"Time to sleep," Noah muttered, his voice thick with exhaustion.
Today had been his seventeenth birthday. He'd spent it getting absolutely wasted with his friends, then somehow managed to stay awake until six in the morning binge-reading web novels like his life depended on it.
The latest one was called A Hero's Road to Divinity.
It followed the classic formula: a prophesied hero saves the world, then ascends to godhood as the deity of sword, lust, and greed.
Oh—and of course, the harem.
Five wives. All different races. All completely useless. Reduced to little more than tools for the hero's endless appetite. None of them ever achieved godhood; they remained mere mortals while their "husband" cheated on them with goddesses and random women alike.
A masterpiece of clichés.
And yet… Noah had still read the entire thing. Not for the hero—hell no—but for the world-building, and especially the villains. Ironically, they were the least cliché part of the novel.
So it wasn't all bad.
As Noah closed his eyes, the combined weight of alcohol and sleep deprivation finally dragging him under, a sudden blinding light flooded the room.
"What the fuck—!" he shouted, jolting awake.
When his vision cleared, his cozy bedroom was gone.
In its place stood a vast chamber bathed in golden radiance. The air itself seemed to hum with purity… and for some reason, justice. He couldn't explain how he knew that—it was simply a feeling that pressed against his chest.
Then a voice echoed through the space. Soft. Melodic. Almost unreal.
"Mortal… I welcome you to my realm. You may call me Uriel."
Uriel? Noah thought. As in… the angel?
"Yes," the voice replied calmly, as if reading his mind. "That Uriel. And I have summoned you with a request."
His gaze snapped toward her—and his breath caught in his throat.
Beautiful didn't even come close.
Uriel was… breathtaking. No—devastating. Her presence alone felt capable of enslaving both men and women without a word spoken.
Long, snow-white hair cascaded down to her ankles. Her pale skin was flawless, almost luminous. Her body was perfectly proportioned, as if sculpted by divinity itself. Molten gold eyes burned like miniature suns, locking him in place. Six massive, white-feathered wings unfurled behind her, their shadows stretching across the floor.
She wore flowing white robes that concealed most of her form, revealing only her neck, arms, and legs—yet somehow that made her presence even more overwhelming.
Simply put… she was divine.
"Are you done gawking, mortal?"
The irritation in her voice snapped Noah back to reality. His face flushed bright red.
"S-sorry," he stammered, sweat trickling down his temple.
Uriel exhaled softly. "Haaah… it's fine. Now, to the reason you're here."
Her gaze sharpened.
"You've read A Hero's Road to Divinity, yes?"
"Huh?" Noah blinked. "Y-yeah. But what does some shitty novel have to do with this?"
Uriel's lips twitched—just barely—but Noah was too busy thinking to notice.
Why is she bringing that up?
"Everything," she said flatly. "It has everything to do with this."
She paused, as though considering how much to reveal.
"That novel was once a real world. After its destruction, we chose to preserve it by turning it into a story on Earth. Our hope was simple: that one day, a worthy person would read it."
She met his eyes.
"When that happened, we would send them back—to that world's past—to change its fate."
Noah felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"I know you're wondering why we didn't intervene ourselves," Uriel continued. "The answer is simple: we cannot. Divine beings are bound by strict limitations. That world was fragile, and because of that, the restrictions placed upon our power there were even greater."
She paused, then spoke again—her voice firm, resolute.
"That is why you are here. You know the story inside and out."
Uriel took a single step forward.
"So we ask you, Noah… will you allow us to send you there?"
"To save that world."
Noah didn't answer right away. A hundred thoughts passed through his head, but in the end, only one question remained.
"What happens once I'm done?"
Uriel's brows creased for a moment before her sweet, innocent expression returned. In a soft voice, she replied, "That's up to you… You may stay in that world, or return and be reborn on a future Earth."
Noah remained silent. He didn't say it out loud, but he could tell she was talking out of her ass. And yet, instead of feeling wary or concerned, excitement stirred within him. New possibilities. New experiences. And most of all…
He'd get to fuck up the protagonist.
"Do I get something to help?" he asked. Even if the answer was no, he was confident he could complete it anyway.
Uriel thought for a moment before responding. "Yes… but first, let me expose you to mana. Then the Universal System will connect to you."
"Ah." He'd almost forgotten.
The Universal System was an omnipresent construct that displayed one's information—name, age, abilities, and more. On rare occasions, it selected beings with exceptional talent and gifted them rare, unique powers. These individuals were known as Irregulars—existences of immense potential, as fate, destiny, and causality themselves bent slightly in their favor.
"Beware," Uriel said matter-of-factly. "This will be your first time feeling mana. At first, it will feel like tiny bugs crawling under your skin—but don't worry. That's just your body adapting."
"Okay," Noah nodded.
Instantly, Noah's body shuddered in dread, it felt like tiny bugs had begun piercing his skin and crawling around, it was sickening-so much so he had to sit and curl into a fetus position.
[Dinggg!!~ you have gained access to the universal system!!]
[Evaluating existence....1,2,3,4,5-]
[Dingggg!!~ You have been appraised as a ??? Ranked existence.]
[You have awakened a unique authority, this is solely yours and cannot be viewed even by us….]
[Due to this… the system has marked you as a being of unprecedented interest.]
[To view your existence just say 'status']
Noah didn't even get the chance to speak before he fell unconscious, his senses slipping away as he was pulled from the realm of the divine and cast into the mortal world below.
End of chp 1.
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