While shooting at the targets, neither spoke, focusing entirely on the line connecting the pistol’s muzzle to the target paper, firing their shots slowly and precisely.
The atmosphere of this match was far from the lively, cheerful vibe of shooting balloons at a night market. Their serious, focused gazes seed to freeze the air, and the sound of gunfire felt delayed as a result.
*BANG!*
Yuu didn’t know how Haruno was feeling right now.
To test the limits of his ability, he cleared his mind of distractions, concentrating fully to unleash his expert-level shooting skills.
Without holding back in the slightest, each shot was executed with the most perfect movents, stance, and accuracy.
His vision seed to sharpen several tis over; even the bullseye, ten ters away and as small as a sesa seed, was crystal clear. His extended arm didn’t tremble at all, his senses keenly gauged bullet drop and recoil, and everything seamlessly integrated into the finger pulling the trigger.
The mont he raised the pistol, the equation for hitting the target was already in his grasp.
Once the bullet was fired, none would miss. Yes, expert-level skills were that cool!
Aligning the fifth target, which hit ten rings, with the previous four, the bullet holes were so precise that the table beneath was visible.
Yuu set up a new target, unable to stop himself from muttering inwardly.
(If this were perfect-level, maybe I could pull off ricochet shots, gun-fu, invisible shots, or even curve bullets?)
Proficient level could hit, expert level could shoot accurately, and perfect level ant shooting however you pleased?
At this mont, Yuu truly felt like he was cheating.
One-ti skills? Not great. Permanent skills? Aweso!
Soon, the sixth target reached its position, and the pistol’s muzzle locked on.
Before firing, he considered shooting a nine or eight ring to lower his average score, avoiding shocking anyone too much.
If he hit ten rings every ti, not only Haruno but even the mildly handso young coach nearby would look at him like he was a monster.
If the reputation of a [17-Year-Old Pistol God] spread, he feared it would attract all sorts of trouble.
So...
*BANG!*
Right in the center, ten rings, the bullet’s landing spot nearly identical to the last.
Yuu calmly removed the sixth target, replacing it with a new one, with no intention of holding back.
Sa old saying: The world is full of talented and weird people—trouble wouldn’t co for him no matter how much there was.
What’s the point of hiding his skills? Would being discovered as an all-powerful superhuman really lead to him being sliced up and studied by so organization?
Reality was simple. Even if you had a parasite in your body, as long as you didn’t accidentally stand out while throwing stones at another parasite, didn’t cause a huge ss, or get noticed by governnt agencies, being slightly different from ordinary people wouldn’t draw much attention. No one had ti to care that much.
Moreover, the "mine" he was digging now was nad [Yukinoshita Haruno].
A beautiful and charming young university student, an all-capable woman with a bad personality, a well-educated noble daughter, and a distorted siscon... That last part wasn’t important.
Facing such a difficult figure, hiding his skills was clearly the dumbest choice.
Wielding a paper pickaxe, no matter how good it looked, you couldn’t mine a diamond vein—or even an ordinary iron one.
So, Yuu wouldn’t hold back.
Just this once, he wanted to leave a deep impression on Haruno’s heart, so he’d no longer be a simple toy she could discard when bored.
Otherwise, why would the system give him these skills?
Obviously, to gain unique abilities, change her perception of him, and make future "mining" easier!
Soon, ten shots were complete.
Both set down their air pistols almost simultaneously and retrieved their final target papers.
"Huu..."
To teach Yuu the consequences of boasting, Haruno focused entirely on shooting from start to finish, not observing the shots next to her. She only knew the guy wasn’t a beginner.
But after tallying the total score from the ten target papers in her hand, whether he was a beginner or not no longer mattered.
Perhaps because she rarely competed with such seriousness, her condition today was exceptional, even breaking her old record.
Ten targets, a total of eighty-nine rings!
Three eight-ring shots, five nine-ring shots, and two ten-ring shots!
Even her coach couldn’t perform this consistently.
If she maintained this level, she could compete in professional shooting events.
Of course, Haruno had no interest in becoming a professional athlete.
She could quickly master anything she learned or played, even without studying seriously, easily achieving results others worked hard for.
That’s why she was called the "genius of the Yukinoshita family."
And so, her foolish, sweet little sister could never catch up to her.
"Well, this is a sure win."
With a smile on her lips, holding the stack of target papers, Haruno walked toward Yuu.
No matter how much Yuu boasted earlier, she didn’t think she’d lose to an ordinary high school boy—a kid just keeping her company for entertainnt.
Her long history of victories was the source of Haruno’s confidence.
"Yuu-chan, let’s compare scores~" Standing calmly in front of Yuu, Haruno smiled, squinting her eyes.
"If your score’s too low, Onee-san will—"
Before she could finish, Yuu flashed a wry, class-president-like smile, sighing softly while looking at the target papers in his hand:
"What’s that? My shooting’s pretty accurate too."
"???"
Haruno gave him a strange look, then shifted her gaze to the target papers in his hand.
Her pupils suddenly contracted, and she instinctively snatched the stack, examining them in disbelief.
"This..."
If her eyes weren’t failing her...
All ten target papers had bullet holes only in the very center, with errors not exceeding one centiter?!
It was as if all the targets were stacked and pierced at once with a drill—so precise.
Honestly, no one could do this in a 10-ter air pistol match, right??
Even an Olympic champion couldn’t!
Haruno took a quiet breath, calming her shock and doubt.
She held a target paper up, looking through the ten-ring hole, her tone unusually serious.
"...You shot all these? With that air pistol?"
Yuu shrugged, his tone slightly smug.
"No doubt about it. If you don’t believe , check the CCTV or whatever you want."
Enjoying Haruno’s gaze, as if she were looking at Baki Hanma, Yuu rotated his slightly stiff arm after setting down the pistol, the skill’s effect fading, and said as if relieved:
"By the way, good thing you don’t hate , Haruno Onee-san."
The corner of his mouth curled uncontrollably.
With a mocking tone, he emphasized the last two words, throwing her earlier statent back at her.
The aning was clear—Please explain, who’s the one boasting now?
Indeed, Yuu wanted to see her lose that carefree attitude and reflect on her arrogance.
"..."
As expected, the university student before him fell silent.
Through the ten-ring hole, Haruno, with one clear black-and-white eye, stared at him seriously and probingly for a long ti, as if [peering through a keyhole at a cloaked, mysterious guest outside the door].
Suddenly, she asked: "Are you a professional shooter?"
"Nope, just an ordinary high schooler passing by."
Haruno ignored his joke: "Or did you really train in Hawaii?"
"If I had that kind of money, why would I be a rent-a-boyfriend?" Yuu rolled his eyes.
"Then..."
Please explain how you got such a freakish score?
Before she could ask, Haruno closed her mouth, wrinkled her nose, thought for a mont, then sighed as if giving up.
"...Fine, I admit I underestimated you earlier."
She handed the ten-ring target papers back to Yuu, as if graciously accepting the result, and said with a sincere smile:
"Though I don’t know why you’re not in the Olympics with skills like that, in this match, I definitely lost."
"Congratulations on your overwhelming victory in the first ’trial,’ Yuu-chan!"
"...Uh, thanks."
Staring at her in surprise, Yuu nodded, but sothing felt off about her emotions.
Before he could observe closer, Haruno flicked her ponytail, tossed her eighty-nine-ring target papers into the nearby trash, and stretched vigorously as she walked out, letting out a lazy, "sexy" (harmonious) groan.
"Nggghh—You’re really unexpected. You look like a goody-two-shoes with no standout traits, but your shooting skills are insane."
"Is being a good guy a cri?"
Muttering a silent complaint, Yuu was about to follow her, but a system notification suddenly stopped him. His eyes darted left to right, his expression gradually turning strange.
Unaware of the movent behind her, Haruno kept walking casually, her usual smile beaming, as if the loss hadn’t bothered her at all.
But in her dark, slightly narrowed pupils, the carefree expression was gone.
Her cold, hardened gaze stared straight ahead, devoid of any smile.
Looking at the counter of another sports area in the distance, she said cheerfully, deciding on her own:
"Alright, next, we’ll compete in that!"
No matter her mature deanor, no matter if she had hidden cards, even the "Twelve Trials" she’d jokingly proposed and never took seriously were forgotten.
Haruno wasn’t an honest person who could restrain herself after being humiliated.
Yes, she was too confident and brought the embarrassnt on herself. Haruno admitted her mistake and genuinely admired Yuu’s monstrous shooting skills.
But that didn’t an she had no intention of getting even. She still had plenty of chances to make this "rent-a-boyfriend" submit.
(No way he’s super-skilled in every field... that superhuman shooting, right?)
"Well, just to be safe, I’d better prepare two things..."
To avoid losing again to a guy her sister’s age, Haruno sank into thought, calculating the equation for victory.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, host has received a reward: 20,000 yen.]
[Congratulations, host has received a reward: RAP (Proficient Level) one-ti use.]
[Congratulations, host has received a reward: Billiards (Expert Level).]
[Congratulations, host has received a reward: Minor enhancent to physical fitness (recovery speed).]
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