[ SYSTEM ACTIVATED ]
It was the gong of salvation, the voice of rescue, a flicker of hope in the impenetrable darkness of this world.
In my head, the plots of thousands of novels, anime, and manga began to spin; euphoria seized my body, and I was enveloped in ecstasy. For me, this was deliverance, but first... I had to understand what kind of System stood before meneede
[ LETTER FOR THE HOST ]
"Hey dude! I don't know who you are or where you are, but I know you're a lucky one. This System summons heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe. Well, that's about it. I'm sure you want more info, but honestly, I don't give a damn. Good luck, and don't mope around over there!"
"What kind of nonsense is this? Have the multiversal system admins become so lazy that they don't even meet souls in the afterlife for a chat anymore? Can anyone—anyone at all—explain to me how this System actually works?"
At the very moment I finished my sarcastic remark, I heard a chime.
[ SUMMONING PROTOCOL ]
TO SUMMON A HERO OR VILLAIN, EXTEND YOUR HAND FORWARD AND UTTER THE WORD 'SUMMON.' A HERO OR VILLAIN FROM THE MARVEL UNIVERSE WILL THEN BE RANDOMLY SUMMONED.
CONSTRAINTS:
ONLY ONE CHARACTER CAN BE SUMMONED AT A TIME
AFTER THE SUMMON IS CANCELLED, THE COOLDOWN LASTS 24 HOURS.
"Can you tell me anything else, System? For example, what should I do so the demons don't turn me inside out? Where should I go? You could even tell a joke... please?"
I began to think at the limit of my capabilities, weighing all the pros and cons. What should I do next?
I decided not to use the System just yet; it hadn't specified whether the summoned characters would be under my full control. If not, it could end in catastrophe.
What if I accidentally summoned someone like Carnage or Thanos? In the best-case scenario, it would end with my death, and if a more powerful version of these characters appeared, the entire Universe might come to an end. I would wait for a safe place or, conversely, a situation of extreme desperation.
Peering out of the carriage, I saw a giant mass of flesh close its maw and fly away. A giant square head made of eyes, ears, mouths, and noses, surrounded by two rings of black feathers, vanished as if it had never existed.
The carriage was moving steadily toward the City of Gray Knights, and I even began to enjoy the view of the forest below. Trees, some of which reached hundreds of meters in height, and hills filled with wild animals... As I watched this, stories of demons came to mind.
Demons... They were considered creatures that had vanished long ago. Ten thousand years had turned the tales of them into myths, though thousands of pieces of evidence of their past presence on the continent remained.
It is believed that ten thousand years ago, demons invaded our realm and completely destroyed the continent's former capital and the previous empire as a whole. Humanity, which had reached a high level of development back then, was thrown centuries into the past.
The demons carried out a true genocide, wiping out nearly a third of the empire, and then... they simply vanished. There was no precise information. Some said a cataclysm destroyed them; others believed humanity invented a virus that began to mow them down.
Third parties believed the demons left due to internal strife. But now, all of that was dust. Demons were an invincible, unstoppable force—exactly as the legends described them. Like the gods from the myths of my past life, they poured their wrath upon the humanity of the past.
Even a single common demon is a threat to high-ranking human cultivators, while Great Demons can wipe the strongest strongholds of humanity off the face of the earth just by their presence. Such thoughts increasingly crept into my mind, and fear began to take hold of me again.
But now, besides fear, a spark of hope glowed within me: with the System, I might actually survive. Suddenly, the carriage began to shake. At first, it was slight—a gentle swaying like a feather in the wind—but then it grew stronger and more violent.
"No, no, NO, NO, NO!!!"
This piece of junk began to fall. For reasons unknown, it plummeted toward the ground with blistering speed. Once again, that slimy dread returned, that foul fear... Not even a day had passed since I arrived in this world!
What did I do in my past life to be reincarnated into the heart of the Apocalypse? Is this what "Otaku Hell" looks like?
Inhale, exhale... Okay. I forced open the jammed latch and opened a small drawer in the carriage. After a quick search, I found a scroll wrapped in red thread. Then, using an energy crystal, I deactivated the barrier.
Bang!
The sound of the door being kicked open finally sobered my mind. A step, another step... and there I was, a few meters from the edge. I was going to jump and use the Levitation Scroll.
Did I even have a choice? No, of course not. I want to live—I want to live so badly! My will to live in this world is a hundred times stronger than in my previous one.
I don't know why, but the fear had vanished. The thought turned into a signal for action. Using all the strength in my legs, I made a sudden dash, pushed off, and leapt from the carriage...
Once on the ground, I just lay there, breathing deeply. Inhale, exhale... Relief washed over me in a wave. Slowly, I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest. The fetal position—yes, that was exactly what I needed right now.
"I wonder, is Bao Lin still alive? Is my mother alive? Did anyone survive?"
"Unlikely," I answered myself, but only in my mind. In the four or five hours of flight, I had traveled several thousand kilometers. Far enough to buy myself some time.
I stood up to my full height. Looking at these grim giants surrounding me in a dense ring, I felt my loneliness and helplessness acutely. My gaze fell on the Levitation Scroll—now just a useless piece of parchment.
There was no other way. My only weapon was a desperate hope in the System. I extended my hand forward, toward the deathly gloom of the thicket.
"Summon!"
A vortex of thousands of multicolored flashes, bright and alien amidst this somber greenery, formed directly in front of me.
In the dark streets of New York, in the filthiest slums of so-called Hell's Kitchen, in one of a thousand alleys where hundreds meet their death at the hands of a knife, a gun, or a pipe held by some random gang member, a brutal shootout was underway.
A group of five thugs was firing in all directions, hysterically screaming the foulest curses imaginable. On the faces of these hardened killers and bandits, one could see an emotion incredibly rare for their kind: pure, primal terror, chilling them to the bone and devouring them from within.
Something snatched one of them. He soared upward—a second of screaming, followed by a sickening crunch, and then silence. Then another, and another... until only one remained.
The last bandit completely lost his will to live; collapsing to the ground, he began to cry out for help.
The dull thud of an impact against the concrete echoed—someone had descended right to the bandit. Step by step, the pursuer approached for another second, and then... the stranger vanished.
A vortex consisting of thousands of multicolored lights swirled around him. Once the flashes evaporated, only the trembling bandit was left in the alley.
The next day, a report from his trusted associates was already in the hands of Wilson Fisk, known as The Kingpin.
He slowly flipped through the pages, searching for the answers he needed.