Fatal Shot - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Deflagration Armor-Piercing Bullet 5
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Pang!
−1435!
Within the group of players with Lonely Gunner, the Scout who held a pair of binoculars in hand and was quickly searching for Feng Luo’s position was suddenly hit in his chest. He dropped the binoculars in his hand as his body was blown backward. After that shot, the camouflage uniform of the Scout began to burn in an instant. It made him crawl up from the ground quickly, trying to extinguish the flames on his body by beating at them with his hands. 4
Attempting this kind of solution while in range of a Sniper was undoubtedly a deadly mistake!
Pang!
−1603!
A shot hit his forehead with pinpoint accuracy. The Scout quickly followed in the footsteps of the young Doctor.
As for why the shot had caused a burning effect, it was due to Feng Luo’s new cartridge of bullets.
Deflagration Armor-Piercing Bullets (D-Grade Ammunition)
Increase attack by 15%. Deflagration and burning effect will trigger when flammable targets are hit, producing a certain degree of burning damage. 4
Ammunitions were considered expendable items in War. They were categorized by grades similar to crystals, ranging from F-Grade to S-Grade. Players normally used the most common F-Grade ammunition that did not provide any bonus attack or special characteristics.
The deflagration armor-piercing bullet, as D-Grade ammunition, not only increased attack power by 15 percent but also had a special characteristic of burning. Compared to normal armor-piercing bullets, its power was increased by at least one-third. One could not afford to look down on this one-third. In many instances, monsters that originally needed three shots to kill could be taken care of with just two. For a Sniper who pursued kill efficiency with every shot, that meant a lot. Moreover, the burning effect created a flame that, under certain circumstances, could guide snipers in terms of direction, guaranteeing hits in consequent attacks. 9
Apart from that, War had all kinds of special bullets with different special effects. For example, high-energy liquid projectiles, smart flares… This was also the reason why Feng Luo specifically trained in Ammunition Manufacturing. Of course, the price of special ammunition was naturally not comparable to normal ammunition. The cost to produce each deflagration armor-piercing bullet was around 20 credits, which was several times that of a normal armor-piercing bullet. But even this price was low, since the ammunition was made by Feng Luo himself. In the system store, a deflagration armor-piercing bullet cost 50 credits each. Plus, they were often out of stock.
That is why when Gunners PK, they are really using credits! Feng Luo though, shaking his head. 4
His muzzle had already locked on to his next target: the Sniper who had first started attacking him. Why did he not aim at the Manipulator? It was because after the Scout died, all of the opposing Manipulators immediately equipped a half-transparent energy shield that looked like an eggshell.
The shields of Manipulators represented a major headache for Sniper. That was because as long as the shield did not break, the Manipulator would not lose any HP while receiving all kinds of attacks.
It would have been a mistake to underestimate the low case HP of a manipulator. For manipulators with expert skill level in their energy shield, their ability to take damage was not all that inferior to some warriors. More importantly, some of the Energy Manipulators who played slyly loved to jump out into the fray during PK and bombard the area with their skills after putting on their “Eggshell.” Then, when the shield was almost broken, they would take cover and wait until the shield skill cooled down before jumping out again. This sort of tactic was enough to depress most Snipers. As such, Feng Luo decided to ignore the three Manipulators for now and to think about that after he killed the Sniper known as Lonely Gunner.
After he took his aim, he pulled the trigger!
Pang!
−1345!
A deflagration armor-piercing bullet hit Lonely Gunner’s shoulder. Because of the location, Feng Luo’s shot failed to inflict lethal damage. However, even if it were normal damage that was reduced by 25 percent, it had still taken half of Lonely Gunner’s health. His shooting hand’s defense, after all, was incomparable to that of a warrior. However, with the burning effect of the bullet, his uniform started to burn. Lonely Gunner looked frightened and panicked. 4
In War, realism was also reflected another key point. Players perceived pain and all kinds of sensations. When players were in a different environment or if they were attacked, the information provided by the system would stimulate the human’s nervous system and create various kinds of feelings such as numbness, pain, suffocation… Although one could adjust the severity of the pain, one could not completely block it out. The minimum limit of pain receptors for male players was 10 percent, while it was 5 percent for female players. 30
A mere 10 percent was nothing to scoff at. For ordinary people who didn’t usually get hurt in real life, that meager 10 percent alone was too much for most people to bear. 6
One could only imagine what Lonely Gunner was going through, with his entire body on fire.
In this highly realistic game world, the immersive and realistic experience of being engulfed in flames would make most people subconsciously forget that it was just a game. As such, Lonely Gunner behaved just like the previous scout. He quickly used his hands to beat at the flames on his shoulder, and this action was as good as a death sentence.
Pang!
−1473!
Another gunshot rang out, accompanied by a flash of white light. Lonely Gunner was hit in the neck and became the third victim of the M110. At the same time, a piece of equipment burst out of him. Unfortunately, Feng Luo was unable to pick it up. 2
You’ve rightly killed a yellow-named player, Lonely Gunner. In retaliation, there is no punishment!
Currently, the original team of 11 had only eight left. They were the two Light Armor Warriors, two Heavy Armor Warriors, three Manipulators, and one Gunner. As the Scout was eliminated, the survivors could not quickly determine Feng Luo’s location, which gave Feng Luo a lot of time. 1
The only thing is, there is a Machine Gunner among them. This might prove troublesome!
Feng Luo frowned as he looked through the scope and saw a Machine Gunner quickly taking out machine gun parts and setting them up from his anti-gravity spacial backpack under the protection of two Heavy Armor Warriors.
In War, gunners were separated into three main categories: Snipers, Machine Gunners, and Scouts. Their corresponding bonus weapons were the sniper rifle, the machine gun, and the assault rifle, respectively.
If the Sniper was considered the master of ranged single-target kills, then the Machine Gunner was without a doubt the king of mid-range.
With consideration to balance, the attack power and range of the machine gun had been greatly reduced, but one still could not block all the bullets from a machine gun! The multi-barrel heavy machine gun, for example, could normally fire more than 20 bullets per second, which meant that it dished out a rain of bullets numbering in the thousands within minutes. 6
Even if the attack strength of the machine gun were reduced to only one-tenth of the sniper rifle, that was still ten times the damage dealt by a Sniper. Moreover, Machine Gunners were not actually nerfed to one-tenth; in reality, their damage was nerfed by only one-fifth. As such, whether in terms of leveling or during group PK battles, their impact was substantial.
One might wonder, since the Machine Gunner class was so strong, who would pick another profession? Wouldn’t everyone choose it?
Of course, that would not happen!
The first prerequisite for being a Machine Gunner was that one had to be rich! In War, bullets were exhaustible items. Even the most common F-Grade machine gun standard bullets cost around one credit each. That meant that a Machine Gunner would spend over ten credits per second. In a minute, he could use up thousands of credits. 19
This so-called “rate of burning through money” was unsustainable for ordinary people. In reality, apart from tycoons or professional players with the Machine Gunner profession specifically groomed and supported by companies or groups, no one could really afford to play it. So in War, the number of Machine Gunners was limited. In truth, they were even fewer than Snipers. 2
In truth, there really wasn’t any profession that didn’t burn money in the game of War. Gunners needed to purchase bullets, and Energy Manipulators needed to buy energy crystals. The expenses of these two indispensable items were huge. 5
Even skilled Warriors who could use a single blade to sweep through an entire continent in normal games had to spend a considerable amount of money in War. That was because the equipment in War could be broken. So, for Warriors that needed to be in close quarters in order to do battle, the expensive repair fees after an intense battle could very well break their hearts. 4
This was also why Feng Luo had prioritized getting his Wind Mark Gun Shop on the right track first. Without any money, nothing was possible in this game! 5