A moment later, Wang He arrived at the convenience store entrance, nervously pushed open the glass door, and gripped the handle of the arm shield tightly with his right hand.
Sure enough, just like a week ago, the door to the innermost storage compartment of the convenience store was being pushed outwards repeatedly, as if some terrifying creature inside was ramming against the door.
The only thing that could prevent the door from being forced open was a chain wrapped around the doorknob. It was covered in rust, and rust chips kept falling off as the door shook, making it look like it could break at any moment.
Moreover, as the monster rammed into it, the door panel gradually developed dents and began to deform severely. Keep in mind that the warehouse door panel was made of iron, and an ordinary person might not be able to smash it like this even with a hammer.
Wang He couldn't help but swallow hard; he could almost feel the terrifying aura emanating from the doorway.
He mustered his courage and approached the warehouse door, using his fire axe to slowly pry open the chain wrapped around the doorknob, while simultaneously tensing his leg muscles.
If he sees a monster and realizes that his chances of winning are slim, he will run away without hesitation.
The chains weren't tightly wrapped; Wang He used a fire axe to wrap them around a few times and untied them.
With a crash, the chain fell to the ground.
In an instant, the iron gate was smashed open, and a strong, nauseating stench of rust rushed out, as if it were a mixture of rust and putrid blood.
Having prepared in advance, Wang He sprinted to the outside of the convenience store and hid behind cover.
At the same time, he peered through the gap, keeping a close eye on what was happening inside the convenience store.
Thump!
Thump!
With a series of thuds as heavy objects hit the ground, a large ghoul, about two meters tall, slowly emerged from the warehouse.
At the same time, a message appeared above the head of the large ghoul.
Crimson Armor
[Level: Tier 2]
[Skill: Blood Armor]
[Description: A large ghoul evolved from being contaminated by source blood. It moves slowly but possesses considerable strength. It has low-level source blood talent and a certain degree of intelligence.]
"Crimson Armor?" Wang He squinted as he read the information, feeling a surge of shock.
Source Blood Contamination, Source Blood Talent—these names don't sound like things that should exist in this world.
Could this be more than just a future apocalypse; it be an alien world with some kind of extraordinary energy?
Moreover, this large ghoul looked significantly stronger than the one in the school.
Both in terms of strength and speed, it is an enhanced version of that ghoul.
Without a doubt, with Wang He's current strength, he is absolutely unable to defeat it. At present, running away seems to be his only option.
But before Wang He could take the next step, a sudden change occurred.
roar!!
The large ghoul seemed extremely angry, letting out a terrifying roar that tore through the air, causing Wang He to cover his ears.
The next moment, an even more horrifying scene unfolded. A red light suddenly flashed past, and the large ghoul, like a punctured blood sac, suddenly gushed out a massive amount of blood.
The blood was not a vibrant crimson; in the dim light, it appeared a deep, dark color. It seemed alive, frantically swirling around the ghoul's deformed and terrifying body, forming a small, blood-red tornado.
The blood writhed and clung to the ghoul's body, solidifying in the blink of an eye into a hideous suit of armor!
The surface of the Blood Armor lacks the cold, hard luster of metal; instead, it has a texture similar to blood scabs that haven't fully solidified, but its edges are sharp enough to leave no doubt about its combat effectiveness.
Moreover, a blade made of blood, about one meter long, appeared in its hand.
Once the armor was complete, an even more terrifying aura emanated from it. It angrily shattered the glass, and countless shards of glass, sharp enough to cut through skin, flew towards Wang He.
He immediately raised his arm shield and held it in front of his cheek.
It deflected most of the glass shards, but some still left a few bloody marks on his face.
"So... this is the meaning of the Crimson Armor." Wang He's pupils contracted sharply in terror.
He could sense that the ghoul's power had increased significantly after condensing its blood armor, and this blood armor should greatly enhance an individual's combat strength.
The intense, inhuman pressure caused his body to tremble violently.
You see, when a person is in extreme fear, they can barely control their body. He can't move his legs at all right now.
But Wang He knew that if he didn't run now, death would be his only fate. Driven by fear, he gritted his teeth, threw aside the fire axe, and sprinted towards the school.
At the same time, the roar and running sounds of the crimson armored figure came from behind, clearly indicating that it had spotted Wang He and was charging forward.
However, due to its excessively heavy body, no matter how it charged, the distance between it and Wang He grew further and further.
Wang He used almost all his strength to run frantically towards the school, his heart pounding in his chest. He ran for two miles before finally stopping, panting heavily.
"Let's stop exploring here for today." He felt a slight stinging sensation on his face. When he touched it, he could feel a trace of still warm blood. It was from the cuts made by the glass earlier. There were about three or four cuts, not deep, but they would probably leave scars for one to two weeks.
His physical and mental strength had been severely depleted from the frantic run, and he certainly wouldn't be able to continue exploring today.
After resting for a while, Wang He returned to his dormitory and fell asleep on his bed, exhausted.
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I don't know how much time later,
My phone alarm went off.
Wang He slowly opened his eyes and found that he had returned to the real world.
He secretly concluded to himself—it seems that once he falls asleep, he will automatically return to the real world.
This setting is quite similar to that of "Coraline".
However, the parallel world in "Coraline" is controlled by a single master.
Could there also be a "master" controlling the world behind the mirror?
As Wang He pondered this, he sat up in bed.
But he suddenly couldn't help but hiss softly.
He found that all the muscles in his body were extremely sore, especially the muscles in his legs, which felt as if they had just finished a high-intensity workout.
Clearly, the escape last night was too strenuous, and the continuous anaerobic exercise for several minutes caused damage to the muscle fibers and an accumulation of too much lactic acid.
It's not a muscle strain, but it will probably take two or three days to allow the muscle fibers to repair themselves.
However, Wang He's face showed no sign of frustration or disappointment.
Instead, it was filled with excitement.
Having witnessed the power of the Crimson Armor, he became even more certain that the Mirror World would change his life.
Chapter 12 Bow and Arrow
According to Wang He's guess, as long as he kills the monster in the mirror world, he can obtain the monster's ability. Similarly, as long as he can find a way to kill the Crimson Armor, he can obtain the Blood Armor skill.
Clearly, this is an enhancement skill that can significantly enhance various abilities.
If he could acquire this skill, he could kill monsters more easily and obtain their spirits—he named the ghostly blue specks that floated out after the death of the ghouls "spirits."
By absorbing these spiritual essences, one can make their physical abilities stronger and stronger, even surpassing human limits.
Although the skills he acquired may be of little use in a society governed by the rule of law, possessing physical abilities that surpass human limits can absolutely allow one to transcend social classes.
Putting aside everything else, just participating in the Olympics, winning a gold medal in a sport, and getting a few endorsements can earn you more money than many people could earn in a lifetime of working.
Now, he only has one problem to solve: how to kill the Crimson Armor.
Wang He pondered for a moment, thinking, "Melee weapons are still too limiting. To avoid injury and cause more effective damage, we must get a set of ranged attack equipment."
There's a saying online that humans' unarmed combat ability is actually not low in nature, because humans have considerable endurance and strength, and if the angle is right, they can easily subdue a 50-kilogram wolf.
The reason why humans fear wolves is because humans always want to kill them without taking any damage.
It's important to know that injuries are very common in nature. Even cheetahs, predators, can sometimes have their bellies ripped open by antelopes when they try to hunt them.
With enough courage and a willingness to fight, coupled with some hunting skills, humans could easily defeat most creatures on Earth; otherwise, humanity would not have been able to develop to its current state.
Ultimately, what has brought humanity to where it is today is not unarmed combat ability, but rather the skill in using tools.
Wang He opened his phone and searched for bows and arrows on short video platforms. For this kind of long-range cold weapon, most people would immediately think of a composite bow.
As the most legal and powerful melee weapon currently available, the composite bow is naturally the primary choice for killing enemies at long range.
However, even the most basic entry-level compound bows nowadays cost over four figures.
Because of the complex structure of compound bows, the quality requirements for parts and components are higher. If substandard parts are chosen, the bow is likely to break during shooting.
In comparison, competition recurve bows, with their relatively simpler structure, are much cheaper, with entry-level models available for as low as three or four hundred yuan, and the quality is quite good. However, their power is far inferior to that of compound bows. At the same draw weight, compound bows can produce almost twice the arrow speed and power.
Other American hunting bows and traditional bows are not recommended. While these are also inexpensive, their design is too traditional, making it impossible to install professional sights, resulting in insufficient accuracy and requiring extensive training to improve precision. Compound bows and recurve bows, on the other hand, can achieve the same level of accuracy through short-term training as other bow types, thanks to the installation of professional sights and other accessories.
Besides the high price, another reason why Wang He did not choose a compound bow was that it was not practical for actual combat.
While the compound bow boasts exceptional accuracy and power, its biggest drawback is the less-than-smooth operation of nocking and aiming. Its labor-saving pulley system and eccentric wheel design are suitable for prolonged aiming and sniping after the bow is fully drawn, but not for rapid fire. If, like last night, one suddenly encounters a ghoul, the complex construction of the compound bow cannot guarantee that the arrow will be nocked and fired within seconds.
Although there are composite bows for hunting, they only slightly balance portability and nocking speed while ensuring extreme accuracy and power. Overall, they are still more inclined to "defense". Their main purpose is to ambush a resting prey from behind cover in a stable position and kill it with one shot.
The other three types of bows either have simpler arrow rests or simply place the arrow directly on the web of the hand, which is more conducive to rapid shooting in case of sudden enemy attacks and to bumpy conditions similar to mounted archery.
For example, Marvel's superhero Hawkeye uses an American hunting bow, often simply called a "hunting bow." Hawkeye is a typical archer character who excels at sudden encounters. In most of the movies, Hawkeye can go from encountering an enemy to firing an arrow in less than a second, a feat that would be far impossible with a compound bow.
In this kind of actual combat, what is more important is the overall fluidity and speed with which you draw an arrow from your quiver and fire it quickly when you encounter a sudden danger; accuracy is secondary.
As an archer, Hawkeye naturally underwent a long period of training to achieve near 100% accuracy with this traditionally shaped bow.
From this perspective, the advanced version of the American Hunter, the short bow type among competitive recurve bows, is currently the most suitable for Wang He. The competitive recurve bow adds a sight to the American Hunter's design and can be equipped with clickers, stabilizers, and other competition-use accessories to improve accuracy in special situations, taking into account both rate of fire and accuracy. Using firearms as an analogy, this bow is like a sniper rifle, capable of both long-range sniping and close-range hip-fire.
But no matter how well you understand the theory, it's not as good as putting it into practice.
Before buying a bow and arrow, he should first go to an archery range for practice and consult with professionals before considering what bow, arrowheads, and accessories to customize. Technical sports like this are often highly specialized; the materials and parameters of the bows used for hunting and competitions are almost completely different, and sometimes even subtle improvements in technique can significantly increase accuracy.
If you buy a bow and go into battle without any preparation, you may end up being held back instead of killing the enemy.
Moreover, he doesn't have much money right now and can't afford to squander it. After buying the riot gear and arm shield last time, he only has three thousand yuan left in his bank account. In addition, he has given up doing part-time work, so a bow costing more than a thousand yuan is an almost unbearable expense for him.
There was actually a professional archer in Wang He's dormitory. He was a short boy named Lü Wuyi, who shared a bed with Li Xing.
This kid has a very unique name. It's said that his father was very fond of martial arts, so he was given such an unusual name. He said that he was an archery prodigy for a period of time in high school, but later he apparently had to stop training in archery due to a shoulder injury and switched to a regular student.
He planned to wait until Lü Wuyi woke up before asking about the situation. For now, Wang He planned to go downstairs and get some food to replenish his energy. After a night of activity, he was already dizzy with hunger.
For some reason, Wang He found that he was getting hungry faster lately. In the past, he could eat three meals a day for ten yuan each.
But now, with the same amount of food, I need at least five meals a day, and I get hungry again soon after eating.
After getting out of bed, Wang He first washed up in the bathroom.
He stood in front of the sink, picked up his toothbrush, squeezed on some toothpaste, wet it a little, and began brushing his teeth.
Through the mirror of the sink, you can see three or four inconspicuous scars on his left cheek. Overnight, the scars have scabbed over and begun to heal, so they are unlikely to be noticed. Even if they are noticed, most people would just assume they are accidental cuts.
After washing up, he returned to his seat, took out a clean set of clothes from the cabinet, and prepared to change.
The clothes I was wearing last night were soaked with sweat and smelled terrible.
He also checked the riot gear and arm shield, as he had specifically taken them off and put them back in his backpack before going to bed.
So when he returned to the real world, the condition of these equipment was refreshed, and the scratches and wear that were originally left on them had disappeared.
This proves once again that the state of non-personally attached items is not synchronized when entering or leaving the mirror world.
However, just as he took off his shirt and was about to put on a clean T-shirt, he suddenly noticed that his posture seemed to have changed.
Due to a long period of lack of exercise, he used to have some excess fat on his stomach, but the ribs on his chest were visible, indicating a somewhat unhealthy physique.
Now, his ribs are covered by a thin layer of muscle, and the excess fat is stretched out by the muscle, making him look less flabby. Although he still looks thin overall, he can be considered very healthy. When he bends his arm, you can even see some definition in his biceps and triceps.
Wang He looked down at his body and was overjoyed. "It wasn't my imagination. It seems that my physical attributes have indeed been enhanced by the spiritual energy."
He didn't think that just a few minutes of strenuous exercise last night could have caused such a big change in his physique.
If exercise were so effective, there wouldn't be so many thin and obese people in the world.
Clearly, his spirit had altered his physique, saving him the long process of training.
Looking back now, the faster recovery of my hand injury and the shorter duration of anemia in the previous week must have been partly due to this.
If you can continuously improve your physical fitness, then losing 200 milliliters of blood will cause you less and less damage.
If he can unleash his thrust skill multiple times in a row without threatening his life, then his margin for error in battle will be higher.
Wang He put on his clothes, went downstairs to the canteen, ordered five meat buns and a bowl of porridge, and sat down at the canteen's communal table to eat slowly.
Suddenly, my phone beeped with a message notification.
He took out his phone and realized it was a message from his counselor, Chen Ning.
The college has agreed to add an extra poverty grant for you. I've already submitted your application, and if all goes well, the grant should be issued in the next few days.
Thank you, advisor.
During this time, focus on recovering and don't force yourself to do any part-time work.
Okay, thank you for your concern.
Chen Ning seemed unaware that Wang He's hand injury had healed.
Wang He didn't offer an explanation, but simply thanked him. Then he began to think about how to make the best use of the subsidy.
According to his understanding, the poverty subsidy should be 2,000 yuan per semester.
If used to purchase equipment, it would be more than enough for him to buy a decent set of bows and arrows.
But Wang He naturally couldn't possibly spend all that money at once. Currently, his assets were still in a state of scarcity, so he had to be frugal with his spending.
In short, he suddenly had two thousand yuan more in available funds, which was definitely a great thing for him.
Upon receiving this good news, Wang He quickly finished his breakfast and then took a walk around the school.
I used a map app to circle the various anchor points I recorded in the mirror world last night.
Finally, it was discovered that the area in the mirror world was indeed a perfect square, with both its length and width exactly three kilometers.
Heading north, it leads to the Marxist Academy; heading east, it reaches the wall outside the Nanhu District Police Station; heading south, it leads to the entrance of a children's art training center; and heading west, it leads to the area below an office building in an industrial park.
In fact, this area is very vast, roughly the size of half a county. It would take a very long time to explore it on foot.
Wang He also scouted out some key buildings and facilities that might harbor monsters, familiarizing himself with the terrain. After wandering around for a while, he finally returned to his dormitory.
It was almost midnight. Lü Wuyi and her roommates had just woken up. Lü Wuyi was the first to get out of bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and go to the bathroom to urinate.
They seemed to have been playing mahjong too late last night, and they don't look very energetic today.
After urinating, Lü Wuyi stood in front of the sink and rinsed his mouth.
Wang He stepped closer and asked, "Brother Wu, are you still practicing archery?"
While brushing his teeth, Lü Wuyi mumbled, "I haven't practiced in ages, why are you asking?"
Wang He didn't hide anything and went straight to the point: "I'm thinking of trying out a recurve bow recently. Do you have any suitable beginner bow recommendations?"
"What? You're going to play with a recurve bow?" Lu Wuyi was so startled that he suddenly woke up and spat out the foam in his mouth.
It's perfectly normal for college students to have hobbies, but most people who can cultivate hobbies have some spare money, especially when it comes to hobbies like sports, which are sometimes called "little drugs."
Although running, cycling, and badminton are widely recognized as the three most addictive sports, the cost of archery is no less than that of these three sports, and may even be more extravagant.
Even setting aside the fact that a decent recurve bow and its accessories alone would cost at least four figures, expenses such as playing area, arrows, protective gear, and maintenance supplies are unavoidable.
Wang He was known as poor in the dormitory. It wasn't that he looked down on Wang He, but the expenses were indeed too high and not appropriate.
Instead of engaging in a sport that demands a lot of equipment, he might as well go for a run. At least a pair of entry-level running shoes can be had for a couple hundred yuan, and there aren't any other particularly necessary expenses. Archery, on the other hand, involves many unavoidable expenses; none of them can be omitted.
"Why did you suddenly want to play this?" Lü Wuyi filled a cup with tap water, rinsed off the remaining foam in his mouth, tore off a disposable face towel to wipe the corner of his mouth, and then turned around to ask.
"I just wanted to cultivate some hobbies; I'm so bored," Wang He said.
Lu Wuyi naturally didn't believe his nonsense. Anyone could be bored, but he couldn't be.
But after thinking about it, he said, "Forget it, don't bother buying a bow. Go to the archery range and try out some of their bows. Maybe you won't want to buy one after you've tried them."
Chapter 14 Twenty-five-pound recurve bow
As a skill-based sport, archery is quite difficult and requires specific terrain, so many people buy a bow and then leave it at home to gather dust.
Lu Wuyi had seen many such examples, so he didn't want Wang He to waste money as well. He simply took him to the archery range to experience it, and then they could decide whether to buy one.
"That works too," Wang He agreed with his idea.
Buying a bow without any prior knowledge does indeed carry some risk.
He doesn't even know if he has the talent for it yet. What if he buys it and finds out he can't even hit the target within ten meters? Then all that money would be wasted.
Even if he decides to buy a bow and arrow after completing his studies, it's not a bad thing to practice at the archery range now, since he is indeed pressed for time.
"Let's go, it's Saturday today, I'll take you out for some fun." Lü Wuyi changed his clothes and prepared to take Wang He out.
Anyway, he hadn't touched a bow and arrow in a long time, and he wanted to get back into the swing of things and reminisce about his high school training days.
Just as they pushed open the door to leave.
Li Xing suddenly peeked out from behind the bed curtains and asked, "Hey, are you two coming back later? Bring me some food when you do."
"No, he probably won't be back this afternoon," Wang He shook his head.
"Fine, fine." Li Xing looked helpless and had no choice but to get out of bed and wash up.
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"How did you get injured? You don't seem to have any obvious injuries."
On their way to find the archery range, Wang He and Lü Wuyi walked side by side on the street and chatted.
"My injury is a shoulder impingement caused by long-term shoulder strain." Lü Wuyi pointed to his right shoulder and explained, "My injury is not serious and does not affect my life, but it hurts when I exert force during exercise, which in turn affects the stability of my movements. If I continue to train, I may tear my rotator cuff and even affect my ability to take care of myself. That's why the coach asked me to leave the team. I still feel quite regretful now."
"What a pity, they must have put in a lot of effort to train," Wang He said, shaking his head.
In sports, even minor injuries, like the kind of pain that ordinary people don't notice in daily life, can lead to a significant decline in performance for athletes, or even force them to retire. This isn't because athletes are just pretty faces; quite the opposite, it's because athletes push their bodies to the limit, training their muscles to their fullest potential. Therefore, they have a much better understanding of their bodies and are more sensitive to wear and tear on their muscles and bones.
For example, when ordinary people carry heavy objects in their daily lives, they may not pay attention to whether their lumbar spine is bent or straight. Carrying heavy objects once or twice occasionally may not cause any problems. However, if you carry heavy objects for a long time, like a construction worker carrying bricks on a construction site, and you do a lot of repetitive carrying movements, you will develop various ailments after a few years of such work, such as lumbar disc herniation, knee injury, bursitis, and so on.
The reason why workers can lift very heavy objects with their thin bodies is this: in order to make a living, they do not carefully warm up, hone their movements, or exercise their muscles to protect their bones. Instead, they will carry heavier things at the cost of overdrawing their physical lifespan.
To them, these injuries may seem to have appeared suddenly one day, but in reality, they are injuries that have accumulated little by little due to long-term irregular labor. Every day before their injuries and illnesses flare up, their bodies are constantly groaning, but few people can notice. This is a common phenomenon of ordinary people being insensitive to their physical condition.
Conversely, athletes or people with a regular exercise routine will carefully squat down when lifting heavy objects, keeping their lumbar spine and pelvis in a neutral position, and lift the heavy objects with a correct posture. This allows the pressure to be better distributed to the muscles throughout the body, rather than being supported by the bones.
When they do this, they are often questioned by others.
Why be so careful when your muscles are already so strong?
But only professional athletes know that bones and joints are consumables. If they are not taken good care of, their professional lifespan will be very short, and it may even affect their ability to take care of themselves in their later years.
Furthermore, once a technique is honed to its extreme, even the slightest change in the body can have a significant impact, immediately reflecting in performance.
Moreover, the degree of regression is not small, so they can immediately detect even the slightest damage to their muscles and bones.
"Let's not dwell on these sad things. Let's find a good archery range." Lü Wuyi opened his phone and said, "I searched on Meituan and found three archery ranges within a ten-kilometer radius, but the photos of the venues all look so-so. What do you think?"
Wang He thought for a moment and said, "If you don't think it's suitable, then don't go for it. Let's choose an archery range with more professional equipment."
"Okay, but it might be a bit expensive. It's fine as long as you can afford it," Lü Wuyi reminded him.
"no problem."
Because Lü Wuyi knew a lot about this, Wang He entrusted him with the task of finding an archery range.
After a rigorous selection process, Lü Wuyi finally chose an archery base twelve kilometers away, named Black Feather Archery Base.
Unlike ordinary archery ranges or clubs, these bases are usually located in the suburbs or stadiums, with spacious enough grounds to easily train archery at 70 meters.
However, the price is also much higher than at an archery range. If they train for an entire afternoon, it would probably cost more than two hundred yuan per person. This is indeed a rather luxurious sport for Wang He.
To save time, Lü Wuyi took a taxi, which cost more than 20 yuan, and Wang He voluntarily paid the fare to him.
Upon arrival at their destination, the two paid to stand at the ten-meter target range and put on the protective gear provided by the base, namely finger guards, arm guards, and chest protectors, which prevented the bowstring from rebounding and injuring them.
When first touching a bow, due to insufficient proficiency in posture, training usually begins at a distance of five or ten meters. At this distance, it is difficult to miss the target unless there is a problem with the eyesight. Some talented people can even achieve a perfect score of ten at ten meters on their very first day of touching a bow.
However, at distances of 30 or 70 meters, the difficulty gradually increases because the arrow will gradually fall at a distance, meaning that you need to control the angle of elevation to adjust the landing point of the arrow.
If you attempt this distance without mastering the technique, you are likely to miss the target and hit other parts of the target. At best, you will wear down the arrow; at worst, you may accidentally damage other objects.
Wang He took a white recurve bow lying horizontally on the wooden shelf. The bow limbs were marked with the number 25 pounds in small black letters.
This means that it takes about 25 pounds of force to draw the bow to its full draw length.
It's worth mentioning here that not all bow weights are constant.
Some people have a small arm span and a short draw length. A 25-pound bow in their hands may only be able to be drawn to 20 pounds, and its power will be greatly reduced.
If it were someone with a long reach, their draw length would be more than five centimeters greater than that of an average person, and a 25-pound bow in their hands could very well be drawn to 35 pounds or even more than 40 pounds.
However, this causes significant damage to the bow limbs and can easily reduce their lifespan.
Along the way, Lü Wuyi had been explaining basic archery knowledge to Wang He, so he had a basic understanding of how to shoot an arrow. For example, not firing without aiming, proper backhand positioning, fingering for drawing the string, and the push and pull techniques. These are essential basics that must be known before shooting an arrow; otherwise, it could damage the equipment or even injure oneself.
There is also some basic knowledge about bow types. For example, the recurve bow used in archery ranges is usually called a bare bow because it does not have any accessories.
Professional recurve bows are typically fitted with specialized scopes, arrow rests, and stabilizers. This improves accuracy but significantly reduces rate of fire and portability. Furthermore, these accessories are very expensive, so archery ranges usually only display barebows, hunting bows, or traditional bows.
At this moment, Lü Wuyi also picked up a public light bow, preparing to demonstrate the movements to Wang He.
Seeing this, Wang He asked curiously:
"How can you shoot arrows with a shoulder injury?"
"Use a lower poundage, I just can't increase the poundage."
Lu Wuyi picked up a light bow with a draw weight of 25 pounds and tried to pull it.
After confirming that there were no problems, he took out an arrow, nocked it on the arrow rest, and pulled the bowstring back fully.
His movements were very standard, and the support from his front and back hands clearly showed that he had been training for a long time; his movements were very fluid.
With his back hand, he used a Mediterranean gesture to hold the fletching at the end of the arrow near his cheekbone, and carefully aimed at the target ten meters away.
The moment it was released, the arrow shot out and hit the center of the target with a "thud." Although it was slightly off-center, it was still a perfect ten.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Wang He couldn't help but exclaim.
Lu Wuyi's lips curled up, clearly pleased with the words. He waved his hand modestly and said, "It's only ten meters. With a few days of practice, you can also hit the bullseye every time."
"Come on, you give it a try."
"Hmm." Wang He gripped the bow handle tightly, drew an arrow, nocked it on the arrow rest, and tried to draw the bowstring like the recurve archers he had seen on television.
However, because he was unfamiliar with the force application technique, his posture when drawing the bowstring looked very awkward.
The shoulders were uneven, the front hand was crooked, and the back hand was not extended enough. The scapular retraction function was not used, and the bow was only drawn to about two-thirds of its maximum length.
In actual combat, not only would the action of drawing and shooting the arrow be unsmooth, but the power would also be greatly reduced; a 25-pound bow could only exert a maximum of 15 pounds of power.
"You're doing it wrong. Let me adjust your posture. You're holding on tight." Lü Wuyi walked over and directly helped Wang He adjust his posture. "Remember not to grip the bow handle too tightly. Imagine pushing forward. As the ancients said, 'Hold it firmly, as if holding an egg.' If you grip too tightly, the egg will break. Don't worry about the bow falling. If you hold it firmly, it won't fall."
After about a minute of adjustment, Wang He's posture finally looked a little more standard.
But at this moment, Lü Wuyi suddenly realized something. During the time he was helping Wang He adjust his posture, Wang He had maintained a full range of motion the entire time, and his arms hadn't trembled at all.
While 25 pounds isn't a heavy load—even a girl could manage it—maintaining that full tension for such a long time without shaking is quite challenging.
"You're pretty strong, you can actually pull for so long," Lü Wuyi said with some surprise.
Before his injury, his coach had made him train for consistency in his movements quite often, so he knew how difficult it was. Although they had mostly used bows weighing around 40 pounds, much heavier than this 25-pound bow, they were, after all, athletes with excellent physical abilities. In contrast, Wang He, in Lü Wuyi's memory, had always been somewhat malnourished, lacked strength, and was probably even weaker than the average person.
This performance has exceeded his expectations.
"It's normal. I do a lot of work, so my hands are stronger than the average person's," Wang He explained.
"Alright, my mom does have a stronger grip than me." Lü Wuyi didn't dwell on it any longer and instead said, "Try shooting an arrow first, and I'll explain how to use the sight later."
Wang He narrowed his eyes, released the bowman, and with a snap, the arrow struck the target. As expected, it only hit the seventh ring, still quite a distance from the tenth ring in the center.
But experiencing the feeling of the arrow leaving his hand, flying out, and instantly disappearing into the target, he suddenly felt a strange sense of exhilaration.
He couldn't explain why he felt so good; he just felt like he wanted to shoot an arrow at something even harder.
This sport does seem to be somewhat addictive.
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For the next half hour, Lü Wuyi kept adjusting his movements and teaching him techniques for generating power.
After the instruction was finished, Lü Wuyi went to practice alone on the target practice lane.
Wang He continued training alone for two hours, shooting about four hundred arrows, before his shoulders began to ache.
Although his physical fitness has improved, pulling like this for a long time still makes him a little tired.
What's encouraging is that his accuracy improved during training, from initially hitting the bullseye with scattered shots to later being able to hit the bullseye with six or seven out of ten arrows.
He even shot a few arrows on the 30-meter target track. Then he realized that his problem was very clear: his posture was not consistent enough and he had shot too few arrows, so he had not developed a feel for the shot.
Even though he carefully aimed each arrow at the target with the sight and adjusted his movements before each shot, the final landing points were still very scattered.
Archery is not a sport where simply aiming at a target guarantees a precise hit.
The different force of each arrow and the different force exerted by the archer will cause the arrow to fly in different places.
The sight is just an auxiliary tool. It can be adjusted up, down, left, and right based on the landing point of the previous arrow, so as to make it easier to shoot the next arrow at a fixed distance.
Chapter 16 Spirit Cloud
For example, at a distance of ten meters, the sight needs to be adjusted to a specific position. If the distance changes to thirty meters, the sight needs to be adjusted to another position.
In other words, the effectiveness of such specialized aiming mounts in actual combat is actually very limited.
In real combat, the enemy's position is always unpredictable. They cannot stand in a fixed position at ten, thirty, fifty, or seventy meters to allow you to fine-tune your aiming device. Therefore, in actual combat, you basically have to rely entirely on experience and feel to shoot arrows.
Upon realizing this, Wang He suddenly felt that his previous understanding of bows and arrows seemed to be somewhat flawed.
If he truly wanted to defeat the Crimson Armored Warrior with a bow and arrow, he would either need to use a compound bow with extreme power and accuracy, or a hunting or traditional bow with extreme speed and maneuverability.
Choosing a recurve bow as a compromise is not a good option.
There's a common stereotype in archery circles that recurve bow enthusiasts love to perfect their technique, that every arrow's movement must be textbook perfect, that each release must be exactly the same as the last, and that they are extremely meticulous about the details of their equipment.
In contrast, other types of bows, especially traditional bow enthusiasts, do not focus on technique, but rather on intuition—intuition built up through countless shots.
After firing 100,000 arrows, one will naturally be able to hit any target accurately. As the saying goes, an excellent sniper is made through countless bullets, and the same is true for an archer.
For example, in the 10-meter air rifle event, Pang Wei, a shooting athlete who has won many championships, said in an interview that this shooting sport does not actually require very high eyesight from the athletes.
Even with perfect 5.0 vision, it's impossible to clearly see the target during shooting. In 10-meter air rifle competitions, the specialized target is only slightly larger than a one-yuan coin. That's right, not the bullseye, but the entire target, which is only the size of a coin. At a distance of ten meters, this target is almost like a tiny black dot, making it impossible to see clearly. Therefore, vision plays a very minor role in this type of shooting sport. The national team coach once jokingly said that they specifically choose athletes with poor eyesight to train in shooting because they would focus more on maintaining body stability and balance rather than the bullseye.
Even top shooting athletes sometimes hit the bullseye entirely by chance.
During training, they were always in a daze until they hit the bullseye. Then they carefully replicated that dazed feeling, and gradually their probability of hitting the bullseye while in a daze increased.
This is what is known as "gun feel." In the end, all athletes rely on muscle memory and intuition in this sport. Archery is the same. In actual archery, you will always encounter targets that cannot be aimed at with your eyes. In such cases, you must rely on intuition to make judgments.
There is no such thing as "quick mastery" in real combat archery. The so-called "quick mastery" of recurve bows and compound bows is actually just relying on adjusting the sight to improve accuracy at a fixed distance. If the distance is frequently changed, they still cannot achieve perfect accuracy with every shot.
Of course, it's impossible to kill with every move in actual combat.
Immediately, Wang He removed the sight from the recurve bow in his hand, preparing to try using the extension line of the arrow shaft to aim at the target.
The recurve bow in his hand could basically be called a metal hunting bow now, because it no longer had any of the characteristics of a recurve bow. Only the handle, limbs, and bowstring remained.
He used the aiming method of extending the arrow shaft and shot ten arrows in succession. Only one arrow hit the bullseye, while the other arrows were obviously deviated to the upper left, and one arrow even missed the target.
Although it was my first time using the arrow shaft extension to aim, the accuracy was wildly off.
But Wang He did indeed experience the feeling of aiming based on intuition.
However, his intuition is still a bit off right now.
Just as Wang He was preparing to adjust his aiming method based on the landing point, Lü Wuyi walked over and asked, "Do you still want to practice?"
Wang He said, "Of course."
Lu Wuyi couldn't help but complain, "Damn, newbies are always so enthusiastic. I've only shot a few dozen arrows and I already want to go back. Aren't you going back?"
Wang He nodded and said, "You go back first, don't wait for me, I estimate I still need to practice for a few more hours."
"Okay, bye-bye."
After saying goodbye, Lü Wuyi left the archery base.
After Lü Wuyi left, Wang He continued to use the extended aiming method, shooting two or three hundred arrows at different distances.
The sky outside the window gradually darkened.
After an afternoon of training, Wang He believed that the method of killing enemies by shooting arrows should work.
Although he is not yet proficient, he should be able to gradually get the hang of it after a few more days of practice.
So the problem he's facing now is what model of bow to buy and at what price.
The poverty subsidy of 2,000 yuan hasn't arrived yet, which means he needs to use his own savings to buy it. Even when the subsidy arrives, it will only amount to 2,000 yuan at most, which won't last long.
While higher-priced bows are of much better quality, they are not cost-effective for him at his current level. Moreover, bows are consumables, and as his physique continues to improve, he will need to frequently replace them with bows of higher draw weights. Buying a bow for less than a thousand yuan is about the limit of Wang He's affordability, considering that he also needs to purchase other corresponding protective gear and arrows in addition to the bow.
Ten qualified carbon or mixed carbon rockets typically cost no less than one hundred.
Moreover, this thing is definitely a consumable item.
It is easy to break during training, or get stuck through something and cannot be pulled out or retrieved.
As for how to buy a bow with a good price-performance ratio for under 1,000 yuan... you might still need to consult a professional.
Wang He approached the instructor present and asked, "Hello instructor, I just started learning archery today. Could you recommend a suitable bow for me?"
"Sure, what's your budget? What type of bow do you prefer? For example, compound, recurve, hunting bow, or traditional. I recommend beginners start with a recurve or hunting bow, as it's easier to train proper form." The coach seemed very enthusiastic. Because archery is such a niche sport and there's a severe shortage of new talent, they're always willing to share their knowledge with newcomers.
Wang He thought for a moment and replied, "Recurve or Huntsman, I'll go with either. Anything under a thousand is fine, as long as it's cheap and easy to use."
"Then I recommend the Lingyun. It's from Lao Hei's company." The coach explained, "This is usually the first choice for beginners in American hunting. It's cost-effective and much sturdier than bows in the same price range. There were even videos of it being subjected to violent testing a few years ago."