Harem Stealer: Reborn with the God-Tier Sharing System Chapter 433: Who are you?

The transition from the realm of the living to the spirit world was far from instantaneous. Before any of them could confront the Woman in Fog, each traveler endured their own trial.

Noah, in particular, faced a unique ordeal.

...

Total darkness enveloped him. Noah felt his life force gradually bleeding away from his physical form, submerging him in a silence so profound it was deafening.

It was a strange sensation, facing death once more.

His first passing occurred when he was merely a lowly mortal. Back then, instead of drifting into the spirit world, he had been reincarnated into a different reality.

For a fleeting moment, Noah expected history to repeat itself. He assumed his system—who was now Providence, his beloved wife—would intervene just as she had before.

However, no such salvation arrived.

There was only the void. Within that blackness, Noah felt the cold, inevitable grip of death seize his soul with a vicious intensity.

People often claimed that when your end arrives and death comes calling, your entire life flashes before your eyes like a divine cinematic prank. They said regret would then move in to feast upon your broken psyche.

Noah couldn't speak for the first part, but the regrets certainly manifested.

They arrived like a relentless tide, crashing through his fading consciousness without mercy.

He had maintained a facade of bravery before the entire universe. He had played the hero for his wives, his children, his siblings, and his comrades.

But deep inside, the Progenitor of the Elysiari was trembling with terror. It wasn't the end itself that scared him—death could be a mercy.

He was terrified of losing every single thing he had bled and struggled to obtain throughout his journey.

Everything he had built... it was all becoming meaningless now.

As death finalized its claim on his soul, and as he drifted from one existence toward a completely foreign one...

Noah felt his very identity slipping away.

He felt like a hollow shell of his former self—a man stripped of everything that defined him.

{False.} The Records suddenly cut through his spiraling, dark thoughts.

In his dazed condition, Noah’s flickering, wisp-like form reacted with surprise at the blunt intrusion.

{Is the approach of death blurring your mind, Noah?}

’Death tends to have that effect,’ Noah responded, feeling the magnetic pull of the spirit world grow stronger. ’But my consciousness is clear.’

{Is it truly, Noah?} The Records inquired. Never before had Noah detected such a trace of emotion behind the voice of this cryptic entity.

{Tell me, who are you?}

’I am Noah Vaelgrim in name only. I have lost it all, Records. My feats are gone. My titles are stripped away. My skills have vanished. Even my Path of Cosmos has been ground into dust. The only things I managed to keep within me are Laeh and Earth. Every other piece of me is gone.’

’Everything I poured my soul into has vanished like smoke in the wind. I’m not telling you this so you’ll feel sorry for me...’

{A pity. We were just about to.}

’...but it is the simple reality. I am Noah, yet I am not the Noah I knew. I am neither one nor the other.’

’I find myself wondering. Who am I?’

{Do you require titles to understand your own identity?} The Records questioned him. {Do you need our validation to recognize yourself?}

’That is the way you designed the world.’

{I expected more from you, Noah.}

’Then stop expecting. Expectation is just the precursor to disappointment.’

{Are you abandoning yourself? If you maintain this pathetic attitude, Noah, Chosen One, you will perish in the Spirit World.}

’That wouldn't be—!’

{Then you will lose your wives forever. You can abandon all thoughts of your world, the children you left behind in the waking world, and your siblings and friends.}

Noah went silent, his focus finally beginning to sharpen.

He could sense that he was on the verge of crossing the final threshold.

{So, let Us ask you once more, Noah.}

The Records paused briefly, then continued...

{Who are you? No. Let Us be more precise.}

{What is the core of your being, Noah Vaelgrim? Or has death truly made you forget your very essence?}

’What makes me Noah?’ he repeated. The answer suddenly erupted from within him like a radiant light, shattering the oppressive fog of darkness. ’My wives. My children. My... family.’

{They all still live. And every one of them sacrificed their existence to follow you on this path.}

{You have no right to doubt yourself.}

{And you have no right to question your identity, for a doubting man is not what they will need in that realm. They will need you at your absolute best.}

{So wake up, Noah. You do not need Us to define who you are to believe in yourself. Everyone else might require that, but not you.}

{We granted you the authority over names for a specific purpose. You were destined to define your own existence. Not by the will of others. Not even by Us.}

{You are the Chosen One. Start acting like it.}

Noah hesitated. Far across the infinite void, a tiny spark of silver light appeared.

The declarations of The Records echoed in his mind repeatedly until something clicked. A wave of profound understanding washed over what was left of his soul.

He had believed he lost everything.

In a sense, that was true.

But was that really shocking? Every power and status he possessed had been bestowed upon him by The Records. He had earned them through his actions, yes, but the fundamental truth remained.

They were gifts given because he was deemed worthy. If someone else could grant those things, they could just as easily reclaim them if they decided he was no longer fit.

How could he survive that?

Then, the realization hit him.

Authentic power originates only from within. Anything handed to you can be snatched away.

The only things in his entire life that weren't "given" to him were the bonds he forged with others through his own will.

His wives, his children, his siblings.

They were the anchors that held his existence together and reminded him of who he truly was.

This confirmed his new perspective.

His path forward was now obvious. Finally, he grasped what The Records truly wanted from him.

Noah realized that until this moment, he hadn't truly been swimming against the current of the Great River. He had simply been following the flow like everyone else, just using a more clever method.

What a fool he had been.

He smiled—or at least, he felt the sensation of a smile. It was hard to tell in this gruesome void.

’Will you grant me what I seek?’

{You have slain a Progenitor. You have ended a Pinnacle. You have destroyed two beings who stood at the threshold of the Pinnacle. You have slaughtered trillions of void beasts and lords, and you have dealt a massive wound to Yellow.}

The Records went quiet for a moment.

{By any standard, for these impossible feats, you have earned the right to claim one single thing.}

{We will not simply hand it to you. We will provide the opportunity for you to seize it yourself.}

{Tell us, Chosen One. What is your desire?}

It was a basic question.

Yet, the simplest questions are often the most grueling to answer.

What did he want? Noah wanted many things.

But one desire stood far above the rest... his system.

Noah didn't know its origin, but he wasn't naive enough to think it truly belonged to him. Someone had ensured he received it, and that same entity could retract it at any moment.

That was unacceptable. To lose his system was to lose his wife.

However, Noah was wise enough not to openly challenge such a powerful being. He had learned his lesson.

He had grown.

He had won his gamble with Luelle, but he knew he couldn't rely on luck forever.

He had never been a man of subtlety, but he would have to become one now.

Noah was the one who had given Providence her identity. He had named her. Therefore, he could claim her soul for himself while leaving the rest of the system's mechanics untouched.

With that thought...

Noah smirked.

’That is what I want.’

{Then prepare yourself, Noah.}

{The chance to achieve this shall be granted.}

Noah’s form began to radiate an intense, blinding light.

{Whether you succeed or fail rests entirely on your shoulders.}

{And so...}

Noah’s soul vanished, finally crossing into the spirit world.

{We wish you success.}