What the hell…?
That was the only thought running through Ethan's mind as his memories fused with those of his "vessel," a boy named Gerald. The process didn't hurt, but it was overwhelming, like being forced to live through two completely different lives at once.
From what he could tell, Gerald was nothing special—an insecure, timid, undersized kid from a poor family, the kind of person the world ignored without effort. His parents barely cared about him, and somewhere along the way, he had learned that the safest way to survive was to stay quiet and never be noticed. But none of that was what unsettled Ethan the most.
What truly shook him was where he had ended up. He was in the goddamn Marvel universe.
From Gerald's memories, it seemed he was one of the young mutants Professor Xavier had brought to his school. But something about the situation felt immediately wrong. Gerald had never awakened. He still hadn't manifested any mutant ability at all. He was just an ordinary, powerless nobody trapped in a place full of extraordinary people.
And somehow, that still wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the timing. Ethan had arrived at the exact moment the school was about to be invaded—when every mutant inside would either be killed or dragged away. William Stryker had already made his move.
His thoughts spiraled. No powers. No combat experience. A useless body. And I get dropped right into this? Then came the detail that made everything worse: he couldn't control the body. Was the only thing he could do really just sit there and watch this idiot die? Was he seriously about to die again? Was he going to become one of those transmigrators who didn't even survive long enough to be embarrassing?
Beep.
A mechanical sound echoed inside his mind, heard by Ethan alone as he desperately searched for some way out. Something appeared in his vision.
[1%... 13%... 43%... 87%... 100%]
[Congratulations! The Copy System has been successfully loaded!]
Ethan froze. A system? So I got a golden finger too?
Gerald had been fast asleep when the night was violently torn apart. Gunfire exploded through the halls, deafening bursts that shattered the silence in an instant.
A second later came the crashes of bodies slamming into walls, glass breaking somewhere nearby, and the unmistakable sound of panic spreading fast. Then came the screams. His eyes snapped open.
For one disoriented second, Gerald couldn't even process what he was hearing. His body had already gone cold before his mind caught up. The darkness of the dorm room felt suffocating, broken only by the weak light spilling in from the hallway.
Then the gunshots came again.
Closer.
Panic crashed into him all at once. Gerald shoved himself upright with trembling hands and looked around. The other students were awake now too—some frozen in shock, others scrambling out of bed in blind terror. No one seemed to understand what was happening, but instinct had already taken over.
Run.
There was no time to question it. Gerald stumbled out of bed and rushed toward the door with the others, nearly tripping over his own feet. The hallway beyond was pure chaos. Students shouted, crashed into one another, and fled without the slightest idea where safety actually was.
'What the hell is happening?' The question pounded in his mind over and over, growing louder with every step as his breathing turned ragged and his chest tightened with raw fear.
Meanwhile, while Gerald's instincts screamed at him to survive, Ethan's attention was locked on something else entirely—the interface hovering in front of him.
[The more contact you have with a character, the longer you will be able to use the specific power copied from that being. You may also obtain cards from certain characters of this world by completing missions issued by the system.]
Ethan frowned, or at least tried to. 'But how? I can't even control this body.'
The words never left his mouth. They existed only in that strange inner space of shared consciousness. Even so, the system responded immediately.
[The system was unable to erase your host's soul. If that had been done, the forces present in this world would have noticed and eliminated you. Therefore, the system selected a more realistic solution.]
Ethan's focus sharpened at once, even as Gerald's body kept running blindly through the halls. And what exactly is that solution?
[By turning you into the "mutation" of a latent mutant.]
Ethan paused. 'So I basically became his power?'
[Exactly.]
The answer came without hesitation.
[And the more you are used, the more his consciousness will become yours… until, in the end, you completely take over this body.]
That made Ethan stop for half a second.
'Wow. That sounds a little evil.'
[If the host wishes, I can do the opposite.]
Ethan reacted immediately.
No.
Then, after the briefest pause, his thoughts turned colder and selfish.
'No, this is perfect.'
[Good. The conditions for taking control are as follows: either Gerald willingly relinquishes control, or his emotional instability exceeds 80%. Over time, that threshold will gradually decrease.]
Ethan absorbed the information quickly, his mind already sharpening around the possibilities. Got it. Then another question surfaced immediately. 'If I've awakened now, what power do I even have? I'm just a normal human.'
[Calculating…]
A short pause followed.
[Due to the host's precarious condition, the system has decided to grant you a one-time random card from an important character across known worlds.]
A roulette wheel appeared before Ethan's eyes. Images and names flashed one after another—figures from movies, anime, and games he recognized from his previous life. A blond boy who looked like a ninja. A bald warrior with a red mark across his body. A young man in a straw hat. A hero with an "S" on his chest. Then the wheel began to slow.
Finally, it stopped.
The image that remained on screen carried such a disturbing presence that Ethan's thoughts seemed to halt for a moment. It was a man with a pale body covered in dark, curse-like markings, as if something wicked had been carved directly into his flesh.
His sharp red eyes radiated cruelty, arrogance, and something ancient that felt less human than monstrous. Even through a simple image, he gave off the impression of overwhelming danger—not like a person, but like a calamity wearing human skin.
And for now... all Ethan could do was wait.