Chapter 3: The Prelude to Rebirth

China has a well-known saying: "Whether it's a mule or a horse, you have to take it out for a walk."

A month later, the internet cafe across the street was holding a CS tournament, reportedly sponsored by a company, with a 1,000 yuan prize for the champion, though the runner-up would get not a single cent. We didn't think much about it, just rubbed our fists together: "It's time to go out for a 'walk'..."

The internet cafe stipulated that registered teams could practice there at a discounted rate of 3 yuan per hour for a month before the match, teams could also play practice matches against each other, and the cafe would provide the referees.

It was just right for us to test our skills.

When registering, Yang Mo asked me, "Boss, what should we call our team?"

Immediately, a look I was familiar with appeared in the eyes of people from other teams nearby: the same look the audience gave when Fatty and I played CS...

In that instant, the passionate years I had spent on Lost Temple flashed through my mind. To commemorate the eternal StarCraft, I declared with great spirit:

We are the "LOST" team!

"Pfft!" Someone nearby burst out laughing.

"Naming yourselves the 'Lose' team before the match even starts..." someone else muttered quietly.

"K. O.! You~lost~~!" Another guy shouted in a weird voice.

I spun around sharply, pointing at him before Andy could fly into a rage: "How about it? Want to play a practice match against us?" I never put my anger on my face.

"Ok! ~~Let's go!" This guy, despite speaking a heavily accented version of foreign nonsense (oh, sorry), was actually quite straightforward.

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The match unfolded on De_dust.

"I walk, on this bustling street~~" I hummed a tune while holding a pistol behind my teammates. After a few days of getting familiar, I had mastered the basic operations of the game, and my teammates were masters, masters, and masters of masters in the internet cafe, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about~~

Soon we reached a fork in the map; there were three paths ahead, and the police were likely hiding behind the walls of one of those paths...

We looked at each other, and the five of us walked together down the middle path. Since it was the first round, everyone had little money, so we all bought the most powerful pistol—the Desert Eagle; of course, none of us bought armor. Firepower is everything! We firmly believed.

So when we reached the last turn, a flash grenade seemed to fly from the ancient past toward the ancient future, then, filled with ancient loneliness, exploded right before our eyes...

"That day, you used a white cloth to cover my eyes and cover the sky..."

Next came another flash.

Then two grenades.

Without armor, we were thus conquered by the grenades...

Afterwards, the two guys defending that path unethically jumped in, shot a few more times at our surviving teammates, then calmly dropped their own pistols and picked up our Desert Eagles...

First round, police victory.

In the second and third rounds that followed, since we had no money, although we tried to make a desperate stand with our pistols, we merely proved once again the gap between pistols and submachine guns...

Only Xiao K, cunningly hiding on top of a crate, managed to kill one person while the police were slaughtering us. Of course, he received a higher level of courtesy: after being stabbed to death by four police officers with knives, he was then whipped to death with a machine gun. Yet he still smiled, with a fox-like smile identical to Yang Mo's: "Even after I died, I successfully wasted their bullets..."

In the fourth round, we finally saved enough money to buy full gear, each of us holding the terrorist's symbol: the AK47. If we lost this time, we would have almost no chance of turning the tables. So when we reached the fork again, we chose to advance separately.

Andy and Yang Mo went left, Xiao K and Xu Ge went middle, and I, as team captain, stayed put to provide support. --Actually, it was because Xu Ge said: "Don't follow me, you're in the way!" and Yang Mo said: "You should group with Xiao K and the others; their team is stronger."

Helpless, I could only stay in place, draw my dagger, and wave it toward the sky, weeping and shouting: "I draw my sword and laugh at the sky; whether I live or die, my liver and gallbladder remain in Kunlun!"

Speaking of Andy's group, when they reached the exit, relying on his invincible charge, he jumped straight out, swept wildly with his AK, and found himself lying down when he realized there were two opponents, still muttering in his mouth: "If you're so good, fight me one-on-one!"

Yang Mo killed one person using the time difference, then also met his end in sorrow.

Looking at the other side, Xu Ge was hit by a flash grenade again, so amidst a holy white light, he danced a tragic and beautiful dance of death... Xiao K didn't even go out, hiding quietly behind a corner and watching Xu Ge fall...

The guy who killed Xu Ge waited a while, and seeing no one else come out, confidently dropped his gun to pick up Xu Ge's AK. Xiao K was waiting for exactly this; his gun aimed with abnormal accuracy at the police officer's abdomen. After three shots, he swiftly switched to his knife, stabbing while muttering: "Let you stab me! Let you whip my corpse!" After stabbing him to death, feeling it wasn't enough, he sprayed a whole magazine of bullets onto the enemy's corpse. So when he was reloading, two police officers, chuckling coldly, appeared right in front of him...

Karma came so fast!

So I was pleasantly surprised to discover from the battle report in the top right corner of the screen: I was the only one left alive in the team.

In other words, if I alone killed the remaining three police officers, I would become a hero!

A surge of hot blood immediately rushed to my heart. "Death is not scary! If my head is cut off, it's just a scar as big as a bowl! In eighteen years, I'll be a good man again! Pressure? What is pressure! Only when a lion is forced to the edge of a cliff does it show its strength, letting the opponent know: what a lion is!.."

Xu Ge sighed lightly: "Sigh, the boss is getting excited..."

So the result of this round taught everyone a truth: what a hero must do first is to stay alive...

The consecutive eco rounds continued to show scenes of submachine guns abusing pistols; the only difference was: this time Xiao K was stabbed to death directly on the crate, and was whipped to death by five people instead of four... (Note 1)

Round seven, police victory. This time they simply charged out and shot wildly, achieving a clean and decisive victory.

After round thirteen ended, one side's score was still zero.

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"Hi~baby~youlost~~" That fake foreigner twisted over again.

"Hope to see you at the match!" Their captain politely patted my shoulder; in fact, this guy had killed the most of us during the match...

"Yeah~~We'll have an easy time meeting you in the first round~~But the chance of meeting you in the second round... hehehe" Another arrogant guy; he seemed to be that unlucky police officer who had been tricked by Xiao K twice.

"I also hope to meet you at the match, really." I spoke word by word, "Let's go!"

When we walked out of the internet cafe, the opposing captain's voice came from behind: "Remember! Our team is called 'NoNoYes!'"

"What kind of weird name? NoNoYes? Truly, the name fits the person..." Xu Ge was still complaining.

"Xu Ge!" I suddenly interrupted him, "Among their group, it's obvious that the captain has the best skills. If you and that captain fight one-on-one, who would win?"

"Naturally me! That person is not at all..."

"Andy, what about you fighting him one-on-one?" I wasn't even paying attention to Xu Ge.

"I'd beat him twice!" Fatty was almost jumping up.

"Very good, Yang Mo, what about you?"

"I can beat Andy." Yang Mo's glasses flashed with cold light.

"Xiao K?"

"One-on-one? He can't find me; I can hide and ambush..."

"..."

I stopped, taking a deep breath.

"Then why did we lose?"

"Because you're too weak!" the four of them said in unison.

"No!" I remained calm, though a vein bulged on my temple, "Because we had no coordination."

"Tomorrow, everyone collect five tactical combinations from famous domestic and international teams; we'll practice them one by one!" I gritted my teeth, "I don't believe we can't win!"

Xu Ge leaned close to Yang Mo's ear: "See? I told you so. This guy can't stand losing..."

"Xu Ge, you're in charge of copying out the collected tactics!" My ears are rumored to hear a kitten blinking in the dark.

"Received..." Xu Ge feared nothing else, only my excitement.

"Alright, that's it, dismissed!"

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Note 1: An eco round is an economy round where everyone holds back on buying guns to ensure better equipment for the next round. It's roughly divided into offensive eco and defensive eco; in rare cases, teams might buy Desert Eagles or other light weapons in an eco round to attempt a comeback. 3D claims to have the strongest pistols in the world and often employs Desert Eagle comeback tactics.

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