Mission System: Rescuing Beauties in Distress

Chapter 2 - Cassie

Andrew was caught off guard by her response, and it was his turn to frown. “Sure, it's none of my business. I just risked my life to save you from the fate of being a swollen, bogged down corpse in the lake. And I guess I was foolish in thinking that you owed me an explanation that was the root cause as to why I'm soaking wet and in my underwear.”

“Oh, shut up. This isn't about you,” the woman fired back, unconvinced.

Unfazed, Andrew continued. “But I'm involved now, and that is because of you. Look, you are a beautiful, healthy woman, and you give up so easily? You should count your blessings because there are so many people who have it worse off than you. Like me, for instance.”

“You are so not good at this. Promise me you aren't thinking of becoming a counselor,” the woman said through her teeth.

“I was born in a very impoverished area of Arizona. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father worked tirelessly as a construction worker just to pay for my tuition. But then my father died after an iron beam accidentally fell on him, and my entire neighborhood thought that I was cursed and brought only death to those around me. 

“I'll admit, I wanted to die, but I held on. I finished medical school on nothing but loans, and I still can't find a job. And now, I probably lost my phone and wallet on top of everything when I stripped my clothes off to come to rescue you. Now, do you think I should just end it all too?”

“Huh,” the woman said. “I never expected for you to be so miserable. You are indeed more pathetic than I am.”

Andrew took a deep breath to calm himself before he asked, “Do you still want to take your own life? If that's what you truly want, I won't stop you.”

The woman bit her lip. “Not for now,” she confessed after awhile. “And if I wanted to, I definitely won't choose to die this way.” She shivered as her body registered for the first time that she was cold. Indeed, to throw herself in Lake Pleasant definitely wasn't the way to go.

The woman never expected that she would be in such an awkward situation. Before she woke up, she felt a pair of large hands that pressed down on her chest. She knew the reason now, but it didn't prevent her from her initial panic after she realized that a man was kissing her. 

She would never tell this strange and slightly arrogant man, but he was technically her first kiss. When she wasn't freaking out over that, she was worried about the fact that this man had seen her bra. She was pretty shy when it came to her body, and having any part of it revealed was highly embarrassing.

During the silence, the man took off his undershirt and wrung it out. For all of his insensitive words, the woman knew that he was well-intentioned. After all, he did save her and only demanded that she give an explanation. She was confident she would have knocked him out if he asked her to repay him with her body.

The woman sighed as she wrung out the bottom of her blouse. “Thank you for saving me,” she told him sincerely. “I won't... try to take my life again.”

At that moment, the robotic voice filled Andrew's mind again.

The task of rescuing the drowning girl is completed. A small bottle of salt, a pair of scissors, a lighter, and two thousand dollars will be rewarded. You've completed the hidden task of stimulating the girl's desire to live. Reward cards: Skills of Bruce Lee's martial arts and Apollo's archery.

This time around, Andrew wasn't so surprised. He felt like he was some protagonist in a science fiction novel who had unexplained powers. Whatever it was, it seemed to be harmless, so he decided to just roll with it.

Then, a virtual equipment column appeared in his mind's eye. The reward items previously mentioned were listed within it, and they were two cards, one with Bruce Lee and the other with a handsome guy shooting an arrow.

Upon closer inspection, Andrew saw a line of explanatory text at the bottom of each card. The lines were, “Bruce Lee card improves combat power for ten minutes,” and, “Apollo Card enhances accuracy for ten minutes.”

“Hey! Where did you go?” the woman interrupted. “How are we going to get out of here?”

Andrew snapped back to attention and remembered that they needed to get out of here. He scanned the surroundings, and his expression darkened. “I don't know where we are in the park, and it's dark now. There won't be any people around to help, and I don't have my phone.”

“Well then, why don't we just walk until we find the main road?”

“Not a good idea. I don't think you want to be walking through rattlesnake territory. They are most active at night, after all.”

“Then... what do we do?” The woman murmured.

Andrew's jaw tightened before it relaxed. “I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Andrew Morrow. And you are?”

The woman's initial instinct was not to tell this stranger her name, but she decided to be honest since they would survive the night together in this mountainous desert landscape. “My name is Cassandra Lambert, but just call me Cassie.”

“That's a nice name. It's as pretty as you are,” Andrew said with a grin.

Cassie rolled her eyes as she had long been indifferent to such flattery. “Whatever. I'm cold and hungry, so what's the plan?”

“I'd say... We walk along until we find a flat, secluded spot. We collect any wood we find along the way and make a fire to keep warm until sunrise.”

“I guess that could work. Lead the way, then.”

Andrew had begun to head south along the shore, and Cassie had started to follow him. However, she was only able to take a couple steps before she felt dizzy and stopped. She whimpered as she began to lose her balance.

“You were in the water too long, and your body is weak,” Andrew said as he turned back to wrap an arm around her waist to help support her. 

“Then what do I do?” Cassie asked him. “I'm cold, hungry, exhausted, stranded... And completely reliant on a stranger.”

“But I'm not a stranger anymore. I'm Andrew, remember? And we will have a fire soon.”

Cassie sighed. “How are we going to light the fire anyway?”

Something came to Andrew in a flash of inspiration. He took out the lighter from the virtual equipment column but pretended to pick it up off the ground. “I just found a lighter, so all we need is some wood. I'll make a fire, get us warm, and then I'll find some food for you.”