John's eyes were protruding from anger like golf balls as his lips flattened. He looked at his bag, which had his precious laptop, and felt his heart writhing from the very thought of giving away this new laptop he treasured so much to some nobody.
He replayed the scene again and again in his mind and couldn't understand how he got killed just like that. Most of all, he was unable to believe that Dorian was faster than him in pulling the trigger.
How could a newbie possibly beat a veteran like him with over 4000 hours clocked in CS:UW?
Then his eyes lit up as if he suddenly made sense of things and got up from his chair immediately and called out, "Goodboi, you are no newbie, are you? You are a hidden pro, and you purposefully fooled us all so that we wouldn't have any objections to you entering the Wildcat's team, isn't it? You and your team were playing us all like fools all along."
"Bullshit! I know him. He has never seen this game before yesterday!" Tiana vehemently said as she got up from her seat as well. She felt as if she couldn't just let John try to undermine Dorian, and most of all, she obviously didn't believe what John said because she knew Dorian's background.
How could someone who didn't know how to use a smartphone a day before be a hidden expert in CS:UW?
Still, at the same time, she had the same question as John inwardly, wondering how Dorian was able to wipe out the whole enemy team consisting of veterans on his own. No matter how much she thought about it, she felt that a newbie would absolutely have no chance of doing such unbelievable things on day 1.
It was no less shocking than if a newborn baby learned to walk and talk the same day.
People usually had to grind for at least hundreds or even thousands of hours to reach their level, and everyone who participated in this tourney had such hours and was already playing this game for at least a few years.
So she couldn't make sense of how Dorian was able to land an Ace or a team wipe on his own, especially with all of his kills being a headshot.
AK-47 was one of the most powerful weapons in the game, but at the same, it also had a steep learning curve, and usually, newbies never use it due to how crazy its recoil was.
Just like her friends, she had a million questions to ask Dorian, but she knew now was not the time, and first, she had to make sure John doesn't come up with excuses to back out from the bets they had placed.
"Oh, you say you know him just because he is your cousin? That doesn't mean you know about everything he does on his own, or it could also mean you are covering for him. God knows he might have been playing this game for a decade in secret and not participating in open tournaments," John said in a bitter tone, feeling cheated since he truly believed that the Wildcats made a fool out of him by recruiting a hidden expert to join their team as a sub.
Now his imagination went deeper as he wondered whether the informer who informed about the absence of the Wildcat's teammate was colluding with the Wildcats to make him look stupid.
And that this was all an elaborate plan concocted by the Wildcats to crush him and his team.
In his frustration and anger, he began to start believing in this conspiracy theory no matter how ridiculous it seemed or even if he knew that a team like the Wildcats wouldn't bother to waste so much of their energy to destroy a team they don't even remember playing against before.
Viktor inwardly sighed, seeing how much of a shock he created among the audience and even his own team. He wondered whether he performed too exceptionally for his first game and wondered if he should have toned down a lot more.
But he couldn't help himself from not using some of his abilities to his advantage since holding back fully was not really his style.
Still, he found John's accusation laughable even if they were true since it still didn't matter.
So he looked at John and said in an outspoken manner, "Look, John, I may or may not be a newbie. But even if what you said were true, it still doesn't change anything. None of us here broke any rules, did we? You yourself agreed that the Wildcats could take me in as their substitute. You shouldn't try to come up with such excuses just because you want to back out from the bet we placed. As men, we are supposed to uphold our words. Isn't that right?" Viktor asked as he looked at the audience as well, who nodded to his words and began to look at John with disappointed expressions.
John felt pressured by all the gazes landing on him, and he also understood that he was literally in a fucked up position. And just as Dorian said, even if he was really a hidden expert, it wouldn't change anything, and he would have to own up to his bet.
He glared at Dorian, knowing that he purposefully stirred up the audience with his words to increase the pressure, and if he came up with any other excuses, it would do no benefit to him other than destroying his own image and the reputation of his team.
So with trembling hands, he slowly took his laptop bag and walked over to the other side. His face looked quite ashen, as if he was personally walking over his girlfriend to break up with him and get along with the other guy.
And as he finally stood before Dorian, he shot daggers at Dorian as he handed over the laptop bag.
Viktor put up an excited smile as he grabbed the bag from him and asked as he raised one of his eyebrows, "Why are you giving me the bag as well?"
"Because I don't want you damaging my precious just because you don't have the proper bag to carry it. It is very delicate and fragile, and you better take good care of it," John said in a bitter tone as he took one final look at his precious and turned around with an ugly expression.
He literally felt no different than having his girlfriend being snatched right before his eyes.
"Wait a minute! You forgot about my second condition," Viktor called out from behind, making John force a hard smile as his jaw and facial muscles tightened, making him look as if he got constipated from anger.