CS: Demon King C, you said I was a genius?

Su Zhe held the trophy with both hands, raising it high above his head. The golden rain enveloped him completely, and the trophy shone brightly in his eyes.

At that moment, Su Zhe finally understood the meaning of training for more than ten hours every day for the past few months.

Isn't it all about enjoying this moment to the fullest?
Su Zhe then turned around and handed the trophy to his teammates behind him.

Every time the trophy was raised high, it was accompanied by cheers from the audience, who also enjoyed it immensely.

After each team member had enjoyed the trophy, a staff member came up and handed Su Zhe a white marker.

As Su Zhe looked down at the marker in his hand, somewhat puzzled, Niko beside him smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and then pointed to the camera that had come closer.

Su Zhe suddenly realized that he remembered the live broadcast footage of the competition he had seen before. In some competitions, the winning members would write their ID signatures on the camera.

This also symbolizes the inscription of the player's personal achievements and the display of their self-identity, and the sense of honor it represents is no less than that of winning a trophy.

Then Su Zhe walked in front of the camera, opened the cap of his marker, and carefully wrote his ID in front of all the viewers watching the live stream.

"Arrow"

With each letter he wrote, he etched this ID into the memory of every viewer.

After G2 and the others wrote their IDs on the camera, the two teams stood in front of their respective booths, waiting for the tournament organizers to distribute medals, as arranged by the staff.

In the IEM series of tournaments, each member of the champion and runner-up teams receives a medal, which looks the same but is distinguished by its gold or silver color.

When the event organizers hung the medal around Su Zhe's neck, he looked down at it and was somewhat disappointed.

"Why isn't it pure gold...?"

The medal is simply made of crystal with a little gold trim.

After the medals were awarded, just when Su Zhe thought the competition was over, the male host from before walked onto the stage again with a microphone.

This time, instead of speaking broken English, he shouted in a deep voice:
"Alright, we've moved on to the final stage of our competition!"

"Guess who the MVP of this year's IEM Chengdu tournament is?!"

"Oh—"

The audience erupted in cheers once again. There was no need to guess; judging from their reaction, they already had their MVP in mind.

Suddenly someone shouted "Arrow" from below the stage, and everyone else joined in.

Judging from the data of the three best-of-three matches and the role he played in the game, Su Zhe deserves to be named MVP.

Seeing this, the host stopped teasing and shouted into the microphone, "The MVP of this IEM Chengdu tournament is .Arrow!!"

"Let's welcome Arrow back to the front of the stage!"

At this moment, Su Zhe's official photos once again dominated the LED screen at the venue.

Next to it was displayed Su Zhe's specific data in this Bo3 final. Even though it was expected, the audience still gasped when they saw it.

Kills/Assists/Deaths: 75-22-63
Average damage per game: 94
Rating: 1.51
The KAST (no-giveaway rate) is as high as 90.1%!

This data shows that Su Zhe has almost never given away his time for nothing, and has contributed to the team in every round.

Moreover, in terms of K/D ratio, he was the best in the game. It's worth noting that the player with the most kills on FaZe, Broccoli, only managed to get less than 60 kills in this Bo3.

"Holy crap! This is like treating Faze like a fish and blowing it up!"

"A 1.51 rating! I don't even get this high a rating when I'm dominating in ranked matches!"

"Xiao Zhe is practically here to be a substitute player for G2!"

"Haha! It's obvious that Xiao Zhe really wants a job."

"Damn G2, if they sign Xiao Zhe, the three-horse carriage will truly form a dynasty, okay?"

"Sigh... I really hope Xiao Zhe can make it into G2. I love this lineup."

"Can G2's management really be this brainless? I still don't understand why they kicked Jks."

"You know what, ever since JKS left, G2 hasn't won a championship again, until Xiao Zhe, this mercenary, came along..."

Amidst the murmurs of the audience, Su Zhe returned to the front of the stage.

A rectangular crystal trophy has been placed on the shelf that originally held the trophies on the stage.

Su Zhe stepped forward and grabbed it with one hand, then raised it high again in front of the audience.

The match had already ended, but not many spectators were willing to leave. Su Zhe could still see a huge crowd, and the cheers rang out again.

Su Zhe practically swept all the honors at this IEM Chengdu event, taking home both the championship trophy and the MVP award.

Moreover, apart from a somewhat close final, they won the championship with an almost overwhelming advantage.

At this moment, the male host came over again. This time, instead of speaking in incomprehensible English, he asked loudly in Chinese, "Arrow! How are you feeling now!"

The sudden shout startled Su Zhe. After a couple of seconds, he smiled and replied, "I feel great."

Male host:
He continued, "Do you have any other feelings?"

Su Zhe: "I feel great."

The audience burst into laughter again; this interview was just too entertaining!

Su Zhe laughed along with the audience. He then stopped teasing the host, took the microphone from him, and answered seriously:
"I am very grateful to the audience and my fans. Thank you for your continued support. I have read your posts on various forums and I appreciate your recognition."

He then looked down at the trophy in his hand and continued:
"This is my first major championship and my first MVP medal. I am very happy and proud."

"However, this is just the beginning for me, and it is far from over. I will do my best to achieve better results in the future and make sure I live up to your expectations."

Su Zhe spoke with great emotion, and his words were not empty rhetoric but rather expressed his true inner thoughts.

After he finished speaking, he handed the microphone back to the host, and the entire IEM Chengdu event came to a complete end.

Su Zhe waved and, amidst enthusiastic applause from the audience, walked backstage with his teammates to the dressing room to pack up and leave.

By the time they reached the outside of the venue, it was completely dark.

The match officially started at 6:30 pm, with three best-of-three games that were almost all played to their full potential. Including the halftime break and post-match interviews, the whole process took more than four hours.

Su Zhe glanced at his watch; it was almost 11 p.m. Breathing in the fresh air outside, Su Zhe felt an unprecedented sense of relief. Just half an hour earlier, he had been giving his all on stage, extremely nervous.

Now, however, they have nothing to do but celebrate.

The other members of G2 were similar to him, walking with light and quick steps.

"Let's find somewhere to eat first! I'm starving! Arrow, hurry up and arrange something, I've had enough of the hotel's fast food!" Niko complained, rubbing his belly.

Su Zhe nodded in agreement, stating that as the host, he would naturally be responsible for taking them out to eat.

Just as he was thinking about where to eat, Faze and the others came out of the venue.

The overall morale of the Faze team was somewhat low, but fortunately, they were all veterans and were able to adjust their emotions quickly.

After the two teams exchanged greetings again, just when Su Zhe thought Faze was about to leave,

The older cousin then addressed the G2 members, saying, "It's my birthday today, and we're going out for dinner later. Do you guys want to come along?"

"Oh?" Niko's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward to put his arm around his older cousin's shoulder, laughing, "I almost forgot that April 14th is your birthday. You didn't even book the restaurant and birthday cake in advance, did you?"

The older cousin said somewhat reluctantly, "Of course, it's just a bit of a pity that I didn't get my birthday present."

Niko was speechless after hearing this. It wasn't that her cousin's birthday present was gone; it was that G2 had taken it away.

What birthday gift could be better than winning an S-level tournament?
The older cousin put his arm around Niko's shoulder again and said with a smile, "What's with that expression? It's not your fault we lost the game. You won the championship with your own strength."

"By the way, are you guys coming or not?"

Niko shook his head and smiled, "You guys go ahead, we G2 have other plans."

He was also sensible and knew how to navigate social situations. Since his older cousin had made arrangements in advance, it would only be a bother for them if they joined in.

Having just stolen someone else's championship, it wouldn't be right to bother them again.

The older cousin nodded, didn't say anything more, said goodbye to G2 and the others, and then got on the bus to the hotel and left.

“My cousin has had a tough time too…” Niko clicked his tongue as he looked at his cousin’s back. “He’ll be 34 after this birthday, and he’s lost several championships in a row. He must be feeling pretty bad.”

Nexa, who was listening nearby, laughed and said, "What could be difficult for him? He has won a Major championship, he has won a Grand Slam, he has won almost every honor that can be won in CS:GO."

Big Brother, as the commander of FaZe, is known as the one with the longest river in CS:GO. This title is not just based on age and professional career length.

Niko fell silent after hearing this. He felt like a clown, like a beggar, feeling that it wasn't easy for someone to go from being a multi-millionaire to a millionaire.

However, Nexa's words reminded Taz, who was following behind. His eyes lit up, and he said, "Speaking of which, we've also earned the right to the Intel Grand Slam!"

Although the Major is the highest honor in CS:GO esports, the Intel Grand Slam is even harder to achieve than a Major championship.

Since the first Major tournament, there have been at least a dozen Major champion teams, excluding the pandemic and the iteration of CS2.

However, only four teams have ever achieved the Grand Slam honor.

They are Team A, Liquid, Navi, and FaZe.

If a Major championship can be won by an upset, then the team that wins the Intel Grand Slam is undoubtedly a dynasty.

It is also much more difficult to obtain.

To achieve this, you need to win three S-tier (silver-level) tournaments out of ten events hosted by ESL and DreamHack, and then win one more tournament in Katowice, Cologne, or a Major.

Winning all four tournaments earns you the Grand Slam honor.

Without winning a gold medal event or Major title later on, you would need to win 6 out of 10 matches to win the championship.

Such stringent conditions are virtually impossible to obtain without overwhelming strength to defeat all opponents.

G2's victory at IEM Chengdu marks the start of their campaign for the Grand Slam. As long as they don't make more than three changes to their roster, they will remain qualified.

“Grand Slam…” Niko shook his head, “That’s just too difficult.”

As one of the top five teams in the world, G2's last championship was in July of last year, which shows how fierce the competition is.

If you're not in good form for a day or two during a tournament, you can just fly home.

Seeing that everyone was chatting and had stopped, my cousin complained somewhat impatiently, "Hey! Can you stop just chatting like that? Whether we're celebrating or not, let's fill our stomachs first, okay?"

“Hey? I suddenly have a suggestion for a celebration.” Niko suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

After noticing that everyone was looking at him, he said excitedly, "How about we grab a bite to eat first, and then go to a bar to drink and let loose!"

"Huh? Nightclub? No way!" the child immediately refused.

Su Zhe's first thought upon hearing "bar" was his former teammate k0nfig. He now finally understood why k0nfig was so sensitive about bars back then.

However, Su Zhe didn't feel any resistance, since this was in their country and security was naturally not a problem.

But he was a little surprised by the child's reaction. If he didn't want to go, he didn't want to go. Why did he look like he had seen a tiger?

Seeing Su Zhe's puzzled look, the child explained, "Last year, Niko also took me to the bar."

"As a result, they wouldn't let me in since I'm under 18. What made me angrier was that Niko went in by himself and left me to go home alone!"

Su Zhe couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. It's outrageous that minors aren't allowed in.

Niko smiled awkwardly after hearing this, scratched her head and said, "We took a taxi there, we can't let the money go to waste! You can take a taxi back by yourself, it won't make any difference."

"Besides, you're 18 now, what are you afraid of?"

As Niko spoke, she put her arm around the child's shoulder again, her expression somewhat lewd, and said, "Besides, you're an adult now, don't you want to experience the pleasures of being a man?"

The boy blushed upon hearing this, slapped Niko's arm away, and said, "No, I have a girlfriend!"

Niko burst out laughing when she heard that: "I was talking about drinking, what are you thinking!"

The child's face turned even redder, and his voice became softer: "It's just drinking, then I can go."

Niko then turned to Su Zhe and asked, "What about Arrow? Can you go?"

Su Zhe grunted and said, "Okay, let's go!" (End of Chapter)