Alan and Nims headed toward the training ground, a facility located in the corner of the port town that was being monopolized by the US military, to find talents to fill the rank through tests.
The training ground was divided into two - one for close-quarter combat placed within an indoor hall, and another for the long-range facility placed on the wide-open plain.
Closer observation gave the large facility a rigid, almost military-like feeling complete with targets and obstacles leading as far as the forests and the hills.
Alan's destination was the outdoor compound. As soon as he arrived, he saw that the redneck group had been waiting for him at the entrance.
"I thought y'all chickened out already!" Merle, the Crimson Gunner, greeted them and waved his hand as if they were old friends. The man was extremely confident.
Without sharing his enthusiasm, Alan said, "I'm here, let's start."
Nims had a very minimal experience with guns. The Kal Umbra taught them, but as the monk was never a fan of using firearms, he decided not to join the long-range test. The rest of the redneck group, however, were not the type to lose a chance to blow off some steam shooting out firearms.
"My kin and I will all join, but you ain't need to worry about them."
Alan, Merle, and five others all walked onto the military camp placed at the center of the training ground. One of the military players helped to register their names, and they were called within a few minutes.
"All right, Alan D Angello! You are number 177, you can start the test now!"
As the man spoke, he pointed toward the NPC standing nearby. Alan approached the NPC who was modeled to look like a female officer.
"Welcome player. You are about to join the medium firearm test, please choose your rifle."
Medium firearm was the one chosen by the US Military for the long-range test, and Alan was expected to choose one of the provided training rifles.
[Medium Firearm - M16]
[Medium Firearm - AK 47]
[Medium Firearm - G36]
[Medium Firearm - Steyr AUG]
[Medium Firearm - SCAR]
The two most famous assault rifles were the M16 made by the USA and the AK-47 made by Russia. Alan personally liked the powerful damage the AK series could dish, but for today's test, he decided to use the Austrian-made rifle Steyr AUG.
[Name: Steyr AUG]
[Type: Weapon (Medium Firearm)]
[Rarity: Common]
[Attributes: Firepower 60-72 (300 meters), 50 - 64 (300 - 2700 meters)]
[Magazine: 30 rounds (5,56mm)]
[Fire Rate: up to 10 rounds/second]
[Able to Bring Outside the Game: No]
[Remarks: Hard to use and slow, but damn Accurate]
In battle, the AUG was not popular as it had the lowest damage and slow difficult reloading. However, for the purposes of this test, the damage has no bearing on whether he would succeed, but accuracy does.
Alan hauled the gun that appeared right before him and walked towards the shooting range. As soon as he took his place, a commotion could be heard from the seats of participants and spectators alike.
From their voices, it was clear the commotion was caused by the famous name that had just appeared in the field, 'Merle Rooker'.
"That's a veteran! He's the Crimson Gunner!"
As a veteran, many of the players had seen the Crimson Gunner in last year's game. They immediately thought of the training videos, and with the game, servers were divided locally. People tend to know about local veterans.
"Wow, to be in a group with the Crimson Gunner, that's some bad luck!" one of the spectators shouted, and it was soon followed by shouts of agreement from those around him.
Merle walked towards Alan and flashed a small, cocky smile. "Know what kind of man you're dealing with now?!"
Despite the obvious taunt, Alan remained calm. He glanced at the redneck and simply replied, "Well, with so much attention on you, I hope you won't be too embarrassed when you lose."
"Huh!" Merle narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed, but he then took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and focus on the target lining in front of them.
The medium firearm test was divided into two; the target practice and the obstacles.
Currently, Alan, Merle, and 18 others were doing the target practice test which was divided into three; standing 300 meters, prone 600 meters, and flying targets.
Each participant was given 10 shots. A missed target was worth 0 points, a hit target 10 points, and a bullseye 20 points.
When all were ready, one of the military players in charge of the training ground shouted.
"Test start! Fire!!"
Tar! Tar! Tar!
The first test was the still-standing one, they had to clear targets while standing from 300 meters away. Being the easiest category, Alan managed to get 200 points with all his shots hitting the bullseye, and Merle did the same.
"Not bad for a school teacher!" Merle remarked.
Second, it was time for the prone 600 meters test, a range that exceeded normal human eyes. Fortunately, Alan's previous upgrade gave him a D-rank in perception, just enough for him to tackle this test.
Tar! Tar! Tar!
Just like before, Alan also managed to get all bullseye shots, and so did Merle. However, the latter had started to get noticeably annoyed. He was unwilling to believe that a mere school teacher had the ability to match his perfect scores.
The tension in the air felt thick enough to cut with a heated butter knife, and even the normally noisy audience had gone quiet. They didn't expect that someone who could match the famous Crimson Gunner would appear.
"Who is he!?"
Last but not least, the challenge was to shoot targets flying up in the air. The heights of each target would be randomized, but otherwise, they still had 10 chances each.
Tar! Tar! Tar!
Alan concentrated on each shot. Yet despite his best efforts, he only managed to hit 5 bullseyes and 5 normal hits.
On the other hand, with his experience and advanced job class [Trooper], the Crimson Gunner had an increased accuracy toward moving objects. As a result, with 8 bullseyes, the Crimson Gunner managed to place first in the ranking between the two.
[Rank 1 - Merle Rooker - 580 points]
[Rank 2 - Alan D Angello - 550 points]
Seeing that the exciting, close-call competitions had finally ended, the audience's cheers became louder than before. In contrast to them, the Crimson Gunner had a condescending expression on his face as he looked at his opponent.
He said, "Is there any point in doing the next test?!"
Author Note
I apologize for not updating the last week as I have to do a mass release for my contracted Novel. Will start updating this novel again at least 3 chapters a week. For more chapters, please give support through Patreon. All information and link can be access in www.avans.xyz
