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

The bear-like man warmed up with a 100kg barbell before signaling the muscular guy beside him to follow suit.

If a CS:GO player happened to be in this gym, they would immediately recognize them as members of the VP Golden Five. The bear-like man was none other than former VP star player—Snax.

The heavily muscled man standing nearby had quite the list of titles:

Former VP sniper, former VP in-game leader, CS:GO’s famous chef, CS:GO’s strongest man, CS:GO’s best actor, esports' very own Schwarzenegger—Pasha.

Snax glanced at Pasha, confused. "You called me here to work out, but you're just standing there on your phone?"

Pasha laughed. "Well, I figured since you don't have a Major to play, you might as well hit the gym and vent a little."

Back in 2018, they were some of the most well-known players in the pro scene.

But with the arrival of the Danish Powerhouse, combined with internal team issues, their dynasty gradually fell apart.

Now, in their early thirties, they had slowly faded from the spotlight.

But later, he decided to transition into MMA, so he quit streaming and had been training daily ever since.

Snax, on the other hand, had a different path. After leaving VP, he joined a second-tier team called Illuminar, mainly focusing on mentoring young players.

"Don't take it too hard. The CIS region is insanely strong this year. There's no way a second-tier team could break through," Pasha said.

From his perspective, Snax was only capable of leading a second-tier team at best. If he tried to play in a Major again, he'd probably just get destroyed.

"Speaking of which, who do you think will win in Stockholm this year?"

Around this time every year, CS:GO players and pros would discuss this very topic—especially now that neither of them had anything to do with the Major.

Snax made a logical prediction. "It's gotta be between NiKo and S1mple. These two have been at the top for years, and yet neither has a Major trophy to show for it."

Then he smirked, holding back a laugh. "If you could fuse three second-place finishes into one championship, they’d at least have one by now."

Pasha playfully punched Snax in the chest. "That’s cold, man. But even if we did that, they’d only get a two-star runner-up badge."

S1mple had two Major silver medals, and NiKo had one. Combining them wouldn't even make a full championship.

Despite being two of the best players in the scene, their failure to win a Major was a regret shared by many.

As for ZywOo, Pasha could only wish him good luck on his endless "farm grind"—a nod to his perpetual struggles in Vitality.

Even as a top-tier player, ZywOo seemed stuck on the Jail King path, unable to break free.

"The Danish Powerhouse has crumbled. The prodigies finally have their chance to shine," Snax mused. "But I still think it's not a sure thing. Gambit even had the upper hand over NAVI this year."

"During the online era, Gambit was NAVI’s drill sergeant. They had S1mple completely lost," Pasha added.

Then he shook his head. "Gambit does look like a championship-worthy team, but sometimes teams that seem too promising end up choking."

"Plus, their squad is full of young players. Once they step onto the Major stage, the pressure might hit differently."

Online and offline CS:GO were two completely different beasts.

Countless online stars had been exposed as frauds the moment they had to play on LAN.

"No matter who wins—Gambit, NAVI, or G2—they’ll all be making history," Snax said, shaking his head. "Anyway, enough of that. Why are you still on your phone? Get to your next set!"

Snax found it strange. Pasha, a gym fanatic, was never the type to slack off.

Pasha finally snapped back to reality. "Oh, right. I just saw something on my feed that caught me off guard."

Snax, a towering figure himself, leaned over. "What is it?"

"Asia’s RMR just ended. Tyloo and VG both got upset. The team that qualified is called Steel Helmet."

"Huh?" Snax raised an eyebrow. "There's a team in Asia that can beat those two?"

Even though Asian CS wasn’t highly regarded internationally, Tyloo and VG had still left an impression on many.

Tyloo had once made it to Legends Stage, and their team logo was still popular in Europe.

VG had also taken down world-class teams before. Back in 2019, they even defeated NAVI.

So, the fact that both got eliminated was genuinely shocking.

"Check out their roster. Who are these guys?"

Snax was baffled. He had never even heard of this team before.

Pasha took a look and immediately laughed. "Oh, it's some old friends!"

Right away, he recognized the names DD and MO.

Both of them were CS:GO veterans. In fact, back in the day, VP had played against them.

Ironically, they had even been destroyed by Tyloo before.

But despite that, everyone got along well. After matches, they would often sit around and have a smoke together.

"They came back from retirement?" Pasha joked, taking a jab at his teammate. "Look at them. They led a second-tier team straight into the Major Qualifier, while you're still stuck in limbo."

Snax rolled his eyes and ignored Pasha, scrolling down to read more.

"…In the Asian RMR, Steel Helmet, led by former Tyloo legends MO and DD, displayed incredible performance. They won every match from open qualifiers to the final, taking down Tyloo and VG to claim Asia’s sole Major spot."

"But the real surprise wasn’t the veterans—it was their young star player, Young."

"Throughout the Asian RMR, Young put on an absolutely dominant performance. His average rating was 1.78—the highest across all RMR regions."

Pasha and Snax exchanged looks.

Snax rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Did the editor mess up? 1.78? That’s gotta be a single-match stat, right?"

Pasha kept scrolling and saw the detailed match breakdowns.

Nope. The numbers were real. In fact, Young had several matches with a rating over 2.0.

The two veterans just sat there, staring at each other, struggling to comprehend what they were seeing.

A 1.78 average rating basically meant Young had been smurfing throughout the tournament.

And it wasn’t against some random net café teams—he was doing this to Tyloo and VG.

Pasha was instantly intrigued.

He read further. "Holy sh*t, he’s Ma Xixi’s cousin!"

Pasha knew Ma Xixi. When he was streaming on Huya, they had interacted quite a bit.

This connection was totally unexpected.

"…Sources confirm that Young, a 16-year-old prodigy, had only 500 hours in the game before the Asian RMR. After qualifying by beating VG, his total playtime was still just 700+ hours."

"Huh??" Pasha blurted out. "Even Rain wasn’t this crazy!"

500 hours and he was already playing at a pro level?

And not just any level—he was destroying professional teams!

And he was only 16?!

Pasha turned to Snax. "Pull up the VODs. We have to see this kid in action."

The two abandoned their workout, grabbed their phones, and searched for match recordings.

They had assumed they’d need to check HLTV later, but the team had already gained a following. The matches were all over Twitter.

As they watched, their reactions were a constant mix of shock and disbelief.

Pasha finally spoke, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Snax, if a player like Young trained in Europe for a few years and fixed his weaknesses, what do you think he'd become?"

A future legend, no doubt.

And then Pasha frowned.

Looking at Young’s skinny frame, he muttered, "Man… kid’s gonna need some muscles for Muscle CS."

A moment later, Pasha fired off a tweet.