The Diamond Extra

I left my room in the middle of the night with the handgun rattling uncomfortably in my pocket. I headed towards the shooting range, a dome-shaped building consisting maybe 20 training rooms located east of Dorm 1. The targets were oddly distributed around the sharpshooter because magic arrows could easily change their trajectory.

And a barrier was placed to prevent any dangerous accident from happening.

— Rank 930, Paul Wayne, confirming identity successfully.

An unfamiliar robotic voice called my name when I held my smartwatch against the entrance. I walked inside feeling a bit odd. Ten doors evenly stood apart past the wide circular lobby. I held up my smartwatch against a door.

— Rank 930, Paul Wayne, confirmed.

It opened to a simple shooting range. The center of this circular 130 square meter area contained a scaffolding for the shooter. I walked towards the low scaffolding and stood on it. A courteous robotic voice rang out from the ceiling.

— Initializing targets. Please select the number of targets. You may choose between 2 and 20.

"Ten."

My voice rang out and blue insects popped up from the ground. I looked at the targets surrounding me, blue skittermites that could barely be considered monsters. They were similar to the mole crickets everyone knew, but bigger.

— Select your difficulty from stage 1 to stage 9.

Higher levels naturally meant targets moved faster. At stage 9, targets also attacked. Their attacks would only sting at best, but I still considered them dangerous.

"Stage 5."

I set the difficulty to 5 and loaded my magic bullets. It would've been possible to compress magic power into bullets, but the current me didn't have such talents. Even if I did, using a bow would be much more destructive and efficient.

"Start."

I notified the system and aimed at the leftmost target. The skittermite twitched and began to scuttle unpredictably, its speed increasing the moment I aimed."

It scuttled around without a set pattern, but I could see an afterimage of its future path. I pulled the trigger after predicting its movements.

A blue flare shot out from the barrel. It didn't make a loud bang like normal guns do. The bullet silently pierced the blue skittermites . I didn't even bother to check the results. I moved on to the next target as I fired. My hand moved on its own. One, two, three, four… ten. I pulled the trigger 10 times as the blue skittermite scattered into mana particles. Only 1 survived.

"Oho."

I was quite impressed. I managed to hit every skittermite except the farthest 1 after gaining my gift.

— Your training has ended. Elapsed time: 1.35 seconds. Sharpshooting score: 95/100

In just 1.35 seconds.

"This is pretty fun."

A bitter truth. The better you are at something, the more fun it is. It was fun because you were good. I felt like I was at the arcades and shouted start once more.

***

A bitter truth. No matter how fun something is, doing it over 20 times makes it boring. I ended my shooting practice at around 3 A.M. After leaving the room, I relaxed my sore finger and heard a noise from next door.

— Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh

The faint sound of shockwaves from arrows cutting through the air. Curious, I snuck a peek. I shouldn't have been able to see, but I saw through the door. It turned faint and the interior revealed itself. The scene I saw showed why bows were superior to guns.

""It was Lila Dawn."

Lila Dawn practiced with a serious face. Three magic arrows sat on her bow. She still lacked magic power technique, so she couldn't perform a split shot that multiplied a single arrow into different directions.

— Whoosh!

Lila Dawn released the bowstring. Her arrows left a mana trace as they hurled towards 20 targets and obliterated them.

[Side Quest – Dual Star Awakening]

The bow she masters, the sword she resists... but both were born in her.

Objective: Help Lila Dawn unlock her hidden affinity with the sword.

Bonus Objective: Guide her in mastering dual-weapon synergy.

(Completion optional—but may influence her future growth.)

🔹 Reward: ???

🔸 Failure: ???

**Note:** The sword may open new paths—or deepen old wounds.

Your actions will shape her future. You may gain a powerful ally... or create a powerful enemy.

I exclaimed in shock. Still, Lila Dawn's real aptitude wasn't for bows. Another weapon suited her more, but just what kind of a Star was she born under she was already this good?. Lila Dawn suddenly turned around and met my eyes. "She shouldn't have been able to see through the wall… but somehow, I felt exposed. I quickly turned and slipped away."

***

Training Quest Completed

[Sharpshooting training has increased your gift's proficiency by 3%] [Repeated sharpshooting training has increased your gift's proficiency by 2.9%] [Luck has been applied! Your perception and speed have increased by 0.1!] [Repeated sharpshooting training has increased your gift's proficiency by 2.8%]…

The above messages appeared on my laptop I decided to use the laptop rather than my Status window...".To avoid drawing attention in public. Master Sharpshooter's proficiency shot up along with bonus stats from my luck. I gained 50% in proficiency EXP thanks to the gift's low grade. Achieving grade S didn't seem too difficult.

▷[Master Sharpshooter] [Low-grade rank] [Spirit attribute] [Evolving — Grade EX] [Proficiency EXP 50%] — Master Sharpshooter's Training: Familiarity with all long ranged weapons — Miles Eyes: Can see far away and somewhat predict a target's movement path. — Bullet Sense: During combat situation and once every 24 hours, you may spend 3 seconds in bullet time

.

This gift seemed better the more I thought about it, especially how it applied to every long ranged weapon. It was easier to currently raise my proficiency with a gun, but I would have to switch eventually since bows were stronger.

New update : your luck has affected Miles eyes and Bullet sense they are now evolving trait, resetting the gift

Miles Eyes: Can see far away and somewhat predict a target's movement path. — Bullet Sense: During combat situation and once every 24 hours, you may spend 4 seconds in bullet time

"Huh 4 seconds now"

"But what's up with the SP?"

[You have obtained 0.2 SP!] [You have obtained 0.2 SP!] [An auspicious gift! You have obtained 1 bonus SP.] [You have obtained 0.2 SP]…

I only obtained 5 SP after practicing for 20 rounds. Choosing a gun as my main weapon gave me 64 SP, which meant standing out gave more SP than quietly training.

"Tsk."

I only received a small amount, but I still had uses for it. Our dreaded combat training would take place tomorrow. I needed to make up for my lacking physical abilities to score even the fewest points. My biggest problem was stamina. I was weaker than an ordinary person after investing everything into luck.

With the Setting Intervention system, I could create low-grade gear by spending SP — as long as I balanced the effects with enough restrictions."

[Training Sneakers] — Specially crafted sneakers. Will increase stamina and speed by 0.3 points.

"Maybe with this…"

The easiest way to fix my problem was with equipment. I began to tap on the keyboard.

["Enchanted Training Slykers] — Specially crafted sneakers with a enchanted power. Will increase stamina and speed by 0.3 points. Will also enhance energy and stamina recovery.

[You do not have enough System points the system has detected an abnormal creation commencing cancellation.]

The modification I made was canceled without any adjustments. I wasn't too surprised. After all, I only had 5 SP and if a slykers like that existed the world won't be the same again, but it was still too early to give up.

["Enchanted Training Slykers] — Specially crafted slykers with a mystical power. Will increase stamina and speed by 0.3 points. When activated, energy and stamina recovery is enhanced for 1 hour. After use, this effect cannot be used again for 24 hours. This effect disappears after a month.

After use, the effect enters a 24-hour cooldown. The enhancement lasts for one hour and will disappear entirely after a month."

"Please work, please work!

[You have used 5 System Point. Would you like to save?]

"Oh! Yes It worked!"

I punched the air in excitement.

I ecstatically hit the Enter key and a blue light flashed from the laptop. The dancing light melted into slykers with a streak of color on them.

"Tomorrow's combat exam would be brutal. But now? I finally had a shot."