Noah's breath came out shaky, the words he had just spoken echoing faintly in his mind.
Still, the thought seemed too absurd to make sense.
His brows knitted together as he recalled what happened before everything went dark.
He had thought he'd only fainted back then.
But then, if it was that he had only fainted, how was any of this possible?
His eyes narrowed slightly, his breathing growing uneven as he thought about it.
He could still remember the cold hand that had grabbed him, dragging him into that endless darkness. The weightless feeling of his body.
The strange void where no air, sound, or light existed. It hadn't felt like a dream. It had felt real—too real.
And yet, he was now standing and breathing like any other alive person.
He slowly raised his hand and placed it against his chest, pressing firmly. His heartbeat thudded beneath his palm—fast and loud, almost frantic.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
His throat went dry as his eyes widened slightly.
'I died… then came back to life,' he thought, his hand trembling against his chest.
The thought itself was insane, something he would have mocked someone else for saying.
But what else could explain it? There was no other possible explanation.
He had felt his consciousness vanish into that endless darkness, felt his soul and spirit being dragged away. If that wasn't death, then what was it?
The more he thought about it, the more his head began to ache.
It sounded ridiculous even to him—like something ripped out of a fantasy tale.
He let out a weak laugh under his breath, the corners of his lips twitching slightly.
"That's… insane," he muttered, his voice trembling slightly with disbelief.
His gaze flickered slightly, his thoughts drifting back to the blue screens that had appeared before him earlier.
[The Supreme Magus System]
It had appeared right before he was pulled back from that void. That couldn't have been a coincidence. He could feel it deep down—it was connected somehow. The system and his sudden return… they were linked.
He drew in a slow breath, his eyes narrowing.
'That has to be it,' he thought. 'It's because of that system. The moment those notifications appeared, I was dragged back… pulled out of that darkness.'
He frowned deeply, trying to make sense of it. He didn't fully understand what that strange dark space was—it had felt… empty, like everything that made him him had vanished completely.
Was that what death felt like? The thought sent a cold shiver through him.
He rubbed his arm slightly, the chill of the night air brushing against his skin.
If that space truly was related to death, then did that mean the system had… revived him?
The idea alone was almost impossible to believe, yet every part of him screamed that it was true.
He lifted his head slowly, his gaze drawn back to the faint, glowing notifications still flickering in front of his eyes.
They hadn't vanished yet—in fact, they were still flashing continuously across his vision.
[ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!]
[A bug has been discovered in the system!]
[Trying to fix bug…]
[Fixing Bug…]
[…]
[ERROR! FIXING FAILED!]
[ERROR! SYSTEM FALLING APART!]
[…]
They appeared over and over again like an endless loop, to the point they started to irritate him.
"Damn it…" he muttered, gnashing his teeth.
He could already feel an headache brewing from the annoying notifications, and he started getting dizzy.
He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his thoughts, but it only made him dizzier.
"Ugh… enough already," he muttered, his tone thick with frustration.
Unfortunately, he had no idea how to make the annoying notifications disappear.
He groaned quietly, rubbing his temples.
After a moment, he clicked his tongue in irritation, his expression twisting slightly.
"A system that can bring me back to life…" he muttered. "That's surely powerful…"
Even though he didn't know how, he was clear whatever the system was, it wasn't ordinary, since it had brought him back to life.
He was also sure there must have being a reason behind this, and perhaps like it said earlier, he was the host to this powerful system.
"It's too bad…" he muttered softly, his tone carrying a mix of regret and curiosity. "It broke down before I could learn more about it."
For a moment, he said nothing, only watching the flickering text that refused to vanish from his sight.
His jaw tightened slightly, his fingers curling once again into fists.
It was like he had finally found something that could change everything… something that could lift him from the endless pit he'd been trapped in all his life—only for it to slip away before he could even grasp it properly.
A bitter feeling rose in his throat.
He didn't know why, but it stung far more than he expected.
All his life, he had prayed, begged, and worked for a chance—just one single chance—to break free from his miserable fate.
And now that such a chance had finally appeared before him, it had broken down before his eyes, leaving nothing but these annoying notifications.
When he looked down at himself, the reality of his state hit him harder than before.
His entire body was still soaked with soil.
He sighed quietly, his face twitching slightly at the sight of his own miserable condition.
He must have looked like a walking corpse—pale, filthy, and trembling faintly.
"I… should clean up first…" he muttered, his voice weak and hoarse.
He didn't know how long he'd been underground, but one thing was certain—he couldn't go anywhere looking like this.
Not to mention, he could already imagine how his mother or his little sister would react if they saw him appear at the door in this state.
But before he could move or even think about where to go, another notification flashed before him.
His body stiffened instantly, his heart skipping a beat as bright blue light flickered across his vision again.
[ERROR! BUG UNABLE TO BE FIXED!]
[The system has been corroded by the bug. All parameters broken down. Required EXP for leveling up now fixed, limits on quests completely removed, Penalty on quests disabled.]
Noah froze in place, staring at the notifications with wide eyes.
For a few seconds, his mind went completely blank.
Then, as his eyes moved back and forth across the glowing text, confusion began to rise within him.
He blinked slowly.
He read the tab over and over again, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.
"What…?" he muttered, his lips parting slightly. The words didn't make sense to him—not at first. All parameters broken down? Required EXP fixed? Limits removed? Penalty disabled?
It sounded like complete nonsense. And yet, somehow, he felt like it meant something significant.
His lips parted again, this time trembling slightly as a spark ignited within him.
'This means…' he thought. '…the system still works, right?!'