559: Chapter Five Hundred and Fifty-Four: A Blow that Destroys Confidence 559: Chapter Five Hundred and Fifty-Four: A Blow that Destroys Confidence First marksman in the mercenary world?
Since ancient times, there has never been a fixed “first” in literature or a “second” in martial arts.
Giving Gao Yang such a title was like roasting him on a fire; there’s no doubt that troubles would follow him because of it.
Gao Yang knew he was a good marksman, but to call him the first marksman was an exaggeration of the cruelest kind.
After all, warfare wasn’t about one-on-one combat or comparing gunmanship to see who shot more accurately and thus declared the winner.
Even an idiot with lousy shooting skills, if well-hidden, could ambush and kill with a single shot from behind.
In the heat of battle, the so-called “first” meant nothing at all.
Without even a guess, Gao Yang knew it must have been Nate who had done him in.
Only a remark from someone as influential as Nate would be taken as gospel by a magazine like Mercenary, the only magazine within the circle of mercenaries and one with considerable clout.
Gao Yang swiped a night vision device from the Angel Mercenary Corps and Nate retaliated fiercely, putting him on the hot seat.
The speed of Nate’s retaliation was one thing, but the problem was Gao Yang couldn’t retaliate in kind.
Being hailed as the first indeed brought nothing but empty fame and endless trouble, but Gao Yang had to admit—it felt awesome.
Only mediocrity escapes jealousy.
What’s bound to come will come anyway.
With the Satan Mercenary Corps’ renown growing, staying low-profile was unlikely.
Those who should know on that level definitely would, and for those who were out of the loop, there was no point telling them; they wouldn’t understand.
Although he felt it must have been Nate who spread the word, Gao Yang knew he still had to confirm it, so he casually asked, “I’m the first marksman?
I’ve never heard that before.
Where did you get this from?”
Eileen shrugged and said, “It’s in the Mercenary magazine.
The leader of the Angel Corps said it himself, and even the Angel’s marksman ‘Prince’ said the same.
They both think you’re better.”
Prince, he was the Angel’s marksman, and during a joint operation with Gao Yang, Gao had indeed outperformed him.
Gao Yang laughed, “Just by their words I’m now the first marksman?
Isn’t their influence a bit too much?”
Eileen said in surprise, “You didn’t know?
The Prince of the Angel, he’s always been recognized as the first among marksmen in the mercenary world.
Now that he admits he’s not as good as you, and the Angel’s leader has said he’s never seen a better marksman than you, of course, you’re the undisputed first.”
Gao Yang was genuinely astonished as he looked at Cui Bo and asked, “Prince is the first marksman?
Can you tell?”
Cui Bo’s eyes widened, “Him?
The first marksman?
No way, right?
He really doesn’t seem as good as you.”
Good marksmen are rare, and in a way, a good marksman is rarer than a good sniper.
Gao Yang has always believed he should be a good marksman, but he had never entertained the exaggerated idea of being the first.
Gao Yang, typically unaware of his own prowess, and Cui Bo and the others, accustomed to having a skilled marksman around, never realized just how formidable the Gao Yang they knew so well could be.
After all, the nature of combat lacked a direct, quantifiable standard for judgment.
Just then, Jack came in, pushing a cart loaded with guns and ammunition.
Seeing Gao Yang and the others staring blankly at each other, he waved his hand, “Let’s go, time to test guns.
Forget the indoor range, let’s head straight to the field where the three-gun competition will take place.”
Gao Yang’s Blade of Satan was with Jack, and he also brought the necessary shotgun for Gao.
Off they went, with an air of confusion as to his own skill level, Gao Yang decided to go straight to the range and see how he measured up against Eileen in a shootout.
On their way, Eileen pointed to a pile of guns in the cart, “Hey, Jack, I want to compete with our commander, and I assume that SG751SPA-R is for me, right?”
Jack looked curiously at Eileen, “You can certainly use it, but I can lend you my gun.
That gun, before being modified, is not enough for the upcoming competition you’re about to face.”
In a typical three-gun competition, the distance to the targets isn’t fixed—it can be near or far.
But how far are the rifle targets usually?
A hundred meters, that’s considered far.
With a 7.62 mm caliber rifle equipped with a scope, two hundred meters is also considered distant.
Three hundred meters is rare because speed is essential in three-gun competitions; beyond that, most people would just keep firing shot after shot, and who knows how long that would take.
The accuracy of the SG751SPA-R is more than sufficient for three hundred meter targets, but when Eileen realized Gao Yang’s practice targets were at six hundred meters, she was stunned.
Seeing Eileen’s reaction, Jack smiled, “You can borrow my gun.
It suits your build, no problem.”
Jack’s gun was a modified M14, just like Gao Yang’s, with an unrecognizable appearance due to the alterations, and it was also a unique piece impossible to classify by model, but without a doubt, it was a fine weapon.
Gao Yang fiddled with his gun, letting Eileen get accustomed to shooting Jack’s gun by firing a dozen bullets.
Soon enough, Eileen confidently declared, “This really is a fine gun.
With this, I’m confident I can beat anyone.
Commander, shall we start?”
Gao Yang chuckled and said, “You decide how to play, and also, you can shoot first.”
Shooting first offered a slight psychological advantage and made it easier to perform well, so Gao Yang proposed letting Eileen shoot first.
However, confident as ever, Eileen loudly declined, “No, you go first.
According to the rules of the three-shot competition, whoever hits ten targets in the shortest time wins.
If I know your time, I can aim to beat it in less time.”
Gao Yang shrugged his shoulders, held the gun with both hands, and took up his position at the starting line.
As the referee, Jack, gave the signal, Gao Yang suddenly dashed out.
He followed the prescribed route, only skipping the initial steps of shooting with a handgun and shotgun, and rushed to the shooting position.
The target was at 600 meters, so he definitely had to shoot from a prone position.
After reaching the spot and lying down, Gao Yang loaded his rifle—this was the rule.
Once the bullet was chambered, he quickly estimated the position of the now tiny and indistinct target, then used the scope to aim and fire, confirming the target was down before immediately shifting to the next one and continuing to shoot.
For Gao Yang, everything was straightforward; it was just a matter of hitting one target and then moving onto the next.
After using ten bullets to hit all the targets, Gao Yang finished shooting.
When he returned to the starting position, Jack shook the stopwatch in his hand and said, “Twenty-four point seven seconds, with a shooting time of thirteen point five seconds.
You were at least a second slow when shooting.”
Gao Yang shrugged and replied, “No warm-up, felt a little cold.
Okay then, Eileen, it’s your turn.”
After saying that, he heard no response.
Gao Yang looked at Eileen curiously and saw her with her mouth agape, staring blankly at him without moving.
Gao Yang waved his hand in front of Eileen’s face and said, “Hey, what are you zoning out for?
It’s your turn.”
Eileen snapped back to reality and blurted out unconsciously, “F**k, what’s the point of competing?
I give up.
F**k, what are you made of?
Are you even human?
Hitting a 600-meter target in thirteen point five seconds with ten shots in a row?”
Gao Yang shrugged and said, “What’s wrong?
It’s pretty normal.”
Eileen pursed her lips and replied, “Well, maybe it’s normal for you, but for me, sorry, I don’t want to be humiliated.
I admit defeat, I give up on the competition.
Damn it, this is the first time I’ve given up in a competition, and I hope it’s also the last time in my life.
Boss, now I really think you’re the deserved number one Marksman.
Maybe, well, maybe you could drop the ‘in the Mercenary World’ part.”
It had always been said that shooting quickly was easy; just pull the trigger haphazardly, even an idiot could do it, but shooting accurately was much harder.
Shooting precisely was even more difficult, and being gifted in this aspect was what made someone skilled; but to shoot both quickly and accurately was incredibly hard—it was like the difficulty was doing somersaults in the air.
Making Eileen recognize the challenge and give up pleased Gao Yang, but he felt like he was left hanging, still wanting to truly compare his skills.
Instead, Eileen had straight up surrendered, not even giving him the chance to gauge his own strength.
Seeing Eileen’s face full of wonder, sure she wouldn’t compete anymore, Jack shrugged and said, “Quitting is tough, and it’s embarrassing, but you’ve made a smart choice.
If you actually went head-to-head with Ram, it would shatter your confidence.
For a shooter, that’s not a good thing, so I fully support your decision to quit.”
Gao Yang, feeling flattered, looked at Jack and asked, “It’s tough?
You know what I’m talking about, right?”
Jack replied with a helpless smile, “It’s tough.
I’ve never seen a 600-meter distance match.
The furthest I’ve seen and participated in was 400 meters.
Disregarding the movement time and counting only the shooting time, the IDPA record holder did it in twenty-one seconds, so think about that.”
Gao Yang smirked at Jack and asked, “What about you?
What’s your time?”
Jack sighed and said, “Twenty-six seconds.
Now, you understand why I insisted you take my place in the competition, right?
Even if I instantly lost a hundred pounds, no, two hundred pounds, and moved lightning fast, I still couldn’t beat you because you’ve left me in the dust when it comes to shooting speed.”
After that, Jack looked at Eileen, shrugged helplessly, and said, “See, that’s the difference between humans and superhumans.
You think you’re tough, but when this guy suddenly shows up, you realize there are geniuses in this world.
You feel frustrated, powerless, and you might even lose your passion for the sport because you know no matter how hard you train, you can’t win, not even make it look good.”
Eileen, who could relate, said, “You’re still okay, you only see this as a sport.
But I have to fight wars.
If I encounter this on the battlefield, I’d be dead.”
Gao Yang said with a light smile, “Jack, you never told me all this before.”
Jack let out a sigh and replied, “That’s because I had never seen you compete in a three-gun match before, buddy.
I knew you were an accurate shooter, but I had no idea you were fast and accurate.
The key thing is, you’re faster than I could ever believe.”(To be continued.
If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.
Your support is my greatest motivation.
Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)