"Feel the rain on your skin ~"
"No one else can feel it for you ~"
"Only you can let it i- Ack!"
A young man tripped in the New York rain, his umbrella rolling to the side as he stumbled into a puddle.
Looking down at his muddied sweats he sighed loudly.
Peter Parker was having arguably a decent day. He wasn't blooming with happiness but the rain wasn't wearing down on him as much as expected.
He was an white teenager of average height around 5'10, and a short brown crew cut that perfectly suited him. Peter wasn't bad-looking by any means, with twinkling blue eyes that seemed to invite trouble and a charming face set by a pair of large rectangular no-frame glasses.
Dressed in a black cashmere sweater and baggy grey sweatpants, matched by a pair of non-descript white sneakers that were at this point brownish in color from the dirty mud.
He looked like a decently dressed nerd, which was a fair assessment by all means.
But this "decently dressed nerd" had a rather earth-shattering secret.
Peter Parker was a transmigrator from another world.
He'd been your average high school student before a truck sent him through a wall, and suddenly, he was in the Marvel universe. It was some fanfiction bullshit that felt like a bout of lazy and cliche writing.
Probably was.
It had been a month since then, and Peter had more or less adjusted to this new world. It was a strangely and scarcely easy process, adapting to his new environment.
His memories of his previous life seemed to feel blurry and distant, with only some parts relating mostly to Marvel and whatnot being clearer. Another victim to lazy writing it seemed.
But there was one more thing that Peter knew felt extremely predictable given his transmigration and the clicheness of it all.
GACHA! :)
Despite not being too much of a gacha addict in his previous life, he'd been given a magical gacha that let him draw for cards that were abilities, templates, characters and items from other worlds.
That didn't feel unoriginal in the slightest.
Now, how did he get "draws" for whatever gacha bullshit magic to happen?
It was relatively simple.
Complete quests assigned by the shady magical gacha, and get draws for infinite power.
So far, he had yet to complete any objectives, given their… Specificity.
Peter stared up at the floating magical screen in front of him.
[ Quests ]
[ Adjust to life in this new universe! (+10 draws) ]
[ Join a school club! (+5 draws) ]
[ Get a job! (+5 draws) ]
[ Complete 3 to unlock DAILY QUESTS! ]
Peter felt that the third one was more personal than anything.
He was rather confused about the parameters to the first quest.
"Brother. I feel like I've already adjusted enough to this new world." He said this to no one in particular, frustration evident in his tone.
He wanted to gacha! He wanted to gambl-
[ First Quest Completed! ]
[ Gained 10 draws! ]
"Bruh."
Peter stopped in his tracks, rolling his eyes as he leaned against a light pole, looking at the screen.
He just had to say that he'd adapted all this time? Seriously? What kind of lame ass design was that!?
[ Use ten draws? ]
Seeing this, Peter looked around for a moment before nodding uncertainly.
He watched as the screen flashed as the pulls were used, casting a flashing golden light over his face.
[ Obtained:
Anti-Titan Artillery Gun (Attack On Titan)
Basket of Cauldron Cakes (Harry Potter)
The Evil Eye (Dandadan)
Mugen's Outfit Set (Samurai Champloo)
Ackerman Bloodline (Attack On Titan)
Mrs. Norris (Harry Potter)
Martial Arts Tea Ceremony (Ranma 1/2)
Anime Simulation Event Ticket
64 x Cactus Blocks (Minecraft)
The Dango Shop (Naruto) ]
His eyes scanned the list curiously. There wasn't any Saiyan bloodline or something that would immediately escalate him to overpoweredness, but it was in his opinion, a great start.
It was also completely random unlike some other gacha systems that were a bit too interested in leading the plot.
Of course, the cactus blocks and the artillery gun were a bit questionable, but the rest seemed alright.
It seemed to follow a very common essence gacha guideline. All characters obtained could be summoned or assimilated with oneself, and everything else was exactly what it sounded like.
Peter smiled giddily as he continued down the street towards home, his heart thumping loudly in his chest.
Five Minutes Later…
Peter sighed loudly as he walked into the warm apartment residence, the smell of freshly baked bread wafting up to his nose.
"Aunt May! I'm back!"
Collapsing onto the couch in his living room, Peter sighed in content. The feeling of home was like no other.
It was your standard New York household, He called, hearing a shuffling in the kitchen before a skinny older woman of short stature with greying hair and a faint smile on her face greeted him.
"Welcome back, Peter." She shuffled up to him, eyes twinkling brightly.
"How was school?" Her voice was mellow and warm, one that caused even strangers to loosen up quickly around her.
"Wasn't too shabby. Classes were pretty bland but I made a really nice kettle in pottery. I dunno if it's functional exactly, but it'd look great on the window sill."
Peter immediately shifted into a whole semi-rant about the random everyday events, not even mentioning the gacha in the slightest.
At this point, he was probably equal parts Peter Parker as whoever he'd been in the past, so there genuinely didn't seem to be any identity crisis and whatnot. Another victim to lazy writing…
After a while more of small talk with Aunt May, he went away into his room with palpable excitement.
He had just obtained a bunch of sick items and abilities from this gacha, who wouldn't be excited to check out his "haul"?
Of course, Peter ruled out procuring the artillery gun for obvious reasons. He had no excuse for suddenly having a WW2 style giant-ass artillery gun in his bedroom. It would also take up a lot of space.
The current things he'd obtained were all in the gacha inventory, a space that could fit virtually anything obtained from the gacha, physical to metaphysical.
Reaching out, he "took out" the next item he'd obtained from the gacha.
The air in front of him seemed to ripple, before a set of clothing spilled out into his hands.
They were neatly folded, consisting of a grey shirt with a stitch pattern down the middle and a short-sleeved happi coat dyed a dark red. There were also dark-gray hakama shorts and wooden geta sandals.
It was the classic style of Mugen from the anime Samurai Champloo.
"This is kinda fire…" Peter muttered to himself. New clothes were always a plus, and he liked the sandals.
He stacked them to the side in a small pile, before looking back at the inventory screen.
64 x Cactus Blocks.
…
What could he do with that…?
He could probably sell them?
Cube-shaped cactuses seemed pretty exotic. He'd go by the flower market or a botanist sometime and see how much they could sell for.
As for the Cauldron Cakes, Peter had quite the sweet tooth, so he'd probably just eat them.
Now, for perhaps the most interesting items of this first gacha.
[ Assimilate Evil Eye? ]
The thing that caught his "eyes" the most was the Evil Eye. A yokai who killed anyone who so much as looked at it, but after possessing someone, granted a variety of abilities as well as an "alter-ego" of some kind.
It was from Dandadan, a manga series that Peter enjoyed in whatever his past life was.
From what the gacha had innately explained to him, while assimilating would influence him while in his other form, it was easily controllable so he wouldn't be a complete murder freak for life.
As he was assimilating and not being possessed, he could change between forms without the use of cold and hot substances, which was decently handy.
"Do it."
He spoke slowly, uncertain of what was to happen next.
His body seemed to seize up as an overwhelming unspeakable feeling spread through him. His muscles and body flexed with power, and an apathetic, almost savage feeling, rippled through him.
He flexed his arm, which had turned almost chalk white, staring into a mirror on his desk.
His hair had turned a messy platinum white, his skin chalk white, and a dark obsidian purple marking that spread across most of his head down to his shoulders. But the most striking detail was probably the spiraling third eye that rippled on his forehead like some demonic "evil" eye.
Snorting coldly, he stretched out slowly. After a few seconds, the previous feelings of discomfort and unfamiliarity had subsided, leaving Peter feeling as if he'd had this form all his life.
He'd gained all the abilities of the Evil Eye, with as much control as the actual Evil Eye had, but it would be best to get used to it later.
Peter closed his eyes for a moment, and his body seemed to shift back to normal, the third eye closing and normal colour returning to his face and body.
It was strange. One moment, his blood was boiling, and there was a slight feeling that wanted him to go out and wreak havoc over New York City, and the next thing, he was good ol' Peter Parker.
There was still a thrum of this new power he'd acquired from the Evil Eye, but it didn't feel as raw and chaotic.
He'd test and figure it out later then.
Mrs. Norris?
Did he want to assimilate a cat? Maybe it would help him, but he didn't really know to what extent. Summoning the cat was a possibility, Aunt May wasn't adverse to the idea of pets, but Peter remembered that the feline had a bit of a mean streak.
He decided to push it aside for later.
Now, there were two other interesting things.
Ackerman Bloodline.
That was something for sure.
While he wasn't exactly sure what that entailed, he assumed and hoped that it would turn him into a titan-slaying badass.
[ Assimilate Ackerman Bloodline? ]
"Do it."
Peter was on a bit of a power high from attaining the Evil Eye, prompting the abruptness of his assimilation with this new bloodline.
And with that, something else changed. His body tingled, and it felt as if his mind had gained a new sense of clarity and sharpness.
It felt like he was in control of himself, as convoluted and vague as that sounded.
Either way, Peter felt something in his heart that told him that this bloodline would help him in the future.
Now, for the unanimously strangest thing he'd gotten out of this gacha.
He'd watched Ranma ½ in childhood and vaguely remembered Martial Arts Tea Ceremony. It was weird as hell, people fighting in a kneeling seiza position with artisan tea and tools.
But learning it couldn't do much harm could it? Having a fighting style no matter how eccentric it was could help him survive in this fucked world in the long run.
[ Learn Martial Arts Tea Ceremony? ]
"Yes."