"Come on. You've got to let me check your skills. I'm sure you're good." Arthur said.
"I'm not the GREAT, but I can make it work,' Si-Hun said, smiling.
Arthur's backyard was really big, and it was connected to the woods.
There was an old fence that guarded the backyard from any wild foxes or raccoons.
There were boards marked with red, and they looked like normal shooting boards.
"If you hit a perfect spot, the boards have a special mechanism and will shoot back, so you learn how to handle a 2-v-2 combat. They can be unpredictable, so be careful."
Si-Hun nodded.
"Take out your revolver."
Si-Hun took his revolver out of his pocket.
"Clean it first with the cloth."
Si-Hun took the cloth from Arthur's hands and cleaned his revolver.
It was shiny.
"Your grip is what changes the whole game. Show me your hand."
Si-Hun extended his hand.
"You've got to hold the revolver up high, so it engages in your hand and doesn't force back when fired."
"Your finger should be sinking in and touching the trigger where the crease of your finger. If you're up high in your finger, it will be firmer, and your grip will be better." Arthur said, adjusting Si-Hun's fingers with his hand.
"Now that your grip is proper, the second step is to know how to reload it fast. You'll use the speedloader."
Arthur showed him how to load his revolver fast in fast-paced battles, so he is quick.
"This will take some practice to be executed precisely."
"When you know about the first two steps, your whole battle becomes easy. You just need to know about how to fire it and how to aim perfectly for long-range fights."
"After holding it properly, aim at what you wanna shoot. The target should be in a straight line with the rear sight, front sight, and your eyes, so you can see the target. Your hands should be firm and not trembling, even slightly. You should be locked in."
Arthur showed him while pointing his revolver at one of the targets.
"See, everything is in a straight line. Your reaction time would increase as you adapt."
Saying that, he fired.
BOOM!
"Bullseye!"
Si-Hun listened with maximum focus.
"Now, you try," Arthur said.
"Adjust your grip up high. Sink the fingers in the trigger till it's touching the crease of your finger. Keep your hand firm. Don't tremble. He said to keep the eyes, the rear eye, the front sight, and the target in a straight line. Execute!" Si-Hun replayed everything Arthur taught in his head.
"Ehhh…..Yes!" Arthur shouted.
"I missed it by two rings."
"You'll get better. You did well for the first time with authorized inspection!"
Si-Hun looked at the revolver in his hand.
"This little piece of shit requires manhood to hold. Don't ever think of it as something fragile."
"I won't. Don't worry, I'll keep it with maturity."
They hit a few more shots and finished off slightly better than the first time.
"You did great, young man."
"Thanks, Arthur," Si-Hun said with a smile.
The lesson ended like that, and Si-Hun hopped on his bike and fled home.
While he was going back home, he felt a little uneasy. Like something was…witnessing him existing.
Si-Hun kept his eyes narrow and stayed alert.
He felt like someone was watching him from afar, but didn't dare to come forward.
The feeling was dominant, so he didn't pay much attention.
After returning home, he went to the kitchen to drink water when he noticed the envelope.
"The envelope…I almost forgot about this."
He said, picking up the envelope.
He opened it with careful hands.
It said:
"Han Si-Hun. You must've noticed my presence by now. Let me tell you one thing: DON'T IGNORE IT :)."
Regards,
XYZ.
"W-what type of shit is this?"
"What happened, master?"
Si-Hun told Kuro about the letter and his previous uneasiness.
"Who could this be?"
"That's what I don't know, too."
"Be careful, please."
Si-Hun sat on the chair beside the table and stared at the letter.
He slammed it lightly on the kitchen counter.
"Shitty!"
"I have a raid right now."
"Your raids never end."
"I'm helpless!"
Si-Hun got up and splattered cold water on his face.
"Let's go," Si-Hun said, taking his leather jacket from the couch.
He went to the portal site and something…it didn't sit right.
"Yu-Jun?" Si-Hun muttered under his breath.
"Didn't he leave our old Predators team?"
Seeing him, his mind threw flashbacks of everything that happened because of him.
How Si-Hun was abandoned in that portal alone, almost dead.
But that made him realize how far he'd come.
If he had never entered the portal, he wouldn't have ever met Eravus.
So, in some way, his return reminded Si-Hun of what he's becoming.
He was still lost in thought when someone spoke.
"Oh, hey! Si-Hun…"
"Hey…Yu-Jun," Si-Hun said in disbelief.
"Oh, you must be surprised seeing me here, right? Actually, I left the other team because of that incident, you know…and about that…, I'm actually sorry. But maybe, fate wanted us together…" He said in a way that felt almost too cliché.
Si-Hun glanced up at him with dark eyes and said
"You're…good."
"Thanks." He said with an unsettling smile.
While they were talking, the team leader called out for everyone.
Si-Hun entered the portal with everyone.
The portal gave off normal mana energy, and it was like any other portal except for the person who entered with everyone else.