at the school gate, which was a bit of a surprise. I paid, found a machine, and sat down. The crisp sound of bolts racking all around me made me frown: why was everyone playing CS!

"Anyone playing StarCraft?" I shouted toward the crowded room. No one paid me any mind.

"Anyone playing..." "A-site is breached, need backup!"

"Anyone playing..." "Where's the bomb carrier?! Plant the bomb!"

"Any..." "GO! GO! GO!"

"You CS players! What are you shouting for! Aren't you annoying!" I really couldn't take it anymore.

A fatty in the front row turned his head, "What's the matter? Not letting us shout? Who do you think you are?"

"If you're not convinced, let's duel!" I didn't even look up.

The fatty's face turned purple; he rolled up his sleeves and started to come over. The whole café went quiet, and everyone's eyes focused on us.

"You name it! What are we playing?" I was calm and unhurried.

The fatty paused, "Playing what?"

"Nonsense! In an internet café, what else would we duel in but games! You pick the game first, best of three!"

The onlookers finally realized what was happening.

The fatty rubbed his head and gave a cunning smile: "CS, then."

"Fine! Someone tell me the basic controls!" I looked at the onlookers nearby.

"..." In everyone's eyes, there was only one word:

Unbearable.

"I'll teach him! Give me 5 minutes!" I looked toward the voice; it was a tall, thin high school student wearing glasses who looked quite refined.

He nodded at me: "Hello! My name is Yang Mo! I used to play Quake for a while!" Saying this, he looked at me and smiled.

"I see." I responded flatly, "Tell me the basic controls!"

5 minutes later...

"...Alright, that's basically it!" Yang Mo paused, "Just pretend it's Quake; they're both first-person shooters anyway..."

"By the way, that fatty is named Andy. Don't engage him head-on; his rushing is the strongest here, but as for his overall strength..." Yang Mo pushed up his glasses, "Hehehe..."

"Yang Mo! You only beat me once! Damn it! Let's go again later!" the fatty roared.

"You beat him first," Yang Mo pointed at me, then quickly whispered in my ear: "Just get one point!"

>>>>>>

The map chosen was bloodstrike.

This fatty was indeed an expert. Character movement in CS is slower than in Quake. Every time I encountered him, even though my bullets hit him, I was always the one who died. A few times, I hadn't even poked my head out before my screen turned red and I was dead.

I was wondering why, when Yang Mo spoke up again, "It seems you really don't know how to play... In CS, hitting the head deals more damage..."

"You should have said so earlier!" As I was speaking, the fatty—no, Andy—had already rushed to my spawn point. My M4a1 instinctively lifted...

Headshot!

Yang Mo laughed slyly on the side, "I say, Andy, you really are a good guy... bumping your head as big as a bucket into someone's muzzle, hehehe, it's hilarious..."

The fatty's face turned purple again. After that, I never had another chance, and I lost 27:1 in the end.

"Alright, my turn to pick," I interrupted the fatty's smugness, "Let's fight on StarCraft!"

The fatty continued to be smug, "Hehehe, you didn't expect that, did you? I'm an expert at StarCraft too! I'm a somebody on Battle.net!"

"I'll just go random, you pick your race." I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him.

About 10 minutes later...

"No way... I say, Andy... their defensive towers are already built at your base, what are you still building... really..." Yang Mo was using his signature fox-like smile again.

"Yang Mo! I don't have a grudge against you, do I! Why are you always helping that kid!" The fatty's face was red and his neck was thick...

"Alright, what are we playing next?" I rubbed my hands and asked with some excitement.

"Play Age of Empires!" shouted Audience Member A.

"No way! He's so strong at StarCraft, could he be weak at Age of Empires!? That's unfair to Andy!" Audience Member B retorted.

"Then play FIFA Soccer! It's neither real-time strategy nor a first-person shooter, that's fair!" said Audience Member C.

"Not playing! FIFA is trash compared to Pro Evolution Soccer!" This time, the fatty and I said it in unison.

"Then play Need for Speed..." Audience Member D said timidly.

"Our café doesn't have that game installed." The owner appeared out of nowhere.

Audience Member D: "..."

"I suggest," Yang Mo continued his fox-like transformation, "playing Quake," he glanced at the fatty, "Any objections? Comrade Andy?"

"Wahahaha, I was a top four Quake player in Beijing, that kid definitely won't be a match," the fatty spat as he talked, as if he had transformed into a human sprinkler, "The reason I'm strong at CS is because I have a solid foundation in Quake..."

I sighed, "Fine, I have no objections."

The word in the onlookers' eyes immediately changed to: Foolish beyond compare!

I glared at Yang Mo, but the smile in his eyes only grew deeper.

>>>>>>

We chose Fatal Instinct, a small 1v1 map. As the characters controlled by the two of us appeared at the spawn points, the dizzyingly fast Quake match began...

Before even half the match time had passed, the fatty arrogantly raised his head, "I say, no need to continue, let's just leave it at this..."

"I admit defeat..." His head dropped again.

The onlookers all stared at the screen in shock, "0:45!!"

"Aren't you a top four player in Beijing?" the onlookers questioned the fatty.

"But his opponent is the Chinese champion...!" Yang Mo said lightly.

??...!!!!

The fatty tried to camouflage himself to avoid everyone's gaze, but finally gave up because he was too fat.

"Yang Mo! You explain this to me!!" The fatty tried to use anger to cover up his embarrassment.

"I recognized him the moment he arrived. Isn't this L.L, the double champion of Chinese Quake and StarCraft? He's even your idol, and this is how you welcome him? Huh?!" Yang Mo was merciless.

The fatty tried to assimilate with the trash can again, but gave up due to his size.

"Forget it, don't be like that." I patted Yang's shoulder, "It's my fault for challenging a senior as soon as I arrived."

Andy finally found a way out and came over, "You're L.L? I've long admired your name! I'm a sophomore at the University of Science and Technology, just call me Andy! If you need anything in the future, just ask! I'll definitely help!" After saying that, he quickly slipped away.

Yang Mo suddenly spoke up: "L.L, let's form a CS team, you be the captain!"

"Me?! Stop joking, you saw it yourself, I don't know how to play CS at all!"

"It doesn't matter! You're so strong at Quake, you'll be an expert at CS in no time!" Yang Mo put away his fox face and said seriously, "I have another classmate who is also very strong, named Xiao K. The three of us plus fatty Andy, and finding one more person will be fine!"

"Actually, I do have a friend who plays CS... but I don't know how good he is..." I thought of Xu Ge, "Someone who has placed third in China at Quake shouldn't be too bad..."

And so, on this gloomy afternoon, the CS team that would later become the world's number one was founded...

The captain was a rookie who had never played CS...

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