Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner

Noah's smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he tilted his head slightly. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice calm but carrying an edge.

The girl smirked. "I bet Sophie would love to know what her boyfriend is doing around the year-two girls' dorm." She tapped her tablet absentmindedly, like she was considering her next move. "I always knew you didn't deserve her."

Noah blinked, momentarily stunned.

Of all the things he'd expected tonight—tracking a hacker, decoding some elite-level tech, maybe even confronting a mystery figure—he hadn't expected this.

A damn Sophie loyalist.

He'd walked straight into a trap, not the one he was looking for, but one just as annoying.

What was he supposed to do now? Grab the tablet? Sure, he could snatch it in a second, but that would just escalate things. Even if he managed to delete whatever she had, people would only see one thing: Noah harassing a girl.

A perfect way to turn a bad situation into a disastrous one.

But before he could even process his next move, the girl let out a sudden, sharp scream.

Her fingers jerked away from the tablet as the screen flickered violently, lines of distorted code replacing whatever app she had open.

The symbols warped, twisting into unreadable gibberish before something even stranger happened—an eerie, violet emblem formed at the center of the screen, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Kelvin shot up from his seat.

Noah took a step back.

Whatever was happening… wasn't normal.

Kelvin approached, eyes flicking between Noah and the girl still freaking out over her glitching tablet.

Noah took a careful step back, hands raised slightly as if to say I want nothing to do with this. He had walked right into a mess, and now it was unraveling in real-time.

Leaning slightly toward Kelvin, he muttered under his breath, "Tell me that's you." His tone was casual, but his eyes weren't. They carried the weight of a silent Please say yes.@@novelbin@@

Kelvin didn't answer immediately. He was watching the flickering violet symbol on the girl's screen, analyzing it in real-time.

Finally, he sighed, "Okay, so I had the same idea," he admitted, voice low. "I was about to hack her tablet myself." His lips twitched slightly, like he almost respected what had just happened. "But our little friend beat me to it."

Noah's jaw tightened. "You're saying—"

Kelvin nodded before he could finish. "To do something like this? They have to be close." He glanced around, eyes scanning the other people in the hangout spot. "Close like me. Close like them."

Noah followed his gaze, heart pounding just a little harder.

The hacker was here. Right now. Watching.

Kelvin and Noah locked eyes as the realization sank in. If they knew the hacker was here, then the hacker had to know they were too.

The thought barely settled before a sharp crackling sound filled the air. Kelvin's wristwatch—his custom-built tracker—suddenly sparked, blue electricity arcing along the metal frame.

"Shit—" Kelvin ripped it off instinctively, wincing as a few sparks nipped at his skin. Without hesitation, he flung it onto the pavement, where it fizzled and died in a small puff of smoke.

Noah stepped back, eyes darting around. "That's not good."

"No kidding," Kelvin muttered, rubbing his wrist. "They saw me snooping. That was a countermeasure. They fried my damn tracker."

But just as he turned away from the smoldering remains of his device, something else caught his eye—something across the hangout spot.

A faint green glow.

It flickered briefly, emanating from the screen of a tablet held by someone sitting at the far end of the area.

Kelvin's lips curled into a slow, knowing smirk.

"They got me," he murmured under his breath. "But I got them too."

Noah followed his gaze, eyes locking onto the glowing device. "That's your signature, isn't it?"

Kelvin exhaled sharply, the thrill of the hunt kicking in.

"Bingo," he said. "Whoever owns that tab… that's our hacker."

Noah and Kelvin began moving, but as they did, something gnawed at the back of Noah's mind.

They were all compromised.

The hacker knew they were here. Worst-case scenario? A scene broke out in the middle of this public hangout spot. What had started as a quiet infiltration had spiraled into something unpredictable.

'Mission parameters have changed,' Noah thought grimly. 'We need to adapt,'

His eyes flickered around. There were as many boys here as there were girls. Meaning—whoever they were after wasn't necessarily female. That made things trickier.

He considered the possibilities.

If the hacker was a girl, she'd bolt for the dorms—somewhere Noah and Kelvin couldn't follow. The dormitory was restricted; no boys allowed past the common area. If she slipped inside, they'd lose her.

But if their hacker was a guy? He wouldn't run into the dorms. He'd run away from here completely.

And that was what they needed.

Noah made a split-second decision. "I'll cut off access to the dorms," he muttered to Kelvin, already changing course. "If anyone makes a break for it, I'll close in."

Kelvin arched a brow. "And me?"

"You go find out who our dearest new friend is," Noah said, nodding toward the glowing device.

Kelvin grinned. "Finally, something fun."

With that, they separated. Noah strode toward the dorm entrance, scanning the crowd. Any suspicious movement, any twitch of hesitation—he'd be ready. Meanwhile, Kelvin set his sights on their hacker, determination gleaming in his eyes.

Kelvin barely got within five feet of the suspect before things went south.

One second, he was closing in, ready to make his move. The next, the person threw their tablet away—no hesitation, no second-guessing—just a clean, deliberate ditch.

And then, before Kelvin could even react, a wicked left hook slammed into his jaw.

"Shit—!" Kelvin staggered back, completely caught off guard as his vision blurred for a moment. By the time he regained his bearings, the hacker was already sprinting away.

Noah was on him in an instant, gripping his arm and pulling him up. "You good?"

Kelvin blinked, rubbed his jaw, then let out a breathy chuckle. "Didn't get a good look at them, but damn, that left hand? That's years of fighting with a keyboard. No way that's natural."

Noah exhaled sharply, but his amusement didn't last long. His gaze flicked up just in time to catch movement outside the courtyard.

They weren't the only ones who noticed the scuffle.

People were already turning in their direction, whispering, watching. A few were even pointing.

'Great, compromised and in the open,' This was exactly what Miss Brooks would call a failed mission.

But Noah didn't care.

Their target was getting away.

"Come on," he said, already taking off. "We're not losing them."

Kelvin groaned but followed. "Can we at least talk about how I just got sucker punched?"

Noah didn't answer.

They had a hacker to catch.

__

The chase was on.

Their target was fast—nimble, even. They darted between students, knocking over a chair or two, leaping over benches like it was second nature. But Noah was right on their tail.

Kelvin, on the other hand, was trying his best.

"How the hell—!" he wheezed, watching as Noah vaulted over a low fence with ease.

Ahead, the hacker reached an even bigger obstacle—an eight-foot fence. Without slowing down, they climbed it like a damn parkour expert, swinging over the top in one smooth motion before dropping to the other side.

Kelvin skidded to a stop. "Oh, hell no."

Then his eyes nearly popped out of his skull when Noah—without a single break in his stride—hopped the fence.

Hopped.

Like it was nothing.

Kelvin stood there, stunned. He didn't know if it was the punch messing with his head or if Noah had secretly unlocked a new skill set overnight, but what he just saw was not normal.

"…Yeah, I'm not doing that."

Instead, he veered off, cutting through a side path, hoping he'd find another way around and somehow still keep up.

Meanwhile, Noah was locked in.

The hacker had made it to the school's garden, weaving through the maze of shrubs and trees, but Noah wasn't losing him.

It had turned into a full sprint, both of them racing through the dense foliage, their footsteps crunching against dirt and gravel.

Noah's breath was steady, his focus sharp. His body felt different—stronger, faster. And with each step, each turn, he knew one thing for sure.

He wasn't letting this one get away.

Noah pushed harder, closing in on the figure. His eyes narrowed as he got a better look—the hacker was wearing a hoodie, the fabric billowing slightly from their sprint.

He smirked to himself. They're in trouble.

A month ago, he wouldn't have been able to keep up. His lungs would've been burning, his legs aching. But now? With his increased stats? He could run like this all night.

Then, without warning, the hacker stopped.

Noah skid to a halt about twelve feet away, heart pounding as he eyed the person in the hood frame.

They were just… standing there.

Back turned to him.

His instincts flared. Something wasn't right.

The figure suddenly spun and hurled a small metallic ball toward him.

Noah reacted on instinct, jumping backward just in time for it to hit the ground. His eyes tracked it immediately, his brain catching up to what was about to happen.

"I don't want to hurt you!" he shouted, trying to de-escalate. "I just want to ta—"

A low beep filled the air.

Noah's blood ran cold.

Boom!

The ground erupted, dirt and debris flying in every direction. Trees near the impact site splintered and cracked under the force, the shockwave knocking leaves loose from their branches. Smoke engulfed everything.

The hacker turned, satisfied, taking a step forward.

Then froze.

A hand clamped onto their shoulder.

Slowly, they turned their head, and through the haze of smoke and dust, they saw him.

Noah stood there, face streaked with dirt, eyes burning with frustration, his grip iron-tight.

A fist was drawn back.

The hacker's breath hitched. "How did you—?"

There was no way he could have closed the distance between them that quickly , right? He was too far. The explosion—

But as they stared, something caught their attention.

Noah followed the hood's gaze downward.

At the same time, a blue screen flickered in his vision, visible only to him.

---

[Void Blink activated]

[Warning—You have sustained critical damage]

[-20 HP]

---

He felt it before he fully saw it.

His right foot was… wrong.

The entire front half of his shoe was gone.

And his big toe?

Barely hanging on.

Pain finally hit him like a truck, but he gritted his teeth, shoving it aside. He had bigger concerns.

Like finding out exactly who the hell he was dealing with.

His eyes flicked back up.

Time to see the face behind the hood.