The Basics

Return to Return the World! is a holiday-themed BL novella in 25-ish parts—and the long-awaited (cough) sequel to Return to the World!

If you’re new to my digital advent calendar shenanigans, check out the original story first (I recommend reading them in order): https://rttw.beehiiv.com/

After you subscribe to the newsletter, you’ll receive one or two chapters a day in your email inbox starting December 1st, 2025 and running until December 25th, 2025. Yeah, I didn’t make it exactly 25 this time, you’ll have to put up with a few interludes („• ω •„)

It’s totally free, though you can send me a ko-fi if you happen to enjoy the story~

You might be wondering, ‘so what kind of story am I signing up to read, then?’

Genre: Comedy, BL (boy’s love)🌈

Rating: Mature (18+)

Tags: Fantasy, system, wacky love-interest, trying-his-best protagonist, returning cast, HEA

Synopsis

It’s December again in P— City, and Gabriel CXXXIV is living the life. An ex-Guardian Angel with the Universal Order, he lost his precious halo and its accompanying System to Mikahil Li, and is now crashing in the human world. These days, he lives in an apartment the size of a shoe box, subsisting on grilled cheese sandwiches and pickles. The only light in his life is the scruffy maintenance worker who comes to repair his refrigerator and the fact that maybe, just maybe, he’ll carve out a small, meaningless existence for himself. Wait, sorry, actually Gabriel is depressed as hell. Good thing romance is in store for him this Christmas!

System: 【LET’S GO BABEY… DOWNLOADING BL ROMANCE 1%—100%】

Gabriel: "Depressed? That can’t be right. I feel fine…"

System: 【NO WORRIES, HOST - THERE’S A LEATHER-WEARING HOTTIE COMING TO INJECT SOME MEANING INTO YOUR HEART. HEAR THAT DOKI-DOKI? THAT’S THE SOUND OF BEIN’ IN LUUUUUUUUURV】

Gabriel: “Very well. At least tell me it’s someone nice and normal.”

(It's not.)

🎄🎅🎁

If you’d like a preview of the story, below is an excerpt of the chapter you’ll be receiving on Day One (December 1st)! Note there’s a Halloween special before this~

Chapter 1 - Everything is fine

P— City, modern era. Through the glass windows, large flakes of snow could be seen spiraling down from the sky and into the parking lot.

Christmas was in just three days.

Ah, Christmas. One of the most beloved of human holidays. For half of the planet, it occurred in winter, when the sun spent barely a nanosecond above the horizon—hence, memories of one’s halcyon days were wont to surface unbidden, summoned by the scent of pine and peppermint and slush and unbeatable deals and no school for two whole weeks. Indeed, it was a time when existential questions popped their ugly mugs out of their hidey holes.

“What is the meaning of life?” being the most egregious offender.

Of course, for those special immortals who had been initiated into the secrets of the universe, the question of the meaning of life had a simple three-part answer.

1. To live quietly and benevolently,

2. To harm no living thing, and

3. To dispel hate and renounce all worldly—

A curt voice jabbed Gabriel in the ear, followed by a pair of fingers snapping inches away from his face. “EXCUSE ME, SIR. YOUR TOTAL.”

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

Total?

LACTOSE-FREE MILK $4.50

SOURDOUGH $3.95

CHEDDAR CHEESE $6.00

THANK YOU 🫵 FOR CHOOSING DOLLOP MART 🏷️

Gabriel: “…”

That’s right. He was in the human world, presently shopping for groceries. 

Tinny Christmas music was leaking out of the overhead speakers. Gabriel glanced around. In the aisle behind him, two soccer moms were throwing hands over what looked to be the last honey-glazed ham. The sterile fluorescent light from above made his eyes water. He coughed gently. “My apologies. I was distracted.”

He handed the store employee a few crisp bills and was rewarded with a needling “about time, sonny.”

Demoted from “sir” to “sonny,” hm? Gabriel scratched his cheek awkwardly.

To human eyes, he might have looked the part, owing to his youthful skin and those manicured rivulets of wheat-blond hair that flowed down his back. In reality, he wasn’t a young man by a long shot. Next February, if he remembered correctly, he would be turning 2,231 years old. Fairly young for a Universal Order agent—ahem, unaffiliated ghost. But who was going to be the one to correct her?

“Merry Christmas. And God bless.” The woman dumped a handful of bronze and silver coins of varying sizes into Gabriel’s hand.

Gabriel smiled. Thanks to the GP he’d accrued, he’d fixed himself up with a few charms that ensured he was no longer a translucent shade that couldn’t interact with the physical plane. The coins, rather than phasing through him, formed a neat hill on his palm.

“I thank you for your blessing. May you live as infinitely and perfectly as the Nine Heavens.” Gabriel dropped the coins into the ambiguously labeled donations tin perched on the register’s counter. He then extended an open palm toward his groceries—the gallon of milk, block of cheddar, and loaf of sourdough—which had been shoved to the end of the bagging station.

“System,” he declared firmly, “store items in Inventory.” 

A beat. Nothing happened. 

Even when Gabriel puffed his chest out and repeated himself, the gallon of milk, block of cheddar, and loaf of sourdough didn’t budge. 

The woman staffing the register of the Dollop Mart: “…”

Bless his heart, this sonny was a jPad kid growing up! Virtual reality and smartphones must have fried his common sense!  

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

Gabriel, stooping over his groceries, tried to insert the block of cheddar into his sleeve. Then, he remembered: the sleeves of human clothes were incapable of storing anything. One had to use pockets. How low-tech. Gabriel had no choice but to fish his coins out of the donation tin and use it to buy a reusable bag. He exited the Dollop Mart.  

Truthfully, he missed those old silk robes of his. 

Without a working maintenance charm, the luxurious uniform the Universal Order had given him had gotten stinky pits after just a few weeks of wearing it nonstop. The laundry machine in his apartment had proceeded to shrink it to an untenable size, forcing him to invest in human garments. No matter what style he chose, they invariably felt staticky and clung to his frame like an ill-fitting cocoon.

Gabriel rolled his shoulders. He stretched his heels toward the sky and gave a hop. Realizing something, he wilted.

Undeniably, he missed those feathered wings of his.

After a few months without the proper nourishment of spiritual energy which ordinarily came from his halo, his feathers had fallen off, leaving behind two unsightly pink winglets—more fitting for a duckling than an angel—that he had to keep wrapped in bandages at all times. Now, rather than fly as was his preference, he had to walk everywhere. A real inconvenience given that he possessed flat feet.  

Those flat feet of his were just beginning to ache when Gabriel heard a loud rumble coming from his stomach. He frowned. 

Last, but not least, he missed not having to eat or sleep. 

These days, without the Heirloom Halo to keep him energized, he had to lie unconscious for hours on end in order for his corporeal form to naturally repair itself. Eating wasn’t a problem and could even be said to be enjoyable—that is, until he learned how expensive the sheer act of addressing his corporeal form’s appetite was in this era. He had endless KP and, owing to his part-time job as a “Ghost of Christmas Past,” he had GP (Ghost Points) he could spend in the Ghost Markets. 

The unfortunate thing about the food at the Ghost Markets was that cross-contamination was rampant. Very unfriendly to beings with food allergies, dead or living.

He had no choice but to cook his own food at home. 

The snow was picking up, whirling in an icy flurry. Gabriel’s stroll turned into a sprint. Eventually, he couldn’t see anything. He skidded to a stop on the outskirts of the Dollop Mart parking lot. 

“System,” Gabriel shouted, shielding his face from the cold with his sleeve, “adjust weather conditions to—”

The words died in his throat.

It took ten minutes of running at full speed for Gabriel to reach his apartment, at which point he was soaked to the bone, lips blue from the chill. He stripped himself down to nothing and threw himself into the shower as if his life depended on it. Once his eyelashes had thawed out, he changed into pajamas and made himself a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of pickles. 

He sat down with a sigh.

Three days until Christmas. If the Jolly Man himself magically appeared here in his living room, what would he, Gabriel CXXXIV, ex-subranking agent of the Universal Order, wish for? 

“I wish I had my old life back.”

When Gabriel said these words aloud, his mouth full of bread and melted cheese, he surprised himself. 

Even more surprising was the knock he received at his door a half-second later.

Want to find out what happens next?

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Art credit: banner chibis by reidiantdawn, barbie meme by tsukiharu, li’l doodle by d4ye