IBABS Chapter 66.2 — During Military Training

While the Weibo manager was stunned by the record-breaking repost numbers, Su Zhe and his group were being taken to the designated location for military training, a camp in the X Military Region.

After all, their daily training was already exhausting and monotonous. Military training, with its drills like standing at attention and barracks maintenance, wasn’t particularly challenging for them.

If the athletes had any additional expectations for this military training, it would be the shooting experience in the practical training program. According to veteran athletes, shooting was only included in the national team’s military training every two or three years. After all, it wasn’t an essential training component but rather served as a recreational activity.

Zhou Tianjue, like Su Zhe, was participating in the national team’s military training for the first time. When he heard the veteran teammates discussing this year’s shooting program, his previously lackluster interest perked up.

After all, for young men, guns always held a certain fascination.

He turned excitedly to Su Zhe and Ye Jun beside him. “Let’s see who gets the best shooting score! I’ll show you what I’m capable of!”

As Zhou Tianjue said this, his eyes sparkled with excitement, looking every bit like he believed himself to be a master sharpshooter.

Ye Jun laughed beside him. “Have you ever even handled a gun? How do you already know you’re good?”

Zhou Tianjue frowned. “Of course I have! My aim is pretty accurate!”

???

Su Zhe looked at Zhou Tianjue with confusion. “You’ve handled guns? At a shooting range?”

At that moment, Zhang Minghao, a high jumper from the national team sitting in front of them, turned around and gave Zhou Tianjue a look of pity, as if he were a child with special needs. “Oh please. All you do is spray and pray with assault rifles. I’ve never seen you actually hit anyone… Good thing you’re a hurdler. If you were on the shooting team, the head coach would’ve gone completely bald because of you.”

Then, with a serious expression, Zhang Minghao warned Su Zhe and Ye Jun, “You two look like you haven’t suffered from his ‘skills’ yet. Let me just say one thing: never team up with Zhou Tianjue in shooting games.”

……

Su Zhe and Ye Jun exchanged glances, both unsure whether to laugh or cry. So that’s what he meant by “handling guns.”

The live-fire exercise was scheduled for the final day of military training. When the drill instructor announced they would be heading to the mountain range with full gear for target practice, a small cheer erupted from the group.

The most excited was undoubtedly Zhou Tianjue. Although he didn’t make any enthusiastic sounds, the anticipation in his eyes was impossible to hide.

After reaching the mountain range, the instructors had team members learn prone position shooting one by one. Each person was given six bullets for the experience.

Although it was just a shooting exercise, the instructors took it very seriously. They assigned a score announcer to each participant to report their results after every shot.

When it was Su Zhe’s turn, Ye Jun, Zhou Tianjue, and Zhang Minghao had already finished shooting and were standing to the side.

During military training, everyone used the most common 5.8mm caliber semi-automatic rifle. The accuracy was average, and since most people had little shooting experience, their scores were generally unremarkable. Occasionally, when someone hit the 9 or 10 ring on the chest target, they received cheers from onlookers.

True to Zhang Minghao’s criticism of his gaming skills, Zhou Tianjue’s performance with real ammunition matched his virtual shooting ability perfectly.

When shooting, he displayed none of the sharpness and patience he showed in 110m hurdles.
Instead, he embodied the impulsive immaturity typical of his age. The moment he confidently pulled the trigger for his first shot, the bullet flew like a wild horse, effortlessly missing the target entirely.

Of his remaining five bullets, Zhou Tianjue’s best score was an 8 – unfortunately, this shot landed on someone else’s target, causing the surrounding onlookers to burst into laughter.

After firing all six bullets, he finally dropped his “I’m the world’s greatest” middle-school mentality and deflated like a lost puppy.

Among them, Ye Jun shot the most consistently. Although his scores weren’t high, all six bullets hit the target, which was already a solid achievement for a first-time shooting experience.

Zhang Minghao’s performance was also good. Although he missed the target once, he also scored a 9, earning cheers from the crowd around him.

When Su Zhe lay down and positioned the rifle stock against his shoulder pocket, the instructor beside him instinctively complimented his posture.

As the track team’s peak specimen in terms of looks, Su Zhe had become quite well-known in the military camp these past few days. Since all the trainees were athletes, at first, many instructors had been puzzled by his comparatively slender frame amidst a sea of muscular athletes.

After a week of training, however, the instructors discovered that Su Zhe was just better looking and was no different from the other track team members. The only exception was that while everyone else had tanned another half-shade under the winter sun, Su Zhe remained so fair he practically glowed, making him stand out even more.

This live-fire exercise was Su Zhe’s first time touching a real gun.

Over the past few days, he had completed about a quarter of the shooting skill training in the system. Although he had shooting experience there, the system mainly provided him with unloaded pistols.

When Su Zhe tried to shoot his first round following the system’s instructions, the recoil, which was completely different from a pistol’s, caused him to lose control slightly after pulling the trigger.

“Su Zhe, first shot, 2 points,” the scorekeeper standing beside him announced in real-time.

Not far away, Zhang Minghao elbowed Zhou Tianjue with a grin. “Hey, weren’t we going to see who’s the better shot? Su Zhe’s first bullet actually hit the target. Shouldn’t you admit defeat?”

Zhou Tianjue glanced at Su Zhe who was shooting in the prone position, then turned away, still unwilling to concede. “…He still has five bullets left.”

Soon, the scorekeeper announced Su Zhe’s second shot result.

“Su Zhe, second shot, 6 points.”

As someone who had suffered through Zhou Tianjue’s gaming torture after the World Championships, Zhang Minghao was now riding high. He cheerfully patted Zhou Tianjue’s shoulder. “Alright, admit defeat. Damn, what a shame. Why didn’t we make a bet?”

From the second shot onward, Su Zhe gradually adapted to the recoil of the rifle. For his remaining shots, he scored 8 or above, including two 9s and one 10.

Typically, military targets were set at 100 meters. For the track team’s shooting experience, the difficulty had been reduced by placing the chest targets at approximately 50 meters, which reduced the difficulty to a certain extent, but it was actually not simple.

Looking at everyone’s earlier scores made this clear. The highest average score had been 6 points, but Su Zhe’s performance raised the average to 7.3.

When Su Zhe stood up, the scorekeeper couldn’t help but praise his shooting.

As Su Zhe’s scorekeeper, he was the most shocked person at the moment. He watched Su Zhe’s scores climb from an initial 2 to 6, then 8, and finally a solid 10 in the bullseye. The speed of improvement left him somewhat disbelieving.

When Su Zhe consistently scored above 8 points, Zhou Tianjue resembled a wilted dog beside him, showing a dejected expression.

Meanwhile, Zhang Minghao laughed heartily. “That’s it, next time I should invite Su Zhe to play games with me. He’ll definitely be more reliable than teaming up with you!”

Hearing Zhang Minghao’s words, Zhou Tianjue angrily swatted away the hand resting on his shoulder.

The track team’s military training concluded with Su Zhe earning the nickname “Sharpshooter.”

On the return bus, Zhang Ye smiled as he said to Su Yinsheng, “Hey, Lao Su, looks like your Ah Zhe has quite a talent for shooting! Do you think we’ll have to fight the shooting team for him next?”

Su Yinsheng rolled his eyes dramatically at Zhang Ye’s comment. “Come on, how many Olympic gold medalists does the shooting team have from top to bottom? They think they can poach from the track team?” He continued with a smirk, “Besides, given the current talent shortage in the short hurdles division, if the shooting team tried to poach someone from us, would the Track Administration Center even let them?”

“Ahem, of course not,” Zhang Ye shrugged, ending the topic with a smile before shifting the conversation toward Su Zhe’s training. “Lao Lü has already decided to have Su Zhe try the eight-to-seven step pattern next. Are we planning any major technical changes on our end?”

Hearing this question, Su Yinsheng’s expression turned serious as he shook his head. “For sprint technique improvements, we’re focusing on the starting technique, including adjustments to the ready position and standardizing the angle of the driving leg’s extension during the start. Besides that, there’s explosive power training. This training phase will emphasize the first sixty meters of the race. We’re aiming to bring his performance in that section closer to his sprint phase results.”

After listening, Zhang Ye immediately understood Su Yinsheng’s meaning – Su Zhe’s sprint phase had already reached a level where he could compete with the world’s top athletes. If his performance in the first sixty meters could be similarly improved, not only would breaking the 10-second barrier be no problem, but his results would inevitably continue to improve, gradually giving him the ability to compete with truly elite athletes.

Thinking about this, Zhang Ye couldn’t help but rub his hands together in excitement. “Ah, I really can’t wait to see what Su Zhe will be like when he gets even stronger!”

Author’s Note:
Boss Shao’s Interview Time
Cai Cai: Son, Mom saw yesterday’s stock market drama¹ and I’m a bit panicked. What should I do??? (sad face)
Boss Shao: (coldly) Didn’t you see what people said? If you don’t let me and Su Zhe date, what choice do they have?
Cai Cai: …
Boss Shao: Tell me, how many chapters are you planning to freeze me out this time?
Cai Cai: …M-Mom’s going to be late! Let’s talk tomorrow!!! Goodbye!!! (escaping at the speed of light)