Chapter 54: The Scholar Who Plays Games with Intelligence

Red Flag TV.
Wang Xiaohu’s live streaming room.
Wang Xiaohu was a star player under Red Flag TV, a popular streamer known for his skill at “Chicken Dinner”—among the many technical streamers, his abilities were considered outstanding.
At this moment, Wang Xiaohu was peering through an eight-times scope, aiming his Kar98k at the top of the West Bridge.
Clearly, upon spotting someone at the bridge’s summit, Wang Xiaohu was preparing for a sneaky kill.
His audience erupted in excitement as they watched this unfold.
“Awesome, the streamer’s about to go on a rampage again!”
“Eliminating enemies from a thousand miles away—so cool!”
“Go, Xiaohu!”
“Quick, quick, headshot him!”
The barrage of messages was filled with anticipation.
At the same time, a sniper bullet with a steep trajectory came flying from the direction of the West Bridge, piercing straight through Wang Xiaohu’s level-three helmet.
Bang!
A bullet tore through.
A spray of blood exploded—full health just moments before, Wang Xiaohu was suddenly gravely wounded.
“Holy—!”
Seeing his health plummet, Wang Xiaohu, who was just about to pull the trigger, broke out in a cold sweat.
He knew perfectly well that if not for the protection of that level-three helmet, he’d already be lying flat on the ground. Was the opponent’s aim truly this precise?
Wang Xiaohu, with a bullet wound to the head, realized the distance from the West Bridge to his current position was at least six hundred meters.
Six hundred meters—what a distance!
Typically, once rifles and sniper rifles exceed a hundred meters, bullet drop becomes a clear factor, and beyond two hundred meters, the drop is even more pronounced.
Past three hundred meters, landing a headshot with a sniper rifle becomes exceedingly difficult. To score a headshot from over six hundred meters away—almost unimaginable.
He’d only planned to take a shot for luck; who would have thought the opponent would fire first, before he even had the chance?
He didn’t need to guess—anyone who could land such a shot at that range was undoubtedly a master.
Meanwhile, a teammate turned his head, noticing that Wang Xiaohu’s health had suddenly dropped to a perilous low.
“What happened to your health?”
His teammate was baffled.
“Someone on the West Bridge shot me!”
Wang Xiaohu, now hiding and frantically patching himself up, called back.
“No way, there’s actually someone on the bridge?”
Recalling what Wang Xiaohu had said, the teammate couldn’t help but say, “Let me check!”
“Don’t—!”

Wang Xiaohu, alarmed, quickly tried to stop him.
But the teammate had already pulled up his scope and glanced toward the West Bridge, quickly growing puzzled.
He saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“There’s nobody there!”
Before the words had even left his lips, a spray of blood burst from his head.
He wasn’t as lucky as Wang Xiaohu—his own level-two helmet offered no protection, and he was instantly headshotted.
“Qingqing Zijin used Kar98k to headshot and down Red Flag’s Dayu!”
“Damn!”
As the notification appeared, the man clutched his stomach and went prone, utterly stunned.
“Lin Zijin?”
At the same time, Wang Xiaohu took note of the ID that had downed his teammate, and realization dawned.
So it was her!
As one of the top players in the community, Wang Xiaohu could hardly be unfamiliar with this name.
Not to mention Lin Zijin’s dazzling record of championships—her bloody rampage in the game over the past month alone was enough for everyone to remember her.
No wonder.
Only someone like her could possess such fearsome aim.
“Crawl over here, move closer to me.” Wang Xiaohu sighed helplessly.
Now that he knew the shooter was the famous Lin Zijin, he dared not be careless. Without his health fully restored, he wouldn’t risk exposing himself to her line of sight.
Wang Xiaohu had just spoken when he glanced ahead—and froze.
He saw that the teammate who’d been knocked down had just taken another shot and was now nothing but a loot box.
“Lost Pig used Kar98k to headshot and kill Red Flag’s Dayu!”
Seeing this new kill notification, Wang Xiaohu was momentarily stunned.
He knew Lin Zijin, but who was this “Lost Pig”?
He’d been playing for so long and had never heard of this person.
…
Tomato TV.
Lin Zijin’s streaming room.
When the audience saw the kill notification flash across the screen, they were momentarily taken aback.
But soon, someone realized that the shot had come from Zhu Ziyuan, who’d been silent all along.
Lin Zijin had downed the player, and Zhu Ziyuan had finished him off—yet the kill was still credited to Lin Zijin.
But that wasn’t what the audience was focused on.
A six-hundred-meter headshot with the Kar98k—if it was Lin Zijin, no one would be surprised.

But Zhu Ziyuan’s sudden display of skill had thoroughly shocked them.
After the last two matches, viewers had come to realize that Zhu Ziyuan was no slouch, but no one expected him to be this formidable.
With that in mind, as the audience watched the team onscreen, many couldn’t help but show expressions of astonishment.
Just who were these people?
Lin Zijin was impressive enough.
Even their beloved “Hoodwinker Bro” had, during last night’s stream, been revealed as a master far out of their league.
But even the two people Hoodwinker Bro had randomly brought in turned out to be this strong.
Yao Cheng needed no introduction—his driving skills alone, even if his sharpshooting was terrible, had already earned him godlike status among viewers.
And then there was Zhu Ziyuan, previously so unassuming, who had just stunned them all with this move.
“Your friend is impressive!”
In-game, Lin Zijin glanced at Zhu Ziyuan and suddenly spoke.
Lin Zijin was, of course, acquainted with Zhu Ziyuan, thanks to Yang Hao, but she’d always been focused on competitions and hadn’t interacted with Zhu Ziyuan much, let alone known how good he was at the game.
Even with Yang Hao, Lin Zijin had only recently begun to realize his extraordinary abilities.
In the past, Yang Hao had never once shown off in front of her—always appearing as a steadfast supporter and companion.
Of course, there was also the role of suitor.
But both of them were well aware of that, so there was no need to state it outright.
“Of course! He’s a genius!”
Hearing Lin Zijin praise Zhu Ziyuan, Yang Hao couldn’t help but smile, a note of pride in his voice.
Given Lin Zijin’s personality, she rarely complimented others.
But—
Zhu Ziyuan was certainly worthy of praise.
Most people played with experience, skill, and luck.
But Zhu Ziyuan played with knowledge.
Things like trajectory calculations and geometry in the game—these were the basics for Zhu Ziyuan.
For someone qualified for direct admission to a PhD program, what did this amount to?
He was a finance major who’d also won first prize in international physics and mathematics competitions—who would believe it?
Where others relied on skill, he relied on intelligence!
Truly, the world of geniuses is beyond our comprehension!