[New York, Brooklyn]
A midnight street—
"HAIL HYDRA!!!"
A suited thug shouted the slogan while spraying bullets from his submachine gun without restraint, 'All traitors must die.'
Not far away, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were monitoring this group of seemingly fanatical believers.
The future Iron Man, Tony Stark, was busy flirting with hot girls at a party.
This was the world of Marvel.
(The Avengers BGM starts playing.)
———
Corin lay on a metal bed that smelled of disinfectant. The bullet hole in his left shoulder was still bleeding.
The fluorescent tube on the ceiling buzzed nonstop. Three flies were licking the plasma seeping from his wound.
"Three hundred dollars, sir."
The doctor wearing a skull mask shook his rusty surgical pliers.
"Or you can choose to settle the bill with a kidney."
Licking his cracked lips, Corin's memory was still stuck at the moment before he crossed over.
An awards ceremony, an electric delivery bike in the pouring rain, a blinding high beam, and that rainbow whirlpool that suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.
When he opened his eyes again, he had become the unlucky guy caught in a gunfight on the streets of Brooklyn.
["Ding! Host's vital signs detected below critical value, Pay-to-Win System activated."]
Golden data suddenly exploded across his retina, and a holographic interface unfolded in the blood smears before his eyes:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Name: Corin Roch]
[Age: 28]
[Physical Fitness: 5]
[Current Account: 0 dollars]
[Existing Talents: None]
— Available Talents (Basic) —
— Self-Healing Factor → Sub-Wolverine-level recovery. 5000 dollars (original price 50000 dollars)
— Hawkeye Vision → Dynamic Vision Lv.1. 3000 dollars (original price 30000 dollars)
— Basic Combat → Jeet Kune Do Mastery. 2000 dollars (original price 20000 dollars)]
(First activation enjoys 90 percent off, emergency recommendation based on host condition.)
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
As his consciousness gradually returned, Corin remembered how he had struggled to reach this illegal clinic after being shot.
'But wasn't I delivering an order?'
'Where is this? Did I cross over?'
"Hiss!"
The sharp pain in his shoulder kept sending alarms to his brain. Corin realized his physical condition was probably terrible.
But the black-hearted doctor before him actually wanted 300 dollars before treating him. Where on earth was he supposed to get that cursed 300 dollars?
'And this Wolverine-level healing? Is it the same ability as the Wolverine I remember?'
'If it is real, maybe I won't need this damned doctor anymore.'
But the problem was… it cost 5000 dollars.
And that was already after the discount.
'Damn capitalism!'
"Hey brat! Are you listening?"
The doctor suddenly pressed the surgical pliers against Corin's Adam's apple.
"Or do you want to try bullet extraction without anesthesia?"
Corin stared at the Glock 17 at the doctor's waist. A price tag suddenly appeared on his retina:
[Used Glock (with 12 rounds) → Estimated value 350 dollars]
'So the system can appraise weapons?'
'Is it limited to weapons?'
"Hold on."
Corin's mind raced. Enduring the dizziness, he reached into his pocket and touched a metal object: the "Gold Medal Rider" badge he had been holding when he crossed over.
The gold-plated badge glimmered faintly on the system interface:
[24K Gold-Plated Work Badge → Estimated value 50 dollars]
So the appraisal target wasn't limited to one type of item. That meant the real question was whether it could be converted and how to convert it.
["Exchangeable item detected."]
A mechanical voice vibrated through his skull.
["Exchange now?"]
Corin's spirit jolted. He silently thought, 'Exchange!'
The badge vaporized instantly, and his account balance jumped to 50 dollars.
His fist clenched in his pocket with excitement. The confirmation of his guess thrilled him.
But it wasn't enough. Far from enough.
His gaze swept the room until it landed on the thick gold chain around the doctor's neck. The system immediately popped up an appraisal:
[Gold-plated alloy necklace → Estimated value 3 dollars]
His eyebrow twitched.
'Looks like I'll have to use some unconventional means…'
In this critical moment, Corin decided to gamble.
"FACK!"
The curse that burst from his lips stunned the doctor for half a second.
'Now!'
His bloodied hand grabbed the surgical pliers and twisted sharply. The sound of the doctor's wrist bending mixed with a scream burst across the clinic.
Before the Glock 17 could be pulled out of its holster, Corin's knee had already smashed into the doctor's nose. Blood instantly soaked through the mask.
[Unclaimed weapon detected, appraise now?]
"Appraise! Exchange!"
The Glock dissolved into blue data in his palm. His account shot up to 400 dollars, but it still wasn't enough for the Self-Healing Factor. The burning pain in his shoulder blade was swallowing his consciousness.
BANG!
The back door of the clinic burst open, and three suited thugs with submachine guns stormed in.
"Hail Hydra!"
The scar-faced leader pulled the charging handle.
"Doctor White, how dare you treat a traitor to the organization?"
Before he finished speaking, Corin's hand pressed down on the bloodstained operating table.
System prompts flashed wildly:
[Multifunction Operating Table → Estimated value 4400 dollars]
[Medical Alcohol 5L → Estimated value 50 dollars]
[Epinephrine x3 → Estimated value 150 dollars]
It was as if Corin saw dawn. His eyes lit up.
"Exchange all!"
Deafening gunfire erupted. A flood of bullets swept through the clinic. The moment Scarface's bullet pierced Corin's chest, golden light burst across his retina:
[Account balance 5000 dollars. Exchange Self-Healing Factor?]
"Exchange!"
It felt like molten lava poured into his veins. Corin clearly heard the crackling of bones growing. His weakness vanished at lightning speed, and strength returned to his body.
Three submachine guns spat flames, but every bullet hole sealed up in an instant.
Those who kill will in turn be killed.
Scarface's terrified expression froze in the smoke. When Corin crushed his throat, a crisp chime rang in his ear like coins falling into an account:
[Killed Hydra bounty thug, reward +5000 dollars]
[Account balance 5000 dollars. Exchange remaining recommended talents, Dynamic Vision, Jeet Kune Do Mastery?]
"Exchange!"
As Corin's vision refreshed, everything became sharper.
Darkness no longer hindered him. He could even track the flight path of flies.
At the same time, a faint understanding rose in his mind: he could easily handle close-range attacks, intercept and counter with precision.
Corin took a deep breath. A moment ago the gun wounds had made it almost impossible to breathe.
He felt sincerely that the system's recommendations were truly intelligent: healing to fix his injuries, vision to pierce the dark, combat mastery for self-defense.
More importantly, the 90 percent discount meant the prices were no longer outrageous.
"Perfect."
A small smile appeared on his lips, but quickly turned grave.
Through the filthy glass, he clearly saw a group of suited thugs hundreds of meters away rushing toward this direction.
Their weapons shimmered in the dim light.
"A rocket launcher? You really think highly of me."
Without a word, he took off running.
His voice echoed in the air behind him:
"Thanks for the surgery… bed! Doctor…"
———
Midnight Brooklyn had two faces: neat, luxurious, bright, and dirty, poor, dark.
Successful people enjoyed wild parties, while the homeless died under bridges, in the shadows.
Then there were the ordinary people struggling on the edge of survival. They stayed cramped inside their homes with doors tightly shut, pistols loaded, ready for the arrival of "zero-dollar shopping."
As for Corin, he didn't care about any of that.
Because he was running for his life.
The Self-Healing Factor allowed him to survive bullets, but that didn't mean he wanted to experience the power of a rocket at close range.
Before crossing over, as the "Ace Rider" of a certain company, he had great confidence in his speed.
After several alleys, even he felt a bit disoriented. Those men had probably lost him.
Corin's mind spun while he ran.
Instantly healing from gunshot wounds was unbelievable if it hadn't happened to him.
But combined with the system's description of Sub-Wolverine-level recovery; a man in a jacket, with strange hair, and a beard covering both cheeks; and those suited thugs shouting their edgy slogan: "Hail Hydra!", Corin strongly suspected he had arrived in the Marvel world.
Thinking of his current abilities, he knew he now had at least the capital to choose the kind of life he wanted.
Being an "Ace Rider" before crossing wasn't honor to him. It was a shackle. It was a man's responsibility.
But since he had crossed over, then sorry, no one was going to morally bind him again. Not even he, himself.
Thinking of the system that allowed him to exchange talents with money, Corin's lips curved upward.
'From now on, let's focus on making money and growing stronger.'