Chapter 3: Chapter 03 Decapitation Strike?
Arthur crawled on the ground, grinding his teeth, preparing to collect weapons. After Disassembling them into skill books, he aimed to improve his marksmanship and take down that darn sniper.
However, as soon as he said "Extract," twelve more books and a Battle Soul appeared beside him.
Right at this moment, he was crawling behind a soldier who noticed the sudden change and swiftly turned to look…
The moment the opponent turned, it seemed to slow down tremendously.
Arthur's forehead was sweating profusely. How could he explain these twelve books to the soldier?
"Hey, buddy, even in the midst of a war, we can't forget to study. After all, knowledge is the ladder to human progress!"
This guy must be crazy, right?
Knowledge might be a ladder to human progress, but wasn't it more crucial to open fire a couple more times rather than flaunting twelve books on the battlefield?
Moreover, there was no way to explain the Battle Soul. Should he tell the soldier that it was a new type of smoke grenade he had been researching lately?
But then what if the guy asks him to demonstrate?
There's a saying that goes, necessity is the mother of invention. At this moment, Arthur was forced to use his wits, or you could say, he was a cornered dog.
He quickly thought up an order in his mind, "Collect!"
If you could extract, could you also collect?
In an instant, Arthur was completely at a loss, so he could only take a gamble.
The twelve books and the Battle Soul instantly vanished, and the soldier stared at Arthur in the next second.
Arthur, with his heart still racing, put on a friendly yet awkward smile when he faced the soldier.
The soldier, in a daze, looked at Arthur. At this moment, Arthur was crawling and actually quite far from the soldier.
But the soldier, who wouldn't have noticed otherwise, suddenly covered his buttocks subconsciously.
Then, his expression began to turn despairing.
"Don't be hopeless!" Arthur felt like he was the one who should be in despair. What had this guy been through to give him such a hopeless look?
The next moment, a bullet suddenly pierced through the soldier's forehead.
The soldier's lifeless body fell in front of Arthur, with the expression of despair still visible. Yet, no one knew that his despair wasn't solely due to death.
Arthur had no idea what to say in this situation. Was this his fault?
Of course, he couldn't bear this responsibility. It was all the fault of the system. Or no, it was the fault of war!
Arthur took a deep breath, closed the soldier's eyes, and reminded himself: this is war!
Nothing was more straightforward, more conducive to personal growth, than the scenes before him.
The sight of blood, exposed before everyone. People who were lively and energetic just moments ago had turned into lifeless corpses in the blink of an eye. All that remained was the expression of despair on their faces…
Thinking up to this point, Arthur quickly stopped. He was finding it difficult to confront the concept of despair.
Then, he took the soldier's gun.
…
…
Due to the blind extraction earlier, Arthur became extremely cautious in the journey of collecting weapons afterward.
To avoid drawing attention to himself, he had to be cautious of the comrades around him who might appear and disappear at any moment.
Moreover, in order to survive, he had to pay attention to bullets, shells, and shrapnel flying from the opposite side…
Multi-tasking didn't even begin to describe it.
Most of the time, Arthur was Disassembling one weapon while covertly extracting and slapping one book at a time.
Time passed with every ticking second. While the enemy had launched a surprise attack, the soldiers on their side displayed remarkable resilience.
The battlefield remained chaotic, filled with all sorts of sounds, but what was needed most was ammunition and the occasional medical personnel call.
Arthur mingled with the crowd, keeping a low profile. He picked up a gun, disassembled it, and continued. His actions were swift, and hardly anyone noticed him.
Then, he discreetly touched or more precisely slapped more books.
Feeling that he was constantly becoming stronger, Arthur was content. He felt like he now had a glimmer of hope to survive.
As long as he kept disassembling weapons, he believed he could endure even a world war. That's right, just enduring it… At least, that was what Arthur thought at the moment.
However, soon enough, the first dose of reality came crashing in.
[Announcement!]
[Equipment disassembled successfully!]
[Beginner Rifle Shooting Experience *10]
[Damaged Battle Soul]
[Disassemble experience +1]
[Disassembler experience is full. It is now upgrading! The Disassemble function is not available during the upgrade process. The Extract function can be used normally.]
[Disassembler upgrading…]
[Equipment disassembled successfully. Would you like to extract at once?]
Arthur was struck dumb by this unexpected turn of events. This thing… could actually be upgraded?
To be honest, he hadn't had the time to thoroughly study his Disassembler. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the roaring of fighter planes overhead made him tense, fearing the battlefield would be razed at any moment.
Under these circumstances, Arthur hadn't been in the mood to explore other functions of his golden finger besides Disassemble.
Now he felt powerless. However, as he looked at nearly a hundred skill books in the Disassembler's space, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.
For now… this should be sufficient.
And then… the second dose of reality arrived. Just as Arthur felt that his marksmanship was getting better, a prompt slapped him in the face once again.
[Beginner Rifle Shooting Skill upgrade!]
[All Beginner Rifle Shooting Experience is being combined into Intermediate Rifle Shooting Experience!]
At the same time, the more than fifty remaining skill books were reduced to… thirty-two? However, thirty of them were all Beginner Rifle Close-Combat Experience!
In other words… he only had two Intermediate Rifle Shooting Experience books left.
And he had no idea when the Disassembler's upgrade would be complete!
Historical experience and the lessons from novels told us that system upgrades… there wasn't a single one that was completed in a second!
"Am I going to die!?" Arthur's eyes were filled with confusion.
Then, he made up his mind, red-eyed, to find that sniper who had been targeting him before and take revenge!
As they say, even when a person dies, they'll go down fighting, and "undying" will last for countless years!
At this moment, Arthur had given up on everything. Since he had crossed over, there was no intention of returning alive.
So what if it was a battlefield? Even if he went crazy, he would still take them down in a pool of blood!
But just as he was about to go berserk, a soldier rushed up to him and said, "You, come with me!"
Arthur was baffled, wondering who this guy was. He wasn't in a good mood and was ready to kick him, but he heard the soldier say, "We need to leave this area!"
Without any hesitation, Arthur followed the soldier. He had no intention of going crazy or seeking revenge anymore. Who wanted to die?
After passing through the trenches not far from their location, they found two men and a woman waiting there.
A man with the rank of a Sergeant said to Arthur, "We're about to carry out a mission that requires a Sharpshooter. I've been observing you for a long time, and you're the person we need. We're leaving now, and you'll get the mission details on the way!"
Arthur didn't ask any questions. As long as he could leave this place, any mission was fine!
The group moved out in a circular formation, departing from the main battlefield. It was hard to spot any signs of the enemy here.
The Sergeant then explained the objective of this Mission, "We're about to execute a Decapitation Strike! Special Agent Carter will lead us directly into the enemy's rear. We're going to turn the tide and send the enemy, who launched this surprise attack, home in defeat! Soldiers, we don't have much time. Based on the situation of both sides, our position is expected to collapse entirely by midnight tonight. Victory or defeat lies with us!!!"
Arthur was flabbergasted. What happened to the saying that there's always a way out?
All he wanted to ask now was whether it was too late to leave. He still had some scores to settle!
...
Chapter 4: Chapter 04 Sniper’s Life and Death!
Arthur couldn't believe how crazy his life had become.
Just over an hour ago, he was your typical otaku, sitting at home, watching movies, and playing video games.
And now… he had become a member of the US soldier Decapitation squad on the battlefield of World War II? Who could tell him how this glamorous transformation had been achieved?
So, it seemed that one shouldn't take lightly this "crossed over" business!
Do you think you can have a perfect life? In reality, your life might become a complete mess because of crossing over!
At this moment, Arthur was largely pessimistic.
Mainly because the experiences from movies and lessons from novels were silently conveying a message: Decapitation operations like this are mostly one-way journeys!
Moreover, on their side, they had only… five people!
Just as Arthur thought about this, the sound of gunfire erupted.
Five people… became four!
"Lie down, take cover! We've got a sniper!"
"Hide behind those rocks!"
"Where is he?"
As the shouts of his teammates filled the air, Arthur had already hit the ground.
His eyes observed the surrounding environment through the gaps in the grass. The experiences from movies and novels had taught Arthur that gunshots could help estimate the general direction of the enemy, and the glare from a sniper scope could be used to precisely locate the enemy.
Then… he didn't see anything at all!
"Do we have a sniper?" he whispered.
"Yes," The sergeant replied in a hushed tone, "But he just died!"
"…" Arthur.
At long distances, the only one who could contend with a sniper was another sniper. And their one and only hope… was gone!?
"Arthur!" A woman's voice suddenly reached his ears, and Arthur turned his head to see Agent Carter, the special agent, standing right next to him.
Huh? Wait a minute! What did she just call him? Arthur?
"If you can pinpoint the enemy's location, do you have confidence in making a headshot?" Agent Carter asked, her question direct and resolute for some reason.
So, Arthur's response was equally cautious as he pondered, "Within 500 meters, I'm confident of a headshot. At 600 meters… 70% certainty! At 700 meters, it drops to 50%. At 800 meters, the effective range of my rifle is 730 meters. If the enemy is beyond 800 meters… it would depend on a different shooting technique!"
"What kind of technique?" Agent Carter asked.
"A 'go-with-the-flow' technique!"
"What does that mean?" Agent Carter was puzzled. She had never heard of such a shooting technique.
"It means… whether I can hit the target, or where I hit, it all depends on the will of God!"
"That's enough!" Agent Carter smiled and said, "Arthur, I take back what I said earlier; you're a very skilled soldier!"
Huh? What did she mean by taking back what she said? We've only just met, and we've only said a few words, right? This taking back what she said makes me quite uneasy!
Arthur thought quickly. Based on the typical pattern of being "crossed over," if he hadn't been reincarnated, he had most likely directly replaced someone else. Moreover, if it were reincarnation, it should come with inheriting memories.
But he had no such memories, so the latter seemed more likely. Had he taken on another person's life? And this person's name was Arthur? Were they acquainted with Agent Carter, the special agent?
Arthur felt that things were about to get complicated.
However, right as he was contemplating this, Agent Carter did something that left him dumbfounded.
"Stay observant!" The moment these words reached Arthur's ears, Agent Carter, with an acrobatic leap, rolled away in another direction.
Bang!!!
The crisp sound of a gunshot almost coincided with her movement, and a splash of blood burst into the air.
Arthur needed only a fraction of a second to realize Agent Carter's intention.
Taking a deep breath, he paid no attention to Agent Carter's life or death and locked his gaze in the direction from which the gunshot had come.
The sound of Agent Carter landing nearby and the sergeant's calls were all naturally blocked out.
In that instant, Arthur entered an unprecedented state of focus.
He raised his M1 Garand rifle, and in the next moment, he whispered, "I've spotted you!"
Arthur took another deep breath. "The distance… about 750 meters!"
The effective range of the M1 Garand rifle was 730 meters, so the additional 20 meters would have to rely on fate.
In his mind, all the knowledge about rifle shooting, including types and characteristics, raced through his thoughts.
Suddenly, he took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.
Bang!!!
The slightly deeper gunshot sounded, and almost simultaneously, a streak of crimson passed through his line of sight.
On the battlefield, life and death hinged on a split second.
Arthur took another deep breath, his eyes slightly fatigued. This level of intense concentration, combined with his upgraded Battle Soul-enhanced physical condition, allowed him to spot the hidden sniper at nearly 800 meters away.
Even if the enemy had remained concealed within the foliage the entire time, his enhanced physique would have made it difficult to locate the enemy.
There were too many elements of chance involved. In the same circumstances, Arthur didn't even know if he could replicate the shot he had just taken.
But there was no time to celebrate. He hurried over to where Agent Carter, the special agent, was.
To his surprise, he found her crouched on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Just grazed me a bit. Quick, get down! We don't know if there's another sniper hiding nearby. You're too exposed like this!" Agent Carter whispered.
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. He then heard the sergeant not far away exclaim, "Well done, soldier! You're like a savior sent by God to rescue us!"
Agent Carter whispered, "The danger isn't over; everyone should be cautious."
Then she turned to Arthur. "You've truly impressed me with your performance!"
"I thought you took the risk because you were confident," Arthur said, looking at Agent Carter in surprise.
Agent Carter smiled faintly. "If there was confidence, it wouldn't be a risk. In the situation we just faced, we had no other choice."
Arthur was at a loss for words. Was this woman… insane? Nevertheless, he felt a slight urge to laugh.
A woman so daring on the battlefield was something he had never encountered in his original world, within his original circle of life. But… why did Agent Carter, the special agent, seem so familiar?
This thought emerged just as Agent Carter spoke, sending a shiver down Arthur's spine. "Have you ever heard of the 'Super Soldier Plan'?"
...
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