The Cocky Teen

"Brother Quan, hear me out!" Baili Pangpang rubbed his chin and spoke slowly.

"Speak!"

"Well, don't just thank her. Show some appreciation. She gave you lollipops she made herself, so you should give her something in return and compliment her handiwork."

"Does it have to be that much trouble?" Wang Quan tilted his head, seemingly giving it serious thought.

"When it comes to social etiquette, you can't go wrong listening to me!" Baili Pangpang patted his chest.

"Oh!"

Wang Quan nodded. After he left the barracks, Lin Qiye said quietly, "It's just a jar of candy. Is all that really necessary?"

Baili Pangpang: "???"

"Sister Hongying likes Brother Quan, doesn't she?"

"No, Sister Hongying just admires him as an idol. She doesn't have any romantic feelings for him," Lin Qiye explained solemnly.

"Ah!"

Baili Pangpang gazed up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle and sighed. "Qiye, sometimes people don't have to say it out loud, because... tsk... how do I put this? Some people get really shy around someone they like."

"But..." Lin Qiye said helplessly, "Sister Hongying told me that herself."

"Huh?!"

"Did I get the wrong idea?" Baili Pangpang looked incredulous.

"Exactly!" Lin Qiye nodded.

After tidying up the dorm, Baili Pangpang slumped onto the bare bed frame and complained, "Wait, where are my toiletries?"

"Where's my nice, soft bedding?"

"How were you planning to get it delivered?" Qiye had been puzzled all along. He had already urged Baili Pangpang to collect some bedding from the supply station, but the guy had stubbornly insisted on waiting for his family to send it.

"No idea!"

"Anyway, I talked to my dad before coming here. He said he'd send someone to deliver it."

"I think you'd better get a set from the supply station!" Lin Qiye suggested. "If you ask for special treatment, the instructors will probably train you to death!"

"Like making you run ten thousand laps a day."

At that, Baili Pangpang sucked in a breath and rushed out of the dorm.

"Qiye, why didn't you say so sooner?!"

"I don't want to run ten thousand laps! That'll kill me!"

Lin Qiye gave a helpless, wry smile. He had only been exaggerating.

"Oh well!"

"That fatty's just a little clueless. Ah!"

On a tall building in the distance, a group of instructors quietly watched Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang's every move.

"Something feels off!" an instructor named Hong Hao suddenly remarked. "Those two dangerous characters are getting along a little too well!"

"Exactly!"

"One is a Proxy, and his god is the King of Angels!"

"The other is the pampered young master of the Baili family, spoiled since childhood!"

"Shouldn't they at least have a little arrogance?"

"Like..."

The instructor didn't finish, but he still glanced involuntarily at Wang Quan.

"What I've got is confidence! What the hell do you know?" Wang Quan glared at him.

"Heh!"

"I just admire you!" The instructor scratched his head and answered with a sheepish grin.

Yuan Gang swept his gaze over them and said slowly, "No two leaves in this world are alike. Background is one thing, but personality is what makes each leaf different. You can't judge people by appearances!"

"Wouldn't you agree, Chief Instructor Wang?"

"Huh?"

"They already knew each other. They've been hanging out for a month!" Wang Quan promptly undercut him.

"Uh!"

"But you're right. Those two really are pretty good!"

"We've got to put them through some serious training!"

At the mention of Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang, the corners of Wang Quan's mouth curled up involuntarily.

"Chief Instructor Wang, got any brilliant ideas for training the recruits?"

"A race for their lives!" Wang Quan replied without hesitation.

The other instructors looked baffled. "What kind of race?"

"For example, make everyone run around the training field, then release a River Realm Mythical Creature behind them. Run too slowly, and they're dead!"

At those words, everyone swallowed, a chill creeping down their spines.

"Uh, wouldn't running laps be enough?"

"The recruits are just kids who've barely entered the Lamp Realm. A River Realm Mythical Creature is way too cruel!"

"Exactly. Their Forbidden Ruins are suppressed inside the Training Camp. They're just ordinary people!"

Seeing their reactions, Wang Quan waved a dismissive hand. "It's fine. With me here, I can save them as long as they've got a breath left!"

"Besides, you can't just stand there and watch them die. Give them a harsh punishment if they get caught."

"I think it's good. A race for their lives it is!" Yuan Gang nodded. "I'll have headquarters send over a speed-type River Realm Mythical Creature right away."

"Chief Instructor Yuan, not you too!"

"Just use a Lamp Realm Mythical Creature instead!" someone suggested.

"No negotiating. The more dangerous the situation, the tougher the training. We've got plenty of freakishly talented recruits this year. There's nothing wrong with changing up the training methods!"

"Come on, let's go!"

"Meeting time!"

With a broad wave of Wang Quan's hand, everyone left the rooftop.

Inside the dorm, Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang exchanged a glance and spoke almost in unison. "You felt a chill down your spine too?"

"Uh-huh!" Baili Pangpang nodded frantically. He had felt something was wrong on his way back with the bedding, as though countless pairs of eyes were watching him.

At eleven that night, Wang Quan swaggered out of the Training Camp. After spending all day thinking up hellish training drills, his head felt ready to explode.

Looking toward the distant sky, he muttered to himself, "That return gift can wait until tomorrow!"

"Probably no flower shops open at this hour!"

A minute later, Wang Quan arrived downtown and picked a restaurant at random. The owner was a middle-aged man in a white chef's uniform, with a bulging belly.

"Boss, give me a deluxe super-ultra-unbeatable fried rice combo!"

"Huh?"

"We don't have that combo here!" The owner looked a little bewildered and offered an apologetic smile.

"Just throw in whatever's expensive. Money's no problem!"

The owner's eyes lit up at those words. A big spender.

"Coming right up!"

"Just a moment!"

Before long, the aroma of meat wafted out of the kitchen.

Just then, four teenage boys walked into the restaurant, dragging suitcases.

The one in front seemed to be their leader. He wore a black baseball cap backward and a bandage on his right cheek. Tall and lean, he was dressed in ripped jeans.

Wang Quan studied the boy curiously, then kept staring. Everything about him radiated cockiness.

Noticing Wang Quan's gaze, the boy shot him a vicious glare and snapped, "What are you staring at? Never seen a living person before?!"

Then he called toward the kitchen, "Boss, four orders of egg fried rice."

"Sure, just a moment!"

The four boys sat far away from Wang Quan. Aside from the cocky teen, the other three were also looking at him curiously.

"Brother Shen, why's that guy's hair white?"

"And he's eating all by himself so late at night. He looks so lonely!"

"Shut your mouth. Don't gossip about people." The cocky teen knocked his follower on the head.

"Okay, okay!"

"My bad!"

After saying that, the simpleminded boy took another look, then cried out, "Holy crap!"

"That white-haired guy's gone!"

Just then, Wang Quan's voice drifted eerily from behind him:

"Looking for me, kid?"