Delta: Mandel Bricks drop right at the start!

At 2 p.m. the next day, Lin Rui sat back down in front of his computer on time.

Awei's news started flooding the screen at 7 a.m., with forum screenshots and links to popular posts everywhere.

The slow-motion video of the backward shooting has been shared thousands of times in the past twelve hours and can be seen on the homepages of major gaming communities.

Someone even created a breakdown tutorial, marking the backward tilt angle, shooting compensation direction, and center of gravity transfer path, hoping to help ordinary players replicate this maneuver.

The comments section was filled with the same response: "He strained his back."

Lin Rui didn't spend much time on these things. He put on his helmet and logged into the game.

Dam Zero, Single Player Mode.

The map information displayed during the matchmaking pop-up showed that the online player density for this game was "extremely high".

Ah Wei is right. Xiao Shabu's 1v4 performance and last night's backflip video attracted a lot of high-level players and streamers to Zero Dam, all wanting to encounter him on this map.

Lin Rui chose the cooling tower complex at the north end of the dam as his landing point. The terrain in this area was complex, with layers of pipes and metal frames that fragmented the view, making it suitable for an ambush.

After landing, the X-ray scanning was deployed.

There is no one within 300 meters. The nearest player silhouette is 420 meters to the southeast, moving towards the cooling tower.

Lin Rui didn't rush to move. He first searched the supply crates in the area under his feet. The two ordinary crates didn't yield much, but the third crate, hidden in the pipe compartment, popped out a blue-quality muzzle brake, compatible with the SCAR-H, which he immediately installed.

Ah Wei's voice came through the communication channel.

"Rui, I'm keeping an eye on the forums for you. The news that you've entered the map has already spread. Someone is shouting in the thread, 'He's online, see you at Dam Zero.'"

"understood."

"There's one more thing. The Iron Wall No. 37 you killed last night is actually ranked 62nd. This morning, he posted a long thread on the forum analyzing your play, ending with the line: 'I'd like to play against him again sometime, and this time I won't make the same mistakes.'"

"Let him be."

In perspective, the moving silhouette in the southeast direction appears to be 280 meters away.

The opponent's equipment was very brightly lit. Judging from the armor and weapon outline, it was at least level 5 armor or higher. The weapon in their hand was close in length and thickness to a large-caliber sniper rifle.

Lin Rui adjusted his position and observed the person's route through the gaps in the pipe.

The opponent moved very cautiously, crouching down and pausing for two or three seconds every ten steps or so, scanning ahead with a sniper scope to confirm it was safe before continuing.

Two hundred meters.

Lin Rui glanced at the ID badge above the other person's head.

His name has only two characters: Old K.

He retrieved the ranking memories from his mind.

Old K ranked 41st on the overall leaderboard of Dam Zero and 87th on the overall server ranking.

Eighty-seven.

The system's condition for stealing entries is to kill the top 100 players or professional players.

This person meets the requirements.

Lin Rui's heartbeat stabilized, and he began to adjust his tactical deployment.

He originally intended to let lone wolf players pass through to avoid unnecessary losses, but now the target has changed.

He exited the pipe mezzanine and climbed eight meters up the maintenance ladder on the outer wall of the cooling tower to reach a semi-open operating platform.

This location offers a panoramic view of the entire open space to the east of the cooling tower, and Old K's route happens to pass right at the edge of that open space.

150 meters.

Old K stopped.

He crouched behind a wrecked truck, propped his sniper rifle on the hood, and scanned the cooling tower with his lens.

Lin Rui pulled back the half of his shoulder that was exposed at the edge of the platform.

The stalemate lasted for ten seconds.

Old K put away his gun, stood up, and changed his route. Instead of continuing towards the cooling tower, he went north to circle around it, intending to approach from the side.

Lin Rui was assessing the direction of the other party's new route.

If Old K goes around to the north, he will pass through a narrow passage between the cooling tower and the abandoned water pump room.

The road was lined with solid cement walls on both sides, less than four meters wide and about thirty meters long.

It is the ideal engagement distance.

Lin Rui slid down from the platform, quickly walked through the intricate pipes inside the cooling tower, and arrived at the northern exit of the narrow passage ahead of time.

He crouched down against the corner of the wall, the muzzle of his SCAR-H pointing deep into the narrow passage.

According to the perspective feedback, Old K has entered the southern end of the narrow passage.

Footsteps came from between the concrete walls, the echoes colliding between them, making each step exceptionally distinct.

Seventy meters.

Fifty meters.

Old K stopped in the middle of the narrow path.

Lin Rui saw through the X-ray vision that the other party had changed weapons, hiding the sniper rifle behind his back and taking out a secondary weapon, an MP7 submachine gun.

Thirty meters.

Lin Rui stood up.

His figure appeared in the light at the northern exit of the narrow passage; the SCAR-H had been raised to its firing position.

Old K's reaction was no less than that of Iron Wall Thirty-Seven.

He raised the MP7 in his hand, the barrel pointing at Lin Rui, his index finger already on the trigger.

The two guns fired in the same breath.

The MP7's rate of fire was much higher than that of the SCAR-H, and its dense barrage of small-caliber bullets sent sparks flying from Lin Rui's level VI armor breastplate.

The 4.6mm bullet has limited penetration power against Level 6 ballistic plates, and its main function is to wear down their durability.

The 4.6mm bullet has limited penetration power against Level 6 ballistic plates, and its main function is to wear down their durability.

Lin Rui's SCAR-H fired two bullets. The first bullet hit Old K's shoulder guard, causing the opponent's body to veer slightly.

The second shot followed the deflection and hit the side edge of the armor.

As Old K was shot, he leaned against the wall to the left, using the wall to cover the right half of his body, leaving only his left shoulder and the muzzle of the gun exposed.

The MP7's firepower swept in from a new angle.

Lin Rui's armor took several more hits, and its durability dropped below 40%.

He can't compete with submachine guns in terms of rate of fire at that distance.

SCAR-H switches to single-shot mode.

Lin Rui took two steps back, widening the distance to thirty-five meters.

At this distance, the bullet dispersion of the submachine gun begins to widen, while the single-shot accuracy of the SCAR-H becomes superior.

Instead of retreating, Old K accelerated and charged forward.

The MP7 fires automatically, spraying bullets everywhere.

Old K's body kept changing direction as he ran, with a huge range of lateral movement, his body almost touching the two walls as he spun back and forth.

Lin Rui's crosshair was forced to sway back and forth.

The opponent's lateral movement frequency was too high; every time the crosshair was about to lock onto the target, Old K had already changed direction.

Twenty meters.

Lin Rui changed his strategy.

He stopped pursuing it.

The SCAR-H's muzzle was positioned in the middle of the narrow passage, waiting patiently.

Old K rushed to 15 meters, and his next move was to cut from the right to the left.

His left foot landed thirty centimeters to the left of the narrow passage's central axis, precisely where Lin Rui's gun was pointed.

One shot.

The 7.62mm bullet struck Old K's abdomen as his left foot landed. The bulletproof plate had already been damaged in the previous firefight, and this bullet penetrated the plate directly.

Old K's charge was interrupted.

His body bent forward due to being shot in the abdomen, causing his running speed to drop sharply.

But his MP7 was still spitting fire, and he even raised the muzzle while bent over, attempting to attack Lin Rui's head.

Lin Rui stepped aside, and the bullet whizzed past his ear.

The SCAR-H fired a second shot, this time hitting the center of Old K's already shattered bulletproof plate.

Old K's health was almost gone, but he was still struggling to raise his gun, his finger tightly gripping the trigger.

The third shot.

ended.

Old K's body fell in the narrow passage, and the MP7 slipped from his hand, sparking as it hit the concrete ground.

[Killing ranked player "Old K" (ranked 87th overall) grants 500 experience points.]

A gold notification popped up on the system panel in the retina.

[Affix plunder triggered! Target detected with the plunderable affix: "Rapid Neural Reaction" (Purple Quality). Consume plunder points to extract it?]

Purple quality.

Lin Rui's finger hovered in the air for a second.

The "Ultimate Recoil Control" skill of the previously abandoned Turret Master is of blue quality, and the useless "Steel Armor Mastery" skill stored in the warehouse is also blue.

The rarity and actual effect of purple-quality attributes are significantly higher than those of blue attributes.

The name of the term, "Rapid Neural Response," says it all.

He clicked "confirm".

[Entry successfully acquired! "Rapid Neural Response" (Purple Quality). Effect: Increases nerve signal transmission speed by 40%, reduces muscle response delay to less than 0.08 seconds. This entry will automatically fuse with the host's body after withdrawal.]

Lin Rui turned off the control panel and squatted down to rummage through Old K's backpack.

A fully modified SV-98 sniper rifle, equipped with an 8x scope and a suppressor, with a gold ammunition pouch hanging on the gun.

Three first aid kits, four painkiller injections, and a complete set of spare protective plates for a level 6 armor plate.

Load all of them.

The backpack's capacity accounts for 85%.

Awei's message flashed in the communication window.

"Brother Rui, did you just kill Old K? The Old K who's ranked 87th on the overall leaderboard?"

"Um."

There was a three-second silence on Awei's end, followed by his raised voice coming through the communicator: "Eighty-seventh on the overall leaderboard, Rui-ge! That's a top player on Dam Zero! His solo win rate is 63%, and you just killed him head-on in that narrow passage?"

He charged over there himself.

"I saw it. He was recording the whole thing. Rui, just you wait, the forum is going to explode again today."

Lin Rui ignored the message. He took two steps toward the evacuation point, then stopped.

A new target has appeared within the field of view.

Not one, but three.

Three silhouettes moved in simultaneously from the west side of the cooling tower, forming a tight formation and advancing at a uniform speed.

Their equipment varied in brightness; the leader wore level six armor, while the two behind him wore level five.

Another group came looking for him.

Lin Rui weighed the ammunition: the SCAR-H had two full magazines left, the pistol had three magazines, and the armor's durability was less than 40%.

enough.

He didn't back down, but turned and faced the three figures.

Twenty minutes later, three new elimination boxes were displayed on the system bulletin board.

Lin Rui stood beside the three corpses. His armor durability was down to 12 percent, his SCAR-H magazine was empty, and his pistol had only four bullets left.

But he had turned the three backpacks on the ground upside down.

He stuffed all his valuables, including two modified weapons, a full set of level 5 armor spare parts, and a red-quality tactical helmet charm, into his bag.

[Escape successful. Total loot taken: 6.3 million. Kills: 4.]

Lin Rui took off his helmet.

As soon as my hand left the helmet shell, a tingling sensation came from my fingertips, and a faint electric current traveled up my nerve endings to my brain.

The purple entries are merging.

He clenched his fist, then relaxed it, then clenched it again.

Each time he closed his fingers, the speed was several degrees faster than the last, so fast that he could even perceive the difference himself.

Lin Rui stood up, walked to the table, picked up a pen, and let it fall freely.

The pen had barely left his fingertips by less than ten centimeters when his other hand caught it from the side.

It wasn't a deliberate attempt to catch it; the hand moved before the brain even issued the command.

It takes an average person 0.2 seconds from seeing to reacting.

And he only needs 0.08 seconds now.

Lin Rui put the pen back on the table and walked to the window.

On the street downstairs, a food delivery scooter sped past at 30 miles per hour.

His eyes followed the car.

Every screw on the car body, every tiny crack on the rearview mirror, every scratch on the side of the delivery box—all these details were clearly visible to him, their outlines sharp and distinct.

Previous dynamic vision enhancement enabled him to see objects moving at high speeds.

Now, the accelerated nerve activity associated with the purple entry allows his body to react the moment he sees it clearly.

Two abilities, perfectly combined.

Lin Rui stretched his wrists and neck, and his phone vibrated.

Ah Wei: "Rui-ge, Old K's death video is up on the forum. He's more generous than Iron Wall Thirty-Seven; he posted the entire battle without any cuts. The post title is 'Narrow passage gunfight, I lost to the faster one.' The top-rated comment is from Fish Boss, who said: 'Pay attention to 0:47, the moment Lin Rui gave up the chase. It wasn't that he couldn't catch up; he was waiting. That kind of patience is more terrifying than any marksmanship.'"

Lin Rui threw his phone onto the bed.

There's one more thing to do tomorrow.

Thursday, house hunting.

Follow the pen of Want Want Ice Cream and embark on an adventure in Delta: Starting with a Mandel Brick!