CS: I’m Only 16, and You Want Me to Stage an Old Veteran Comeback?

After lunch, Jiang Yang and Ma Xixi enjoyed a brief break.
Ma Xixi lounged on the sofa, reading a feel-good novel, occasionally letting out silly giggles.
Jiang Yang, on the other hand, stood on the balcony enjoying the breeze while exploring the system’s interface.
He hadn’t noticed it earlier, but after completing his placement matches, a subtle change had appeared on his system panel:
[Overall Level: Amateur LV.3 (Expand)]
Amateur level and only LV.3—wasn’t that a bit too harsh?
But on the bright side, it meant he had immense room for improvement!
Jiang Yang focused on the "Expand" button, and the view before him instantly changed.
**[Overall Level:
Seeing the data displayed by the Old Veteran Comeback System, Jiang Yang finally understood why the system had given him that assessment after the placement matches.
It didn’t align with what the system considered the standard for a retired "Old Veteran."
For abilities that had already been mastered, even if neglected for a long time, one would at most regress slightly.
But according to the system, Jiang Yang’s level seemed downright devolved.
CS wasn’t like school knowledge that you handed back to the teacher after graduation.
So it was understandable that the system found it perplexing… Jiang Yang couldn’t help but chuckle.
However, the stats fit his situation perfectly.
Even if the system claimed he had outstanding talent and a bright future as a top-tier professional player, as someone who had only logged under 100 hours in-game, this was perfectly normal.
In the CSGO community, there’s a saying: “CSGO, 500 hours is just the starting line.”
He only had 62 hours of playtime so far—improvement would have to come slowly.
He studied his current abilities for a while.
Among them, his Reflexes stood out, surprisingly at Pro Level LV.8.
Reflexes could be trained, but having naturally fast reflexes gave him high potential.
At the very least, he wasn’t like Ma Xixi, who couldn’t even fire a shot with a sniper rifle before getting taken down.
Even if Jiang Yang’s aim wasn’t precise, he could still fire a couple of panic shots to intimidate the opponent.
However, what he found truly valuable was the system panel itself.
With it, he could clearly identify his strengths and weaknesses, avoiding any misjudgment of his abilities.
For now, Jiang Yang was just a straightforward Rank C+ player—there was no point pretending otherwise.
The only question was how to improve those stats.
Unable to think of a solution right away, Jiang Yang exited the system.
He picked up his phone and launched Small Broken Site (Bilibili)!
After asking the giggling Ma Xixi next to him which characters made up Leonkai, he quickly searched and found the "long-necked older brother."
In Leonkai’s videos, Jiang Yang located a tutorial on counter-strafing.
This was something he sorely needed.
During today’s placement matches, he found himself gravitating toward sniper rifles. Part of the reason was that his poor counter-strafing often caused him to spray wildly with rifles.
From watching Hunter’s Eco Clutch Technique, he also realized the importance of counter-strafing.
Mastering this skill was now his top priority.
Thanks to Leonkai’s explanation, Jiang Yang finally understood the concept.
In CSGO, running and shooting was generally inaccurate. Only when your movement speed dropped below a certain threshold would your bullets hit their mark.
The action of stopping as quickly as possible when encountering an opponent is called counter-strafing.
The method involved pressing the opposite directional key during movement to counteract inertia and come to a stop.
For example, if moving left and suddenly encountering an enemy, you would release the left key and press "D" to stop.
Jiang Yang noticed an important detail: counter-strafing didn’t make bullets instantly accurate.
He needed to wait 0.2–0.3 seconds after stopping before firing.
He likened himself to a hitman driving a small car, tasked with eliminating enemies on the map. The reverse key was his brake.
Even if he pressed the brake, the car wouldn’t stop immediately—it would coast a little due to inertia.
He needed to wait for the car to fully stop before shooting for accuracy.
After breaking down the essence of counter-strafing, Jiang Yang felt he had grasped it conceptually.
But understanding it mentally was one thing;
getting his hands to cooperate was another. He’d need plenty of practice.
For now, though, Jiang Yang didn’t have time to work on counter-strafing, as the evening marked the start of his real work.
Nighttime was when Ma Xixi’s livestream truly came alive.
As one of the top CS commentators in the country, Ma Xixi would cast matches if any were ongoing.
But the past two weeks had been part of the CSGO offseason.
Evenings were spent reviewing classic matches or analyzing POVs from pro players to help viewers learn.
CSGO had a unique FPS community atmosphere, with players constantly seeking to learn from the best.
Ma Xixi’s co-commentator, MO, was a former Tyloo pro and holder of CNCSGO’s best record, lending significant credibility to their match analysis.
As soon as the stream began, Ma Xixi connected with MO on TS voice chat.
“Hey, hey, hey?”
“Loud and clear, cut the ‘hey.’” MO responded, then asked curiously, “By the way, where’s our cousin?”
“You found out already?” Ma Xixi was surprised. Jiang Yang had only arrived yesterday and started work today.
MO explained, “The moment I went live, viewers were spamming about the cousin taking over your spot. I got curious about what kind of person could not only push out the ‘Clip Queen’ but also dethrone the ‘Shorty.’”
Ma Xixi teased, “So what, is he gonna replace you next?”
“That would make him a worthy heir to your title as the ‘World’s Top Prince Snatcher.’”
“Now that’s what I call a legacy!”
Hearing this, MO couldn’t hold back his laughter, and the two joked around.
Their channel, CSBOY, had its share of nicknames.
Ma Xixi, being short, was dubbed the "Shorty."
MO, with his blunt personality, was called the "Dummy."
Their previous assistant, Ming Riqing, earned the title "Clip Queen" for her voice.
Now Jiang Yang had temporarily taken Ming Riqing’s place, and viewers were joking about him pushing Ma Xixi aside.
Ma Xixi laughed, “Why are you even taking this banter seriously?”
He then turned to Jiang Yang and sent him the TS address via WeChat. “Join the voice chat. If anything comes up, we’ll call you. In the meantime, just monitor the chat. Ban any comments stirring trouble or being overly toxic.”
Jiang Yang quickly joined the TS channel on his computer.
Having been watching the stream, he greeted, “Hi, Captain MO, I’m Jiang Yang, Ma Xixi’s cousin.”
MO replied, “Nice to meet you. Do you play CS often?”
Jiang Yang answered, “Yeah, I’m working on ranking up lately.”
“Cool. Let’s play together sometime.”
The conversation ended there, as MO wasn’t one for small talk, and Jiang Yang returned to monitoring the chat.
MO then asked, “What are we streaming tonight?”
With no major matches during the offseason, even ladder matches had gotten repetitive for MO. He wanted to switch things up.
Having worked with MO for years, Ma Xixi immediately understood.
After a moment’s thought, he suggested, “Even though it’s offseason, the CIS junior league is still ongoing. How about analyzing the POV of the ‘Prince,’ m0nesy?”
Jiang Yang, intrigued, asked, “Is this m0nesy really good?”
Ma Xixi explained:
Junior leagues were generally unimpressive, but the CIS junior league was unique.
The level of talent this time around was extraordinary, rivaling even first-tier events.
He gave an example:
The previous junior league champions, Mouz NTX, had outperformed their main team, earning more prize money over the past year.
The CIS region had a history of junior teams surpassing their main teams.
This added significance to their junior league, drawing attention from fans and analysts alike.
m0nesy, a sniper from NAVI’s junior team, was a renowned prodigy.
Since NAVI’s main team sniper, S1mple, was nicknamed "The Emperor," m0nesy had earned the title of "The Prince."
In the CSGO community, m0nesy was widely regarded as a future star of first-tier competition.
For commentators like them, paying attention to up-and-coming players made perfect sense.
If these talents reached the big stage, they’d already have detailed profiles prepared.
Ma Xixi realized Jiang Yang’s presence was proving useful. Jiang Yang’s questions gave him a chance to explain things to the viewers.
MO, being less talkative, often left most of the commentary to Ma Xixi.
After hearing Ma Xixi’s explanation, Jiang Yang fell into thought.
A prodigy destined to shine on the big stage—could it really be him?
Soon, Ma Xixi and MO found a match recording and began analyzing it from m0nesy’s perspective.
Jiang Yang eagerly followed along.
Although the idea of a prodigy capable of crushing him was daunting, his priority now was to learn from MO and observe how these junior players played the game.