"A-Tang" Internet Café is a run-down place that has been in business for ten years.
With its outdated computers, cluttered environment, and location in a quiet alley with little foot traffic, this kind of internet café is rarely seen in big cities anymore, though there are still a few in small county towns like "Zhongxiang."
Moreover, due to the subpar equipment and poor conditions, this run-down internet café primarily caters to students—those without ID cards who can't access legitimate internet cafés.
Since it caters to this specific demographic by not requiring ID and offering relatively cheap and safe access, "A-Tang" Internet Café is actually quite bustling.
At that moment, in a corner of the café, a crowd had gathered, shouting and cheering as they watched a student play a shooting game.
It was a tall, lanky teenager wielding a golden AK.
As everyone knows, the AK's trajectory isn't particularly stable, but it packs immense power and burst fire, making it ideal for burst shooting. The first three rounds are fairly accurate, but the trajectory becomes erratic afterward.
Yet in his hands, the AK was as precise as if it had auto-aim. This wasn't just about recoil control or burst-firing headshots—it was terrifyingly accurate full-auto headshot barrages.
This was a technique invented by HeatoN, the Swedish player widely recognized as the "King of the AK" in the first generation of first-person shooters.
Among millions of gamers, only one in ten thousand can pull this off.
And the teenager standing before them, Chen Feng, was using this very technique.
The screen displayed the Desert II map from *Life and Death Sniper*, in Bomb Mode. He was playing as a terrorist. Unlike his teammates, who were all rushing Point B, he broke away from the group and chose to go for the A door alone.
"Brother Feng… he's rushing the A door by himself…"
Seeing Chen Feng charge the A-gate alone, the few student-looking onlookers behind him grew excited. A solo charge meant they'd get to witness that magical marksmanship again—the kind that looks like a highlight reel.
They all knew that on this map, charging the A-gate alone was usually a suicide mission.
To reach Point A through the A-gate, one must pass through a wooden door and a wide open road, and a charge down that road relies entirely on suppressive fire.
Usually, with several enemies charging from the opposite side, plus the sniper lurking at Point A, you wouldn't even have a chance to fight back—any lone player would be mowed down instantly.
Even if you were incredibly lucky and had exceptional aim, you'd be lucky to take out one enemy.
Of course, that's for "most people." But for Chen Feng, it was a live, high-stakes assault!
They held their breath, not daring to blink, afraid of missing a single thrilling moment.
After breaking away from the terrorist base, as he charged toward the A-site entrance, Chen Feng first tossed a grenade toward the side path.
"A feint! Haha, those guys must have fallen for it again!"
A student with particularly wide eyes couldn't help but shout out, prompting a chorus of agreement.
That's right—it was just a diversion, designed to make anyone attempting to charge from this side unable to gauge the situation at the terrorist base, causing them to hesitate, even if just for a moment, about whether to charge head-on.
And that split-second of hesitation was more than enough for Chen Feng to sprint a considerable distance away.
The grenade throw didn't slow him down at all. As he burst through Gate A, he faintly heard footsteps approaching from the opposite direction.
He darted out and saw a police officer charging toward him with equal speed. But just as the poor officer was about to fire, Chen Feng flicked his mouse—and the terrorist, still mid-air, fired a shot that blew the officer's head off.
From darting out the door to leaping up, spotting the officer, and firing the shot—the entire sequence took less than the blink of an eye. That reaction speed was absolutely top-notch.
"Awesome!"
The students erupted in cheers, as if they were watching a world-class master in action.
Before the body with the blown-off head had even hit the ground, Chen Feng, without a moment's hesitation, steered the criminal to dart suddenly to the side. At the same time, three more police officers charged around the corner of Lane A.
Although they couldn't see around the corner, they had deduced Chen Feng's position from the direction the body had flown. As the three officers charged out, their gun barrels spat fire based on their anticipation.
The onlookers all gasped in unison, their eyes glued to the screen, because they all knew the most thrilling moment was about to unfold!
Chen Feng held down the left mouse button while sweeping the AK's muzzle downward in a strange, knife-like motion. The barrel traced an arc in an instant, firing a stream of bullets in an irregular pattern. In midair, these erratic trajectories converged, striking the three men squarely in the forehead.
Three kills in one second!
Cheers erupted like thunder.
"Spray and headshot! Haha, did you see that spray and headshot?!"
"I saw it! I didn't even see what happened before all three of them were dead!"
A few students in the back were shouting as if they'd been injected with adrenaline, their faces flushed with excitement. Some couldn't help but repeatedly slap the table, causing others in the internet café to crane their necks to look over.
Chen Feng seemed completely unfazed by the surrounding noise, calmly controlling his character as he pressed forward.
Darting out from around the corner once more, he spotted two sniper rifles at the opposite A-point. Stabilizing his aim mid-air, he fired a burst at the black dot—using his AK as a sniper rifle—landing a long-range headshot.
At that very moment, the other enemy sniper rifle roared to life.
A bullet struck his leg; thanks to his body armor, it wasn't a one-shot kill, but his health was already low.
As Chen Feng landed, he fired two more shots in rapid succession—the first hitting the enemy's chest, the second his head.
The sniper, using the long-range rifle, jerked backward and dropped dead on the spot.
From the start of the charge to its conclusion, he claimed six kills with lightning speed and effortless grace, much like the legendary swordsman in a wuxia novel—a single stroke of the blade, and blood spatters five paces away.
Having eliminated six police officers on his side, he easily secured victory in this round.
This round was also the final round of the entire match. When the game ended, Chen Feng's stats displayed 28 kills and 1 death.
"28 kills and only one death! That's amazing, Brother Feng! You're a one-man army even in the top-tier ladder matches!!"
As the ladder match concluded, the students watching were in awe, especially those who had never seen him play before—they found it hard to believe.
One of them couldn't help but ask Chen Feng, "We've always heard Big Eyes and the others say you're amazing, and seeing you today proves it's no exaggeration. What's up with your mouse? You just flick it and it's over. To keep your aim steady with the sensitivity set that high is almost unimaginable… Have you already reached the pinnacle of your game?"
"No, there's still room for improvement."
Ranked first in the ladder, Chen Feng looked at his score, sighed, and logged out of the game.
He knew he still had room to improve; at the very least, when it came to long-range single shots, he couldn't pull off a sniper burst.
But unfortunately, there were no longer any opponents who could put that kind of pressure on him.
"Sigh, if Hua and Ying—who rose to fame last year—were still around, maybe I could have taken it a step further."
He turned off his computer and stood up. "Now, it's going to be tough…"
Hearing a sixteen-year-old boy utter words like "the loneliness of a master is like snow" might seem ridiculous, but it was the honest truth of his heart.
He desperately wanted to face off against the two legendary snipers who rose to fame last year, but back then, his skill was still mediocre—those two IDs were figures he could only look up to.
"Oh man, those two haven't logged in for half a year—they've probably quit playing long ago."
Chen Feng's die-hard fan, Haozi, who was standing behind him, heard his voice and said in a sycophantic tone, "You're number one in *Honor of Kings* right now. Don't worry about it. When the cross-server tournament rolls around, with your skills, any title will be a piece of cake."
"Maybe…" Picking up his backpack from the table, Chen Feng stood up to leave the internet café. "Haozi, Xiaopang, Dayan, Laogou, you guys keep playing. I'm heading home."
"So early?"
"It's already dark. If I don't go home soon, my mom's going to nag me again!"
"Alright then, boss, take care!"
"Alright!"
Chen Feng waved to his friends and walked over to the counter, handing his deposit slip to a very pretty girl at the front desk.
The girl looked like she was from the countryside, with a long braid that seemed a bit out of style, but she didn't look the least bit unsophisticated. Paired with her big, bright eyes, if it weren't for her slightly old-fashioned clothes, anyone passing by would have to take a second look.
"Hey, cutie, give me my change…"
Chen Feng smiled at the girl.
"Uh, you've got three yuan left…"
"Then just give me a bottle of Coke. Keep the change."
Being a regular here, Chen Feng walked over to the freezer and grabbed a bottle of ice-cold Coke as he spoke.
"You shouldn't drink so much Coke. It's better to have some yogurt or something while you're still growing."
As Chen Feng unscrewed the cap, another very muscular young man emerged from the small alcove behind the counter.
The man wore a tight-fitting camouflage vest and sported a standard buzz cut. The vest hugged his arms and chest, revealing the sharp contours of his muscles beneath.
His name was "Ah Tang"—the internet café was named after him. He was usually a very easygoing person, but Chen Feng had seen him take action before.
Once, some street thugs had been bullying students in the café. Ah Tang stepped in and, with just a few punches and kicks, left the thugs with broken bones and torn ligaments. Since then, no one had dared to cause trouble in this area.
Chen Feng actually held this owner, "Ah Tang," in high regard.
"Brother Tang, I'm not like you—I'm not built that way. I've never planned on building up my physique; I'm just fine the way I am."
Chen Feng grinned as he teased Ah Tang, "Save that yogurt for your cousin to drink; she needs it!
Hahaha…"
Before Chen Feng could finish his joke, the girl behind the counter stood up, brandishing an empty Coke bottle. Chen Feng laughed and jumped back, giving A Tang a quick wave before she could lose her temper, then darted straight out of the internet café.
The moment he stepped outside, a wave of heat hit him in the face.
Although it was only April, the temperature in Zhongxiang was already quite high; even in short sleeves, he was sweating.
Fortunately, the sun had already set. Chen Feng swayed his lanky frame, lugging a backpack wider than he was, and dawdled his way through two streets and an alley until he reached the entrance of his family's small grocery store. He opened the door, but before he could step inside, he heard a loud bellow from within.
"Whoa, a flower blooming on a beam! Whoa!"