Chapter 28: A Miraculous Conversion

The room fell silent, no longer a sound to be heard.

Eve sighed. “As expected, a 2.6% conversion probability was still too ambitious, wasn’t it…”

During the day, a wandering soul, as an undead creature, would be suppressed. When she had first arrived, the chance of converting it into a Holy Spirit was a mere 1.3%. Only by nightfall would it recover to 2.6%.

Alas, no matter how much it recovered, a single-digit success rate remained far too low.

Eve had already braced herself mentally. She hadn’t truly expected success upon arriving…

Just then, a familiar sensation surged through her.

It felt as though her entire being had been utterly drained. Eve’s mana reserves had bottomed out.

Her ‘Listening’ state was forcibly shut down. After a throbbing sensation in her head, the world returned to normal.

Eve swayed precariously, only managing to steady herself by leaning against the wall.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake… this ‘Listening’ skill is truly a spendthrift!”

“How long had it even been active? How could her mana be depleted again?”

“So short-lived and weak, it’s practically useless in actual combat!”

Eve surmised that the rapid mana depletion was likely due to casting a Holy Light skill to purify the wandering soul while still in the ‘Listening’ state.

Unlike the suppression caused by sunlight, this complete exhaustion of mana left Eve with a hollow, lethargic weariness that sapped her motivation.

This wasn’t a physical exhaustion, but a mental one. Her body still possessed strength and mobility, yet her mind had simply given up, declaring, ‘I refuse to move.’

Even the strength to lean against the wall gradually deserted Eve, and she slowly slid to the ground.

“I suppose I’ll leave after my mana recovers…”

With things as they were, this was her only recourse.

However, as time continued to tick by, Eve gradually realized something was amiss.

Why was she still feeling utterly drained?

Even if natural mana recovery was slow, it shouldn’t still be at rock bottom by now!

Eve composed herself, closed her eyes, and meticulously sought out the unique wellspring of mana that was hers alone.

Eve didn’t know its precise location, but locating her mana source felt like an innate instinct. Without any conscious guidance, she sensed it.

It was a place of utter void, devoid of anything.

No, that wasn’t entirely true.

A small, purple sprout, delicate as a plant, stubbornly poked a tiny, charming corner through the barren emptiness.

In this colorless world, that hint of purple appeared as a miracle of life!

Eve had no idea what mana was supposed to look like, but the moment she laid eyes on the sprout, she was absolutely certain it was her own mana!

Yet, before Eve could even rejoice, a wicked golden hand reached in. Right before her eyes, it plunged deep into the sprout, seized a corner of the nascent shoot that had just broken through the soil, and then tore it out by the roots.

The tiny sprout couldn’t even let out a whimper before it was devoured by the large hand, vanishing without a trace.

Eve: …

In reality, Eve instantly jolted awake, her eyes snapping open as she let out a string of expletives. “What a monster!”

“It was just a baby!”

“Even when harvesting chives, you don’t pull them out by the roots like that!”

Eve finally understood why her mana hadn’t recovered all this time. Something had been constantly siphoning it away.

She had completely misjudged her precious ‘Listening’ skill!

As for where the mana ultimately flowed…

Eve didn’t know. It wasn’t being siphoned from outside; rather, it was being consumed directly within her body, much like when she cast a skill.

But with none of her three skills currently active, only one possibility remained.

Eve stroked her chin, her voice laced with suspicion. “System, are you secretly devouring my mana?”

System: […]

[Detection complete. The player’s current mana consumption originates from the activation of a class talent. Please await the results patiently.]

“Ah?”

Eve paused, then comprehension dawned on her. “System, are you saying the Holy Spirit conversion was successful?”

[Correct.]

“So, the one stealing my mana wasn’t ‘Listening,’ wasn’t the System, but Wennya?”

[…Correct.]

Oh, so it was Wennya. In that case, no harm done.

Upon receiving confirmation, Eve leaned back against the wall, settling into a prone position.

But then, a thought struck her.

“A mere 2.6% chance actually succeeded?”

“Did I just trade my lifespan for this Holy Spirit conversion?”

“No, wait. I’m an undead. I don’t have a lifespan anymore. That doesn’t make sense.”

Shaking her head to dismiss the unrealistic notion, Eve suddenly recalled the ‘Divine Grace Blessing’ buff granted by the Goddess of Light when she had chosen her class.

‘It seemed to include a +1 to Luck, didn’t it?’

‘Not sure, let me check…’

Indeed, it did!

Eve gasped, drawing a sharp breath. “Hiss… if I had a luck-boosting buff like this in a gacha game, wouldn’t I be rolling gold like crazy, getting double yellows in a ten-pull?”

“With such divine power, it’s no wonder so many people worship the Goddess of Light.”

Eve exclaimed, a genuine sentiment in her voice.

The very next second, a system notification popped up.

[Goddess of Light’s Affection +1]

Eve: ?!

Upon seeing the notification, Eve instantly stiffened, her gaze sweeping around the room before finally settling on the night sky outside the window.

Though Eve merely gazed calmly out the window, uttering no words, a tempest raged within her heart.

‘Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!’

‘The system’s notification, ‘Under the Gaze of the Goddess of Light,’ wasn’t joking around at all!’

‘The Goddess of Light, *she* was actually watching her!’

‘Doesn’t that mean if I were to badmouth the Goddess behind her back, she could just smite me into oblivion!’

However…

‘It seems the Goddess of Light… rather favors me at the moment?’

Others might not know, but Eve suddenly had a dawning realization as to why this game was titled ‘Summoning Gods’.

Amidst her mingled feelings of flattery and unease, Eve, still affected by the mana depletion’s side effects, eventually calmed down.

Her brain, however, thought: ‘Why bother thinking so much right now? Whatever, whatever. I’m so exhausted; I just want to give up.’

And so, Eve lay ‘playing dead’ in the corner for the entire night. It wasn’t until the early hours of the next morning, as the sky began to lighten, that the profound weariness finally dissipated.

[Holy Spirit Conversion Successful]

[Holy Spirit: Wennya (Lv. 19)]

[Class: Locked (Cannot change class)]

[Physique: 18]

[Spirit: 13]

[Agility: 15]

[Power Rating: E+ (Unremarkable, yet already possessing strength far beyond ordinary individuals)]

[Note: A Holy Spirit’s final power is composed of 50% of the purified undead creature’s inherent attributes as a fixed value, plus 100% of the player’s current attributes, totaling both. As the player’s level increases, the Holy Spirit’s level and attributes will synchronize.]

The system presented the status panel for the new Holy Spirit, Wennya. However, Eve, whose mana had been mercilessly drained all night, had long since succumbed to overwhelming drowsiness and fallen into a deep sleep.

Consequently, she noticed neither the system panel nor the golden stream of light that gently parted her bangs as it flew from her brow, nor even the small undead being that emerged.