The reason why Lin Xinghai was shocked was because what was launched was not a table tennis ball, but an iron ball.
The iron ball was much faster. The reaction time from the ball being shot out of the shooting port to landing on the ground was only 0.5 seconds at most.
0.5 seconds… It was really pushing the limits, and the scariest part wasn’t just the speed.
What was terrifying was that on the walls of the shooting range, there seemed to have been some kind of magnetic device installed, which was emitting an unpredictable magnetic field at the time.
This resulted in the iron balls flying downward being influenced by the magnetic field and continuously changing their trajectory during their descent.
Faced with such changes, even Lin Xinghai had a feeling of being flustered, barely hitting the first iron ball.
What was different from before was that this time he failed to hit the middle part of the iron ball, and the bullet only hit the edge.
It could be said that he came very close to missing.
However, Lin Xinghai’s shooting skill proficiency reached 100%, allowing him to adjust quickly even if he was a beginner.
So when the next iron ball flew out of the shooting port, Lin Xinghai recovered his accuracy and successfully hit it.
However, the expression on his face remained serious because this required him to fully concentrate.
However, maintaining this level of high concentration of attention put an immense burden on his mental state, akin to a continuously taut string that might snap at any moment.
To put it simply, if this continued, Lin Xinghai was likely to make a mistake.
One shot after another, Lin Xinghai fired every shot with everything he got.
However, by the 20th shot, his accuracy inevitably began to decrease. Although the iron ball was hit, the bullet only hit the edge.
Lin Xinghai frowned deeply, pondering for a solution in his mind, “This can’t go on.”
Suddenly, he had an idea as he released his perception.
His perception was capped at 140 meters. However, it was enough to lay his perception over the entire shooting range, including the launched iron balls.
Although what he perceived was blurry, it was enough.
The things detected by the perception were projected into the mind, resulting in faster reactions than capturing the targets with sight.
In other words, Lin Xinghai roughly screened the environment with his perception before observing it with his eyes.
This immediately lessened the burden of the challenge.
Previously, if Lin Xinghai needed to concentrate 100%, now he only needed to concentrate 80%.
With this 20% as a buffer, Lin Xinghai’s room for error was greatly enhanced.
The most intuitive manifestation of this approach was that he became calm again.
Even Ling Xiu and others who were watching from the side noticed this subtle change.
They observed Lin Xinghai’s originally serious expression suddenly relax. While feeling puzzled, they also began to feel a sense of anticipation.
Lin Xinghai was getting closer and closer to the 10th place on the leaderboard.
However, until the last minute, no one could be certain whether Lin Xinghai could make it into the top 10.
There were three chances to make mistakes. However, given the intensity of this challenge, often after making one mistake, there was no time to adjust before the next iron ball was launched.
Regarding this, Zhuang Qiao was the most authoritative to speak. She had truly seen many times when mercenaries, who had the chance to break into the top 100, failed to adjust in time due to a single mistake. Subsequently, they continuously missed the targets, resulting in their elimination.
Therefore, in this process of climbing the leaderboard, there was no room to relax until the last moment.
Fortunately, what they were worried about didn’t happen.
Soon, the progress of the 4th level surpassed 38%. Lin Xinghai’s provisional ranking on the screen was immediately updated, changing to 10th place.
If Lin Xinghai hadn’t still been in the midst of the tense challenge, the others probably would have exclaimed in surprise.
Even for Zhuang Qiao, it was the first time she had witnessed the birth of a marksman with her own eyes.
However, sharpshooters were ranked accordingly. Apparently, Lin Xing was not satisfied with being 10th. Moreover, he indeed had the ability to continue challenging for a higher ranking.
His ranking was updated swiftly. During this extreme challenge, the difference between one rank and the next might have been just a matter of enduring a few more seconds.
Therefore, Lin Xinghai’s ranking quickly jumped to 9th, then 8th. By the time of the mid-game ammunition change, his ranking had already reached 7th place.
“Brother Lin, you are the GOAT.”
[TN: Greatest Of All Time. It’s just an exaggeration to match the Author’s tone.]
“Brother Lin, congratulations on becoming a sharpshooter.”
“Mr. Lin, you are probably the youngest sharpshooter in the history of our mercenary guild.”
During these five seconds of reloading, various complimentary words arrived as expected.
In response, Lin Xinghai merely nodded, which served as his reply. His gaze shifted to the screen.
Looking at the 7th ranking, Lin Xinghai didn’t show much joy, but rather felt a bit of admiration, realizing that the marksmen on the leaderboard truly lived up to their reputation.
Their marksmanship was probably on par with his.
If he hadn’t had the inspiration to use his perception ability for assistance, he might still have made it into the top 10, but reaching 50% progress in the 4th level would probably have been his limit.
Of course, this did not exclude the possibility that the others capitalized on their perception in this challenge.
After all, the length of this shooting range was only 100 meters. Once the 3rd genetic limiter was broken through, his perception was enough to encompass the entire designed shooting range.
Regardless, the proficiency of those people in marksmanship was undoubtedly high. Even if not reaching 100%, it was at least above 95%.
Of course, Lin Xinghai just briefly considered these thoughts in his mind. The 5-second reload time passed in the blink of an eye.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lin Xinghai instantly entered a state of focused shooting.
The progress of level 4 was rapidly advancing. Lin Xinghai’s ranking continued to improve.
He quickly reached 6th place, then 5th place. When he completed the level, his ranking had become 4th.
Lin Xinghai was only one step away from the top 3.
This scene once again left Ling Xiu and the others breathless.
Even though the top 10 were coined sharpshooters, there was also a gap between them.
Especially if one could enter the top 3, the value of this sharpshooter would increase significantly.
Even if Lin Xinghai were to end the challenge with his current performance, it would be enough to shake all the level 3 mercenary groups.
However, if he could enter the top 3, it would not be surprising even if the leaders of the level 3 mercenary group would personally invite Lin Xinghai.
Ling Xiu thought about such a formidable individual joining their hunting squad, even if it was temporary, it made him feel suffocated.
After Lin Xinghai passed level 4, he immediately approached, wanting to continue flattering them.
However, before he spoke, Lin Xinghai waved his hand, “I want to have a good rest and face the upcoming level 5 challenge.”