Device’s overall tournament Rating at the 2019 Berlin Major reached 1.32,
and in the grand final of that Major, he put up a 1.71 Rating.
He is currently the record holder for the highest Rating at a Major—of course, those who only played one or two maps definitely don’t count.
At that moment, Wan Jiqi suddenly widened his eyes again:
“Also, let me tell you guys! There’s one more terrifying thing! At this Antwerp Major, Dark has already gotten five aces in just the Challengers Stage alone, including three pistol rounds!”
“My god! Is this guy even human?!”
“I’ve got nothing else to say! Just wait for the Legends Stage, all right! I have a feeling that by the time this Major is over, a lot of Dark’s stats are going to shock a whole lot of people!”
The live chat was also flooding the screen like crazy.
“Haters, say something!”
“This is fucking slaughter!!”
“Where are the people who said everyone was overhyping him?”
“Holy shit! It feels like after Dark injured his hand, he just went straight into overdrive!! First time I’ve ever seen a sniper switch to rifler and be this ridiculous.”
“So you were the real ‘sudden enlightenment’ superman! This guy isn’t using cheats, is he?”
“.”
At this moment, on the MVP voting page beneath HLTV’s post-match stats, the votes for Meng Lang’s profile photo were skyrocketing!
Wan Jiqi exclaimed again!
“Good lord! In today’s BO3, Dark’s MVP support rate is 96.3%! A ton of people overseas are voting for Dark like crazy!”
“Then there’s nothing else to say. I’m giving this vote to Dark too, all right.”
At that moment, a comment suddenly floated past in the live chat.
“Jiqi, Jiqi! You think Dark won’t win a Major just one year after getting onto the big stage, right?”
Wan Jiqi, who had just finished voting, happened to catch sight of this comment and couldn’t help laughing as he said:
“Win a Major in one year?”
“No, no, no! Bro! Seriously, don’t! All right! I think that’s a bit too absurd. Then what are you supposed to make of those players who never won a Major in their entire professional careers? Like, uh—never mind, no examples. Anyway, are you still going to let them keep playing? That’d just feel awful, all right.”
Seeing the chat all discussing it, Wan Jiqi couldn’t help explaining further:
“Why do I say it’s a bit too absurd? Mainly because when young players get hot and their aim starts getting fierce, that kind of thing really does happen. Every Major has dark horses like that, all right!”
“But the reason you can be fierce when you first show up is because there’s very little data on you in tier-one tournaments. Everyone doesn’t have time to study you.”
“The problem is, once you play more, the database gets updated. The other teams aren’t pushovers. Take those traditional powerhouse teams that have long been in the Legends Stage—those teams have all kinds of experienced coaches, analysts, and veterans. Once everyone realizes, oh! There’s a kid who came up through the Challengers Stage this Major, and his AK is flying in the sky.”
“Once everyone realizes you’re good, every team is definitely going to study you. They’ll casually watch your demos for two days, analyze you, study your habits! Your positioning! What you like to do and when you like doing it. Then in matches, they’ll target you and catch your timings. Seriously, once they study you, it all blows up!”
“Dark is definitely going to get studied like crazy this time, because his stats in the Challengers Stage are way too ridiculous! His stats are way too impactful!”
“So someone in chat asked, will Dark win a Major this time after just one year? All I can say is, watch more matches. Once you watch more matches, you won’t ask this kind of almost impossible question.”
“Here, I just hope Dark’s fans can keep a level head. Don’t raise your expectations too high just because of the matches before this.”
“On this point, I think Dark himself should be the same. For now, don’t think about things like winning a Major in one year or whatever. In short, don’t aim too high too soon.”
“All right, let’s stop talking about this for now. The interview’s starting. Let’s watch the interview first. Today’s interview is definitely going to Dark.”
In the Antwerp studio.
A tall host in a striking purple suit walked toward the G2 player area with a microphone in hand.
“Hey! Congratulations, buddy! You played absolutely amazing today!” The person who had come over was none other than Banks, known for his professional, steady style and high-EQ interviews, jokingly called by fans the “world’s number one interviewer.”
“Thank you. Is this for an interview?”
“Of course!” Banks’s smile grew even brighter as he brought the microphone closer. “Your performance today conquered audiences all over the world. Everyone’s waiting to hear the voice of our young MVP player!”
After a simple exchange of greetings, the interview officially began. Banks adjusted himself, then asked in his signature calm tone:
“First of all, congratulations again to G2, and congratulations to you, Dark. Today, you defeated a powerful Vitality side and successfully advanced to the Legends Stage of this Major with a 3-0 record. At this moment, what do you want to say the most?”
Meng Lang pondered for a moment, then said with a sincere smile on his face, “Mm... I’m just very happy. Because today’s opponent really was very strong, and the match was very difficult, so in the end, being able to win, our whole team is very happy.”
Banks nodded, then naturally moved on to the second question, which was also the one the audience cared about most:
“We noticed that in today’s match, you had many incredible highlight plays, and some of your moves could even be called unbelievable.”
“For example, on map one, Inferno, at that crucial moment, you used the Scout to suddenly turn around and headshot ZywOo. How did you realize there was someone behind you at the time? And how did you complete such a precise, even inconceivable play?”
Meng Lang listened, thought about it very seriously, then gestured as he said, “It was just... I suddenly felt like there was someone behind me, so I turned around and used my mouse to put my crosshair on his head.”
As he spoke, he even raised his hand and demonstrated the motion of turning around and flicking his aim without anything in front of him, his expression extremely sincere.
As soon as those words came out, the chat in the 6657 live stream and on every major platform instantly exploded:
“???”
“Dark, you bastard, you really know how to show off!”
“He seems like... he’s explaining it very seriously?”
“He’s even trying to teach us!”
“‘Use your mouse to put the crosshair on his head.’ I’ve learned it. I’ll play like that next time!”
“No, bro! First, you’ve gotta tell us how the hell you ‘suddenly felt’ it?!”
“.”
Banks looked at Meng Lang’s perfectly serious explanation and couldn’t help laughing too.
He worked hard to maintain his professionalism as a host and continued asking:
“Today’s match between you and Vitality really was extremely tense. On map two, Nuke, you even lost the match when it was just one step away from going into overtime.”
“I noticed that after that loss, after losing Nuke on your own map pick, everyone seemed to have some emotional issues. The players on your team appeared somewhat dejected at one point, even in pain. Was that the case?”
As soon as this question came out, Niko, Aleksib, and the others standing behind Meng Lang and packing up their peripherals all slowed their movements and fell silent.
That loss on Nuke really had nearly shattered everyone’s mentality.
However, Meng Lang only gave a light laugh and nodded frankly. “Yes. Failure naturally brings pain.”
“But if failure had no pain at all, victory would not be so sweet. We adjusted very quickly and focused on the next map.”
If failure had no pain at all, victory would not be so sweet?
Standing behind them, coach XTQZZZ froze when he heard this. He had originally thought Meng Lang would say something like “Actually, we were fine” to avoid the question.
But he had never expected this seventeen-year-old youngster to be able to speak such mature words with such calm honesty.
For a moment, his impression of Meng Lang gained another layer.
At the side, old Niko heard these unexpected words and couldn’t help carefully mulling them over.
All this time, he had been avoiding failure, avoiding all those comments online calling him a choker and the like.
But Meng Lang’s words
suddenly made his mindset open up.
“He said that so well!” Behind him, the kid also looked at Meng Lang with sparkling eyes.
Having just debuted this year, he still occasionally felt shy in front of the camera. The composure and eloquence Meng Lang displayed during the interview
were simply the version of himself he imagined.
He was just too good at speaking!
Host Banks also nodded inwardly. With his steady style, he liked communicating with players like this.
He smiled and said, “All right! Now that you’ve secured a ticket to the Legends Stage, what personal goal do you have next?”
Meng Lang listened and confirmed, “Personal?”
“Yes, your personal goal.” Banks said with goodwill, “You can be bold. Even saying the Major championship would be fine.”
Meng Lang shook his head after hearing that.
“Do you think the Major championship is too bold?” Banks smiled and was just about to continue, but unexpectedly, Meng Lang interrupted him.
“No. My personal goal is this year’s TOP 1!”
“???”
Pfft—!
m0NESY, who was drinking water behind him, heard this and nearly sprayed it out directly, choking and coughing repeatedly.
His eyes widened abruptly as he looked at Meng Lang,
screaming inwardly:
No, bro!
Something like TOP 1, it’s fine if the two of us secretly fantasize about it during our late-night heart-to-heart! Why did you just say it straight out in an interview?!
This was more than being good at speaking!
This was way too damn bold!
In the 6657 live stream, Wan Jiqi, who had just been saying that Meng Lang “should temporarily not think about aiming too high with things like a Major championship,” couldn’t hold it in either!
“Holy shit! TOP 1?! This brother... this brother really dares to say it!”
“A godlike man! All I can say is, he’s a godlike man!”
At the interview area, even the well-traveled Banks was stunned for a second. Then he came back to his senses and reminded him, both amused and helpless:
“Hey, buddy! If you want to get annual TOP 1, just one Major championship might still be far from enough.”
Facing Banks’s kind reminder, Meng Lang only nodded calmly. His face still showed no ripples, as though he were talking about something completely ordinary:
“I know.”
I know.
Three simple words,
without any grand rhetoric,
yet carrying an inexplicable certainty.
This time, live streams all over the world were completely and utterly blown apart!
Did we wake up too hard???
In the current version of the game,
riflers dare covet annual TOP 1 too?