"The truth is…"
"I am Iron Man…"
Arthur, watching the press conference on TV, couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth into a small smile.
This scene felt eerily familiar to him.
It was the press conference that took place at the end of the first Iron Man movie.
Yes, as you may have guessed, Arthur is a transmigrated person.
His full name is Arthur Morgan, and he is 20 years old.
A certain accident seven years ago brought him to this extremely dangerous world.
The way he died?
He had been walking calmly through the streets, just coming out of yet another failed job interview, frustration evident on his face.
Then he felt someone touch his shoulder and call his name.
Already irritated and frustrated by his streak of bad luck in recent months and his latest failure, his mental state was on the verge of breaking.
Annoyed by the intrusion, he glanced back irritably.
And then he saw the most bizarre thing in his life.
It was the damn Truck-kun, in some sort of Transformer-like form.
Still in shock from what he was seeing, all he heard was: "Isekai time, bitch!!"
And then a giant robotic fist came hurtling toward him.
When he woke up again, he was already in this world — no system, no cheat, nothing, absolutely nothing.
Except for receiving the memories of the Arthur Morgan of this world and a small inheritance, he gained nothing else.
He was no different from an ordinary person.
But when Tony Stark disappeared, Arthur knew it had to be the plot of the first Iron Man movie. It was at that moment that he awakened a system.
It was called the Login System.
Its function was simple: Arthur logs into the system once a day and receives a wide variety of rewards.
Since obtaining the system, Arthur had diligently logged in every single day.
But, to his misfortune, most of the rewards were either useless or things he could easily buy at a convenience store.
The best rewards he ever received were:
[Driving Skill – Rare]
[Cooking Skill – Rare]
[Medical Skill – Rare]
[Low-Temperature Candle that Never Runs Out – Uncommon]
But there was one reward in particular that gave Arthur confidence that he could survive in this chaotic world:
[Character Card: Garou (One Punch Man)]
Arthur nearly drooled when he saw this reward.
Anyone with even a passing knowledge of One Punch Man knows who Garou is.
Garou is a martial arts prodigy, the self-proclaimed "Hero Hunter," and a formidable adversary of the Hero Association and the Monster Association. He is a disciple of Bang and was expelled from his dojo for succumbing to rage. Fascinated by monsters, he is commonly known as the "Human Monster."
It goes without saying that heroes' biggest problem is… ordinary people.
Whenever they fight their villains, ordinary people are the ones who suffer the most.
Arthur knew that if he didn't stay alert, he could easily be crushed by a car flying from a hero-villain battle.
Only a few days had passed since he received this character card.
Although not incredibly powerful compared to some beings in this universe, or even some on Earth, his strength was enough for him to walk the streets with some confidence.
Luckily, he had gained some of Garou's memories when he used the card, so knowledge of the martial arts would likely come to him eventually.
But, at least in compensation, he received several other benefits that were extremely useful for the time being.
For instance, his senses became highly attuned to his surroundings, his physical endurance increased significantly, and his speed and reflexes were enhanced.
His current strength and durability were probably slightly higher than Captain America's.
On top of that, his intellect increased considerably; he could now recall numerous things he had read in his past life with perfect clarity.
The only thing he didn't like? His hair changed color the moment he received the card.
It turned silver. Luckily, it didn't turn into some ridiculous Garou-style mane.
(Now I look like some cliché protagonist!!)
Back to the present world…
Tony Stark had just announced to the world that he was Iron Man.
Captain America was still frozen somewhere in the Arctic Ocean.
No sign of Loki, and much less the Mad Titan, Thanos.
Arthur was confident that when Thanos came to Earth seeking the Infinity Stones, with the help of his magnificent system and this character card, he would already be strong enough to defeat him.
Even during the events of the first Avengers movie, Arthur felt certain he could survive easily.
Arthur didn't want to be a hero — he simply didn't want to bet his life on the Avengers.
We all know what happened in the MCU.
Not only in the MCU, even the What If…? stories hint at what could happen in the future.
As for using his powers as a hero?
Bah! Arthur had no interest in that.
For him, just lying down, relaxing, and enjoying life was enough.
As for money…
At the thought of it, the corners of Arthur's mouth lifted slightly.
Being someone from another world, he could exploit the gap between the two worlds to earn wealth.
During the years without the system, Arthur tried venturing into areas where he could leverage his knowledge from his past life to make money.
That was when he became a writer.
Of course, in his past life, he had been a writer. Though he never had a best-seller or made much money, he had written several successful books. All he needed to do now was rewrite them and publish them, along with books from his past life that didn't exist in this world — The Lord of the Rings, The Terminator, The Witcher, and even some Stephen King novels.
Currently, Arthur was among the world's most famous writers.
Additionally, taking advantage of upcoming chaos, Arthur used much of his savings to buy shares in Stark Industries while they were undervalued.
Tony Stark's revelation as Iron Man was a major turning point for Stark Industries. The company experienced exponential growth and global recognition, but also faced new challenges and controversies. In the long run, the impact was positive, cementing Stark Industries as one of the most innovative and influential companies in the world.
And Arthur was counting on that.
In this way, he would easily become one of the richest men in the United States.
Immediately, Arthur switched from Tony Stark's interview to a financial channel.
Just as he imagined, several major financial figures who had been skeptical of Stark Industries until recently changed their tune as if following a pre-arranged agreement.
"Heh? These 'experts' are all the same. At the first opportunity, they flip sides without hesitation."
Arthur smiled, satisfied, as he watched Stark Industries' stock soar.
At that moment, he remembered he hadn't logged into the system today.
"System, log in today."
[Login successful]
[The host obtained: Suppression Field]
[Suppression Field: Can be installed anywhere, covering a certain range. All superpowers, magical abilities, etc., within the range of the field will be blocked and cannot be used unless the host personally designates them as exempt from the suppression field.]
"Lately I've been really lucky… I feel like something big is going to happen…"
"First the character card, now a suppression field?"
"This suppression field will make my house a mutant-free zone."
"Okay, I'll think about that later. For now, let's install it."
This house was part of the inheritance Arthur received upon arriving in this world.
"System, install it from here."
Arthur walked to the center of the room, pressed one hand to the floor, and after commanding the system, an invisible barrier centered on him expanded to cover the entire mansion.
---
At that moment…
A blonde girl was walking slowly along the road beside Arthur's mansion.
Occasionally, she touched the back of her neck with her hand.
"How strange… I clearly remember a spider biting me yesterday…"
"She looked like one of those genetically modified Oscorp spiders…"
"Why did the wound disappear?"
As the blonde looked confused, she suddenly felt her heart tighten, as if gripped by an invisible hand.
"Ugh! What's happening?"
"Was that spider poisonous?"
Her first thought was that the spider's venom had started taking effect.
"Is anyone there? Ahh… H-Help me…"
Just before losing consciousness, she pressed the doorbell of the house in front of her.
After that, she fainted and fell to the ground.
---
Inside the mansion, Arthur stood and clapped his hands, smiling in satisfaction: "Done!"
At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Arthur went to check. As soon as he reached the gate, he saw a girl lying outside.
"Hm? What's this?"
Without hesitation, Arthur stepped out and turned her over.
Seeing her face clearly, he was momentarily stunned.
This girl was incredibly beautiful, with short blonde hair, wearing an outfit that made her look young while perfectly outlining her figure.
At the same time, another thought crossed Arthur's mind.
"Damn, I knew my bad luck would come to bite me in the ass."
---
[End of Chapter]
[A/N: Is it really bad luck, though?]
A/N: Guys, I'm making edits to the chapters (Practically rewriting some chapters again), so if you see any strange errors or plot holes, let me know so I can fix them.At the time I wrote these chapters (more or less until the end of the Spider-Verse arc) I was extremely inexperienced at writing, f It was only after Spider-Verse that all of this began to be significantly diminished.
So, help me help you, I make the chapters better and you have a better reading experience hahaha