The Awakened Angel

"Is this... me...?"

A boy was touching his own face. With flowing golden hair, white skin, and green eyes, anyone would call this boy a beautiful youth.

"This is..."

The boy was a little surprised. It was because he had seen this beautiful youth somewhere before.

"That angel."

Except for the lack of wings, this appearance was exactly the angel he had spoken with about heroes and himself right before dying.

"...What the hell is going on."

The boy quickly grasped the situation. That angel wasn't a hallucination from excessive blood loss—it was a real angel, and it had sent him back in time to become the guardian angel of heroes.

How did he know it was the past? The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boy looked out the window. Honk honk— A road full of cars stretched out. It was a sight impossible in the future destroyed by the Demon King and monsters.

"A situation like this... do I have to believe it?"

But he had no choice but to believe. After the Great Chaos, this world had magic, superhumans, dragons, and fairies. If magic and fairies existed, what reason was there not to believe this? It was a world long since escaped from human common sense, ruled by incomprehensible logic.

"Then."

The boy's heart beat a little faster. That thing said to appear for Awakeners. The word everyone had muttered at least once.

"Status window...?"

A real status window appeared. The blessed ability that only Awakeners could summon. Refri carefully examined his stats while hiding his overwhelming emotions.

"...This is pretty trash, huh?"

It was specs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no different from an ordinary person. Even if Refri was only level 1, this was seriously bad. An Awakener's specs were usually set early on. By that standard, Refri's were straight-up garbage.

The only strange thing was the Angel Power stat...

The boy had never heard of Angel Power in his life. It hadn't appeared in the novels he enjoyed, nor in Awakener documentaries. There was no way to know now. But since it replaced where holy power should be, it was clearly a power compatible with holy power.

This power was Refri's only hope.

"Are angels this weak?"

The boy sighed and rummaged through the room. He needed a phone, wallet, ID, or any documents to prove his identity. He had to figure out his current situation and exactly what time period this was.

"Phone."

A new fact: even angels use cell phones. Refri was a modern angel.

The boy quickly opened the phone and checked the info. Fortunately, there was no lock.

Contacts, KakaoTalk, internet, and so on...

* * *

It was late at night by the time Refri put down the phone. Honestly, there were quite a few surprising facts.

For starters, Refri was a citizen of the Republic of Korea under hegemonic rule. Combining KakaoTalk and contacts, he was an orphan from Saemit Orphanage.

The boy smiled sadly. This part wasn't much different from his previous life's fate.

The slightly odd thing was... traces related to mental issues. From the KakaoTalk chats, it seemed Refri had suffered a serious crime as a child and was receiving psychiatric treatment for it.

Darker content than expected...

The boy bowed his head in thought. In the end, even an angel fallen to earth was a sinner.

"Ridiculous. What kind of angel is this?"

At this rate, he was just a pretty little kid. Forget angel.

"Sigh."

As the phone light turned off, the room plunged into complete darkness. Refri closed his eyes and sank into deep thought.

For one, that being he met was definitely an angel. Otherwise, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't have shown such a miracle (sending him to the past + gifting this body). And he was someone opposing the Demon King. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so injured. Finally, the angel wanted a hero.

"...A hero? That crap doesn't exist."

Refri thought of his previous life, the world before its destruction by the Demon King. As the angel said, they couldn't reach the Demon King back then, but there were heroes who could bare their fangs at that monster.

But curses from long ago, opportunities found too late, traps from envy and jealousy—they ruined them all.

But at this point in time, it could be prevented, that damn angel claimed. For that, Refri had to...

"Enroll in the Central Superhuman Academy."

He had to enroll in the Central Superhuman Academy. No matter how he thought about it, that was the only way.

Central Superhuman Academy. The world's top Awakener academy, known for accepting only the chosen few. Money? Power? Only skill mattered for admission. Show the skill to become humanity's hero, and the academy promised full support—or so the rumors went.

From what Refri gathered from the internet and documentaries, the academy's minimum cutoff was "good enough to run as an active hunter right now." But as an academy, only minors could enroll, and they had to be Awakeners.

Refri was a minor, at least. And an Awakener who could summon a status window.

But "good enough to run as an active hunter"?

'Obviously not.'

Still, he had to enroll.

'The golden generation. The only superhumans who can face the Demon King. They'll start entering the Central Academy this year. To maximize their potential, I need to intervene during their academy days—the most crucial time for growth. Make them far stronger than in the future...'

Refri resolved himself.

'I'll defeat the Demon King.'

Not because the angel asked. Villains... no, Refri wanted to live. If the Demon King trashed the world again, he'd die with it anyway. Once was enough for that experience in life.

Gurgle—

A sound that didn't match his serious thoughts. Another new fact today: even angels get hungry without food. Living point confirmed.

Refri opened his worn wallet, checked the remaining bills, and let out a hollow laugh.

'No money for even tomorrow's breakfast, and I'm thinking of catching the Demon King? What arrogant nonsense is this?'

Anyway, he had to solve the hunger first. He searched for nearby convenience stores to buy a hotbar with his remaining cash.

His smartphone search showed one wasn't far. Staring at the lightly falling snow, Refri hid his complicated feelings.

'No contact from me at this point in time.'

'KakaoTalk, Facebook—all gone. Did my existence vanish?'

'Well. No family, no connections to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worry about.'

'Damn it...'

It felt somehow colder tonight. With his entire fortune, Refri could buy two hotbars. One for today, one for tomorrow. Purely rational calculation.

That was the moment.

Meow~

A cat's cry from nearby. Refri immediately looked toward the sound. It was on the left wall.

A cat was there. A pink cat, but its front paw was injured and bleeding. Snow was piling up on the immobile cat.

"At this rate, it'll freeze to death."

Refri cautiously reached out and stroked the cat. It didn't resist, rubbing against his warm hand and letting itself be picked up. Probably too delirious from the cold to fight back.

'What is this...?'

A power that rises when doing angelic deeds: Angel Power. Refri instinctively realized it increased when doing kind or noble acts.

"...I can't raise you."

Rub rub—

The pink cat got up and looked at him. Refri stroked it with a sad expression.

"...No money. Can't take you to a vet. Find someone else."

Actually, Refri liked animals. Especially dogs and cats. But the boy was too embarrassed to admit it.

"No choice. I like dogs more than cats anyway..."

He needed to gather Angel Power too, so no choice. Refri hugged the cat to his chest. He felt a tiny rise in Angel Power.

"Still... let's deal with the cold first..."

Animals couldn't understand human speech, but the cat stayed quietly in his arms as if it did.

'I don't know what Angel Power is, but... saving it up should help, right?'

Refri thought while hugging the cat.

"Hey, kid!"

A voice calling the boy from afar. A man in a suit was beckoning Refri from a distance.

A suit was standard office worker attire, so a grown man in one wasn't unusual. The problem? Thugs and gangsters loved suits too.

"Let's talk for a sec."

The man wore his suit in a "bad" way. Suspicious by instinct, though judging solely on that was wrong—but the situation left no choice.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, nothing much..."

The suited man smiled.

"You seen a pink cat by any chance? It's distinctive, so you'd notice right away."

Speak of the devil. Refri muttered "as expected" in his mind.

News he'd seen often before the world's end: crimes smuggling Spirit Beasts. As expected, this pink cat was a Spirit Beast.

'And being hunted by Spirit Beast poachers.'

Refri tied his coat around it and muttered. He felt a small warmth in his chest.

"Haven't seen it."

"Really? For real?"

The suit swaggered closer. Refri honestly regretted it a bit.

'Looks like he's an Awakener too.'

Should've handed over the cat at first sight. But the suit fit him too perfectly "bad guy," so he instinctively hid it. Too late now—even if he returned it, conflict was inevitable. Probably a gag order too.

'Screwed...'

His gait oozed the arrogance unique to Awakeners. By specs alone, Refri was weaker than an adult man. But he couldn't hand over the cat.

Protecting the cat kept raising his Angel Power. He didn't know what power it was, but for the frail angel Refri, it was his only hope to escape this.

"Don't do something you'll regret."

"...I really haven't seen it."

'Can't outrun him with my stats anyway. If I'll get caught even running... maybe use this Angel Power thing...'

"Seems like there's a misunderstanding."

The suited man feigned a sad expression. But anyone could tell—it was joy, not sadness.

"I hate violence, you know. Let's talk it out."

With those words, a fist flew lightly. But it was far from light to Refri.

This fist, built by an Awakener thug, could incapacitate a sturdy adult male in one hit.

But Refri blocked it.

"...You blocked this?"

Refri and the suited man stared at each other in mutual shock.