035 The Terrifying Roar of the Heavy Hunting Rifle

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Three hundred and eighty-eight times per minute, about 6.5 times per second. The power of cheating was truly worth having!
He left the second place behind by forty-six counts, making his victory all but certain.
Next came Number Eight and Number Nine—one with the Red Moon, the other with Snake Eyes. Both appeared to possess strange abilities, but their enhancements did little to aid them in the Brave Challenger’s contest.
“Score Record (No.8): 177 times”
“Score Record (No.9): 180 times”
Their performance landed squarely in the lower-middle range.
With the Brave Challenger’s test concluded, the final rankings were as follows: Number Seven, Number Five, Number One, Number Two, Number Four, Number Nine, Number Eight, Number Three, with Number Six trailing all the others at the very bottom.
Weapon cases popped open, revealing the arsenal the participants would wield in this round of the Hunter’s Game. Among them were various types of shotguns and several handguns.
In total, there were more than nine firearms.
As the victor, Cassius was entitled to select one shotgun and one handgun. Additionally, he was awarded two special red bullets; as described by the hosts, these unique rounds were effective against the monsters of District D.
With almost guaranteed lethality, these would grant him an unimaginable advantage in District D’s final phase…
After careful consideration, Xiu Nan chose the most destructive shotgun and a backup handgun.
[Name: Dread Roar Heavy Shotgun]
[Type: Firearm]
[Grade: Bronze-wood (Medium)]
[Description: A terrifying four-barrel hybrid shotgun, composed of two smoothbore and two rifled barrels combined. Gauge Four, muzzle diameter forty-five millimeters—its power is immense!]
[Advantages: Enormous power! Truly immense!]
[Disadvantages: Slow to reload, rather cumbersome]
[Skill 1: Recoil Immunity – Lasts five seconds]
[Skill 2: Rapid Reload – The Dread Roar Heavy Shotgun can be reloaded twice in quick succession, with the interval between reloads negligible, enabling two instant shots]
[Note: This caliber of shotgun is sometimes referred to as a volley gun; a shot to the head will make it burst like a watermelon.]
Another extraordinary weapon, though regrettably, it seemed usable only within the Hunter’s Game—no sneaky benefits to exploit.
The other handgun was merely a backup, its performance comparable to the Gyro Line Pistol, perhaps slightly superior.
Cassius slung the handgun at his waist, hefted the heavy shotgun in his hands, and tucked the three special rounds into his trench coat pocket.
With a cold gaze, he observed the choices of the others.

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Of all the shotguns, only one was a four-barrel—no triple-barrels—there were two doubles and six singles.
Only Cassius’s Dread Roar counted as a heavy shotgun, Gauge Four. The two double-barrels were Gauge Sixteen and Gauge Twenty, respectively. All remaining single-barrel shotguns ranged from Gauge Twenty-four to Thirty-two, their lighter build suited for those lacking strength—women, particularly—hence their nickname: “Lady’s Guns.”
Heavy, hunting, and lady’s guns—a clear hierarchy.
Each tier lost power compared to the last; while some might boast greater dexterity, the overall gap was significant.
Apart from Cassius’s three special rounds, no one else received such a bonus. Some glanced at him with undisguised intent, their ambitions barely masked. Cassius had already become a thorn in their sides.
But this was to be expected—if one sought to seize advantage, one must accept the inherent risks. No benefit came without a price! And this was a price Cassius could still afford.
After all… he still had nine lives to squander.
Selections complete, the group readied themselves.
“Hunters, go forth and hunt… claim as much game as you can—or become the prey yourselves…”
The old gentleman raised his cane, pointing toward the distant thicket.
Nine figures strode off, disappearing into the woods.
Cassius led the way, heading northwest. Several eyed his retreating back, itching to make a move, but none dared; each went their separate path. Only one figure, unwilling to concede, trailed after him, clearly biding his time…
Ten minutes later, a clearing in the forest. Cassius concealed himself behind a tree, blending into the shadows.
Sunlight streamed down, illuminating the open ground. The trees here were not dense, and the forest floor was free of thick leaves; prey stood out clearly.
Not far off, a pheasant strutted proudly, occasionally pecking at the earth—likely bugs and seeds hidden in the leaf litter.
It ate as it walked, lifting its head now and then to scan for danger. Dozens of meters away, a shotgun barrel—black as pitch and the size of a ping-pong ball—peeked from behind a trunk, aimed steadily at the pheasant.
The trigger squeezed—a thunderous blast!
The large-caliber slug ripped past the pheasant’s upper body, obliterating its tiny head!
Blood and flesh spattered, but the pheasant did not die instantly. Its headless body staggered on two legs, running blindly into the distance.
This was normal—its nerves had yet to cease. Still, the desperate flight would not last long.
Cassius followed at an unhurried pace.
Tracking the blood trail for a short distance, he soon found the pheasant’s corpse. However, crouched before it was a muscular man—an old acquaintance of Cassius.
Snake Eyes, the degenerate whose previous ambush had failed.
He had already gutted the pheasant, extracting from within a small, nail-sized, pale red plastic square labeled: “Points: 1.”
Snake Eyes had spotted Cassius, but did not pause in his task. He scraped the card against the ground, then leisurely tucked it into his palm.
“A pleasant surprise. Lucky!”

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He lifted the card between two fingers in a dainty gesture, flaunting it before Cassius.
“This was my prey, Number Nine. Return the card to me, and I’ll pretend I didn’t see what you just did…”
Cassius’s tone was icy, one hand gripping his shotgun.
“No, it’s my prey.”
Snake Eyes shook his head with a mocking smile. Since he’d already clashed with the Knight, he might as well see it through.
He relished causing trouble for others—there was nothing more delightful than watching someone fume helplessly.
“You must have heard the gunshot. That pheasant was mine,” Cassius said, raising his weapon.
“The rules of the Hunter’s Game never mention what you claim. The only way to acquire a point card is to retrieve it from the prey’s belly—first come, first served…”
“I got it first, so it’s mine.”
Snake Eyes narrowed his eyes, their shadows shrinking until his pupils resembled the vertical slits of a cat or a snake.
“I’ll count to three. Think carefully…”
Cassius’s face was expressionless as he raised the shotgun and chambered a round with a crisp click, four dark barrels yawning menacingly.
“Three.”
“Come on, this is District A.”
“Two.”
“If you fire, you’ll be disqualified.”
“One.”
Cassius leveled the barrels at Snake Eyes’s head.
“Go on, right here—pull the trigger if you dare!” Snake Eyes squinted until his eyes were mere slits.
“I’ve never heard such a request. As you wish…”
“Bang!”
Blood sprayed in all directions—someone’s head exploded.