A/N:
" " : Dialogue,
' ' : Thought,
"Italicized text" : Telepathy,
"Bold text": Shadows,
[ ] : System,
| | : Artificial Intelligence.
Messed up and used ChatGPT to edit the top part of this chapter. Way too busy to come back to rewrite.
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Omniscient POV
Location: Marvel Universe 199999-2, Earth
New York, Brooklyn
June 24, 2006
Inside an apartment, a young African American boy is asleep, with no one else present. Interestingly, despite the existence of photos clearly indicating that this apartment was once shared by multiple , the current condition of the apartment suggests that only one person has been living there for about the past month, a child at that.
The young boy gradually awakens, stretching his limbs. As he begins to speak, he abruptly halts, as though detecting a deviation from the ordinary. Surveying his surroundings as if they are unfamiliar, he runs toward what he presumes to be the bathroom.
Upon reaching there and confirming that it was the bathroom, he went to look in the mirror. The face he saw in his reflection surprised him, so much so that he pinched himself a few times to see if he was dreaming or hallucinating. When he confirmed that what was happening was very real, he shouts out.
MC POV
I am freaking out right now, and rightfully so. I had woken up in a different place from where I had gone to sleep, in a different, younger body. I could tell that I wasn't sent to the past or future, since this body was healthy unlike any other, and I could taste the foreign taste of sugar, which would have been problematic if it was from anyone in my family.
Splashing some water on my face, I try to calm down and see if I could remember anything about this body. I walk back to the bed while thinking of it, when suddenly...
[Welcome, Player.]
[You have unread mails.]
I remembered this scene, not from my past life, not exactly. This scene mirrored the same scene in Solo Leveling where Sung Jin-Woo had newly woken up from the damage of the Carthenon raid.
Opening the mail, I see that 2 syringes have been deposited in my inventory. I open the inventory and check their details.
[Item: Nano Machine - Model Ω EX]
[Rarity: EX
Type: Consumable
An extraordinary technological marvel from a distant future, this nanoscale machine possesses the unique ability to self-replicate and assimilate matter, thereby acquiring diverse properties. Its operation is overseen by an Artificial Intelligence that has attained sapience. It can amplify its replication capabilities by drawing on metaphysical energies.
Grants the following upon consumption:
Technopathy,
Cyberpathy,
Nano Suit (Customizable),
Nanobot Extraction,
Material Assimilation,
Machine Adaptation,
Poison Immunity,
Disease Immunity
Perfect Memory,
Eidetic Kinesthesia,
High Speed Regeneration,
Analytical Appraisal,
Machine Manifestation,
Machine Editing,
Infinite Nanomachine Production,
Spatial Detection,
Physique Reconstruction,
Peak Elemental Compatibility,
Blueprint Creation,
Administrative Access to π€¥# N#n1¥€.]
[Item: Essence of the Outsider]
[Rarity: SSS
Type: Consumable
A transcendent entity, existing beyond the confines of space and time, had its essence condensed into liquid form, imbuing it with a connection to the Void. Whoever consumes this liquid inherits all the powers the entity granted to others during its existence.
Grants the following upon consumption:
Blink,
Void Gaze,
Bend Time,
Stop Time,
Premonition,
Possession,
Shockwave,
Domino,
Void Doppelgänger,
Mesmerize,
Void Walk,
+30 to All Stats,
Shadow Kill,
Semblance,
Eye Within,
Glimpse Hollows,
Void Briar.]
Reading the details made me fully understand that I had gotten exactly what I had wished for. The abilities of both Ashborne and Sung Jin-Woo with the system, a broken as fuck nanomachine that fused Nano, the Omega-1 nanite and Shiro's nanomachines and the Mark of the Outsider.
"Fuck me sideways." Taking a breath, I try using the Ruler's Authority to telekinetically lift some things in the room. Its use comes instinctively to me, letting me control the things around me with ease. I put my hand on my chest and strangely, I don't feel the Black Heart in my chest. It causes me some alarm, until I look into the inventory again, then conclude that I'll have everything unlocked to me, only if I consume the two items.
Bringing them out of the inventory, I stab the needles into my chest and inject their contents. As soon as they emptied out, the syringes vaporized, and I felt the heart forming. What happened next, I didn't expect.
My eyes suddenly went dark, and I felt my body release a great amount of energy. Before I could try to open my eyes, I started seeing things, I saw the lives of many people, and I was wondering why, until I saw those people die. What made things worse was that I was seeing this from their perspectives, as well as a 3rd person perspective.
This went on for an indeterminate amount of time. I would see the full lives of beings, human or otherwise, until their deaths. I had no explanation for it, but it just kept on going on and on and on for God knows how long. So many lives passed, geniuses who were killed, either by their hubris or by the envy of others, dictators, kings, warlords, artists, beggars, criminals, bigots, revolutionaries, sorcerers, heroes, Atlanteans, Kree, Skrulls, vampires and other mystical beings, beings from all walks of life, I experienced all their lives, and their deaths, no matter how harrowing they were.
Eventually, my eyes clear up, letting me see the ceiling of my home again. I also found out through the memories of the dead that my parents are dead. My father was killed by a Hydra operative, while my mother was killed by a member of the Hellfire Club, Azazel. My dad was a SHIELD agent and my mom was a Wakandan that chose to leave Wakanda, with the only piece of vibranium she left with being the necklace that she had left me as a gift for my 12th birthday, which was a month ago.
My dad's name was Jason Bourne and my mom's maiden name was one that I'd have expected from a Nigerian in my past life, Ngozi Chikelue. As for me, my name is Ashwani Chukwuemeka Bourne, but my loved ones call me Ash or Emeka. My dad died to one of the Hydra agents in SHIELD, as he was getting close to finding out about them, and my mom died because she refused to sell Wakanda out, or use her identity as a former Wakandan citizen to get vibranium for the Hellfire Club, so they deemed her useless and offed her.
Clearing my mind, I look around and use my Ruler's Authority to rearrange the entire apartment. I take note of the things that would definitely have happened as a result of my awakening.
For one, I have most definitely alerted every major force on the planet. So SHIELD, Hydra, the U-Men, the Hellfire Club, the X-Men, Agatha Harkness, Nathaniel Essex; both of them, Selene Gallio, the Brotherhood of Mutants, Wakanda and Yao, all have me on their watchlists. At least I'm sure of those ones. As for whoever else is aware of my awakening, I'll find out later.
Lady Death has definitely sensed my presence as well, same with Dormammu and any interdimensional beings connected to the Darkforce Dimension. This is because I'm also an actual mutant, or rather metahuman, who awakened the powers similar to those of Cloak, a metahuman with an innate connection to the Darkforce Dimension.
About my abilities that I had wished for, there were some changes that affected them. For example, every skill that I've got has hit the max level, regardless of their source. Be it the Shadow Monarch's abilities, the abilities gotten from the Essence of the Outsider or the abilities gotten from the nanomachines.
Due to that, the difficulty of using my abilities has lessened considerably. Compound that with the experiences that I now have, due to connecting to all dead intelligent lifeforms to have existed on Earth or in any of the dimensions connected to Earth, learning to use them to their maximum potential would be easier than I could have imagined.
First, I had my nanomachines assimilate the vibranium necklace my mom left for me, gaining its ability to absorb kinetic energy, then I spread them as a black cloud that went everywhere in the apartment, taking apart and replacing any form of surveillance or electronic device that is present in the apartment.
As they came in contact with each device, the blueprints of each device automatically registers in my head, and E.L.I.T.E starts redesigning them to be better in every way, then replaces the devices with the improved ones.
I then instruct E.L.I.T.E to cover everything in a film of nanobots, for two reasons. One is the innate ability of Gatelinium to nullify foreign electromagnetic waves, two is for vibranium to stop all vibrations and sounds from leaving the room. I also have E.L.I.T.E create a small router and connect to the internet, while making sure to leave no digital footprints.
Surfing through my memories, I find out the locations of the bases of multiple people and organizations. Genosha exists in this reality, by the way, same with Krakoa, still in its living island form that walks around every once in a while. Genosha's population isn't all that high just yet, though.
Some of the other things I learned via the memories also include the knowledge to create mystical relics, like the ones used by the Masters of the Mystic Arts. "I'll still visit there for a while, just to get a proper refresher on the spells used by them. Who knows, I could give her some of the old spells that Agamotto, Cagliostro and the others before her had made that were lost to time."
|Secure worldwide connection established.| E.L.I.T.E tells me as she finishes hacking into every single satellite before the asteroid belt. "Okay then, keep an eye on the following forces: the X-Men, SHIELD, Hydra, the Brotherhood of Mutants, the Essex Corporation and the Oblivion Institute. As for the mystical side, leave them to me. And by the way, call me Boss." I say and spread my mana around and connect my senses to the sphere of mana.
Looking at the screen of a newly made laptop, I see that the year is 2006, giving me about 4 years until the major MCU events begin, the first being Tony Stark's kidnapping. I'd have included the Hulk's emergence from the gamma radiation experiment, but that already happened 3 years ago.
I quickly give E.L.I.T.E access to the memories of dead Hydra members, U-Men members, Sinister clones and John Sublime's other bodies, to create a montage video showing their experiments on metahumans and a map showing all their bases, active, abandoned or destroyed.
I also had her quickly hack into the Xavier Mansion, mainly to get the full schematics of the Danger Room and possibly improve on it as much as she could. And I finally gave her what would be her hardest task for a long while, stealthily hacking into Stark Industries.
While she works on her tasks, I begin my daily quest to strengthen myself. Of course, it followed the Saitama standard of 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and a 10km run, which for me, whose stats are at a minimum of 40 across the board, was easy.
To give myself some challenge, I created some weights that I inscribed some gravity runes on to increase their weight. As for the run, I just made a treadmill and finished the run as quickly as I could.
Taking note of the weight, the amount of time I used to complete the exercises, I saw that I was well into the territory of enhanced human physique. So while I won't be doing anything crazy like punching the Hulk's lights out anytime soon, I'm already beyond the physical capabilities of a Captain America level super soldier.
Seeing the extent of my physical capabilities really put into perspective how strong the average Hunter in Sung Jin-Woo's world really is. They even said that the weakest Hunter is still stronger than the strongest normal human, meaning that Sung Jin-Woo, who was the weakest Hunter in South Korea, and possibly the world, was still physically superior to the strongest human and best Olympic athletes.
Which when you look at the monsters they had to fight, wasn't farfetched. Even goblins were immune to gunfire and regular blades, so what's to say that the werewolves, lycans and stronger monsters couldn't just demolish a city if they chose to swarm. Granted, this was purely due to the fact that they couldn't be harmed by anything that didn't have sufficient mana.
Moving past the thoughts, I check my rewards, hoping that they'll be given to me in the same manner that Jin-Woo's rewards were given. And thankfully I wasn't disappointed.
[Quest Completed.]
[Rewards: Status Recovery, +3 Stat Points, +1 Random Box.]
[Will you accept?]
[Accept/Reject]
Since I don't feel any fatigue from the exercise, I accept the stat points, all of which I put into Agility, and the Random Box which gave me a bandage. I take some time to think of something that would actually cause me fatigue, and something clicks. E.L.I.T.E's physique reconstruction.
It's a function that was used a considerable amount of times by Chun Yeo-Wun in his younger days, when his body was more susceptible to change and improvement. But for it to be used for me, I needed a good amount of nutrients, which judging by the state of my body after depression had caused me to not eat properly for the past few weeks, I didn't have.
Taking that into account, I control the groceries I'd need for a nutrient packed meal, the utensils and stove to cook a meal for myself. Having the experience of the hundreds of telekinetics has really helped me get a much better feel for using my Ruler's Authority. As a matter of fact, many of the skills I could have are already being fully ingrained into my mind and body, even if a bit slowly.
More time passes in silence as I continue cooking the meal and E.L.I.T.E continues her only remaining task, the most daunting one being the infiltration into Stark Industries' systems without being found out by J.A.R.V.I.S.
Eventually the meal is done cooking and I wolf it down after a short prayer to Stan the Man. While eating, I thought of the many different ways I could use my nanomachines to protect myself, and one method in particular came to mind; making a thin layer of nanobots to serve as a second skin/light armor that will always be on me.
Doing so would be pretty easy, as they can already mimic the texture and the color of my skin, and with the strength of Gatelinium and the kinetic energy absorption that they have gained from vibranium, their performance as armor would be extremely effective.
I quickly manipulate my nanomachines to cover my entire body, eyes and hair included. I also made sure that they did the same with my ear canals as well. As I did that, I noticed a subtle weight on my body, but it wasn't anything I couldn't move freely with.
Thinking of the shitstorm that's going to hit the Earth in about 6 years, I immediately start thinking of the things I could do to make myself stronger within a short amount of time. The first thing that comes to mind is the Super Soldier Serum that Abraham Erskine had created, the next is to use chi and the dragon bones that the 5 Fingers of the Hand had stolen, and the third one was to sneak into Wakanda and steal a Heart-shaped herb.
Thinking about it for a few more minutes, I decide to create an improved version of the SSS by incorporating the dragon bones into it. Taking out the Hand with my current abilities would be hundreds of times easier than sneaking into Wakanda, and creating the base SSS can be done easily. I could even mass produce it if I wanted to. As for getting into Wakanda, that can be postponed for a while longer.
Before I could get to that however, E.L.I.T.E calls out to me. |Boss, movements from the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants have been detected.| Looking around the room, I ask her, "E.T.A?". |Two hours and 23 minutes for the X-Men and 2 hours and 20 minutes for the Brotherhood of Mutants, assuming that their speed remains constant.|
"I see. Well then, let's prepare for our guests, E.L.I.T.E ." I say and begin manipulating Eldritch energy to create magic formations that heavily dampen the powers of everyone within them, except for the caster.
After I finish putting down the spell, I create a seat in front of the screen that E.L.IT.E had made and sit down. "Using the memories that contain martial arts and use of inner energy, what'll be the estimated time of completion for my muscular reconstruction?" I ask as I take a deep breath. |Two hours and 15 minutes.|
"I see." I then turn the chair into a futon and lay down flat on it. "Begin." Immediately I say that my muscles all contract and begin to spasm. I close my eyes and begin cycling the different energies that I'm sure are within my body. Mana, darkforce energy, death energy, void essence and the bits of chi that I could feel. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I would be considerably stronger when the reconstruction finishes.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 2,937
Thanks for reading!