Capítulo 4: Chapter 4: Shooting Practice
In the afternoon, Angela Lopez took over driving for their patrol. After Jack proposed trading daily lunches for an hour of shooting practice after work, she readily agreed. She also told Jack to call her Angela from now on instead of Officer Lopez.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jack opened his system interface to check new notifications. Their successful arrest that morning had earned him 5 experience points.
From the graduation ceremony, he had received two comprehensive ability medals and the reward for officially becoming a police officer, totaling 4 system coins. Combined with the 2 coins he had saved during the academy, he had accumulated 6 coins. However, he had impulsively spent 5 coins upgrading his healing skill to proficient, leaving him with only 1 coin and 45 experience points.
Jack realized that even after graduating from rookie status, a regular patrol officer's daily work involved mostly trivial matters. This realization strengthened his desire to involve himself in major plotlines.
Arresting or killing dangerous criminals would surely yield more experience than apprehending a couple of lesbians, right?
Jack also had a plan for using his system coins. After graduating from the police academy, both his mental and physical attributes had increased to 19 points.
The benefits of these attributes were becoming increasingly apparent. The more he focused on studying or training, the faster his mental strength grew. Conversely, improved mental strength greatly enhanced his learning and training efficiency.
Physical attributes were even more straightforward. Initially, Jack's physical attribute was only 8 points. As he engaged in regular exercise and improved his diet, surpassing 10 points resulted in his mild nearsightedness disappearing and various minor ailments caused by bad habits vanishing as well.
Joining the police academy and learning new combat techniques, while secretly using healing to recover from muscle fatigue, allowed his physical attribute to increase rapidly, eventually matching his mental attribute.
Now, both attributes had been stuck at 19 for a while. Jack speculated that reaching 20 would bring new surprises. However, increasing these attributes was costly—each point below 20 required 2 system coins.
This was why Jack proposed the lunch-for-shooting-practice trade with Angela. Until he accumulated 4 system coins to boost both attributes to 20, he needed to improve his skills through diligent practice.
Being a police officer in Los Angeles, competent skills in handgun and rifle shooting were essential.
"Let me see your shooting skills first," Angela said after work, bringing Jack to the police station's underground shooting range.
Jack retrieved the department-issued Glock 22 from his holster, donned protective goggles and earmuffs, assumed a proper stance, and emptied the magazine into a fixed target 10 meters away.
"So, what exactly do you need me to teach you?" Angela asked, examining the target paper filled with tightly grouped bullet holes around the center.
"At least half the officers here don't shoot as well as you."
Jack quickly explained, "Hannah says my shooting skills are good for the range but inadequate for real-life scenarios. I want to perform better when facing armed criminals."
Angela nodded. "I understand what you need. I can train you, but you must realize that until you fire your first shot in a real situation, you can't imagine what you'll face."
"Now, forget everything your academy instructors taught you. Ditch the earmuffs and goggles, and let's start practicing."
By 6:30 PM, when Jack drove his newly bought used Chevrolet back to Hannah's place, his hearing had not fully recovered. Though the Glock wasn't exceptionally loud, firing five magazines in the echoing underground range left him dazed. After all, the standard Glock magazine held 15 rounds.
However, it was a productive day. Jack was confident that mastering the essence of American quick-draw shooting would elevate his handgun skills to proficient.
Entering the house, Jack found Hannah lounging on the couch, her long legs bare, wearing only a T-shirt that reached her knees, and munching on chips while watching TV.
Seeing Jack, Hannah tossed the chips aside, shrieked, and jumped onto his back.
"I'm starving! Make sweet and sour ribs and mapo tofu."
Jack had to admit that Hannah, often hanging on him like a human weight, contributed significantly to his rapid physical growth.
This farm girl from Texas, ever since meeting Jack through Zoe, treated him like a rare treasure, always hanging around him like a lioness eyeing a lion king.
As their interactions increased, she became more comfortable with Jack. After an incident during sit-ups where they had some physical contact, she became increasingly bold and affectionate.
Initially, Jack thought she was just an open girl and intended to keep his distance. However, one day Zoe curiously asked how he managed to get close to Hannah, knowing that Hannah had mild androphobia. She would always wash her hands vigorously after any contact with male suspects or colleagues.
Jack was surprised and tentatively asked Hannah about it. She casually attributed it to past experiences. Given Americans' extreme sensitivity to personal privacy, he didn't press further.
Thus, their peculiar relationship continued. Hannah ignored the feelings between Jack and Zoe, seizing any chance to be close to Jack. Zoe, before confessing her feelings to Jack, also ignored Hannah's advances. Jack, caught in the middle, found the situation both painful and pleasurable.
After 40 minutes, dinner was ready. Hannah, eating and smiling like a cat who caught a canary, had invested in a closed kitchen, a new stove, an exhaust hood, and a luxurious Chinese-made fridge just for Jack's daily three meals.
"Want to join me at the bar tonight? John, Lucy, and I are meeting up," Jack asked after putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Sure, I'll drive," Hannah replied happily, grabbing her car keys and dragging Jack out the door.
Hannah's car was quite unique—a yellow and white-striped Mustang, a classic American muscle car.
They arrived at the bar and found John and Lucy already there.
"John, you don't look too good."
Jack grabbed four Budweisers from the bar and handed them out, showing concern for John.
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