Within My Range

Jin was the last to make it through and cross the finish line unscathed. He jumped up and cheered, his red hair bouncing like a string of chili peppers. When he turned around, he saw Xu Lingqu and Wang Qihu both lying on the ground.

"Uh, my comrades, you died too tragically." He laughed as he pretended to wipe tears from the corners of his eyes where none existed.

Xu Lingqu silently picked herself up and walked off the field. Jin immediately sidled up to her. "Let me guess who got you—Shen Shouli? Xu Xiqin? Or... Liu Zheng again?" He licked his canine tooth, his eyes curving into crescent moons, clearly relishing Xu Lingqu's misfortune.

"Liu Zheng." Xu Lingqu sat down to the side and brushed the dust off her leg. Wang Qihu crawled over at that moment, playing the part of a corpse with great dedication. If he ever auditioned for a TV drama, he'd make a standout corpse actor.

"I actually failed to block for you." Wang Qihu's voice was filled with grief. He simply couldn't accept this cruel reality—he couldn't beat Xu Lingqu in a fight, and he couldn't shield her either. What was the point of all this muscle he'd built?!

No matter how tall and sturdy Wang Qihu was, in Liu Zheng's eyes, as long as a target was in motion, she would always find a sufficiently tricky angle to hit Xu Lingqu.

The self-cultivation of a sharpshooter, after all.

Soon it was the blue team's turn to hold the guns again. Jin, being the sole survivor of the three-person moving target exercise, dutifully went to fetch guns for the other two.

He raised an eyebrow at Xu Lingqu. "Still taking the revolver?"

"Mm." Xu Lingqu closed her eyes, lost in thought.

Wang Qihu thought she was resting and barely dared to breathe, afraid of disturbing her.

Jin brought over a handgun and tossed it to her. Wang Qihu watched as Xu Lingqu, eyes still closed, extended her left hand and caught the gun firmly.

The gun spun once in her hand, and Xu Lingqu opened her eyes. Jin stood nearby with his arms crossed, grinning. "What? Figure out a way to counter Liu Zheng's pursuit?"

"Found it. But that's not what we should be talking about right now." Xu Lingqu stood up, loading three bullets into the cylinder. "Right now, it's our hunting time."

Liu Zheng set down her gun and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. That point had been a nail-biter—several times she'd felt like Xu Lingqu might slip out of her range, but she'd managed to secure the kill in the end.

Their score was now tied at 2–2, with six rounds remaining. Both of their points had come during their own shooting rounds; neither had managed to dodge the other's sniper fire in the obstacle course. With shooting skills evenly matched, whoever could secure a point by escaping the other's sniping in the obstacle run would break the deadlock.

Last round, when Liu Zheng saw Jin and Wang Qihu circling Xu Lingqu with that mobile shield tactic, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't panicking.

Xu Lingqu's recent improvements in physical agility and reflexes had already boosted her obstacle course performance significantly, and now she'd even devised a cooperative strategy. The pressure on Liu Zheng had mounted with every passing second, nearly crushing her in the previous round.

She'd been so tense, so utterly focused on her shooting, that she'd unconsciously bitten down hard on her lower lip. It wasn't until she finally caught an angle and took down Xu Lingqu just short of the finish line that she realized her lip had been chewed raw and bloody.

No one had ever put this much pressure on Liu Zheng in a shooting event.

Lin Xiao watched her with concern. As roommates, Lin Xiao could see the two clearly locking horns today. She wanted to mediate, but she lacked both the ability and the standing to do so.

After all, she wasn't particularly close to either of them. But earlier, another analyst student from the Fourth Galaxy had told her Liu Zheng's story from back home, and Lin Xiao couldn't help but be moved.

The other student from the Fourth Galaxy was named Lan Ruo, a boy. He and Liu Zheng were the only two students from the entire galaxy to make it into the six major military academies this year.

"Honestly, I probably got my admission because I rode on Liu Zheng's coattails—the galaxy chief managed to secure my spot because of her." Lan Ruo said this with a bitter smile.

"I'm not close to Liu Zheng either. We just grew up in the same galaxy—her story is something everyone there can recite by heart." Lan Ruo had found Lin Xiao after both of them died early in the first round of the obstacle course. Since they'd died quickly and he'd done some research on Liu Zheng's roommates, he'd thought for a moment and struck up a conversation. "The galaxy chief got me this spot hoping I could help Liu Zheng out, but there's so little I can actually do for her. Not being dead weight would already be a blessing."

Lin Xiao sighed. They were both on the red team, and now it was their turn for the obstacle run. After several rounds of attrition, their stamina was running low. Shortly after starting, Lin Xiao was unfortunately hit and collapsed to the ground, with Lan Ruo following close behind.

"Honestly, today's shooting drill isn't purely about shooting ability," Lin Xiao said, naturally picking up their earlier conversation, ready to lie there with Lan Ruo as two chatty corpses on the battlefield. But when she looked over, all she saw was Lan Ruo's eyes wide with shock.

"I got... taken out by Xu Lingqu." Lan Ruo swallowed hard, saying it as incredulously as if he'd been the one to snipe Xu Lingqu. Lin Xiao turned at his words and saw that Liu Zheng had already reached the midway point.

Why wasn't Xu Lingqu targeting Liu Zheng anymore? What did that mean?

"Her turn hasn't come yet."

Jin aimed his left eye through the scope, catching a glimpse of Xu Xiqin. Three bullets fired—Shen Shouli slipped away, and Xu Xiqin escaped too, even flashing a peace sign in his direction.

Unable to contain himself, he urged Xu Lingqu again: "Hurry up and take them out! They're getting away with murder!"

"Her turn hasn't come yet." Xu Lingqu repeated the same line. The first two shots were blanks; only the third had a live bullet.

Jin was curious to see who she'd hit. It wasn't any of the names he'd hoped for—it was someone he'd never seen before.

"Lan Ruo." Jin checked his smart brain. "He's just a little analyst. Why'd you bother shooting him?"

"The feel was right, so I took him out." Xu Lingqu hadn't paid much attention to who she'd eliminated earlier in this round. That was just how her shooting worked—when her turn came, she relied entirely on feel.

The fourth shot was another live round, nailing someone at random. Only one of the fifth and sixth would have a bullet, and Xu Lingqu's attention sharpened onto a single person.

Liu Zheng's movement pattern looked increasingly familiar to Xu Lingqu. She had completely mapped Xu Lingqu's route from the previous round onto her mind, and in this round—where her own obstacle running was weaker—she was learning the enemy's tactics to defeat the enemy.

Xu Lingqu genuinely admired Liu Zheng's memory and perseverance. Judging by how perfectly she'd replicated every detail of Xu Lingqu's route, Liu Zheng's scope must never have left Xu Lingqu the entire time she was sniping her.

Jin noticed Liu Zheng's route too, and grinned again. "What's she doing? I'm the one who actually escaped your sights in the end—why is she copying you and not me?"

The essence of Xu Lingqu's route lay in the mobile shield tactic. Copying just her personal movement route would dodge most people's guns, yes, but there was no way it could escape Xu Lingqu's own aim.

Xu Lingqu raised her hand. The fifth shot, bullet loaded. Within range—she sniped Liu Zheng.