[System Initialization…]
[User Status: Deceased.]
[Scanning neural patterns...]
[Reconstruction complete.]
[Welcome to the Upgrade System.]
It started with pain.
Hot. Blinding. Unforgiving.
Then silence.
Henri remembered the blood first — thick and warm against his ribs, soaking his shirt. The sound of the gunshot rang in his ears long after the world went black.
"Just a robbery," he'd thought. "Just another bad night in Queens."
But death had no warnings. No lessons. No cinematic fade to black. One moment he was running to help that screaming lady in the alley, and the next…
He was floating.
Nothing. No ground, no air. Just white light, stretching infinitely in all directions.
Henri blinked. Or tried to. His body was… gone? He had a shape, a presence, but no limbs, no breath, no heartbeat.
> Am I dead?
[User Consciousness Detected.]
The voice came like a whisper into his mind — clear, synthetic, and impossibly calm.
[System Sync: 100%.]
[Welcome, Henri Cross.]
> "What… the hell?"
His voice didn't echo. It just was — as if thought and speech had merged into one.
[You have been selected as Host of the Upgrade System.]
> System? What the—
Before Henri could scream or panic, something clicked. Like a switch flipped in his brain.
A flash of blue text hovered in front of his formless consciousness:
---
[Basic Tutorial – Initiated]
> You are dead. However, your consciousness has been preserved.
In exchange for hosting the Upgrade System, you will be given a second life.
Your job is simple: Survive. Evolve. Adapt.
Complete quests. Earn Upgrade Points. Rewrite your destiny.
---
Henri read it again. And again.
> This is a joke. This has to be one of those Isekai prank dreams, right?
He tried to laugh. But something told him this was realer than anything else he'd ever known.
[Initializing Memory Core...]
Suddenly, memories surged through his mind — not his own. Images of a glowing cube. Red beams shooting from a man in red and gold armor. A purple giant with a gauntlet of stars crushing the Earth beneath his feet.
> This is... Marvel?
Henri's heart — if he still had one — dropped. The Avengers. The Chitauri. Thanos. This wasn't just any Marvel. This was the MCU.
> Oh no. No no no. I am not Spider-Man. I'm not Captain America. I'm a civilian. I just got dropped into a world full of planet-killers.
[Random World Entry: Confirmed – Earth-199999 Timeline.]
[Begin Transfer in 3… 2… 1…]
---
💥 BOOM.
Henri gasped violently as air rushed back into his lungs. His eyes flew open.
He was alive — lying on his back, coughing, choking on dirt and blood. He could feel again. Cold wind. His chest burned. His hands trembled.
Around him was rubble. Smoke. Sirens in the distance.
He was… in an alley.
The same alley.
> Wasn't I shot here?
He looked down at his shirt — no blood, no bullet hole. But his old hoodie was there, tattered and worn.
And then he saw it.
Hovering in front of his vision — like a video game HUD.
---
🧠 Upgrade System v1.0
[Name]: Henri Cross
[Age]: 19
[Condition]: Stabilized
[Class]: Civilian
[Inventory]: None
[Skill Tree]: Locked
[Upgrade Points]: 0
[Primary Objective]: Survive for 72 hours.
---
A loud crash behind him made Henri jump.
A car flipped through the air three blocks away, landing with a thunderous boom.
People screamed.
Gunshots rang out.
And from the rooftops, something leapt — long-limbed and pale-skinned, snarling with black veins pulsing across its face.
> Symbiote?! Venom?! Carnage?!? What the hell is this?!
Henri staggered to his feet, panic flooding his system.
[New Quest: First Blood]
> Objective: Escape the Symbiote-infested zone
Time Limit: 20 minutes
Reward: +1 Upgrade Point
Failure: Death
> Nope. NOPE!
---
🏃♂️ RUN.
Henri sprinted, his breath ragged, legs aching.
The city was chaos. Sirens wailed. Buildings cracked. Police lines were broken. It was like someone had dropped him into the first act of a Marvel disaster movie — but he had no powers, no weapons, no suit.
Just the system.
And a backpack on the ground ahead.
Henri dove for it — unzipped it mid-roll. Inside? Some broken tech junk, a flashlight, and a shattered smartwatch.
[Scavenged Item: StarkTech Scrap Detected]
[Would you like to Upgrade? Y/N]
> YES. Please yes!
The smartwatch floated in his hand, glowing blue. Particles shifted, reshaping it in seconds.
---
⚙️ Item Created: Reactive Interface Band (Tier 0.5)
> A wrist-mounted HUD
Displays quest logs, system stats
Connects to local WiFi/satellite
Battery: 6 hours
---
Henri slapped it on his wrist.
The screen blinked to life.
> "Okay... okay, okay. That's something."
Then a roar echoed through the alley.
A symbiote dropped from the wall like a spider — slick and writhing, its face a contorted mask of hunger.
> Sht.*
Henri turned and ran again, ducking under fire escapes, leaping dumpsters. His heart pounded in his ears.
[5 Minutes Remaining...]
> Can I fight it? No. I'm dead in seconds.
A door nearby burst open — a woman in a SHIELD uniform waved frantically.
> "In here, NOW!"
Henri didn't question it. He dove through, and the symbiote slammed against the door an instant later.
The agent kicked a metal lever — sealing the door shut.
She turned to him, panting. "Name?"
> "Henri. Henri Cross."
She narrowed her eyes. "You're not supposed to be here."
> "Yeah, well… I just got upgraded."
---
🔧 QUEST COMPLETE!
[First Blood – Complete]
> Objective: Survive for 20 minutes
✅ Status: COMPLETE
🎉 Reward: +1 Upgrade Point
---
Henri's wristband pinged.
A new message appeared:
> [Skill Tree Unlocked]
Begin customization?
He grinned for the first time all day — ragged, bruised, and shaking.
> Let's see what I can become in this broken world.
---
[TO BE CONTINUED…]