Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner-Chapter 149: Chasing money

Sophie pulled up in front of the boys’ hostel, her car slowing to a smooth stop. Noah reached for the handle, pushing the door open without much thought. His mind was still a maze of thoughts, tangled in everything they had just discussed.

Just as he was about to step out, Sophie cleared her throat.

"Noah?"

He turned back, brows furrowed. She looked hesitant, fingers drumming lightly on the steering wheel.

"Can you, uh… can you tell Kelvin to come see me?"

Noah blinked. Kelvin?

It was an odd request, but at that moment, he really didn’t care to think too much of it. His mind was too full, too tired.

"Yeah. Sure." His voice was flat, lacking its usual edge.

She nodded, offering him a small, unsure smile. He didn’t return it. With that, he stepped out, closing the door behind him before making his way into the hostel.

—

Kelvin was at his usual spot, hunched over his tech setup, multiple screens glowing around him. The blue light reflected off his glasses as he worked, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

Noah stood at the door, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey," he muttered.

Kelvin didn’t look up. "Sup?"

Noah exhaled. "Sophie’s parked outside. She wants to see you."

Now Kelvin looked up. He stared at Noah, his head tilting slightly.

"…Wait. The Sophie?"

Noah gave him a dry look. "Yeah."

Kelvin’s eyes narrowed. "Noah’s Sophie? Sophie Reign?"

Noah let out a sigh. "Yeah."

Kelvin whistled low. "Damn. Did not have that on my bingo card today."

Normally, Noah might have laughed, but right now? He wasn’t in the mood.

Kelvin must have picked up on it because his usual grin faded, replaced by something more neutral.

"What happened?" he asked, studying Noah now.

Noah shook his head, stepping further into the room. "She’s waiting."

Kelvin gave him a long look, then nodded. He grabbed a shirt from the back of his chair, pulled it on, and made his way out without another word.

—

Noah lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

His brain wouldn’t stop.

’Breaking up with Sophie over an assumption is stupid.’

Yeah, she hurt him. Feelings were raw, trust was dented. But was he seriously willing to throw everything away because of it?

Because whether he liked it or not, Sophie was right about one thing.

Luck or not, she made him happy.

And that wasn’t something he could easily ignore.

His fingers tapped absently against his stomach as he thought back to her explanation. He was smart enough to understand her position. The way she described it, she wasn’t in control of her luck, not entirely. It just… happened. Sometimes it even rubbed off on other people.

That wasn’t malicious. That wasn’t some grand manipulation.

’The only thing I’m actually mad about is the fact that I didn’t notice earlier.’

That truth stung more than anything.

Noah prided himself on being sharp, on noticing things that others missed. He wasn’t just some random student trying to get by. He was a soldier in training, someone who was supposed to be aware of his surroundings, of patterns—of anything out of place.

And yet, he missed this.

He let himself get caught up in desire, in comfort, in the simple joy of having Sophie around. He ignored the little inconsistencies, brushed aside the gut feelings, and let himself be pulled in without question.

So really… could he even blame Sophie?

’No. I blame myself.’

He ran a hand over his face. Her luck. His luck.

Was anyone really unlucky in this situation?

Maybe, in some twisted way, they both had their fair share of luck and misfortune tangled together.

The only question now was whether he was willing to keep walking forward with it.

Kelvin walked back into the room, carrying a small, sleek box in his hands. He didn’t say a word—just strolled over to Noah’s bed and dropped it in front of him with a soft thud.

Noah glanced at the box, then at Kelvin. "What is this?"

Kelvin folded his arms. "It’s yours."

Noah frowned, sitting up and reaching for the box. He flipped the lid open and froze.

Inside, nestled in a bed of custom foam, was a phone.

Not just any phone. This thing looked like it belonged in some top-secret government facility. Sleek, black, and borderline futuristic with no visible ports, no buttons, just a smooth, unbroken surface.

Noah looked up at Kelvin. "Why?"

Kelvin shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? All Sophie said was that she didn’t want it to seem like a bribe. Whatever the hell that means." He leaned against the desk, giving Noah a pointed look. "Speaking of… everything okay between you two?"

Noah sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. Mostly." His fingers hovered over the phone before he shut the box. "But I can’t accept this."

Kelvin grinned. "Your girlfriend’s pretty damn smart then."

Noah shot him a glare. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

Kelvin’s eyes lit up as he crouched next to the bed, flipping the box open again. "Dude, do you have any idea what this is? This thing isn’t even on the market. It’s a prototype—military-grade tech. Probably designed specifically for you."

He picked up the phone, turning it over in his hands. "No ports, no seams, no external hardware. This thing’s 50 times ahead of anything we have right now. All biometrics—voice recognition, retinal scan, even your unique bioelectric signature. In anyone else’s hands, it’s just a useless piece of glass."

Noah could see how excited Kelvin was.

He was practically vibrating.

Kelvin was holding himself back, though, trying to act cool about it.

Noah exhaled. He knew that look.

He glanced at the phone again, then at Kelvin’s pleading eyes, burning behind his usual deadpan expression.

’He’s dying to test this thing out.’

"Fine," Noah muttered. "You can test-run it. Make sure everything’s working."

Kelvin let out a dramatic gasp and immediately fell to his knees, clutching his chest. "Thank you, my lord! I shall not disappoint you—"

"Shut the hell up and just do it."

Kelvin shot up like a rocket, grinning like a maniac. "Alright, first, we gotta sync it to you." Stay tuned for updates on novelbuddy

He held the phone up. "Retinal scan first. Look directly at it."

Noah did. A faint blue light swept across his eyes, scanning.

"Now fingerprint."

Noah pressed his thumb to the smooth surface. The phone hummed, a pulse of light rippling through it.

Kelvin’s hands were shaking. "And now… neural link."

Noah frowned. "The hell is that?"

Kelvin beamed. "Basically, it maps your unique brainwaves. Every person has a different electromagnetic pattern, so this thing? It’ll recognize you even if your face changes. Military-grade security."

Noah sighed. "Of course."

A few more scans, and then—

The phone activated.

The once-blank surface now glowed, symbols and menus shifting like liquid light.

Kelvin nearly fainted.

"Holy shit. This thing is unreal." He scrolled through the interface, geeking out over everything. Noah barely understood half of what he was saying—something about quantum encryption, AI-driven interfaces, real-time holographic projection…

It was a damn supercomputer in his hands.

Noah, meanwhile, was taking it all in.

’She got me this before the fight. And even when things between us got messy, she still gave it to me.’

That meant something.

And then—Kelvin, still fiddling with the phone, casually said:

"Man, she beat me to it. This was the birthday present I was gonna get you."

Noah paused.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

That…

That made him rethink things.

Noah sat there, staring at the phone in his hands.

Not the present.

Not the sheer insanity of the technology.

But this.

This was real.

Sophie had gone out of her way to do something for him. Something huge. Meanwhile, what had he ever done for her?

Sure, he could boil it down to one word: broke.

He had no credit.

And he had stopped accepting anything from Mrs. Harper a long time ago. It wasn’t fair—taking money from a woman who worked her ass off cleaning houses while his real parents enjoyed their luxurious lives on the Ark.

No.

That was something he could never stomach.

But still…

’What have I actually done for Sophie?’

He sat up abruptly, the thought gnawing at him.

He glanced at Kelvin, suddenly feeling… shy.

"You, uh…" He scratched the back of his neck. "You think I can start texting now?" A beat. "Like… texting Sophie?"

Kelvin grinned.

He leaned back against the desk, arms crossed, clearly enjoying this.

"Most things on that phone are preset," he said casually. Then, raising an eyebrow, "How the hell did she even get so much of your information? And you had no clue this was coming?"

Noah smirked, shaking his head.

"I’ve been getting blindsided a lot lately."

Kelvin chuckled. "Yeah, no kidding."

But Noah was already looking down at the phone again.

Could he text her?

Sophie, that is.

Kelvin, still grinning, tapped the side of the phone. "Apparently, her contact is the only one pre-saved in there, so yeah, dude. Knock yourself out."

Noah stared at the screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

For minutes, he typed, erased, retyped—struggling to find the right words.

Not too stiff. Not too desperate. Not too… forced.

Finally, he clicked send.

A breath left his lips.

’Things are going to be fine between us.’

Maybe not perfect, but fine.

At least, that was the hope.

But as for the other thing he’d just committed himself to…

He needed an expert.

And fast.

His jaw clenched.

He needed money, and he needed it quickly.

Kelvin was good for a lot of things, but not this.

There was only one person who could help him legally.

Lucas Grey.

The number one student.