After hosting Lu Jun at his private shooting range, Qiao Jia stayed behind to clean up the site before driving into the desert. He sped across the vast, barren landscape for nearly half an hour until he found a relatively flat area. About 800 meters away, there were a few dead trees and a large rock that had been weathered by countless years of wind and sand.
Qiao Jia set up the simple sunshade he brought from the range and then drove to the large rock. He used red spray paint to mark several targets on the rock. After that, he hung a dozen humanoid iron targets on the trees using iron wires. Once everything was set, Qiao Jia drove back to the sunshade, took out his modified, or rather, upgraded SVD rifle, and laid down on a rainproof mat.
First, he used a rangefinder to measure the distance: 753 meters. Then, Qiao Jia aimed at one of the targets on the rock through the 15x scope, taking a few seconds to prepare before pulling the trigger.
After the "bang" of the shot, Qiao Jia immediately picked up his binoculars to check the impact point. At a distance of nearly 800 meters, it's common for a shooter to lose track of where the bullet lands, especially since the field of view through the scope is narrow and not very clear. This is why snipers usually have a spotter to help them identify where the shot landed. Unfortunately, Qiao Jia didn't have a spotter, so he had to handle everything himself.
Through the clearer binoculars, Qiao Jia discovered that his bullet had hit 1 meter above the target and 40 centimeters to the left. This was unexpected because his SVD, after his adjustments, had been zeroed at 200 meters. Instead of adjusting the scope, Qiao Jia had followed online advice, deliberately aiming higher. But he found that the bullet's trajectory was completely different from what he had anticipated. At 753 meters, the bullet showed no signs of dropping.
Theoretically, this should have been impossible. Qiao Jia had a lot of confidence in his electromagnetic gun barrel, but not to the extent that he believed this rifle could defy the laws of physics. However, the reality made Qiao Jia very excited. Using sniper-specific rounds made to Soviet standards, combined with the 5 cm longer electromagnetic barrel, the SVD in his hands managed to maintain a flat trajectory up to a distance of around 800 meters.
After several more test shots, Qiao Jia was delighted to find that the bullets from this rifle only began to drop after 850 meters due to factors like air resistance and the loss of speed. Yet, its effective killing range could extend to around 1,200 to 1,400 meters. He wasn't sure about the maximum range, but Qiao Jia figured he wouldn't need it. If he had ambitions to kill targets over 2,000 meters away, he should have made a Barrett, not an SVD.
This was an unbelievable performance for an old rifle like the SVD! Even when compared to the top bolt-action sniper rifles, it had no flaws. This wasn't something from this world, because even a novice with this rifle could hit targets within 800 meters, as long as they didn't have shaky hands.
At Qiao Jia's preferred distances of 200 to 400 meters, the rifle's precision was unmatched, achieving an accuracy level of 0.1 MOA with virtually no error. As the distance extended to 800 meters, Qiao Jia's shooting habits and lack of practice led to some deviation, but it was usually within the size of a volleyball. Beyond this distance, when it was necessary to account for bullet drop and wind drift, Qiao Jia's performance was less impressive.
This wasn't an issue with the rifle but with the shooter. Qiao Jia wasn't very familiar with shooting through high-powered scopes, and searching for and aiming at targets through the narrow field of view made him uncomfortable. However, these problems could be overcome. The bigger issue was his unfamiliarity with the bullet trajectory of this rifle and ammo. This required a lot of practice and adaptation, but it was clear that Qiao Jia could quickly get the hang of it at a distance of 800 meters.
Many people might think that long-distance shooting is simple, like in a video game—just scope in, aim, and shoot. But in reality, when your muzzle is aimed at a target over a certain distance, even a slight quickening of your breath or a faster heartbeat before pulling the trigger can cause the bullet to veer off course. If your muzzle deviates by half a millimeter, the impact point could be off by a meter or even dozens of meters.
It's not enough to simply pursue steady hands like an assault trooper. Without finding a personal shooting rhythm, you can never become an excellent sniper or precision shooter.
Even though Qiao Jia had chosen the most stable prone position for shooting, his actual performance still fell short of his expectations, leaving him slightly disappointed. The rifle was certainly a good one, so the problem had to be with the shooter.
This was the downside of not being formally trained. Online and in novels, there are countless stories of genius marksmen who can shoot an arrow through a hundred paces, as if not being able to headshot targets two kilometers away makes you an unqualified sniper.
Qiao Jia had no idea how remarkable his shooting results were. This was his first time shooting long-distance targets, and after the first shot, every subsequent shot hit the target, with deviations within the size of a soccer ball. This meant that as long as he aimed at an enemy's torso, he could maintain a very high hit rate at a distance of 800 meters.
Combined with his habitual rapid shooting, theoretically speaking, as long as he had this SVD in hand, he was already an extremely skilled and lethal precision shooter.
But fortunately, Qiao Jia didn't realize this, or his motivation might have waned significantly. He was training so hard to protect himself in case of trouble. He had honed his close-range handgun and assault rifle skills to a masterful level for the sake of his own safety. The deadlier long-range shooting was more of a personal interest.
With no further progress in handguns and assault rifles, Qiao Jia needed a new skill "growth point." This allowed him to maintain psychological stability in a relatively dangerous environment. Every bit of progress or new skill he mastered added to his sense of security. This was crucial for the type of work Qiao Jia did. In a long-term state of insecurity, external threats might not even be necessary; the constant pressure could break a person.
Of course, people who are carefree, ignorant, or have given up on themselves don't care about this, and might even find it thrilling. But Qiao Jia, being alone in such a high-pressure environment for three years, had grown rapidly under this stress for three years as well.
Every night, three hours, for three years, four months, and twenty-three days...
Without even realizing it, Qiao Jia had trained himself into a highly formidable killer and was becoming increasingly deadly.
Qiao Jia didn't have a clear understanding of his own situation, but that didn't stop him from quickly finding joy in long-distance shooting. He treated the crosshairs, which swayed with his breathing and heartbeat, as an interesting challenge.
In just five days, Qiao Jia felt he had found a bit of rhythm. Although there were still issues with bullet trajectory beyond 800 meters, Qiao Jia's "work time" had arrived.