Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Skill of Bullet Reloading

After Chen Hao gained memories of the future, some events in reality began to change. Fewer students in his class joined Li Hongbo’s studio, and Wang Donglai experienced heartbreak ahead of schedule.

Leaving the classroom and heading into the internet café, Wang Donglai played games absent-mindedly for a long time, until he finally received a call from Ma Chan. She said only one thing: “Let’s break up!”

Chen Hao had planned to bury himself in sleep, but upon seeing Wang Donglai utterly drunk, he picked up a bottle of beer and said, “Alright, I’ll drink with you.”

“Brother, honestly, I’ve known for a while that Ma Chan was dissatisfied with me. She resented that I had no money, so even when I played games, I took the technical route hoping to earn more. Ha! I just didn’t expect that she’d break up with me simply because I didn’t join Li Hongbo’s studio. Turns out, that’s all I’m worth in her eyes…”

Chen Hao had been about to comfort Wang Donglai, but hearing this, he realized Wang Donglai saw things clearly and needed no consolation. So Chen Hao raised his beer and said, “Tonight, it’s just us brothers drinking. No talk of women. I’ve gone four years without a girlfriend and survived, haven’t I?”

“Right, let’s drink.” Wang Donglai took a big gulp and soon collapsed onto the bed, fast asleep.

After making sure Wang Donglai was settled, Chen Hao sighed, tidied up the dorm a bit, and lay down himself. Modern society advocates freedom in love, yet men and women alike are restless and fickle. Breakups have become commonplace; the word ‘love’ is truly fraught with pain.

Around eight the next morning, while Chen Hao was still groggy with sleep, Wang Donglai was already up. After a night of heavy drinking, many things had become clear to him. He smiled and said, “Chen Hao, thanks for yesterday. Sleep a bit more—I’m heading to ‘Hyperdimensional’ internet café.”

A smile of relief appeared on Chen Hao’s face. Forgetting someone is hard, but at least Wang Donglai seemed normal on the surface now. Only sleeping a few hours before heading back to the internet café showed he was determined to make something of himself in the game. With his talent for battleship design, Chen Hao believed Wang Donglai would soon stand out.

Chen Hao slept until noon. When he woke, a roommate called to tell him that Li Hongbo had marked his name on the attendance sheet. Skipping classes in university often meant no regular grades and a higher chance of failing. Previously, Li Hongbo always turned a blind eye and avoided offending anyone, but this time, reporting Chen Hao was clearly revenge for yesterday.

After hanging up, Chen Hao still didn’t go to class. His memories told him there was nothing to worry about; failing courses in university was normal, and at worst, he could retake them. It was already the second semester of senior year, with few courses left. Even if he failed them all, it wouldn’t affect his graduation.

After finishing his workout and showering, Chen Hao had breakfast, bought two boxes of pure milk at the supermarket, and headed into the Hyperdimensional internet café. After scanning his ID, he found Wang Donglai’s seat, placed a box of milk on the table, and said, “You drank too much yesterday, your stomach must be hurting. Drink some milk—it’ll help.”

Wang Donglai, still feeling the effects of yesterday’s binge, was driven to prove himself in the game, so he went straight to the café without even eating breakfast. Interrupted by Chen Hao while gaming, he exited the game and felt his stomach cramp painfully. After gulping down the milk, he saw Chen Hao had entered the game and didn’t disturb him further, but in his heart he said, “Thanks, brother!”

When Chen Hao logged in, the fair-skinned Demon was already practicing archery. Demon had strong perseverance; knowing that practicing archery could boost shooting attributes by five points, he stuck to it every day for long stretches.

Seeing Chen Hao online, Demon stopped practicing and said, “Brother Chen, I’ve already bought food. After I replenish my hunger, where should we go?”

Chen Hao shook his head. “It’s not so easy to level up after ten. Keep practicing archery these days—when I’m ready, we’ll rush levels together.”

After level ten, many monsters attacked from a distance, making it hard for just Chen Hao and Demon to level up efficiently. To level quickly, a fixed team was needed, along with special leveling areas similar to dungeons in traditional games—such as bandit hideouts or gangster dens. Clearing these not only yielded considerable experience but sometimes unexpected attribute points for outstanding performance.

War games focused on firearms. No matter how high Chen Hao’s combat attributes were, he couldn’t block bullets in battle. So he had no leveling plans for now; he intended to focus on improving his marksmanship first. With enough ammunition, he could quickly train up thirty points of shooting attributes.

Each bullet cost twenty copper coins; one silver dollar bought five bullets. To fully gain those thirty shooting attribute points, tens of thousands of bullets were required—about ten thousand silver dollars. With the current exchange rate between RMB and silver dollars, not even Three-Life Stone dared pile up marksmanship with money, let alone Chen Hao.

It was precisely because he couldn’t afford bullets that Chen Hao thought of cooperating with Lin Xiaofeng and the other four players. According to his memory, the quest attached to the gold ring was a chain quest. The first step was to rescue Second Lieutenant Podolsky and deliver him to the German garrison, after which the player would be rewarded with a standard Mauser pistol.

The second step was triggered by entering the barracks with the lieutenant. There, the player would be discriminated against by a German officer, called ‘the sick man of Asia.’ At this point, a quest prompt would appear: defeat the German officer in the challenge, earn his respect, and learn a highly practical skill from him.

This skill was called “Bullet Reloading,” which allowed the player to reuse spent cartridge cases by buying gunpowder and reloading bullets. While this skill wasn’t important in the later stages of the game, it was extremely useful for saving money when bullets were scarce in the early stages.

If he could complete the quest and learn this skill, Chen Hao could practice marksmanship at the shooting range without restriction, rapidly maxing out his shooting attribute to thirty. He suspected Lin Xiaofeng’s group would fail to rescue Podolsky and come looking for him, but so far, he hadn’t heard from them.

With nothing urgent to do, Chen Hao finished practicing swordplay and archery, then headed to the residence of the Scholar Li Pisen, hoping to formally become his disciple. Li Pisen had status and influence; as his disciple, Chen Hao would have a powerful patron, and as long as he didn’t violate Qing law, he wouldn’t have to worry about being unjustly accused in Penglai County.

After buying gifts and entering Li’s residence, the steward Qian announced him, and Chen Hao entered Li Pisen’s study, where he found Li Pisen looking grim. After placing the gifts and bowing, Chen Hao curiously asked, “Master Li, what troubles you?”

Li Pisen replied bitterly, “Sheriff Liu Shengkui has gone too far—he came to my residence demanding to search for the rebel Wang Wu. Those bailiffs are unscrupulous; my household has lost quite a bit of property.”

(Finally made it to the front page of the new book rankings! Thanks to all the brothers for your strong support. To avoid being overtaken, here’s an extra chapter—please click and recommend!)