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

Noah yanked the hood back—

And immediately let go, stumbling a step backward as if he'd just grabbed a live wire.

The hacker—a girl—blinked up at him, her expression unreadable.

For a moment, there was only the rustling of the trees, the distant hum of campus life carrying on, oblivious to the chaos that had just unfolded here.

Then—

"Bro, please tell me you have a water bottle," Kelvin's voice cut through the silence, his footsteps crunching against the dirt as he finally caught up, panting like he'd run a marathon. "I swear—I just did, like, ten laps around this damn place."

Noah didn't answer.

Kelvin, still hunched over, reached into his pocket for something—then finally looked up.

And froze.

His eyes landed on the girl standing in front of them.

On the hacker.

"…A girl?!!"

His voice cracked on the last word, his exhausted brain short-circuiting.

The hacker rolled her eyes. "Wow. What an observation."

They weren't particularly shocked that their hacker was a girl. After all, they'd tracked the signal to the girls' dorm.

What did shock them, however, was the ridiculous chase she had put them through.

Now, with her hood down, they could finally get a good look at her.

She had a fine face, the kind that looked effortlessly sharp even after all that running. Brown hair, slightly damp from the sweat of the chase, clung to her forehead before she casually swept it back. The joggers and hoodie she wore had done a great job of masking her figure, making her blend in like any other guy at first glance. But now? There was no mistaking it.

Kelvin exhaled, still trying to catch his breath. "A girl?!!!"

The hacker smirked, amusement flickering in her sharp eyes as she sized them up. Then, tilting her head, she raised a finger and pointed between them.

"So, which one of you was snooping around?" she asked, voice carrying an easy confidence. "Pithon's son?" Her finger jabbed toward Kelvin.

Then she shifted her aim to Noah.

"Or Zombie Boy—the guy I just tried to blow up with my miniaturized explosives?"

Noah took a slow step forward, eyes still locked on the girl. "Do you know a guy named Raven? Class 1A?"

She didn't even blink. "Nope. Never heard of him."

The answer was sharp. Too sharp. A perfect denial delivered with a straight face. Noah wasn't convinced.

She then folded her arms, raising an unimpressed brow. "So, what? You two thought that was a good reason to hunt me down like I was some stray dog?"

Noah scoffed. "You punched Kelvin first. And if you weren't guilty, why the hell did you run?"

Before the hacker could answer, Kelvin, who had been oddly quiet, suddenly tensed beside him.

Kelvin's mind had only just caught up to everything.

Miniaturized explosives

'Did this bitch just try to nuke my friend?'

'First, she crashed my program, forcing me to chase her across half the damn campus. Then, she made me run a triathlon—or whatever the hell they called it. And now… and now she pulled a 911 on Noah?'

'Oh, hell no,' kelvin thought.

With zero hesitation, Kelvin shoved Noah aside and squared up to the girl, glaring at her.

Annoyingly, they were the exact same height.

That made intimidation a lot harder.

But Kelvin wasn't backing down. "Why," he started, jabbing a finger at her, "did you trigger a recursive AI loop bypass while simultaneously brute-forcing my firewall through a reverse shell script with an injected pseudo-random cipher overflow??!"

Noah blinked.

What?

The girl only smirked. "I did no such thing," she said coolly. "I've been minding my business all evening. Maybe your firewall is just garbage."

That set Kelvin off.

"You hijacked my backend query with an obfuscated data packet and rerouted it through a compromised SSH relay!"

The hacker shrugged. "Sounds like a you problem."

Kelvin twitched. "You remotely executed a privilege escalation attack to dump my root access logs into a dead loop!"

"Maybe you shouldn't be using such a predictable architecture, then."

Kelvin looked like he was ready to explode.

Noah, watching the exchange, was utterly baffled. He had no idea what either of them was saying. It was like listening to an alien conversation.

Finally, he sighed and stepped in, placing a hand on Kelvin's shoulder.

"Okay. Relax," he muttered. Then he turned to the girl. "Maybe she'll understand English."

Kelvin was still fuming, but he got the message. He exhaled sharply, rolling his shoulders before turning to the girl.

"What's your name?" he asked flatly.

Then, before she could even think about dodging the question, he added, "I have a feeling you already know ours, so I'm not wasting my time with introductions."

The girl smirked, tilting her head slightly. Then, she pointed at Noah first.

"Noah Eclipse. Class 1B. Sophie Reign's boyfriend. First Generation."

Then, she turned to Kelvin.

"Kelvin Pithon. Son of Webb Pithon, global mass weapons manufacturer. Class 1B. Friend of Noah."

She crossed her arms. "Is that all?"

Both Noah and Kelvin shared a glance.

Kelvin blinked. "Damn."

Kelvin was still fuming, but he got the message. He exhaled sharply, rolling

Noah exhaled, stepping forward. "No more games." His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "We have evidence that you sent a virus into Raven's tab."

The girl raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"But," Noah continued, eyeing her reaction, "we also have reason to believe you didn't do it of your own volition."

Kelvin scoffed under his breath, but he let Noah talk.

"We just want to know why you tried to corrupt Raven's phone." Noah's gaze sharpened. "And if you know anything about the files on it."

For the first time, the girl's smirk faded. Just a fraction, but it was there. A flicker of something—hesitation? Annoyance? Guilt?

Kelvin folded his arms. "So? Got something to say now, or do we keep chasing you around the whole damn school?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop beating around the bush already," she said, crossing her arms. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't already know what you were looking for."

Noah and Kelvin exchanged glances, but she continued before they could speak.

"No one's ever cracked my virus codes before. No one. Not even the so-called elites in Year 3." A smirk tugged at her lips. "So yeah, I'm impressed. But that also means this conversation?" She glanced around. "Can't happen here."

Noah narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"@@novelbin@@

She sighed. "Because I don't know who the hell you are." Then she casually tilted her head. "So I called for backup."

Kelvin stiffened. "What backup?"

A rustling noise came from a few feet away.

Then the sound of footsteps—several of them.

Noah turned his head just in time to see a group of guys walking toward them.

Kelvin sighed, rubbing his temples. "Let me guess... they're the backup?"

The girl chuckled, tilting her head slightly. "You're a sharp one, aren't you?" She took a step back, hands casually slipping into her hoodie pockets. "Well, it was a pleasure knowing you two."

Noah and Kelvin tensed as she finally gave them a name.

"Call me Vee," she said with a smirk. "And if you really want answers, you'll find me again."

Then she turned slightly, gesturing toward the approaching group. "Meet back up—Year 3s. Albright boys."

Kelvin muttered under his breath. "Yeah, of course they are."

Noah, however, wasn't focused on the muscle approaching them. His eyes were locked on Vee. Because now, he was sure of one thing—she knew way more than she was letting on.