SUP Chapter 34: Godfather! I’m So Eager to Improve!

The smell of disinfectant turned sharp.

Tessa, the reaper he’d known for two days, left Ian dumbfounded with her reaction. He wondered if he’d mistaken her for someone else, perhaps a twin sister?

There were plenty of reapers.

They existed everywhere life did, scattered across the world. Higher beings wandering the mortal realm, their duty was to guide departing souls to their destined afterlife. A place like a hospital was bound to be a frequent haunt for reapers.

Every soul on the verge of passing would meet a reaper.

Some theories and evidence suggested reapers were a type of angel, distinct in their duties from those in heaven, their essence a unique angelic form. Regardless of the theory, one fact was undeniable: all reapers’ authority stemmed from the Death Knight, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The Death Knight was the most unique of the four, second only to God, among the universe’s oldest beings, an embodiment of death alongside Lady Death.

And so, the [Death Knight Kin] status could bring Ian immense benefits. Or immense costs. Either way, it was something he couldn’t refuse.

What the big shots were thinking?

Ian couldn’t guess.

He only knew to accept the benefits and resist the downsides. For now, seeing reapers seemed like a decent perk.

“Tessa?”

Ian saw the female reaper approaching.

“Huh?”

Her expression grew more surprised. Ian hadn’t mistaken her; she was indeed Tessa. Yet, she acted as if meeting him for the first time.

“Seriously, you’re not pretending we’re strangers just because I used your blessing, no, your curse, to mess around in the restroom a bit, are you?”

Ian’s first thought was that the fickle, ancient woman was being petty.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, child. You shouldn’t be able to see me. It’s against the rules,” Tessa said, her gaze suspicious, her puzzled expression not feigned.

“You sure we haven’t met?”

Ian’s throat bobbed.

Not just because of the approaching reaper or her unfamiliar attitude, but because as she neared, he didn’t catch that pleasant fragrance.

It sent chills down his spine.

If this Tessa wasn’t the same one he’d met, then who was the fake Tessa he’d encountered?

[Temporary Curse: For the next 24 hours, you are immune to death.]

Besides a reaper.

Who else could grant such a curse?

Cold sweat, it began to bead on Ian’s forehead.

His subconscious might have had guesses, but his will and soul had their own ideas. He refused to dwell on why he was sweating.

Don’t think about it.

Round it up, delude himself a few times, and the world was calm again. With his perfect logical loop, Ian gradually regained his composure.

“Have we met?” Tessa stopped in front of him, the two standing close, one tall, one short. She studied him seriously, then shook her head.

“You’re unfamiliar to me. I think this is our first meeting,” she said, finding no trace of Ian in her vast memory.

Gulp~

Ian’s swallow was louder.

The corridor lights flickered.

Tessa suddenly turned toward the room where doctors were resuscitating a patient. The ECG line on the monitor was flattening.

“Sorry, my time is short. I don’t know why you can see me, but it’s not right,” she said, raising her pale right hand.

“Relax, it won’t hurt. You need to forget this encounter. Such a special connection will guide us to meet again when you leave this world.”

Her voice was gentle, even warm. Her hand neared Ian’s forehead, but he leaned forward instead.

Her hand didn’t touch his forehead. Ian, mouth open, bit her wrist, catching her off guard. She froze in place.

“What are you doing?”

Tessa was utterly baffled, feeling Ian’s teeth dig in.

A moment later.

“Sorry, facing your sneaky attack, I just wanted to test something,” Ian said, awkwardly releasing her hand, politely wiping her wrist with a tissue to clean off his saliva.

“Looks like Einstein’s theories have limits,” Ian said, his expression wistful. He didn’t want to believe science had boundaries, preferring to think his bite wasn’t strong enough.

“????”

This Tessa remained confused. She understood every word but not what Ian meant. Still, she noticed something unbelievable.

“Teeth marks.”

She raised her cleaned hand, revealing clear bite marks on her wrist, a sensation she’d never felt before.

Pain.

An impossibility. Reapers were immune to all physical harm. Ian, aware of reaper traits, roughly understood her confusion.

“I think it’s because of this. Can’t you see it?” He raised his hand, the Death Knight’s brand flickering on its back.

“Some kind of magic?”

Tessa couldn’t see or sense it. She frowned slightly, then spoke to the air, “Andrew, I need some help.”

The next moment, a man in a black suit with slicked-back hair appeared silently behind Ian. Clearly a reaper, his bony hand pressed onto Ian’s head.

“Tessa, you can’t even handle a kid with spirit vision?” The lazy male voice teased, his hand mischievously squeezing Ian’s head.

“Bro, you’re messing up my hair,” Ian said, startled, then turned without hesitation, swinging his fist in a precise backhand strike.

Dead-on hit.

Andrew, the handsome reaper, stiffened, then collapsed to his knees, hands clutching his groin, letting out an agonized wail.

“It’s broken! It’s really broken! It shouldn’t break!”

The pain intensified.

The male reaper rolled on the floor in agony. Nearby, people passed by, unable to see the reapers, only casting odd looks at the strange-acting boy.

“This is impossible! You can actually harm reapers!” Tessa, seeing her colleague’s plight, felt her legs tense, quickly stepping back from Ian.

Ian didn’t answer her question. Realizing he could harm beings like reapers, he just raised his flickering, branded fist, deep in thought.

“This must be the carrot you gave me, boss,” Ian said, pulling out the mysterious pendant, holding it to his mouth like a phone.

“If it’s really you, please give a little sign, big shot! Otherwise, I might just call you Godfather,” Ian said, his tone not sycophantic.

Just brimming with a desire to improve, to exploit bugs for leveling every day. The “call” didn’t connect, no whispers from ancient gods.

[Death Knight Kin]

On his status bar, the icon twisted and transformed.

[Death Knight Devotee]

It changed in form and name.

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