Chapter 92: Best of the Match

Mu Zimo’s in-game nickname was “Gunwoman One.” She had created her account less than a month ago. Over that month, aside from a few rare matches ruined by incompetent teammates who handed themselves over to the enemy, she had hardly ever lost. The system recorded a terrifying win rate of 99%, and almost every battle saw her crowned as the best player of the match.

During this period, she had encountered other gunmasters a few times, but their confrontations were always brief. Her opponents, prioritizing the overall victory, would invariably avoid her, choosing instead to hunt down her teammates.

She had never met anyone like Lin Huang, who refused to retreat and stubbornly pressed her for a true contest. Stirred by the thrill of the hunt, she abandoned concerns for the outcome of the match, opting instead to compete directly with Lin Huang.

It was Lin Huang’s first time entering the game. His purpose was simple: to seek out formidable opponents and hone his marksmanship. The outcome mattered little to him. He saw no point in hunting weak players for kill points, as it would do nothing to improve his skills.

So, within a hundred meters of each other, the two engaged in a relentless firefight.

As their duel raged, two teams arrived at the scene. Ten players approached, guns lowered and hands raised, signaling their intent to merely spectate, not interfere.

Seeing this, Lin Huang and Mu Zimo refrained from attacking the newcomers. Both teams’ members found quiet vantage points and watched silently.

As time passed, each duelist grew increasingly familiar with the other’s combat style, uncovering hints of their strengths and weaknesses.

Lin Huang realized that his opponent was a true professional gunmaster. Her fundamentals were impeccable, her marksmanship far flashier than his own, and her predictive abilities and movement matched his, leaving him with no clear opening.

Mu Zimo, meanwhile, sensed something different in Lin Huang: his marksmanship was solid but conventional, his attacks easily anticipated, yet his predictive skills and movement were on par with hers. He seemed to have only recently broken through as a gunmaster, and his style belonged to the academy school.

With her suspicions about Lin Huang’s background, Mu Zimo’s lips curled into a smile. She raised her gun and unleashed a flurry of shots.

As Lin Huang dodged, a second Black Hawk 33 appeared in Mu Zimo’s left hand.

Seeing this, the relaxed look vanished from Lin Huang’s face. He knew his opponent was now going all out.

With two Black Hawk 33s in hand, Mu Zimo brimmed with confidence, certain she could finally send him back to the respawn point.

Lin Huang’s expression was grave, but his eyes betrayed no hint of retreat.

Atop the high platform, Mu Zimo gripped her guns in both hands and began an alternating barrage, her speed now more than 50% faster than before.

“It’s gun-fighting technique!” Lin’s pupils contracted, locking onto Mu Zimo’s movements.

“This is the gun-fighting technique I spent a year mastering—Twin Blossoms. I refuse to believe you can dodge my bullets!” Mu Zimo shouted at Lin Huang.

Under her gun-fighting technique, the Black Hawk 33’s bullets began to trace bizarre trajectories. What should have been straight paths now curved with the subtle flicks of her wrists.

The twin barrage descended like a rain of petals, sweeping toward Lin Huang and covering the entire area where he could dodge.

The display of gun-fighting technique drew gasps from the spectators on both sides.

Almost as Mu Zimo’s Twin Blossoms was unleashed, Lin Huang’s movement suddenly changed. He tapped his toes lightly on the ground, activating his Snowstep technique—his form soared upward, like a bird taking flight. He flipped midair and landed atop the roof of another building.

Relying on his movement skill, he escaped the coverage of her gun-fighting technique by sheer force.

“Ah?!” Mu Zimo had not expected Lin Huang to possess a second, entirely different movement technique, no less refined than the first.

However, Lin Huang’s weakness was now apparent: against an opponent wielding gun-fighting techniques, his marksmanship was insufficient.

Upon the rooftop, Lin Huang hesitated not a moment. He activated his extreme vision, unleashed his Trickster talent, and once more raised his gun, launching a rapid-fire assault upon Mu Zimo.

Thanks to his robust physique, Lin Huang was almost unaffected by recoil, enabling him to fire roughly 10% faster than Mu Zimo. With an additional 20% boost from his Trickster talent, his attack speed was truly fearsome.

Extreme vision allowed him to lock onto Mu Zimo’s subtlest movements.

By contrast, Mu Zimo, wielding her gun-fighting technique, was rapidly draining her life energy. Under Lin Huang’s accelerated counterattack, she was caught off guard—her dodges grew increasingly frantic, even clumsy.

Wiemeng and the other spectators watched with bated breath; such concentrated gunfire would send anyone, no matter their skill, back to the respawn point.

Fighting a gunmaster was not about movement skill alone; it was about vision and prediction. In these areas, gunmasters and bowmen held immense advantages among ranged professions.

Seeing Mu Zimo’s steps falter, Lin Huang’s lips curled in a faint smile. His left hand produced another Black Hawk 33.

He had never trained with his left-hand gun, so his aim was far from accurate. But it did not hinder the speed of his left-hand shots.

The density of black life energy bullets instantly doubled.

Mu Zimo was startled to see Lin Huang wielding a gun in his left hand, but quickly realized his aim left much to be desired.

Watching Lin Huang’s erratic left-hand shots—utterly random, even less accurate than their own—the spectators finally felt a measure of relief.

Yet because Lin Huang was firing at random, Mu Zimo struggled to predict the trajectory of his left-hand bullets. She could not afford to ignore them.

Lin Huang’s full-speed barrage was already daunting, forcing her into increasingly desperate dodges. With his left-hand gun added to the fray, the entire night market platform became a hailstorm of bullets, making her evasions even more taxing, and weakening her counterattacks.

“I attacked earlier with gun-fighting technique, expending more than half my life energy. With him firing at this rate, his own reserves should soon run dry. All I need to do is keep dodging; movement consumes far less energy. Once he’s depleted, victory will be mine!” Mu Zimo calculated confidently.

Beneath the night of Lijiang Tower, the neon signs of the night market cast their dazzling glow.

Gunfire echoed endlessly throughout the market.

Though these were pistols, Lin Huang was wielding them as if they were rifles.

Amidst the storm of bullets, Mu Zimo dodged in disarray.

More than ten minutes had passed, and Lin Huang’s assault showed no signs of slowing. Instead, Mu Zimo herself was running out of life energy.

The spectators on both sides were speechless. Earlier, Mu Zimo had unleashed her gun-fighting technique at high speed for only a few seconds; Lin Huang’s rapid fire seemed never-ending.

“How can this be? Even if he’s not using a technique that consumes huge amounts of life energy, every bullet requires energy—how could he last so long?!” Mu Zimo wondered, baffled. At her highest frequency, she could only maintain rapid fire for five or six minutes. Now, after more than ten minutes, Lin Huang’s attack had not slowed, while her own reserves, drained by dodging and counterattacking, were nearly spent.

“It’s over,” Lin Huang said quietly.

A bullet from his left-hand gun sealed off Mu Zimo’s escape route; almost simultaneously, a bullet from his right-hand gun flew straight for her forehead.

“This guy—he’s been able to use his left-hand gun all along!” Mu Zimo thought, startled. In the next instant, a black bullet pierced her forehead, and her body dissolved.

Wiemeng, not far away, gave Lin Huang a thumbs-up. “Brilliant—he pretended all along his left-hand gun was untrained, finally trapping her at the last moment.”

Lin Huang smiled and shook his head. “I really hadn’t trained with my left hand before. Just now, while firing at random, I gradually got the feel for it. My aim only improved a bit—it’s still nowhere near my right hand.”

“It seems the gunmaster profession truly requires talent. You found your left-hand rhythm in just ten minutes—what hope is there for the rest of us…” Wiemeng and the others looked embarrassed.

As they spoke, a notification chimed overhead.

[Timed battle countdown… 10, 9, 8…]

Just as Lin Huang prepared to exit the game, a friend request came in—from Gunwoman One herself.

He hesitated briefly, then accepted.

His once-empty friend list suddenly had a new addition.

“Next time, let’s fight again!” Gunwoman One messaged.

“Alright!” Lin Huang replied simply.

Their conversation ended as the countdown expired. The map of Lijiang Tower rapidly dissolved.

Lin Huang returned to his empty game pod.

In front of him, the results of the battle popped up.

[Player: Pure Newcomer]
[Kill Points: 4]
[Deaths: 0]
[Congratulations on earning Best Player of the Match!]