The Cannon Fodder Became the Empire's Beloved Omega - Chapter 59

Yu Ruan abruptly froze in his tracks, standing still in a daze.

The other person was lowering his head, reloading bullets into the model gun in his hand, his eyelashes slightly drooping.

He seemed to have been here for a while, as the center of the distant target was riddled with bullet holes. Hearing the footsteps, the other person turned his head slightly, his gaze pausing as he stared motionlessly at Yu Ruan, seemingly lost in thought.

Yu Ruan was a little bewildered.

At this time and in this place, running into Gu Yu was clearly an extremely strange occurrence. After all, this was Lin Fenghan’s residence. No matter how close Gu Yu was to him, it was impossible for him to show up here so early in the morning, right?

Yu Ruan had never expected that even after escaping here, he would still run into the other person again.

Steeling himself, he pretended as if nothing had happened and greeted Gu Yu: “Good morning.”

Gu Yu’s dark blue eyes shifted slightly as he turned his head and withdrew his gaze: “Morning.”

His expression was indifferent, as if he, too, had selectively forgotten yesterday’s events. His right hand gripped the gun handle while the other was casually tucked into his pants pocket, his gaze fixed intently ahead.

Seeing that Gu Yu showed no intention of bringing it up again, Yu Ruan also pretended as if nothing had happened, obediently walking to the side to retrieve the noise-canceling earplugs.

Fortunately, Qi Shu’s preparations were quite thorough. Although there was an unexpected “uninvited guest” in the training room, Yu Ruan quickly found what he needed in the drawer.

He put on the earplugs, picked up his own practice gun, and tested its feel. Then, cautiously, he moved to the side farther away from Gu Yu and began today’s practice.

Deep breath.

Raise the gun, aim, pull the trigger.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

As the magazine was about to run out, the sound of missed shots rang out continuously. Yu Ruan pursed his lips, frowned at the gun in his hand, and reluctantly lowered it.

Indeed, he had no talent for physical skills. No matter how skilled his instructor was, it was difficult for him to achieve an impressive level of excellence.

Especially when…

“Bang!” “Bang, bang, bang!”

The sound of hitting the bullseye rang out one after another. Yu Ruan tilted his head and glanced at the person standing in the distance, who looked as calm as ever, as if a 100% hit rate was as natural to him as eating or drinking.

Soon, the magazine was empty. Gu Yu set down the gun, his eyelashes lowered, as if he had noticed Yu Ruan’s gaze from the corner of his eye: “Something wrong?”

Yu Ruan quickly averted his gaze, focusing intently on his own thoughts: “No, nothing. I was just looking around casually. You can continue with your practice.”

To prove his words, he hurriedly grabbed another magazine from the side and reloaded his gun. Thanks to yesterday’s training, Yu Ruan’s movements were quite convincing at least from this angle, they looked fairly impressive.

Gu Yu didn’t say anything, just watched him without moving.

Since he had already started the act, Yu Ruan had no choice but to carry on. He pretended to reload the bullets with practiced ease, aimed at the bullseye, and slowly pulled the trigger.

“Bang!”

The green light above the target lit up. Yu Ruan was surprised and couldn’t help but widen his eyes:

That last bullet had actually hit the mark!

Not daring to let his guard down, he quickly refocused his mind, pouring all his attention into the training at hand, and tentatively fired another shot.

This time, however, the result was not as satisfactory.

Just as the bullet pierced the target, as Yu Ruan had anticipated, it deviated slightly, landing near the 7-ring.

Yu Ruan blinked and, refusing to accept it, tried again.

With a “bang,” the numbers above the target lit up. This time, it was even worse. Not only did it miss the bullseye, but it also veered quite predictably near the 5-ring. Anyone unaware might have thought it was part of a number sequence game.

Yu Ruan felt a bit embarrassed. He could clearly sense Gu Yu still watching him, yet he was so unimpressive not only failing to regain any advantage but also losing face completely.

He awkwardly moved his arm and adjusted his stance. Since he had already lost all face, Yu Ruan decided to abandon his shame altogether and planned to practice in earnest until Lin Fenghan arrived. As for everything else, he would deal with it later.

“Your stance is wrong.”

Just then, a very calm voice came from beside him, sounding almost indifferent: “Your arm is too low; pull it back a bit. Don’t focus too much on the target. Raise your wrist and hold it steady.”

Yu Ruan paused and glanced toward the source of the voice, meeting Gu Yu’s eyes. Gu Yu’s expression was neutral as he held Yu Ruan’s gaze for a few seconds before stepping toward him.

Instinctively tense, Yu Ruan was about to step back when Gu Yu firmly grasped his wrist. As if he had completely forgotten the ambiguity of the past few days, Gu Yu calmly held Yu Ruan’s hand, raising his arm slightly.

Warmth spread from where their skin touched, and Yu Ruan awkwardly pulled back a little, murmuring, “Thank you, I can manage on my own.”

“Don’t move.”

The cool voice from above froze Yu Ruan in place.

Gu Yu’s breath was close, evenly brushing against his ear. The warmth at the nape of his neck slowly rose again as Gu Yu half-embraced him, his slightly cold fingers fully enveloping Yu Ruan’s hand and lifting his wrist slightly. “Like this.”

“Mm.”

“What did Lin Fenghan teach you yesterday?”

“How to hold it, load it, and how to shoot.” Yu Ruan said sheepishly, “I’m not very good at the last part. I feel like I haven’t grasped the key points.”

“Did he teach you like this?”

“No.” Yu Ruan found the question a bit odd but answered truthfully out of instinct, apologetically adding, “Instructor Lin guided me on some movements and key points, but…”

Yu Ruan couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

“Mm.”

Gu Yu responded flatly, his tone unreadable. Strangely, however, Yu Ruan felt the atmosphere in the room had inexplicably softened, as if a glacier had melted:

“The feeling of aiming is important,” Gu Yu said slowly. “Do you remember the sensation when you hit the bullseye earlier? Your stance must be correct, and you need to manage the recoil. Also, you need to turn that feeling of hitting the target into a habit and improve your focus.”

Yu Ruan nodded, only half-understanding. He tried hard to recall the sensation of hitting the bullseye earlier, as if something profoundly subtle had flowed through his mind. Steadying himself, he said to Gu Yu, “I’ll give it a try.”

Hearing this, Gu Yu released his hand and took a slight step back.

Yu Ruan steadied the corrected posture, striving to maintain that subtle sensation he had just felt, and focused intently on the distant target. Gu Yu stood beside him and said, “Don’t be nervous. Stay calm.”

His finger slowly rested on the trigger. Yu Ruan held his breath and firmly pulled it. With a loud “bang,” a bright red number flashed on the distant target board.

10.4!

A hit!

Yu Ruan widened his eyes in surprise and instinctively turned to look at Gu Yu. Unexpectedly, he heard a calm instruction in his ear: “Don’t turn your head.”

“Huh?”

“Remember the feeling from just now. Stay focused, get used to it, and practice more,” Gu Yu said. “Try again.”

Yu Ruan nodded, following his advice. He steadied his focus, recalled the sensation, and pulled the trigger once more. The number on the target board jumped out, 10.1!

He hit it again?!

Yu Ruan stared at the number in shock, then glanced at the gun in his hand, blinking in disbelief.

Remembering Gu Yu’s earlier words, he suppressed the urge to look to the side, concentrated his attention, and emptied the remaining bullets in the magazine before holstering the gun.

The accuracy rate for this magazine was remarkably high only three bullets landed around the 7 to 5 rings, with no misses. Compared to his previous performance of less than 50% accuracy, this was a revolutionary improvement.

He turned to Gu Yu gratefully and said, “Thank you. I thought for sure I’d fail today’s test.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Gu Yu replied calmly. “You just haven’t practiced enough. With more practice, you’d figure it out on your own, even without my guidance.”

That might be true, but today’s test wouldn’t give him extra time.

So, in the end, Gu Yu had still done him a huge favor.

Yu Ruan touched the tip of his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed. Especially when he recalled yesterday’s incident, his guilt intensified.

“Gu Yu, about yesterday,” he began, intending to sincerely apologize for his behavior. But before he could finish, the sound of steady footsteps echoed from a distance.

Gu Yu watched him intently, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

Just then, the owner of the footsteps entered the training room. “Ready?”

Yu Ruan stiffened, swallowing the words he was about to say, and turned toward the voice. “Good morning, Instructor Lin.”

Lin Fenghan gave a slight nod, then turned to Gu Yu beside him. After a brief pause, he said, “Let’s begin today’s training.”

“Mm,” Yu Ruan responded, pretending nothing had happened as he quietly retrieved the gun he had just put away.

He walked to the shooting platform and, while reloading, stole a glance at Gu Yu. To his surprise, the other seemed to have brushed off the earlier conversation as well, moving to another shooting platform to remove his magazine.

Collecting his thoughts, Yu Ruan steadied his breathing and decided to set the matter aside for now. He raised his gun, aimed carefully, and redirected his focus to the weapon in his hands, beginning the test.

Soon, the magazine was empty.

Lin Fenghan glanced at the numbers on the record board, then looked back at Yu Ruan. “You’ve grasped it well. You’ve clearly put in the effort.”

Suddenly praised, Yu Ruan felt a bit embarrassed. Having spent some time with the other person, he knew that given their personality, even a few words like these counted as great encouragement. After all, Lin Fenghan had never been a man skilled at saying nice things.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but shift his gaze to Gu Yu and said, “Actually, the credit mostly goes to Gu Yu. If it were just me, I wouldn’t have scored so high.”

Hearing this, Lin Fenghan raised an eyebrow slightly. He shifted his gaze and asked, “Is that why you messaged me so early in the morning?”

Gu Yu paused briefly while reloading his gun, glanced at the two of them expressionlessly, and replied, “No.”

“Then why did you come here?”

He smoothly slid the magazine into place and fired a shot at a distant target. Only after a long pause, when the numbers on the scoreboard disappeared, did he slowly say:

“To practice.”

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