"Huh? Why does my head hurt so much?"
The one murmuring this was a girl who seemed to have passed out in her room. Despite the frown on her face, it couldn't hide her beauty, accentuated by a faintly mature air.
The last thing she remembered was being hit by a truck that appeared out of nowhere. By all logic, she should be dead. Yet now, she found herself conscious.
Once the headache subsided, she slowly opened her eyes and realized she was in an unfamiliar room. Her body felt whole, with no sign of injury.
Her first thought was that it might be a dream, but everything felt too vivid. The second idea that crossed her mind was that she had transmigrated to another world.
The reflection in the mirror confirmed it: the body wasn't hers. Instead, it belonged to a young adult. From the flood of foreign memories, she instinctively understood who she had become.
Strangely, though she hadn't lived the life in these memories, she somehow knew them, more precisely, she knew everything about the girl named Gwen Stacy.
Staring at the mirror, she couldn't help but smile wryly. "So, now I've become Gwen Stacy? That character from Marvel Comics and movies whose primary role is to be Peter's girlfriend?"
She shook her head vehemently and exclaimed, "Hell no! Peter might be a good guy, but sorry, I can only wish you and Mary Jane good luck!"
Accepting her reality quickly, she reasoned that it wasn't so bad. After all, she had died in her previous world. The Marvel universe might be dangerous, but at least she was alive again.
Sorting through her new memories, she was rendered speechless. She wouldn't call herself a die-hard Marvel fan, but she knew enough, having watched most of the movies, read some comics, and devoured countless fanfics and theories.
This Marvel universe, however, was unfamiliar. For starters, Gwen was 19, studying at Empire State University, and had recently started a band with her childhood friend Mary Jane.
Her mother, contrary to the original story, was alive and well, and she even had younger siblings. Her father, George Stacy, was one of New York's most esteemed police officers.
Superheroes did exist in this world, the most prominent being Captain America during World War II and the present-day Fantastic Four.
On the villainous side, Magneto was a persistent threat, leading a mutant faction that sowed terror across nations hostile to mutants, particularly the United States.
The most critical detail concerning Gwen? Yesterday, during a school trip to Oscorp, she had been bitten by a mutant spider.
Not wanting to alarm her family, she had kept the incident to herself and barely made it to her room before passing out. That was when she, Emma, had taken over.
This likely meant she was now the Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Ghost-Spider, or some other avatar of the Spider Totem in this universe.
As she processed her new identity and began thinking about how to navigate Gwen's family and her future, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
[Congratulations, Master, for successfully reincarnating into a compatible body in another world.]
The voice wasn't external. It came from within her mind, or at least, that was how it felt.
Emma wasn't unfamiliar with reincarnation stories. She had read enough novels and fanfics to know about systems or mysterious benefactors. Intrigued, she asked, "Who are you, and why are you calling me 'Master'?"
[I am the protective mechanism your soul created to shield itself while traveling through the infinite multiverse in search of a body.]
The explanation caught her off guard. She had expected some kind of grand cheat system or helpful guide. "Traveling through the multiverse? To protect myself? Can you explain that?"
[Certainly, Master. After your death, your soul resisted the pull of Earth, which was already miraculous. It wandered the universe for ten years, searching for a body, and eventually gained the ability to traverse the multiverse.]
[Using this ability, your soul began traveling between universes, but you encountered countless other souls also seeking bodies. To survive, you absorbed them instead of being absorbed yourself. While this granted you immense data and strength, it also began corrupting your soul.]
[To counteract the corruption, your soul subconsciously created me, a protective mechanism to safeguard itself. I shielded you, allowing the absorbed souls to integrate slowly once you found a host body. That's where we are now.]
Emma, now Gwen Stacy, listened carefully. Oddly, her instincts, enhanced by what she assumed was her new spider-sense, told her the voice was truthful. Of course, in a world where Marvel existed, anything was possible.
Still, she couldn't afford to be naive. If this were some form of manipulation, there was little she could do. For now, it was better to focus on whether she had some kind of cheat to help her survive in this dangerous world.
"So, if I understand correctly, your role is to help me absorb these souls gradually and gain their memories and skills?"
[That's close, but not entirely accurate. A soul is far more than a repository of memories or skills, it is the essence of a person.]
[It contains all aspects of an individual: their knowledge, skills, bloodlines, powers, and energy. If a complete soul transfers to another body, that body will eventually adapt to match the soul's data, potentially developing powers or traits to suit it.]
Emma, now Gwen, took a deep breath, attempting to steady herself. The implications were staggering. She was essentially a patchwork of countless souls, and each one she absorbed would further enhance her abilities.
"Okay," she muttered, said thoughtfully. "Let's simplify this. You're saying that these... absorbed souls will eventually reshape my body and abilities to match their data? Like... unlocking powers and traits from different worlds?"
[Correct, Master. However, it is a gradual process. Directly overwhelming your body or mind with the full essence of any absorbed soul could cause catastrophic instability. This is why I exist, to manage the integration process.]
Emma frowned as she processed the explanation. "So, I would end up gaining powers, skills, and even traits from people I've... absorbed?"
After thinking about it, isn't it a little bit like the Template System, but she was curious what kind of souls did she absorb by the way.
She then asked:"Then do I have control over this? Like, what kind of souls do I want to absorb?"
She didn't want to absorb the soul of some monkey and her body transforming to adapt to the soul, fortunately, the voice replied.
[You have full agency, Master. I will present options based on what your soul can handle and you would choose which one to absorb.]
END OF THE CHAPTER
Well, this is the first chapter thought I don't know if I would continue this idea as I have many and have yet to settle on one.