My Bugged System Made Me Too OP!-Chapter 54: She’s hiding something

Noah remained seated on the bed for a while longer, the strange black egg still resting in his hands.

After a moment, he slowly let out a long breath, and the tension in his shoulders eased slowly.

"...Alright." he muttered softly, placing the egg back down on the bed.

The smooth black shell settled into the blanket without making much noise.

He kept his eyes on it for a moment, studying the thin crack running across its surface.

The egg remained completely still.

Only after confirming that nothing unusual was happening did Noah lean back slightly.

His gaze drifted upward as a familiar thought crossed his mind.

’Status.’

[Supreme Magus System$&@?!]

[Host: Noah Whiteheart]

[Level: 9]

[EXP: 100/100$&@?]

[Rank: Core Magus (mid)]

[Elements: Ice, Lightning]

[Mana: 1120/1120]

[Health: 200/200]

[Strength: 17]

[Agility: 18]

[Stamina: 17]

[Endurance: 16]

[Sense: 21]

[Supreme Points: 0]

Noah’s eyes moved across the floating panel carefully.

When his gaze reached the mana section, his brows lifted slightly.

His mana was completely full.

A faint smirk appeared on his face.

Fortunately, thanks to the system, his mana recovered at an absurd rate.

The enormous amount of mana the egg had drained earlier had already been fully regenerated.

If any normal magus had lost that much mana so suddenly, the outcome would have been very different.

Most magi had to slowly reabsorb mana from the surrounding environment in order to replenish their mana cores.

And that process could take a very long time, at least days.

Completely emptying one’s mana core was often extremely dangerous.

Many magi required rest and meditation before they could fully recover from such exhaustion.

Yet Noah had recovered almost effortlessly.

The system had practically restored his mana automatically.

Which meant the egg draining him earlier wasn’t nearly as disastrous as it would have been for anyone else.

Noah folded his arms slightly as he glanced toward the egg again. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"That’s probably the only reason I’m not furious at you," he muttered quietly.

If he had actually needed days to recover from that incident...

He definitely wouldn’t be able to react this calmly to the egg sucking away all his mana.

Just as that thought crossed his mind—

Knock knock.

The sudden sound coming from his door made Noah flinch slightly.

His head snapped toward the entrance of his room.

Before he could react further, a familiar voice followed the knock.

"Noah?"

It was his mother.

Her voice carried mild concern as she called from the other side of the door.

"Are you okay?"

Noah blinked.

His expression shifted into mild surprise.

’She’s back already?’

He hadn’t even noticed when she returned home.

The sudden interruption caught him slightly off guard.

"Uh—"

He straightened slightly on the bed before answering.

"I’m fine!"

His voice came out a little awkwardly at first, causing him to clear his throat quickly.

"I’m fine, mom."

There was a brief pause outside the door.

Then his mother spoke again, her tone still slightly uncertain.

"Are you sure?"

She sounded unconvinced.

"I knocked earlier and you didn’t answer."

Noah’s brows furrowed slightly as he heard that.

She knocked earlier?

The realization came to him immediately.

’So she before knocked while I was passed out...’

No wonder he hadn’t heard anything.

He clicked his tongue quietly under his breath.

For a moment, he wondered how long she had been trying to get his attention before giving up.

Still, he quickly responded again so she wouldn’t worry.

"I was asleep," Noah said.

His voice sounded more natural this time.

"You don’t have to worry, mum."

Another short pause followed.

Then his mother finally replied.

"...Alright."

Her tone softened slightly.

"Fine."

A moment later she added,

"Then come out and eat. Dinner is ready."

Her footsteps slowly moved away from the door as she spoke.

Noah remained seated on the edge of his bed for a moment after his mother’s footsteps faded down the hallway.

The room fell quiet again.

Yet his mind wasn’t calm.

He knew his mother well enough to understand something important.

Even though she had said fine just now... she definitely wasn’t fine.

She was worried.

Deeply worried.

Noah rubbed the back of his neck as he stared toward the closed door.

His mother wasn’t the type to push too hard when he said he was okay, but that didn’t mean she believed him.

In fact, she was probably even more suspicious now.

After all, she would have noticed something strange the moment she returned home.

Normally, Noah returned from the academy at a fixed time.

Yet today...

He had come home much earlier than usual.

There was no way she wouldn’t notice that.

Which meant she was definitely wondering what had happened.

Why he was home early.

Why he had locked himself in his room.

And why he didn’t answer when she knocked earlier.

Noah let out a quiet sigh.

"I guess I’ll have to tell them..."

His voice was low as he muttered to himself.

There was really no point hiding it.

Sooner or later, his mother would find out anyway.

His fingers lightly tapped against his leg as he frowned slightly.

’I’ll have to break it to them after all...’

The thought made him sigh again.

"That I’ve been suspended for one week." he muttered.

The words alone made him feel slightly irritated.

Even now, he still felt that punishment was unfair and stupid.

But arguing about it wouldn’t change anything.

With another quiet exhale, Noah pushed himself up from the bed.

His body still felt a little weak from the earlier mana exhaustion, but it was manageable.

His gaze shifted back toward the egg resting on the bed.

"...Can’t leave you here."

He carefully picked it up again.

Despite the strange things that had already happened, he still handled it gently.

The faint emotional connection between them stirred slightly when he held it again.

But this time, there was no sudden draining of his mana, and the egg remained calm.

Noah opened the small bag he had taken to the forest earlier.

Then he carefully placed the egg inside.

He adjusted the position slightly so it wouldn’t roll around or crack further.

Once satisfied, he closed the bag and slid it back under the table.

He made sure it was hidden properly.

Then he pulled the chair slightly closer to the table, blocking the view of the bag entirely.

Anyone entering the room casually wouldn’t notice anything unusual.

After making sure everything looked normal, Noah turned toward the door.

He opened it and stepped into the hallway.

The faint smell of freshly cooked food immediately reached his nose.

It drifted from the dining area nearby.

Noah followed the scent and soon arrived at the dining table.

His mother was already there.

She stood near the table, adjusting a plate.

Warm steam rose from the food.

When she noticed Noah approaching, she looked up briefly.

Noah forced a small smile.

It came out a little awkward.

"...Hey."

He walked over and pulled out a chair before sitting down at the dining table.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Noah glanced at his mother from the corner of his eye.

Then suddenly—

A memory surfaced in his mind.

The old woman he had met earlier that day.

The strange woman who had spoken to him when he was heading toward the forest.

Noah’s expression stiffened slightly.

A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of his cheek.

’I sure hope she hasn’t told mum anything...’ he mumbled inwardly.

If that woman had somehow come here and spoken to his mother...

That would create an entirely different problem.

He wouldn’t even know how he was meant to start explaining things to her.

After all, he had gone into the dangerous forest that he was meant to avoid, and as if that wasn’t enough, he even fought with the mana beasts there.

His mother didn’t know about the system, so to her, he would only sound extremely stupid.

However, he didn’t want to tell her about the system... at least not yet when he himself hadn’t properly understood it.

Doing that might only put her in more trouble.

Noah tried to act normal as he reached for the utensils on the table.

But his thoughts were still racing.

Just then—

Footsteps echoed from the hallway.

A moment later, Amelia appeared.

She walked into the dining area quietly.

Her eyes briefly glanced at Noah.

Then at their mother.

But she only looked at them for a moment.

Without saying anything, she turned and headed straight toward her room.

Noah’s brows slowly furrowed.

That reaction was strange.

Normally Amelia would at least greet them or sit down immediately.

But today she simply walked past them without saying a word.

Noah glanced at his mother instinctively.

As expected, she had also noticed it.

And her face had a faint frown on it.

Clearly, she found Amelia’s behavior strange as well.

A short moment passed.

Then Amelia reappeared from the hallway.

This time, she was holding her school bag.

She walked toward the door.

Noah’s frown deepened.

"Where are you going now?" he asked.

His voice stopped her mid-step.

Amelia froze slightly.

Then she slowly turned around.

Her expression looked a little stiff, almost like she stole something.

"I—"

She hesitated.

Then she spoke again.

"I forgot a... couple of things."

Her voice carried a noticeable hint of nervousness.

The stutter didn’t go unnoticed.

Noah’s eyes narrowed slightly.

His frown deepened as he watched her.

Inside his mind, a quiet thought surfaced immediately.

’Yeah...’ he thought, his gaze remaining fixed on her.

’She’s definitely hiding something.’