Seeing that the challenge had come to an end, Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.
The difficulty of this fifth level was too great, even for him.
In the situation where he was using a Shredder Rifle, he truly gave it his all.
Even so, he couldn’t secure the first place. Honestly, Lin Xinghai felt a bit of admiration for the individual who achieved first place.
In fact, Lin Xinghai felt a wave of reverence toward the sharpshooters. After all, those people didn’t have a system, and their shooting skills were honed through real practice.
As for the setting of this challenge, Lin Xinghai only had a brief comment: Ridiculous!
In this fifth level, the further he progressed, the faster the iron balls moved. According to Lin Xinghai’s estimate, the time left for him to shoot the last iron balls would shorten to just 0.2 seconds.
If that were the case, even if he used two guns in both hands, he still wouldn’t be able to pass this fifth round! Unless he upgraded his Shooting Skill to the intermediate level.
Lin Xinghai shook his head and stopped thinking about it. When he put down his gun, Ling Xiu and the others approached.
However, at this moment, everyone was a bit cautious. For a moment, they didn’t know how to initiate a conversation.
Judging solely from the results, being the second on the Sharpshooting Leaderboard was definitely an achievement worth celebrating.
However, the difference between him and the first place was only a 9% gap in the level progress, which was not a large margin. With a bit of luck, he might have been able to surpass it.
From this point of view, it was a pity for Lin Xinghai to stop at the second place.
Therefore, they couldn’t quite grasp Lin Xinghai’s mood at the time. This was why they didn’t dare to speak rashly, fearing that their attempts to flatter might backfire.
Of course, they still had to say something. In the end, Ling Xiu said cautiously, “Brother Lin, do you want to challenge the leaderboard again? If you are better prepared, you will definitely win first place.”
“Ugh! It’s fine. It’s “acceptable” for second place. We shouldn’t waste any more time.” Lin Xinghai replied.
Ling Xiu was speechless at his response.
Did you hear what he said? What does “acceptable” mean? That’s the second place. It’s an impossible challenge for many others, okay?
Of course, he could only listen and agree to whatever Lin Xinghai said, “That’s right. With your ability, you can easily claim first place at any time.”
The rest of the group also chimed in, flattering Lin Xinghai.
After a series of flattery, Zhuang Qiao added, “Mr. Lin, since you don’t plan to continue the challenge, I will upload your final ranking. Starting from next week, 900 points will be deposited into your card weekly.”
Lin Xinghai nodded. These points were essentially a benefit for the sharpshooters. The first place received 1000 points, second place 900 points, third place 800 points, and so on.
Next, a group of people followed Zhuang Qiao back. Lin Xinghai had to record some information and attend to similar matters.
On the way back, Ling Xiu, walking alongside, opened his mouth several times to speak. However, he always ended up closing his mouth again, appearing hesitant.
“Speak your mind.” Lin Xinghai could even empathize with the evident discomfort in Ling Xiu’s shoe.
Seeing Lin Xinghai inquire, Ling Xiu took a deep breath and said directly, “Well… actually, a few of us want to form our own mercenary group, but we lack a solid leader. Would you be interested in joining us?”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xinghai was first taken aback, and then he gave a light reply, “Sorry, I’ve already joined a mercenary group.”
Suddenly, it was Ling Xiu’s turn to show a look of surprise on his face. He really wanted to say: If you’re already in a mercenary group, then why join our hunting squad? Are you toying with us?
However, he only complained in his mind. On his face, he still managed to squeeze out a smile, albeit a slightly unnatural one.
Lin Xinghai could also guess what the other party was thinking, so he also explained, “The mercenary group I’m in has met the promotion requirements and is applying to become a level 2 mercenary group. There will be no missions for these coming days, so I have to venture out on my own temporarily.”
Ling Xiu was relieved after hearing this.
Although they couldn’t invite Lin Xinghai to join, doing a mission together to form a good relationship wasn’t a bad idea.
Soon, the group followed Zhuang Qiao back to the staff counter. Lin Xinghai took out the ID card and registered his info. The procedure was considered done just like that.
Immediately afterward, everyone went to the lobby on the first floor of the Mercenary Guild.
The Mercenary Guild had a fairly well-established system, and even temporary members like Lin Xinghai who joined a hunting squad needed to be registered.
If something went wrong in this mission, the Mercenary Guild would conduct an in-depth investigation. In a sense, it served as a form of protection for both parties.
Arriving at the lobby on the first floor, Ling Xiu couldn’t help but feel relieved after watching Lin Xinghai register and become a temporary member of their squad.
He was also worried that this esteemed figure might suddenly decide not to join them.
“Brother Lin, shall we pick a mission now?” Ling Xiu asked.
Although he was the leader of this hunting squad, he had to fully respect Lin Xinghai’s opinions given that they were in the post-apocalypse world that respected strength the most.
After hearing about taking a mission, Lin Xinghai frowned slightly and said, “I don’t want to do any mission, to be honest! I just want to leave the shelter and hunt zombies. The reason I joined the hunting squad is because you have a multifunctional off-road vehicle, which can be used to escape quickly in case we encounter mutant zombies.”
Ling Xiu was surprised. He did not expect Lin Xinghai to be quite upfront.
However, he preferred things to be straightforward, without having to guess.
“Your goal to hunt zombies does not conflict with us taking a mission. We can take on the mission of eliminating zombies.” Ling Xiu affirmed.
Lin Xinghai didn’t know much about the missions. After all, he had only recently become a mercenary.
However, after being notified that there were missions dedicated to eliminating zombies only, he certainly wouldn’t object. It would be foolish to reject the perk to earn points while hunting zombies!
“If it’s a mission to eliminate zombies, I have no problem with it. However, don’t pick a mission that requires us to go to the city. I don’t want to encounter a mutant zombie.”
Ling Xiu nodded repeatedly. He approached the self-service computer nearby and started searching for a suitable mission.
In fact, he already had an idea in his mind about what mission the squad would undertake, so his searches had a definite goal, which allowed him to find one in a matter of seconds.
“Brother Lin, this mission requires us to visit Qingtang Town to eliminate zombies. It is a small town 50 kilometers away from our shelter. We have gone to Qingtang Town several times to perform missions, but we have never encountered mutant zombies, nor have we heard of mutant zombies roaming this place. What do you think?” Ling Xiu asked.
Lin Xinghai stepped forward to take a closer look at the screen and found out that this was a long-standing mission. Previously, 67 hunter squads and 5 mercenary groups had already taken on this mission.
It seemed the zombie elimination mission would only end when the zombies in the target area were cleared out.
As for the mission rewards, they were listed clearly.
Killing a common zombie earned 1 point, an intermediate zombie 2 points, and an advanced zombie 4 points.
In addition, the entire mission had to be recorded to prove how many zombies were eliminated.
“Sure, let’s go with this mission!”