Chapter 14 Shooting Apples

The rules proposed by Shooter were naturally different from those of a regular darts match.

Feng Bujue had been mentally prepared for this. He never thought that anyone would keep score in a darts game held in a bar.

But… Brother Jue never expected that the format Shooter came up with would be…

“Shoot apples?” When Shooter uttered these three words, Feng Bujue immediately repeated them, as if to make sure he hadn’t misheard.

“That’s right, shoot apples.” Shooter expertly rolled a cigarette for himself, took a puff, and replied leisurely.

“With darts?” Feng Bujue asked again.

“With darts.” Shooter replied.

“Oh…” Feng Bujue nodded. His “oh” didn’t mean he understood anything; he was just stalling for time.

Brother Jue knew that if Shooter was truly a darts master, shooting cherries would be no problem, let alone apples… Therefore, this development must be a conspiracy…

“Um… where do we put the apple?” After thinking for a few seconds, Feng Bujue asked another constructive question.

“On Yang’s head.” Shooter exhaled a smoke ring and replied calmly.

“Huh?” Feng Bujue looked at Yang. “Is that even allowed?”

“Of course.” Yang said with a straight face, giving a definite answer.

“Um… let me confirm…” Feng Bujue said to Yang, “If I accidentally throw a dart into your head or face, what will you do?”

“Kill you.” Yang replied very calmly.

“Okay~ okay~” Feng Bujue wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, turned his head, and looked at Shooter. “Please continue…”

Shooter smoked his cigarette and replied, “During the competition, Yang will stand in front of that wall with an apple on his head…” He pointed to a wall on the other side of the bar, “And the two of us will stay here at the bar, taking turns throwing darts to shoot the apple.”

“Hold on…” Feng Bujue keenly sensed something. He interjected, “Will Yang move while we’re throwing darts?”

Shooter smiled. “Heh… you’re very clever, Dave.” He exhaled another puff of smoke. “Fū—of course he’ll move. He can move however he wants, as long as he ensures the apple doesn’t fall off his head.”

“That’s probably… not very fair…” Feng Bujue said. “If you two cooperate even a little bit, I’m bound to lose, aren’t I?”

“Hahahaha…” Shooter laughed loudly. “Dave… my friend, you’re overthinking it.” He put a hand on Brother Jue’s shoulder and laughed. “What reason do I have to cheat? To win your temporary work permit? If I really wanted that thing, wouldn’t it be easier to just force you to hand it over with a gun?”

“Hmm… that’s true…” Feng Bujue thought for a moment, and it really was the case.

“Taking a step back, this isn’t a formal competition, there aren’t even any spectators. Aside from the bet, what motive would I have to cheat?” Shooter asked again.

“Seems like none.” Feng Bujue replied.

“So…” Shooter stood up and paced along the bar. “…You don’t need to worry about fairness. I can guarantee that Yang will do his best to dodge every dart… no matter who throws it.”

“I understand.” Feng Bujue said in a deep voice. “You just want to compete against a master who’s evenly matched with you, but you’re afraid I’ll slack off.” He figured out the other party’s intentions in a very short time. “So, you proposed this bet…” He pointed to his temporary work permit. “This permit is worthless to you, but indispensable to me. That’s why you’re using it as a bet, to make me go all out.”

“Heh… just as I said, you’re a smart man.” Shooter pointed at Brother Jue with the hand holding his cigarette, revealing a smile.

“Okay, tell me the other rules.” Feng Bujue’s tone when he said this basically indicated that he had accepted the challenge.

“A total of twenty-one rounds.” Shooter continued, “No matter what the final score is, we’ll play to the end.”

Feng Bujue crossed his arms and rested his chin on his hand, raising his eyebrows. “That means, even if you win all the first ten rounds and take my temporary work permit… I’ll still have a chance to ask you questions in the remaining eleven rounds.”

“That’s right.” Shooter replied. “Correspondingly… even if you win all the first twelve rounds, eliminating my chances of winning, I’ll still play all twenty-one rounds with you.”

“I have no reason to refuse such a favorable rule.” Feng Bujue replied.

“Very good.” Shooter nodded and continued to explain, “In each round, each person holds three darts, taking turns throwing. Whoever hits the apple first is considered the winner. If no one hits the apple after all six darts have been thrown, the round is considered a draw.”

“What happens in the event of a draw?” Feng Bujue asked.

“A draw is a draw.” Shooter said. “My winning rounds don’t accumulate, and you can’t ask a question.”

“Okay, fair enough.” Feng Bujue replied.

“Fū—that’s about it for the rules. If there are no problems, let’s begin.” As Shooter said this, he took the last puff of his cigarette, then he put it out and stood up.

“Okay.” Feng Bujue also stood up. As he spoke, he raised his hands and interlocked his fingers, pushing his palms outward, as if this counted as a warm-up.

“Wait for me.” Seeing that the two of them had settled things, Yang came out from behind the bar and walked into a room in the corner of the bar.

A minute later, he came out, carrying a whole basket of apples.

“I’m ready.” A few seconds later, Yang placed an apple on his bald head and stood calmly in front of the far wall.

“Do you want to attack first?” Shooter took six darts from the bar and handed three of them to Brother Jue.

“I can choose to attack first or second?” Brother Jue asked doubtfully.

“You can.” Shooter said. “But only for this first round. After that, we’ll use alternating first attacks.”

“Then I definitely want to attack first.” Feng Bujue replied.

This was a very simple calculation… First of all, attacking first definitely has an advantage. As long as the first dart hits, the second attacker won’t even have a chance to act, and will lose the round. Secondly, the person who chooses to attack first in the odd-numbered rounds can have one more chance to go first than the other person, because this darts game has a total of twenty-one rounds.

“Then please go ahead.” Shooter made a “please” gesture and sat down easily on the side, acting like a spectator.

“Hehehe…” Feng Bujue sneered in his heart. “You think you’re hot stuff and you’re underestimating me, huh… Hmph… I’m a man with Shooting Specialization C, at least. Even in the real world… it’s a piece of cake for me to hit an apple with a dart…”

At this moment, Brother Jue was full of confidence and composure. He was at least 80% sure that he could hit the target.

Although Yang “can move his body”, this seemed to be a variable, but considering its premise “ensure the apple doesn’t fall off his head”… it wasn’t much to worry about. With an apple on his head, how much movement could he make? At most, he could shrink his neck or move a few centimeters to the side.

“Alright! Watch my first dart!” Feng Bujue raised his elbow high, exerted force with his wrist, and threw a dart…

For a moment, he felt like he had already won a round.

However…

“Ha!” Just as Brother Jue threw the dart, Yang, who had an apple on his head, shouted violently, stretching and shrinking his neck.

In an instant… The apple flew straight up, and Yang’s body sank down as his neck retracted, assuming a horse stance.

A second later, Feng Bujue’s dart flew between the apple and Yang’s head, hitting nothing.

After the dart passed, Yang straightened up again, catching the apple with the top of his head.

Of course, we all know… the surface of an apple is uneven, and the top of a person’s head is not a flat surface, so when the surfaces of these two objects come into contact, the apple will inevitably roll out in a certain direction. Normally… the apple would still fall to the ground.

But… Yang could use his spring-like neck, combined with his bizarre movements and sharp micro-adjustments of his head… to restabilize the apple in two seconds.

“Hmph, you think you can hit the apple on my head with just this level of skill?” After stabilizing himself, Yang cast a contemptuous look at Feng Bujue and muttered in a rather disdainful tone.

“Hey…” Brother Jue was deeply shocked, and he felt his heart was greatly impacted and hurt. “Are you kidding me? Are you serious! This is unscientific…”

“This is indeed not science.” Yang revealed a profound expression and solemnly replied, “This is a technique, a technique that has been tempered, researched, and honed through countless trials.”

“You’ve been focusing on heading apples for thirty years!” Feng Bujue shouted. “Where is the most basic trust between people?!”

“Heh… now you know the profundity of the dart-apple world, young man.” At this moment, Shooter walked over from the side, raised his head, and looked down at Brother Jue as he spoke.

“Why has your way of addressing me suddenly become Japanese-style… didn’t you call me young man before…” Feng Bujue really couldn’t suppress the desire to complain. “Speaking of which, what is the ‘dart-apple world’? Is it a forbidden domain known only to you two…”

“Never mind…” Shooter ignored Brother Jue’s words and picked up his first dart. “I’ll just have to show you… what the difference is between a true ‘darter’ and you.”

Feng Bujue heard another chuunibyou-filled term, and he replied with squinted eyes, “Are you sure this messed-up setting wasn’t just made up on the spot…”

“Watch the dart!” Shooter shouted, and with a set of steps like an old lady dancing Yangge, he took a false step and flicked his wrist to attack.

Swish—tch tch tch—

In that instant, the tiny dart seemed to transform into a nimble poisonous snake, its surroundings vaguely glowing with a copper color.

Accompanied by the sound of the wind breaking, the dart drew an arc in the air, flying towards the apple on Yang’s head.

And Yang… was not to be outdone. He spun around at super speed in place, giving the apple itself a spin, then retracted his body, supported himself with one hand, and reversed the apple back up at the moment it began to fall due to gravity.

So… the apple also flew out in an arc, and a very high parabola, as if drawing a "0" in the sky, and finally flying back to Yang's head.

Pa—

Two seconds later, the dart stuck in the wall. And the apple, still hadn't fallen.

It turned out… although this dart didn’t hit the apple directly, the dart needle had brushed against the skin, which changed the apple’s rotation frequency and angle, and therefore, the trajectory of its fall also changed accordingly.

Seeing this change, Yang’s reaction was incredibly swift…

He immediately supported himself with both hands, performing a clean Thomas flair, forcibly shifting his center of gravity. The next second, after laterally retracting by half a meter, he once again successfully caught the apple with his head.

However… this time, a strand of cold sweat flowed down his bald head.

“Hehehe…” Shooter didn’t show any disappointment despite missing, on the contrary, he smiled. “Old buddy, you’re still so at ease when facing my ‘Whirling Serpent Dart’…”

Yang responded to the other party with a look of mutual appreciation, and said with a straight face, “Likewise, you’re the only one who can force me to use the ‘Thomas Flair Apple-Catching Technique’…”

“Are these two messing with me…” Feng Bujue’s mouth twitched, he roared in his heart. “‘Whirling Serpent Dart,’ what the hell is that… please go back to the Prince of Tennis set! And don’t say ‘Thomas Flair Apple-Catching Technique’… this kind of term is simply an insult to all special move names… it’s mental pollution, isn’t it?”

“Alright, Dave, it’s your turn again.” After throwing a dart, Shooter sat back on the stool at the bar. “You should already know how this game is played now, right? Then show us some real skills.”

“Show you my ass…” Feng Bujue was cursing inwardly, “I really want to find eighteen bald strong men with folding chairs to smack you…”

Annoying as it was, the game had already started, and he had to play it to the end.

Therefore, he still silently raised his second dart…