My Bugged System Made Me Too OP!-Chapter 24: How am I still alive?
"Who cares if he’s handsome anyway?" one of them scoffed, waving a hand as though brushing away something insignificant. "A loser’s still a loser."
Another snorted loudly in agreement, his voice thick with contempt. "Exactly. Face doesn’t change talent. Doesn’t change the fact that he’s useless."
They laughed again, their voices dissolving into the general murmur of the academy grounds.
Noah, on the other hand, paid none of it any attention.
His gaze had already shifted inward.
[Supreme Magus System$&@?!]
[Host: Noah Whiteheart]
[Level: 6]
[EXP: 200/100$&@?]
[Rank: Adept Magus (high)]
[Elements: Ice, Lightning]
[Mana: 360/360]
[Health: 150/150]
[Strength: 8]
[Agility: 9]
[Stamina: 9]
[Endurance: 7]
[Sense: 7]
[Supreme Points: 0]
Noah’s eyes moved slowly down the list, taking in each line carefully.
He had risen up two levels, and even though the changes in his stats weren’t that much, they were still there.
But it was the last tab that held his attention.
[Supreme Points: 0]
His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at it.
’Supreme points...’ he thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. ’I still don’t know what that does.’
It wasn’t the first time he was noticing it on his status, but he had always been more carried away with levelling up.
Before he could dwell on it further—
"N-Noah...?"
The voice came from behind him.
It was hesitant, and laced with a faint tremor.
Noah’s attention snapped outward immediately.
He blinked, the system interface dissolving from his vision as his focus returned to the physical world.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the source of the voice.
A boy stood a short distance away, staring at him as though he had just seen something impossible. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
He had short black hair, cut unevenly, strands falling slightly over his forehead. His frame was thin—almost frail—and his uniform hung loosely around his shoulders.
But it was his face that drew Noah’s attention.
Dark circles rested heavily beneath the boy’s eyes, stark against his pale skin, as though sleep had long abandoned him.
His gaze was wide, pupils slightly dilated, filled with something between disbelief and fear.
His hands were trembling.
Not violently—but enough to be noticeable.
One hand hung stiffly at his side, fingers twitching faintly. The other slowly lifted, hesitantly, as if unsure whether he should even be reaching out at all.
He swallowed.
Then pointed a trembling finger directly at Noah.
"N-Noah...?"
The stutter broke through the air clearly this time.
Noah’s expression shifted instantly.
The calm neutrality that had rested on his face tightened, drawing inward. His brows pulled together. His lips pressed into a thin line before parting slightly.
His face squeezed into a faint frown.
"Rad..." he said quietly.
The name left his mouth without hesitation.
Noah certainly recognized the person standing in front of him.
Even with the dark circles.
Even with the fragile look in his eyes.
For a split second, silence seemed to swallow the space between them.
Then—
Noah’s fingers slowly curled inward.
His fists clenched tightly at his sides, the tendons along the back of his hands standing out sharply beneath his skin. His knuckles whitened as pressure built within his grip, nails biting faintly into his palms.
His teeth ground together.
He might seem composed on the outside, but the anger that flared up in his chest was anything but small.
Heat spread through him, tightening his lungs, coiling around his ribs, pressing upward into his throat.
Rad was one of Lloyd’s lackeys.
One of the obedient shadows that followed Lloyd everywhere, nodding, laughing at his jokes, carrying out his orders without hesitation.
And Rad had been there.
That night.
His jaw tightened further.
Rad had been one of the three.
The three who had dragged him away, beaten him and buried him alive.
The other two were Lloyd himself and Drey.
The memory clawed its way forward uninvited.
Cold soil pressing against his face.
The suffocating weight of dirt filling his mouth.
Noah’s breathing slowed deliberately, but the anger did not fade.
Though...
Saying they buried him alive wouldn’t exactly be correct.
His eyes darkened.
They hadn’t buried him alive, and had instead killed him, or rather beaten him to death.
Then they left him there.
A corpse.
Abandoned beneath the soil, left to rot and for maggots to feast upon.
His stomach twisted faintly at the memory—not from fear, but from something darker.
If it hadn’t been for the system...
He would still be dead.
Across from him, Rad took a hesitant step forward.
His eyes were still wide, unblinking, as if staring at a ghost.
He moved closer, almost unconsciously.
His breathing was uneven.
"H-How..." Rad muttered, voice barely above a whisper. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. "...are you..."
He couldn’t finish.
The words stuck somewhere between disbelief and terror.
His hand slowly lifted again.
It trembled more noticeably this time.
Fingers stretched outward toward Noah’s shoulder, hesitant yet compelled, as though he needed physical proof that the figure before him was real.
That he wasn’t hallucinating.
That the corpse they had left behind had not somehow returned.
Rad’s fingertips were inches away.
Then—
Noah moved, catching Rad’s wrist midair.
His grip was firm and unyielding.
Rad’s breath hitched sharply.
A shiver ran visibly down his spine.
The contact was not painful—but it was solid.
Rad’s eyes flickered downward toward Noah’s hand gripping his wrist.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
He glanced up.
His gaze met Noah’s face.
And what he found there made his stomach drop.
Noah had a cold expression, his deep blue eyes staring into Rad like they could see deep in his soul.
Rad instinctively tried to pull his wrist back.
His brows furrowed as he applied more force, muscles in his forearm tensing visibly.
But Noah’s grip did not budge.
It was like trying to wrench free from iron.
Rad’s breathing grew shallow.
He pulled harder this time.
Still nothing.
His wrist remained firmly trapped in Noah’s grasp.
Rad’s eyes narrowed slightly, confusion flashing across his face.
When did this loser get this strong?’ he thought.
Noah had always been weak, fragile and easy to overpower
After all, he had only little mana, and was couldn’t even defend himself.
Suddenly, Noah’s lips curved faintly.
He leaned in slightly, closing the distance between them until his breath brushed faintly against Rad’s ear.
His grip on Rad’s wrist tightened just a fraction—not enough to break bone, but enough to remind him of control.
Then, in a low voice that carried no tremor, no hesitation, he whispered—
"How what, Rad...?" he muttered, his tone turning colder with each word. "How am I still alive?"
