"Googling has never been this terrifying before." I say to Gali who is lounging over my shoulder and looking at my phone as I shove a sandwich into my mouth. I can't actually feel any physical weight on me, but she definitely likes hanging around and has been riding my shoulder or on top of my head since I woke up.
Currently, while eating breakfast, I also decided to try and 'discreetly' look up as much information as I could about the world. Sure, The Fantastic Four exists as famous heroes already and Mutants are constantly on the news with one issue or another, but there is definitely more than the original me didn't even know to think about.
As I couldn't just start searching up terms like Wakanda and Iron Man on the internet, as Fury would be on my ass before I could even finish my sandwich, I opted to start by just opening up Google Maps and looking for anything that wasn't there in my previous life.
Starting from New York itself, there isn't anything too far out of the ordinary. Sure places like the Baxter Building, Stark Tower, Oscorp and Roxxon are there but that is to be expected. I tried to look around for the New York Sanctum as well, but Manhattan is a big place and unsurprisingly they don't just advertise their magical sanctum to the public so no luck there.
As I zoom out though and start looking at other continents, I quickly find countless nations I've never heard about.
Latvaria, Genosha, Sokovia and to a lesser extent even Symkaria… sure I remember those names pretty clearly. But what are Sin-Cong, Transia, Costa Verde and like a dozen other microstates in the Balkans? I have no clue, but I should probably pick up a history book at some point, cause all the Balkan wars in this world must have been absolute fire.
Oh, and of course, Wakanda is nowhere to be seen on the map. Same goes for Atlantis, so I guess Namor never helped with World War 2 in this history. The Invaders as a team probably didn't exist either, but I can find out more about that later when I read up on Captain America, at least looking up the wiki page for a historical figure like him should be fine right? Maybe visit his museum as well, I remember seeing the costume of the original Human Torch in the MCU movie, but I wonder if he actually existed in this world.
I also went to search up The Fantastic Four as they are very much public figures and the world has taken to calling them the first superheroes since Captain America. Many debates whether the mutants like X-men could also be called heroes, but the general public opinion is against that notion as of now. The hate and fear people feel for the mutants has been rising for a while now, and the attacks by the Brotherhood of Mutants have not helped their case in the least.
As for any other heroes already active… I couldn't find much without digging too deep and risking setting off alarms. The news has been mentioning something about the Devil of Hell's Kitchen for a while now, but no pictures have surfaced as confirmation. There are also rumors of some white caped guy brutally beating up criminals during the night recently, but similarly to the previous case, it is nothing but rumors for now.
Of course, I know the truth of the matter.
I put down my phone and take the last bite of my sandwich at the perfect time as my oven starts beeping.
[Oh, the food is ready!] Gali announces and zooms off my shoulder to over as she presses her holographic face against the glass door while drooling at the sight of three full trays of sandwiches made from a variety of meats, cheese and greens. You are just a hologram you know, you can probably just go in and be fine…
[Why did you make all of this anyway? This looks like far too much food for one person. I don't see all of this fitting in your stomach. Though, I am probably not the one who should be saying that, as I can fit entire planets in mine…] Gali questions, pulling back from the oven, which I open after putting on my oven mitts, letting out all the hot air which Gali acts like she can feel by fleeing behind my back.
"Nah, well, at least not for now." I say, pulling out one tray after another and setting them on the kitchen counter. "But since I have an inventory where stuff doesn't spoil or cool down, I figured I might as well make a bunch of food to throw in there along with every bottle I can find in my house after filling them with water. To be honest, I would like to have at least a few months worth of food and water as well as other essentials there in case there is ever a need for them."
I have no clue what awaits me in these dungeons or whatever other bullshit I might get caught up in as I'm in the Marvel universe, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared for as much as I can. If something like this inventory is thrust onto me, I might as well make full use of it.
Food, water, living essentials, medical supplies, entertainment, maybe even some generators and fuel, I'll get all I can get my hands on and throw it in there. If nothing else, my adoptive mother can be praised for throwing an obscene amount of cash at me, even if she is too busy with work to even show her face to me once.
One by one, I pick up the sandwiches and send them into my inventory as they dematerialize. Done with all of those, I pull out my bag of empty recyclable bottles and rinse them all before filling them up and doing the same to those. That should be at least a few days of supplies for me should I somehow end up getting kidnapped on day one of my new life.
That won't happen, though. Teehee.
No, seriously, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.
Next… I will probably want to at least check out the dungeons on my first opportunity, so should I get my hands on a weapon of some sort?
"Hey Gali, do you know what sort of enemies the early floors of the dungeon has? I'm wondering what sort of weapon I should get. I don't know if I would be any good with melee weapons or something like a sword and shield, but I could probably get a gun from a nearby Walmart. I just don't know if dungeon monsters will give a crap about modern guns."
Getting a gun in America won't be too hard of a task, as said, I've seen shotguns and rifles at the Walmart outside the borders of New York City itself. I'm 18 years old, so there shouldn't be any legal trouble with procuring one, but they do a background check… actually maybe it's not the best idea depending on who my adoptive mom actually is. want her to freak out in any way if she learns of this.
Gali thinks for a second before answering [I don't know all the specifics as I wasn't told all that much about the specifics of dungeons. Spoiling you and giving you all the info would hinder your growth and planning abilities, after all. But if I were to guess, most monsters would have F or F- rank stats. Essentially normal human level or even below that. Guns would work but only in the beginning. As you keep going they will turn more useless so my advice would be to get comfortable with other methods of fighting early on so its not harder to acclimate later when its too late.]
She is certainly right. If I get too accustomed to guns right now, I would have difficulty later on when I run into enemies that don't care about anything that shoots bullets. Once I run into enemies on the same level as the likes of Odin, I doubt I could make them bleed, even if I got the strongest guns on earth into my hands.
Then again… The Punisher somehow manages just fine.
"If not guns, then what? The best thing I could immediately get my hands on is just like a good quality knife or machete, but if a gun isn't going to do the job, I doubt those would fare any better. Put in a custom order to a blacksmith? Even then, stronger enemies probably won't be bothered by steel."
[Just a knife or machete would be fine to start with, later on you might be able to get your hands on other materials for weapons like Adamantine or Uru which the Asgardians use. The main thing is to not cower in the backlines with a gun, but to get in there and put yourself in harm's way. After all, if you remember, one of the main things spirit was associated with was willpower, so if you are too safe the stat will increase slower.] Gali explained, and I couldn't help but nod along. She had a point, but it was much easier for her to say than for me to actually do it.
Guess I should stop by the store after our school trip today and get my hands on a good quality weapon of some sort. Maybe follow up on that plan of putting in a custom order with a blacksmith too.
And if I am going to be throwing myself at the front line right at the enemy, I might wanna look up a place to train since I don't actually know how to fight… I think? Ah, so much to do already!
Bzzt!
My phone which I left back on the table vibrates to notify me of a message.
'Gwen: Dad is almost done eating, and then we will be heading out so be ready, 3 minutes tops ^^'
"Looks like it's time to head out. You should hide yourself so they don't freak out about you." I say, shoving my phone in my pocket and doing a last check to make sure I got everything I need. I'll just head out and wait for them in the hallway, don't like to keep people waiting because of me.
[Don't worry, only those connected to the system can see me so we're all good, just make sure to not talk to me out in public, or you might get thrown into a mental asylum.]
***
Author notes: General chapter length I aim for is about 1500 words plus, minus, a few hundred. So far, All chapters have been about 2k, so I guess it's been above what I expected. I just try to find a natural cutoff point, mostly.