Every time Lucien crosses through the Comic Gate into an American comic world, he gains one opportunity to extract character traits from that world. By completing corresponding achievements, he can obtain even more trait extraction chances.
Each American comic world has one ultimate completion achievement.
Achieving this grants multiple trait extraction opportunities and unlocks a new American comic world!
This appears to be the system's full functionality.
"So that's how it works!"
Lucien finally understood.
However;
This makes the first randomly assigned American comic world extremely important.
"I wonder which world I'll get? Hopefully not too chaotic—otherwise it could be deadly!"
Lucien thought.
...
Having obtained the system, Lucien quickly began preparations.
He first hastily finished dinner, then showered, brushed his teeth, and changed into pajamas.
Then he immediately lay in bed and closed his eyes.
Perhaps due to excitement or because it was still early, Lucien initially couldn't sleep at all. Fortunately, after some time, he gradually drifted into slumber.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in a void, facing an enormous black hole-like entity. Before he could examine it closely, he was suddenly sucked inside with a whoosh.
As his vision cleared, Lucien discovered himself lying on an unfamiliar bed.
"Unfamiliar ceiling..."
Lucien remained still for a few more seconds before rising.
His pajamas had changed—no longer what he'd worn earlier—but the body was unmistakably still his own; he couldn't mistake that.
"Where is this place?"
"And that black hole-like thing earlier—was that the Comic Gate?"
Lucien wondered.
Just then, brief information surfaced in his mind:
Lucien, second-generation immigrant. Lost both parents at age 14. Currently 17, dropped out of school a year ago. Unemployed, living comfortably on parental life insurance payouts.
This was Metropolis—yes, DC's Metropolis!
Superman's main stage!
And the world he'd arrived in was precisely the cinematic universe of Man of Steel.
"Superman!"
Lucien's eyes lit up.
He already knew whose traits to extract.
For context: the American comic worlds accessed through the Door are all independent realities. If connections exist between these worlds, Lucien's experiences from previous worlds would carry over.
For example, in this Man of Steel world, Lucien wouldn't find Wonder Woman or The Flash—they never appeared in that film.
But Wayne Enterprises still existed here.
If Lucien were to enter the world of "Batman v Superman" again next time, his current identity and actions in this "Man of Steel" world would carry over.
That was essentially the gist of it.
"Got it. That makes my goal crystal clear!"
Truth be told, even if he could find Wonder Woman and others in this world, Lucien's primary target would still be Superman, not anyone else.
At the moment, he only had one chance to extract a keyword, and he had just learned the requirements for clearing this world's achievement.
It was simple:
Defeat General Zod!
He could team up with Superman, but his participation rate couldn't be lower than 50%!
In other words, Lucien couldn't just spectate from the sidelines—he had to put in serious effort.
"Just don't know if Superman has debuted yet?"
Lucien pondered, then quickly dashed to the living room, grabbed the laptop on the coffee table, and opened it.
He searched for "Superman."
No results matched what he was looking for.
He tried "polar expedition," which yielded plenty of results, but none of them were relevant.
"Right, there was also that exploding offshore drilling platform—I remember it made the news in the movie."
Recalling the plot, he quickly typed "offshore drilling platform explosion" into the search bar.
But the most recent news article was from six years ago.
"So, Clark Kent isn't Superman yet."
Lucien lifted his hands from the keyboard and leaned back on the sofa, deep in thought.
If Clark Kent wasn't Superman yet, tracking him down might prove difficult.
"Am I just supposed to wait around?"
Lucien frowned.
Waiting idly wasn't his style—taking initiative suited him far better.
"Maybe I should head to Clark's hometown first."
But where was Clark's hometown?
That certainly couldn't be Krypton, since Krypton had already been destroyed.
So, when Lucien mentioned his "hometown," he was referring to Clark's adoptive parents' home—the Kent Farm in Smallville.
Smallville was located in Kansas, and getting there from New York was a long journey. The fastest way, naturally, was by plane.
"How much money do I have left?"
Lucien checked his bank account balance.
Fortunately, the system hadn't assigned him the identity of a penniless bum. His bank account still had at least sixty to seventy thousand dollars in savings.
Don't think sixty or seventy thousand dollars is a small amount. In America, most working-class people not only have no savings but are also deep in debt to the banks.
This is also why workers in America quickly become homeless once they lose their jobs.
No savings, no job—what else could they become but homeless?
After all;
Homes in America require annual property taxes.
Can't pay?
Then the house gets forcibly auctioned off.
Since he had savings, things were much easier.
Lucien immediately bought a plane ticket to Kansas online, planning to try his luck at the Kent Farm.
What if Clark hadn't left the farm yet?
After all, Clark's journey around the world to uncover the mystery of his origins only happened after he grew up. Before that, he had always stayed in Smallville.
Actually, Man of Steel never specified the exact year Clark became Superman, so Lucien couldn't use the timeline to determine how far the plot had progressed.
Now... he'd just have to see for himself!