Enforcer Manual
Chapter 242: I am a Combat Player_1

Chapter 242: Chapter 242: I am a Combat Player_1

The next day, early in the morning, Song Lan arrived at the weapon store in the city center, feeling heavy-hearted.

He had heard that this store was the largest in District Seventeen, and unlike the black market, it sold legal firearms. It catered to the vast population of District Seventeen.

For ordinary people who couldn’t afford combat-type prosthetics, owning a gun could provide them with a great sense of security.

At least when facing gang thugs, bullets were still effective.

When he entered, Lu Xiang was already waiting for him in the most conspicuous place. She wasn’t wearing her department’s uniform today, having switched to a set of casual clothes, with a white sports cap and her hair tied back in a neat ponytail. She waved at Song Lan from a distance as soon as she saw him.

The business at the weapon store was unexpectedly booming, with a steady stream of citizens coming in to choose weapons.

"Let’s go, to the shooting range first," she said.

Clearly, she was no stranger to this place and was very familiar with the store’s facilities.

As they approached the range, the sounds of gunfire came in bursts from all around them.

Lu Xiang chose a spot near the innermost side and handed a pistol to Song Lan from the counter, "The ’Mustang,’ 18-round capacity, the most common civilian pistol. It uses 9mm ammunition, with a moderate rate of fire, and its advantage is the low recoil."

The benefit of a civilian gun was that it was user-friendly— even novices could achieve decent results with it.

The downside was its lack of firepower. As long as someone had minor subdermal armor implants, the bullets from a handgun were unlikely to cause effective damage.

Lu Xiang took into account that the reason Song Lan might have struggled previously was because he was using weapons provided by professional mercenaries. Not only were each one of those guys experts in using firearms, but many had also modified their arms to handle recoil.

But soon, Lu Xiang had to reconsider her views.

Song Lan’s movements looked professional. His aiming and shooting were fluid, and even his reloading motion resembled that of a true expert.

He then turned in an astonishing performance of hitting the target with just one of the 36 bullets he fired.

Now, she finally understood why the Devourer had reported him, and it had nothing to do with the recoil—it was simply because the guy was too weak.

"How did you manage to hit only one shot and still act like you’ve completed a glorious mission?" she asked.

Even among average citizens, this level of marksmanship was considered poor.

Putting down the pistol, Song Lan crossed his arms and, looking at the range, said, "At least, I emptied the magazine."

For someone handling a gun for the second time, he thought that was quite an achievement.

He had even hit the target once.

After all, human physiology varies. In the year 2020, his region had strict gun control—he hadn’t even seen a gun in his entire life. Meanwhile, people in 2166 almost grew up amidst gunfire, with gang shootouts becoming a part of their everyday lives.

So, for a young man from 2020, emptying the magazine was considered a success.

"That’s called wasting ammunition," she retorted.

"But the target was moving," Song Lan replied, stretching out his hand, pointing at the swinging target.

For a target to not stay put while being shot at was somewhat underhanded.

Lu Xiang held her forehead, gesturing for Song Lan to pick up the gun again. She then stood behind him, tiptoed, rested her chin on his shoulder, and wrapped her hands around Song Lan’s wrists to lift the gun to the proper position.

Song Lan felt something soft pressing against his back.

"Remember this feeling," she whispered.

As soon as Lu Xiang spoke, a warm breath brushed past his ear, carrying a fresh mint scent that filled his nostrils.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

18/18.

As the magazine was emptied, the electronic screen displayed the hit data.

Lu Xiang hadn’t expected that she would need to instruct him in such a foolproof manner. She realized clearly that this person had no talent whatsoever for shooting.

"Remembered?"

"Remembered."

"How does it feel?"

"Soft."

...

Soft?

Lu Xiang furrowed her brows in confusion before a sudden realization caused a flush to spread across her cheeks. She glared at Song Lan with an indignant look, tilting her head to bite down on his earlobe.

That’s for not practicing your shooting properly!

"Can’t you guys practice properly?"

The surrounding practitioners grumbled, their target practice was going well before it was suddenly interrupted as if someone had kicked it aside. They couldn’t understand why such a scene would happen in a solemn place like the shooting range.

Is there really no pure land left under this sky?

"Boss, I think,"

Song Lan touched his slightly sore earlobe and said, "Target practice doesn’t really mean much. Real combat is what’s most important. You might not believe it, but I am actually a battle-hardened fighter."

"A battle-hardened fighter?"

Lu Xiang scoffed, "That’s perfect, next door is the virtual shooting range. That’s exactly why I called you here."

She indeed was an advocate of practical combat, but now she suspected that Song Lan was just being stubborn.

From her experience of regularly coming to the shooting range, those who were lousy at target practice often liked to excuse themselves by claiming, "I’m combat-oriented."

This was also why, under strong recommendation from the citizens, the weapons store opened a virtual shooting range.

"The virtual shooting range uses holographic technology. Everything you feel inside is simulated to 100% reality, allowing you to experience the grip and recoil of most firearms. In the virtual shooting range, participants are divided into two opposing teams and deployed into various virtual environments for battles."

Since the virtual shooting range has limited slots, the unwritten rule among the participants is that the losing team must swap out all its members.

Considering the experience of Song Lan’s teammates, Lu Xiang had no choice but to team up with him.

Since a team could only have six members, nobody wanted a dead weight on their team.

"But before we start, we have to establish three rules, this is a shooting practice; the use of any ability unrelated to shooting is prohibited."

"They won’t be necessary to deal with them."

The virtual shooting range was right next door. The waiting room had nearly twice as many people as the shooting range, mostly comprising young folk, gang members, and street ruffians.

The holographic projection was showing an intense skirmish from the virtual drill. Spectators were fervid as they watched the last member of the challengers being hunted down playfully by the opponents, prompting curses from many viewers.

Before long, a shining record of six consecutive victories appeared on the projection.

"Oh? It seems we came at just the right time."

Lu Xiang eyed the challengers, who were disconsolately removing their equipment, and raised an eyebrow, "Got some early game hoggers, huh? Planning to play all day, are they?"

"Game hoggers?"

"It’s a team of veterans who, according to the rules of the virtual shooting range, will keep the range for themselves as long as they keep winning since the losing team has to change players."

Citizens often begrudged but dared not speak out against the game hoggers.

Most people coming to the virtual shooting range were novices eager to try out firearms. Against these professionally trained players, they were usually beaten into a sorry state.

Furthermore, as most of those who liked to hog the range were street thugs or even gang members, citizens felt helpless against them, both in the virtual world and in real life.

"So, what do you think, want to challenge them?"

Lu Xiang winked at Song Lan, "Fighting against them, the experience for a newbie could be pretty rough."