It was disgusting—grotesque. Like some sewer-born rat king dragged straight from hell.
Akari didn't even get the chance to fully register what he was looking at. The thing lunged, and instinct kicked in.
He rolled to the side, barely missing its fangs as it crashed where he'd just been.
No time to breathe.
He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the kitchen.
He made it two steps—
Then twisted hard, hearing the beast's movement cut through the air behind him.
But he was still too slow!
Its body grazed him, slamming into his side like a sack of meat and filth. He skidded, scraping skin on its hide—hard, damp, and reeking like decay.
The rat smashed headfirst into the kitchen counter with a dull crunch.
Akari didn't wait.
He reached for the nearest kitchen knife and gripped it tight. Without hesitation—
He lunged!
Steel met flesh.
Except—
Thud.
'What the hell—?!'
It didn't pierce.
The damn thing's skin was like a bullet proof armor.
The rat shrieked, snapping out of its daze, the pain more of an irritation than a wound.
Akari adjusted immediately—no time to think.
He drove the knife again, this time into its eye.
STAB!
"SCREEEECHHH!!!"
Hot, wet blood sprayed across his hand as the blade sank deep into the creature's right eye socket. But the angle was too deep. The knife caught bone—lodged tight.
When he tried to rip it free—
Too late.
The beast screeched again, claws whipping out with terrifying speed.
Slash!
A hot line of pain tore across his chest.
Akari grunted, stumbling back as the knife slipped from his fingers.
'Shit...!'
He clutched the wound, breath ragged.
No weapon.
No time.
He backed off, eyes darting around the room.
'I gotta get outta here. Get help. Fast.'
But just as he was about to turn tail and run for the exit, everything suddenly frozen.
All colors disappeared, turning everything into a grayscale between black and white.
Akari felt like he was somehow pulled into a 70s film.
More importantly, he couldn't move.
And all he could do was look at the strange game-like panel in front of him.
[Ding! Multiversal Chat Group has been activated!]
[Ding! Congratulations to Akari Tenjou for gaining the
[Ding! You have received a novice gift package! Would you like to open it?]
Then jt was followed by simultaneous ringing sounds.
[Akame has joined the chat group!]
[Freiren has joined the chat group!]
[Saeko Busujima has joined the chat group!]
[Sakurajima Mai has joined the chat group!]
[Stella Vermillion has joined the chat group!]
'Huh?'
Akari stared at the panels in confusion, not recognizing any of the name— or even the current development for that matter.
Multiversal Chat Group?
If it's as direct as it says it was, then that means that all these other people belongs to other universes?
'.....'
Hey, you're looking at a guy that should've been dead.
He doesn't even understand how he could speak and read japanese without any prior education.
So a getting attacked by a mutant monster rat and then getting a multiversal chat group? Yeah, doesn't seem too far-fetched.
Forget about the how or why, because literally, he'd lose his sanity trying to make sense of it.
Just keep using the same coping mechanism he had been using ever since he became 'Akari'.
'Just go with the flow.'
Having fixed his mindset, Akari now then focused on the gift package. After all, he had been playing mmorpg recently. So of course he knows how helpful they were.
[Ding! You have received The Gamer System!]
[The Gamer System:
Allows the user to quantify everything into a game-like template while also giving the 'Gamer Body']
[Ding! You may choose one of the following abilities:
Freeze : Allows the user to develop the power of the concept of "Freeze"
Ignite : Allows the user to develop the power of the concept of "Ignition"
Howl : Allows the user to develop the power of the concept of "Howling"]
The fuck even is Howling?
Is he gonna scream at his enemies or something?
'No, wait. Think about this.'
They were "concepts".
Which, in every vocabulary, should mean that they were the general idea.
Literally, the idea itself.
Now he didn't know about 'howling'. Maybe it has something to do with sound and wind.
But 'ignition' and 'freezing'?
Well, even he knows how overpowered they are.
On one hand, he could get a free lifetime use of a lighter and the other, he could, quite possibly, freeze time itself.
Now which to pick?
'It's a hard decision I gotta admit.'
But in the end he's gonna choose....
***
[Ding! You have gained the ability: 'Freeze']
[ Name: Akari Tenjou (Vincent Calleto)
Level: 0 (0%) HP: 89/110 MP: 5/5
STR: 4
INT: 5
DEX: 5
END : 4
CHA: 5 (6 on a good day)
Skill(s):
Firearms Mastery(E), Street-level Fighting Techniques (E), Intimidation (D), Negotiation (C), Freeze (F) ]
Just as he received the ability, a chilling sensation coursed through his head. It was as if he gained something... spiritual?
Akari couldn't quite put it into words, but he knew he got something instinctive.
Just then, the colors returned to the surroundings and with it, his sense of reliaty. Time began to play again as pain returned to his bleeding chest.
Still reenacting his plan earlier, Akari turned and ran for the door.
He still didn't know how exactly his newly gained skill works, so he opted to escape first and think about it rather than facing the monster and hoping for the best.
Akari reached for the door or so he thought until he ducked down—
Woosh!
Its figure blurred over him.
Before crashing towards the door with a loud— thud!
Unfortunately, the door didn't only sustained a large dent while the beast immediately turned towards him with a snarl.
[ Mutant Rat (Lv. 5)
HP: 176/210 ]
Akari didn't even have the time to think his next move as the beast charged at him in a frenzy. All he did was barrel roll to the side, but even that was too late as the damn rat managed to scratch his calf.
'Shit!'
He tried to stand, but the cut was too deep. Blood poured out and the sudden pain made his wounded leg a bit weak to stand on.
[Ding! Livestreaming function has been unlocked! Would you like to turn on the livestream?]
'Fuck if I care!'
Akari dove over the nearby couch, landing hard next to its legs, chest burning from the gash.
Behind him, the beast snarled.
Predictable.
Like a mindless animal, the monster vaulted over the couch—expecting its prey to be cowering on the other side.
What it didn't expect… was the trap.
The moment its head crested over the couch—
PCHHK!
Akari drove his fist straight into the hilt of the knife still embedded in its eye.
"SCREEEEEEEEEIICHHHHH!!!"
The creature let out a guttural, high-pitched howl, staggering backward, blood pouring from its ruined socket.
No hesitation.
Akari bolted.
Even with the searing pain in his chest and a limp in his step, he pushed through—four desperate strides and he was at his dented front door.
He didn't stop.
He slammed into it with everything he had, the warped metal flying open as he stumbled out into the dimly lit apartment hallway.
Only to nearly crash straight into—
"Oh."
A petite girl.
Fair skin, long golden locks, and incredibly innocent-looking face.
"Gabriel?!"
It was one of his tenants. Lived literally right next door.
Wrong time and wrong place though.
Akari grabbed her by the shoulders, shoving her back in a panic. "Get out of here! There's a fucking monster inside!"
"Tenjou-kun, I—"
She didn't get to finish.
Akari yanked her arm, trying to pull her away from the door—
But she didn't move.
"…?"
He pulled again—harder this time.
Still nothing.
She hadn't shifted an inch.
'What the hell... is there a magnet under her feet or something?'
This petite little girl wasn't budging.
At all.
Like she was bolted to the goddamn floor.
"But besides that—"
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
Like she hadn't just been told a monster was tearing apart someone's apartment.
Gabriel looked over his shoulder.
"Ah, there it is."
"Huh?"
Before Akari could ask else, suddenly, the girl in front of him glowed in a bright, blinding light, forcing him to shut his eyes and look away.
It was an instant. Kind of like a flashbang.
When the light cleared out, he found the same girl, only this time she seemed different.
Her skin was practically glistening. Her feet hovered over the ground while her golden locks inexplicably swiveled in the air despite no wind pushing them.
Not only that, but her lounging clothes turned into a white toga. And the most shocking of all was...
"Are those wings real?"
Wide, angel-like wings filled with soft, white feathers spanned across her back.
"Ah. Tenjou-san can see this?"
She looked at him in mild surprise before, "Ah, you must've been awakened."
"Awakened?"
"SCREEECHHH!!!"
Akari momentarily forgot about the monster inside his unit if it hadn't screeched like it always does.
His tenant looked over his shoulder again.
"One moment please."
Akari followed her gaze, finding her pointing a finger at the monster dashing towards him.
Pwoosh!
A beam of light shot forward and the monster wasn't even able to let out a squeak as its entire body was obliterated.
Akari stared at the ashy remains of the monster that had been hunting him. Then back at the girl who was supposed to be his tennant.
Then back inside his destroyed room.
"....I need a whiskey."
Just then, light suddenly flashed inside his room which eventually coagulated into the figure of a girl.
Then emerged a busty figure of a woman. She had long silver hair that fell to her back, wearing the same toga like his tenant while also having the same wings on her back.
"I came here as fast as I could!" The newcomer stated, before looking around then stopping at the figures waiting by the destroyed frontdoor.
"Oh. Gabriel-chan, you were already here? That's good!"
Then, like her earlier languidness was just an illusion, Akari looked at his tenant who suddenly smiled and walked— hovered! into his room.
"Raphiel-san, it is good to see you."
Her voice became gentle and soft, like it was a complete transformation of persona.
Akari really didn't understand anything anymore as he simply walked inside, thinking that it's safe now that his guardian 'angels' had arrived.
[Ding! You have contributed into killing
[Ding! Congratulations! You are now Level 2!]
***
So magic apparently exists.
Thank God for that.
Akari wasn't entirely sure whether his insurance covered "supernatural combat damage," but it didn't matter—Gabriel (yes, that Gabriel, the actual Archangel from the Bible… supposedly) had kindly restored everything back to its original state, down to the last cracked tile.
He still didn't know how to feel about that.
Despite being knee-deep in mafia business, Akari was a Christian. Not the devout, church-every-Sunday type—but enough to know that seeing Heaven's so-called messenger chilling on his couch with a cup of tea felt… surreal. Like getting personally visited by your religion's customer service rep.
To his knowledge, Gabriel had always been a pretty normal neighbor. Quiet. Lives alone. Cute, if he were to be honest, but also a bit of a shut-in.
Still, she paid rent on time and never caused any problems.
So yeah, he never cared what she did behind closed doors.
But now?
Now he finds out she's the Archangel Gabriel and has been living literally one door away this entire time?
"...Did you seriously not hear all the crashing and screaming earlier?" he asked, deadpan.
This wasn't a five-star complex. The walls were so thin he could hear her weird little "guhehehehe~" giggles echo at midnight sometimes.
And with how loud that mutant rat was screeching, it should even reach the next block.
The person in question averted her gaze, lips twitching.
"Ah... well... I was kinda... in the middle of something."
(There was no way she'll ever admit that she fainted after finishing a 3-day nonstop grind.)
At the moment, they were sitting on Akari's freshly repaired couch now, tea steaming between them. Despite everything, it almost felt like a normal visit.
"Thank you for the tea, Tenjou-san," said the girl beside Gabriel, politely cupping the mug with both hands.
Akari gave a small bow. "Not at all. Rather, thank you for coming, Raphiel-sama."
"Oh no, there's no need for the -sama!" The silver-haired girl waved it off with an embarrassed laugh. "I'm not the actual Raphael you're probably thinking of."
Akari blinked. "You're not?"
"Not yet," Raphiel grinned. "You see, titles like Gabriel, Raphael, and the rest—they're passed down. Kind of like... angelic job promotions."
Gabriel gave a slow nod beside her. Raphiel continued, "We're what you'd call candidates. Junior angels aiming to inherit those names officially."
"I see..." Akari leaned back, digesting the info. "So you're still a work-in-progress archangel?"
Raphiel laughed again, a bit sheepishly. "That's one way to put it. But yes, I'm doing my best."
"Then I should still call you 'Raphiel-sama.' Out of respect."
"...If you insist," she muttered, cheeks a little pink.
Then, without warning—
"Well, too bad we'll have to erase your memory after this," Gabriel suddenly chimed in.
"...What?"
The teacup in Akari's hand paused halfway to his lips.
And just like that, the angelic bombshell had landed.
***
A/N: Feel free to leave thoughts and comments about some inconsistencies or even some suggestions. I'll try to accomodate them if I feel like it.