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

After that thrilling comeback, Jiang Yang and Li Hua were even more fired up. They played three more rounds afterward.

Two wins, one loss.

The loss was especially unfortunate. Mid-game, one teammate's power went out at home.

Being a team game, losing one player made things extremely challenging. What had been an advantageous score quickly spiraled downward. By the time the disconnected teammate returned, the match was almost over, and the team was at a major disadvantage. They ultimately lost.

Although the loss was regrettable, Jiang Yang didn’t expect to win every match on his way to ranking up. Besides, it wasn’t like the teammate disconnected on purpose—power outages are beyond anyone’s control.

After the game ended, Li Hua stretched and said, “Alright, Jiang Yang, you keep playing. I’m off to swim and shed some pounds. Let’s team up again tomorrow if we have time.”

“You’re way too disciplined for the Li Hua I know,” Jiang Yang teased as he bid Li Hua farewell.

That afternoon’s session had been incredibly satisfying. A perfect gaming experience.

In total, they played five matches and won four.

Once he reached B+, how far away could S rank possibly be?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Jiang Yang focused his thoughts, summoning his system interface.

[Old Veteran: Jiang Yang]

• Age: 30 years old
• Team: None
• Status: Preparing for a comeback
• Overall Level: Amateur LV.3 (expand for details)
• Comeback Points: 911
• Signature Move: "Hunter’s Eco Clutch (Beginner)"
• Personal Items: None
• Comeback Tasks:
  1. Reach the top rank on any platform and announce your return.
  2. (Daily) Run 5 km to maintain physical health.

Jiang Yang studied the system panel.

He was only here to check on any updates to his profile, and he immediately noticed a few changes.

First, his personal items section was now empty—his Sleepy Black Tea was gone. This wasn’t surprising, though; it was a consumable. He vaguely remembered it could be repurchased in the system shop using comeback points.

Second, his comeback points had increased significantly.

Previously, he’d had only 259 points. Now, he was up to 911.

The daily 5 km run task awarded points, but he hadn’t done that yet today.

Dream runs don’t count, do they?

Curious, Jiang Yang opened the income breakdown for his comeback points.

He quickly discovered that the extra points came from ranked match victories. The system calculated points based on performance in each match—better performance and wins yielded more points.

The epic comeback match had earned him the most points, while the loss had contributed nothing.

In other words, the more ranked matches he played, the more points he could earn.

But for now, he still wasn’t sure what comeback points could actually do.

Remembering the Sleepy Black Tea, Jiang Yang decided to visit the system shop to buy a replacement. It was always good to have one on hand, just in case.

Upon opening the shop, he froze.

Several new items were displayed in addition to the familiar Sleepy Black Tea:

• Rifle Proficiency Pack (Beginner)
• Advanced Familiarity with Windmill Map
• Random Factory-New Butterfly Knife (Game Item)
• Random Hextech Card
• A Banana

The sudden variety of items left Jiang Yang bewildered. He glanced at the shop description in the corner:

System Shop Rules

• The shop refreshes daily at 6 a.m.
• Certain items from tasks may remain in stock permanently.

So the shop’s inventory had refreshed since he activated the system yesterday.

Jiang Yang examined the new items:

• A Banana and the Butterfly Knife were tangible items.
• The Butterfly Knife was especially tempting, considering he didn’t have much income besides the 500 yuan allowance from his mom.

During today’s matches, one of his teammates had shared a butterfly knife with him. Its feel was incredible.

Sure, Ma Xixi could lend him gear anytime, but it wasn’t the same as owning something yourself.

However, the Butterfly Knife came with a hefty price tag: 1,000 comeback points.

With only 911 points on hand, he’d have to pass for now.

Shifting his attention to other items, Jiang Yang examined:

• Rifle Proficiency Pack (Beginner): Costs 200 points, grants +500 proficiency.
• Windmill Map Familiarity (Advanced): Costs 20,000 points, grants +50,000 proficiency.

Seeing the exorbitant cost of the map item, Jiang Yang laughed wryly.

"20,000 points? That’s worth more than my life!"

Jiang Yang shelved the map item for now, noting that “Windmill” didn’t even exist yet. Maybe it was a future map?

Moving on, the Random Hextech Card caught his eye. At 500 points, it promised either rewards or penalties.

Feeling bold, Jiang Yang decided to gamble.

He purchased the Hextech Card and a Rifle Proficiency Pack, exhausting his points. Unfortunately, each item was limited to one purchase.

If only he could stack them endlessly. Imagining himself maxing out his proficiency overnight and dominating professional players made him chuckle.

“Still, that would ruin the fun,” he mused. “CS is all about pushing limits.”

Jiang Yang used his purchased items.

• The Rifle Proficiency Pack immediately boosted his proficiency to Amateur LV.2.
• The Hextech Card awarded him a perk: Buy Now, Pay Later (Once), allowing him to purchase items without upfront payment.

“...Huh?” Jiang Yang was speechless.