Chereads / Zenin Days / Chapter 20 - Hard Boiled

Chapter 20 - Hard Boiled

[Author note]

Disc: HrPrTeam

Do you like Boiled?

Yes:

No:

Who?:

__________

Lecture Hall 4: 3rd P.O.V.

The class was half gun range, half lecture hall.

The first portion had around a hundred seats, but behind the seats was an extremely long gun range with targets barely visible to the naked eye.

A random professor, giving a lecture, stood in the first half of the class. "Today, we will be having a practical exam. It will cover one of the most essential long-distance marksmanship skills for experts, ricocheting a sniper shot. If you miss the target, you fail."

Something interrupted him just as he was about to continue explaining the exam.

*creek*

He stopped speaking as the door loudly opened, to the annoyance of the professor.

Turning toward the door and reaching into his pocket for his gun to scare the late addition to his class, he noticed something off.

...

Nobody was there.

...

He blinked. "Must have been the wind."

Shaking his head, he looked back toward the seats and kept speaking, not noticing the new addition in the back of the class.

A Few Minutes Earlier: Toji P.O.V.

If I didn't trust them before, I sure as hell am not now.

In this line of work, you only trust your colleagues enough to complete your job.

They have made it known that they don't trust me even if I did answer their questions.

I've now got eyes on me. Although, I'd like to fight that old man at some point.

Kill, get paid. Why can't that be the end of the story?

Even if their original intentions weren't to send me here, they can monitor me while informing the JAA about my actions.

*sigh*

This whole thing pisses me off.

In any case, I'm still attending this stupid school.

Rather than a school, this place is more like a college.

People of all ages are taking different classes for different majors.

It turns out that I'm majoring in Special Assassination...whatever the hell that means.

The Assassination major works with CQC, gun proficiency, and body targeting.

The one I'm in specializes in tracking, stealth, and long-distance assassination.

I'm already good at tracking and stealth, but long-distance is something I'm having problems with.

I smirk. "I did need to get a sniper eventually."

Looking down at the schedule I was given, I matched the time to the class.

'Advanced Long-Range Marksmanship and Tactical Strategies'

Looks like I'm already in the advanced classes.

It's meeting in lecture hall four, so I'll check it out to see if it can help me.

Flashback End

I wasn't expecting much, but this is useful for a sniper.

Another thing stood out to me...

A man with a short beard, shades, and a cigarette in his mouth spoke. "That was so hard-boiled. What's your name, man?"

Another weirdo.

I rolled my eyes. "Toji."

He reached his hand out. "Boiled."

Boiled?

I raised an eyebrow. "Your name...is Boiled?"

He raised his own eyebrow. "That a problem?"

I had a small smile as I shook his hand. "Nah, I don't know why I'm surprised."

Every norm as an assassin might as well get thrown out of the window at this point.

Movie Freak is a prime example of that.

Boiled tilted his shades down. "Hard-boiled guys like us gotta stick together. Although I need to make sure you're the real deal. I had a friend who wasn't hard-boiled, and he got expelled."

Yeah, I don't need to prove shit to him.

He continued, gritting his teeth. "To show him he's not hard-boiled, I enrolled in every advanced class I could."

What kinda logic is that?

My eyebrow raised once more. "Didn't you skip a couple of steps? Do you even know anything about long-distance shooting?"

He smirked. "No."

...

Another weirdo? Another idiot.

...

Seeing the look on my face, he turned and pointed at someone. "Hey, at least I'm not like that guy."

The man...or whoever he was pointing to, was covered in blankets and wore a hoodie.

Something of note was that he was shaking, seemingly terrified.

Boiled snickered. "His name is Kamihate, and he is a real freak. People don't even know what he looks like."

I crossed my arms. "He looks like he's going to explode. *mumble* Is there a single normal person here?"

Boiled rested his chin on his fists. "But he's the current best sniper at the JCC, and it isn't remotely close."

The weirdest people are always the most interesting.

*clap*

The professor clapped to get the class's attention. "Now, then, line up at the lanes. Make sure to space out if a lane is filled."

I took note of the pre-placed Barret M82 at each of the lanes.

My eyes narrowed.

How are we supposed to ricochet a .50 caliber sniper shot? It's almost funny how stupid it sounds.

I'm instantly reminded of Sakamoto hitting someone 400 meters away with a regular pistol by whipping it.

Does this world have different gun physics? If so, I'll need to do some testing.

Basic gun handling works fine since I've been able to shoot well.

Snipers are where things will get complicated due to the many variables that go into shooting one.

*woosh*

Before anyone stood up, I vanished from my spot and appeared at one of the lanes.

Looking down the lane, the target was surrounded by many obstacles formatted like an alleyway.

However, I'm more interested in the sniper instead of focusing on the lane.

I pick it up and analyze it to see if there is anything different about the ones I've worked with.

After around a minute, I can't find anything wrong or different.

It looked like a normal M82.

A voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Hurry up and shoot already."

It was some random.

I turn to face him with a small smile. "You want me to shoot? Fine, I'll shoot."

Although, it won't be the target that will be getting shot.

Before I turn the sniper around, I get a hand on my shoulder. "Barrels down the lane."

*Inhale* *Exhale*

Calm down, Toji. You have 80 million on the line.

The professor looked irritated. "I haven't seen you here before. Are you a transfer?"

I give him a neutral stare. "It's my first day."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And you're in this class?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

He crossed his arms and had a smug smile. "Well then, you'll be going first. Everyone stop and look over here!"

I wonder if they'll allow their professors to 'disappear.'

Surprisingly, Boiled spoke up. "Show 'em how hard-boiled you are, Toji!"

Is that his catchphrase or something?

Whatever, ricocheting a regular bullet isn't all that difficult for me, but I'll see what I can do with a sniper.

Balancing the M82 on the bipod, I close my left eye to stare down the scope.

The physics might differ here, so I'll try shooting like a standard pistol. I might as well do some testing while I'm here.

It's not like I give a shit if I fail.

It wasn't in the contract that I had to pass every class.

Moving my finger on the trigger, I get ready to pull it before...

*BANG*

A sniper shot goes off, one that isn't mine.

Everyone jumps since they didn't expect it.

Turning my head toward the shot, I see the same person covered in blankets with a freshly fired sniper.

If the prof wasn't irritated before, he was now.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the blanketed man bolted toward the door. "I'M SORRYYYYYY!"

*bam*

He slammed into the door, breaking it off the hinges, and stood up before sprinting away.

What the hell was that?

People started laughing until Boiled made his way toward his lane.

*clack*

His glasses fell off his face once he saw the scene before him

Hmm, what happened?

I made my way over to him and took a peek at Blanket's lane.

A smile appeared on my face. "Damn."

...

There were at least eight bullet marks on the walls, expertly making their way around all the obstacles with a bullet hole in the paper target's head.

...

Boiled spoke. "That was so hard-boiled."