Picking Up Fragments

No matter what people thought about 4am's ruthless tactics, everyone still found the move quite satisfying to watch.

This kind of tactic had existed for a long time, but only in casual matches. This was the first time it appeared in a competitive game.

Though a bit cheeky, it was very effective against enemies hiding in restrooms.

Many new players expressed that they learned something, realizing you could play this way.

The only downside of this type of death is that you can't loot the bodies. Jiang Siming secretly felt relieved that no shards dropped from the bodies inside; otherwise, he would have been heartbroken.

The four of them waited on the hill for a while, but no one came, so they moved to a new position.

In fact, this kind of reckless repositioning is very dangerous, as it makes you vulnerable to ambushes.

If it were 4am's old playstyle, they would never do this.

But with Jiang Siming around, coupled with the morale boost from back-to-back wins, Wei Shen and the others had long forgotten what fear felt like.

The phrase Wei Shen said the most in this round was: "Just go for it."

Their points were already pretty much secured for advancing, so since they were sure they'd qualify, why not play more boldly?

First, it boosts confidence; second, it helps them warm up their hands; and third, they can experiment with more strategies.

Driving around arrogantly, it was no surprise that no team who saw them wouldn't attack.

The Thai AG team, known for their aggression, unleashed heavy firepower on 4am.

Wei Shen, who was in the back, was shot off the vehicle.

Though the "Sacrificial Pighead" strategy was powerful, Jiang Siming and the others clearly weren't going to just let Wei Shen be thrown away like that.

The three of them immediately stopped the car behind cover: Xiao Xingmu suppressed the enemy with fire, Wang Duoyu threw smokes, and Jiang Siming landed precise shots—everyone performed their roles perfectly.

Seeing someone from AG couldn't resist coming out to finish off the downed Wei Shen, the moment they poked their head out, it was blown off.

To dare peek when Jiang Siming had a sniper? You have to admit, this Thai player wasn't afraid of death.

Wei Shen's downed body, unclaimed by the enemy, was like an old cat resting on a salted fish, continuously tempting their greed.

Another AG player stepped out, firing a single shot at Wei Shen's backside, but Jiang Siming's bullet tracked him down and knocked him as well.

This time, AG was thoroughly intimidated, retreating to heal and revive behind cover, not daring to come out easily again.

Wei Shen, on the other hand, had a relaxed time. With Jiang Siming covering and Wang Duoyu pulling him up, he was perfectly safe.

"Damn it, why do they only shoot me? Do they think I'm easy to bully? This pighead isn't something just anyone can take, young man."

Fully healed, Wei Shen was revitalized, spouting cheeky lines non-stop.

"Duoyu, Xingmu, rush with me. With Old Jiang covering us, there's nothing to fear." Wei Shen's courage had grown considerably.

The three of them charged forward toward the enemy without hesitation. The two downed AG members were revived, but they felt no need to be afraid and directly counterattacked.

AG was known as the "Macho Team" this year because their shooting and playstyle resembled North American teams, and they were quite strong.

Without Jiang Siming's flawless sniping, the chances of Wei Shen's trio winning a 3v4 would have been slim to none.

AG's captain, Chanon, the strongest among the Thai players, was the first to rise and engage in the gunfight.

He was confident that he could beat the opponents in front of him, maybe even taking two of them down in one go.

After all, they had four players, while only three were rushing up from the other side.

As Chanon raised his AK, the annoying silenced M24 fired again, and down he went.

"*** (Thai: Damn it!)"

Besides that curse, Chanon had nothing else to say.

However, the good news was that it takes a second to reload the M24, and in a gunfight game, a second can decide victory or defeat.

At worst, it would be a 3v3, and the Thai team wasn't afraid of that!

But today, Wei Shen, Xiao Xingmu, and the rest had already had their fighting spirit ignited.

With Jiang Siming backing them up, they were full of confidence and in excellent form.

In a brutal 3v3, without losing a single player, they killed all three AG members.

This was truly 4am's shining moment. In the previous two rounds, it had all been thanks to Jiang Siming's individual performance.

But this time, 4am proved their strength. Besides the star player Jiang Siming, Wei Shen, Xiao Xingmu, and Wang Duoyu could carry as well.

After defeating AG, the four of them laughed happily. This time, Wei Shen and the others were proud of themselves.

Apart from VSG, the other two Korean teams also fell early in this round. RGS encountered two North American powerhouse teams. First, they lost two players to TL, and later, they ran into STK, where the remaining two also fell.

AFF, on the other hand, faced Team 17, where 17shou shined brightly, knocking down two players with his SKS sniper. In the end, AFF was wiped out, with Team 17 only losing one player.

The Korean teams didn't even make it into the top ten this round, with all three teams essentially throwing the game away.

Jiang Siming killed the AG captain, and a red shard dropped.

"Picked up [Lip Reading Mastery] red shard *1 (1/3), shard count incomplete, cannot be used yet."

The red shards really seem to contain all sorts of skills, although Jiang Siming had no idea what learning this one would do.

But who cares? Having it is better than not having it, at least it's another skill in his arsenal.

In this match, all the members of 4am performed exceptionally well. Both Xiao Xingmu and Wang Duoyu brought out their best form.

Later, they encountered two more teams. It was no longer just Jiang Siming racking up kills. Their output and contribution were equally significant. Out of the two teams, Jiang Siming only killed two players.

His kill count went down this time, but the KD (kill-death ratio) of the other team members went up.

Jiang Siming was happy to see this.

As the circle closed in, surprisingly, the North American teams were wiped out, and both 17 and OMG were also eliminated.

Only the Swedish team NIP survived until the very end.

This is the charm of FPS games—anything is possible.

No matter how big your advantage is, you're always just a few bullets away from death.

And no matter how weak a team may seem, they always have a chance to make a comeback.

However, NIP's comeback stopped at 4am. There was no twist, and 4am secured their third chicken dinner!

With three consecutive wins, 4am firmly established themselves in the top eight rankings.

No team wanted to challenge them anymore because it just wasn't worth the risk.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

But the hatred from the Korean teams towards 4am remained deep.

Their rankings had fallen to the bottom among the 16 teams, with the highest being only tenth place.

The Korean teams were completely shell-shocked today. After all, this game was developed by a company from their country.

The Korean teams, always proud to be from the strongest region, had gone into complete despair after these three matches.

The Korean region's managers immediately tried to find a way to buy time. They needed to adjust their mindset and rework their strategy.

Soon, a Korean player claimed to feel unwell, and the organizers had no choice but to extend the break by half an hour.

Both the audience and the other teams had lost any goodwill towards the Korean teams. The way they resorted to every dirty trick to win was truly despised by everyone.

Fortunately, the delay was only half an hour, so everyone waited patiently.

By this time, it was already 7 p.m. in the UK, and both the players and the audience were getting hungry.