An unemployed 22-year-old was lying on the floor, scrolling through his phone, when he came across an interesting video. It was an Inferno Jae video about choosing between the powers of four fictional characters, Peter Parker, Midoriya Izuku, Mark Grayson, and Bruce Wayne (Absolute), with the catch that you'd have to fight their villains.
"Hmm, Mark Grayson is the safest pick here."
His reasoning was that Mark, as a Viltrumite, could grow stronger through his physiology, and there were several ways to increase his strength faster. Plus, no Viltrumite had pushed their body to the limits compared to the others.
Izuku had more powers, sure, but they were practically continental at best, and you'd likely have to sacrifice your power like he did or continue the cycle of past One For All users if you failed to kill All For One.
With Peter, you wouldn't have his intellect. Even if you did, you'd have to face herald-tier threats through willpower alone, but you wouldn't have the same will as Peter. And you'd have to fight Morlun, Venom, and Carnage. The only reason Peter was that strong and survived was because his willpower boosted his strength.
As for Bruce Wayne from the Absolute Universe, no explanation was needed. Just look at the opponents you'd have to face all alone.
He left a comment under the video.
[Undying07: I'd rather choose Mark since you could train yourself to get stronger and survive all those fights.]
As he scrolled through the comments, he noticed a new one appear.
[SpiderGod8: I'd pick Peter because you can mitigate every bad thing he experiences in his life.]
Seeing that, he decided to reply since he had time to waste, being unemployed and all.
[Undying07: But you'd have to fight almost all high-tier characters with Spider-Man's powers. You're not surviving, dude]
In an instant, which even surprised him, the reply came, way too fast.
[SpiderGod8: And?]
[Undying07: You're delusional, bro.]
[SpiderGod8: No, I'm not. I'm pretty sure I can survive as Peter Parker.]
[Undying07: Do you even understand the hypothetical we're having? We choose their powers, not become them. Bro, you're dumb.]
[SpiderGod8: And? I'm still confident I can survive his villains. They're not that strong.]
[Undying07: Morlun? Knull? Venom? Carnage? Mephisto?]
But the guy suddenly went silent.
'Haha, he backed down. He's got no counterargument.'
Then the guy replied.
[SpiderGod8: If you're so confident, I bet you can't survive in Mark's place.]
He replied back, saying:
[Undying07: I can survive and become far stronger than Mark ever could.]
[SpiderGod8: Let's see about that.]
He stared at the comment, confused. Glancing at the time on his phone, he saw it was currently 3:35 AM.
'It's too late. I need to sleep and help my dad tomorrow.'
He closed his phone and went to sleep peacefully, not giving the conversation another thought. This was just a normal day for him.
. . . .
Bird chirped in the morning light. People were getting ready to leave, and the sunlight piercing through the windows bothered the 17-year-old young man who was still sleeping.
When he finally opened his eyes, he wiped them. As he sat up, he began looking around and instantly became confused, he wasn't in his room. He was in someone else's.
"Huh?" was the only word that came out of his mouth.
His current situation seemed impossible. Unless he'd been kidnapped, but even that didn't make sense, what kidnapper wouldn't tie up their victim?
Standing up, he started looking around the room. It looked like a single man's house. As he scanned the area, he noticed his face looked different on the reflection, even if it was a little blurry through the window.
He touched his own face, unsure how to feel. It felt the same, yet it wasn't. So he began searching for a clear mirror.
He headed out of the room and started looking for a bathroom, finding one after opening and closing a few doors.
When he looked at the mirror, he was shocked, to say the least. He froze. His face was completely different from his original one. He was taller, not fat, not wearing glasses, and not bald.
"What's going on?" He was confused, with no answers to his situation.
Then someone walked toward the bathroom and stopped at the entrance. It was a woman with a black bun and earpieces.
"Mark, why haven't you gotten ready for school?"
He turned to her, unsure how to reply. She was a stranger, and he was in a stranger's house.
"Do you know who I am?" was the only thing he could come up with.
"Of course I do. You're my son. So stop playing around, Mark, and go get ready for school." She replied with an annoyed voice, then left him and headed downstairs.
"What?" He was confused. He asked himself, 'Is this one of those famous transmigration stories? If that's the case, who am I? What character is named Mark?'
His mind still hadn't clicked yet.
With no answers and nothing else to do, he got ready. As he showered, he was glad the toothbrush at least had his name on it.
Once he was ready, he headed downstairs and saw the woman, his new mother, reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee next to her.
"Um, Mom," he asked.
"Yes, your food is right there on the table." She pointed at a plate with a sandwich on it.
"Mom, what's my full name?" He asked because this would clear a lot up.
"Mark Grayson. Why are you asking me that? You're acting weird," she said.
As he heard the name, his mind finally clicked, and he remembered the debate he'd had last night.
"Fuck."
"Mark, language," she reprimanded him for cursing in her house.
"I'm sorry," he replied.
'Since this is real, that fucker must have put me here because I... bet against him. Fuck!'
He was pretty much fucked if he didn't do anything about his situation.
'I'm now fucking Mark Grayson, the son of Omniman. Think, Mark, think.'