Chapter 9 Part 2

 

Chapter 9 – Double Elimination – Part 2

 

The small path is dark and gloomy. In a normal server, this path would be one of the most hotly contested battlefields between CT and T. Usually, flashbangs would fly with bullets, grenades would dance with AWP. Yet in a tournament, this place is surprisingly calm. Both teams would remain in silent walking mode before contacts, hiding themselves like ghosts.

Liu Zuo took a look at the entrance to the pathway, and he didn’t spot any CT. Yet he knew that at least one CT would be defending the otherside. He turns to give his order: “Wait until 1 minute 30 seconds and then charge.”

The flow of time ticks by with the clock. Danger lies just below the calm surface, and even the judge sitting aside can feel the tension in the match. Everyone held their breath as they waited. A bloody battle is but blinks away, and the air smells of murder. 

Finally, the planned time to charge has arrived, Li Zuo shouted: “Go!Go!Go!”, with that, the five of them bolted across the dark path like an arrow let loose. Everyone scattered towards their own position, while Piggy carried the bomb straight for the bomb site. The only thing on his mind is to plant the bomb as quickly as possible. He can’t even tell why a sense of panic and worry gripped his heart, all he is hoping for is to carry out his duty as quickly as possible.

The bombsite is right ahead, the huge spray painted marking clear as day. Piggy leaps onto the abandoned train cart and begins to plant the bomb. During the few seconds of the planting process, Piggy has no weapon in hand and must rely on his teammate’s protection.

In his first attempt to plant the bomb, Piggy’s mouse slipped and the plant failed. He must start over again. He grits his teeth and thought to himself: “The fuck am I scared of, those guy’s maybe tough, but I am tougher. Besides, I have a whole team of strong teammates to cover me……”

At this thought, Piggy’s heart dropped as he recalled what Big P quietly said to Liu Zuo this morning: “Liu Zuo, I don’t see how that W guy is as strong as you say. It’s fine that Yan Ning is the bottom fragger of every match, but that W guy is consistently second from the bottom, not much better than Yan Ning. Those two always appeared like they don’t really give a damn, and it's always the three of us doing all the work.”

Liu Zuo replied: “Maybe we haven’t met an opponent for them to take seriously.”

Piggy remembered how he laughed back then: “Then us three can take a bigger cut of the prize money.”

Thinking about it now, Piggy suddenly felt unease. If Liu Zuo and Big P fell early in a match, can he really rely on W and Yan Ning? The matches before were going too well, and they almost never encountered a tough opponent. There was only this one time against a team from Wuxi, where Yan Ning was the only one alive against three opponents. Yan Ning fired at the enemy with the light smg MP5. Her shots seem dispirited and bullets whizzed by the enemy, missing them by over 10 meters. The enemies looked at each other, not able to believe what they were seeing – and it ended exactly as you would expect. Fortunately, B.H. won in the end, as Liu Zuo really was unstoppable wherever he went, coupled with Big P and Piggy jumping around in ambush, they won the game like a breeze.

Like a breeze? The rest of them were overjoyed the day they made it into the regional final, only W said coldly then: “The tournament hasn’t started yet.” Now that you think about it, W’s words probably mean they were winning like a breeze because they simply haven’t met a strong team. SIP has been giving Piggy an ominous feeling since the start today. Could this really herald the beginning of a tough path ahead?  Up till now, the once smooth sailing Bonus Hunter haven’t won a single round – But they can’t lose this match. Fifty-Thousand dollar is waving at him, how can he let it grow wings and fly away.

Piggy finally finished planting the bomb, and as he remained there on the back of the cart, he suddenly thought of that couple’s classic pose in the movie Titanic. He wants to open his arms wide like Rose, except he is going to shout: “Money, wait for us!”

Of course, Piggy was just letting his imagination run wild for less than a second. Then, he immediately grabbed his AK and prepared to defend the bomb. Yet before Piggy can get out of the cart and into cover, a shadow appears in the darkness behind him. The shadow silently approached Piggy, his M4 aimed at the latter’s head.

This is CS, its drama hides its cruelty, its silence hides its danger.

Liu Zuo was fighting for his life in the pathway when the gunshot rang out. Piggy’s death is reported on his screen. Liu Zuo complained in his mind. The CT that killed Piggy must be defusing, and it can be completed in a few seconds if he has a defusing kit. If the bomb is defused, the round that they planned so much for will end in defeat once more. That is to say, Liu Zuo must kill the defusing CT within seconds to turn the battle around.

Liu Zuo quickly estimated his options, if he dash out now, he can at least shake the CT that’s trying to tie him down – He will then get to A and kill the defusing CT, and defend the bomb, getting blown up with it if necessary – Having decided his course of action, Liu Zuo legs it without further hesitation. Fast, Gotta go fast! Time is everything.

The CT Captain Wang Dadao, who is facing Liu Zuo in the pathway, knew what Liu Zuo was thinking all too well. Hearing Liu Zuo’s footsteps, he takes out a grenade from his pouch and tossed it with all his strength in a leap. He can’t catch up to Liu Zuo, but he can’t let him off easily. With that one grenade, Liu Zuo will be losing quite some HP even if he survives. Wang Dadao did not give up on hunting Liu Zuo down either, and he relentlessly continued his chase after tossing the grenade.

By now, Yan Ning and Big P are both dead. The game came down to a 3 v 2 between CT and T, with Liu Zuo and W being the only remaining Ts.

Liu Zuo gritted his teeth and ran to A – The grenade from earlier did hit him, but thanks to Liu Zuo’s quick wits, he leapt up in the last moment and only lost a small amount of HP – The CT on A site is indeed defusing. From the referee’s perspective, the CT can finish the defuse in one more second. Liu Zuo raised his gun to shoot before even catching his breath, and headshotted the CT with a single tap. The CT’s effort went to waste at the last moment as he collapsed to the floor.

In just a few seconds, Liu Zuo’s mad dash, Wang Da Dao’s grenade, and Liu Zuo taking down the diffusing C together was like a breathtaking action movie for the audience. The probing and subsequent cloth quarter fighting between the teams, the fantastical drama and the cruelty of deaths on the train tracks kept all the audience on their toes, and even the referee can’t help but wipe the sweat off his forehead.

Yet this movie did not end here.

The curtain cannot close if the bomb does not blow. Liu Zuo knows Wang Dadao is catching up behind him, and that is not even his greatest concern. His main concern is the other surviving CT – Liu Zuo doesn’t even know where that CT is, yet he must be hiding somewhere nearby, stalking him like a predator stalking its prey.

Liu Zuo silently walked towards the other end of the cart on which the bomb was planted. As he expected, Wang Dadao is already at the position where Liu Zuo shot the defusing CT earlier. Liu Zuo raised his M4 once more, his finger tightly on the trigger, his gun aimed at Wang Dadao’s head.

Liu Zuo’s shooting terrified all those who had faced off against him. He rarely misses when shooting on the move – unless he was flanked – If he is lying in wait, he almost never missed his target.

He is confident in himself, and he needs to give confidence to his teammates. When they left their home this morning, Piggy told him: “Liu Zuo, I never really looked up to anyone in my life. But there are two people I cannot help but respect and look up to. One of them is you.”

The other person, even though Piggy didn’t mention him by name, Liu Zuo knows too well. It is A Jie, halfway across the country in Beijing. That legendary A Jie had proven to be a nightmare for god knows how many CSERs. Perhaps it’s not really a nightmare, but a mix of surprise and awe. Unpredictable rotation, beautiful shooting backed by both instinct and skill, and calm yet decisive decision making and command, all this made A Jie a perfect exemplar to CS players.

Since their chance encounter, A Jie was the person that’s been on Liu Zuo’s mind. To Liu Zuo, all that effort to fight their way to Beijing, to go to the nationals, is motivated by a desire to meet A Jie once again, even greater than the desire for the prize money. When they meet once more, Liu Zuo will no longer be a merc under someone else’s team tag, but a CSER with his own team, supported by his own comrades. He wants to have another match with A Jie, fair and square, and that desire is like a dream that propels Liu Zuo to keep improving and going forward.

Liu Zuo’s gun barrel is pointed at Wang Dadao’s head. In another 0.1 second, Wang Dadao will be out of the game like all other warriors who perished in this round.

20 seconds until the bomb explodes. A Jie, wipe your guns, wait for us in Beijing!

Liu Zuo pressed the trigger.

After a gunshot, the person hit fell dead. Their body was sent flying by the significant impact of the bullet, and slowly fell to the ground in seemingly slow motion, blood splattered on the ticking time bomb.

Everyone, from players to audience to referee can’t help but find their mouth wide open, surprise all over the face. Amongst everyone, none are more surprised than Liu Zuo.

That gunshot is neither short and muffled like a silenced m4 nor loud and vicious like an AK47 rifle. Rather, the sound was long and echoing, then suddenly cut off. Anyone with experience in CS would quickly recognize this as the sound of AWP, and the wielder must be an experienced CSER. You can tell from the sound of that gun shot – the sudden stop is caused by the shooter quickly switching the flashlight on and off. Turning the flashlight on and off as fast as possible while shooting will help to prevent the distinctive sound of AWP firing giving away the shooter’s position. There is a difference between different skill levels in their attempt to conceal that sound – A pro’s switching is so fast that it sounds like the gunshot sound was simply cut off.

Liu Zuo’s corpse fell hard on the ground after being sent flying. He saw the ground littered with gravel, the type that would make rustling sounds when you step on them. When he was young, his parents sent him back to live in the home village for quite some time. In a little hill back there, those kinds of gravel are all over the place, a dump for the left over from construction works by the villagers. The kids love to play there, wearing their grandma’s handmade shoes on those gravel, that rustling sound and soft feeling under the feet brought warm and happy memories to everyone’s childhood.

The person who made the train map must have been a foreigner, yet how could he so accurately depict the memorable gravel ground? Though now under an abandoned train, the feeling you get while stepping on them is the same. Playing on this map reminded Liu Zuo of home, reminded him of the Grandma who always nagged and worried about him not eating enough. That feeling is just like this ground, soft.

Liu Zuo’s blood splattered on the ground. Looking at the stark red on his screen, it's hard to tell whether Liu Zuo was depressed or bewildered, perhaps both. Death happens, no one lives forever in CS. Though it is how he died that troubled Liu Zuo – He already figured out that the sniper was on the platform to the right the moment he was shot, yet Liu Zuo paid particular attention to that sniping spot when he walked into the sniper’s field of vision. At that time, the sniper did not show himself, perhaps still hiding there.

It took less than a second for Liu Zuo to then crouch down and prepare to shoot Wang Dadao, which is to say that the sniper spotted Liu Zuo, scoped in and shot him all under one second. In Liu Zuo’s mind, this kind of speed is almost the limit even for W. Besides, snipers have the option to take their time, he can spot Liu Zuo, take aim and only shoot when he is certain of the kill. Yet he didn’t wait, he almost sniped Liu Zuo the moment he spotted him. Why? Why did it turn out like this? Why didn’t he wait for the golden opportunity?

There is only one explanation, the sniper must’ve known Liu Zuo’s position even while he hid on the platform. He might have even aimed at Liu Zuo, but chose to not shoot the running Liu Zuo to avoid drawing attention. When Liu Zuo crouched down, he knew he couldn't wait any longer, because he must have somehow figured out that Liu Zuo was aiming at Wang Dadao. He shot with no hesitation because he knew his teammate was in Liu Zuo’s sights, and so he fired the deadly shot.

How did the Sniper know? How did he show up and save his teammate in such a crucial moment? This rescue is extraordinary, as it almost means victory for the round. Wang Dadao already jumped on the cart and began to diffuse after Liu Zuo died.

Liu Zuo looked at the screen, the person who killed him is named “Feng ''. He never heard of this person. Yet this name is all too familiar to SIP players and their fans – It is none other than their key player: The Strategist Chen Mingfeng.

Chen Mingfeng again scanned the area around the defusing Wang Dadao with his scope, even with victory in their grasps, he remained cautious as ever. The gentle breeze on the high tower blew away the smoke from the AWP’s barrel, Chen Mingfeng thought in his mind: “This is teamwork. Tacit understanding forged over countless training sessions– Teamwork that Indies like you guys cannot understand.” Chen Mingfeng’s teammates noticed a faint smile appearing on his face.

In three more seconds, CT will have the victory of this round. The round’s significance is that it either serves as the foundation for the CT’s victory in the first half, or the turning point for the T to turn the table. Both sides knew this, which is why the fight was exceptionally hard. Yet given how things are going, it is likely that the CT will bag another round. Piggy’s face white as he stares at the screen, his finger tightly gripping his mouse.

Second-line players of SIP can’t help but show signs of joy on their faces, the victory of this round is in the bag, and the victory of the first half is waving at them. Some of them almost can’t resist the urge to clap. Just then, another long and echoing AWP shot rang out.

Did Chen Mingfeng locate the last T? Given Chen Mingfeng’s shooting skill, the fate of that T is sealed. Seems like that the round will end with Chen Mingfeng’s final shot…… No! Sharp-eyed players noticed that while Chen Mingfeng’s name showed up on the screen, it wasn’t in place of the shooter, but…… the dead.

The last warrior of T, W, using the same AWP, headshotted Chen Mingfeng.

Only Chen Mingfeng knew how much weight was behind that shot. Actually, when W appeared in the twisted tunnels, Chen Mingfeng already spotted him and moved his scope to W with incredible speed.

Yet W only allowed his scope to move half the distance. Chen Mingfeng was already hit when his scope was halfway to the target, hit by the man who suddenly appeared from the tunnel. That man showed no signs of anxiety, perhaps feeling certainty from confidence, or perhaps he simply does not care. Chen Mingfeng fell to the ground, unable to anticipate anything this time. Wang Dadao saw the message of Chen Mingfeng’s death.

Wang Dadao quickly made his decision, based on the sound of the gunshot, W is close by. If he continues to defuse (which will take about two more seconds), he will likely be attacked while defusing. If he dies, the CT would lose this round. Wang Dadao gave up defusing without hesitation, and turned to find W for the final battle.

10 seconds until the bomb explodes.

Kill that T with the sniper rifle – There is no way he can match me in close quarters – Then turn and defuse, there is still time.

In reality, almost right after he turned around, he found himself face to face with W. W appeared like a ghost right behind Wang Dadao, holding his AWP. While startled, Wang Dadao certainly has what it takes to hold the title of the captain. He immediately jumped to the left and raised his gun to shoot.

In CS, snipers would usually hide in fixed locations and snipe the opponent from afar. That tactic is determined by the characteristics of the sniper rifle. Despite the massive damage allowing for one-shot kills, all that power goes to waste in close quarters given the slow rate of fire and the delay caused by scoping in.

Even as he started firing, Wang Dadao still felt a slight sense of confusion – If this person can take Chen Mingfeng out in one shot, why would he be so foolish as to run into his face with a sniper rifle? He should know what would happen when he uses an AWP against the flexible, powerful, and rapid-firing AK. Why would he do this?

There isn’t much time to think, Wang Dadao aimed at W’s ahead, ready to pull the trigger.

His finger tightly gripped the mouse, his right index finger pressed the mouse button. A chain of bullets flew toward W.

——If Wang Dadao shoots, there is no way he will miss his target.

That’s the thought in the mind of all SIP players.

——The opponent is just a newbie from a nameless newbie team, they should thank god for making it to the regional final. Now it is time to send them home.

That’s the thought that still remained in the mind of all the SIP players.

At this moment, W jumped high into the air.

In that moment, the last two remaining people in the train yard – W and Wang Dadao – had jumped into the air, the difference is Wang Dadao is already falling back to the ground and W is still rising into the air. In the flash of that instant, another Echoing AWP shot rang out.

The two men returned to the ground under the force of gravity once more. But Wang Dadao is now a corpse falling backward onto the ground.

—        Jump scope!

Someone in the audience let out a cry of surprise.

While using an AWP to score a kill mid-jump is a difficult move, it is not unheard of. Yet W completed scoping in, aiming, and firing all in lightning fast speed before landing, which really did surprise those who know the game well. What is more surprising is how W dares to bring the AWP for a close quarter attack, using the sniper rifle like an SMG. What kind of confidence is behind this?

W stood silently on the spot, put away his awp, and turned to leave.

The audience and the referee are likewise silent. The bomb ticked in this silence, until finally exploding.

One of the most brutal rounds of the first half is finally over, T won their first round of the match.

The question is now on everyone’s mind, who can laugh until the end? Those who believed SIP would win for sure are now having second thoughts, perhaps Bonus Hunter are stronger than they had imagined.

Who would win?

That is something that can only be known at the very last moment. There is no fate and no prophet in CS.

 

 

After one hour of tough battle, the match between Bonus Hunter and SIP finally came to an end. The audience came and went like the tide, “whoosh”, and they are gone – like the closing curtain over a movie or the end of a romance, their departure is so clean and crisp that it almost makes one feel cold.

Liu Zuo: “Let’s head back to base.”

The few of them stood up, Yan Ning had once again disappeared into the crowd like a ghost. Big P mumbled to himself: “She really came and went without a trace…”