Xu Haishui was stunned to hear he had 13 minor issues.
He admitted his Gun Technique wasnât great, but he could accurately hit a moving target at 25 meters. That should at least count as proficient.
âThirteen issues? I probably couldnât find that many flaws even if I were teaching a complete rookie!â
Lin Xinghai paid no mind to what Xu Haishui was thinking and immediately began his critique. "Your first minor issue is that regardless of which direction the moving target appears from, you always sweep your crosshairs from left to right to acquire it."
"This is the first thing you need to fix. Aiming requires prediction. You have to anticipate the targetâs direction of movement and then snap your crosshairs directly onto its path in a single motion."
"This is the most basic form of predictive practice. If you canât master this, you can forget about ever hitting a High Level Zombie."
"Your second problem is..."
Lin Xinghai continued, his words flowing without pause as he pointed out Xu Haishuiâs flaws one by one. He meticulously detailed every issue, from aiming and firing to posture and body movements.
Although these were all minor issues, when taken together, they formed the biggest obstacle preventing his Gun Technique from improving.
Even though Lin Xinghai was speaking to Xu Haishui, the other mercenaries had similar minor flaws and habits. After listening to Lin Xinghaiâs analysis, many of them had a feeling of sudden enlightenment.
After finishing with Xu Haishui, Lin Xinghai coached Wu Yan, and finally, Roger.
It was worth noting that for a member with top-tier Gun Technique like Roger, the content of Lin Xinghaiâs guidance changed. He moved from basic marksmanship issues to predictive aimingâa topic only experts would typically encounter.
After instructing those three, Lin Xinghai immediately brought up another three, continuing to point out each personâs deficiencies.
Half an hour later, Lin Xinghai had finally given everyone a round of pointers.
Next came practice. With 30 people needing to train, one shooting range was definitely not enough.
They would need at least five High Level shooting ranges. Six people to a range was the bare minimum.
Each range provided three Firearms. Under these conditions, the six people could be split into two groups of three and rotate continuously.
The group that rotated out could rest, ensuring that no time in the training facility was wasted. Two days of this should be enough.
When Lin Xinghai shared this idea with Shen Han, he noticed her expression turn a little sour.
Just as he was wondering what was wrong, Shen Han called him and the other Squad Leaders outside.
"Right now, our Mercenary Corps account has less than 20,000 Points remaining. Those need to be reserved for purchasing ammunition, so we donât have enough Points," Shen Han said bluntly.
In truth, when she had heard Lin Xinghai talk about training earlier, she hadnât thought much of it. She assumed he would just open a Basic Level or Intermediate shooting range. She never expected him to require High Level ones.
Not only that, but he wanted to open five of them at once. And with groups rotating, they would be running 24 hours a day.
A High Level shooting range costs 100 Points per hour. With five ranges, thatâs 500 Points an hour. A full day would come to 12,000 Points.
By that calculation, the Mercenary Corpsâ savings werenât even enough for everyone to practice for two days.
Roger and the others thought about it for a moment and realized the cost was truly terrifying. Two days would cost 24,000 Points. For any Second Level Mercenary Corps, that was by no means a small sum, especially since the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps was particularly short on funds right now.
Yet, they had just organized everyone for training. If they couldnât even afford the training grounds, they would be in an awkward position.
"Should we pool our personal funds?" Xu Haishui suggested.
"No need. Iâll cover it," Lin Xinghai offered.
24,000 Points was truly nothing to him now. If he needed to, he could take the Mountain and Sea Mercenary Corps out to hunt Zombies for a day and earn that much back.
"On behalf of the Mercenary Corps, thank you. However, an expense like this wonât be covered by an individual. Weâll consider this a loan to the Mercenary Corps. We will repay you within a week, plus 10% interest as compensation," Shen Han said, looking at Lin Xinghai seriously.
Lin Xinghai nodded. He understood this was the best way to handle it. A Mercenary Corps needed to have its own rules.
He transferred the 24,000 Points to Shen Hanâs account, and she immediately went and rented five High Level shooting ranges.
A transaction this large even brought out a supervisor from the Mercenary Guild. After enthusiastically confirming the details, he went a step further and specially assigned a staff member to handle all of the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corpsâs needs.
Soon, everyone was assigned to their respective ranges and began training.
Lin Xinghai moved between the training ranges, correcting and instructing them over and over again.
It was worth noting that the person with the best Gun Technique in the entire Mercenary Corps wasnât Roger, but the Vice-Commander, Shen Han.
It was just that on missions, she was mainly responsible for piloting a Mecha, so most people had no idea what her actual Gun Technique was like.
But on the training range, once she displayed her skills, Lin Xinghai judged that if Shen Han were to challenge the marksmanship leaderboards, she could probably break into the top 80.
To an ordinary person, that was definitely the level of a marksmanship master. But in Lin Xinghaiâs eyes, there wasnât much difference between her and any other mercenary.
With the knowledge instilled in his mind by the system, Lin Xinghaiâs understanding of Gun Technique was utterly overwhelming compared to everyone else.
Even when instructing Shen Han, he could identify the core of the problem with pinpoint accuracy.
As for the other Mercenaries, it went without saying. Everyone could feel their Gun Technique improving, bit by bit.
The feeling was incredible, the kind of progress many people could only dream of. No supervision was needed; everyone trained with complete focus. Even the members resting on the side were full of energy, watching their comrades train and discussing how to improve.
They trained like this for a full three hours. Lin Xinghai glanced at the time on his wrist-mounted computer. It was already 7 PM, but no one had even stopped for dinner.
He looked at the group, whose enthusiasm was so high they showed no sign of wanting to eat, and felt a sense of helplessness.
Today was supposed to be the day Liu Miaomiao and the others moved into their new dorm. He had wanted to go help, but now he would have to bail on them.
Sometime after 8 oâclock, Fang Tianhe arrived, and with him was Liu Miaomiao.
"See? I told you Ah Hai was fine. Now that youâve seen him, you can relax!" Fang Tianhe said with a laugh.
Hearing Fang Tianheâs words, Liu Miaomiaoâs worried expression instantly turned into a bashful blush. She lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at Lin Xinghai.
"You two chat. I wonât be a third wheel. Iâm going to go check on their training progress." Fang Tianhe laughed and headed toward another shooting range.
"Um... if youâre busy, I wonât disturb you. Iâll head back now." Before Lin Xinghai could even speak, Liu Miaomiao quickly said, her face flushing as she turned to leave.
But just as she turned, Lin Xinghai grabbed her arm.
"Hey... I havenât eaten yet. You canât just abandon me, can you?" Lin Xinghai immediately feigned a pitiful expression.
"Ah! Youâve been that busy?" Liu Miaomiao asked, surprised.
"Yeah! Iâm already a Squad Leader. In a few days, Iâll probably be promoted to Vice-Commander. Iâll likely be even busier then."
"Sigh... After you guys move out, I donât even know how Iâll manage to take care of myself."
At this, Lin Xinghai finally revealed his true intentions. "So... why donât you move to the Middle Level District sooner and come live with me?"