Delta: Mandel Bricks drop right at the start!

When Lin Rui accepted the friend request, the game forum was already in an uproar.

He was unaware that the "Black Gold Lord" was no ordinary, unskilled warrior.

That person is a regular in the top 20 of the Zero Dam server's kill leaderboard, and also a mid-sized streamer with 400,000 followers, recording his entire game.

This means that the scene where Lin Rui used the M870 to instantly kill a level 6 armored target at close range was recorded from a first-person perspective. Moreover, it was from the perspective of the person who was killed.

The video was quickly extracted by fans from "Black Gold Lord's" live stream replay, edited into a 12-second short film, and accompanied by a highly provocative title: "Level 6 Armored Streamer Shot Down by Wild Man's M870, All You Can See Is a Dark Gun Muzzle."

The video garnered over five million views that very night.

Lin Rui didn't see it until the next morning.

As usual, he opened the forum, and three of the five most popular posts on the homepage were related to him.

First item: "[Video] The full recording of the M870 one-shotting a level 6 armor-wearing enemy is here! 'Black Gold Lord' first-person death replay!"

The post included that twelve-second video.

The video begins from the perspective of the "Black Gold Lord" crouching down and looting his spoils, with his hands rummaging through a box below.

Immediately afterwards, a blurry human figure flashed across the upper right corner of the screen, and before the camera could turn around, a burst of fire filled the entire field of vision.

The death settlement screen popped up: "You were killed by 'Lin Rui' using an M870."

The comment section below has already accumulated over six thousand posts.

"How did this person get so close? Isn't the 'Black Gold Lord' headset equipped with Dolby Atmos? How could he not hear footsteps from six meters away?"

"The replay analysis shows that 'Lin Rui' took off his combat boots as he approached, walking barefoot on the metal floor. The sound of his bare feet on the iron grille was masked by ambient noise (exhaust fan and distant gunfire). Who taught him this tactical detail?"

"The key is timing. The 'Black Gold Lord's' mask automatically activates this mechanism when you search your bag, which 90% of players don't know. This person not only knew, but also waited specifically for this window of opportunity before making their move."

"To put it bluntly, it's purely a hunter's mentality. Don't rush to shoot; wait until the prey exposes its softest spot before making your move."

The second trending post has an even more direct title: "[Statistics] Summary of ID 'Lin Rui''s data from three games: 16 kills, 0 deaths, 100% success rate in evacuation, and total loot value exceeding 2000 million HAF coins. What kind of monster is this?"

Someone in the post created a detailed statistical table, listing every kill record, weapon model used, and body part hit by Lin Rui in all three rounds.

The conclusion section below the table contains a paragraph that is bolded and highlighted in red:

"Based on the data analysis of the three games: This player's understanding of armor weaknesses far surpasses that of the average player. Every kill precisely hit the weakest point in the target's equipment. This level of weakness awareness cannot be achieved through experience alone. Either he has studied the game's underlying data model, or he has some means of identifying equipment weaknesses in real time."

When Lin Rui read this line, his fingers unconsciously slowed down as he scrolled through the screen.

The analysts on the forum who delve deep into the data are almost at the core of his abilities.

The third trending post was a poll: "Do you think 'Lin Rui' is a cheat code or a genius?"

Current voting results show: cheating accounts 43%, genius accounts 38%, and retired professional players' smurf accounts 19%.

The comments section was filled with conflicting opinions and endless arguments.

"How can anyone still believe it's cheating? Is the StarShield anti-cheat system just for show? They passed all three games without a single red light appearing on the detection screen."

"StarShield isn't a magic bullet. How do you know it's not a new auxiliary program that hasn't been included yet?"

"The new cheat allows for actions like approaching barefoot and using a bag to open a window with a mask? The cheat provides aiming and wallhacks, not tactical decisions. This person's tactical awareness has reached the level of a professional player."

"So I was targeting a 'retired professional player's smurf account.' Think about it, it registered two months ago, its performance was mediocre before, and suddenly it suddenly became incredibly skilled? This perfectly fits the pattern of 'a pro creating a smurf account to test the waters.'"

"But after checking the public information of all retired professional players in China, there is no one named Lin Rui, and no one's playing style matches his."

"What about the international servers? Should we check the retirement lists for South Korea and North America?"

"You guys are really good at brainstorming. Why can't it just be an ordinary person who suddenly has a breakthrough?"

"An ordinary person wouldn't become this enlightened."

Lin Rui closed the forum and leaned back in his chair.

The data analyst in the post pointed out the most dangerous aspect: his precise hits on armor weak points are beyond the capabilities of a normal player. This observation is too close to the essence of "wallhack scanning." If he continues to hit weak points with every shot, it's only a matter of time before the truth is revealed.

The strategy must be adjusted.

In future battles, deliberately aim some bullets at non-weak points to create data noise that makes "normal players seem lucky."

Hit rate can be kept at a high level, but weakness hit rate should be artificially reduced so that statistical outliers are not so noticeable.

My phone vibrated, and a message notification popped up in the game. It was from "Awei the Lazybones" after I accepted his friend request.

"Rui-ge! You passed! You really passed! I'm ready to log on anytime! When are you going to play the next game?"

Three messages in a row, each marked with several exclamation marks.

Lin Rui did not reply immediately.

He opened "Awei the Lazybones'" profile page: Level 9, 22% success rate in evacuating from Dam Zero, 31 total kills, most frequently used weapons are the P226 pistol and the UMP45 submachine gun. He'd been playing for over half a year, and his level was still lower than Awei's.

Frankly speaking, this record is only in the lower middle range among brick-moving players, not much better than Lin Rui's record before he got the system.

Until he saw a line in the notes section of the profile page: "Former FPS professional youth training player (never made his debut), reason for retirement: right wrist injury. Skilled in support roles, information gathering, and tactical planning."

Professional youth training team?

Lin Rui read the line of text twice.

Even if the players in the youth training team haven't officially debuted, they have received systematic training, and their tactical awareness and information processing ability are a level higher than those of ordinary players.

Retiring due to a right wrist injury means his marksmanship is ruined, but his mind is still sharp.

He replied with a message: "Tomorrow morning at 10 AM, Dam Zero. Do you have enough equipment?"

The reply popped up within three seconds: "Enough, enough, enough! Although they're all junk, they're enough! I'll go fix what can be fixed and buy what can be bought!"

"Stop messing around." Lin Rui typed another message and sent it, "You won't need all that junk tomorrow."

There was a five-second silence on the other end.

"What do you mean?"

Lin Rui didn't explain and exited the chat window. He put down his phone and picked up the virtual reality headset again.

The controversy on the forum did not subside; instead, it escalated.

An account verified as one of the "Top 100 Streamers" left a comment under that poll post, which was then pushed to the top of the most popular comments:

"I've already contacted 'Black Gold Lord' and obtained the complete game replay archive, preparing to make a professional analysis video. If this 'Lin Rui' really didn't cheat, then he's the most noteworthy rookie in Delta this year. If he did, the Star Shield team should consider replacing him. — Boss Yu."

"Fish Boss".

The sixth-ranked streamer in the Chinese version of Delta Force, with 23 million followers, is a top-tier content creator known for his in-depth tactical analysis and high-level gameplay live streams.

This person's single comment carries more weight on the forum than a thousand ordinary posts combined.

Lin Rui was unaware of this comment.

He had already put on his helmet and logged into the game.

In the lobby of the safe zone, the number "14" on the level panel is waiting to be refreshed.

He opened the warehouse, equipped himself with Level 6 armor and a SCAR-H, replenished his ammunition, and brought enough medical supplies.

Today I have only one goal: to reach level 15.

As soon as the pairing button was pressed, Ah Wei's voice came from next door, loud enough to penetrate two walls: "Ten o'clock! I set three alarms!"

Lin Rui's fingers were already on the stock of the SCAR-H, and the loading progress bar stretched out in his field of vision.