On the bus from Antwerp to the hotel.
The vehicle slowly came to a steady stop,
their destination just ahead.
The kid had closed his eyes for a nap as soon as he got on. In the dim haze of sleep, he vaguely sensed that someone seemed to be staring at him. Groggily, he opened his eyes—only to meet Meng Lang’s fixed, unblinking gaze!
The kid’s heart instantly gave a thump.
Oh no!
Bro, that look in your eyes… what are you trying to do?!
An ominous premonition instantly enveloped him.
Sure enough, Meng Lang grinned, leaned over with great enthusiasm, lowered his voice, and said, “Ilya, after we get back to the hotel, want to play some pistol for a bit?”
No, bro!
The corner of the kid’s eye twitched, and the unpleasant experience from last time instantly surfaced in his mind. Instinctively, he wanted to refuse and find some excuse like “I’m tired” or “I need to review demos.”
But seeing Meng Lang’s eager, expectant eyes, the refusal that had reached the kid’s lips was swallowed back down. Weakly, with a trace of wishful thinking, he asked:
“Then… just a little bit?”
Meng Lang immediately patted his chest in guarantee,
his smile dazzling:
“Don’t worry! I promise, just a little bit! It’ll be quick!”
“.”
After entering the Legends Stage early, Meng Lang spent his days either dragging the kid into high-intensity practice or browsing major domestic forums.
Thanks to the ambition of wanting to become TOP 1 that he had “accidentally” revealed in his last interview, discussion about him in the domestic community had continued to soar during this period!
Meng Lang was more than happy to see it—whether praise or mockery, it all contributed GOAT points to him in heaps.
However, those GOAT points did not stay in the system panel for long. That very night, Meng Lang spent a massive 8,000 GOAT points to expand his third simulation-space map pool:
Nuke!
Yes, Meng Lang discovered that the GOAT points required to unlock each additional map actually doubled.
After gritting his teeth and buying it, he immediately threw the entire Vitality mirror lineup into the new map pool, then spent another 1,000 GOAT points to train ruthlessly for an entire night.
The experience was exceptionally wonderful!!!
If nothing else, ZywOo’s demonstrations of all kinds of exquisite wallbangs on Nuke alone made Meng Lang feel it was worth every point.
He was now itching to try Nuke—if they played Vitality again, in terms of team competition, he did not dare guarantee the team would definitely win, but he was certain he would perform better than last time!
By the time the final day of the Challengers Stage ended on the 13th, all eight spots advancing to the Legends Stage had been decided:
Advancing from the 3-0 group were G2 and ENCE;
from the 3-1 group were Vitality, Spirit, and Outsiders.VP;
and from the 3-2 group were Liquid, BNE, and Imperial.
Whether it counted as an upset or not was hard to say, but Astralis, who had previously scheduled practice matches with G2, fell at the edge of qualification with a 2-3 record. As for EG, who went 0-3, they had long since died quietly in some corner no one cared about, so that could not really be called a shocking upset either.
“I thought Astralis would make it through.”
Little Li, who had finished watching the final match day, sounded somewhat emotional.
“Don’t worry about that. Better think about the matches coming up.” Cousin said with a smile. “This Legends Stage won’t be easy.”
That was indeed the case.
According to the format, aside from new teams like them, the Legends Stage also had eight higher predators waiting at ease.
Among them were last year’s HLTV-ranked number one dynasty NAVI, the galactic battleship FAZE, the reborn C9, the world’s number-one defensive Team X, and the Flames with HooXi, the Martial Zhuge!
“Who do you think we’ll draw?” Cousin asked.
Little Li shrugged and could not help laughing. “I don’t think it matters who we draw.”
“Huh? Then what matters?”
Little Li looked toward Meng Lang, who was still training in the practice room. “What matters is whether, in a corner where no one is watching, we can keep doing the right things.”
Cousin was stunned at first, then nodded in understanding, admiration rising in his heart.
Indeed, on the stage, under the spotlight, it was easy to maintain towering ambition;
but offstage, away from anyone’s attention, it was rare to continuously maintain that focus and passion.
And after Meng Lang had made his name in one battle during the Challengers Stage, with his interview sparking heated discussion all over the world, he had still been able to settle down and train steadily these past two days. That mentality was truly precious.
The two looked at each other and smiled, both of their eyes carrying approval for this young CN player.
G2 had really picked up a treasure this time!
That night, the Legends Stage schedule was officially released:
G2’s match had been arranged as the fifth match tomorrow, and their opponent, unfortunately “predicted” by Wanjiqi, was none other than North America’s galactic battleship FAZE—the old enemy that had shattered G2’s dream of the finals at Katowice this year!
As soon as the result came out, overseas discussions exploded.
And thanks to Meng Lang’s outstanding performance, domestic viewership for this Antwerp Major had already broken new highs. More and more people were focusing on this Major, and more and more people were beginning to pay attention to G2’s matches.
When domestic viewers saw this matchup, they were dumbfounded:
“Holy shit! G2 starts off against FAZE?”
“Enemies really do meet on a narrow road!”
“Master Wan really made a monk-level prediction, huh!”
“I have a feeling the galactic battleship is going to roar again!”
“Then isn’t G2 done for?”
“.”
In the Antwerp hotel.
When all of G2 learned of the news, their expressions became somewhat unnatural. Even Little Li and Cousin, who had originally been calm, froze.
There was no way around it. The shadow of being kicked to death 3:0 by FAZE in the Katowice finals this February was simply too heavy.
By the end of that Katowice match, Old Ni had committed crimes, the kid had whiffed, Little Li’s aim had gone soft, Cousin had disappeared, and Jack had straight-up fed… Those painful memories were still vivid.
And now you were telling them they had to face FAZE right at the start of the Legends Stage.
Facing their inner demon head-on, were they?
Wasn’t this just here to mess with their mentality!
However, in the corner,
when Meng Lang heard this Legends Stage schedule, his eyes suddenly lit up!
Playing FAZE?
He was way too familiar with that!!!
That was the “newbie village” of his simulation training!
He had practiced against them night after night!
He was nearly sick of them!
Big Cousin, the Director, Rain God, Broccoli, and the gloomy yet affable Ropz—he felt so close to every single one of them, to the point that he was even more familiar with them than his G2 teammates.
However, now that his map pool had expanded and Liquid and Vitality had been added, Meng Lang’s encounters with FAZE after falling asleep had become much fewer.
No way!
He had to put in extra practice tonight!
Thus, that night, Meng Lang once again returned to the “newbie village.”
FAZE, here I come!
The next day, May 14.
Niko woke up a little earlier than usual.
He admitted that he had indeed not slept very soundly the night before.
Pulling open the curtains, he saw that Antwerp’s sky was dark and overcast, heavy clouds hanging low, as if a long-brewing downpour could come crashing down at any moment.
This kind of weather made Niko, who was about to face FAZE’s “Rain God” in today’s match, feel an inexplicable and unpleasant premonition in his heart—just like the day in his memory when they had lost the Katowice final.
Old Ni rubbed his slightly aching temples and was just about to wash up quietly, avoiding waking Meng Lang in the same room.
Just then, from the neighboring bed, a vague mumble suddenly sounded.
Niko subconsciously turned his head and saw Meng Lang wrapped in his blanket, seemingly experiencing some intense scene in his dream, muttering indistinctly:
“To beat FAZE, you’ve got to fight them head-on…”
“The more head-on you fight… the easier it is to win…”
His voice was not loud, but in the quiet room of the early morning, it was especially clear.
Niko was stunned at first. Looking at Meng Lang, who was still sleeping soundly, he then shook his head with a helpless smile.
So he was talking in his sleep!
This kid, even in his dreams, was studying how to beat FAZE?
Suddenly, a thoughtful expression appeared on Niko’s face—was it because the pressure of facing FAZE today was too great that he could not sleep well?
Sigh—!
Old Ni sighed softly in his heart.
That made sense.
Against a galactic battleship like FAZE,
who wouldn’t feel immense pressure?