Post-LAN reflections
It's been a while since I've played CS. It was, suffice to say, a nostalgic experience when I heard the familiar loading sound as I started up the game. I thought that all my skills would automatically return to me as I started my first map, the famous de_dust, but alas! They had forsaken me! My kill:death ratio was abysmal. It was a blow to me psychologically, and I thought I would not have the courage to pick myself up and face down my opponents. But my teammates cheered me on from the bottom of their hearts, and we persevered. Despite our determination, we were sorely beatn in de_dust. I seriously thought it was the end of my amateur career as a CS delinquent. I was in a quagmire of self-pity as we entered our second map: fy_iceworld.

It was a smaller map, and our opponents were constantly travelling in packs. Our team, all using the 1337 Krew sprite cos we're cool like that, were a scattered bunch of sitting ducks. We were picked off easily by RuiRui and Default, the two strongest members of their team. I knew that it was impossible to win without working as a team, but we were sorely lacking in an assertive leader who knew what to do. My frags were only equivalent to that of Default, the second on the CTs, even though I was the top fragger of my team. It only served to emphasise the difference in ability between our teams. But we closed the gap between us and them, and I knew that we had a shot at winning in the next map.

The third and final map of the day was fy_pool_day, another map that didn't require the buying of any items. I strengthened my resolve to win this round not for myself, but for my team, who have stuck by me through thick and thin. I picked up the automatic shotgun and rushed towards the enemy toilet. I knew from experience that time was of the essence, and that shotguns are really painful when being hit at point-blank range. I never stopped running throughout the game. My sprite might have been tired, but my spirit roared with passion.
My team responded with a deafening war cry of rifle fire, and our enemies had absolutely no chance to retaliate. We conquered our fears, and through our collective resolve, we conquered our opponents.

Through this LAN experience, I learnt the virtues of teamwork and automatic shotguns + HE grenades in fy_pool_day. Thank you.

We wrote history at 22:31.