Chapter Twenty-Seven: Ecstasy in a Single Word, Spoken Only Once

"Now split into two teams, and leave me out," I said, thinking it best not to join in and let my teammates relax and enjoy themselves.

A few girls huddled together, whispering among themselves.

"I'll team up with Xinru," one girl declared after a long discussion that led nowhere.

"I want to be with Xinru too."

"Me."

"Me too!"

In the blink of an eye, all the girls clustered around Huang Xinru, leaving only Mao Shiba standing awkwardly on his own, looking out of place.

"Shiba is really skilled, though. Why don’t any of you want to team up with him?" I asked, puzzled.

Shiba glanced toward the girls, then withdrew his gaze, maintaining a calm detachment, as if unmoved by worldly concerns.

The girls exchanged glances, and one finally said, "We all know he’s great, but he doesn’t talk much. I’m afraid if I teamed up with him, I wouldn’t understand what he wanted to do."

I nodded in agreement—it did seem a reasonable concern.

"Alright, then. You girls form one team, and I’ll team up with Shiba."

As soon as I made the teams, a few of the girls in the other group started to get restless. I could tell that some of them wanted to partner with me.

"There are eight of you, and each of you has over a hundred rounds. If you spot the enemy, just go into full auto—believe me, they can’t beat you if you have enough ammo and they’re trying to conserve theirs."

"But don’t get careless. We’re out in the open and the enemy is hidden. Finding them is our first priority—eliminating them is our second. I’m sure the process will be thrilling for everyone."

"Now, spread out."

I left no room for debate, cutting off any wavering voices among the girls.

Seeing how firm I was, they had nothing more to say.

"Be careful, everyone," Huang Xinru nodded at us.

"You too. Lead your team well," I replied with a smile.

At this point, none of us knew which hill the enemy was on. It was possible both hills had enemies, or neither did. But judging by the location, it was an excellent sniping point—broad vision, good for both attack and defense—a place worth fighting over.

After letting the girls pick a hill, Shiba and I headed for the other.

Marching up openly would be foolish; we needed to hide our approach and sneak up quietly.

Shiba seemed gifted in this regard. Following his lead, I realized I didn’t so much as brush a branch or make a sound. It was as if he was born for the wild: swift, alert.

Perhaps my gaze was too intense, because Shiba stopped, turned, and stared straight into my eyes.

"Shiba, how are you this good?" I couldn’t help but ask.

"Trained as a kid," he replied simply.

I understood that for someone as reticent as he was, even saying that much was difficult. If he didn’t want to speak, I wouldn’t press him—some things are best left unspoken.

"Is anyone up there?" I asked directly.

He studied me for several seconds before answering slowly, "Yes."

I nodded, not needing to ask how he knew.

"Alright, you lead the way. Let’s sneak up and take them all out. Think we can do it?" I had no idea how many there were, but I trusted Shiba’s instincts—he knew.

"We can," he said, as succinct as ever.

"Good. Since you say so, let’s do it." I grinned, raising a fist.

He nodded, then melted into the shadows, creeping uphill. I followed, moving as quietly as he did.

As we neared the summit, Shiba made a fist to signal me to stop.

I understood we were close, so I didn’t ask why. He pointed toward the western corner. Following his finger, I caught sight of a shoe—or rather, a foot.

I bent my index and middle fingers to my eyes, then gave him a thumbs-up. My meaning was clear: his vision was extraordinary, to spot a foot hidden in such a concealed spot. He was truly remarkable.

Having found one, we could be sure there were people at the top. And judging by Shiba’s demeanor, there were more than just one.

Using his sharp eyes and ears, Shiba quickly located a total of five people, each hiding in a different position. All of them had their guns trained on the slopes below, the places where shots had previously been fired.

They were lying in wait—devious, really. If not for Shiba’s keen eyes, I’d never have noticed them. If we’d walked up openly, we would’ve been wiped out.

But knowing their positions meant Xinru’s group was safe; there weren’t enemies on their hill. That eased my mind. I wanted them to get some practice, but not to be eliminated so easily. There’d be other chances for them to learn.

Just as I was about to open fire with Shiba, the sound of gunfire erupted from the hill where Xinru’s group had gone.

Hearing the exchange, I realized they’d engaged the enemy.

I made a slashing motion across my neck, then raised my gun at the targets ahead.

Shiba understood perfectly: I wanted to end this quickly and go help the girls.

One of his strengths was never asking why—if you made sense, he’d act without hesitation.

Before I could fire, he’d already shot twice, eliminating two of our targets. Smoke rose from their positions, and the survivors, realizing they’d been exposed, quickly rolled away from their original hiding spots.

My own shot missed in the confusion.

I didn’t dwell on the miss. Instead, I switched to full-auto. It burned through a lot of ammo, but the adrenaline rush was incredible.

Compared to careful, single shots, unleashing a barrage was exhilarating.

I felt like I’d rediscovered my old self—the one who’d entered this competition just to play with a gun, not to make it into the top hundred.

Now that my wish was fulfilled, I had no regrets.

After so long lying low, I felt rusty—it was time to let loose.

"Shiba, give it all you’ve got!"

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat.

A hail of bullets exploded in front of the remaining three. They didn’t even dare to raise their heads.

Maybe, in their eyes, I was a madman. But I didn’t mind.

Perhaps swept up by my enthusiasm, Shiba also abandoned his careful pacing, joining me in unleashing a storm of bullets.

"Doesn’t full-auto feel amazing?" I asked, glancing back.

"It does!" Shiba replied, his face flushed with excitement.

I laughed.

That’s more like it—we’re young, why pretend to be so mature and steady?

"Let’s get wild!"