Chapter 5: New Experience Bar
“Name: Chang Ning”
“Age: 18 years old”
“Stamina: 300/？？？”
“Rifle Shooting: 10/100”
“Note: This system’s levels are linked to the host’s military rank. Please strive hard, host!”
Over this month, Chang Ning had pretty much figured out his own golden finger, and with the sudden appearance of this new experience bar, Chang Ning had preliminarily mastered the golden finger in his mind.
First, on how to load a new experience bar. Through Chang Ning’s observation and experiments, he discovered that loading a new experience bar is linked to training.
For example, today Lao Pao taught them firearm maintenance and explained how to use the 95-style rifle in their hands, which allowed Chang Ning to gain a new experience bar.
And with the new experience bar, Chang Ning could see his daily progress through training. This positive feedback could further stimulate him to train hard every day, forming a virtuous cycle.
This was also why Chang Ning’s physical fitness could far surpass that of veteran scouts in just one short month.
Of course, there was the influence of the golden finger, but a large part still relied on his own persistent daily training.
Then, on how to gain experience, two words: training!
Chang Ning discovered that as long as he earnestly completed the Squad Leader’s training missions every day, he would gain experience, about 10 to 20 experience points each time.
Of course, if he practiced extra during free time, there would also be a fixed 10 experience points to gain.
Chang Ning guessed that this situation might be because the golden finger did not approve of him practicing extra, as it would put too much load on his body and pose a threat to his health.
‘With the new experience bar, I have a new training goal every day. I’m one step closer to becoming stronger. Feels great!’
Chang Ning was thrilled inside. He hadn’t clearly heard what Lao Pao said at all. Anyway, he cheered along when his comrades cheered, and clapped along when they clapped.
There were only a few people in the formation, and Lao Pao had long noticed Chang Ning zoning out, but he didn’t say anything. This would have been impossible in the past.
Who could blame Chang Ning for being excellent? His physical fitness even surpassed his own, and he was a promising gunner. During free time, while other new recruits chatted and entertained themselves, Chang Ning practiced extra.
For such a good soldier, how could Lao Pao reprimand him? Excellent people always have some privileges in the teacher’s heart, so for minor things like zoning out in formation, Lao Pao usually turned a blind eye and pretended not to see.
He wasn’t afraid of the new recruits in the squad saying he was biased. If anyone had the ability to be as excellent as Chang Ning, he would be willing to clean the toilet for the new recruits every day.
Today they were issued rifles, and the new recruits treasured their rifles so much that they wanted to carry them everywhere they went.
Chang Ning sat on the folding stool, staring at the rifle with a pensive look. He was thinking about how to train to fill up the Rifle Shooting experience bar.
Usually, firearm training consisted of just a few items repeated over and over. Excluding those using bullets, only two remained: firearm disassembly and assembly, and rifle holding practice, which was divided into load bearing and non-load bearing.
Load bearing rifle holding practice trained the soldiers’ stability and stamina, and deepened muscle memory, laying the groundwork for future quick reaction shooting.
These training methods were something Chang Ning had seen in a military news report, but the current problem was that practicing extra on his own only gave a fixed 10 experience points per day, which was too little. Chang Ning was not satisfied with the turtle-crawl upgrade speed.
He was thinking about how to exploit the bug in the experience bar to speed up his growth. Now, Chang Ning had a sense of urgency about increasing his strength.
This world was too dangerous, with vicious assault incidents happening at the drop of a hat, and now as a soldier, the danger level had risen sharply for him.
“How can I speed up the experience growth rate?”
Chang Ning was somewhat troubled. He simulated several training methods in his mind, but none solved the problem.
No matter what training method, as long as he practiced extra outside of training time, he could only get a pitiful 10 points of experience per day. Chang Ning was very troubled by this.
“Chang Ning, what are you muttering to yourself about? It’s just issuing new rifles, why are you acting possessed?”
Xiao Zhuang and Chang Ning were bunkmates, and the two had known each other from the start, so their relationship was relatively close. Seeing Chang Ning acting off, he walked up to him and asked curiously.
From the moment he entered the door, he saw Chang Ning muttering to the rifle. This eerie scene instantly made Xiao Zhuang’s hair stand on end.
As a 17-year-old Directing Department student, his imagination was very rich, and he instantly conjured up many terrifying scenes.
Chang Ning looked up and saw Xiao Zhuang staring at him strangely. He immediately knew that this guy in front of him had definitely imagined something bad.
After spending more than a month together, he had figured out Xiao Zhuang’s personality.
“Don’t overthink it, okay? I’m thinking of ways to improve my shooting level.”
“Oh, it’s just for that?”
Xiao Zhuang suddenly understood.
“What else? I’m not mentally ill.”
Chang Ning rolled his eyes at Xiao Zhuang, then he thought of something and stared blankly at Xiao Zhuang.
‘Right! This guy’s shooting level is pretty high. He was on the school shooting team before. Maybe he has some tips. I can ask him!’
“Hey hey! Don’t look at me with that lecherous expression. I’m scared!”
They were chatting fine, but Chang Ning suddenly stared at him intensely. Goosebumps rose all over Xiao Zhuang. He was a straight man with a girlfriend and not into guys!
“What are you talking about? I’m a proper person.”
Chang Ning now regretted leading Xiao Zhuang astray. Look at how honest Xi Wa was.
Thinking of this, Chang Ning turned back to glance at Xi Wa. Unexpectedly, Xi Wa also looked up at just that moment, and their eyes met. Xi Wa gave Chang Ning his signature honest smile.
Xiao Zhuang usually chatted well with Chang Ning, so his way of speaking was inevitably influenced, and occasionally some internet buzzwords from 20 years later would pop out of his mouth.
“If I remember correctly, you said you were on the school shooting team before?”
Seeing Chang Ning’s pointed look, Xiao Zhuang pulled out the folding stool from under his bed and sat down next to Chang Ning.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
After asking, without waiting for Chang Ning to answer, Xiao Zhuang continued: “I get it. You want to ask how we trained in the shooting team, right?”
Sometimes, a comrade’s brain being too sharp wasn’t great. Having his thoughts guessed, Chang Ning felt a bit embarrassed.
His social experience from two lifetimes added up was very little, and his face was quite thin-skinned.
“If you’ve guessed it, then spill it quick!”
Seeing Chang Ning embarrassed and angry, Xiao Zhuang stopped teasing.
“It’s just those few items: daily aiming practice, then muscle memory, and finally a lot of live ammunition shooting.”
Well, that was as good as saying nothing. Chang Ning already knew these trainings himself.
“As the saying goes, books hold a golden house, books hold a beauty like jade. Why not borrow some books on this from the Squad Leader to study?”
A disappointed expression climbed onto Chang Ning’s face. Seeing this, Xiao Zhuang gave him another idea.
‘That’s right. I can first learn firearm knowledge from books to assist training.
The key is that reading and studying is a neutral behavior. It can be called training without issue, or entertainment and relaxation without issue.’
“Xiao Zhuang, you’ve helped me big time!”
Chang Ning wished he could hug Xiao Zhuang and plant a kiss on him.
