The first time I encountered CS was 10 years ago, during a summer at my cousin’s house. Watching him with his glasses on, staring at a 15-inch CRT monitor, navigating through the pipes of de_prodigy while battling bots, I thought the game was pretty cool. After that, I found ways to play it at internet cafes, and it became an addiction.
I started playing CS extensively around 2004 and 2005, during my second and third years of high school. I often snuck out with classmates to play LAN games at internet cafes all night. Later, in college, with no academic pressure to speak of, I played even more. After graduation, during my leisure time at work, the habit continued.