Quynh Nhu, the ace sniper of the Blacklight special forces team, nicknamed the "Pink Phantom" on the battlefield, was used to receiving looks of worship, admiration, and even fear whenever she appeared. But this was the first time she had ever received a death glare and a curt reply from the very person she had just saved.
"What? None of my business?" Quynh Nhu's eyebrows shot up. She planted her hands on her hips, her cute loli build belying the spirit of a fearsome shrew. "Hey, kid, I just saved your life! Not even a thank you, and you're giving me attitude?"
Lam Minh's heart was bleeding. A thousand points, maybe even more, had vanished into thin air because of this girl's single arrow. He looked at the wound on his shoulder, which was bleeding profusely. The physical pain was not even a tenth of the pain of losing his points.
"Who asked you to save me?" Lam Minh snapped. "I had my own plan. Why did you have to jump in and ruin it?"
A plan? A plan for suicide?
Quynh Nhu and the surrounding soldiers stared at Lam Minh as if he were a strange new species.
"Was your plan to turn yourself into a barbecue skewer for it?" Quynh Nhu couldn't help but laugh, a mocking smirk on her face. "Look at you, a kid who's still wet behind the ears, trying to solo a Foundation Establishment cultivator with a fruit-peeling knife? Do you think you're the main character in a novel or something?"
"I don't need you to understand," Lam Minh replied, annoyed. He couldn't possibly explain that he was deliberately seeking death to become stronger. If he did, they'd probably throw him in the Bien Hoa Mental Asylum immediately.
Seeing the tense situation, the officer quickly stepped forward to mediate. "Alright, alright, Comrade Quynh Nhu, the boy is probably in shock, that's why he's talking like that. Young man, you were very brave, but don't do that again, okay? Quick, take him to the field clinic to get that wound bandaged!"
Two soldiers moved to support Lam Minh, but he shrugged them off.
"No need, it's just a small wound."
He glanced at the Foundation Establishment creature that was now surrounded by the army. It was gravely injured and on its last breath, no longer of any value for "farming." His heart grew even more bitter.
"Hmph, a small wound that's bleeding like a river?" Quynh Nhu pouted, pulling a roll of medical gauze and a bottle of spray-on antiseptic from her utility belt. "Give me your arm. Dilly-dally and you'll get an infection and have to get it amputated."
Though her words were sharp, her actions were swift. Without waiting for Lam Minh's consent, she grabbed his injured arm, sprayed the antiseptic, and professionally wrapped the bandage.
The stinging sensation from the spray made Lam Minh wince. Seeing this, Quynh Nhu looked delighted.
"What? Does it hurt? You were so brave just a moment ago, weren't you?"
"It doesn't hurt," Lam Minh gritted his teeth. "It's just a little itchy."
Itchy my ass! It stings like hell! he cursed inwardly.
After finishing the bandaging, Quynh Nhu dusted off her hands, looking at her handiwork with satisfaction. "Done. Counting one limited-edition Adamantium alloy arrow and a roll of military-grade gauze, you owe me a total of five million. Cash or transfer?"
"WHAT? FIVE MILLION?" Lam Minh yelled, forgetting his pain. "Are you a robber? Five million for an arrow and a roll of gauze?"
"Why not?" Quynh Nhu's face was smug. "Isn't your life worth five million? Or would you prefer I take the arrow back and return it to you?"
As she spoke, she pointed towards the corpse of the now-slain Foundation Establishment creature, the arrow still lodged in its head.
Lam Minh was speechless. He couldn't exactly say, "My life didn't need saving, you should have just let me die."
"I... I don't have any money," he resorted to playing broke.
"No money?" Quynh Nhu narrowed her eyes, scanning him from head to toe. "You look pretty sharp and well-dressed, but you're dead broke? Fine. If you don't have money, you can pay with your body. From now on, you're my errand boy. When I call, you show up. Got it?"
"On what grounds?" Lam Minh protested. What kind of joke was this? The future god of war, an errand boy for a pink-haired loli?
"On the grounds that I just saved your life, and you have no money to pay," Quynh Nhu said, her tone perfectly casual. "You can disagree, of course. I'll just send the five-million-dollar bill to your school and inform the board that you skipped class to cause trouble in a warzone. The choice is yours."
"You..." Lam Minh was so angry his blood boiled. This girl was truly his nemesis! She ruined his plan, bullied him, and even knew how to blackmail him.
Just then, a soldier ran up to report to Quynh Nhu, "Phantom, report. The captain is calling for you. We've found traces of another target in the warehouse district to the east."
"Got it," Quynh Nhu replied curtly, then turned back to Lam Minh and gave him a mischievous wink. "Think it over, little kid. I'll be in touch."
With that, she turned, and her small figure quickly melted into the shadows of the ruined buildings, disappearing without a trace.
Lam Minh stood there, one hand clutching his injured shoulder, the other clenched into a tight fist.
"Quynh Nhu! You just wait! This debt of five million and a thousand points—I will definitely settle the score with you!"
He didn't know that his "threat" had caused the corner of a certain girl's mouth, hidden on a nearby rooftop, to curve into a slight smile.
"An interesting little kid."