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

Regarding the ID, Jiang Yang had been pondering for several nights, racking his brain for inspiration.

Finally, he came up with one: young.

It meant "young people," and coincidentally, it sounded like the "Yang" in his name.

The system had once told him that the 30-year-old "Old Veteran" Jiang Yang had spent his last days muddling through the professional stage before reluctantly retiring. This time, Jiang Yang wanted to make a name for himself on the professional stage while he was still young.

This ID symbolized his determination to seize the opportunity, avoiding the same fate of retiring in obscurity.

Jiang Yang took out his phone and called MO: “Captain, I’ve decided on my ID. I’ll go with ‘young.’”

As he spoke, he sent the ID to MO over WeChat.

MO nodded and said, “You’re sure you won’t change it? If not, I’ll report it to the league. You should also prepare yourself; in two days, we’ll start the IEM Fall Open Qualifiers.”

“But getting into the closed qualifiers shouldn’t be much of a challenge for us.”

Even though Steel Helmets was a semi-professional team, they were known as "the professional quality inspectors." Getting into the closed qualifiers was almost a guarantee for them.

“How many slots does Asia get this year?” Jiang Yang asked, already quite familiar with CS:GO tournaments.

What was coming next was CS:GO’s most prestigious tournament, the Major.

If possible, he naturally hoped to go far.

MO sighed, “Only one slot for the entire Asia-Pacific region this year. Hopefully, Tyloo will have some luck.”

But then Jiang Yang asked, “Why can’t it be us?”

MO was momentarily stunned, then chuckled, “I like your ambition. Gotta love that youthful energy.”

“Steel Helmets is a semi-pro team. There’s still a big gap between us and the pros. They practice tactics and strategies daily, while we’re just relying on instinct. There’s bound to be a difference.”

As Asia’s "Third Brother" in CS, Steel Helmets had played against Tyloo and VG plenty of times—basically never winning.

So, he wasn’t optimistic about their chances in the upcoming matches.

“How will we know unless we try?” Jiang Yang was brimming with confidence.

His recent performances in ranked games and scrims had significantly boosted his self-belief.

He didn’t think he was any worse than the professional players from Tyloo.

And the beauty of CS:GO was that anything could happen as long as the match wasn’t over.

With the matches yet to start, Jiang Yang refused to believe he’d lose.

“Alright, I’ll be waiting for your performance then,” MO replied with a laugh. “I’ll get your ID submitted now. Talk later.”

…

Jiang Yang could sense MO’s nonchalant tone. He wasn’t one to talk big; he preferred to prove himself with actions.

But he disliked MO’s attitude of seemingly conceding defeat before even playing the match.

Granted, the gap between pros and semi-pros was real.

But you had to give it your best shot!

Neither of them was wrong. It was just the difference in mindset between a young man and a retired veteran.

Jiang Yang kept this feeling to himself and threw himself into daily aim training.

MO didn’t dwell on the matter either, but he took the time to teach Jiang Yang map strategies.

Jiang Yang’s exposure to CS had been short, and much of his gameplay was learned from ranked matches, requiring some adjustments.

Jiang Yang diligently learned each day, though he didn’t fully adopt MO’s game philosophy. When he believed he was right, he stuck to his perspective.

He adapted and learned quickly, and his understanding of the game evolved fast.

But game comprehension, like their differing mindsets, was subjective.

Both wanted to win.

With his wealth of experience, MO recognized the gap between Steel Helmets and professional teams, preparing for the worst so that even if they lost, the emotional blow wouldn’t be as hard.

Jiang Yang, brimming with youthful energy, couldn’t accept defeat before even starting. He wanted to give his all so that, win or lose, he’d have no regrets.

Their approaches weren’t wrong—just different choices.

Similarly, their game philosophies diverged.

MO’s approach emphasized teamwork, stability, and reason.

But Jiang Yang, from his ranked matches onward, was set to become a star player. He was destined to break conventions and make plays others couldn’t understand.

So, he absorbed and learned from MO’s strategies, but only selectively.

After the map tutorial ended, Jiang Yang suddenly noticed familiar small text appearing before his eyes.

[Join a team and re-enter the professional scene.]

[Task: Completed.]

[Rewards are being distributed...]

[Congratulations, Old Veteran, you’ve received the Twistzz Gift Pack!]

[Congratulations, Old Veteran, you’ve received Hextech: Advanced Transformer!]

Jiang Yang raised an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden system task completion.

He had thought joining Steel Helmets wouldn’t count since it wasn’t a fully professional team.

But now, the system marked the task as complete.

Then he heard MO say, “Your ID has been submitted, and I used a photo from your WeChat Moments for the avatar.”

Ah, that explained it.

In the system’s evaluation, Steel Helmets counted as a professional team.

However, since Jiang Yang hadn’t finalized his ID earlier, he technically hadn’t joined the team yet.

After all, it would’ve been impossible for Jiang Yang to use the ID “Ma Xixi Wo Ding Si Ni” in a professional match.

Imagine if, during the Major, the top-right corner of the screen displayed:

[Ma Xixi Wo Ding Si Ni killed ZywOo with an AWP.]

Instead of praising him, the livestream chat would explode with: [Ma Xixi Wo Ding Si Ni!], accompanied by countless exclamation marks.

That scene would’ve been too awkward. Jiang Yang couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.

Snapping back to reality, Jiang Yang opened his inventory.

[Do you want to open the ‘Twistzz Gift Pack’?]

“Yes!”

As the thought crossed his mind, the Twistzz Gift Pack was opened.

[Congratulations, Old Veteran, you’ve unlocked Twistzz’s rifle tapping technique!]

[Congratulations, Old Veteran, you’ve unlocked the skill: Fresh Start!]

[Congratulations, Old Veteran, you’ve earned 2233 comeback points...]

Jiang Yang knew about Twistzz—a world-renowned headshot machine and one of the best rifle players.

Twistzz’s playstyle was both aesthetic and practical, favoring four-burst tapping over spraying or single-tap kills.

This resonated with Jiang Yang, who realized that mastering this style could compensate for his current weaknesses in recoil control and efficiency.

Next, he looked at his second reward:

[Skill: Fresh Start.]

[Description: A new story begins with a fresh look. Changing your hairstyle slightly boosts confidence.]

Jiang Yang: “...”

Classic Twistzz gift pack.

Still, Jiang Yang was already planning to change his hairstyle after his last barber ruined it.

Lastly, he noticed the Hextech item:

[Hextech: Advanced Transformer.]

[Description: Transforms an existing Hextech into a higher-quality Hextech. Transformation takes 168 hours, during which the original Hextech remains usable.]

[Would you like to transform Hextech: Dungeon Boss?]

Jiang Yang took a deep breath.

The temptation was real—this could lead to an even better Hextech.

After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and went for it.

“Yes!”

[Transformation initiated. Time remaining: 167.9 hours...]