I raised my left hand.
Among the ten alien bands encircling my fingers, one responded instantly—the Crimson Ring. Its surface pulsed faintly, veins of red light crawling across the metal like living circuitry.
"Mental," I whispered.
The ring warmed.
Then—
My consciousness expanded.
It was not a flood. Not chaos. It was like stepping back from the edge of myself and realizing my mind had always been a cage—and the door had just been opened.
The world peeled away.
I saw threads.
Invisible to the eye, yet undeniable. Currents of thought, memory, belief, and history flowed through the land itself. The Crimson Ring did not show me visions—it allowed me to ask, and the world answered.
I activated clairvoyance.
Knowledge poured in.
Not all at once. That would have shattered me. Instead, it came in layers—fragments assembling into a greater truth.
I saw civilizations rise and fall.I saw gods walk openly among mortals.I saw sorcerers carving sanctums into mountains long before cities had names.I saw Asgard's shadow stretch across Earth, watched from realms beyond human sight.
This wasn't just an ancient world.
This was Earth.
My breath caught.
But not the Earth I remembered.
I traced deeper—searching for markers, anchors, familiar patterns. My mind brushed against legends that hadn't yet solidified into myth. Names half-formed. Concepts still fluid.
Kamar-Taj existed… but not as it would one day be.The Vishanti were known—but distant.Celestial interference lingered in scars across the planet.
And then it clicked.
Marvel.
Not a single version—Marvel itself.
An ancient convergence point, long before timelines fractured into comics, films, animations, or universes defined by art styles and canon debates. This was a time before divergence. Before stories chose their paths.
Roughly a thousand years before the beginning of what would later be called the plot.
I exhaled slowly.
"So that's it," I murmured. "I'm early."
Dangerously early.
I withdrew from the clairvoyant state, my heartbeat steady despite the implications. Knowing the future—parts of it—meant opportunity beyond imagination.
With this much time…
I could prepare.
I could shape things.
My gaze dropped to the ten rings.
The Ten Rings.
The thought surfaced naturally, almost inevitably.
Why shouldn't I be the Mandarin?
The title wasn't bound to a man. It was bound to power. To fear. To legend. In one timeline, it had been a lie. In another, a shadow. In others, a tyrant.
But here?
Here, I could be the origin.
An organization, built not on theatrics, but on absolute dominance. One that would persist across centuries, adapting, evolving, becoming an unseen hand guiding wars, economies, and heroes alike.
An empire that would outlive kings.
I felt a spark of anticipation coil in my chest.
As if in response to my thoughts—
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
The familiar chime echoed through my mind.
QUEST AVAILABLEPrimary Objective: Establish The Ten Rings OrganizationDescription:Build a global power structure rooted in fear, loyalty, and longevity.Ensure its survival across generations.
REWARD: 10,000 PointsBONUS: Organization Growth Unlocks
I stared at the panel.
Then smiled.
"Of course," I said softly.
The system wasn't just reacting to my actions.
It was encouraging my ambition.
Ten thousand points was only the beginning. With an organization, I wouldn't just be gaining power personally—I'd be creating infrastructure. Influence. Reach. Resources.
A machine that could feed me points for centuries.
I clenched my fist, feeling the rings hum in unison.
"If I'm going to do this," I said, voice calm and resolute, "then I won't be a myth hiding in caves."
I would be visible when I wanted to be.Invisible when I needed to be.And eternal by the time the modern age arrived.
The ancient world had no idea what had just awakened within it.
But it would learn.