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"Teacher, are you really leaving?"
Inside the cluttered lab, a scientist in a white coat was packing up his things.
"Yeah, it's time. I've been here for sixteen years—it's about time I moved on."
As he spoke, he pulled a flask from his belt, took a swig, and burped loudly.
"But Teacher, what am I supposed to do after you're gone?"
Dan asked, clearly feeling down.
"Don't worry. I've transferred the ownership of this house to your name, and the bank card's in your hand too. Dan, you're an adult now. This is America—we both know you'll do just fine."
Dan looked constipated. It was exactly because this was America that he didn't want his teacher to leave.
Sixteen years ago, due to an accident, Dan—an outstanding young man from China—died and was reborn here, in the so-called land of the free, the United States.
If it were the "regular" United States, that might've been manageable. But the moment he saw the news on TV, his soul practically left his body. Splashed across the screen were the words: Stark Industries.
That's when Dan realized… he was in the Marvel Universe.
"Teacher, can't you just take me with you?"
Dan made one last desperate attempt. He still didn't know who his teacher really was, but anyone who could pull a kid out of the welfare system in the U.S. and go through all the adoption paperwork had to be someone important.
"No, nope, absolutely not, Dan. I really do like you as a student, but I made a promise to someone. I agreed to raise you until you were sixteen and teach you whatever I could."
He took another swig, then casually pulled out a strange-looking laser gun. He fired at the pile of packed-up gadgets on the table—zap!—and the whole stack was sucked into a tiny capsule.
"It's true. I've taught other students before, but none as talented as you. Well, goodbye."
With another shot from his gun, a glowing green portal opened beside him. He tossed his coat back in a dramatic flair and stepped right through it—gone, just like that.
Dan was completely dumbfounded. White lab coat, spiky blue hair, and those empty, dead-fish eyes…
One name popped into his head—a legendary, terrifying name.
"No way… don't tell me… my teacher is that Rick?"
Grandpa Rick?
Dan slapped himself in the face just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. But hey—he had already died once. What was left to be shocked about anymore?
"Heh… I mean, I've been reborn in the Marvel Universe. What could possibly be crazier than this?"
He shook his head and started cleaning up the place his teacher had left him.
To be honest, aside from school and Rick's lab, he'd barely explored the rest of this house. Now seemed like a good time to check it out.
Cough cough. "What is this, a garage? Huh… if Rick was my teacher, wouldn't he have a spaceship? So where's the ship—did he fly off in it?"
He pulled open the dusty roller door and immediately started hacking from the dust storm that hit him.
"Jeez, how long's it been since he came in here?"
Once the dust settled, he got a better look inside. No spaceship. But something else caught his eye—a red sports car.
At first glance, it looked like a heavily modded Honda NSX. But once he got a closer look, his heart skipped a beat.
"No way… seriously? This can't be real."
Dan ran his hand over the car, barely able to contain his excitement.
"It's identical—exactly the same. It's the Tridoron from Kamen Rider Drive! Are you kidding me?! This world's actually insane!"
Back in his old life, Dan had been a top-tier fan of Japanese tokusatsu shows, especially the Kamen Rider series. He'd seen every season.
"Haha! Don't tell me Rick was a fan too? He even built a custom Tridoron? I wonder if he made a belt too…"
Knowing Rick, building a functioning Rider belt probably wouldn't have been too hard.
He opened the car door and climbed in.
Despite who knows how long it had been sitting here, the interior didn't smell musty at all. It was actually in great shape.
Gripping the steering wheel, he imagined himself flying down the highway. Honestly, what guy doesn't get hyped at the thought of a high-speed chase?
"Who are you? Why are you in here? Where's Shinnosuke?!"
A mechanical voice suddenly rang out. The seatbelt sprang to life and yanked Dan down into the seat. From behind, a belt-shaped device emerged, and on the dashboard, an animated face popped up—angry as hell.
"Whoa whoa whoa—calm down! I can't breathe!"
Dan struggled against the tightening belt, almost getting choked out.
Seeing that it had restrained a kid, the onboard AI—Krim—quickly released him.
"Who are you? Why are you in the Tridoron? And where's Shinnosuke?!"
Dan clutched his sore neck, panting. Honestly, even he was shaken.
What was happening with this world? Was Rick not enough? Now Krim was here too?
"I don't know how to explain this, but I can tell you one thing—this is America, and the place you're in is my teacher's garage. As for Shinnosuke… uh, he's probably still chillin' in a parallel universe somewhere in Japan?"
Krim's screen displayed a confused emoji. He looked at Dan like he'd lost his mind—like a kid talking nonsense after waking up from a weird dream.
It ended up taking Dan almost two hours to fully explain the situation.
In return, Krim told his own story. He only remembered that he'd gone berserk thanks to the Roidmudes, and Shinnosuke had used the Signal Axe to destroy him. But later, he was revived using a backup. To prevent the same thing from happening again, Krim sealed himself away… and the next thing he knew, he was waking up here, with Dan in the driver's seat.
"So… this isn't my original universe?"
Krim was still in disbelief, but at least he wasn't freaking out anymore.
Dan nodded.
"And honestly, this universe might be even more dangerous than yours. This is the Marvel Universe."
Dan, being the smart and well-read guy he was, had seen all the comics, shows, and movies. He knew exactly what kind of disaster-prone, nightmare-fueled universe this was.
Loki. Hydra. Asgard. Ultron. Thanos.
Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
"....."