Domestic, Perfect World Community.
"Holy shit! Dark is really playing in the Major?"
"666, I can't believe he actually found a team!"
"Weren't there people saying G2 would never take Dark? How's your face feeling?"
"You Sa, you f***ing dog, get the hell out here! Saying Dark got kicked, couldn't find a job, and started cheating? What a load of bullshit!"
"@You Sa! Stop playing dead! Get out here and do a handstand while taking a diarrhea dump!!"
"Want to see it! Love to see it!"
"Dying laughing! You Sa got exposed last night for a video where he and his female stream mod griefed a random blue teammate, oh right! That dog was even f***ing spouting toxic hate speech!"
"Told you so. Only You Sa's fanboys would believe a hater like that."
"."
"That said, is G2 really going to be fine swapping in Dark for the Major?"
"."
In the Perfect World Community, most CN viewers felt rather excited and honored to learn that a domestic player could ascend to the Major stage.
At the same time, they didn't forget to relentlessly flame You Sa!
On You Sa's end, it was truly a case of when it rains, it pours.
A few days ago, an enthusiastic netizen clipped that livestream where he griefed a blue random teammate with his female mod and uploaded it to Bilibili. Countless netizens watched it and were filled with righteous indignation, raging at You Sa. Daking even watched the video during his stream and bluntly stated that someone like You Sa was nothing but a stray dog on the roadside. Now, the video on Bilibili has already broken five hundred thousand views.
In no time, You Sa became a reviled rat on Bilibili that everyone wanted to stomp.
He was currently busy apologizing.
But the netizens weren't buying it!
Netizens these days aren't stupid. Everyone understood.
You Sa wasn't apologizing because he knew he was wrong—he was only apologizing because he knew he was going to lose his livelihood!
Who would've thought that before one wave had subsided, another rose.
Today, G2 officially announced that Meng Lang would be accompanying the team to the Antwerp Major. When he saw this news, You Sa—already battered from being flamed across the entire internet—nearly choked with rage!
What the actual f***!
Did the G2 management have water in their brains?
They're actually taking trash that even EG kicked?
In fact, when G2's Twitter officially announced this news, many foreign netizens' reactions were actually pretty similar to You Sa's.
"'What?! G2 really benched Jackz?'"
"'Oh my god! Changing players right before the Major? And replacing Jackz with a CN player?'"
"'Did G2 management get kicked in the head by a donkey? Picking up trash that even EG didn't want?'"
"'Although Jackz definitely has his problems, his experience isn't something a third-tier player like Dark, who's only played in one big tournament, can compare to, right?'"
"'Madness! Absolute madness!'"
"'Just sitting here waiting for G2 to go out in the first round of the Major Challengers Stage!'"
"."
Below in the foreign comment sections.
The first reactions of countless foreigners were shock, doubt, and mockery.
At this exact moment, someone decided to add fuel to the fire.
Seattle,
EG Club facility.
EG's in-game leader, Banana Man 2K, after seeing G2's official announcement, his first reaction was that the G2 management must have collectively had their heads slammed in doors, right? Otherwise, how could they possibly bench Jackz to replace him with Meng Lang?
What value does that guy even have?
Beside him, clique member RUSH suddenly changed expression, as if thinking of something, and couldn't help but say, "Dude, the first opponent in our Challengers Stage this time... seems to be G2."
Hearing these words, the expressions of the others in the EG club immediately became subtle as well.
Back when they kicked Meng Lang through internal strife and this CN teenager left the club, everyone felt that after this farewell, they might never have the chance to meet again.
An Asian player with a hand injury was basically sentenced to death in the EU/NA CS scene. No matter how young or talented he was—in this EU/CIS CS circle, what they lacked least were prodigies.
Who could have thought that in less than a short week, this teenager they had booted from EG would transform into a member of their very first opponent's team in this Major's Challengers Stage.
Banana Man 2K darkened his face and didn't say a word.
However, after his expression shifted back and forth, he suddenly let out a "pfft" laugh.
"'Tsk! Has G2 become so desperate that they'll eat anything? A rifler we didn't want, and they pick him up as a starter?'"
"'Fine, then we'll see. Trash will always be trash.'"
After saying this, he suddenly wanted to disgust G2 a bit.
So, 2K quickly picked up his phone and retweeted G2's official announcement tweet, commenting—"Wish G2 good luck. Hope they found the 'missing piece' they needed! ^-^".
From the blessing to that final smiley face.
The mocking implication was self-evident.
I have to say, Banana Man 2K's move really did disgust quite a few G2 fans.
Domestically, Jianghai University.
Li Shan, who had just started his junior year this year, finished his first 8 AM class and angrily closed Weibo. His Weibo ID was "BroShrimp Says No This Time!"
The ID looked a bit trollish.
But in fact, as a ten-year veteran G2 fan, he had followed this team since the establishment of G2's CS division, weathering many storms along the way.
From the Season 1 ECS championship in 2016, defeating the then-dominant SK, to the later roster rebuild, bringing in players like KennyS and apEX to form the all-star lineup called the "Super French Team," and to last year's major breakthrough at the Major tournament, taking second place at the Stockholm Major...
The point of saying all this is to show that Li Shan understood roster adjustments.
But he couldn't understand why they were bringing in Meng Lang?
—A tier-two sniper-turned-rifler that even EG didn't want.
"What the hell! Does G2 management have holes in their brains? Would it kill them to spend a bit more money on a reliable rifler!?"
Cursing under his breath, Li Shan couldn't let it go and picked up his phone again to open the G2 CS fan Tieba. Sure enough, it was also filled with cursing.
He liked every single one of those hate posts one by one.
Suddenly, Li Shan felt a spark of curiosity and wanted to understand this Dark guy.
So he began searching for Meng Lang's earlier history.
Started playing CS at six, joined TYLOO at thirteen with the nickname "Kid Brother," father passed away at fifteen so he went to North America to play professionally to support his family—one of the most talented young players in CNCS's early days.
The next two and a half years.
Online, offline.
Named tournaments, no-name tournaments.
Those small events that even foreign tier-one pros, or even tier-two pros, looked down on.
As long as there was prize money, he played.
And every time, his Rating was consistently brutal.
A chance opportunity brought him into EG club's sights, successfully entering the main roster.
First appearance in a tier-one event, the BLAST Bounty Tournament.
Objectively speaking, Meng Lang's overall performance in this tournament really wasn't bad. Even when they lost, his Rating was always the green one!
Until that crucial match against TL.
Crucial round!
Fatal air-shot miss!
Hit him in the leg.
Then got headshot by a random spray!
It was over.
Bam!
His fist slammed heavily onto the desk!
In that instant,
a torrential feeling surged over him. He knew that was called unwillingness to accept.
In this life, who hasn't encountered one or two things they simply couldn't accept?
One could say that EliGE's lucky random-spray shot not only shattered EG's hopes of advancing, but also shattered the professional career of this newcomer Meng Lang, who had just ascended to tier-one events.
What followed was internal strife at EG, getting kicked by 2K's clique. Just when he thought the mountains and rivers had blocked his path with no way forward, he never expected to be picked up by G2.
Reading up to this point,
the originally furious Li Shan fell silent!
Undoubtedly, Meng Lang was a very inspirational and hardworking peer.
No, even younger than him.
Although Li Shan himself was a lazy dog, basically lying flat for three years of college with his family arranging a job for him after graduation anyway...
...he never looked down on people who worked hard.
Even if most hard work in this world doesn't lead to success,
hard work,
shouldn't be looked down upon.
He looked at that "G2-DarK" ID in the updated G2 roster on the Perfect World Community, and a suddenly indescribable, complex emotion welled up inside him.
His perception of Meng Lang had changed.
Saying he liked him...
...was still far from the truth.
Saying he disliked him,
it didn't seem like he disliked him that much anymore either.
It's just that doubts still remained in his mind.
In esports, being bad is the original sin.
Could this Dark really keep up with G2's pace?