The countdown ended.
All the players were aboard the pitch-black plane, flying over the Island Map.
Chen Zhao first checked his livestream and found... not a single viewer. He sighed. Just as he'd expected, nobody watched unknown newbie streamers. But tonight, he was only trying out what it felt like to play PUBG with his improved intelligence. It didn't matter whether anyone was watching.
He switched back to the game, opened the minimap, and checked the flight path.
The flight path was way off to one side, running from P Port to N Port and passing over the northern edge of Military Base.
Chen Zhao frowned slightly. This was the flight path he least wanted to see. He usually liked to find small clusters of houses out in the wilderness and quietly gear up, but there were too few of those within reach of this flight path.
After a moment's thought, Chen Zhao decided not to jump into a small cluster of houses. He'd head straight for Military Base and see if he could get into a fight!
He marked the spot.
The distance kept shrinking: 1,600, 1,500, 1,400. Jump!
Chen Zhao focused intently on the game, unaware that three viewers had trickled into his livestream.
As soon as they arrived, the three viewers saw Chen Zhao heading for Military Base and began typing their complaints:
"Military Base? Going for a gunfight?"
"This streamer's level is so low. A newbie? And a newbie streamer is this reckless?"
"Oh, nice. He's going to die as soon as he lands!"
None of the viewers had much faith in Chen Zhao.
In the blink of an eye, he landed—right on the roof of the central C-shaped Building at Military Base.
Chen Zhao was freaking out. He wasn't the only one who'd landed on the roof. There were two others! They were on the rooftops of the neighboring buildings, practically within arm's reach!
He quickly scanned his surroundings, and his heart sank. There was only one weapon nearby: a long, black M24 bolt-action sniper rifle!
Chen Zhao had always hated bolt-action snipers. In the early days of PUBG, they'd been incredibly powerful; a body shot had a good chance of knocking someone down in one hit. But after several nerfs, their damage had dropped considerably. A body shot could take off at most four-fifths of someone's health. You needed two body shots or one headshot to knock someone down.
The M24's high damage was great for sniping at long range, but here they were barely ten yards apart. What good was a bolt-action sniper at this distance?
The others had submachine guns or assault rifles. One spray of bullets and he'd be dead!
But he had no other choice. Chen Zhao gritted his teeth and picked up the M24. There wasn't even a scope nearby, so it was only equipped with iron sights.
He turned to look at the two enemies on the adjacent rooftop and froze.
In less than three seconds, one of them had already put on a Level 3 Helmet and picked up a UMP9 submachine gun. The other was holding a SCAR assault rifle with a 3x scope!
What the hell? Why were their weapons so good?
As if they'd planned it, both enemies aimed their guns at Chen Zhao!
The next second, they opened fire together!
Bullets rattled toward him. Chen Zhao immediately panicked and leaped off the roof. There was no cover up there; jumping down was the only way to dodge the bullets!
As he jumped, Chen Zhao instinctively fired a shot at the enemy wearing the Level 3 Helmet.
He hadn't thought about it at all. He hadn't tried to aim—he'd just taken a quick shot.
So Chen Zhao hadn't expected to hit anything.
But before he even hit the ground, a kill notification appeared:
"You killed player yingyingguai with an M24!"
Chen Zhao landed, rolled, and climbed through a window into the building. He'd been shot down to less than a fifth of his health. Luckily, he found ten bandages in the room. He tucked himself into a corner and hurriedly started using them to heal.
As he healed, he stared blankly.
Had he really killed that enemy in the Level 3 Helmet with one shot?
If he'd hit the enemy in the torso, it was possible. The enemy had just landed and might not have found a vest yet. But Chen Zhao had simply raised his gun and fired. It had taken less than half a second, and he hadn't even aimed!
After thinking it over for a few seconds, Chen Zhao decided he'd just gotten lucky. He'd practiced quick-scoping before, but he'd never managed to get the hang of it. This was probably just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.
The three viewers in the livestream were also baffled:
"He killed someone with one shot?"
"He fired in midair while jumping down? How is he that good?!"
"Was that luck, or can he quick-scope? Hmm... Let's watch a little longer. This is interesting."
After finishing the bandages, he got up and searched the nearby rooms.
The C-shaped Building was rich in loot. Otherwise, so many people wouldn't have dropped there.
After searching the first floor, Chen Zhao had a Level 2 Helmet, a Level 2 Vest, and a bulging Level 3 Backpack. He still hadn't found a new gun, though.
He went upstairs to search the second floor.
Meanwhile, at N Port.
Wolf Brother landed and found an M416.
"Hoho! Nice haul. Time to clean out N Port!" Wolf Brother said casually on his livestream.
Several other players had just landed nearby. Without hesitation, Wolf Brother raised his gun and opened fire!
"You killed player Goushi with an M416!"
"You killed player Patrick Star with an M416!"
After emptying a magazine, Wolf Brother ducked behind a shipping container to reload, then leaned out again.
Two more enemies were farther away in the grass, jumping around and blasting at each other with shotguns. Wolf Brother played it safe, taking them down with a few short bursts.
N Port was instantly quiet!
Every enemy who'd landed nearby had been shot dead!
Viewers in Wolf Brother's livestream began spamming 666. As expected of Fighting Panda Live's most popular PUBG streamer, Wolf Brother never disappointed. Four kills right off the drop, and he'd swept N Port clean. Who else could do that?
After a quick loot, Wolf Brother ducked into a shipping container to drink an energy drink. At the same time, he began thanking the big spenders sending gifts in his livestream:
"Thanks to Capital's Number One Handsome for six Helicopters!"
"Thanks to Captain Feixian for the Unicorn!"
"Thanks to Cute Bunny Girl for twenty Love Beam Guns!"
This was how Wolf Brother always streamed. After pulling off a flashy sequence, he'd retreat to a safe corner to thank the big spenders in his livestream, then get moving again.
After leisurely searching N Port, the circle shrank. Wolf Brother opened the minimap, marked the Research Institute, and said to his viewers, "All right, let's head to the Research Institute and lie in wait for someone."
Meanwhile, at Military Base.
Chen Zhao crouched in a corner of a room on the top floor, clutching an S1897 and trembling.
On the minimap, orange-red footsteps pulsed. The enemy was already making their way up. The footsteps in his headset were chaotic and hard to place. The enemy seemed to be downstairs, then suddenly right outside the door, about to burst in.
Chen Zhao thought this was just plain bizarre. He'd searched the entire building and found five energy drinks and five painkillers, but not a single submachine gun or assault rifle. All he'd found was a shotgun—and the worst one, the S1897. Now the enemy was closing in. There was no way to run, so all he could do was huddle in the corner and pray he wouldn't be spotted.
Looking at the S1897 in his hands, Chen Zhao felt helpless. How was he supposed to fight with this junk?
Was he really just a deliveryman?
Suddenly, the footsteps grew startlingly clear. The next second, a figure rushed in, holding an M762 with devastating firepower!
Chen Zhao jumped in fright and fired immediately!
"Boom!"
"You killed player Xiao Momo with an S1897 headshot." A kill notification appeared.
Chen Zhao stared at the smoking loot crate and the body sprawled on the ground, stunned.
A one-shot kill?
He hadn't even aimed! He'd fired instinctively—how had he landed a headshot?
Could it be... that after his intelligence improved, he could kill people with one shot without even trying to aim?
(For now, this book will update once a day. The cover isn't ready yet, so posting more isn't worthwhile. Once the cover is ready, there'll be two updates a day. Starting next month, there'll be four updates a day. Thanks, everyone!)
Before you continue