The pendant really had responded.
The icon on his status panel had changed.
The name of the icon had changed too.
That could only have been a response from that big shot. The Horseman of Death had clearly done something, changing the identity he had given Ian from [Deathrider's Thrall] to [Deathrider's Favored].
It looked like only a tiny difference, but... somehow it also did not seem like much of a difference at all.
Full of anticipation, Ian looked at the icon, and the expression on his face froze.
The identity icon for [Deathrider's Favored] still did not show any status boost at all.
It just sat there on Ian's status bar,
like some invisible nobody,
exactly like [Deathrider's Thrall] had before.
"Uh... where's my immortality?"
Ian felt unwilling to accept it and picked up the pendant again.
"Godfather, if nothing else, a monthly unlimited immortality plan would be fine too."
He had already made his request with more than enough emotion.
But the pendant did not move at all.
Ian's attempt at bargaining got no response whatsoever.
"At least give me some negative status effect to prove you were here, old man!"
He lowered his standards again.
Still, there was no response from the other side of the pendant.
The Horseman of Death was far too cold.
Of course,
Ian also could not tell whether this great being simply did not want to give him anything, or truly could not.
If his memory was correct, the Horseman of Death should have been in some kind of imprisoned state under God.
This whole world was such a bizarre mashup that Ian could not even tell anymore whether that background still applied.
Just as Ian was sighing in disappointment and feeling as though his emotions had been dragged across a roller coaster,
"What exactly are you...?"
The female reaper Tessa spoke with obvious fear in her voice. It was not just because Ian could hurt them. More than that, she had suddenly sensed an oppressive pressure that left her breathless.
Maybe Ian's status bar had only changed the name of the icon.
But to Tessa, the feeling was entirely different. She could clearly sense that Ian had suddenly become something that made her shudder.
He had not felt like this before.
Now Tessa realized that she could no longer even bring herself to look directly into Ian's eyes.
The horror of that realization left her feeling as though she had encountered something unimaginably terrifying.
Everything before this
had merely been that being toying with her.
And that also explained why he could see reapers. This boy probably was not human at all.
As that thought occurred to her, Tessa's expression grew more and more uncertain.
"This. You can't recognize this?"
Ian frowned and yanked the pendant back out again, waving it in front of them. He had wanted to use the two reapers to figure out what it was. Unfortunately, the male reaper rolling around on the floor was still curled up like a shrimp, clutching his ruined weak point and fighting for his life against the pain.
As for the female reaper Tessa, who had somehow ended up flattened against the wall and looking weak and helpless, she stared at Ian's pendant for a long time. Yet all that showed on her face, despite her effort to stay calm, was confusion and blank incomprehension.
"No wonder you people have been reapers for who knows how many years and are still stuck here. One look and I can tell you've got no ambition and no desire to improve!"
Ian sighed in emotion first.
Then he adjusted his expression and continued.
"Look at me. Learn from me. I'm only fourteen, and I'm already deeply favored by my godfather. Oh, right, maybe you don't understand, so let me explain. My godfather is actually your bo..."
Ian had been about to borrow a god's authority to show off a little and firmly nail down the identity he had shamelessly claimed for himself.
However,
perhaps the will of the universe felt that this was not a boast an ordinary NPC was supposed to make.
Chaotic footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance.
"He's over there!"
A nurse's shrill voice cut through the corridor.
"That boy talking to the air! Poor thing, he must be having a psychotic episode!"
Her voice was full of pity, though there was also a trace of nervousness.
Ian turned around.
And froze on the spot.
Five white-coated medical workers were charging toward him with a restraint bed, and the doctor in front was even holding a sedative.
The lead nurse, a Black woman, ran with both hands spread out in a calming gesture.
"It's okay, sweetheart! Don't be afraid! We're contacting your parents!"
Her voice was very gentle. If not for the bundle of restraints in her hands, Ian might actually have thought she was a genuinely kind nurse.
"Damn it!"
As Ian watched the doctors and nurses getting closer and closer, he missed Fake Tessa's time-freezing ability more than ever. If this group caught him, there was no way anything good would come of it.
"I don't have mental... I only have a tiny little bit of mental illness!"
Ian did not think he could ever talk these doctors and nurses out of this, so he spun around and bolted without hesitation.
Seeing that,
the two reapers whom no normal person could see both let out deep breaths of relief.
Tessa helped up her colleague, who had recovered a little, and only then realized that she had already missed the proper time to guide the departing soul away.
Inside the hospital room,
the doctors and nurses were too busy trying to save the patient to care about what was happening outside.
...
He ran.
They chased.
Thanks to his 5.8 Strength and 4.7 Constitution, putting his body at over five times that of a normal person, Ian ultimately avoided the ending where escape was impossible.
To be honest,
for the doctors and nurses to catch up, they probably really would have needed wings.
Because Ian did not run toward the stairs.
He ran straight for the window and hurled himself out from the sixth floor without hesitation.
Blessing.
No, curse.
With it on him, jumping off a building was nothing to fear.
Of course, to the doctors and nurses, who were only ordinary people, there was no way for them to know that.
"That kid just jumped!"
"Oh God! No! This is the sixth floor!"
"We're done for! That handsome little guy's face is definitely going to be smashed to pieces! I remember him! He's Stan Lee from Bruce High School! A campus reporter from Bruce High School!"
Seeing Ian throw himself out the window so decisively, the nurses and doctors all cried out in panic. One of the nurses who had spoken with him earlier had even recognized the fake identity he had shown her.
"Quick, get downstairs! Maybe we can still save something! At least... maybe a few organs?"
Amid the chaos, the doctors came up with the most optimistic conclusion they could manage.
And so the whole group immediately ran for the elevators.
For some reason, they were moving even faster now than when they had been trying to "help" Ian earlier.
Meanwhile, after landing on the ground with a heavy thud and mostly sticking the landing on his backside, Ian sucked in a breath from the pain. At the bottom of his vision, negative statuses began appearing one after another.
His rage meter had already climbed to halfway.
[Severe Bodily Damage, EXP +5]
Ian's pelvis was shattered.
He had also broken a femur and several ribs.
Fortunately, his body was tough enough that he had not splattered into a bloody mess. Otherwise, Ian would have needed to find a way to lick his own blood clean.
It was not that he could not bear to lose that tiny bit of nutrition.
He just did not want to leave even the slightest opportunity for anyone who might try to collect his DNA.
As an ordinary NPC in this world, Ian felt that this was exactly the level of caution he ought to have.
Just like the clue about the treatment plant.
He had never intended to throw himself into danger personally over it.
As for outside help, Ian had already decided the night before who he was going to seek out.
There was someone.
Someone strong. Someone impressive.
Compared to the other superheroes, that person would absolutely, sincerely, wholeheartedly help him.
Or rather, help Superman, whose life now had less than seven days left.
(End of Chapter)
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