Chapter 30: The Free Man

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Liu Zilang took Zhang Xiaotong who was annoyed and the two of them arrived at the five warehouses between the C and A buildings.

By right, it was supposed to be the safest choice to be stuck in the blue circle by the five warehouses.

However, Liu Zilang had a thought in his mind when he saw that he had already attained twenty-four kills.

“The guy’s record was a solo record while mine is a duo record. It wouldn’t be considered as embarrassing him right?”

“Yup, this wouldn’t count.”

“Even if it’s considered as an embarrassment, he should know that I’m not doing this on purpose.”

…

After making up his mind, holding his M16, Liu Zilang suddenly had high spirits.

This gun was the first rifle which he got familiar with in-game followed by the UMP9 Sub Machine Gun.

Although Liu Zilang was extremely good at using sniper rifles, he was not as loyal as Shen Zeyan.

In the past, his position was a “free man” on his team.

In CSGO, there were no fixed responsibilities for a “free man”. Instead, they appeared at different locations as the team tactics evolved.

When the team required an increase in firepower, they would be a front-line trooper or even a sniper. They could also take up both of the same roles. Usually, a position would be held by a person widely recognized, having the strongest personal composite ability.

Liu Zilang was the last person to get into team Se7en. The reason why he was well-known as the “black masked captain” by fans worldwide within half a year was because of his extremely high skill and his position on the team.

Therefore, aside from being able to master the sniper rifle easily after playing PUBG, with Liu Zilang’s talent, it was way too easy for him to master the other weapons. This was because the other weapons were roughly similar as a whole, with an exception that they were slightly different from those in past FPS shooting games.

Take the most commonly found M16A4 rifle in PUBG as an example, Liu Zilang only used it in three matches yesterday and had already thoroughly figured out its ballistic range, speed and also the best way to use it. He was certain that this rifle had the fastest initial bullet speed and the shortest intervals between shots, making it the rifle which was best suited for him.

…

During this time, Liu Zilang was walking in between the five warehouses. Suddenly, a team came out from Building No.3 of the C building.

“Dadada!”

“Dadada!”

Both of the parties realized each other’s presence at the same time. Without any hesitation, Liu Zilang responded quickly by scoping in to shoot!

The time interval between his shots was only 0.075 seconds!

It was the most frightening speed for a three-round burst!

Liu Zilang’s right hand gently moved his mouse cursor downward to suppress the M16’s jitter during burst fire mode to an extremely small range.

Obviously, for Liu Zilang who used to be at the peak of his career as a professional FPS player, a simple technique like controlling a weapon’s recoil was at his fingertips.

In contrast, the counterparty’s reaction was slower than Liu Zilang’s.

The difference in reaction speed between top professional players and ordinary players during split-second situations was completely revealed.

Liu Zilang’s was so fast that he had already fired a three-round burst twice and had almost knocked down one of them. He accomplished all this as an opposite gunshot was heard.

However, after Liu Zilang had fired the three-round bursts twice, he did not even glance at the other opponent.

Instead, he pulled the muzzle without hesitation and pit his shooting skills against the player opposite of him even though he did not have any cover.

“Dadada!”

“Dadada!”

Rapid gunshots were heard and then they suddenly stopped.

The next moment, two killfeed notifications appeared at the bottom left corner of the screen.

“Vic123 knocked down MacDouDou with M16A4!”

“Vic123 killed IFlipMyCarOnACalmRoad with M16A4!”

As for Zhang Xiaotong, she could only react with a shocked tone. The players were killed by Liu Zilang before she was even able to shoot.

The spectators on the live streaming platform were all shocked the moment they saw this scene.

This was because normally those who were good at sniping would somehow be weaker in close quarter battles. However, for Liu Zilang, be it his reaction or speed, he had totally defied all their past expectations.

“Well played!”

“F*ck! What kind of reaction is this!”

“The expert bro is really good with M16!”

“Haha, Xiaotong-chan didn’t even have a chance to draw her gun.”

“Xiaotong-chan: I’ll observe first.”

“…”

…

Zhang Xiaotong looked at the two players who had been instantly knocked down on Building No.3. She complained, “I didn’t kill them.”

“Do we really need to waste our bullets on them?” Liu Zilang was speechless.

It seemed like this girl was addicted to killing downed players.

He quickly changed topics. “Let’s not go on about this. Go ahead and procure some ammo and medicine. I’ll cover you.”

Zhang Xiaotong’s eyes immediately widened upon hearing about looting.

Clearly, if there was an additional hobby for killing downed players, her priority of looting items was obviously still more important to her.

Zhang Xiaotong excitedly rushed next to the crates, laid onto the ground and began picking the items up. Liu Zilang took a glance at the surrounding landscape, analyzing hiding spots of the highest possibility.

When Zhang Xiaotong returned from collecting the items, the two started clearing the area’s surroundings starting from the five warehouses.

During this time, they encountered a cunning team laying in wait on the airport’s landing zone.

However, the moment Liu Zilang took a glance around him, he managed to catch the two of them.

When he saw their two Level Two Military Helmets, he scoped in and killed each of them with one shot respectively.

What was funny was the fact that when the first player was knocked down by Liu Zilang, the player beside him was stunned for a second.

However, he did not stand up to make a getaway. Instead, he continued to lay on the ground and slowly moved like a caterpillar toward the side.

What happened to him was already known without question.

Something worth mentioning was that a large majority of new players feel invincible when they are lying down flat against the ground!

It was as though they subconsciously thought that the ground was the only place which provided them with camouflage.

…

As time passed by, the circle shrank further.

The number of people who were still alive in the game further reduced, there were only twelve players left.

The sound of surrounding gunshots started to get denser. Obviously, some of the teams made contact with each other when they tried to enter the circle.

At that time, Liu Zilang’s kill count had already reached thirty. He was getting closer to his goal.

Upon hearing the gunshots, he could not help but start shouting, “Hold on! Wait for me!”

Zhang Xiaotong asked with a strange tone, “Why are you so excited?”

“Hehe, I want to break the record,” Liu Zilang answered.

“What record? Ah? Oh yes, how many have you killed so far?” Zhang Xiaotong asked.

“Not many, around thirty.” Liu Zilang was heading towards the source of the gunshots.

“Ah?”

Zhang Xiaotong was speechless as she stared at her kill counter at the top right corner of her screen. She had not killed anybody aside from the two guaranteed kills when she landed.

She asked angrily, “Why don’t I have any kills at all?”

“Killing downed players, of course, doesn’t add to the kill count. ” Liu Zilang asked in return, “Are you a newbie? How could you not know this?”

“Er…” Zhang Xiaotong suddenly became speechless.

In this game, she who was part of the “sightseeing party” usually would not kill anyone. Finally getting to experience the fun of killing, she got so excited that she had totally forgotten about that.

Thinking about it, she quickly picked up her pace to catch up with Liu Zilang who was already in front. She then started shouting, “Let me do this! Let me do this! Come to me!”

“Dadada…!”

“Ah!”

Zhang Xiaotong only took two steps forward and there were already gunshots heard in front. She was so shocked that she quickly turned back.

“Be careful! There’s someone behind the warehouse beside the K building!” Liu Zilang’s ears had only moved slightly and he was already able to determine the gunshot’s direction.

“Uh oh… Then what do we do now?” Zhang Xiaotong’s voice subconsciously became softer.

“Dash to the place.” Liu Zilang’s response was concise and comprehensive.

Upon finishing his sentence, he took the lead to rush there.

Got close!

Observed from the third-person perspective!

Target acquired!

“Dadada!”

“Dadada!”

“Dadada!”

Consecutive explosions of three-round bursts sounded!

The ones who were attacked by Liu Zilang were battling with an opponent at the back door of the K building. They did not expect that there would be another person ambushing and flanking them from the side.

In the end, Liu Zilang easily secured two kills without having to spend much of his energy.

This time, Zhang Xiaotong managed to fire a shot but she did not manage to secure a kill. She was so angry that she pouted.

Liu Zilang did not bother about Zhang Xiaotong. After eliminating the two players, he dashed to the K building while reloading his gun.

“Ah! Wait for me,” Zhang Xiaotong shouted from behind.

…

There were a lot of boxes and obstacles inside the K building. However, Liu Zilang was able to quickly determine the enemies’ locations with only their footsteps.

Those who hid at the back door of the K building panicked when they heard the sudden footsteps which dashed into the building. However, before they were able to react, Liu Zilang was already charging toward their direction.

At this moment, with Liu Zilang’s extremely high hand speed, the M16’s most advantageous firing speed among all rifles once again came into play.

In the narrow space, the rapid fire of bullets quickly penetrated the air and gunshots were continuously heard.

Then, suddenly, everything went back to silence!

Once Zhang Xiaotong entered the house, she saw Liu Zilang crouching behind a wall while bandaging himself with a first-aid kit. There were two crates beside him.

Looking at the two crates on the ground, Zhang Xiaotong realized that her backpack was already full. It was so full that she could already set up a small shop.

She was screaming in her heart…

“I don’t want to loot anymore!”

“Kills!”

“I want kills!”

…

[1] It’s a building in the Sosnovka Military Base. and the name literally means a building of the ‘k’ letter in the word Sosnovka. (Source: https://bbs.hupu.com/20850621.html)