One week later, Dallas, Texas.
It's another shooting competition, and it's the last shot.
"Adam Holly is already 3.6 rings ahead. He will definitely win this game!"
"That's not necessarily true. Don't forget what Holly's nickname is. The last shot was a tragedy. Let alone the 3.6 ring. Even if he was leading by more, he might lose."
"You must not have watched last week's game. Holly's last shot was 9.5, beating Prince and winning the championship."
"Over the years, Holly has only performed like this once, and in other games, didn't he always miss the last shot? Last week's game was just a coincidence! You can't expect Holly to perform like this every day. Zhou is so lucky!”
Some people are optimistic about Hawley, and some are not optimistic about Hawley. As for Holly himself, he was indecisive again.
Holly repeatedly checked whether he had aimed at someone else's gun target, and then kept recalling the last shot that failed in the past, the Olympic Games, World Championships, Grand Prix, domestic competitions in the United States... every time the last shot was inaccurate, It flashed through Holly's mind like a slideshow.
The shadow of failure has turned into a lingering nightmare, constantly eating away at Holly's self-confidence, making Holly even more hesitant.
Finally, a number appeared in Holly's memory: 9.5!
Holly recalled the scene in the Tennessee competition last week. In the last shot, he scored a 9.5 ring.
This is not a very high number, but it is the best result that Holly has achieved in the last shot in recent years.
"I just scored a 9.5 ring last week! As long as I can get back to the state I was in last week, maybe I can score the same number of rings today." Thinking of this, Holly raised his rifle, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger. the trigger.
At the same time as the gunfire rang out, Holly felt that steady feeling again.
"It's that feeling again, the same as last week! This shot is there!" Although Holly didn't look at the small screen in front of him, he could already feel that the result of this shot would definitely ensure him to win the competition.
…
In the stands, Dai Li looked at the final results on the big screen and let out a sigh of relief.
"9.7 rings. Compared with the 9.5 rings last week in Tennessee, Holly's last shot has improved." Dai Li looked at the status scale in the system. At this time, all the weights were added. On the stable side.
"It is also the most stable situation, but today I scored 0.2 more rings than last week. But according to the system description, when the state is the most stable, the fluctuation in results should be the smallest. What is the reason for this? What’s the difference?”
Dai Li checked Holly's ability value again and found that Holly's ability had not changed and remained at 925.
"The ability values have not changed, but the performance has improved. Is it because Holly's psychological problems are gradually recovering?"
Dai Li suddenly felt that he had found a way to cure Holly's psychological problems.
…
Five days later, at the New York Shooting Classic, Holly shot a 9.8 in his last shot.
Dai Li looked at the result with a mysterious smile on his face.
"With the 9.8 ring, Holly has improved a little. This result really confirms my guess. His results are getting better, his self-confidence is recovering, and the troubles caused by his previous failures are also reducing."
"It seems that in order to solve Holly's psychological problem, he must continue to participate in the game, and he must take the last shot well. Through this accumulation, his self-confidence can be re-established, and when his self-confidence is enough, He will be able to completely resist the trouble caused by failure, and his last shot will reach a normal level."
…
Austria, the scene of the World Shooting Championships.
The commentator spoke into the microphone and continued to describe the latest game data.
"Holly was in very good condition today. With the end of the shot just now, he achieved a full score of 400 rings in the lying position!"
"10 rings! For 10 consecutive shots, Holly's performance was 10 rings. His standing score was 393 rings..."
"1183 rings? Oh my gosh, in the first 120 shots, Adam Holly shot 1183 rings. He was in great shape today. But looking at the gold medal in the 50-meter rifle three positions, Holly is already in the bag. .”
Hawley placed his rifle on the rack beside him, then raised his head and began to enjoy the applause of the spectators around him.
On the electronic scoreboard on the wall, Holly's name was ranked first, with a score of 1183 rings, which meant that he only missed 17 shots. In terms of the previous score of 120 shots, this was a new world record.
At the same time, this 1183 rings almost ensured that Holly would win the World Championships. Because the second place score was only 1176 rings, Holly was ahead by 7 rings.
In the last 10 shots, if the difference is only one or two rings, you can still try to catch up. However, the gap of chasing 7 rings with 10 shots is simply a fantasy. Even if the gun scores 10.5 rings, you have to pray for your opponent's results. It is only possible if it is lower than 9.8 rings.
And Holly was able to score a world record of 1183 rings in the first 120 shots, which also shows that he was in great shape today. How could Holly, who was in great condition, only score 9.8 rings.
Sure enough, among the next nine shots, Holly had seven shots with scores above 10 rings, including three shots with 10.5 rings, which separated him from the second place, reaching 9.1 rings.
With the last shot left in the game, the lead was a full 9.1 points. For any shooter, this was a lead that was completely impossible to lose.
Except Adam Hawley!
In the 9.1 ring, even if you are an amateur shooter, you can win as long as you don't miss the target. But Adam Holly has lost the game in this situation. He missed the target and hit someone else's target. And it was in the most important competition in the world like the Olympics!
"What a dramatic scene. He was 9.1 ahead in the last shot. Adam Holly must have felt that this scene seemed familiar! Yes, it was the same situation in the Olympics that year. He was 9.1 ahead in the last shot. The ring is exactly the same as today. This is a perfect replica of the Olympic Games back then!" The TV commentator couldn't help but exclaimed.
The audience's eyes were all focused on Holly, but Holly's eyes were staring straight at the score display board on the wall.
"The last shot, 9.1 ring, am I dreaming about that dream again?" Holly couldn't help but bite the tip of his tongue with his teeth, hoping to wake himself up.
More than ten years have passed since the missed target at the Olympics, and for more than ten years, Holly has been dreaming of the same dream:
In the dream, he stood on the Olympic final stage again, and with the last shot, he led his opponent by 9.1 rings;
In the dream, he knew that the shot would hit someone else's gun target, so he desperately wanted to aim at his own gun target, and he wanted to correct that mistake;
In the dream, after he fired that shot, a "zero" score always appeared on the small monitor in front of him;
In the dream, he tried to correct his mistakes again and again, but failed again and again, followed by utter despair!
At this moment, Holly's hands suddenly trembled. He felt panicked, uneasy, and confused. He couldn't tell whether this was reality or a dream!
In other words, Holly knew that this was reality, but she wished he was in a dream. Because he didn't dare to face this reality, he would rather it was a dream, because failure in the dream is not real failure.
Holly finally understood that although he had won several victories recently, he had not yet defeated himself. He had not yet defeated the inner demon that had been plaguing him!
At this moment, Holly was like a frightened bird. He wanted to escape from here, but he found that he was trapped in the birdcage.
The inner demon is like a monster that can swallow light, constantly devouring the light in Holly's heart. Holly even feels a cold feeling permeating his whole body, as if it is pulling him into a bottomless abyss. .
Holly couldn't help but turn around and looked at the auditorium behind him and where Ekarina was sitting. He hoped to find his wife, who was his lover and his family, who could be here. Give him warmth every time and make him feel safe.
Finally, he saw his wife in the first row of the stands. At this time, Ekarina was covering her mouth with her hands, and her eyes looking at Holly were full of worry.
Yekarina knew that Holly's old habits had recurred. In the last shot, 9.1, faced with the same situation as in the Olympic Games, Holly still couldn't overcome the psychological barrier. She could already predict that with this shot, Holly would suffer another tragedy.
Holly's expression became a little complicated. He felt his wife's worry. He didn't want to disappoint her, but he still didn't have the slightest bit of self-confidence. The nightmare of the last shot missing the target still lingered.
Suddenly, Holly saw a hand stretched out from above his wife's head, and then made a thumbs up gesture towards him.
This is the hand extended by the audience member sitting behind Ekarina.
Holly looked up and finally saw the face of the spectator clearly.
"It's Coach Li!" Holly was slightly surprised, and at the same time, he saw a smile on Dai Li's face.
That is a smile of expectation, but also a smile of encouragement!
This is what Holly needs most now, he needs encouragement from others.
Holly finally remembered the strange training he had received from Dai Li recently. He also finally remembered that in the recent games, his last shot had not been inaccurate.
"Coach Li has been training me. I should have confidence in myself. I can do it!" Holly finally came to his senses. He calmed down, raised his rifle, and aimed at the target in front of him.
…
"Holly was very hesitant. He must have recalled the situation when the last shot in the Olympics hit someone else's gun target, so he was worried about the tragedy happening again."
"Speaking of tragedy, I suddenly remembered that Holly has a nickname in the United States, which is the 'last shot tragedy', which means that he often misses the last shot."
"I heard that in recent years, Holly's last shot has often been inaccurate, and he has lost many championships because of this."
"But today he leads by 9.1 rings. With such a big advantage, if he doesn't play accurately, he won't lose the championship, right?"
"That's not necessarily true. Maybe he hit someone else's target again!"
The audience in the stands were discussing quietly, and at this moment, Holly pulled the trigger.
"Holly fired!" Everyone's eyes were fixed on the scoreboard. Two or three seconds later, Holly's score appeared on the scoreboard.
"Ring 10.1! Holly wins!"
…
Holly stood expressionless, as if he didn't realize that he had won the final victory.
"Did I really win? This is not a dream!" Holly suddenly felt lost.
The dream that the last shot missed the target had troubled him for more than ten years, and now, he finally saw a different result in reality.
This time, he hit his target and won the championship with certainty.
The burden and pressure of more than ten years were all released at this moment. Holly felt that his whole person became lighter, and the grievances he had suffered in his heart for many years also completely exploded at this moment.
The next second, tears burst out of his eyes uncontrollably. Holly could no longer suppress his feelings. He lay directly on the gun stand next to him and cried like a child.
…
In the stands in the distance, Dai Li conducted another detection on Holly.
"The detection results show that the shortcoming of extremely unstable status in the last shot is gone! With that shot just now, Holly finally defeated his inner demons. From now on, Holly will no longer need a status scale, and neither will I. Followed Holly everywhere to compete."