Chapter 9 Part 1

 

Chapter 9 – Double Elimination – Part 1

 

In a strange turn of events, the June heat of Nanjing suddenly turned gentle and cool, almost as though it is trying to accommodate the blood boiling excitement of the CS grand tournament. For two weeks, there were no major winds or rains, every day was clear and calm. It can be said that CSERs from JiangSu province were able to enjoy a happy summer. Regular tournaments turned every day into a festival.

Outside of the tournament venues, various sounds of cheer can often be heard, from cries of “ura” to players hugging each other and screeching in joy. Of course, some of those people leaving the venue were defeated – Most of them were silent, some with visibly red eyes. Most memorable was the defeat of the famous Team RL of Nanjing. After their defeat, RL players walked out the front gate together, and together bought out all the mangoes from a wandering mango vendor near the front gate. All the players squatted in a circle, and began to eat mangos as a team. Once that is done, everyone wipes their mouth. The captain gives the order “Disband!”. The player then went their own ways.

Piggy was observing on the side at the time, and he couldn’t resist the urge to comment to a four-eyes beside him: “They sure are well-trained, even having to say “disband” before they go home.”

The four-eyes replies with a sigh: “Heh, they are really disbanding. RL was sponsored by the Four Sibling Computers of Nanjing, it was agreed that if RL won the games, they could become Four Sibling’s PR representative. I heard the captain mention that RL strictly ordered their players that winning is the only acceptable outcome. Now that they lost, they can’t even afford to rent a server, let alone getting sponsorship. What can they do but to disband? Sigh, poor guys……”

Piggy nods with a sigh: “It really isn’t easy to make a living being a CSER like us.”

The four-eyes replies: “That’s not necessarily true. Those Beijing teams have it much better. Teams like Green Miracle and X·FILES, BEAT all have major corporate sponsors, they even go to games in luxury buses.”

Piggy: “Don’t bring up X·FILES in my face, If you do I’ll get pissed!”

The four-eye looks at him, puffs his chest, and walks away with a “Hmph!”.

 

 

Two weeks later, just as they had hoped, Bonus Hunter entered the finals of Jiang Su Regionals.

For the participating teams, these past two weeks were like a cruel voyage, a storm can be upon them at any moments, and a single mishap can flip the boat, sending everyone home. Was there a team who didn’t strive hard for that final victory? Was there a team who did not tread carefully as though they were walking on thin ice? Yet the reality is cruel, only four teams entered the final. The list is as follows:

Nanjing: Lotus Clan

Su Zhou: S.I.P

Wuxi: Rain Man

Nanjing: Bonus Hunter

These four teams will start the final competition for the two national tournament tickets in double elimination format.

Bonus Hunter’s first opponent is to be SIP, the latter is a famous team from Su Zhou. Everyone knows that the first match is of vital importance. The winner will seize the initiative for the tournament. The winner is already one foot into the gate of the national final, and the loser will be in an extremely disadvantageous position. The losing team’s chance to advance and their morale alike will be seriously impacted.

June 25^th is the date of the match. Piggy couldn’t sleep well the night before, he rolled around in his bed and made the double bunk bed creak. The restless piggy sighed in his bed, worrying that his lack of sleep will affect the match tomorrow. The next moment, he is excited about the upcoming match, thinking how to best show off Bonus Hunter’s power in the match. He is even seeing droves of pretty girls, flower in hand, shouting: “Big bro Pig Head 3…..” – No, there needs to be a “dear” added in front – “Dear big bro Pig Head 3……” The pretty girl in the dress came running, and even gave him a kiss. “Let’s go on a date.” The pretty girl says, “Big bro Pig Head 3, you are so handsome, I love watching you play CS!”

Piggy’s face immediately turned bright red, he covered his head with his pillow and yelled: “I don’t wanna, I am still a pure virgin!”

Piggy’s emotional cries woke Liu Zuo. Liu Zuo raised from his bed and asked: “Piggy, you still exist?”

Piggy: “Still exists, 100HP.”

With that, Liu Zuo immediately collapsed, he began to snore again as he fell back into deep sleep – almost as though the person awoke moments ago wasn’t him. Beside him, Big P turns around in bed, mumbling: “100k, 100k, 100 and 100k……”

Piggy thought to himself: “Seems heroes do think alike, Big P wants money, I want girls, between the two of us we would have bagged all the beauty and wealth.”

At the same time, SIP’s lair is a scene of chaos. Their captain, Wang Dadao is commanding his team members to scour the internet for any information on Bonus Hunter. Yet no matter how hard they tried, they can’t find any details about Bonus Hunter. Wang Dadao mumbled in thought: “As long as they are still earthlings, they have to leave some trace, not to mention a team that fought their way to the Jiang Su final is no pushover. How can there be no leads at all?”

SIP’s strategist – Chen Mingfeng, nicknamed “Little Zhuge” – waves his paper fan, and leisurely replies: “There is only one possibility: they aren’t a professional team, but rather a bunch of independent players. Perhaps even a team formed ad-hoc right before the tournament.”

“Indie players?”

“Holy shit, isn’t that a stretch? Indie players can make it to Jiang Su finals?”

“So we will win without breaking a sweat?”

Everyone begins to voice their opinion.

The strategist, Chen Mingfeng shook his head: “That is not so. Think about it carefully, a team of nobodies fought their way through all kinds of adversaries to the final, without so much as a bump on the road, meeting less resistance than a butcher cutting up a carcass. What kind of skill does it take to achieve something like this?

Hearing this, captain Wang Dadao grimaced: “Strategist, how much chance do you reckon we have?”

Chen Mingfeng lowered his head in thought for quite some time before replying: “I reckon half-half, and it depends on the map we draw. The map pool for the match tomorrow includes Aztec, Dust2 and Train. If it’s the first two, based on our usual training, we can probably have a 50% chance. If it’s the last map, then maybe our victory will be certain.”

Wang Dadao’s eyes lit up: “Why is that?”

Chen Mingfeng smiles: “What is the most important thing about a team? It is teamwork! What are training for this whole time? It is teamwork! What is the key to deciding a match? It is teamwork! Nothing matters without teamwork and coordination. As a newly formed team, they may have top tier personal skills, but their teamwork may not be as coordinated as ours. AZ and D2 are the most commonly played maps, with more tactical guides, and they are probably better prepared. On the other hand, Train is not an often played map, and the terrain is more complex. Most importantly, in a battlefield with such complex terrain, teamwork is what will shine through. If we can take the fight to the train yard, I predict that our teamwork will allow us to triumph over Bonus Hunter!”

Wang Dadao nodded and gathered his teammates.

“Comrades, brothers, tomorrow is our first battle for the regional championship. I believe I don’t need to further emphasize the importance of this battle, this is the one match we are all looking to  win. Our opponent is mysterious and unpredictable, but they must be staying up all night to figure out our strategy as well. I hope that we can display an even greater amount of coordination and team work, brothers, as this is precisely what the opponent lacks. We can only win if we stand as one, work hard, brothers!

Yet we know, the four men in the Bonus Hunter base are not researching strategies at this point in time. Instead, they are having four different dreams, mostly having to do with money or hot girls.

Even though they are all dreaming about money and girls, W’s dream is still a bit different – He saw a beautiful girl standing in a field of grass, smiling as she waved at him. He quietly called to her: “Qing Qing…” Though the girl is still smiling, she is further and further away. He could not grab her no matter how hard he reached for her. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, and the girl disappeared. W, almost sobbing now, called out again: “Qing Qing…” Yet the girl disappeared after all. W did not know, but a streak of salty liquid is streaking down his handsome and stern face in his sleep.

Liu Zuo dreamed of Yan Ning.

Big P dreamed of fat stacks of cash, he tried to stuff them all down his pants and it is still too much fit.

Piggy was carrying on with his harem dream, fluctuating between excitement and embarrassment while being half awake and half in dreams.

 

 

First match of the double elimination.

Time: June 29^th, 2002.

Location: Red Hacker Net Café, Jianye District, Nanjing

Map: Train

Participating Teams: SIP vs Bonus Hunter

 

Wang Dadao let out a long sigh of relief after drawing the Train map he had hoped for. His strategist Chen Mingfeng smiled beside him, and all their teammates were also looking inspired. According to their strategic planning earlier, getting Train in the map draw already set them upon the path of victory.

Big P is confused by the jubilant SIP players, he turns to ask Liu Zuo: “Captain, was the match over, and they already won without us knowing?”

Liu Zuo: “That can’t be, today is the semifinal between them and us, I am absolutely certain.”

Piggy: “They probably got tasty lunch, look at the anticipation in their eyes, they must be thinking of food.”

Big P: “You do have a point.”

As the few of them mumbled amongst themselves, W is already testing the machine in his seat. SIP’s Captain, Wang Dadao walked by and passionately held W’s hand: “You must be Bonus Hunter’s captain? I’ve been hearing about your fame all this time! We will have a good match today.”

W withdrew his hand, his eyes on the screen: “I’m not the captain.”

Wang Dadao evaluated the situation, then immediately turned to the other guys chatting to the side, and picked Liu Zuo as he walked towards them. Wang Dadao’s voice arrived before his person, his big hands then tightly gripped Liu Zuo’s hands: “Comrade, today is the day of our decisive battle. I wish you guys can fight your best and show us your styles, we hope to have a honest and fair match against you!”

Liu Zuo stares at Wang Dadao’s round face, at a loss for words. He choked for quite a bit before saying: “Let’s all improve together with time.”

 

A few minutes later, the two teams readied in position. Piggy’s face is red with excitement, and even Big P and Liu Zuo are having a bit of trouble controlling their emotions – you can’t blame them, since its formation, Bonus Hunter have endured poverty (The landlord appearing like a ghost and asking for rent), sexual harassment (the weighlifter an eternal scar in the heart), being used as tools (merc works)…… Though it may not be as difficult as the red army’s march across the grassland, it certainly isn’t easy either. Now they finally see a ray of hope, how can they not be excited. If they win this match, they aren’t far from the national final. A hundred thousand dollars are almost welcoming them with flowers in hand.

Big P and Liu Zuo exchanged a glance and took a seat, filled with confidence. Only W and Yan Ning are still their usual, cold self – Liu Zuo and the guys are now getting used to it. W is the best sniper they’ve seen, and Yan Ning is the prettiest meat bullet they’ve met, what’s the big deal with appearing a bit cold?

On the command of the judge, the match formally begins after three server restarts. In the 12 rounds of the first half, Bonus Hunter will play as T while SIP plays as CT.

For most CS players, Train can be a very frustrating map to play.  First of all, its terrain is very complex, both bomb sites are abandoned train tracks. The CT spawns in a building between the two sites, and T spawns across the map. The possible route of attack includes a small two-story building, a larger corridor for close range fire fights, and a dark path to the distance. An attack carried out in the first 30 seconds is usually in T’s favor, as the combination of paths available and coordination between players means that it is impossible for CT to prevent the T from getting into the bombsite. Yet once inside, that’s where the nightmare for T begins.

CT has plenty of locations to hide and ambush the T from, including under the train, behind abandoned crates or in the curved path. Not only that, the CT have unmatched ability to strike from above, they have 2 to 3 high ground to snipe from. A sharpshooter holding those positions can easily pin most of the T’s forces. CT doesn’t have to wipe out the T at all, they just need to guard the bombsite. What they need is a stalemate – What does the stalemate mean? It means T’s defeat, without a chance to plant the bomb, T is doomed to lose.

 

At the start of the first round, Liu Zuo led the charge up the two storied building. Usually, a CT sniper will be watching from across the building. This of course is not a concern in the first round, where no one can afford an AWP. Liu Zuo, Big P and the rest of the T roared as they charged into B, trying to settle the battle quickly.

The way there is strangely quiet, the CT seems to be away on a vacation.

Big P, Piggy, and W protected Liu Zuo as the latter began to plant the bomb. Once the bomb is planted, CT only has 35 seconds to diffuse. Yan Ning wanders around the group with her Glock 18 in hand, almost as though she is but a passerby here.

Gunshots rang around Liu Zuo the moment he began to plant. CT appeared like ghosts from every direction. Some of them ambushed from below the train, while others stood above, and still more hurried over from A site to reinforce. Liu Zuo grits his teeth and thinks to himself: “These suckers sure run fast! You guys better hold on, if I die it's gonna be hard to plant again!”

Yet Liu Zuo couldn’t last till he finished planting after all, Wang Dadao took aim from afar, and took Liu Zuo out with a few bullets from his USP. While the strategist Chen Mingfeng appears timid with his glasses and clean-shaven look, he is fiercer than anyone else in a charge. In his own words, he is an “Intellectual Combatant”. The strategist Chen Mingfeng is like a tiger charging down a mountain, first taking out Piggy with his USP as the latter tried to return fire while sprinting. Then, he turned towards Big P as the latter tried to seek cover under the train – Maybe it is because Big P is too fat and clumsy, he was taken out by four bullets from Chen Mingfeng before he could squeeze his fat ass under the train.

Now the only T left is W and Yan Ning, and there are still 5 CTs. The one-sided situation is clear. Piggy’s mouth is open in shock from this sudden development, seemingly not believing the fact that he had already perished. W, who is still alive, gestured to Yan Ning to hide and begin to return fire on the move, hoping to draw away the enemy’s fire. While Glock 18 is not W’s strong suite, he still took out two CTs. Yet the CT’s teamwork really is coordinated, one immediately fills the gap when another falls, giving W no moment of respite. Finally, out of ammo, W was surrounded and taken out as well.

Now Yan Ning is the only one left. She seems to have just woken from a dream, innocently holding the bomb beside the train. The three CTs smiled at each other and gathered around, followed by a barrage of gunfire.

The corpse of five T lie upon the train tracks. Guns and bomb scattered all over the ground, like the disastrous scene after an airstrike. Piggy’s hands begin to shake. Not because they lost the first round – While it was rare for them to lose the first round, it did happen before – what caused him to panic is the enemy’s powerful, coordinated attack and almost flawless teamwork. The entire operation is quick and vicious, their estimation of the T’s attack plan and subsequent surround precise and merciless. Sweat begins to appear on Piggy’s face.

Piggy secretly peeked at Yan Ning and Liu Zuo beside him. The former is cold as usual, giving no hint as to what she is thinking. The latter’s face is serious and stern, but still filled with confidence and hope. Piggy’s heart calmed itself a little, he told himself to keep it together.

At the start of round 2, Liu Zuo instructed the team to not rush. The T bought no guns, only carrying some flashbangs or grenades. As CT had won round 1, they should have the fund for M4. T is now in an extremely disadvantaged position. Now it is the time to use their skill to create a breakthrough – Liu Zuo thought to himself. Yet before they can demonstrate their advantage in skill, the T found them surrounded by attacking CTs.

Wang Dadao smiles as he commands his team to surround the T tightly in the two-story building. The CT attacks simultaneously from three entrances. Despite the fierce T resistance, they can do little when surrounded from all sides. Within a few minutes, they have already lost three rounds in a row.

The T is now in a pinch. If they keep on losing, it will only be even harder to turn the game around. Furthermore, while Bonus Hunter have just formed recently, they have never encountered this kind of desperate situation. They can't lose any more rounds – Bonus Hunter is seeing the signal of danger. At the start of round four, the T discussed the situation in their base, and decided to push through the small path. Normally, the path will only be defended by a single person. Once broken through, Piggy will rush to plant while the rest provide cover against the CT assault. Once ready, the five of them marched out together.