Chapter 90: Officially Joining
The Wolf Guild had also schemed against Mark’s parents because of a dispute over benefits back then. As for what exactly happened, he didn’t know at the time, and perhaps it was precisely because he didn’t know that he had been able to live until now.
Mark didn’t want to become a greedy person like that. If one day he became the same kind of person as his enemy, wouldn’t all his efforts to seek revenge become a huge joke?
Seeing that everyone was busy killing monsters while only Alice, in the role of support, was quite free because these monsters were too weak, Mark immediately called her.
"Alice! I found the spiritual herb."
But contrary to Mark’s expectations, it wasn’t just Alice, all the other hunters also stared blankly for a few seconds. Then they all looked at him with extremely surprised expressions.
They were surprised by Mark’s luck, and also surprised by Mark’s attitude. In their opinion, finding something worth so much, shouldn’t he have tried to hide it? Even if he really couldn’t hide it from a bunch of hunters, shouldn’t he at least have tried?
Seeing that there was money to be made, everyone suddenly became much more productive. Even though they were only fighting a bunch of low-rank monsters, they still used serious skills to quickly come over and see the spiritual herb.
Alice was free, so she immediately came over and stared at Mark. She wanted to see whether Mark was reluctant or was casually giving the spiritual herb to them like an idiot.
"Don’t get so close to me like that."
Didn’t everyone say B-rank hunters had very good eyesight? Why are you getting so close just to look at my face?
Mark felt embarrassed, and his face turned red when he saw Alice getting so close to him. His intelligence also dropped along with it, so naturally he didn’t realize that Alice was evaluating his actions.
"You really don’t know how valuable spiritual herbs are?"
"I know. Although they’re not as useful as the other two things, many people are willing to pay a high price to collect them because of their uniqueness."
Mark told the truth, answering whatever he knew. Because his favorability toward Alice was too high, being near her made him feel safe enough not to hide anything at all... Except for anything related to Nexus and the system, which he couldn’t talk about.
"Even knowing that, you’re still giving it to us? Do you not want it, or are you afraid?"
Alice stared straight into Mark’s eyes, making Mark flinch slightly. But he hadn’t done anything wrong, so of course he wasn’t afraid to say it.
"I want it. I really want it because it suits me very well. I’m giving it to you not because I’m afraid of you, but simply because you saved me."
"Fair enough."
At least Alice could determine that Mark was pretty trustworthy. She hadn’t just judged him based on a few words; she had been secretly observing Mark’s actions ever since he joined her team.
"You’re only F-rank, so it’d be pretty hard for you to survive as a hunter. Want to join our team? We won’t make you fight on the front lines. You just need to walk around and see if you can find anything valuable."
"I..."
Mark was so moved he almost wanted to cry. He had thought that after seeing something worth so much money, they would simply take it and ignore him, but he never expected them to invite a weak F-rank like him to join.
But before he could say yes, the powerful shout of one of Kael’s squad leaders rang out and cut him off.
"Alice! I’m the captain."
Kael and Brann had just caught up, and Kael immediately showed the overwhelming presence of a captain. Looking at him now, he seemed just like a strict captain who wouldn’t allow anyone to overstep their authority in the team.
Mark was a little disappointed, but that was only natural. What right did a trashy F-rank have to be valued by a team with a B-rank hunter?
But before he could feel sad for more than a few seconds, Kael’s voice rang out again. Unlike the powerful shout just now, there was something strange about it now.
"If you’re going to invite him, it has to be me who does it. Mark, don’t get me wrong. I’m not a good person. I’m only inviting an F-rank hunter like you to join because your luck is just too good."
He had appeared so imposing just moments ago, but now he was just as embarrassed. After saying those words, Kael didn’t even dare to look Mark straight in the eyes.
Witnessing everything turn out completely different from what he had expected, Mark stared blankly at the three of them.
"I know it seems a little strange, but that’s just how Kael is. Don’t think he’s fierce; he’s actually a really nice guy." Alice smiled and lightly patted Mark on the shoulder.
"Joining us will give you a much better life than going elsewhere to look for a job. Unless you have some kind of advanced professional skill, then forget I said anything. But looking at you like this, you probably don’t have one, right?"
Although Brann was being a little too straightforward, Mark had to admit he was right. Mark could deliver newspapers, wash dishes, scrub toilets, collect trash... And a few other odd jobs. These were definitely not the kind of skills Brann was talking about.
"Thank you all so much."
It was just a simple thank you, but Mark’s voice choked up as he said it. Could it be that the bad luck that had followed him around was finally gone? Although the lessons Nexus had created for him were terrifyingly harsh, it seemed like his life really had become much less unlucky.
"Alright. Since you’re a member now, go get a gun. With your strength and that spear, you won’t be able to do much."
As he spoke, Kael carefully placed the spiritual herb into a sturdy box before putting it into his backpack. He wasn’t poor, but it was still better to be careful when carrying a few million dollars in your hands.
"I don’t know how to shoot a gun. Can I learn after we get out of the dungeon? I’m afraid I’ll hurt everyone."
Mark immediately made up an excuse. After all, he really didn’t know how to shoot, so he couldn’t exactly be called a liar. There was no way he was going to throw away the spear and use a gun instead.
If Mark dared to throw it away, he could forget about the system giving him anything else in the future. Besides, who knew what kind of bitter consequences he’d have to suffer in the future if he offended the system?
"Up to you. It’s only to make you feel safer anyway; I don’t really expect you to take down monsters much stronger than you." Since Mark didn’t want to, Kael didn’t force him.