“Holy shit!!!”
“What kind of spray transfer was that? Aimlock!”
“Honestly, that merciless AK headwash would be the really violent kind even in a cheat-review montage!”
“The kid threw so hard this game I thought it was going to overtime, and they actually won?!”
“As expected of Dark’s signature AK. That really did save the world!”
“That spray control—just now I saw Du shudder.”
“.”
In Douyu Room 6657, the bullet comments flooded the screen like a burst dam.
When Wan Jiqi saw the comment saying “Du shuddered,” he burst out laughing and shook his head as he explained:
“No! There’s nothing you can do about that, brothers! If it were you, you’d shudder too! Who the hell would expect that in a 1v3 post-plant clutch, someone wouldn’t hold the bomb, but would instead shift-walk right up into your face?! There really was nothing he could do!”
He paused, then analyzed in an amazed tone:
“And I feel like, this play from Dark wasn’t some kind of ‘clear read’ at all. This was purely about instant reaction and crosshair placement!”
“Du is still getting old. When it comes to reaction duels, the young guns still have the advantage.”
“Don’t forget, back when Dark played main AWPer, wasn’t he famous for being fast and accurate? His reaction speed has always been genuinely quick!”
“Someone’s asking if Zaiwu reacted? Zaiwu definitely reacted! But the problem is, his two teammates in front were completely blocking his line of fire! From his position, if he shot, he’d be shooting the back of his teammates’ heads! All he could do was stare and get headwashed along with his teammates!”
“To put it simply, Dark’s point-blank spray transfer was just too fast, too violent, too unreasonable!”
At this moment, viewers in the livestream room began sending gifts.
Wan Jiqi also thanked them with a grin:
“Thanks to ‘Nini Haiai Major Champion’ for the rocket! Thanks to ‘Boston Lobster’ for the plane! Thanks to ‘Xiao Li Goes Beachcombing’ for the plane… Thank you for the gifts, bosses! May the bosses never die and always feel great!”
Wan Jiqi gave a round of formulaic thanks.
After thanking them, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He changed the subject and said in a teasing, curious tone, “Eh, no, Dark played so hard-carry this match! So Carry! Are there no Dark fans here to send a gift and show some support?”
“Let me make it clear first, it’s not that I want gifts! I’m just purely curious. In our 6657 livestream room, could it be that there really aren’t any Dark fans?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the livestream chat was instantly drowned in all kinds of mockery and baiting comments:
“????????”
“Just take the planes from the NiKo and m0NESY fans and call it a day!”
“What honors does Dark have, may I ask?”
“Zaiwu has carried Vitality his whole life, and even then it’s just ‘love Zai glow sticks.’”
“.”
The chat was mocking enthusiastically.
Suddenly, a conspicuous gift notification swept across the top of the screen—[Dark Lord Dark666 has gifted Super Rocket ×1!]
A glittering golden Super Rocket effect instantly dominated the entire livestream room!
The mocking comments that had just been flying nonstop seemed to be grabbed by the throat. They froze for an instant, then were replaced by a sea of “???” and “Holy shit?”
“Isn’t the title Dark Lord way too edgy?”
“There really are Dark fans?”
“I won’t hide it anymore, I’ve also been a Dark fan for ten years!”
“No rocket, so I’ll send some love-Dark fishballs.”
“.”
Wan Jiqi was stunned for a moment as well, then smiled so wide he couldn’t close his mouth. He hurriedly thanked them loudly: “Thank you, boss ‘Dark Lord Dark666,’ for the Super Rocket!!! Thank you, boss! Wishing this… uh, looks like the first-generation Dark fan of our 6657 livestream room! Wishing the boss good health, all the best, happiness every day, never dying! Always feeling great!”
He added with a smile, “To show support for a good brother, when Dark streams later, I’ll re-gift this Super Rocket to him!”
“But just this once! Otherwise Douyu makes a killing, haha!”
Jianghai University dormitory.
Li Shan, who had just sent the first Super Rocket of his life, comfortably leaned back in a tactical recline and slightly narrowed his eyes, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
As an old fan of 6657, he usually only relied on glow sticks in the livestream room to raise his chat level.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford gifts.
His family had never lacked money since he was young; he simply upheld the principle of watching matches rationally.
He had never understood the “fan mentality” of throwing thousands for a player.
But this time, he understood.
Watching the full-screen comments in the livestream room go from doubt and mockery to instantly changing tune after being “slapped in the face” by a Super Rocket, Li Shan only felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction and the fulfillment of “backing up” his own player rising within him!
This feeling… really wasn’t bad!
Putting aside the heated discussions in the domestic livestream rooms for now.
At this moment, in the Antwerp studio, at G2’s player booth.
When Meng Lang completed that earth-shattering 1v3 spray transfer, and the words “Terrorists Win” popped up on the screen, the score finally freezing at 16:14—the entire G2 booth exploded completely!
“OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!”
Niko was the first to take off his headset and jump up. In his excitement, he raised both hands like pincers and let out an almost roaring shout!
He turned around and grabbed Meng Lang beside him, shaking him hard.
“Brother! You’re insane!”
huNter also excitedly pounded the table, his face flushed red.
Xiao Lizi let out a long breath, a relieved yet extremely excited smile appearing on his face. He clenched his fist hard and gestured toward Meng Lang.
Nice job, brother!
As for m0NESY…
During the A-site attack, because of his overly “disrespectful” peek against Zaiwu, he had been wallbanged dead in one shot. At the time, he had regretted it so much that he held his head in both hands and lowered it deeply, not even daring to look at the screen. His heart was filled with self-blame, thinking that because of his mistake, the match was about to be dragged into overtime.
However, in the next second, what came to his ears was not the sound effect of defeat, but his teammates’ deafening cheers of ecstasy!
He suddenly raised his head, his face still carrying shock and confusion, only to see Old Ni raising his pincers high and roaring excitedly.
And on the screen… it was shockingly the kill feed of Meng Lang’s AK spray-transfer triple kill and a huge “VICTORY” sign!
After a brief daze,
the enormous joy instantly washed away his previous regret!
“YES!!” The kid also waved his fist hard in excitement, springing up from his seat. He turned around and fiercely high-fived Meng Lang beside him in celebration, even wishing he could give him a huge hug!
This was already the second time today on Map One that after he had been executed by Zaiwu, Meng Lang had used an unbelievable performance to slay Zaiwu and “avenge” him.
Looking at the Vitality player booth across from them, at Zaiwu’s rare expression—lips pressed together, obvious frustration and gloom on his face—besides wild joy, m0NESY couldn’t help but feel a trace of schadenfreude.
So… you also have times when you get beaten so badly you feel this depressed?
As for Meng Lang, he slowly released the mouse and gently let out a breath. At last, a faint, relieved smile appeared on his face.
Playing against a team like Vitality, the pressure in clutch situations was far greater than imagined.
Fortunately,
he had withstood the pressure.
Immediately afterward, the post-match stat panel appeared.
When Meng Lang’s stats for this game were clearly displayed on the big screen, the entire 6657 livestream room once again welcomed a new climax of bullet comments!
【G2-Dark】
K/D: 30/15
ADR: 124.7
Rating: 2.19
“Holy shit! A 2.19 Rating?!”
“Two more kills than Zaiwu? Rating broke 2?”
“What the hell, is he smurfing? That’s 30 kills!”
“See that, Big Potato? If you’d killed two more, you could’ve won too.”
“Forget it. At least G2 had four green and one red on Map One.”
“True. On Big Potato’s side, aside from him being green, only Du at 1.12 looked human. The other three were all fucking red—what were they supposed to win with?”
“.”
In the 6657 livestream room.
Looking at Meng Lang’s exaggerated stats, Wan Jiqi couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath and exclaim:
“30 kills! A 2.19 Rating! Brothers… what kind of concept is this?”
“This means that across all of Inferno on Map One, Dark was practically carrying the match by himself! To produce stats like this at a Major-level event, against a strong team like Vitality… it’s not excessive for me to say the value is maxed out, right?!”
“All I can say is, a person like this deserves to win!”
“.”
“Huh? Someone in chat is asking who doesn’t deserve to win?”
When Wan Jiqi saw that comment, he almost couldn’t hold it in. He laughed and shook his head as he said, “No, brother, you’re being a little too strict. Although Brother Zai lost Map One, he still killed 28. No matter what, it’s not to the point where you can say he didn’t deserve to win.”
Looking at Vitality’s stat panel, Wan Jiqi couldn’t help but sigh again: “Actually, I think Big Potato really tried his best this game. He got 28 kills alone, and his Rating was also 1.81. He was absolutely the director of a ‘tried his best’ game.”
“But I feel like this year’s Vitality, with this all-star lineup on paper, has meshed even worse than G2.”
At this point, he seemed to suddenly remember something and added with great interest, “Eh, actually, maybe that’s not quite right. Let me tell everyone something interesting. G2’s team chemistry in the first half of the year was actually very bad too. Do you guys still remember them going out in one round during the ESL group stage earlier this year?”
“Watching that tournament, the feeling G2 gave overall was just a bunch of star players. They all had individual strength, but they just couldn’t produce results. Their situation was kind of like Vitality’s right now.”
“But this Antwerp Major, G2 directly crushed their way into the 2-0 pool in the Challengers Stage. Let’s not overpraise or overcriticize, just simply control the variables. Compared to the previous ESL group-stage one-round exit, the only difference between the two is that G2 chose to bench Jackz and loaned in Dark.”
“And as a result, look—he really did activate the entire team all at once!”
He paused, then said half-jokingly, half-analytically, “So I feel like Vitality, this galactic battleship, might currently be missing a ‘catalyst’ who can activate the roster.”
“And this person definitely can’t be an AWPer. He has to be a rifler. Mm, preferably a free-roaming one…”
Wan Jiqi was about to say more.
Suddenly, he glanced at the chat, and immediately raised his volume in both amusement and helplessness:
“Holy shit! You fuckers were saying ‘the kid didn’t deserve to win’?!”
“You’re making a fuss over nothing, brothers! I fucking thought someone was saying ‘Zaiwu didn’t deserve to win,’ and I spent all that time explaining it to you!”
He helplessly shook his head, then defended the kid again: “But then again, how does the kid not deserve to win? I think the kid played pretty well this game! His stats are positive too. Although he did make some small mistakes in key rounds, they were harmless, okay? Hey, hey, hey, I’m really not baiting this time!”
“Alright, alright, no more nonsense.”
Seeing that the situation was turning wrong, Wan Jiqi restrained his smile and pulled the topic back to the match. “Map One, Inferno, was Vitality’s own pick, and in the end G2 took it. Then the next map, Nuke, is G2’s actively chosen strong map.”
“Here, as a neutral commentator, I still hope Vitality can adjust their state properly.”
“Especially Zaiwu. You absolutely can’t let the negative emotions from the first map affect you. You are Vitality’s absolute core. This team needs you to step up so badly, Zaiwu!”
At this time, at Vitality’s player booth during the break between maps, the atmosphere seemed somewhat heavy.
Even the usually most active “mad dog,” apEX, was rarely quiet for a while. He held both hands behind his head and stared at the screen, lost in thought.
Zaiwu leaned straight back against his gaming chair.
As soon as he closed his eyes, Meng Lang’s several key highlights from Map One replayed uncontrollably in his mind!
Especially that four-kill Scout round from the second-half eco force.
That point,
Zaiwu originally had a chance to take it.
If only he had handled it a little better then, been a little more decisive…
One thought’s difference had ruined a favorable situation.
This left him especially unable to let it go.
And just as Zaiwu sank into a brief self-reflection,
apEX had already completed his self-adjustment.
The French captain suddenly sat up straight and clapped his hands hard, his voice returning to its usual passion:
“Brothers! Listen to me! On Map One, that newcomer Dark from G2’s outburst was indeed a little beyond our expectations. And our intel was wrong. We may have underestimated his proficiency on Inferno. Damn it! Was that guy pretending when he played Liquid?”
As he spoke, he suddenly waved his hand, as if to disperse this meaningless speculation. “Forget it. We can’t worry about that much! But you all know this: young players are like that. They have explosive power, but often can’t sustain it!”
apEX changed the subject, his gaze becoming sharp: “Next map, Nuke! Although it’s their pick, you all know very clearly what kind of map Nuke is, right?”
He asked and answered himself, his tone gradually filling with confidence:
“It’s a universally recognized ‘CT-sided map’!”
“The CT advantage is even greater than on Inferno! We can choose side first and play CT, using the map advantage to punish them hard! The key is to cool down that Dark on the other side, whose hands just got hot!”
“Nuke is the most complex map in the current map pool. This kind of map actually doesn’t suit aim stars. As long as we can take Map Two, Nuke, then Map Three, Dust2, is our absolute strong map! Today, the ones advancing to the Legends Stage will be us!”
He clapped hard again and began cooking up rich “French chicken soup”: “Alright, guys! Don’t hang your heads! Think about the trophies you’ve won! Think about the championships you’ve once taken! Every single person here is a champion player who has fought through countless battles! Since we’ve come together, that means we are still destined to win championships!”
“They can beat us on our map pick. Why can’t we beat them back on theirs?!”
It had to be said, apEX’s ability to control the room and unite the team was truly top-tier.
After that speech, the gloom on the faces of Vitality’s players was swept away, and fighting spirit reignited in their eyes.
That’s right!
They, these veterans, had played for so many years. What great storms had they not seen? What genius youths had they not seen?
How many genius youths had risen?
Like crucian carp crossing the river!
And how many geniuses had fallen?
Gone, never to return.
How could they be afraid of a CN player who had only just carried one map?
At this moment, even the nice-guy coach Zonic behind them was infected by the atmosphere. He suddenly stood up and began to take over:
“That’s right! That’s it!”
“Don’t let one defeat bind us! In fact, losing one map might not necessarily be a bad thing. It can help us discover problems faster…”
After a brief intermission and adjustment, the players from both sides entered the server again.
Antwerp Major Challengers Stage!
G2 vs Vitality!
Map Two—Nuke!
Officially begins!
6657 livestream room!
Wan Jiqi hurriedly switched back from Mina’s livestream room!
“Alright, brothers, Map Two, Nuke, is about to start. I’m Wan Jiqi, Ma Xing. Next, let’s first watch the pistol round.”