Callisto, out of all the prizes she glanced at, found a particular interest toward a big and pink ball-like stuffed toy. It was one of the big stuffed toys with a label, "Big Prize."
Its oval-shaped eyes seemed as though it was directly staring into her own marbles, into her soul, enticing Callisto.
It was almost as if the stuffed toy was calling for her, to shoot the target dead in the center and claim what was righfully hers.
Callisto's left hand clenched into a fist on her side, determined to answer the call.
"That Kirby is mine," she declared to herself.
The staff looked at the young lady once.
Compared to the man who just wasted everyone's time earlier, this girl before him seemed like she really meant business.
The staff finished reloading the airgun with a single bullet and walked closer to give Callisto the weapon.
Callisto held the airgun with both hands, letting herself feel the weight and inspecting its design, committing everything to memory.
The silver-haired girl positioned herself in the very center where her gaze met the center of the target directly.
And then, Callisto took a stance as she lifted the gun and began aiming at the target.
"Oh..."
The staff could not help but raise an intrigued eyebrow as he silently observed the young lady.
"You have a great stance," he complimented the young lady. "Are you into target shooting?"
Losing her focus, Callisto chuckled shyly as the staff's compliment and question registered in her mind. "Not really. I'm just trying to copy what my Papa did when we went to visit the shooting range and the guys from the action movies he likes to watch."
"I see. Well, good luck."
Callisto nodded in response to the staff's kind words. "Thanks."
With that, Callisto recomposed herself as she aimed the air gun at the target once more.
She took a breath and exhaled partially. The moment her body felt the most relaxed, Callisto knew it was time to shoot.
Her finger pulled the trigger and,
Bang!
The young lady felt a tiny kick from the gun after shooting her shot. Her sky-blue eyes zeroed in on the spot where the bullet hit the target as she let the gun fall to her side while holding it with one hand.
Unfortunately, the bullet only hit the spot close to the center.
Callisto's cat ears flattened just as her shoulders shrunk in disappointment. "I thought I had it. Unlucky."
At that moment, Callisto realized that perhaps imitating what her father did when she was still little and what she saw in the action movies they've watched from years ago just wouldn't be enough.
Even though it was just a game, and sometimes luck played a part in it, one must have the skill and experience to make a clean shot just like in an actual shooting range.
"Ooh..."
Looking at it from the perspective of someone who often visit shooting ranges, even though Callisto failed at hitting the center, the target shooting staff still found himself quite impressed at how close Callisto was at making a perfect shot just by trying to replicate what she had learned through her observation.
The staff realized that Callisto attempted the shot after inhaling and exhaling partially, allowing her body to be at the most relaxed and gave her a perfect aim.
Unlike Callisto who did exactly what someone with experience would do when aiming and firing a gun at a target, most people who came to the booth was simply doing what was generally known by everyone—to aim and fire.
But they never did it properly because they had no idea how to do it at all. That was why most players fail at hitting the center of the target unless they were extremely lucky.
The staff was certain that Callisto would've hit the target in the very center had she managed to keep her focus until the very last second before firing the air gun.
However, the staff noticed just milliseconds before Callisto fired the gun her focus faltered. It was mostly likely because she started thinking about her aim and the fact that she had to pull the trigger simultaneously.
"Well, at least I still get a prize in the end," Callisto's gaze hovered toward the prices once again.
Just as she was wondering what small prize would be nice to get at the random draw, the booth staff spoke.
"You have one more shot."
Callisto looked at the staff with wide eyes.
"Why," she asked. "I only bought one round."
"Consider the second round paid by the couple earlier who ran off and didn't get their prize."
Never turn down a kind offer. That was what Callisto always thought whenever Elesis came to mind.
With renewed determination, Callisto handed the empty air gun to the staff. "I understand. I want to try again."
Satisfied by the young lady's response, the booth staff reloaded the air gun and gave the weapon back to Callisto. At the same time, he also imparted a piece of advice to her.
"You've been doing everything correctly until the very last second before you fired the gun," He watched as Callisto take the same stance, aiming at the target with incredible focus. "Don't lose that focus until after you fired the gun, and you'll hit the center."
"Yes."
Keeping the staff's words in mind, Callisto took a deep breath and exhaled partially, just like what she did before.
The only thing different from the first time was that, this time, Callisto made sure not to let any thoughts cause her to lose focus.
Without any delay, Callisto finally pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet flew past the target shooting staff.
And just like the staff expected, Callisto, who managed to keep her focus until after she fired the air gun, finally struck the center.
Callisto's cat ears perked up and wiggled as her face lit up at the result.
"I-I hit it," She said with enthusiasm. "I hit the big prize!"
The staff nodded with a proud expression pasted on his features like a proud master witnessing his pupil's achievement.
His gaze lingered on the target where Callisto's second bullet were now stuck at the very center before turning to the young lady. "You earned a draw for a random big prize."
The staff went to the corner of the booth and grabbed two raffle boxes. He then returned and placed both boxes before Callisto and explained how to get her random prizes.
"This raffle box on the left is the ordinary prize," Informed the staff to the young lady, her cat ears perking up with excitement. "The one on the right is the big prize. Draw a random number and you get the prize aligned to it."
Callisto's gaze followed the staff's pointing finger at the prizes, the numbers associated with the prizes were right on top of each one of them, plastered on the wall.
"Normally, there's a chance that you can get a number without a prize next to it as it was already taken by the player that played before you," added the staff. "But since you're the first winner of today, you're guaranteed one of each."
"Right. Then, I'll go with the big prize right away."
Without wasting a second, Callisto put one hand inside the raffle box labed, "Big."
She let her fingertips push the folded papers around like a tornado drawing in whatever was in its path until she finally grabbed one folded paper.
The number on kirby, the stuffed toy Callisto wanted, was number 10. Hoping the number was exactly what she was wishing to get, she opened the paper slowly and found 1 as the first number.
Callisto eye's widened with anticipation and hope. But then, the next number appeared.
It was another 1.
"11," Callisto said under her breath.
She looked at the big stuffed toy next to the Kirby one.
Rather than being disappointed, Callisto found it in herself to be satisfied with what she won. After all, it was still a big prize.
"Now, the ordinary prize."
She went and grabbed a folded paper from the second and final raffle box. And the number she got was;
"2... 9..."
Callisto's gaze searched for the number 29 on the wall and found it sitting atop the white cat mask.
The staff nodded after checking the folded paper to make sure of the number Callisto got. "29, huh."
The staff went and took Callisto's prizes off the wall and gave them to her.
"Here's your winnings. Congratulations."
Accepting the prizes, Callisto beamed a grateful smile at the target shooting staff. "Thank you."