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

"A site has already been completely overrun by DD and Brother Xiaosa, while the B-site retake is still trying to make a move. But as they rotate through the Archway without checking corners, Su Di, hidden in the corner, unleashes an insane spray transfer!"

"The final score is set at 16:9! Let's congratulate Steel Helmets for securing a clean victory against Mouz in this BO1, claiming their second-round win!"

In the livestream, Wan Ji Qi shouted with excitement, "Wow!! This Cousin—today, as long as he's still alive, Mouz has no chance of getting points!"

"As long as Cousin is alive, Steel Helmets can always score!"

"His kill potential is just insane! On Dust2, he’s practically running over Mouz. These players aren’t even in the same league!"

【Feels like we’re in awe every single time】

【This guy dropped 39 kills】

【What kind of sniper is this Cousin? How is he this lethal?】

【Yesterday, his 1v5 clutch against X-Team already blew my mind. Steel Helmets could’ve gone home with honor after that, but today—something feels off!】

【The Jail King has returned】

【I've never seen a match where both teams seem locked up like this】

【"Cousin is still alive!"】

"Crazy, guys." Su Di took off his headset, still a little dazed. "We just went 2-0 like that?"

He never imagined that playing in a Major could feel this easy.

Since arriving in Stockholm, he had been putting up negative K/D ratios for two straight games. Getting even two kills in a single round was a hot streak for him.

Yet, despite being in absolute dogsh*t form, he had somehow followed the team to a 2-0 record. Now, they were just one BO3 away from qualifying for the Legends Stage.

He couldn't help but glance at the youngest and most handsome kid on the team—Jiang Yang. He knew all too well just how strong he was.

A one-man army at the Major—his stats don't lie!

"So, you guys are all hardcore Cousin fans now, huh? My entry frags were pretty damn crucial too, okay?" DD playfully demanded credit. "I deserve at least 2.59 shares of the glory."

MO heard that and chimed in, "Well, if we’re going by that logic, I must have been f***ing genius today!"

Seeing the conversation turning into a credit-sharing contest, Brother Xiaosa quickly stepped in. "Isn't this just normal?"

"After watching Cousin play these past two games, if you're not hyping him up, you must be some kind of god yourself!"

"Our Cousin is carrying too hard!"

At that, the whole team burst into laughter.

Jiang Yang looked at his veteran teammates, smiled, and raised a single finger.

The others were briefly confused.

Jiang Yang spoke, "One more BO3."

One more BO3 win, and Steel Helmets would match CNCS’s historical best record!

"If we win just one more BO3, we’ll get our own player stickers!"

Having your own sticker in the game wasn't just about the prize money—it meant Jiang Yang had officially cemented himself as an elite pro player.

His name would be immortalized in CS:GO history, and casual players worldwide could open capsules and get his autograph.

His sticker would be on thousands of guns.

That was the ultimate flex!

"How did you pull off that VIP AWP double kill?" Ming Riqing, wearing a mask, curiously leaned in to ask.

DD was puzzled, "Which one?"

"The one where I asked you for a flash," Jiang Yang clarified.

"Oh, that one? Simple—just sound cues and a bit of luck."

Ming Riqing's small eyes were still filled with doubt.

She played CS:GO too—could sound cues really be that precise? Could "luck" really mean landing two wallbang AWP shots back-to-back?

Before she could press further, MO cut in, "Alright, let’s not waste time. Shake hands first, then talk later. Plus, we still have another match later today. Don’t waste time."

Under MO’s lead, they eagerly walked over to Mouz’s player area.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Yang noticed someone looking at him. He glanced back—

It was Karrigan, the in-game leader of FaZe. His expression showed clear surprise.

Of course, Karrigan knew today’s match was between Steel Helmets and Mouz, but he never expected Steel Helmets to actually beat them.

After all, only the winners got to walk over for handshakes.

But the tournament wasn’t over yet—Big Cousin quickly refocused on his own game.

Meanwhile, a photographer caught Jiang Yang’s glance and clicked the shutter.

The image of an old veteran watching a prodigy in action—such a stark contrast. Plus, Jiang Yang had great posture, making the shot look particularly cinematic.

But Jiang Yang didn’t notice this minor moment. He simply followed his veteran teammates towards Mouz’s player area.

Losing this BO1 didn’t eliminate Mouz outright—they dropped to the 1-1 bracket, meaning they could still qualify by winning another BO1 and a BO3.

So while they were frustrated by the loss, at least they weren’t out of the tournament yet.

Han Wang, staring at the equally handsome guy across from him, recalled the insane rounds that had just unfolded. He let out a bitter smile.

Throughout today’s match, he and young had faced off quite a few times. But the number of times he actually killed young? He could count them on one hand.

Most of the time, young would just one-tap him with the AWP—zero mercy.

Han Wang had actually started off in great form today. During warm-ups, he felt his aim was particularly crisp.

But as the match went on, he just got demolished again and again.

Standing opposite him, young hadn’t even pulled off any crazy 4Ks or 5Ks like some highlight machine.

But the guy was so consistently lethal, it was ridiculous.

Mouz’s entire tactical game plan was in shambles, completely shattered by one player’s individual ability.

They never saw that coming.

Han Wang was handling it fine—he wasn’t just some random prodigy; he had been in the scene for years, getting schooled by S1mple, ZywOo, and NIKO before.

So he was just shocked—how could a rookie play at this level?

Meanwhile, Kun Kun’s eyes were visibly blank, his face literally red from frustration.

In all his years as a pro, this was the first time an entire tactical game plan had been completely dismantled by a single player.

He had worried about young pre-match, but he never expected young’s performance to be this oppressive.

As an IGL, he felt powerless.

Trying to default and play for map control? His players kept dying out of nowhere.

Trying to speed up the play? young’s absurd retake timings made Dexter feel suffocated.

Dexter was sure that when he went to bed tonight, all he’d hear under his blankets would be young’s AWP shots.

"You played well, kid. But next time, we won’t let you get away so easily," Dexter dropped an empty threat.

Then he heard the young man across from him awkwardly laugh and say,

"Sorry, I don't know English."

Kun Kun's face turned even redder.

So all that trash talk was completely wasted.

With no choice, both teams just nodded at each other before watching Steel Helmets walk away.

...

Watching Dexter’s flushed face, Wan Ji Qi couldn’t help but hum in satisfaction.

No amount of praise for a top fragger could ever compare to the sight of their opponents getting tilted.

As a totally neutral commentator, Wan Ji Qi was absolutely loving this.

"OK!" Wan Ji Qi let out an exaggerated bubble voice, and right after, PGL pulled up the match stats. "Let's take a look at the post-match data."

In his profile photo, Jiang Yang was slightly leaning forward, his fingers interlocked as he stared straight ahead—he looked like the perfect engineering student. No one would ever guess this guy was a Civil Engineering major.

ID: young

Kills/Assists/Deaths: 39/3/18

ADR: 121.6

Survival Rate: 84%

The official stats didn’t include a rating because that’s calculated by HLTV, but they did show the stats for the other nine players, making the comparison crystal clear.

【Cousin's stats are absolutely superhuman!】

【Pure reflexes, pure sniping】

【Yesterday, I thought Cousin just popped off. Today, I realized that’s just his normal state!】

【Carrying Su Di and MO, who barely hit double-digit kills, to a win? That’s how you know he’s insane.】

【He killed more people than the second and third top fraggers combined】

【Meanwhile, Liu Kun on Mouz somehow managed to end with just 4 kills—legendary】

"This Cousin just absolutely popped off in his second Major match! We have no idea where his ceiling is. Yesterday against X-Team, he struggled a bit, but today against Mouz, he just ran them over!"

Wan Ji Qi took a deep breath. "I rewatched yesterday’s match, and it’s clear—Cousin is a Mirage specialist!"

"He’s basically a Mirage god."

Wan Ji Qi gave a comparison: "What was Cousin's performance like today?"

"It's like—bro, your A-site hold is weak, your mid control is trash, and your B-site is getting farmed."

"But no worries—I got this!"

Wan Ji Qi exhaled. "I've been watching Cousin's demos because, honestly, he’s the future of CNCS."

"But he’s insane. I feel like ever since he entered the Major, his skills have evolved—he’s rapidly absorbing knowledge from these top-tier players."

"I really wanna say it—this is the year of young!" But then, Wan Ji Qi quickly backtracked. "Actually, with obo setting a precedent, I should probably hold off on making that claim."

Back in early 2020, North America had a prodigy named obo.

As a ridiculously young talent, obo was once considered the future of his region, just like Jiang Yang.

Last year, Wan Ji Qi had even declared, "This is the year of obo!"

But obo’s youth made it hard for him to stay focused. In the end, he burned out and faded from NA CS history like a shooting star.

Jiang Yang’s rise was eerily similar, and even a rational analyst like Wan Ji Qi felt a bit superstitious.

Jiang Yang was too bright of a star right now—Wan Ji Qi really didn’t want him to follow obo’s path.

Meanwhile, the so-called prodigy himself had no interest in the community discussions.

Because today's matches weren’t over yet.

On the second day, both the 1-0 and 2-0 brackets would play, determining the two top Challenger teams.

And Steel Helmets, completely unprepared, found themselves facing the world-ranked #14 team—Denmark’s Flames, led by Hooxi.

After the map veto, the picks were finalized:

Map 1: Vertigo

Map 2: Mirage

Map 3: Ancient

"Don’t feel pressured. Just play how we practiced. Treat this Vertigo game as a practice match," MO reassured his teammates before the match.

Steel Helmets had a glaring issue with their map pool—there were just some maps they could not play. No way around it.

"But it’s not like we can’t win. Didn’t we just wreck X-Team, who’s ranked even higher?"

That gave the team a confidence boost. They had clawed their way through the first two rounds—they had the skill to compete.

But once they entered the match…

In Map 1: Vertigo, they finally understood what it meant to face a true tactical team.

Flames’ setups were insane. The pressure came in relentless waves, completely overwhelming Steel Helmets.

Jiang Yang had a few moments where he could fight back, but overall, the team was getting hard-countered.

The final score: 6:16.

Flames took Map 1.

Even though they had expected a rough game, actually losing the map still stung—this was their first Major loss.

But the beating had also woken them up.

DD noticed the gloomy mood and tried to lighten the atmosphere. "No worries, no worries. Map 2 is Cousin’s best map. Once we get to Mirage, Cousin and I are gonna pop off and destroy them…"

He paid for those words almost instantly.

Flames’ discipline was way beyond what they expected.

They played with pure teamwork and strict fundamentals.

Steel Helmets had never really encountered a team like this before.

The early rounds went badly, but DD remained optimistic. "No problem, no problem. As long as we can buy Cousin an AWP, everything will be fine."

Once Jiang Yang got his AWP, things did improve.

His sheer sniper pressure disrupted Flames’ defensive structure.

But Hooxi adjusted instantly.

He tightened discipline even further and perfectly controlled utility usage, leaving Jiang Yang zero angles to work with.

Jiang Yang and DD managed to win a few rounds through raw firepower.

But against a well-drilled, fully-coordinated tactical team, you cannot rely on two players popping off.

They finished the T-side down 4:11.

After switching to CT, they clawed back some rounds through individual plays—Jiang Yang’s AWP was finally more effective.

But while Jiang Yang was holding the line, his teammates were crumbling.

He was desperately trying to carry, but in the end, Mirage ended 16:12.

At 16 years old, Jiang Yang had just suffered the first loss of his professional career.