As Lin Xinghai closed his eyes and rested, the place instantly became quiet. No one dared to disturb him at this moment.
After all, it was a critical moment that determined whether he would enter the top three of the Sharpshooting Leaderboard.
If their disturbance affected Lin Xinghai’s performance, no one would dare to bear the wrath of a sharpshooter.
Therefore, everyone could only stand aside and wait quietly. Of course, there was one exception. Zhang Meiling was busy massaging Lin Xinghai’s arms.
The others watched with great envy. If Lin Xinghai managed to achieve good results, then this favor could be significant.
However, they could only be envious. After all, who would learn massaging techniques in the apocalypse?
Ten minutes passed quickly. Although it wasn’t a long time, it was enough for Lin Xinghai to relax his somewhat tense nerves.
After moving his arms, he realized that Zhang Meiling’s massage skills were splendid. The soreness and swelling that had been in his arms were now completely gone.
He nodded to Zhang Meiling, then picked up the Shredder Rifle, listened to the countdown, and gradually entered the shooting state.
Standing nearby, Zhang Meiling almost let out an excited scream if it weren’t for the inappropriate atmosphere.
She knew it; her efforts to please were indeed well-directed.
Perhaps the small favor she did today could help her solve a big problem in the future.
Lin Xinghai, listening to the countdown, also glanced at the progress bar for the fifth level of the challenge that had just refreshed on the screen.
The third place was 21%, and the second place was 38%. As for the first place, as Zhuang Qiao said, it was situated at 76% of the progress bar.
“There seems to be quite a gap between the second and third place, the second and the first place!” Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but murmur.
“…3, 2, 1, start!”
When the system countdown was about to end, Lin Xinghai immediately released his perception.
Whoosh!
Before the iron ball flew out of the shooting port, Lin Xinghai had vaguely sensed it.
“The size hasn’t decreased! But the speed has increased.” Lin Xinghai quickly discerned the changes.
With the aid of his heightened perception, he no longer had to worry about being caught off guard. Even with increased difficulty, he could be well-prepared and aware of what to expect.
Bang!
The bullet hits the iron ball accurately.
However, this was just the beginning. The second and third iron balls flew out from the remaining shooting ports.
Overall, there were no new tricks added compared to the fourth level.
The only thing that changed was that the speed of the iron balls rose continuously.
The increment in speed was present in every previous level. Compared to other changes, it wasn’t much of a concern.
However, when it came to the fifth level, it was completely different.
Since the speed increase was based on the fourth level, the iron balls took only 0.5 seconds to fly out and hit the ground.
This speed was approaching the limit.
However, this challenge increased the balls’ speed from this limit…
Lin Xinghai’s expression grew increasingly solemn as he realized that when the iron balls took only 0.4 seconds to fly from the shooting port to the ground, he was gradually unable to keep up with this speed.
However, as the speed of the iron balls’ flight continued to increase, reaching 0.3 seconds, Lin Xinghai’s forehead began to be dotted with fine beads of sweat.
He had been giving his all from the beginning, so initially, he aimed to hit the iron balls as soon as they flew out of the shooting port.
However, as the speed of the iron balls increased, the point at which he hit them gradually lowered.
By the time only the 15th iron ball had been launched, he could only barely manage to hit them just before they reached the ground.
Lin Xinghai was well aware that the issue wasn’t with his technical skills, but rather that his body’s reaction speed couldn’t keep up with the speed of his thoughts.
There were only two ways to solve this problem. Firstly, he would use the system to forcibly enhance his capabilities.
Once his genetic enhancement degree increased, his physical fitness naturally improved as well.
Moreover, he didn’t need to enhance it too much. Just raising his genetic enhancement degree to 40% would be enough to solve the current problem.
However, the system had warned that enhancing it now carried hidden risks. Moreover, even if there were no risks, the fact that his perception would no longer increase after a forced enhancement meant he would be at a significant loss!
Therefore, this thought only briefly passed through his mind before he immediately dismissed it.
The second method was simpler and wouldn’t pose any risks. It involved wielding dual guns in both hands, just like he did when dealing with the blood fiend.
With the aid of his enhanced perception, even if operating dual guns would reduce accuracy slightly, he should still be able to hit the iron balls.
However, it was too late to bring another gun over, so the only option was to request to start the challenge over from the beginning.
However, Lin Xinghai dismissed the idea after giving it a few thoughts.
Not that he found it troublesome.
If he became the top marksman in the entire Star Shield Shelter, then he would be in the spotlight, attracting everyone’s attention.
By then, anyone with influence would find out that he had only entered the Star Shield Shelter three days ago. At that time, he wasn’t even Enhanced yet.
So how did he go from a rookie to the top sharpshooter in three days?
Although Lin Xinghai had made up a reason, he really couldn’t treat everyone as idiots.
Perhaps leaders like Fang Tianhe wouldn’t probe too deeply, but there would always be those who wanted to dig deeper, and even some would wildly speculate.
Therefore, before he fully grew to his potential, Lin Xinghai felt it was better to keep a low profile. Securing the second place would suffice, as it would at least halve the attention he received.
With this thought, he relaxed considerably and then brought out a solution he had thought of earlier, which wasn’t really a solution.
Lin Xinghai had a clear awareness of his situation. He knew that hitting two more iron balls would reach his limit.
Therefore, after firing two shots, he gave up the next iron ball that flew out without any hesitation.
Using this brief 0.3 seconds as an adjustment, he re-aimed the gun at the shooting port above and waited for the next iron ball to appear.
Everyone who was watching nervously on the side felt nervous when they saw Lin Xinghai miss an iron ball.
The screen next to Lin Xinghai also immediately notified him of the first mistake.
However, the consecutive mistakes that the audience was worried about did not happen.
Lin Xinghai’s shot hit the next iron ball without any disruption.
Moreover, his progress quickly exceeded 21%, and his temporary ranking on the screen became third place.
“He has entered the top 3.”
Amidst the overwhelming excitement, everyone subconsciously held their breath, fearing that even the sound of their breathing might disturb Lin Xinghai.
Next, when the progress bar reached 35%, Lin Xinghai made another mistake.
This time, everyone noticed that Lin Xinghai proactively gave up on shooting that iron ball and made adjustments.
It was undoubtedly a splendid strategy. After the second adjustment, he successfully surpassed the second place and launched a charge toward the first place.
However, Lin Xinghai had reached his limit at this time, and the difficulty of this fifth level was steadily rising.
In the end, Lin Xinghai made his third mistake and used up the mid-round adjustment time. His score settled at 67% of the fifth level, making him second place on the Sharpshooting Leaderboard.