My System Doesn't Give Power Chapter 37: Favor

The next morning, warm sunlight shone on Zac’s face while the faint murmurs of people talking slowly pulled him out of sleep. He opened his eyes with a tired groan, his mind still buried under the haze of last night.

He could only rember bits and pieces from last night. But even those few mories were enough to turn his face like a tomato.

The vivid mories of what he had done with Lima the previous night ca crashing back into his mind all at once.

"God..."

Zac imdiately tried to clear his thoughts and attempted to move his body, but the mont he did, pain surged over his body.

Other than pain, he couldn’t feel anything below his neck. "What the hell is happening...?"

With great difficulty, he slightly tilted his head and looked towards where the sound was coming from.

Lima stood outside of the room in her combat attire, talking with a middle-aged man. Zac imdiately recognized the man as Joseph Milroy, the sa examiner he saw in Maroon City.

"He must’ve co here as backup support. That’s probably why the exam was suddenly stopped midway too."

The mont Lima and Joseph noticed that Zac was awake, they both walked toward him.

Joseph looked down at him and asked directly, "Can you move your body?"

Zac let out a dry laugh, saying, "What do you think?"

Joseph stared at him for a mont before exhaling deeply.

"I honestly don’t know how you managed to survive and make it back here alive," Joseph said with a sigh. "No sane person would charge alone into a beast tide like that. And going anywhere near an A-Rank monster without proper backup?"

He shook his head in complete disbelief.

"I genuinely can’t decide whether I should admire your courage... or curse your stupidity."

"I’d appreciate it if you did neither," Zac replied with an awkward grin before his gaze unconsciously drifted toward Lima.

But unlike him, Lima acted like nothing had happened between them. Her face remained completely calm, without even the slightest hint of embarrassnt.

"I’ve already inford the association mbers, they’ll escort you to your ho." She casually said it and started walking towards the door.

"Sir Joseph!" Joseph stopped mid-step and glanced back at Zac.

"Captain," he corrected calmly. "It’s Captain Joseph for you."

"Uh... sorry. Captain Joseph," Zac said awkwardly. "Could you give a mont with Ms. Lima?"

Before Joseph could respond, Lima imdiately stepped in. "No. Whatever it is, it can wait until you’re fully recovered. And I have to imdiately report to the association of what happened here."

Zac shook his head. "No, this is important. I really need to talk to you about sothing."

Lima hesitated for a brief mont. anwhile, Joseph silently observed the two of them.

Ever since seeing the footage of Zac cutting down a monster during the beast tide, he already knew the boy wasn’t ordinary. But even then, it still felt strange watching soone like Zac speak to Lima so casually, almost like they were equals.

After thinking for a few seconds, Joseph simply sighed and walked away, leaving the room to the two of them.

The mont the door closed, Lima crossed her arms and looked at Zac directly.

"If you’re going to talk about what happened last night," she said imdiately, "then don’t. I need ti to think and am not in the right state of mind to talk about... that."

Zac blinked for a mont before quickly shaking his head. "No, I wasn’t going to bring that up. Even though I really want to," he admitted honestly. "I’m still not going to talk about it right now."

Lima gave him a suspicious look. Unbeknownst to her, sothing inside her felt wrong hearing what he said. "Then what exactly do you want to talk about?"

Zac’s expression slowly turned serious. "It’s about the reason I ca to llow City in the first place. I...I need a favor from you."

"And here I thought you ca back to save . My poor heart is so broken."

"Can you stop teasing considering the situation we are in?" Lima frowned, looking at him. Zac took a small breath before answering.

"During the exam... inside the portal... I did sothing."

Lima raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"I want you to remove that part from the recording."

This ti, Lima gave him a genuine side-eye. "What exactly did you do?"

Zac awkwardly looked away. "You’ll understand once you see it."

Lima stared at him for a few silent seconds before speaking again. "Was it really so important that you ca all the way here and nearly got yourself killed in a city overrun by monsters?"

"If it wasn’t important," Zac replied seriously, "I never would’ve co here."

Lima quietly looked at him for a mont.

"So... you really didn’t co here for , huh?" she muttered softly under her breath.

"Hm? What?" Zac asked imdiately. "I didn’t hear what you said."

Lima instantly looked away. "Nothing. I didn’t say anything. Anyway, what makes you think I even have the authority to get access to those recordings?"

"Well..." Zac hesitated. "You’re an A-Ranker and also the vice chief of the Variant Association..."

"Branch," Lima corrected.

"Right. Branch Association."

"And you think that’s enough power for to casually tamper with official examination recordings?"

"Of course not," Zac replied honestly.

That answer caught her slightly off guard.

A faint grin appeared on Zac’s face. "Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t notice your last na?"

Lima’s expression changed. "You know about ?"

"Who doesn’t know the famous Martel family?"

For the first ti since entering the room, Lima genuinely looked surprised. After a few monts of silence, she sighed softly. "Fine. I’ll see what I can do."

"I’d really appreciate it." Then his tone turned unusually serious. "If soone sees that recording before it’s removed... there’s a real chance I could end up dead."

"I honestly don’t know what you could’ve possibly done."

Zac simply smiled faintly.

Lima stared at him for another mont before finally turning around. "Fine. If that’s everything, I’ll leave now."

She started walking toward the door, but just before she stepped outside, Zac’s voice sounded again. "Do you really not want to talk about what happened last night?"

Lima’s footsteps faltered for a brief second. Without turning back, she quietly replied, "Not right now. And consider this a repaynt for saving ."

The mont the door closed, a slow grin spread across Zac’s face.

"Not right now... Ah," he muttered to himself with a smug smile appearing on his face despite his paralyzed body.

"It doesn’t an not at all."

***

A little while later, two association mbers carefully carried Zac back to his house. By the ti they arrived, Martha, Carrie, Marty, and Marty’s parents were already waiting anxiously outside his house.

The mont they saw Zac being carried in while completely motionless, panic instantly spread across their faces.

Martha’s and Carrie’s faces turned pale and terrified, looking at him. But before anyone could break down, Zac suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I’m fine! Nothing happened to !" Only after hearing his voice did everyone calm down.

The two association mbers carefully handed Zac over to Marty.

Martha imdiately stepped forward in panic. "What happened to my son?"

"He recklessly charged against the beast tide. If it weren’t for a superior from the Association, he would’ve killed."

"And as for why he’s paralyzed, we don’t know anything about that yet. Maybe he got poisoned by so beast."

After saying that, the two association mbers quietly left. Marty carried Zac into his room and carefully laid him on the bed.

While Zac remained completely motionless. The atmosphere inside the house instantly beca heavy.

Marty stood beside him silently, while behind him stood Martha, Carrie, and Marty’s parents, all staring at Zac with worried expressions.