Williams shook his head, glancing in Garry’s direction and then toward the target.
“Just shoot already, boy. I don’t have time to waste.”
Garry exhaled, raising his weapon. “I’m just factoring in air resistance, Earth’s rotation… Newton’s laws, you know.” He spoke with the air of a professional, as if this were no big deal.
“Sure, sure. Just a few more seconds, right?” Williams crossed his arms, unimpressed.
Garry turned his head slightly. “Jimmy.”
Jimmy, who had been watching, stepped up beside him. “Hey, don’t overthink it, man. It’s not that hard. See that blue bottle over there? The closest one 120 meters away.” He draped an arm around Garry’s shoulder, pointing at the bottle on a table in the distance.
Garry leaned in, lowering his voice. “Mfrr… what’s the plan? What has Lucian set up? Tell me.” His words were barely a whisper, careful not to let Williams overhear. This was serious.
Jimmy smirked. “Believe in yourself, idiot. Just do what I said. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“It’s about your future sister-in-law. If not for me, at least for her… Help me,” Garry muttered again, almost desperate.
Before Jimmy could respond, Williams barked, “What are you two whispering about? You think talking will magically make him hit the target? That’s not how this works.”
Jimmy just patted Garry’s shoulder and stepped aside. “Trust me. You won’t miss.”
Then, he counted.
“One.”
Garry closed his eyes, took a deep breath.
Screw it. Let’s see how this goes. I don’t care. The thought surged through his head as he snapped his focus to the target.
“Two.”
His fingers tensed on the trigger.
“And three.”
BAM.
A loud crack echoed through the air.
Then Plunk.
The bottle shattered. A spray of liquid glistened in the distance.
Garry froze for a second, then his face lit up. “I hit it! I hit it!” He jumped in excitement before grabbing Jimmy in a one-armed hug. “Hah! I never knew I was that good of a shooter!”
Jimmy couldn’t stop laughing, watching Garry bounce around like an overexcited monkey.
“What the actual—”
Williams just stood there, stunned. His sunglasses slipped from his face and hit the ground. His jaw hung open in sheer disbelief.
Williams slowly bent down, picked up his fallen sunglasses, and put them back on. His expression was unreadable as he stared at Garry, lips pressed into a thin line.
“You little shit,” he muttered under his breath.
Garry, still in the middle of his post-victory celebration, paused mid-jump. “Uh… what?”
Williams let out a deep sigh, rubbing his temples. “I don’t know how the hell you did that, but that wasn’t skill. That was” He cut himself off, staring hard at Garry. “It’s impossible.”
Garry grinned, still high off the moment. “Hey, hey, old man. Maybe I was just born a natural.” He spread his arms like a prodigy unveiling his hidden talent to the world.
Williams narrowed his eyes. “Oh yeah? Then do it again.”
Garry’s grin wavered. “Wait, what?”
Williams gestured toward another table, this time pointing at a bottle sitting precisely 200 meters away.
“Hit that.”
Garry swallowed hard.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit!
That was almost double the distance of the last shot.
He barely had time to process how the hell the first shot even connected, and now Williams wanted an encore?
Maybe… Lucian. That bastard had said he’d handle it.
Had he done something? Tampered with the gun? The bullets?
Was that…is it really magic? didn’t he give me some kind of blessing?
Garry didn’t know. But he sure as hell wasn’t about to back down now.
He forced a smirk, though his hand trembled slightly as he raised the gun. “Fine.”
“But remember, I already passed the test. You can’t take that back.”
“Shoot it, you little shit. I wanna see something,” Williams muttered.
Jimmy, standing behind Garry, smirked. “Oh, come on. You’re so talented Show him what you made of.”
Garry shot him a deadly side-glare. Traitor.
Jimmy just shrugged, still smirking.
Garry took a deep breath. Alright. Just go with it.
Jimmy began the countdown.
“One.”
Breathe.
“Two.”
Please work.
“Three.”
BANG!
A second of silence.
Then CRACK!
The bottle shattered.
Garry stood frozen, arms still outstretched, gun shaking in his grip.
Did… did I just do that?
Jimmy let out a low whistle as if he really was shocked. “Damn. Would you look at that.”
Williams slowly removed his sunglasses again. He stared at the shattered bottle. Then at Garry.
Then at the bottle.
Then back at Garry.
Finally, he let out a long exhale and muttered, “I don’t know what kind of shit you pulled, but you’re cheating, kid. That’s impossible.”
Garry, still processing what just happened, blinked and slowly lowered the gun. “I… I did it?”
Jimmy clapped a hand on his shoulder, grinning. “You did it.”
“No, no. You failed. I don’t accept this. You’re cheating.” Williams’ voice was firm, his eyes full of disbelief as if he had just witnessed a glitch in reality itself.
Confidence surged in him from nowhere. Where the hell was this coming from?
He himself had no idea how he hit the target, but it worked.
Garry, now starting to feel way too confident, grinned. “Old man, don’t go back on your promise now. You’re a man, right? Have some shame.”
Williams’ eye twitched.
Garry waved the gun lazily in the air. “Honestly, I don’t get why you’re making such a big deal out of this. It’s so easy.” He turned to Jimmy. “Alright, tell me which bottle’s next.”
Williams clenched his jaw, watching Garry like he was trying to decode his entire existence.
Jimmy, playing along, shrugged. “Oh, sure. Go for the red one. 230 meters.”
Without even looking toward the target, Garry casually bent his arm behind him, pointing the gun over his shoulder.
BANG.
PAK.
Another bottle shattered.
This time, even Garry looked confused.
“Wait, I hit it?”
Jimmy blinked. “…Did you just no-look shoot a 230-meter target?”
Garry slowly turned back toward the shattered bottle, then back to the gun in his hand.
Garry’s mouth slowly stretched into a grin. “Damn… am I some kind of heavenly prodigy?”
He turned to Jimmy. “Dude, I’m joining the Olympics. We’re getting that gold.”
Jimmy opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. “That’s not a good idea if you ask me” He had no words.
Jimmy, watching him with a mix of amusement and enjoyment.
Williams pinched space between his eyebrows. “Look, kid. I won’t do anything to you. Just tell me how you did it.” His voice was laced with frustration.
Garry smirked. “Just give me your daughter already, father-in-law. You won’t find a better match than me.”
Garry turned to Jimmy. “Alright, call it. Next shot.”
Jimmy, now fully invested in the chaos, said, “Yellow bottle. 300 meters.”
Without hesitation, Garry bent down slightly, spread his legs, and aimed the gun backward through his own legs.
Williams narrowed his eyes. “Kid, Ama kill you”
BANG.
BOOM.
The last bottle exploded into glass shards.
Garry straightened up, casually spinning the gun in his hand.
Then, he grinned. “Easy peasy.”
Williams stood there. Silent.
Then Hahhhh.
He let out a long, deep sigh before slowly walking toward Garry.
Garry, noticing his approach, straightened his posture, standing tall and proud.
Maybe I passed.
Is he coming to pat me on the back?
A smug smile crept onto his face.
Jimmy, watching this unfold, sighed heavily.
Williams stopped in front of Garry, looked him dead in the eye then, smack.
A light slap landed on the back of Garry’s head.
“Ouch! What was that for?” Garry yelped, rubbing his head. “Father-in-law, are you trying to back out of your promise? Don’t do that.”
“Promise, my ass,” Williams muttered before snatching the pistol out of Garry’s hands.
Garry blinked in confusion. “Wait, what?”
Williams scowled. “You motherfucker. If you were cheating, I could’ve let it slide. But being proud of it? Showing off? Have some dignity!” His face was dark with frustration as he flipped open the Desert Eagle’s ammo chamber.
Garry tilted his head. “Cheating? What are you talking about?”
Williams held up the bullets for him to see. Blank rounds.
“These are all fake!” Williams growled. “How the hell were you supposed to hit anything with these?! Are you trying to make a fool out of me?!”
Garry’s expression went blank.
“Hehh???”
It was as if question marks were floating above his head.
“Wait what? You were cheating from the beginning?!” he asked, not even realizing the irony of his own words.
Williams’ eye twitched. “CHEATING YOU?! Motherfucker, I should be asking that!” His frustration levels skyrocketed as he pointed a firm finger at Garry’s face, looking ready to strangle him.
Jimmy, unable to take it anymore, turned around to avoid the absurdity playing out in front of him.
“We are done,” he muttered under his breath.
Subtly, he removed a small earpiece hidden in his ear and dropped it onto the ground, silently crushing it under his foot before anyone could notice. Then, as if nothing had happened, he stood there, looking up at the sky.
Meanwhile, the argument between “father-in-law” and “son-in-law” continued with no clear direction.
“WTF, old man?! First, you accuse me of cheating, and now you’re blaming me?! If the bullets were fake, then how did the bottles explode?!”
“MOTHERFUCKER, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M ASKING YOU!”
Both of them were red in the face, shouting nonsense at each other as the ridiculous argument raged on.
But far behind them 3,000 meters away, atop a tall building a figure lay prone, watching them through the scope of a high-powered AWM sniper rifle.
The man exhaled slowly, adjusting his sights as he watched their antics through the lens.
Finally, he stood up, stretching his arms.
Sigh…
“I swear… I hate father-in-laws,” Lucian muttered to himself, packing his AWM into a large suitcase.
“So. Damn. Petty.”
With a tired sigh, he clicked the suitcase shut.
“So much hard work… gone just like that.”
And with that, he walked away.
—