Chapter 60: Mark Meets His Parents Again
The skull ape leaped high into the air and threw a direct punch toward Mark. Mark probably should have used his hands to block the attack and reduce some of the damage, but being thrown straight into the air had left his head temporarily dazed.
Mark had to stay stunned for a moment, and by the time his consciousness cleared up a little, the punch was already right in front of him, leaving him no time to react.
A devastating punch landed straight on Mark’s stomach, causing him to double over. His bones shattered, and his internal organs were severely damaged. The intense pain immediately sent Mark’s consciousness into a daze.
After throwing the punch, the skull ape casually fell back down. As it fell, it even scratched its butt as if saying that finishing Mark off wasn’t even as important as scratching its butt.
Unfortunately, Mark couldn’t see anything anymore, so the provocation was completely wasted on the air.
In his daze, a blurry figure appeared before Mark’s eyes. This familiar feeling made him try to see it clearly.
When the figure became clear, Mark froze before immediately looking around. The familiar house, the familiar people; only he himself was still in that skinny state.
"You’ve endured so much hardship over the years."
The gentle voice of a woman who had appeared behind Mark out of nowhere made tears fall from his eyes like rain.
"Dad! Mom! How are you two here?"
"You idiot. If we’re not here, are we supposed to just watch you die?"
Mark’s father knocked him on his head and scolded him. But Mark couldn’t feel anything at all, making him realize that this wasn’t reality.
But so what if it wasn’t? It had been so long since he had seen his parents’ figures so clearly and realistically.
"If you don’t know how to talk, then don’t talk. How could our son, who’s so strong, die so easily?"
As she spoke, his mother pinched his father’s ear, making his father cry out and beg for mercy. It had been a very long time since Mark had seen this familiar scene.
"But I... How does looking like this make me look strong at all?"
The more Mark looked at the two of them, the more a sense of regret welled up within him. He knew these illusions before his eyes would disappear once he truly died.
Dying without even getting revenge or accomplishing anything worthwhile, and it was already the third time. This time, with an illusion like this, there was probably no one coming to save him.
"You idiot. The strength I’m talking about is daring to keep surpassing yourself, not having a strong muscular body. Haven’t you already tried your hardest?"
Mark’s mother let him lean against her shoulder and gently rubbed his head. In this moment, Mark felt like he wanted time to stop so he could remain here forever.
But... If that happened, how could he live up to his parents’ expectations? How could he be worthy of the opportunities his master and the system had given him?
"I’m sorry..."
The more he thought about it, the more regretful Mark felt. After staying silent for a while, he finally managed to force out a few words.
A large hand pressed down on Mark’s head and messed up his hair. Then, his father patted him on the shoulder before sitting down right beside him.
"What are you sorry for? Haven’t you already done very well?"
"Being able to stay with you two even for just a little while has already made me very happy. But I need to go back; I can’t give up. My body may die but my will won’t!"
Mark closed his eyes and stood up. He tried to use his own will to deny this space, deny that his parents were beside him, searching for a chance to return to reality.
Mark’s parents watched their son’s back and smiled softly. Clearly, the two of them weren’t illusions created by Mark’s imagination.
"Don’t rush. We have a present for you."
Mark’s mother took out a small box and placed it on her palm. The box looked like a piece of cardboard and was extremely ordinary, like something made from recycled materials.
"Because we didn’t know which one you’d like, each of us chose something for you. Open them and choose the one that’s most suitable."
Mark’s father also brought a box over to him. As he spoke, he scratched his head as if he wasn’t even sure about his own choice.
Looking at the two of them for a while, Mark felt very happy to receive gifts from his parents, but unfortunately, they weren’t real.
"Alright, I’ll open Mom’s present first."
Before leaving, Mark still wanted to enjoy the last happy moment of his life. Even if it was fake, for someone who was about to die like him, there was nothing more real than this feeling.
As soon as he opened the lid, a flash of white light appeared along with a line of text: Supreme – Wind Spiritual Root.
Reading the words, Mark stared blankly at his parents for a few seconds. Rage suddenly erupted inside him, twisting his face into an ugly expression.
"System! How dare you use my parents as a joke?!"
Mark threw his head back and roared. His crazed eyes looked as if he would rush over and punch the system if it appeared, even though he knew such an action would be incredibly stupid and useless.
Who else could take out a spiritual root besides the system? Mark felt like all the crying he had done over this fake thing just now had been completely pointless.
"So that existence is called ’System’?"
When Mark went crazy, his mother didn’t try to stop him and only gently touched his face. Her sincere and familiar gaze left Mark at a loss for what to do for a moment.
Is this real? This was too ridiculous. Was this fake? But it was far too real.
"You two... are you really my parents?"
"You silly child. Haven’t you recognized us yet?"
Mark’s mother spoke gently, but his father walked over and directly slapped the back of his head.
"You’ve been talking about getting revenge for us all day, yet you can’t even recognize who we are?"
This familiar feeling... As hard as it was to believe, Mark now felt that everything was real. But his reason still refused to believe that the system would suddenly let his parents come and meet him like this.
"What exactly happened?"
Mark’s parents looked at each other, and in the end, they let Mark’s mother explain.
"This has to start with the day we died. While our souls were being taken to heaven, a mysterious existence told us that he could bring us to meet you in the future. At first, I was a little suspicious too, but we were already in a soul state at that time, so no matter how unbelievable it was, we could accept it..."
Mark’s mother slowly explained in detail how they had managed to come to the future and meet the current him. His mother’s sincere attitude made Mark feel that this unbelievable matter wasn’t a deception.