Chapter 666: Duo Queueing with CDX
Haimi had joined this group using a secondary account, and of course, he hadn't revealed any personal information. After all, if anyone saw him in a cheat group, it would be like committing suicide.
So now, he was asking questions as a random passerby.
"Chicken dinner? Not yet. My best was seventh place."
"Me neither. My best was ninth."
"Oh, now that you mention it, I haven't gotten a chicken dinner either. I feel like this game is different from other shooters—there are way too many sneaky campers."
"Yeah, it was easier to get kills at the start, but in the final circles, it always feels like luck is just a little off."
"Ugh, too bad we can't use wallhacks. If we could, we'd be unstoppable!"
"Can't help it. This game's anti-cheat is way too strict. We're still figuring out how to crack it."
Haimi frowned slightly. None of them had gotten a chicken dinner?
That was a bit suspicious.
He could understand if he himself had gotten several chicken dinners early on, raising his rank too high. But how could the others not get even one?
A new player, using an aimbot from the start, playing for days without a single chicken dinner? That didn't make any sense at all.
Sure, they might be affected by some sneaky campers, but there was definitely a difference between cheating and playing normally. Otherwise, why would players like Haimi, who already had skill, bother paying monthly for those extremely expensive high-end custom cheats?
...
On the official forum for *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds*, a post caught players' attention.
"*PUBG* is also overrun with cheaters? I watched Haimi's stream today, and it felt like a battle of the gods!"
The post included a short clip from Haimi's stream. In the video, Haimi was in a gunfight with another player and got cleanly headshot by an AWM. There were also other clips, like him getting outplayed in close combat and being killed at the last moment.
In the main text, the poster roughly described Haimi's experience and made a reasonable guess about what he encountered in the game: too many cheaters!
This feeling was indeed similar to the earlier days when cheats were rampant. Before Origin appeared, thanks to advances in AI technology, cheats had also started flooding the market. Back then, high-level players in *Overwatch*, *Wolf Soul*, and *Blaze Assault* had similar experiences—their opponents seemed a bit too strong, almost unbelievable.
After all, Haimi was a major streamer for *Overwatch* and had considerable influence in the FPS gaming community. The post quickly caught players' attention.
"I also think that night was a bit weird. Haimi's opponents were all way too strong, weren't they?"
"Could they all be using high-end cheats?"
"Oh, come on. Haimi was still getting kills later on; he just couldn't get a chicken dinner. Maybe it's just bad luck or lack of skill. Getting ambushed and then calling the other guy a cheater?"
"Exactly. You can't really tell anything from these clips. If you're going to accuse someone of cheating, you need solid proof."
"Cheats flooding the game? Sorry, I don't feel that way. I'm playing just fine, and I still get a chicken dinner every couple of days. Besides, streamers like Old P are playing fine too, and they haven't run into any cheaters."
Although the post was getting a lot of attention, most players were just watching from the sidelines like curious bystanders, not taking it seriously.
The reason was simple: they didn't feel it themselves!
If cheats were really flooding the game, players at all ranks should be able to feel it. But Haimi's situation seemed to be an isolated case.
Old P's rank was even higher than Haimi's, and he hadn't encountered any cheaters.
...
The next night at 8 PM, Haimi started his stream on time.
Yesterday's topic had sparked some discussion in the cheat group, but no one had figured out what was going on. Haimi only had a vague guess, but he couldn't confirm it.
Could the official servers detect micro-aimbots?
Based on *Overwatch*, the official servers couldn't detect them. But *PUBG* was a newly developed game, so it was hard to say whether they could or not.
But even if they could detect it, wouldn't they just ban the account directly?
"If they could really detect it, they would have banned my account long ago. Getting banned during a stream would be a disaster. But since my account is still working fine, it means there's no problem."
Haimi thought for a moment and decided to try again today.
Maybe not getting a chicken dinner really was just bad luck?
*PUBG* was different from other games. A micro-aimbot wasn't as blatant as wallhacks or health hacks. With 100 players per match and only one chicken dinner, not getting one was probably common.
Haimi adjusted his mindset and started the stream again.
"Hello, everyone! Don't worry if I didn't get a chicken dinner yesterday. I'm definitely getting one today! If I don't, I'll do another phone giveaway on Weibo. If you haven't followed me yet, please hit that follow button!"
...
"Dammit, so close again!"
Zou Zhuo had gotten second place again, and he was losing his mind.
The chat was full of viewers gloating, clearly thinking that the chubby guy wasn't exactly a skilled streamer...
"Hmph, stop spamming 'Another second place' and 'Another chicken feather.' I've gotten a chicken dinner before, okay? Even if it was two days ago."
The chubby guy said indignantly.
The chat viewers were quick to call him out: "Chubby, you've got some nerve saying that. Wasn't that chicken dinner two days ago thanks to Old P carrying you?"
"Yeah, chubby, go find Old P for some duo queue. Your solo play is painful to watch. How many times have you died in the final circle now?"
Zou Zhuo refused to accept it. "No! I want to get a chicken dinner on my own!"
As he spoke, Zou Zhuo checked his friend list.
Old P was in a game, along with a bunch of other friends.
Just as Zou Zhuo was thinking about who to queue with, he saw a familiar name come online.
"CDX?"
Zou Zhuo's heart leaped with joy. Wasn't this Chen Mo's secondary account?
Zou Zhuo immediately sent a team invite.
But CDX actually rejected it.
Just as Zou Zhuo was wondering why, he saw CDX send a message: "On official business. Not convenient."
Zou Zhuo: "???"
Zou Zhuo was speechless. Wasn't this a joke? If you were testing the game, you could go to the test server. Coming to the live server was obviously for playing, right?
Zou Zhuo replied, "Can I join the official business?"
CDX: "You're too bad. That might be a problem."
Zou Zhuo: "..."
CDX: "Fine, if you're not afraid to die, join the team. Experience what it's like to get a chicken dinner as a loot box."
Zou Zhuo refused to accept it. "I'm really good, okay!"
Despite being looked down on, Zou Zhuo sent another team invite to CDX.
The viewers were curious. Who was this?
The name didn't ring a bell. It wasn't any famous player or streamer.
"Wow, this guy's got quite the attitude. He's calling chubby too bad?"
"Hilarious. Chubby's being so obedient. Is this a real-life friend of his?"
"He talks big. I bet chubby will end up carrying him!"
"Go for it, chubby! Get that chicken dinner!"
Zou Zhuo thought to himself, "...Heh, I'll tell you all his real identity later and blow your minds. For now, I'll keep it quiet and create some entertainment value."