Investment System: Rise to the Top

CHAPTER 003

Noah closed his eyes for a moment, enduring the pain. His body felt heavy and his breathing was still ragged, but the system’s voice echoed in his head again.

[Detecting resting condition…]

[Initiating basic recovery…]

Something soft flowed through his body, easing the pain that had been piercing from head to toe.

[Recovery increasing… 2%… 5%… 8%…]

Noah did not move. He simply let himself sink into that silence, but then he opened his eyes again.

[Recovery process halted…]

[Status: incomplete]

The pain was still there, but no longer as severe as before. At least now, he could stand. He gritted his teeth, then forced his body to rise.

He couldn’t stay here for long and had to return to the dorm. Curfew was at ten, and if he was late, he wouldn’t even have a place to sleep tonight.

Noah picked up his dirty bag, then staggered out of the small forest. The campus lights had dimmed and the surroundings grew quieter. When the dorm building finally came into view, he quickened his pace.

With only a few minutes left before ten, fortunately he arrived just in time.

As soon as the door opened and Noah walked in, three pairs of eyes immediately turned toward him.

“Damn, what’s that smell?” one of them covered his nose and showed a disgusted expression. “So filthy, where’d you come from? A sewer?”

In the corner of the room, a man leaned casually against his chair. His name was Rico. His lips curled into a sneer as he looked Noah up and down.

He raised an eyebrow and scoffed, “Just finished begging, huh? Tsk, tsk, who would’ve thought you’d fall this low now.”

The three of them chattered among themselves, sometimes responding to each other, but the subject of their conversation was clearly Noah.

However, Noah did not respond to any of them, not even glancing their way. He walked straight to his locker, opened it, and took clean clothes without saying a single word.

“Hey, we’re talking to you,” Rico said, but Noah had already turned and headed to the bathroom.

Rico and the two other roommates exchanged meaningful looks and smiled suspiciously behind Noah’s back.

A few minutes later, Noah came out. His hair was still wet, his face pale, but at least he looked cleaner. He walked toward his bed, planning to tidy it up and sleep first.

However, his steps stopped when he saw his mattress, wet and the foul smell immediately hit his nose.

Beside it, his desk was a mess, books scattered everywhere, some even fallen to the floor.

Noah looked at the three of them, busy with their phones, faint smiles on their lips. His jaw tightened as his hands slowly clenched.

From the side, Rico’s voice was heard again, as if he had just noticed Noah’s anger.

“Hey, what are you gonna do now? Wanna fight, huh?” he said in a mocking, provocative tone.

A few chuckles followed. They thought by now, Noah should have lost his patience, right?

Unfortunately, Noah only took a deep breath and ignored them again.

Angry? Of course.

But he knew that if he fought now, his problems would only get worse. After all, he wasn’t stupid. Since what happened this afternoon, he knew that someone had been secretly orchestrating everything that happened to him.

As for who that person was, he knew better than anyone.

Slowly, he released his clenched fists. Turning around, he walked to his desk and began tidying the scattered books one by one.

“Hah, coward,” Rico muttered with a snort.

The mockery still rang behind him, but he didn’t care. After everything was in order, Noah sat down. His hand picked up his notebook.

The smell from the mattress spread further. Pungent, damp, unbearable. It didn’t take long before the three occupants of the room noticed it too.

“Damn… what the hell is that smell?” one of them waved his hand in front of his nose.

“Seriously, this can’t be left like this. Whoever has that smell is seriously disgusting,” another added with a grimace.

Amid their complaints, Noah remained seated, his expression shameless. His back was straight, his eyes fixed on the notebook in front of him, as if nothing had happened. As if the smell did not come from his bed.

After all, he had done this on purpose.

Rico clicked his tongue in annoyance. With quick steps, he approached Noah, then slammed his hand on the table, making Noah’s books and pen shift slightly.

“Are you deaf or what?” he said sharply. “Hey, your bed stinks. Clean it now, idiot.”

Noah slowly raised his gaze and replied, “If it bothers you, feel free to clean it yourself.”

Those words were like pouring gasoline on fire.

“What did you say?” Rico’s voice dropped, but was full of threat. He immediately grabbed Noah’s collar, pulling him up slightly from his chair.

“Who do you think you still are, huh? You dare talk to me like that!”

His hand rose, ready to strike, but one of his friends quickly held Rico’s arm.

“Hey, that’s enough!”

“Yeah, calm down,” the other added, pulling him back. “Not worth it.”

They then gave a quick, subtle wink, implying something to Rico.

Noah saw it, and his suspicion grew stronger. Slowly, he raised his hand and pushed away Rico’s grip on his collar.

The grip loosened. Noah straightened his collar, then looked at Rico without emotion.

“If you want,” he said softly but clearly, “you can clean it for me.”

Those words fell like sparks on gasoline, instantly making the air in the room tense.

They wanted to provoke him? Fine. Noah would play along a little.

He looked at them one by one. Clearly, something was off about the three of them, and he wanted to know what they were planning.

“What’s wrong?” he asked casually. “Don’t want to?”

He leaned back, a faint, slightly provocative smile forming on his lips.

“Then just leave it. Besides… your mouth smells worse than that, right?”

The next second, Rico completely exploded.

“Bastard!”

He broke free from his friends and lunged forward, his fist raised, aiming straight for Noah’s face. But Noah, who had been watching his every move, was ready.

With a light step to the side, Rico instead slammed hard into the table.

“ARGH!”

The sound of impact echoed, followed by an angry shout.

“Noah! I’ll kill you! I’ll beat you to death! Bastard!”

Noah stood calmly, completely untouched.

“Yeah, yeah, try it if you can.”

The situation immediately turned chaotic. His two roommates quickly grabbed Rico, but instead of calming down, things grew even more heated, shouts overlapping, chairs scraping, noise filling the cramped room.

Moments later, the dorm room door suddenly burst open from the outside. A dorm supervisor stood there, followed by several senior students.

“What are you all making a fuss about?!” he shouted.

Without even properly looking at the situation, he accused impatiently, “You again! Noah, you really are a troublemaker. How dare you beat up your roommate!”