NOVEL WEB Chapter Ch26.2 - Gun
Chapter Ch26.2 - Gun
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
A while later.
The bidding was concluded successfully.
Researcher Song came out of the conference with the cat in his arms. Even before he saw anyone, the black cat had darted toward the ground, acting spoiled as it rubbed itself against Wei Shi’s calf, its furry tail hooking around the man’s trouser leg.
As it rubbed, it eventually slid to lay down on the ground, revealing its belly.
Seeing that Wei Shi had no intention of holding it and didn’t even seem to want to rub its belly with his feet, the black cat rolled around a few times and could only follow angrily behind the man.
Wei Shi accepted the contract that Researcher Song handed over, then nodded in satisfaction. “Not bad. Get ready, then come with me to see Zhi Wei.”
Researcher Song agreed, then went back inside to tidy up.
His gaze kept returning to Wei Shi’s back as he went, abruptly going still for a while.
“That’s not right!” He slapped his thigh, “Empathy... should mean that he has a good relationship with the therapy companion. Why didn’t he pick up the cat?”
His colleague who was next to him was surprised, “This––might not necessarily be the case?”
Researcher Song’s head turned like a rattle drum, “There are two major elements to empathy.”
“Firstly, the subject’s first contact with the therapy companion should occur within the first twelve hours of the psychological cues. Secondly, they should pay close attention to the therapy companion. Also, this is only the first stage. During the second stage, which is intended to produce an emotional connection, there should be love, possessiveness, desire for comfort, and so on...”
“With the exception of Brother Wei, in every other case, the patient was inseparable from their therapy companion. For example, Big Mao will take his guinea pig out for a walk every day...”
He went still again, “Where did Brother Wei go after undergoing the psychological cues a month ago?”
“According to the lab’s instructions, he spent a few hours with the black cat, then went straight to the Crosson Show for the auditions.” The colleague looked up the treatment records.
Researcher Song nodded. “Alright. I remember now. Go back and check––hey, wait. Who did you guys say that Brother Wei brought in just now?”
A photo was projected up onto the screen.
Researcher Song was a little stunned. “Very attractive... pull up their data.”
Wu Jin, 19, White Moonlight Entertainment, ranked 3rd on the Crosson Show trainee rankings, A grade in the evaluation match, qualified during the 51st round of auditions.
“51st round of audition... Isn’t that the same round Brother Wei was in?”
Wu Jin spent a long time resting his eyes in the lounge. He had drunk a bit of that red wine previously so he inadvertently fell asleep and ended up napping for a while.
While in a half awake, half dreaming state, it seemed that there was a hairy head rubbing against his cheek.
“Brother Rabbit, don’t––”
Wu Jin mumbled as he turned over, burying his head against the sofa cushion. He was taken by surprise by the paws that trampled over his back.
His rabbit wasn’t that big...
Wu Jin woke up with a start. A bolt of black lightning leaped from his back, revealing a pair of faintly glowing green cat eyes. After that, it sprang away to twine itself around the man’s legs, constantly butting its head against his pants and legs.
As soon as the black cat turned its head away, not even its shadow could be found within the darkness.
Wait a minute!
The lights weren’t on!
The room suddenly lit up in the next moment.
Wei Shi stood next to the central control system, looking down at Wu Jin.
It was only then that Wu Jin noticed that the big boss had taken off his silver mask.
The lights shed their white glow from above, revealing the man’s sharp and deep features, the contours and lines on the expressionless face outlined by shadow. The lips under the high nose were cold and hard, his right hand stroking a gun that Wu Jin had never seen before.
That fierce, swaggering black cat from before was now rolling around at his feet.
Wu Jin suddenly thought that, if it was a normal person, their first reaction must be to think that they were about to be killed by this gun...
And his head was probably muddled from sleep.
A sentence suddenly floated out from deep within his consciousness.
––Dream on! The King won’t take off his mask for them!
The youth on the sofa was a little flushed behind the ears, small, messy curls sweeping across his face. When he looked up, his gaze was full of reverence!
Stroking guns was a common habit of the big boss when he was deep in thought, and Wu Jin couldn’t guess what the big boss was thinking. Only when he lifted his head did he remember in a trance that the lights had still been on when he fell asleep.
A gun was suddenly thrown on the coffee table, clattering as it landed.
“Take it apart.” Wei Shi ordered languidly.
Wu Jin’s body reacted before he could, unconsciously picking up the small handgun.
The metal barrel of the gun still carried traces of the big boss’s warm body temperature. Compared with the basic weapons he’d learned about in the Crosson Show, there were several additional parts that Wu Jin had never seen before.
He moved by memory, removing the gun bolt, the bullet clip, recoil spring, and the iron stopper, then looked surprised––
The lower part of the ballistic shell was uneven, creating a friction force greater than that of any other gun he’d ever seen.
When Wei Shi saw that he’d discovered something strange, his eyes showed a hint of satisfaction.
Wu Jin hesitated and looked up to see the big boss indicating with his gaze that he should speak.
“The resistance applied to the shell as it leaves the chamber is increased, suppressing and restraining the bullet’s kinetic energy––” Wu Jin thought hard and made a blind guess, “This kind of design is for ––er––”
He stalled slightly. The cat behind Wei Shi stuck its face out and gave him a contemptuous look.
Big amber eyes met with the black cat’s smaller ones, “For the sake of––reducing lethality...”
Black cat: “Meow, meow!!!”
Wu Jin: “Er... therefore...”
Black cat: “Meow!!”
Wei Shi’s gaze swept between Wu Jin and the black cat. It seemed that he was pleased by the teenager’s explanation and was now in a good mood.
Wu Jin’s thoughts were interrupted. When he looked down again, he realized that any gun that Wei Shi might carry couldn’t possibly be a toy gun with weakened lethality.
Wei Shi stared at the small messy curls and raised his eyebrows slightly, taking the gun from Wu Jin’s hands and pulling out a bullet.
“7.62 caliber, spiral pattern.”
Wu Jin’s eyes were wide open as he watched Wei Shi take apart the gun. The man’s hands seemed to carry an inexplicable magical power, cold metal parts shifting up and down at his fingertips, giving the act of dismantling hard metal parts a sense of artistry.
“Every gun is designed for a specific purpose.” Wei Shi approached, handing Wu Jin the bullet as he looked on with wide amber eyes. “The best way for a bullet to destroy its opponent is not to break through him, but to remain in his body, collapsing blood vessels and destroying tissue.”
The man’s aura was too aggressive. Wu Jin leaned back unconsciously, using his fingertips to trace the complex spiral patterns on the sharp tip of the bullet.
“There are blood grooves on the tip of the bullet.” Wei Shi glanced at the pattern, “In survival shows, the most efficient gun is one that is able to use the maximum amount of kinetic energy in order to stimulate the opponent’s life-saving capsule. But this is different.”
The handle of the gun in Wu Jin’s hand suddenly felt colder.
Wei Shi had already spoken clearly enough.
There was an increase in the resistance as the bullet left its chamber, and blood grooves on the tip of the bullet. This was a gun designed to destroy flesh and blood––a gun that was truly used to kill people.
“Underground matches?” Wu Jin finally came to a realization.
“Yes. And,” Wei Shi continued casually, “Also outside of matches.”
Wu Jin’s hand shook slightly, the bullet falling to the ground.
He trembled as he hurriedly bent over at the waist to pick it back up, unaware that Wei Shi’s gaze had lowered slightly.
When he looked towards the big boss again, his image of the man in front of him seemed to finally merge together with the King who wore a silver mask––
And Wu Jin, who was seated in front of him, was like a quail who had been brought to the table before the King.
Wei Shi tsked. It came as no surprise to him that the rabbit spirit was shivering from fright.
“Third ring to off target.” Wei Shi spoke up abruptly.
Wu Jin blinked in confusion and suddenly remembered––this seemed to be referring to his own achievements in the amusement park...
How could the big boss know about this?
Wait a minute, it seemed that the big boss really had the ability to learn about this...
The silver mask logo that was everywhere on the streets were like the eyes of Floating City. They were everywhere.
Wu Jin blinked his eyes innocently as he looked over like a failed primary school student, slightly downcast in front of his big brother.
Wei Shi’s gaze swept over the teenager’s puffed up cheeks, “The fault lies with the gun. In the entire Azure Cosmos, including the **, everything is designed to kill. Remember, if you encounter a weapon you can’t master, then dismantle it first.”
Wu Jin finally understood. He looked at the small gun on the table and relaxed, his small curls turning fluffy again as he started to feel safe again.
The big boss really hadn’t been trying to intimidate him!
Big boss was just––using special means to teach him!
While Wu Jin was relieved and let his guard down, Wei Shi suddenly added, “The gun is for you.”
Wu Jin froze, his amber eyes showing his surprised panic.
––This, this, this was a gun used for killing!
––Carrying a gun without permission was illegal!!
However, Wei Shi’s expression was icy cold, and there was no room for discussion.
It wasn’t until Wu Jin caved under pressure and reluctantly edged the gun into his pocket that he nodded in satisfaction.
Half an hour ago, when Wei Shi carried the black cat with him to prepare for treatment, Floating City’s head researcher had personally set up the psychological cues.
“Patients at this stage will continue to pay more attention to their therapy companion. Please rest assured that this is a normal phenomenon that occurs during treatment, and everything is within the reasonable range.”
“In the next stage, we will guide you in establishing an emotional connection with your therapy companion.”
“Hormone injection complete.”
“Please relax, and focus on the image of your therapy companion in your mind.”
“What is the black cat in your mind like?”
Wei Shi: “......”
“Do you want to pet it?”
Wei Shi: “......”
“If you were to give it a gift, what would you choose? Cat stick, cat treat, or bell?”
Wei Shi who hadn’t been cooperating with the treatment at all finally opened his mouth:
“A gun.”
Juurensha: .....Little Witch has become his therapy companion!
xiin: apricot suggested replacing ‘stroking’ with ‘fondling’ whenever Wei Shi touches his gun... *whistles innocently*