Chapter 31

After giving Leon a stern warning to be careful of the “lovey-dovey” advances from his male coworkers, Black Goat continued, “If he just wants to use tape to stick physical objects, like a broken rail or a dried-up stream, with his strength, he could probably tape several kilometers worth of stuff together.”

“But if it’s conceptual taping, he might only manage about fifty to sixty attempts before exhausting his willpower. The stronger the will of the object being taped, the more draining it is for him.”

“Like last year when he tried to tape up that red-haired woman’s trust in him to secure a good mission. It drove him into a mental breakdown, lost control of his body, and he was bedridden for over three months before he could even get up.”

After explaining the abilities of the tape, Black Goat summarized, “In short, while anomalous items have limits, they’re not entirely fixed. Besides the inherent power of the item, the more your body and spirit can endure, the stronger the effect of the anomaly.”

“For example, look at me. Though I’m weak now, if you can handle the cost and nurture me back, I can still stir up the fighting spirit of thousands, sparking a small-scale war! Got it?”

“Sort of…”

Leon nodded thoughtfully but then furrowed his brows and asked, “But you haven’t answered my question yet. I didn’t ask about the powers of anomalies; I asked how I can achieve physical capabilities like others.”

“I said from the start, there’s no rush~”

Black Goat took a drag on their cigarette and lazily replied, “Take more missions, collect more anomalies, and use them often. You’ll naturally be affected, slowly transforming from human to something… not quite human. The crazier and more extreme the anomaly, the faster the transformation.”

“Take me as an example. My transformation speed used to be about the same as that rotten apartment. Even if you used me for years, you’d probably just end up healthier than average.”

“But after all these goodies you’ve given me, my transformation rate has increased significantly—about three or four times that of the apartment.”

“And if you’re willing to kill a few bastards and offer their sinful souls to me, the transformation speed will increase further! In less than a year, your physical abilities could reach the level of that guy who plays with tape, Harry. Interested?”

“…”

This guy really… never stops trying to drag me into this…

Upon hearing Black Goat’s relentless persuasion, Leon couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, but soon his eyes widened involuntarily. Wait a minute! Didn’t it just say its conversion speed was the same as Happiness Apartment before, but now it’s three to four times faster? Isn’t that 0.4 versus 0.1? So this “influence” and “conversion” are actually the “taint value” of anomalies?!

Realizing the true meaning of taint value, Leon didn’t have time to celebrate before suddenly remembering something and turned to look at Black Goat who was smoking heavily.

If I’m not mistaken, Red-haired Bureau Director’s “Love Without Memory” has a taint value of 7! And yours was 0.1, only one-seventh of theirs?

You big talker, always boasting about being some great demon, I actually believed you were tough! But you’re this bad?

This kid… why is he looking at me like this all of a sudden?

Receiving Leon’s two parts exasperation, three parts shock, and five parts deep disdain, Black Goat felt a chill run down their spine and started feeling uneasy.

He wouldn’t have figured out that I’ve been holding him back, right?

Hmm… shouldn’t be.

Only those who have used an anomaly know the specific conversion speed of each item. That red-haired woman may have used me, but she’s too powerful to notice whether my conversion speed is fast or slow, and she certainly wouldn’t tell him.

Yeah! He won’t know! Definitely won’t know!

“Hem hem!”

Though confident Leon wouldn’t discover any problems, Black Goat cleared their throat nervously and quickly changed the subject:

“Anyway… while collecting more anomalies will make you stronger faster, don’t go too wild. Not all anomalies are as cooperative as me. Many demand enormous prices! For instance, Emma! Her immortality is strong, but do you know what she paid for it?”

Senior Emma…

At Black Goat’s question, Leon’s expression flickered.

I’ve been curious about Senior Emma’s immortality for a long time. She seems aware that my ability to gather information through touch makes her avoid physical contact with me. She’s been very considerate, saving my sister and even giving me her sidearm. Even though I’m curious, I should respect her privacy and not pry… But I am a little bit interested…

Haha, such an easy-to-tempt rookie! That time we met in the corridor, your eyes were glued to her! I knew you were interested in her! Seeing Leon’s uncontrollable curiosity, Black Goat grinned and swallowed the seven or eight cigarette butts almost burning their lips, then chewed on the still-smoking stubs and chuckled,

“If you kill a wicked bastard and offer me their sinful soul, I’ll tell you what Emma paid for her immortality~ How does that sound?”

“…”

(╬￣皿￣) “Eh? If you don’t agree, that’s fine, but why are you grabbing my cigarettes? No? You dare hit me? Tch! Do you really think I don’t have a temper? You… have the guts not to use your feet! Let’s fight fair, both using our mouths, okay? Shit!”

…

“BANG!”

Looking at the target shattered five hundred meters away, Leon showed no joy at hitting the mark. Instead, his expression became rather serious.

After dealing with the chatty Black Goat and throwing it back into the Clearing Bureau office, Leon didn’t head home directly. Instead, he carried his sniper rifle to the adjacent Public Security Bureau, borrowed a secluded shooting range using his Clearing Bureau credentials, and began practicing his shooting skills to earn badges.

However, to improve his accuracy for future missions, Leon didn’t simply focus on increasing the number of live rounds fired. Instead, he placed the targets at maximum effective range, carefully training his shooting technique shot by shot. Yet…

His accuracy was pitifully low.

Even with the cumulative accuracy bonus from his Materialist Soul, Leon needed an average of four to five shots to hit the fixed target at five hundred meters, missing seven to eight out of ten nails.

It seems that successfully hitting the target in the hospital was mostly due to luck… and Emma’s assistance in adjusting the sights beforehand. My actual shooting skill is still that of a novice.

Glancing through the scope at the holes in the humanoid paper target, most of which were in unimportant areas, Leon shook his head, blew hard on the whistle in his mouth, and picked up the small red flag beside him, waving it toward the range supervisor.

Hehe, obviously changing the target.

The supervisor, upon hearing the whistle and seeing Leon’s flag indicating three hundred meters, raised an eyebrow and glanced at his colleague. Both men exchanged knowing smiles and winks.

That young man walked in earlier, insisting on shooting at five hundred meters despite our advice to start at half the maximum range. Since the bullet drop becomes harder to control the farther it goes, especially near the limit of lethal distance, sometimes it even rolls sideways mid-air, making it extremely difficult to predict the landing point.

Thus, full-range five-hundred-meter targets are much harder than half-range two-three-hundred-meter ones. For someone so inexperienced, the shorter range would be plenty challenging.

But no, this cocky assistant-level civil servant, already close to reaching the next rank, was too proud to listen to us. He insisted on trying to see how far he could shoot, demanding the five-hundred-meter target… What did you expect? Now realizing you can’t hit anything, you’re switching targets, aren’t you? Guns are fair. They don’t care who your father is!

The supervisor responsible for changing the target cheerfully pulled the lever on the control panel. With the sound of gears meshing, the half-range target at three hundred meters rose slowly, while the full-range target at five hundred meters was lowered and retracted.

As the other supervisor was about to leave his seat to replace the target paper, he was stopped by his colleague.

“What are you doing?”

One content at 69 Book Bar!

“Ahhh? What did you say? Hey, let go of me! I need to change the target!”

“Why change the target?”

The supervisor operating the lever chuckled and lifted his colleague’s noise-canceling earmuffs slightly, shouting loudly amidst the dense gunshots on the range:

“Just sit and rest! I recognize that gun he brought. Its effective range is only around four hundred seventy meters. Shooting at five hundred meters is over-range shooting. Hitting it would be ghostly! Sure, we have some who can hit over-range targets, but they’ve been handling guns for nearly twenty years. Look at that kid, barely sixteen or seventeen. How could he possibly hit an over-range target? Did he start playing with guns in the womb?”

“Ahahaha, that’s true. I’ll rest a bit longer then~”

…

Unaware that his poor accuracy wasn’t due to his lack of shooting skills but rather the limited range of the firearm itself, Leon remained prone on the ground, firing shot after shot to rack up the badge count.

After adjusting the target to three hundred meters, his accuracy indeed improved significantly. He no longer missed a single shot and consistently hit vital areas of the humanoid target paper, deviating from the target only once every twenty or so shots.

By the time the sun began to set, Leon, averaging two shots per minute, had completed two hundred live rounds, upgrading his shooting badge from Black Iron to Bronze.

[Shooter: Despite limited experience with firearms, your remarkable talent and arduous training have made you a qualified shooter.]

[Wearing Effect: Through extensive practice, you have become familiar with the distribution rules of nail drops. When consciously adjusting the aim of the muzzle, your shooting accuracy will significantly improve.]

[Advancement Path: Complete 5,000 live rounds or 30,000 simulated triggers, and this badge will automatically upgrade to the Silver badge “Shooting Expert.” Current Progress 0/5,000, 0/30,000]

[Hidden Trait (No Need to Wear): As a firearms enthusiast, your shooting stability increases slightly when using your familiar sidearm.]

To continue improving, do I need to fire another five thousand rounds? After reading the badge system prompt, Leon estimated his shooting speed and realized that diligently completing these five thousand rounds would take about forty hours.

And if the number of required shots for advancement from Silver to Gold follows the same proportional growth from 200 to 5,000, the time needed might exceed a thousand hours.

Although diligent shot-by-shot practice could enhance basic skills, it likely wouldn’t match the improvement from a high-tier badge. So… should I try exploiting a loophole?

Think and act!

With the sole intention of leveling up the badge, Leon this time didn’t meticulously aim but instead hastily fired after roughly estimating the position.

After switching from precise aiming to blind guessing, his speed indeed skyrocketed. Excluding reloading and breathing breaks, he managed to fire more than a dozen nails within a minute, and thanks to the accuracy boost from his Materialist Soul, even these random shots hit the target five or six times.

But when Leon stopped shooting and checked the [Shooter] badge interface, he was disappointed to find that the “proficiency” from those dozen shots hadn’t increased at all, remaining stubbornly at 0/5,000.

So, it seems I really have to practice seriously step by step…

Shaking his head, Leon dismissed the idea of shortcuts, glanced at the sky, disassembled his sniper rifle into parts, bundled them neatly into a large canvas bag, and left the range carrying the heavy bag with difficulty.

Not long after he left, a female officer in black police uniform with wheat-colored skin hurriedly entered, looked around at the empty spots, and finally chose the corner range that had just been vacated.

She appeared somewhat weary, seemingly troubled by something. After greeting the two supervisors with a raspy voice, she selected her weapon, stepped onto the shooting position, and waved the yellow flag representing five hundred meters.

When the distant target gradually rose, she deeply inhaled, bit her lips forcefully, and pressed her eye against the rear sight of the scope, placing her slender fingers firmly on the trigger…

Hmm? Seeing the target with five or six large holes in the scope, the female officer frowned and waved the black flag to summon the range supervisor.

“This target hasn’t been replaced.”

Pointing at the wooden target far away, the female officer expressionlessly stated, “You can see the bullet holes from the previous person.”

“Ah? Sorry, sorry!”

Upon hearing the female officer’s words, the range supervisor quickly apologized and explained with a forced smile, “A stranger came earlier with clumsy preparation actions. After a few tries, they switched to the half-range target, so we assumed they missed the full-range target and didn’t bother replacing it. Sorry.”

“No problem.”

Waving her hand to indicate it was fine, the female officer squinted at the target paper through the scope and then coldly questioned,

“The holes on the target are pretty large. These must be from shooting thirty meters beyond the maximum range of the firearm, causing the nails to spin out of control. Isn’t the department emphasizing control and minimizing unnecessary damage recently? Why is someone still practicing something that guarantees death if they hit?”

(End of Chapter)