[Host information detected!]
[Goat System binding initiated!]
[This system provides guidance to the host during the novice period, allowing the host to step onto the Stairway to Godhood one step at a time.]
Novice period?
Meng Lang carefully examined the panel in his mind. As a young man who often read web novels, he was no stranger to the so-called “Deep Blue.”
But wasn’t this system a bit off?
His novice period could probably be traced back twelve years ago, to the summer when he was six years old. That was when he first encountered a computer at his aunt’s house, standing beside his middle-aged uncle and five-year-old cousin, and from then on he was unstoppable, opening the door to CS.
That was his novice period.
But for this system to arrive only now, wasn’t it a bit too late? The key point is, I don’t need a novice system right now!!
Before Meng Lang could think much more, a mechanical voice sounded in his mind.
[Binding complete.]
[Host: Meng Lang]
[Age: 18]
[Title: None]
[Basic Gunplay (Aiming, Spray Control, Spray Transfer, Flick Shot): 79 (Damaged State)]
[Reaction (Target Acquisition, Instant Reaction, Multi-Target Processing): 91]
[Game Sense (Position Selection, Information Processing, Offense-Defense Transition): 71]
[Maps: Dust II (90) [Folded].]
[Weapons: AWP (79+10→89)]
[Assignable Attribute Points: 0]
[Skills: None]
[Goat Points: 233 (Collecting)]
(Value Ranks: 90+ is World T0 Level, 80-90 is T1 Level, 70-80 is T2 Level, 60 is the minimum professional passing grade.)
(System Evaluation: How terrifying!!! As a novice, your gunplay actually approaches the top tier! Your reaction is comparable to world-class star players! While your game sense and map pool are somewhat lacking, as a novice you are already a heaven-blessed talent! Truly the greatest gift heaven could send to CN CS!! Recommended announcement to the world: “The 17-year-old Goat is on his way—”!!!)
???
Meng Lang was utterly dumbfounded by the system’s storm of praise.
Recommended announcement to the world: “The 17-year-old Goat is on his way”?
The greatest gift heaven sent to CN CS?
The corner of his eye twitched!
Fine, back when the newborn calf feared no tiger, Meng Lang had indeed thought this way when he first entered the professional scene. But after playing professionally in the European and American shark tank for so long, witnessing what it meant for “heroes of the world to pass like fish in a river,” such thoughts had long since vanished.
Meng Lang still remembered the heated comment a netizen had left about him on HLTV not long ago.
—Innate talent in reaction speed and AWP specialization propped up the illusion of him being a tier-1 player, but his game sense, map imbalances, and sudden hand injury directly tore away his fig leaf. My suggestion: learn to check the minimap before retiring.
Fucking savage!
Well, also quite fair.
But this Goat System sure knew how to lay on the praise. The corner of Meng Lang’s lips unconsciously curved into a smile.
Ahem.
At this moment, the mechanical voice echoed in his mind once more.
[Congratulations, Host, on binding with the system. The Novice Starter Pack (three pieces) is about to be distributed!]
[Claim now?]
Huh? There’s still a novice three-piece set?
Although novice items might be useless to him, Meng Lang still felt that if it was free, he might as well take it—he was the kind of guy who would pack up the hotel toiletries when leaving.
[Claim.]
Ding ding ding—!
[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the “CS:GO Firearm and Map Manual.”]
[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining “Beginner Energy Potion”—restores your energy and repairs your overdrawn body. (Can be obtained from quest chests with a certain probability.)]
[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the rare skill “Spider Sense: Beginner (0/100)—When you collect enough information during a match, you will have a certain chance to generate a sixth sense that guides you!”]
Meng Lang stared at these rewards. Initially somewhat indifferent, he was now stunned.
Spider Sense?
Peter’s spider-sense?
If it’s not toggled off, it’s not cheating, right?
That’s fucking outrageous!
However, seeing the explanation behind it—when you collect enough information during a match, you will have a certain chance to generate a sixth sense that guides you—Meng Lang fell into thoughtful contemplation.
It required gathering information to make judgments? Then it didn’t seem like much.
After all, certain pro players nicknamed “Big Sweet Potato” were born with this anyway.
As for the [Beginner Energy Potion], Meng Lang’s heart stirred slightly. The right hand tucked in his pocket touched a hard, unidentified object—wait, it’s not morning—no, that’s not right!
Meng Lang pulled it out and discovered a test tube full of green liquid in his hand. It looked like Gul’dan’s fel green juice. Looking again at the description: restores energy and repairs the overdrawn body.
Meng Lang pocketed it first, then shifted his gaze upward to the “CS:GO Firearm and Map Manual.”
This thing was the most typical novice starter pack item, but he didn’t really need it. After all, his novice period could be traced back ten years ago; as a professional player now, why would he need to learn the guns?
Yet the very next second, the moment he opened the “CS:GO Firearm and Map Manual,” Meng Lang’s consciousness was abruptly dragged inside.
Without warning, a space resembling an aim training room appeared before his eyes. On the walls were all kinds of CS:GO firearms, and he could even add BOTs for practice.
Scrolling down further.
There was also an option to freely add “virtual mirror images” of opponents he had faced within the last month onto the maps, as well as simulate solo 1v1s, team 5v5s, and recreate clutch situations.
Ding—!
[Friendly reminder: Host’s simulated training can only be used during sleep and requires the consumption of a certain amount of Goat Points.]
Uh?
An intracranial aim training room in his dreams?
Meng Lang was slightly stunned, then immediately understood.
His heart stirred, and his consciousness immersed itself into the “CS:GO Firearm and Map Manual” once more.
Sure enough, all of CS:GO’s maps appeared in Meng Lang’s mind, freely accessible. The opponents he could add were the FaZe Clan players from the last online scrim he had booked back at EG two weeks ago.
Wait!
Didn’t this mean that from now on, he could practice aiming intracranially without booting up a machine, and find people to practice with without booking scrims?
Meng Lang instantly realized what this meant for a professional player.
For any top-tier professional, talent was only one part; they also needed massive amounts of tedious training. The absurd in-game hours of many star players who debuted as teenage prodigies was proof of this.
In the past, Meng Lang had charged forward purely on talent, without laying a solid foundation.
When his talent was exhausted, his ceiling was reached.
Thus, some players with less talent than him had gone further down the professional path.
At his debut, Meng Lang’s best map was Dust II. Even after two and a half years in the North American youth academy, the only map he could truly showcase was still Dust II.
But this intracranial training that the Goat System had prepared for novices actually took place during sleep!
This “post-sleep training” was no different from giving him a chance to mend the pen after the sheep were lost—a chance to rebuild his foundation.
Moreover, it could improve his problem of having too shallow a “map pool.”
But the question was!
What exactly were [Goat Points], which were needed for intracranial training?
With this question in his heart, the familiar mechanical voice immediately provided an explanation in his mind.
[The Host can obtain Goat Points by completing randomly issued system quests, or through emotions—a born star player’s growth is destined to make the world focus on you. All emotions triggered by the Host, such as shock, anger, mockery, praise, etc., can be collected and converted into Goat Points.]
[Current Goat Points: 233]
233?
Where did that come from?
A flash of inspiration crossed Meng Lang’s mind. He took out his phone and opened the two posts he had just simultaneously updated on Weibo and Instagram. In the comment sections, some people offered comfort, while quite a few haters hurled cold mockery and ridicule at him.
As comments on the two platforms increased, the Goat Points on the system panel indeed rose slowly. Meng Lang roughly estimated that about two comments equated to 1 Goat Point.
Hmm, why only one point for two comments?
Was this a conversion formula?
Or rather, the Goat Points he obtained actually had nothing to do with comments, but rather with emotions?
After all, there was a group of people on the internet who wanted to comment on everything they saw without actually having any emotional fluctuations—to put it simply, they were emotionless commenting machines, no different from daily check-ins in group chats.
But this was still not bad!
Meng Lang’s lips immediately curved into a grin.
He was optimistic and loved sharing by nature. Even after losing a match, he would post a status first.
In the past, this was his way of decompressing.
But now, it happened to convert into the Goat Points he needed for simulated matches.
This was truly an end-to-end pipeline!
Meng Lang thought delightedly. His gaze soon landed on [Assignable Attribute Points] at the bottom of the panel, and the mechanical voice echoed in his mind once more.
[When the Host executes a “Goat Play” as judged by the system in professional tournaments, free attribute points will be rewarded. These can be directly allocated to raise the Host’s attribute values.]
Goat Play?
Wait!
What kind of play counted as a Goat Play?
Something on the level of s1mple’s no-scope angel that made Valve add a map graffiti?
That was too difficult!
Over the years, only a scant few like s1mple, olofmeister, and Coldzera had received that honor.
Didn’t that mean his opportunities to raise his attributes were extremely slim?
Meng Lang couldn’t help but ask, “Can my attributes… only be improved through attribute points obtained by pulling off Goat Plays right now?”
[The Host can also improve “slowly” through simulated training and real training.]
Great!
Upon receiving the reply that “training can also improve,” Meng Lang immediately felt relieved, and a smile appeared on his face.
Although it was described as slow improvement, who knew how slow… but improvement was all that mattered!
Furthermore, the system could now help him see his improvements very intuitively.
Positive feedback was important!
This novice system had arrived not one bit too late!
Meng Lang couldn’t help but feel somewhat wistful!
If this Goat System had loaded when he was six and first encountered CS, perhaps he truly could have become the Chosen One, the gift heaven bestowed upon CN CS…
But now… it wasn’t too late, right.
Contentment brings happiness.
The corner of Meng Lang’s mouth stretched into a grin.
The mechanical voice echoed in his mind once more.
[A small step for the novice, a giant leap for the Goat! Future Goat, victory is your passport, and the ranked battlefield shall now engrave your awakening! Activate the Perfect World Premier engine, and claim your first victory with precision and strategy.]
[Novice Normal Quest: Battle of Breaking the Cocoon—The Trial of the First Ranked Win.]
[Quest Reward: [Time-Lag Anti-Entropy Bandage]; Goat Points +100.]
[Tip: Completing the quest has a chance to drop a treasure chest.]
Wait a minute.
Perfect World Premier?
Seeing his very first novice quest, Meng Lang almost couldn’t keep his composure.
He had been playing FPL (FACEIT Pro League) abroad. His Perfect World Premier account probably hadn’t been played on for a while. Moreover, asking a professional player to get a single win on Perfect World Premier.
Could this really count as a quest?
Wasn’t it too easy?
But!
He liked it!
Meng Lang’s gaze fell on the reward. What was this Time-Lag Anti-Entropy Bandage?
With a thought,
a prompt sounded in his mind.
[Time-Lag Anti-Entropy Bandage: When wrapped around the hand, it can suppress the Host’s hand injury and slowly reverse and heal it. (Curative effect is better during intense hand usage; can only be used on the Host).]
The instant he saw this reward description, Meng Lang’s entire body trembled, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face!
What did it mean by intense hand usage! Ah, no! This thing could actually cure his hand injury?
One must know that Meng Lang’s diagnosis last year was “fracture of the neck of the fifth metacarpal, soft tissue damage, and neurovascular damage.” Although he had recovered after nearly half a year of rehabilitation, there were long-term complications, causing “traumatic arthritis, and dysfunction of fine motor skills in the hand due to incomplete recovery of nerve damage.”
In fact, this was the predicament Meng Lang currently faced. What he had built his fame on was the AWP’s frontal duels—both fast and accurate.
But ever since the hand injury, his AWP only had speed left. After transitioning to a rifler, the results weren’t ideal either.
But now, the bandage rewarded by this quest could not only suppress his hand injury during matches, but also inconceivably repair it.
How could Meng Lang not be excited!
He admitted,
he had spoken a bit too loudly just now!
This Goat System had not only not arrived late!
It had arrived at the perfect time!
At this moment, Meng Lang only wished he could immediately go win that first match and redeem the novice quest reward.
But the next second, his expression turned somewhat awkward. Having been kicked from the base, he currently had no place to stay, let alone a computer.
You needed a computer to get a win, right?
Go to an internet café?
Meng Lang hesitated slightly.
Just then, the phone in his pocket rang.
“Like a fledgling that still cannot fly, I once lamented my own powerlessness. O sorrow! Quickly turn into wings. Yesterday, I only trembled and waited, until dreams walked toward me!”
He waited until the legendary diva spanning the Showa and Heisei eras used her soaring voice to sing that line, “Riding on the back of a silver dragon, carry it forth, the vortex that breeds rain clouds,” before Meng Lang finally answered the phone, fully satisfied.
Caller—Nikola Kovač.
“Heard you left the team, Bro? Got time to come help fill a slot at G2?”
Meng Lang: ???
Germany, Berlin.
The Antwerp Major was imminent. With only one week until the Challengers Stage, G2’s fan forums were in an uproar.
“G2, what’s the situation this year?”
“At IEM Katowice they fell short in the Grand Final, losing 2-3 to FaZe. Fine, whatever. But EPL S15 they actually went out in the group stage without even making playoffs. Are they even human?”
“That’s nothing. Last year the Bosnian brothers nearly burned themselves into two relics.”
“This year they brought in Aleksib and m0NESY, even calling it the ‘strongest roster on paper,’ yet EPL S15 was a group stage exit. Absolutely ridiculous.”
“JaCkz is an invisible feeder who somehow wasn’t benched this year. It’s fucking absurd. Well, at least they qualified for the RMR a while back.”
“They played so badly at the RMR, they might as well not have qualified. They should just forfeit the Antwerp Major. No need to humiliate themselves in the Challengers Stage.”
“…”
At this moment, G2’s club management was also numb.
This year, they had benched former IGL nexa and former primary AWP AmaNEk. They had not only purchased the 16-year-old Russian prodigy m0NESY from the NAVI youth team for six hundred thousand dollars, but also brought in the IGL Aleksib, who “excelled at building solid default tactics,” from OG. They even changed coaches to XTQZZZ.
They were determined to solve their weak AWP position and rigid tactical problems in one go, building the strongest “Galaxy Battleship” on paper to contend for a championship!
But who would have thought that after two months,
hope came fast,
and left even faster.
At the G2 club base.
XTQZZZ, the new coach who had replaced maLeK this year, rubbed his bald head with a headache. Turning to NiKo, he said, “Bro, can we trust the Asian player you recommended?”
The man across from the coach had distinct contours, a tall nose bridge, and slightly prominent brow ridges. Hearing this, he shrugged helplessly and said, “There’s no point in talking about trust now. The key is, where are we going to find a suitable substitute at a time like this?”
Unlike LoL next door, CS Majors and large tournaments like IEM did allow substitutes, but the rules were strict. Advance registration was required, and valid proof had to be provided in emergency situations.
A temporary mid-tournament change was possible, but it carried penalties of point deductions or prize money forfeits.
“What about Jackz?”
“He said he still wants to try.”
“Try? Then show some form!”
The bald coach suddenly flared up.
Fuck!
Playing like that in matches,
and still saying he wants to try,
does he have to drag everyone down with him?
But immediately after,
he let out a sigh.
Although JaCkz’s individual stats and match impact were at the bottom of the starting roster, making him the most criticized player in G2’s current lineup, this man’s tactical sacrifice and professional attitude over three years at G2 were evident to the bald coach.
He knew there was nothing to hate there.
He was practically the benchmark for “non-star players.”
Replacing him without a word made sense on paper, but not psychologically.
It was a bit inhumane.
Well, in this regard, G2 was still better than EG.
However, professional clubs
were not places for sentiment after all.
The bald coach pondered for a few seconds, then finally made his decision. “Then wait for that Dark you mentioned to join the team and let him adapt. After that, book a scrim with Jackz.”
“Compete for the spot?” NiKo asked.
“Winner stays.”
The bald coach left after saying these words.
NiKo turned to look at his cousin beside him. Both their expressions held helplessness and exhaustion.
This pair of Bosnian brothers, one an entry fragger and the other a lurker, had truly been carrying G2 forward through the quagmire in recent years.
Burned out.
They were really almost burned out.
One day later, Meng Lang arrived at the G2 club base pulling a suitcase.
“This G2 is pretty damn luxurious!”
Meng Lang looked around the moment he entered.
G2 was indeed one of Europe’s most prestigious clubs. In a bustling district of Berlin, they possessed a large multi-functional complex. According to Old Niko, the base integrated audio-visual entertainment, and the basement even had the standard CS club gym.
No choice—CS professional players were martially vigorous, and most revered being muscular men!
Meng Lang tidied his hair in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass at the club entrance, then straightened his back and strode into the G2 club with his head held high.
Five minutes later, after putting down his luggage and being notified to go to the manager’s office, Meng Lang “coincidentally” ran into JaCkz.
—That is, the “tumor” in the eyes of G2 fans, the person competing with him for the roster spot at the Antwerp Major.
“Bro, nice to meet you. I’m Dark.”
The moment they met, Meng Lang enthusiastically extended his hand.
So enthusiastic that JaCkz felt slightly uncomfortable.
After all, the two of them were currently in a competitive relationship.
To say they were fire and water would be subjective,
but objectively, it was either you or me…
In the end, only one person could stay on the team.
Was there a need to be so enthusiastic?
Hah!
Hypocritical Easterner!
However, some people were impossible to refuse. Faced with that sunshiney, cheerful big-boy smile, the French player JaCkz still subconsciously raised his hand, a trace of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“JaCkz.”
After speaking, he quickly reined in the smile at the corner of his mouth.
Can’t let my guard down!
“Hey hey! I know.”
But Meng Lang very familiarly draped his arm over JaCkz’s shoulder, grinning carefreely as he said:
“What a coincidence! I also just got kicked from EG. But there’s a Chinese saying: All things in their being are good for something! Heaven endowed me with talent, must be useful; a tree moved dies, a man moved lives. Changing to a new team might just be a new vast horizon!”
This sounded quite comforting.
But JaCkz somehow felt something was off.
Wait!
Fuck!
I haven’t left yet?!
And you already know you’ll be the one staying?
Thinking this, this rare “veteran player” of the CS professional scene looked a bit ugly.
Born in ’92, he had only risen to prominence in top-tier events after age 30. In his early career, he had moved between French tier-2 teams, only entering the mainstream after joining G2 in 2018. His career had faced multiple crises of being benched or made a substitute…
But, he had endured them all!
Furthermore.
JaCkz gave the Asian-faced Meng Lang a sidelong glance.
What kind of flower could bloom from an FPS wasteland like CN?
Then let’s compete openly and honestly once more!
G2 Manager’s Office.
After formally notifying both of them of the “compete for the spot” arrangement previously discussed by the coaching staff, manager NiaK also informed them that in two days there would be a scrim—opponents were Astralis, ranked eighth on the T10 team list released by HLTV in January.
Manager NiaK’s conversation was candid and open, with nothing hidden. He directly stated that this scrim against Astralis would determine who among them could participate in this Antwerp Major.
He told them to go all out.
“Definitely.”
Meng Lang said with a smile.
Although he was optimistic, he wasn’t so optimistic as to think that NiKo making a call would make a club of G2’s level unhesitatingly let him replace a veteran team member to play the Major.
JaCkz, however, was slightly stunned.
So it had finally come to this moment?
“OK! I’ll prove myself.”
After coming back to his senses, he nodded solemnly.
Manager NiaK said a few more words, and Meng Lang and JaCkz left the office one after another.
At the end of the corridor, Meng Lang smiled and raised his hand, as if wanting to bump fists to motivate each other.
“Bro, let’s go for it together!”
But this time JaCkz didn’t raise his hand. He merely glanced sideways at Meng Lang, then turned and left the corridor with a cold face.
Meng Lang’s hand hung awkwardly in midair.
But the next second,
a hand landed on his shoulder.
“Don’t mind him. He’s actually a good guy.”
NiKo patted Meng Lang’s shoulder. The two of them watched JaCkz’s departing figure together.
Meng Lang scratched his head.
“I don’t really mind. I just feel kinda sorry for Bro.”
Young Niko shook his head and sighed, “If there were any other way, the coaches and management wouldn’t want to substitute anyone. G2 can’t afford to lose again this year.”
Wasn’t that so?
At the beginning of this year, G2 had reassembled their roster with heavy investment. When the news was officially announced, their Weibo had even self-deprecatingly added, “There’s no reason for our new roster to still have zero championships this year, right?”
But how could one not admit G2 had a way with words!
From the current situation, G2 really might completely bottom out and charge toward zero titles this year!
It truly was “speaking things into existence.”
And although this wasn’t all JaCkz’s fault alone, JaCkz was undoubtedly the biggest problem.
The community’s assessment of him was that “he can neither entry nor lurk, can only barely defend specific areas, and being in the middle position serves no core function whatsoever.”
Meng Lang caught the trace of melancholy in Old Niko’s tone.
Like the dream-chasing Factory Manager from next door, NiKo had fought on the competitive stage for so many years, desperately craving a Major championship. If he missed this Antwerp Major,
when would the next chance be,
and who could know?
“Don’t worry.”
Suddenly, Meng Lang patted Old Niko’s shoulder and pointed at himself.
“I’ll take action!”
When he said this, the young man’s face radiated vitality.
His entire body inexplicably carried an uplifting, heartening infectiousness!
Young Niko was stunned for a second, then suddenly laughed and cursed:
“Bro, you should worry about securing your spot on the team first.”
As he said this, the scene from this year’s debut match of the young man in a tier-1 tournament surfaced in his mind.
This optimistic youth he had watched grow up had erupted into a completely different side during the match.
Violent!
Furious!
Completely unhinged!
But NiKo understood.
Because he felt that if it were him,
getting killed by a counter-shot after missing a crucial AWP shot, he might have also thrown a vicious punch.
Yes!
NiKo and Meng Lang were the same kind of person.
Beneath their seemingly sunshiney and cheerful personalities, both buried an extreme thirst for victory at their core!
This was also the reason he had recommended Meng Lang for the team this time.
“Come, I’ll take you to the training room to look at the computers. Set up your peripherals, and prepare well these next few days. Management hasn’t fully decided who will stay yet.”
“No problem. Also…”
“What?”
“Who’s covering the plane ticket to get here?”
NiKo looked at Meng Lang’s serious face and couldn’t help but laugh-cry. “Relax, you’re here for a trial. What club wouldn’t reimburse your travel expenses?”
“I know there are clubs that only reimburse fifty bucks.”
“???”