Surprise! The Supposed Talent Show Was Actually–?!

Chapter 30 - The Opponent Is Too Fierce

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

The moment the entrance to the training room opened, Thin Fire stilled and intuitively turned back.

He narrowed his eyes and was a little surprised when he saw the person clearly.

A C-level trainee.

Thin Fire had an excellent memory. He had already memorized all C-level and above trainees from the start of the show, and taken pains to pinpoint those who might grow to become potential threats.

But he didn’t remember the man in front of him.

This man was tall and fit, with deep and indifferent facial features. He picked up a sniper rifle out of the pile of weapons, and when he reached out, the outline of his muscles were clearly visible beneath his sleeve.

He weighed the rifle twice in his calloused hand, then stood in front of the target with his hand on the grip of the gun. He stood with his back to the light, but the lines of his body from his elbow to his shoulder to his spine were all cold and hard.

Thin Fire finally recalled that there had seemed to be such a person.

In the last match, the temperature on the field had risen sharply. This had melted the chips of a few contestants and made it so that the program team couldn’t determine the final rankings. Because of this, they could only allocate the points evenly and advance everyone involved.

In addition to Red, there had been another unknown D-level trainee who had been promoted to C.

Thin Fire looked away from him in disinterest. When he turned his head, he suddenly saw that Wu Jin’s eyes were glimmering like crystals, his small round face raised high.

Thin Fire’s gaze shifted, and he saw an opportunity to sell himself, “Little Witch, you need to believe in Silver Thread Roll’s marketing power.”

“It won’t take up your training time. Just send a photo at the start, and then let the news spread along the grapevine. You can rest assured that if we form a CP, I’ll fix up your photos along with mine, and if I touch up my skin, I’ll touch up yours too––White Moonlight and Silver Thread Roll’s relationship is tense. We can enact something like ‘Thin-Romeo’ and ‘Witch-Juliet’, this kind of CP could be called a platinum level love affair––”

A ‘bang’ suddenly rang out in the originally quiet background.

The sound of a sniper rifle.

It was clearly from over ten meters behind him, but it still seemed to have exploded suddenly beside his ear. His ears were still ringing from the shot.

“Fuck, you––” Thin Fire covered one of his ears as he quickly turned his head back to look at the C-level trainee, “Say, brother, can you install a silencer on your gun when you train?”

Then he turned back, “Let’s go back to talking about this platinum love affair…”

The ceiling shook from the impact, the sound of gunfire behind him having only stilled for a second before ringing out again outrageously, like a series of thunderbolts.

Thin Fire: “……”

Wei Shi indifferently removed his earbuds, then reached out for a silencer from the pile of weaponry parts.

Thin Fire, who was about to burst into a rage, froze slightly and forced back the words that he wanted to speak.

60 continuous rounds––the muzzle temperature had to be at least 120 degrees Celsius, but the man standing in front of the target wasn’t concerned at all as he mounted the silencer directly onto the muzzle with bare hands.

Only someone insane would dare to do this.

––Thin Fire stared in a daze at Wei Shi’s undamaged left hand for a long time before pulling his gaze away.

Wu Jin’s gaze couldn’t help but shift towards Wei Shi’s body, and he couldn’t stand Thin Fire’s increasingly outrageous behavior anymore. He immediately clarified, “Senior Thin! I don’t want to be with you…”

Thin Fire’s eyes narrowed, and he showed a look of utter disbelief and sadness, “Little Witch, are you giving your big brother the cold shoulder?”

He thought for a moment, then rolled up his sleeve. He spoke very earnestly, “Little Witch, with your current strength, it will be very difficult to stay on the program until the debut. But it will be different if you team up with me.”

Then, Thin Fire also picked out a sniper rifle and stood in front of the target.

“The next elimination match––indoor venue. The venue is just across from the North Tower, covers an area of six hectares, and is set up underground.” Thin Fire spoke very grandly, “Do you know what the scarcest resource is?”

He took a look through the scope and then set down the gun and closed his eyes, “It’s light.”

Thin Fire suddenly lifted up the barrel. His eyes were still closed when his right hand pulled the trigger––he hit the center of the tenth ring’s bullseye.

Wu Jin’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.

Even if Thin Fire had a lot of underhanded means––it had to be acknowledged that he was one of the strongest trainees in the entire Crosson Show.

Pre-aiming, sniping.

For ordinary trainees, mastering just one of them would require a lot of effort. Thin Fire could master a perfect combination of the two by virtue of his excellent calculation abilities and muscle memory.

Thin Fire proudly opened his eyes, but he was taken by surprise when his vision grew dim––

The lights of the training room were turned off with a snap.

It was so dark in the basement second floor shooting range of the North Tower that one could no longer see their fingers in front of their face.

Thin Fire didn’t have time to react when the sound of gunshots rang out just like before––

Seven shots, fired at a rate close to a burst of automatic gunfire!

In the darkness, a pair of amber pupils sparkled. Wu Jin had already come to a sudden realization. He had been to the static shooting range range the most, and he knew the facility like the back of his hand––

There were eight static training targets.

Other than the target that Thin Fire stood in front of, there were seven left, which corresponded exactly to the seven shots.

Following the sound of the gunshots, the scoreboards all lit up in turn, each marked with a bright red ‘tenth ring’.

Thin Fire’s mouth dropped open incredulously as he looked in Wei Shi’s direction.

The lights came on again.

Wei Shi’s actions as he retrieved his gun were casual, as though he had just completed some novice-level training––

As though he hadn’t just shot seven blind snipes in two seconds, each one hitting the tenth ring.

Thin Fire subconsciously assessed the distance between Wei Shi and the furthest target, and swallowed hard in shock.

“Big brother.” He finally opened his mouth to speak.

Blind sniping. Thin Fire had made a move first, and Wei Shi’s actions just now was like a provocation.

And it was the type of provocation that had pressured Thin Fire flat onto the ground on his back, to the point where he couldn’t even flip up his tail.

Thin Fire coughed lightly, inadvertently falling under Wu Jin’s sweeping gaze and almost deflating completely.

Under the lights, the small round face was raised up in admiration, shimmering light dancing across the amber eyes. That gaze––was like he wanted to paste himself up onto the other C-level trainee and form a CP!

Thin Fire cursed, and his first reaction was to look for the camera in the training room––fortunately, the contestants had only just returned to the base, and the program group hadn’t finished their set-up completely.

Thin Fire was finally relieved. He looked solemnly at Wei Shi and spoke after a long delay, “Let’s have a match?”

Wei Shi finally turned around.

Thin Fire narrowed his eyes, and when his aura collided with the other party’s he felt like a shock wave had swept across his heart. The unknown C-level trainee stood across from him, silent, his dark and heavy pupils reflecting no light, like a lion standing guard over his territory.

“Come here.” Wei Shi suddenly opened his mouth to speak.

The man’s voice was low, with a slight scratchiness.

Even before Thin Fire could react––Wu Jin, who had been behind him, was already darting over.

Thin Fire almost choked. Not only was he going over just like that, did there have to be a damned bounce to his step?!

Wei Shi raised his eyebrows, then gestured for Thin Fire to speak.

Thin Fire set down his gun and used his chin to point outside, “One minute in the holographic swamp simulation, dynamic targets.”

If level of difficulty for static targets was 1, and moving targets was level 2, then full holographic mode was level 5.

The target’s position could appear anywhere within the 360 degree range, and the sniper’s opponent was not only the target, but also the competitors who had also entered the simulated environment.

It was similar to the evaluation match in the Crosson Show–opponents were points that could be snapped up.

A few minutes later, the door to the holographic shooting room opened.

Thin Fire skillfully loaded up the training gun, then glanced back to find that Wu Jin was also muttering to himself as he fished for a gun.

“……” Thin Fire felt that something was wrong: Wasn’t the beauty supposed to bring up the rear??

Wei Shi casually stuffed the rabbit with a carrot.

Wu Jin unhesitatingly accepted it, and was full of delight as he felt out the carrot’s barrel, aim, and trajectory.

The trio then entered the holographic scene. The soft material beneath the soles of their feet collapsed into a muddy swamp, and their surroundings changed abruptly.

The first target was swamp rats. Thin Fire immediately predicted their movements, leaned half his body forward, and shot––but the target quickly turned white in the moment he pulled the trigger.

This was illogical!

Thin Fire was so shocked that his inner-eyelid eyeliner was about to flip out. And in the fraction of time that he was dazed, Wei Shi had once again taken away another point.

He abruptly turned his head and met the man’s sharp gaze squarely.

Wei Shi’s attacks were extremely fierce. Even the bullets he fired seemed to be filled with a boiling, bloody aura, pressuring Thin Fire to the point where he couldn’t breathe.

Thin Fire made a prompt decision, and the muzzle that had been aimed at his target deviated slightly, intentionally or unintentionally shifting towards Wei Shi in a very provocative move. The man didn’t seem to care about that at all as he leaned to the side to continue firing––he was like a sharp, straight blade that sliced through the center of his field of vision, one that made his intuition tremble.

45 seconds.

Wei Shi was expressionless.

Thin Fire’s back was covered in cold sweat. He was trembling, his eyes blank and his expression full of incredulity.

Wu Jin was still holding onto his carrot gun as he aimed one shot after another at the rats on the ground. His dynamic target predictions were a mess, and his score on the scoreboard was a very pitiful ‘1’.

Wei Shi had 67 points.

Thin Fire was still at 0 points.

55 seconds.

Thin Fire’s brain had already crashed. His eyes were red, and he had already abandoned the idea of shooting the targets completely; his only goal now to land a shot on Wei Shi. Who knew if it was intentional or otherwise, but at this time, a swamp alligator broke through the line of fire and charged towards them––

Wu Jin’s eyes opened wide, his shoulders shrinking.

“Head down.” The big boss’s cool voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

Wu Jin didn’t hesitate at all to duck his head.

The man’s firm and powerful arm pulled him back and protected him, and the heat of his body like a fire that burned fiercely against his back. His strong, aggressive presence penetrated through Wu Jin’s skin, stroking across the nerve endings under the surface, bringing up a wave of electric currents––

Two gunshots.

“All targets cleared.”

“Contestant 300029 Thin Fire, accidental injury by a teammate. Out.”

The virtual scene disappeared abruptly.

Wu Jin’s expression was full of reverence as he pulled himself out. He hugged the carrot gun as he lifted his head and looked up.

Just to meet with Thin Fire’s gaze. He looked like he had just swallowed a hamster whole––

Thin Fire’s mind was completely full of curses.

Just now, in the moment of elimination, he had clearly watched as the man picked Wu Jin up, his eyes cold with warning.

He… he had come here to find Little Witch to do something.

Oh, right, he had just wanted to form a CP.

So, he had just wanted to form a CP! So what?!! His damned life was about to be fried!!

Thin Fire tossed away his gun and barely managed to leave with some semblance of dignity. He immediately sent out a message as soon as the door was closed behind him:

“There’s a big guy here, he’s too fierce. I can’t win against him, and I’m bailing first. Wait for the next opportunity––”

“What? You’re asking me what that has to do with forming a CP? Can’t form one now. That big guy… seems to be one of Wu Jin’s mama fans. It seems like he won’t allow any gossip about Wu Jin. He’s watching over him very thoroughly… Next time, I’ll find a way to go around him and try again…”

“Mama fans! It’s not a woman. Forget it, I’m hanging up now, it’s too hard to explain…”

Juurensha: …Thin Fire, if you try again, Wei Shi really might murder you.

xiin: Little Witch and his carrot gun YEAHHH <3