Chapter 24-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 24 Shooting
Li Nianchuan often browsed the forums. Threads about Zhu Ning were very popular there; everyone was studying a Fifth-Class Citizen with 1200 Sanity.
S-Class Sanity, Fifth-Class Citizen. The contrast between these two keywords was so great that Zhu Ning directly flooded the screens. Even if Zhu Ning's physical fitness was poor, with that super-high Sanity on display, no one would question her if she wanted to go to the Combat Department; she might even be groomed as a key talent.
Whether Zhu Ning would choose the Combat Department or the Cleanup Department became a mystery. Before Zhu Ning made her choice, people were even placing bets.
Who knew that she wouldn't choose the more "high-class" Demon Hunter role? She chose sweeping trash, and she continued to choose Xu Meng's team.
This made Xu Meng feel a bit flattered to accept this "treasure," Zhu Ning, under the gaze of everyone.
Zhu Ning: "I'm timid; I can't handle being a Demon Hunter."
Xu Meng: "..."
Li Nianchuan: "..."
The video of Zhu Ning and Li Nianchuan was hanging on the forum. Xu Meng didn't know how many times she had watched it; judging from the video, her guts weren't small at all.
More than just not small, she could even be considered audacious. It was too rare to see someone with this quality upon their first contact with a Contaminant.
Facing their suspicious gazes, Zhu Ning slowly said, "I'm afraid of death."
She couldn't exactly say she wanted to slack off, could she? Zhu Ning had analyzed it: she could also come into contact with Sources of Contamination while sweeping trash, but Demon Hunters were the ones leading the charge.
Every job had its professional requirements. Although she was a slacker, she didn't fish for trouble; whatever she did, she did it well.
Demon Hunters rushed to the front line. If there was a need, Zhu Ning couldn't hide and would have to bite the bullet and go up. Working in logistics execution could avoid most risks. She had come to work precisely because she had her eye on this dream job.
Sweeping trash could satisfy Zhu Ning's multiple needs:
She could collect Contamination Spores, thereby collecting Purity Points.
She didn't have to face danger directly, but she could contact Contaminants.
The wages weren't low—enough for Zhu Ning to use, supporting her injections of GeneBoost.
Xu Meng nodded. This reason was actually quite sufficient. Zhu Ning was a Defective; it probably wasn't appropriate for her to charge on the front lines anyway.
There were also people discussing on the forums, saying that a Defective is a Defective; a human breed with high Sanity but still flawed. Their scrap rate was too high.
Zhu Ning: "I love sweeping trash."
Li Nianchuan: "..."
Are the hobbies of big shots all this special?
Li Nianchuan was still very excited. "If you said you loved this job before, I wouldn't have believed it, but today I believe it!"
Li Nianchuan seemed at a loss for how to describe Zhu Ning's spirit: "You're really awesome! You have character!"
Becoming a Demon Hunter was a very precious opportunity; the wages were several times higher. So many people broke their heads trying to get in, yet Zhu Ning actually didn't choose it. She probably didn't take money to heart at all.
Zhu Ning: "..."
Not exactly.
Zhu Ning didn't know how to explain, so she changed the subject: "By the way, what is the content of our employee training?"
Xu Meng: "Shooting, fighting, physical training, basic theoretical knowledge, and how to hunt Contaminants. A total of five courses."
Wait, Zhu Ning felt something was wrong. Why did this sound like a Demon Hunter's schedule?
As Xu Meng led the two kids to the training room on the 45th floor, she explained, "Because of you, our District 103 Sanitation Center has carried out a series of reforms. From my perspective, they are quite significant."
Zhu Ning: "Huh?"
Xu Meng: "Previously, only Demon Hunters needed to undergo weapons training and physical training. The training Cleaners received was of another kind—you know, the very watered-down kind."
Zhu Ning knew. She had seen Li Nianchuan shoot; his marksmanship could be described as nonexistent.
Xu Meng: "Now we undergo weapons training and physical training unified with the Demon Hunters. Because of the incident with you and Li Nianchuan last time, the Center wants to increase the survival probability of Cleaners to deal with such extreme situations."
This was the result of a meeting between the big shots of several departments.
Xu Meng continued: "This training is different from traditional training. Cleaners will have mixed training with Demon Hunters, hoping that the Demon Hunters can stimulate our combat effectiveness. Of course, Demon Hunters also have to go learn Cleaner courses. When necessary, they can help contain Contamination Spores together and clean up the scene."
Zhu Ning: "..."
They said newcomers shouldn't be too eye-catching, but Zhu Ning was a bit too eye-catching now. In other words, because of her arrival, the Demon Hunters who looked down on sweeping trash had to learn how to sweep trash.
Moreover, letting Demon Hunters and Cleaners train in the same pool... if they faced off in fighting class, the Cleaners would be beaten to death by the Demon Hunters.
Cleaners' physical fitness and various qualities were inferior to Demon Hunters to begin with. The original logistics troops only needed to do their job of sweeping trash well. Now they also had to learn to deal with Contaminants. Although it could save lives at critical moments, the overall workload increased, and it was hard for people not to have grievances.
The starting point was good, but whether it would be effective was another matter. Often, leaders would make a decision with a slap of their heads, and the final execution would be a mess, purely tormenting people.
No wonder Zhu Ning felt several scorching gazes as soon as she entered the door. She thought these people were looking at something else; it turned out to be resentful gazes. Zhu Ning had single-handedly pulled a lot of aggro.
Zhu Ning asked in a whisper, "Do they hate me a little bit right now?"
Li Nianchuan, holding a bouquet of roses, already wanted to run. He also asked, "Do they hate me too?"
"Not really," Xu Meng said to Li Nianchuan first. "You are a victim. They are basically discussing Zhu Ning."
Xu Meng spoke very bluntly, then said to Zhu Ning, "Yes, some people are cursing you."
Zhu Ning: "..."
In other words, she alone had attracted all the artillery fire. Heavens, she didn't do it on purpose.
Zhu Ning braced herself and walked into the training ground on the 45th floor. She suspected she might be assassinated.
Xu Meng was completely unaware of how much pressure her words had caused Zhu Ning. She explained very dutifully, "Training is credit-based. It's fine as long as you earn enough credits."
"Zhu Ning goes first today. Li Nianchuan just got out of the hospital, so observe the process first. We'll start with shooting," Xu Meng said to Zhu Ning. "I remember your shooting is very good."
She had seen Zhu Ning shoot before; her marksmanship was excellent, so there was no need to worry at all. There were quite a few people training in the shooting range. When Zhu Ning walked in, she was once again greeted by a wave of "killer looks."
Why was Zhu Ning bound to a Purification System? If she were bound to a Resentment System, with the current resentment values, she could absolutely save the world.
The training room was very noisy. The sounds of shooting and falling shell casings intertwined. Zhu Ning was particularly familiar with training grounds. Hearing this sound gave her a sense of belonging. She had trained on shooting ranges for ten years and had participated in countless competitions since she was a child.
The surrounding atmosphere made her dizzyingly think she had returned to the time before the zombie outbreak. She silently observed their training from the side for a while. The targets were the same as in Zhu Ning's original world, and the scoring rules were the same.
They weren't using Air Rounds for training; the power was obviously greater, and the recoil was stronger. The assessment was not just about shooting accuracy, but also your ability to reload and react.
The appearance of the guns was also like those in Zhu Ning's original world. It seemed that there wasn't much room for progress in thermal weapons. Apart from weapons made from contaminated items, other weapons were about the same as those in the old world.
Xu Meng asked, "Do you want to train first or go directly to the assessment?"
Zhu Ning: "Direct assessment." It didn't feel very difficult, and training would be a waste of time.
"Alright." Xu Meng held a panel and tapped on it. "You're up next."
There were three types of assessment: shooting fixed targets, moving targets, and the simulation room, which would simulate actual combat against Contaminants.
As soon as Zhu Ning arrived, the people next to her stopped training and looked over one after another.
There was no helping it; Zhu Ning was too famous. They all wanted to see what level this Defective with 1200 Sanity was at, and whether the video on the forum was real or fake.
Zhu Ning walked over expressionlessly. The moment she got the gun, she felt extremely relaxed. It was a natural physical and mental relaxation. The gun was her "old friend" that would never betray her.
In front of her was a dead target, twenty meters away. Shooting sports were a battle of millimeters; the circle representing ten rings was only 0.5 millimeters. Top shooters were tested on psychological quality and muscle memory. She had been in the zombie world for too long, always fighting zombies. Bullets were precious, and she had to ensure not a single one was wasted. Shooting targets was a luxury for her, an activity that only existed in times of peace.
Bang—
Zhu Ning pulled the trigger.
"Ten rings," the training room teacher read out the score.
Zhu Ning slightly rubbed the trigger. That tiny movement was basically imperceptible to others and could be ignored. Her marksmanship hadn't regressed.
Zhu Ning didn't speak. She adjusted her heartbeat and breathing. At that moment, her heartbeat seemed to slow down. She aimed at the target in front of her and pulled the trigger again between two breaths.
"Ten rings."
Zhu Ning found the feeling of the competitions from back then. She was the type of contestant who got braver as she fought. No matter how many times she experienced it, shooting competitions would bring a peak experience. She fired again.
"Ten rings," the training room teacher read out the score calmly.
The people watching nearby didn't speak for a moment. One shot might be luck, but three shots of ten rings was a true score.
Li Nianchuan stood in the crowd holding the roses. The fiery red flowers were too conspicuous, making him look like Zhu Ning's cheerleader captain. Li Nianchuan glanced around; there were more and more onlookers. Ordinary people would feel the pressure of being watched.
But Zhu Ning seemed not to. She just expressionlessly aimed, fired, and hit ten rings.
"The rookie is this awesome?" someone nearby discussed.
"This marksmanship isn't considered rare," someone said. There were quite a few Demon Hunters present. They had all undergone professional training and different degrees of genetic modification. Three shots of ten rings wasn't hard to achieve; the difficult part was the next two items.
"No rush, watch her later scores." A tall and big man watched with his arms crossed.
Now even Li Nianchuan felt the pressure. If Zhu Ning made a mistake in the next two items, it might be very troublesome. Given her current popularity, she would probably be hung on the forums and scolded. He could foresee the titles.
1200 Sanity is nothing special, indeed a Defective and the like.
Zhu Ning didn't care about the gazes of the people around her at all. She was just immersed in her own world. She often ignored her surroundings as soon as she got a gun; only the target was in her eyes.
The second item was moving targets.
It was called a moving target, but actually, the target wasn't a bullseye, but a robot. Robots and Androids were different. Androids had consciousness and could feel pain; robots had no self-consciousness and were just tools.
The target robot would run fast within the field, hiding behind various covers. Zhu Ning needed to hit the robot. Hitting different positions yielded different scores.
Several obstacles were placed in the center of the field. To simulate realistically, they even dimmed the light.
"Start," the shooting teacher commanded.
The surroundings were very silent. They watched Zhu Ning with bated breath. A figure quickly ran past in front of her.
Zhu Ning raised the muzzle, but she didn't fire. She watched helplessly as the robot ran to the cover on the opposite side.
Some people couldn't sit still. She clearly could have fired just now; why didn't Zhu Ning make a move? Because it was a robot, too like a human to act against?
But in the video, Zhu Ning could act against the Fishman. This didn't make sense.
Zhu Ning remained motionless for a long time. She just maintained the shooting posture. A gunner's hand had to be steady; slight tremors would affect the result. This was a pistol without a scope, so she was aiming with human eyes.
Suddenly, the robot in the field moved. It was set with an automatic program and needed to run constantly in the field for people to shoot.
It just popped its head out—now.
Zhu Ning pulled the trigger.
Bang—
The bullet pierced through the robot's brow center. The robot fell backward.
"One shot headshot," the shooting teacher said. "Ten points."
So that was it, everyone thought. Zhu Ning could have hit it just now, but from that angle, she couldn't hit the head. Zhu Ning wanted a one-shot headshot so she could score higher.
Those who originally thought Zhu Ning was just so-so changed their attitudes. This little girl was interesting; she knew how to calculate scores and knew how to maximize efficiency.
Unknown if someone had passed the news out, but now it wasn't just people from the shooting room watching; people from other training rooms had also come.
For a time, the shooting room was packed. Only the area around Zhu Ning was slightly empty. Li Nianchuan felt a lot of pressure, feeling like he wasn't Zhu Ning's colleague, but an assistant to a star athlete.
The third assessment, the simulation room.
Zhu Ning had to switch to a sniper rifle and needed to wear a helmet. The venue in front of her turned into a holographic projection. It was a more advanced and realistic training scenario.
The shooting targets turned into all kinds of Contaminants. The rule of the simulation room was a five-minute time limit; the more Contaminants killed, the higher the score.
In Zhu Ning's eyes, it was a bit like playing a video game, a first-person shooter. Zhu Ning had played with other teammates before; for her, it was actually simpler.
Five minutes later.
Zhu Ning put down the gun, just in time to hear the shooting teacher report the score: "Five minutes, 19 Contaminants hunted. Ties the training room's historical record."
That tied it? That simple?
Zhu Ning hadn't reacted yet, but Li Nianchuan beside her was more excited than she was. "Zhu Ning! You tied the record!"
People nearby kept whistling at her, and some were applauding.
"Amazing!"
"Sharpshooter!"
Zhu Ning looked baffled. She knew there were people around, but she didn't expect so many. What were they doing? Holding a mini sports meet?
"Sanity 1200 is indeed awesome."
"I heard shooting requires stable Sanity. Turns out it's true."
Zhu Ning listened a bit and felt it made sense. Athletes all needed strong hearts and stable minds. In her original world, Zhu Ning was very calm. This might also corroborate why her Sanity was so high.
"Such a good seedling, why on earth doesn't she become a Demon Hunter? Otherwise, she would be my junior sister."
"I hate it!" A burly man nearby made a gesture of clutching his heart.
Li Nianchuan had worked for so long, but this was the first time he felt a very weird sense of pride. This was their Cleaner! It was really reassuring when Zhu Ning fired a gun.
"Make way, make way," Li Nianchuan protected Zhu Ning as they walked out. "We are going to the next training room."
Zhu Ning walked out of the training room with a cool face, feeling a bit dazed inside. Mainly because half an hour ago they still had looks of resentment, and now they looked happy just because they watched her compete?
The people in the Sanitation Center were really abnormal.
After walking out of the training room, the smile on Li Nianchuan's lips hadn't fallen yet. He said, "Your marksmanship is really good."
Why did he think Zhu Ning couldn't shoot when they first met?
Zhu Ning said "Oh" and said very casually, "I used to be a professional shooting athlete."
The kind who would win glory for the country in the future.
Li Nianchuan: "?!"
Author's Note:
Li Nianchuan: How many surprises do you have that I don't know about? Babe Ning was a professional shooting athlete before the zombie crisis broke out in her original world.
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