"Hey, Gabriel, are you home?" Jhin stood outside Gabriel's door and rang the doorbell.
"Coming!" Gabriel called out from inside. She came trotting to the door with a thump, thump, thump and, upon seeing Jhin, revealed a gentle, angelic smile.
"Good morning. I'm here to take you to buy a phone and computer like we planned. Are you ready?" Jhin greeted Gabriel.
"Mhm, thank you for this." Gabriel nodded, indicating she was ready to go.
It had been nearly half a month since Gabriel had saved him. As a neighbor, Jhin had successfully befriended her. He wasn't sure if it was because she was an angel or if this was just her personality before the fall, but Gabriel paid no mind to the fact that Jhin was a boy. After becoming friends, she would occasionally visit or ask him for help.
It had to be said, the pre-fall Gabriel was truly the kind of perfect angel with no discernible flaws.
Her silky, long golden hair was immaculately kept and shimmering. Her lovely face, with its violet eyes, always wore a gentle and kind smile. Who wouldn't be captivated?
After successfully buying a phone and computer with Gabriel, Jhin asked her on the way back why she had suddenly thought to buy these things now.
"Because it's inconvenient to contact people without a phone, right? And with a computer, I can easily learn about... societal matters." Gabriel replied, her face holding the same perfect smile as always.
I'm afraid that once you take these home, you'll be on the fast track to the fall.
Jhin silently lamented in his heart. He felt it was necessary to supervise Gabriel to prevent her fall. When they got back, he would have to check if the computer came with any pre-installed online games.
"Alright, that should be everything. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me anytime." After sitting in Gabriel's room and confirming the computer worked properly and had no pre-installed online games, Jhin clapped his hands and got up to leave. "By the way, do you have any groceries at home? If not, why don't you come over to my place for dinner?"
"I still have some. I feel bad for always troubling you. I'll cook for myself today, maybe I'll come freeload tomorrow." Gabriel was initially a bit embarrassed about freeloading meals at a boy's house, but Jhin insisted on inviting her over as a way of thanking her. Plus, Jhin's cooking was genuinely good, so over time, she got used to eating at his place occasionally.
"Alright then, I'll be going."
"Okay, goodbye."
Jhin returned home and deftly made himself some stir-fried pork with chili peppers and a tomato egg drop soup. He picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth; the spiciness and the savory flavor of the meat blended perfectly. He nodded in satisfaction. During this period, he had continuously trained his cooking skill, raising it to Lv6. His skills were now comparable to a restaurant chef's.
Any higher would probably be at the level of a head chef or a master chef. He wondered what would happen when it reached Lv10. Would his food make people's clothes explode like in that certain cooking anime?
Jhin couldn't help but chuckle at the thought, and he finished his lunch in a flash.
...
A few days before school started, under Jhin's intense scrutiny, Gabriel still showed no signs of falling. This made him breathe a sigh of relief.
On this day, Gabriel came over to his place to freeload a meal as usual. Although they called it freeloading, she actually brought ingredients with her. With her current personality, she couldn't bring herself to show up empty-handed.
Jhin took the ingredients and told her to wait in the living room for dinner, then dove into the kitchen, completely unaware that his momentary carelessness had just opened the door to Gabriel's fall.
While waiting for dinner and drinking tea in the living room, Gabriel inadvertently noticed Jhin's computer, which was on. The Q-version cartoon characters on the screen caught her attention.
"What's this...?" Gabriel leaned closer to the computer out of curiosity. Seeing the little character on the screen who would occasionally yawn while standing still, surrounded by a fantasy-style town, she was immediately intrigued. Since she was in someone else's house, she didn't dare touch Jhin's computer, but she mentally noted the name in the top-left corner, planning to look it up when she got back.
The computer went idle for a while, and the screen automatically went to sleep. Gabriel was startled by the sudden black screen, but then she remembered Jhin had explained the auto-sleep function to her. A look of realization dawned on her face. "So this is auto-sleep."
"Gabriel, dinner's ready!" Jhin called from the kitchen.
"Okay, I'll come help with the bowls and chopsticks." Gabriel moved away from the computer and ran eagerly towards the kitchen.
"Stir-fried beef with green onions, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, bok choy, and scallion tofu soup. You said last time you weren't used to spicy food, so I didn't make anything with chili peppers this time." Jhin introduced the dishes on the table to Gabriel one by one.
"Mhm, thank you! Jhin's cooking is delicious as always. Truly the best of Chinese cuisine." Gabriel praised him endlessly, her chopsticks moving non-stop between the food and her bowl.
"Thanks for the compliment." Watching Gabriel eat with such relish whetted Jhin's appetite as well. Perhaps this is what they mean by 'a feast for the eyes,' he thought.
After finishing dinner, Gabriel said she suddenly remembered something she had to do and left immediately. Jhin was a bit baffled, wondering what could be so urgent.
She couldn't possibly be rushing back to fall from grace, right? That's not a funny joke.
Jhin clicked his tongue, amused by his own sudden thought. He shook his head and began to clear the table. He still had his workout to do later.
...
On the first day of school, Jhin went to register with a somewhat listless Gabriel. He and Gabriel were students at the same school.
"Gabriel, why do you look so tired?" Jhin asked with concern, looking at Gabriel who was yawning from time to time with a weary expression.
"Ah, I was thinking about school starting, so I didn't sleep well last night," Gabriel answered in a lazy tone.
"I see." Because his impression of Gabriel was still that of a model student, the overly trusting Jhin didn't suspect a thing. Right now, he was more preoccupied with the trouble he'd have to deal with, which he would only find out about after enrolling.
The two weren't assigned to the same class, so they parted ways in the hallway. What Jhin didn't know was that after they separated, Gabriel watched his departing figure and let out a soft sigh of relief.
These past few days, she had become completely addicted to the online game she had seen on Jhin's computer and had already begun her fall. However, she was still trying hard to maintain her old self in front of her friend. This was quite uncomfortable for her, and even she didn't know how much longer she could keep up this facade in front of Jhin.
Jhin arrived at his classroom, found his seat, and sat down. He saw a letter in his desk and opened it curiously.
After reading the letter's contents, Jhin's expression became complicated.
The letter detailed the mission assigned by that god. Due to the god's mistake, this world had begun to endlessly merge with other worlds during its creation. Each of these worlds contained "problem children" that gave him a headache. To ensure the worlds merged safely, Jhin's task was to deal with these problem children that even the god found troublesome, on his behalf.
Getting the problem children back on the right track or helping them fulfill their wishes was the only thing Jhin needed to do. For this purpose, the god had specially established a "Problem Children Countermeasures Department" at this school, with Jhin as its sole member.
Requests related to the problem children would be posted in the Countermeasures Department. Upon completing a request, Jhin would receive a random reward. As long as he was on a mission, nobody would pay him any mind whether he was at school or not, and he wouldn't have to worry about things like exam scores. After all, the god had sent him here to solve problems, not to relive high school life.
After school, Jhin sent a text to Gabriel telling her to go home first, as he had some things to take care of in his class.
Seeing Jhin's text, Gabriel was so happy she almost jumped for joy. She could go home early to play games without having to pretend to be a good girl in front of him!
Following the directions in the letter, Jhin arrived at the door of the Problem Children Countermeasures Department's clubroom. He stood before the door, took a deep breath, and, having prepared himself, pushed it open.
The inside of the Problem Children Countermeasures Department was decorated like a small conference room. The most conspicuous feature was the large, white blackboard floating in the center.
Jhin walked up to the blackboard. Stuck to it was a piece of paper with the word "Request" written in red font.
He reached out and tore the request off. Before he could even glance at the contents, the paper dissolved into motes of light and merged into his body. Immediately, a translucent page similar to a personal status screen appeared.
"Request: Gabriel's Fall
Details: This angel's fall is a predetermined fate. Even an omnipotent god cannot reverse her descent. Therefore, the task falls to you. Do whatever it takes to stop her fall.
Time Limit: None (For the sake of a sobbing friend, I'm giving this to you as the first mission. Don't disappoint me.)
Reward: Random
Penalty: -1cm"
Jhin's face turned green after reading the request. When did Gabriel fall? Could that "sobbing friend" be the god of this world? And most importantly, what was with that penalty! What does minus 1 centimeter mean? You could at least clarify the most critical part!
_____
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