Chapter Ninety-One: Sharpshooter?

The Mauser G98 outperformed the Kahr in terms of attributes, boasting a higher hit probability at long range. With its superior shooting stats, it suited Yudie best. However, the Mauser G98 belonged to Lin Xiaofeng, and since firing several hundred rounds could improve shooting skills, Chen Hao was reluctant to ask Lin Xiaofeng to hand over the rifle to Yudie. It was ideal that Lin Xiaofeng volunteered.

Chen Hao was in good spirits. He smiled and said, “Soon, I’ll provide everyone with practice ammo at a low price—five copper coins per bullet. But remember, reloaded ammo damages firearms quickly, so you’d best find a way to practice with NPC weapons.”

“Brother Chen, you’re amazing!”

“Boss Chen, you’re the best!”

“War” was a shooting game; there wasn’t a player who didn’t want to master marksmanship, even those taking the commander’s route. Everyone knew that marksmanship could be built by burning through ammo, but the cost was prohibitive. At five copper coins per bullet, they could achieve four times the results for the same money. No wonder everyone was excited.

Reloading ammo was lucrative, but as more players were fooled, some would inevitably start to distinguish between reloaded and factory rounds. This business couldn’t last forever. In another ten or twenty days, when there was no longer a market for reloaded ammo, Chen Hao would have time to help Baihuhu and the others improve their shooting with it.

Yudie asked curiously, “Brother Chen, how many bullets can you reload each day?”

Chen Hao smiled. “A few thousand, I suppose! Reloading is a special life skill, and you need luck to learn it. It’s most useful in the early game. You’re all over level 10 now; you can choose a life profession. Having a life skill will help with leveling too.”

Every player over level 10 could choose a life profession—firearm design, battlefield medic, ship design, architecture, chef, and so on. Once chosen, by completing tasks at the relevant NPC, players would learn the associated life skill.

For example, a player who became a chef could open a restaurant in-game and never worry about food and drink. A player who chose firearm design could, upon reaching a certain level, draw blueprints; factions with production lines could use these to manufacture weapons.

The number of weapons made from a blueprint depended on the designer’s life skill level. A novice could draft a bird gun blueprint, but it would only allow the manufacture of two. A high-level designer might produce ten from the same blueprint and with a much higher chance of quality goods.

After Chen Hao’s explanation, Liu Zixuan suggested, “Brother Chen, we’re a team. Let’s discuss which life professions we’ll take; that’ll help our cooperation in the future.”

Chen Hao nodded. “Exactly. Since I’ve learned the special skill of reloading, I’ll choose firearm design. That way, I can also help repair your guns. Any stable leveling team needs someone with battlefield medic skills, preferably a chef too. The rest of you, choose according to your interests.”

Yudie was the first to raise her hand. “Brother Chen, I’ll become a battlefield medic.”

“I’ll be the chef,” Lin Xiaofeng quickly decided. His family ran a restaurant in real life, and he’d always loved cooking.

Daoyu, the fisherman, picked heavy weapons maintenance—a must for machine gunners, since maintaining heavy machine guns and mortars was more complex than lighter firearms. Baihuhu, the prodigy, chose to become a teacher; he was on the diplomatic path, and being a teacher would boost his eloquence and his “silver tongue” skill.

The youngest, Chen Feng, opted for lockpicking—it was clear he was set on the solo infiltration route. Liu Zixuan hadn’t decided yet; she wanted to review all the professions first. To choose a life profession, they’d need to find the relevant NPC in town and complete profession tasks. For now, the team was just discussing coordination.

The seven of them reached a spot 120 meters from the sentry post. The best marksmen, Yudie and Liu Zixuan, raised their rifles, aimed at the post, and squeezed the triggers. They had yet to meet any NPCs who taught marksmanship, so their best accuracy was standing; prone and kneeling would only lower their hit rate.

As expected, both Yudie and Liu Zixuan missed their shots. They were prepared for this and weren’t anxious, calmly pulling their triggers in turn.

Chen Hao, whose shooting stat was now 16, felt itchy watching them fire. He decided to squeeze off a few rounds at the sentry post himself.

Bang.

As Chen Hao pulled the trigger, he was astonished to see the bandit atop the left sentry post topple headfirst off the rock. The others stared in disbelief. Yudie and Liu Zixuan paused their shooting, grumbling, “Brother Chen, with aim like yours, why have us waste our time?”

“Boss, you’re incredible! You took down an enemy from 120 meters in one shot. Not being a sniper would be a waste of talent!”

“Brother Chen, when did you practice your shooting? What’s your shooting stat?”

Chen Hao was stunned himself. Was his luck for real? With only 16 points in shooting, he’d managed a one-shot kill. He gave a wry smile. “What are you thinking? My shooting is only 16. It was just luck.”

Liu Zixuan looked frustrated. “My shooting stat is 28. Yudie’s is 32. We fired more than ten shots and missed every one, and you hit it with a single bullet…”

“Can’t help it, just lucky…” Chen Hao shrugged, raised his rifle, and emptied the magazine at the post, but his luck didn’t repeat itself.

The bandits on the post had been laughing at the outlanders; at 120 meters, they weren’t worried about being hit. After Chen Hao shot one of them dead, the other panicked, scrambled down, and fired wildly.

Hearing the gunfire, one-eyed Qi led more than a dozen bandits down from the summit. “Hou San, those outlanders are back?”

The sentinel stammered, “B-boss, Zhuzi was just killed.”

“What?” A fierce glint flashed in one-eyed Qi’s eye. “Those outlanders have terrible aim. How did they kill Zhuzi? Did you slack off and let them sneak close?”

Hou San shook his head. “They didn’t charge. They were shooting from 120 meters away, and Zhuzi was hit.”

One-eyed Qi was shocked. “How many shots did it take them to kill Zhuzi?”

Hou San, still shaken, replied, “At first, two women fired, but their aim was bad—more than ten shots, all misses. Then a man came—one I hadn’t seen before. He killed Zhuzi with a single shot. If I hadn’t run, I’d probably be dead too.”

In truth, even if Hou San hadn’t run, he wouldn’t have died; Chen Hao’s chance of hitting at 120 meters was maybe one in a thousand. That first shot was pure luck, but to Hou San, it made Chen Hao seem a sharpshooter. That’s why he panicked and climbed down.

After Hou San’s report, one-eyed Qi’s face darkened. “If the enemy has a sharpshooter, we’ll have to abandon the post. Let’s all pull back.”

Just then, a bandit in a newbie outfit interjected, “Boss, there’s no way an outlander could have such good aim right now. He must’ve gotten lucky. The post is key to the defense of the stronghold. Abandoning it would be a real waste.”