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

After officially creating his own ID, Jiang Yang changed his 5E ID as well. This disappointed the Steel Helmets in CSBOY’s livestream, as they couldn’t use his moments of brilliance to also mock Ma Xixi.

Since joining the Steel Helmets, Jiang Yang's life had become remarkably structured.

Every morning, he would wake up, eat breakfast, and then start his daily warm-up to get his aim sharp.

Afterward, he'd climb the ranks on the 5E ladder, smurfing his way to top points while gradually getting into the zone.

In the afternoons, he’d either watch a few POVs or review his previous day’s gameplay, especially if he hadn’t performed well, to make minor adjustments.

When the "Old Veterans" of the Steel Helmets came online, they’d play scrimmages. Lately, though, most of their time was spent competing in qualifiers.

The skill level of teams in these qualifiers was wildly inconsistent—most were just bored college students.

This had an unexpected effect: Jiang Yang’s stats took a nosedive. As a sniper, he couldn’t snag enough kills.

Realizing this, he adapted by switching to rifles during low-pressure matches.

This temporarily masked his weakness with rifles.

In the end, thanks to the Steel Helmets’ collective effort, they easily qualified for the closed qualifiers.

The Asian RMR was unique: Tyloo and VG had direct invitations, while Steel Helmets and seven other teams competed for two spots.

Although reaching the closed qualifiers was already the Old Veterans’ goal, their competitive drive as former pros burned strong. As long as they weren’t eliminated, they wanted to push further and aim for the RMR itself.

Today was the first official match of the closed qualifiers, and the Steel Helmets were visibly nervous. Their opponents were New Happy, a legitimate domestic pro team.

The Old Veterans brought their A-game.

Ma Xixi noticed that his usually calm cousin was acting nervous. Before the match, Jiang Yang was grinding ladder games with an MP9, acting like he was in Special Forces mode.

Perhaps this helped ease his nerves.

After watching Jiang Yang finish his last match smoothly, Ma Xixi approached him and reassured him:

“Relax. Just play like you do in practice. Don’t get too worked up.”

Jiang Yang turned and blinked. “I’m not nervous. I’m just grinding the ladder to get my aim warmed up. Why would I be nervous?”

Seeing Jiang Yang stubbornly insist he wasn’t tense, Ma Xixi said no more, worried that pushing it might backfire and make him overthink.

In truth, Jiang Yang really wasn’t nervous. He was casually grinding skill proficiency.

As he glanced at his updated skill:

[ECO Clutch Technique (Advanced)]

[Progress: (12/10,000)]

[Effect: If you hear the sound of enemy pistols, your damage output increases significantly!]

At first glance, nothing seemed to have changed. But on closer inspection, Jiang Yang noticed the difference.

Good grief. Hearing enemy pistol sounds would now boost his damage?

This essentially categorized enemy pistol rounds as ECOs!

Flashes of ECO rounds surfaced in Jiang Yang’s mind, and this skill upgrade sparked inspiration.

The skill boost didn’t mean Jiang Yang’s pistol performance suddenly improved.

But it gave him an idea.

Though he wasn’t great with the USP, what if he treated enemy pistol rounds as ECO opportunities?

Could dual pistols replace the MP9 instead?

After all, dual pistols had decent damage output, and unlike the USP’s firing rhythm, dual pistols just needed fast trigger pulls to dish out the necessary damage.

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed plausible.

With this, Jiang Yang eagerly glanced at the clock in the bottom-right corner of his screen, itching for the match to start. His hands were practically trembling in anticipation.

In the New Happy training room,

The players were also preparing for the match.

A young player practicing flicks on a training map turned and asked,

“Who are we playing today?”

Due to timing, the matchups were only announced this morning, so the player, JEE, didn’t know their opponent.

New Happy’s coach responded, “We’re up against Steel Helmets first—the streamer team under Ma Xixi.”

“Nice! Easy win for round one!” JEE grinned.

Being an avid internet surfer, JEE knew about the streamer team. While it included former Tyloo members, their skills had declined significantly—it was a battle of amateurs in his eyes.

To JEE, this first round of the closed qualifiers was already in the bag.

The coach cautioned, “Don’t underestimate them. Ma Xixi’s cousin is pretty strong. The kid’s talent is insane.”

As a coach for a domestic pro team, the standout Jiang Yang had already caught his eye with his talent and popularity. After watching a few of Jiang Yang’s recent matches, the coach was impressed.

Though Jiang Yang’s pistol and rifle multi-kill ability wasn’t top-tier, his sniping was phenomenal—consistent and lightning-fast, reminiscent of kennyS in his prime.

The coach even planned to contact Ma Xixi after the RMR to see if Jiang Yang would consider a tryout.

JEE, however, shrugged it off. Sure, he’d lost to Jiang Yang on the ladder before, but ladder games and professional matches were two entirely different beasts. Being good on the ladder didn’t guarantee success in pro play.

Match time arrived, and both teams entered the server to start the map veto process.

The closed qualifiers used a BO1 format, except for the finals. After two rounds of vetoes, the map was set: Desert 2.

Following the knife round, DD proved to be much better than his brother, shedding his nickname as the “Maoming Sharpener” and winning the knife fight.

Steel Helmets chose to start on the defensive side.

As the warmup countdown ticked down, the Steel Helmets rallied on comms:

“Let’s go, let’s go, brothers!!”

“Don’t be nervous, little bro. Just play like you normally do!”

The pistol round began. MO, acting as IGL, laid out the strategy:

“For this pistol round, we’ll play a setup biased toward B. I’ll buy a kit and flash for retakes. You guys, stay safe on A.”

Before MO could finish, Jiang Yang interrupted, “Captain, can you drop me dual pistols?”

“How do you want to play it?” MO asked, pleased Jiang Yang was finally communicating more openly. Jiang Yang’s previous “obedient” behavior had made him harder to read.

“If we’re stacking B, boost me onto the boxes at the site. If they hit B, I’ll catch the bomb carrier by surprise.”

MO thought for a moment. “That works. I’ll boost you. A-site team, stay alive—fall back if you see anyone.”

The 20-second prep phase flew by. Jiang Yang grabbed the dual pistols and sprinted toward B.

Once at the site, MO boosted Jiang Yang onto the boxes—a sneaky position often overlooked.

As Jiang Yang settled in, Su Di at B Short called out,

“Utility’s coming B. They’re here!”

MO fired from B2’s balcony to draw attention, while Su Di fired at the first T who peeked. Despite unloading half a magazine, Su Di was headshot and left with a sliver of health.

“They’re dropping into site—I’m falling back to B Short!” Su Di shouted.

Hearing this, DD and Xiao Sa urgently called over comms,

“Hold B as long as you can—we’re rotating!”

“B Short’s Su Di got headshot, and MO at the balcony took a bullet too. These New Happy kids are sharp shooters!”

With two teammates severely injured, Ma Xixi grew anxious.

“If my cousin can hold with the dualies, we’ve got a chance. That position is sneaky!”

Jiang Yang remained calm atop the site box, gathering intel.

The first kill soon came, with Su Di being finished off. Jiang Yang spotted two Ts entering the site—one carrying the bomb, their backs turned to him.

Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Yang unleashed his dual pistols.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!!”

[young with Dual Berettas headshot Daniel!]

[young with Dual Berettas killed Navygo!]

“Box position!” The Ts called out in New Happy’s comms as they turned their focus on Jiang Yang.

Bullets grazed Jiang Yang as he quickly pinpointed their locations and fired back.

The dual pistols proved highly effective in close range without the need for precise counter-strafing. Jiang Yang jiggled on the box, dodging while raining down bullets.

“The T below White Car tried to finish him off but got melted, and the T on B2’s balcony is still trading shots—but dual pistols have way more ammo than you’d think!”

“Jiang Yang’s absolutely popping off with the dualies!” Ma Xixi exclaimed, excitement barely contained. “Like lightning-fast positioning, the Ts are getting shredded!”

Only the bomb carrier was left, but the Steel Helmets had already arrived to clean up. Xiao Sa locked down the final T from B2, and the pistol round was secured.

Jiang Yang’s quad kill with the dual pistols clinched the round, setting the tone for the match.