Chapter 255: Bows
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Feng Jiulun continued to say, "Smith has recruited a lot of great students this year, especially a student named Fang Wending. If you knew anything about archery contests, you should have heard the names of Fang Hua and Feng Yunmei, the two professional archers among evolvers. Fang Wending is from such a great family background and talented himself as well. Such a star archer!"
"What you’re saying is that Fang Wending is better than Han Sen at archery?" Wen Xiuxiu tried to contain her anger.
"How is that even a question? Someone who plays the warframe, does black-and-white boxing and even shoots commercials, versus a real archer."
"I bet you don’t know this! This Feng Jiulun is the elder brother of Feng Yunmei."
"Really?"
"Yes, it is true. I live in the same building as Fang Wending and often see Feng Jiulun visiting him."
"Shameless!"
"What kind of expert is this? How dare he say such crap?"
"I’ve never heard that archery skills could be inherited."
The viewers soon found out about the relationship between Feng Jiulun and Fang Wending.
At this point, the game had already started. Each team entered from one end of the field.
The field was of a rectangular shape more than half a mile long. All kinds of obstructions were dotted in the area including small hills, woods and walls, allowing the players to use different tactics.
Players must choose among different bows and arrows provided by the sponsor. Since everyone had different strength levels and habits, there were no rules about the model of weapons.
From 6.0 to 20.0, there were many options on each strength level. Although there were many high-tech composite bows that combined ease of use and accuracy, Han Sen still chose a traditional longbow.
Longbow was the hardest to practice, but it was the most flexible under all kinds of circumstances. Han Sen had been using a traditional bow since the beginning. He had learned the basics in the integrated education, and was further corrected by Yang Manli. After that, he learned many techniques in the military school. At this point, he had reached a considerable high level in archery.
A 11.0 traditional longbow was a popular choice. Normally speaking, senior military school students could reach 13 to 14 in their fitness index, so they would normally go for a bow of 11.0 or 12.0. The one Han Sen chose was relatively weak.
Shi Zhikang had great strength, so he chose a 14.0 modern composite bow. The bow was very powerful, but lacking in flexibility. Although a composite bow was easier to manipulate than a traditional one, the speed must be sacrificed. Shi Zhikang planned to be a remote attacker in the game, and did not plan to sneak up on any player from Smith Military Academy.
Zhang Yang picked a traditional bow like Han Sen did, although he picked up the 12.5 one, which was stronger than Han Sen’s.
Lu Meng chose a recurve hunting bow with an arrow rest, which had a higher accuracy than a traditional bow. It was a mix between the traditional and composite, so rather practical.
Xu Tianhao chose a 13.0 composite bow. Like Shi Zhikang, he was also a player more used to attacking in a fixed place, only his strength was not as great as Shi Zhikang, who was either a born Hercules or had a great count of geno points.
Among the five bows, Han Sen chose the one with lowest strength requirement, which led to Feng Jiulun’s criticism.
"He picked a bow of 11.0, which means he has a terrible fitness index. As a member of the school team, although he is just a freshman, he should still be able to use a 12.0 bow well. Otherwise, he is for sure on the bottom of the entire tournament. I mean I can understand that. Han Sen put all his energy into warframe and black and white boxing, which could explain his bad physique."
Feng Jiulun then turned the topic back to his nephew, "In this respect, Fang Wending is much better than him. They both picked traditional longbows, yet Fang Wending chose a 12.5, which says a lot about his fitness level..."
Feng Jiulun spared no effort to sing his nephew’s praise, while the viewers did not really buy it.
"Bullsh*t! That’s no indicator of anything. I’m using a 15.0 bow but cannot make much use of it."
"Such a phony!"
"How do you know that Han Sen could not beat him with that 11.0 bow?"
"Exactly! In the hands of a master, any bow can be used well."
"I have only heard of Han Sen. Who the heck is Fang Wending?"
Analysis led to strong antipathy. Even fans of the other team started to defend Han Sen, not to mention Han Sen’s own fans.
"Professor Feng, I think that was a little subjective. Our viewers seem to have a lot of different opinions," said Wen Xiuxiu.
Feng Jiulun glanced at the comments and said casually, "The truth always lies in the hands of a few. I’m just stating a fact, which might not be easy to accept for those who have a weak mind. Very soon, I believe, they will see what I’m talking about, because the result of the game will prove everything."
Words like this made the viewers hate this know-it-all even more.
Ji Yanran and Qu Lili were also pissed off by his remarks. Qu Lili bristled, "What kind of crappy expert is this? So unprofessional."
Ji Yanran’s face was grim. She curled her lips and said, "He is right about one thing. The result of the game will prove everything, just not anything he said."
Although the viewers had been complaining, Feng Jiulun managed to ignore all those comments and continued to talk about Smith’s strengths.
At this point, players from Black Hawk and Smith had used all kinds of obstructions as their cover to approach the other team. The fight was about to begin.