Chapter 35: Taking Back a Soul from Heaven
Nexus had already been sitting on a nearby balcony, watching everything from beginning to end without anyone noticing his faint presence.
Every thought in Mark’s heart and every contradictory action before and after couldn’t escape Nexus.
To be honest, Mark’s aptitude was complete trash. Whether as a hunter or a cultivator, he was nothing but worthless. Mark’s personality could be considered a huge plus for him. If he wasn’t at least a little interesting, Nexus wouldn’t have accepted him as a disciple.
"This doesn’t concern you. Get lost!"
Consumed by anger, Ron used the last bit of reason he had left to warn Nexus. If Nexus went too far, he really would break one of Nexus’s arms.
Nexus only glanced at Ron before looking away, as if Ron were nothing more than a tiny fly buzzing around that wasn’t worth noticing.
That absolute disregard only drove someone as furious and prideful as Ron even crazier.
"How dare you?!"
He shouted and was about to beat Nexus up when a group of people climbed out of the sewer, interrupting him.
The group, reeking from head to toe, had barely reached the surface when they saw Mark sprawled on the ground with blood all over his face, making them feel much better.
Being stuck in that awful environment down in the sewer had driven them crazy with frustration. Now it seemed their effort hadn’t been completely pointless after all.
But when they saw Ron looking like he was really about to fight Nexus, their poor little hearts pounded so hard it felt like they were about to leap out of their throats.
"Calm down, calm down. You’re not planning to offend the Wolf Guild, are you? Even if you’re angry, don’t go looking for death like this."
The group of men desperately tried to persuade Ron, crying miserably. The touching scene was enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes, as if they truly couldn’t bear to watch Ron walk to his death.
Of course, they weren’t trying so hard because of Ron. They were the ones who had hired Ron, so their responsibility could only be greater, not less.
The people here hadn’t become hunters yet. They still had hope for the future, so none of them wanted to throw their lives away this early.
"Shut up, you bastards!"
Ron shouted in their faces, but his expression had clearly calmed down. Even though none of them actually cared about him, at least what they were saying was true.
"System, get to work."
Nexus didn’t care about the group putting on their own little show and called the system to wake up. Taking in disciples was his right, but without the system, his disciples wouldn’t be able to cultivate either.
[I didn’t expect it to be this fast, you idiot master. Let’s see which lucky brat is about to receive the blessing of a system.]
The moment it activated, the system’s arrogant voice, so obnoxious it made people want to punch it just from hearing it, startled everyone.
"What is that? Is it an AI or is it actually alive?"
Someone asked, but no one answered. They all stared at the system cautiously, but none of them dared to act rashly.
Even Ron, who was much stronger than everyone else, frowned when he saw the system. His years of experience as a hunter had taught him to stay wary of every strange ability he had never seen before.
Aside from Nexus, who didn’t care at all, Mark was in a similar state. It wasn’t because Mark had a stronger mentality than everyone else, but because... he was on his last breath.
The system turned its gaze toward Mark, who was lying flat on the ground. Even though its face was just a virtual image made of pixels, that deep frown made it obvious the system was very dissatisfied.
Three... two... one... zero.
Just like that, Mark stopped breathing. With a body that had already been so weak, the fact that he had held on until now showed just how strong his will was.
[Nexus! What kind of damn disciple did you find? What gives this piece of trash lying here dead with a body beaten up like a torn rag the right to take the number one spot?]
The system screen shoved itself right into Nexus’s face. If the system had saliva, Nexus’s face would have been as soaked as if he had just finished taking a shower.
"Can’t you handle something this small? Besides, you don’t have any rule saying dead people can’t become disciples."
Nexus couldn’t be bothered arguing with the system. Bringing Mark back to life was easy for him. Even if heaven or hell wanted to keep Mark’s soul, taking it back by force wouldn’t be difficult. But Nexus wasn’t going to do it because that was the system’s job, not his.
[What?! A mere mortal like you dares look down on this great system? Just watch how I bring his soul back.]
There wasn’t the slightest bit of killing intent in their conversation, yet it still sent chills down everyone’s spine, including Ron.
Bring a soul back? What kind of concept was that?! Even an S-rank or SS-rank hunter specializing in healing or support couldn’t possibly do something so absurd.
Nexus’s calm attitude and the system’s reaction made them feel there was a pretty high chance it was actually true, no matter how unbelievable it sounded.
After all, Ron was certain Mark was already dead. He was the one who had attacked, so no one understood Mark’s physical condition better than he did.
If Nexus really could bring the dead back to life, would they all be killed to keep this secret?
The more they thought about it, the more cold sweat poured down their bodies like a stream, soaking their backs. A few of them had even wet their pants, and the smell of urine was already spreading.
Just moments ago, they had been chasing after Mark aggressively. Now every one of them had weak, trembling legs. At this point, whether they ran or not didn’t really matter anymore.
[Hey, Heaven. Send this brat’s soul back to Earth for me.]
To everyone’s utter disbelief, the system aggressively ’made a phone call’ to demand Mark’s soul back. That action completely shattered their understanding of reality, making everyone present pinch themselves to see if they were dreaming.
It was so absurd that no one was willing to believe it. While they were trying to convince themselves that it was all just a joke, that Nexus and the system were only acting, Mark’s body suddenly burst into a brilliant light.