Chapter 374: Noah is alive On Earth, in his modest bedroom, Noah woke up with a violent gasp that tore from his throat like a drowning man breaking the water’s surface. "AHHHHHHHHH!" The scream was loud and involuntary, his body convulsing as phantom agony exploded through his chest. He clutched at his heart with both hands as if multiple swords were still embedded there, the memory of being impaled so vivid that his mind couldn’t distinguish between past trauma and present reality. His body was drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through as if he’d been submerged in water. Every nerve ending screamed with residual pain that shouldn’t exist but felt devastatingly real despite his apparent wholeness. Looking around his familiar room with wild, disoriented eyes, Noah tried desperately to orient himself. The last thing he remembered was... what? His memory was incredibly fuzzy, fragmented images that refused to connect into coherent narrative. He clutched his head as a splitting headache made thinking almost impossible. "System, what happened?" Noah muttered through gritted teeth, hoping for clarity from the one constant presence he could rely on. [Host, you’ve been slain.] The system’s response came with such casual nonchalance that it took several seconds for Noah’s pain-addled brain to fully process what he’d just heard. When the meaning finally registered, his expression changed from agonized confusion to shocked disbelief. "I’ve been WHAT?!" Noah shouted with exasperated incredulity, his voice cracking between horror and the absurd comedy of hearing such catastrophic news delivered with all the emotional weight of a hello-hi conversation. "Did you just casually mention that I DIED like you’re telling me the mail arrived?!" He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart and organize his scattered thoughts. "At least tell me what happened exactly? The last thing I remember is touching the World Tree’s teardrop fruit and then... nothing. Everything after that is just blank." [Host became unconscious as the system attempted to process the teardrop’s concentrated life energy. Host’s body could not handle the overwhelming power contained within the fruit. The processing required the system to allocate all resources to preventing permanent damage to Host’s physical form and consciousness. During this vulnerable period, Host was killed by external forces.] "How did I die?" Noah demanded, needing to understand what had occurred during his blackout. "Who killed me? What happened to Lola and—" [That’s it, Host. I have answered some of your questions. Now I need to return to processing the remaining energy from the teardrop fruit. You are banned from entering the medieval world for twenty-four hours as the penalty. Further questions will be addressed after the processing period concludes.] The system’s presence withdrew before Noah could protest or demand more information, leaving him sitting alone in his bedroom with more questions than answers. Noah remained motionless on his bed, the phantom pain still lancing through his chest where he had apparently been killed. He cursed whoever had murdered him during his vulnerable state, his hands clenching into fists as rage mixed with helplessness. But his anger was immediately overshadowed by crushing worry about Lola. She wouldn’t have let anyone kill him without a fight—which meant she had probably been in serious trouble herself. She likely thought he was dead, had watched him die while unable to prevent it. The thought of what she must be experiencing twisted his heart with guilt and concern that exceeded even the residual pain from his own death. Lola had sworn to protect him, and from her perspective, she had failed completely. He couldn’t do anything about it. The system had banned him from returning for twenty-four hours, and no amount of frustration or worry would change that restriction. He was trapped on Earth while Lola faced unknown dangers alone, believing he was gone forever. Noah’s hands moved unconsciously to his chest again, feeling the intact flesh where fatal wounds should have been. The 300% pain setting he had configured in the system seemed to persist even after death and resurrection, making the memory of being impaled feel as real as if it were happening in the present moment. He lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling while trying to process everything. He had died. Actually died. And somehow the system had brought him back, though the mechanism and full limitations of that resurrection remained unclear as the system left without explaining. Twenty-four hours. He had to survive twenty-four hours of not knowing what was happening to Lola, whether she was safe, or if she had managed to escape whatever catastrophe had resulted in his death. It was going to be the longest day of his life.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ A sudden knock on his bedroom door made Noah jolt upright, his heart still racing from the residual trauma of his death experience. "Noah? Are you okay? I heard you scream!" His father’s worried voice called through the door, concern evident in every syllable. Noah quickly wiped the sweat from his face and tried to steady his breathing. The last thing he wanted was to worry his father with the truth—that he had just died and resurrected in another dimension. That conversation would end either with his dad thinking he’d lost his mind or with explanations that would put his father in potential danger. "I’m fine, Dad! Sorry, I was just playing a game and got really frustrated," Noah called back, forcing his voice to sound more normal than he felt. He stood up on shaky legs and made his way to the door, opening it to reveal his father standing in the hallway with obvious concern written across his features. Alan looked his son over carefully, noting the sweat-soaked clothes and slightly wild eyes, but choosing not to comment on those details. Instead, a wry smile spread across his face as he shook his head with fond exasperation. "You’re the same as when you were a child," Alan said with gentle amusement. "I remember you screaming just like that when you lost at video games back then too. Some things never change, I suppose." Noah managed a weak smile at the familiar teasing, grateful that his father was willing to accept the simple explanation rather than pressing for uncomfortable truths. "Yeah, I guess I never learned to control my competitive frustration. Sorry for worrying you."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Unable to do anything about the situation in the medieval world, Noah decided he needed to go out and relieve some of the overwhelming stress threatening to consume him. Sitting in his room for twenty-four hours obsessing over Lola’s fate would drive him insane. He grabbed his GTR keys and headed out, barely acknowledging his father’s concerned look as he left the house. The silver sports car roared to life with its characteristic growl, and Noah immediately pointed it toward the highway. Once on the open road, he pressed the accelerator hard, watching the speedometer climb past legal limits with reckless disregard for consequences. The engine’s power translated into pure velocity as the GTR ate up asphalt, the speed creating a temporary escape from the crushing weight of recent events. A speed camera’s lights flashed in his rearview mirror after several miles of excessive speed. He didn’t care about the fine as for the points, he can sort it out with the right people. Money was the one problem he no longer had. A traffic violation felt absurdly trivial. Despite his reckless speed, Noah had remained carefully aware of surrounding traffic throughout his drive. His enhanced attributes provided superhuman reflexes that allowed him to navigate at dangerous velocities while maintaining perfect control. He could process information and react faster than any normal human, making what would be suicidal speeds for others, normal for someone with his capabilities. After the ticket, he continued driving but with slightly more restraint, eventually pulling off at a large shopping mall. He parked the GTR in the lot and sat for a moment, staring at the steering wheel while trying to decide what to do with himself. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂 The thing he had most now was money. Over twenty-five million dollars sat in his accounts, with more flowing in daily whether he did anything or not. Spending some of it to generate temporary dopamine seemed like the only constructive activity available to him. Noah entered the mall with no particular destination in mind, just wandering through the climate-controlled corridors while trying to occupy his racing thoughts with something—anything—besides images of Lola fighting alone or grieving over his corpse. He found himself in an electronics store first, surrounded by the latest technology. High-end gaming systems, professional audio equipment, cutting-edge computers—all of it suddenly felt meaningless compared to magical artifacts that could actually enhance human capabilities. But he purchased several items anyway, letting the transaction process provide brief distraction. A clothing store came next, where he bought expensive designer pieces without really looking at them or caring about price. Jewelry, watches, luxury goods—Noah moved through stores, spending thousands of dollars on items he didn’t need and probably wouldn’t use. The shopping bags accumulated in his hands, physical proof of wealth that couldn’t solve his actual problems. But no amount of material consumption could fill the gnawing worry about Lola or erase the phantom pain still echoing in his chest from the spear that had killed him. The dopamine hits from purchasing were fleeting and unsatisfying, leaving him feeling more empty with each transaction. Noah eventually found himself sitting on a mall bench, surrounded by shopping bags, staring blankly at the crowds of normal people going about their normal lives. They had no idea that other dimensions existed, that magical powers were real, or that he had died and somehow returned.