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Pre Chapter Message: Sorry for the upload delay, long story short. I got the flu, it got so bad I had to be hospitalize cause I had a fever of 107 and I pass out. Sorry about that, but back to the story.
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It was late at night. I sat on the edge of my bed as I stared at the translucent blue screen of the Gacha System.
[Current GP: 20]
[2 GP = 1 Card (0% chance)]
[6 GP = 3 Cards (20% chance)]
[10 GP = 5 Cards (35% chance)]
[14 GP = 7 Cards (50% chance)]
[20 GP = 10 Cards (75% chance)]
I felt… conflicted. On one hand, the price raise still pissed me off. On the other hand, it was time for a Gacha.
"Wish me luck, Om Nom." Om Nom let out a yawn as he slept on my bed.
You're lucky you're cute, you lazy green blob.
Ignoring that for now, back to the Gacha. "DRAW 10." The screen lit up in a ray of multicolored light as a dozen cards appeared in front of me.
[2 bonus cards have been found.]
"Nice!"
[Item: Predator's Wrist Gauntlet (Predator Series)]
"That'll come in handy." The question is, which version do I have?
Some of them have wrist-mounted blades, others have built-in plasma cannons, and one just straight up has a super punch. Hopefully, I got a good one.
[Item: Hanzo's Storm Bow and Arrows (Overwatch)]
"Nice." My favorite stealth weapon.
From the sounds of it, I've also gotten some of his arrows. That's a plus, mainly because I have no idea how to buy arrows without the risk of it being tracked back to me. I mean, it's not like I can just ask Hawkeye where he buys his.
[Item: Assassin's Robes (Assassin's Creed)]
"Hmm." I'm not sure how to feel about that.
While I'm a big fan, it's just a robe. How is it gonna help me in a fight?
[Schematics: Hoverboard (Saint Row)]
"Oh." I remember this.
The controls were kind of wonky, but it had a powerful ground-pound feature. Though, I can see the construction being an issue. Assuming the hover tech is similar to Iron Man's repulsor tech, it's going to need one hell of a power source to work properly.
[Skills: Jin Sakai's Sword Technique (Ghost of Tsushima)]
"Yes!" I'm about to go full samurai on them. I wonder if it's actually possible to cut somebody's head off in a single slash?
[Ability: Mystique's Voice Mimicry (X-Men)]
"What?!" My first superpower, and it's not even the full package?
While Mystique's ability to mimic voices is pretty impressive, it's supposed to go hand in hand with her shapeshifting. Well, at least I can mask my voice if needed.
[Template: Yu (The Boxer)]
"…Holy shit!" No offense to Rocky, but Yu's probably one of the greatest boxers in existence. Well, excluding the ones with supernatural abilities.
In his series, Yu was above peak human. Able to dodge cannon fire, blow a hole through a sandbag, and outpace somebody who could dodge a bullet.
Maybe I should become a boxing champion, go on a side quest or something.
[Template: Marcus Holloway (Watch Dog 2)]
"Yes!" Finally, a computer guy.
Marcus was a master coder and engineer. He's even capable of hacking the power grid. Not an easy feat, but then again. This is Marvel, It has some of the smartest beings in fiction. Well, at least I can code now.
[Template: Lara Croft (Tomb Raider series)]
"Ah." My first video game crush.
I'm not sure why, but something always attracted me to her. Maybe it was her brilliance, but if I'm being honest, it was probably because she could kill a man with her bare hands.
[Summon: Winged Pikmin Onion (Pikmin Series)]
"…Aren't they, like, an inch tall?" Maybe it's scaled up, but for some reason I'm doubting it.
[BONUS CARD]
"Let's see if I got lucky." I rubbed my hands in excitement.
[Schematic: Solidbox 2550 (Watch Dog 2)]
"Solid Box—Solid Box—what was that again?" I snapped my fingers. "The printer?"
Wrench called it the Arnie of printers, capable of printing out anything. From functional drones, to automated rifles. It'll probably take some time to collect all the material and build it, but once I do, it'll be a game changer.
[Item: Genji's Ryu-ichimonji (Overwatch)]
"Let's go." Now I've got both weapons of the dragon brothers, blade in one hand, bow in the other.
"Okay, got to think of an order." Last time, I chose to absorb everything all at once, which hurt like hell.
Let's start off simple for now. "Activate all schematics."
In an instant, I buckled to my knees.
A strange sensation ran through my head, technology I could have never imagined filled my mind.
"Ugh… not as complicated as I thought it would be. The hoverboard is pretty simple, the technology is just superconductors and magnetic elevation."
"Okay, what's next?" My face broke into a smile. "Activate… Well, there's only one skill."
My body tensed as new techniques filled my mind. In an instant, I experienced decades' worth of training—how to sheath and draw a blade, where to strike, how to block another blade, etc.
"I really need to test this out when I get the chance. I wonder if there's anybody I can duel?" Heh, back to the point, I can do that later.
"Activate ability."
A strange sensation took over my throat. "That was awkward. Now, let's try this out."
"I… am… Iron Man."
Thanks to my memory, I was able to replicate Tony Stark's voice down to the very decibel level.
"Motherfucker." Samuel L. Jackson, also Nick Fury.
"With great power… there must also come great responsibility." Aunt May.
Now that I think about it, I could cause some serious psychological damage with this. I won't do it, but I could.
"Now, all that's left are the templates!" Let's hope it doesn't take too long. "Activate templates."
—
[Name: Leo Faith]
[LV 2 (6/500)]
[Quest: None]
[Skills: Sword Technique, Parkour, Freerunning, Climbing, etc.]
[Abilities: Voice Mimicry, BS Protection, Stable Mind, etc.]
[Templates Absorbed: Bob Belcher, John Nolan, Dexter Morgan]
[Templates in Progress]
[Marcus Holloway (48%)]
[Lara Croft (31%)]
[Yu (4%)]
[Summons: Om Nom]
"Everything hurts."
In hindsight, I should have waited until the week was over.
It's been a day since the Gacha, and my body is on fire. If I had to take a wild guess, it's probably because of Yu. In his webtoon, he broke every physical feat and record, he's basically superhuman. Right now, though, I feel like I just ran a four-hour marathon without a single drop of water. My body felt like it was freezing and burning at the same time.
"Alright, let's do this." I grabbed a pen and paper. "It's time… to make a business plan."
—
Two days later (Friday)
"Alright, you may be wondering why you're all here."
In front of me were Harry Osborn, Ned Leeds, Peter Parker, and for some reason, MJ.
We were in an empty classroom Mr. Harrington let me borrow for a bit. The group was seated at a basic wooden round table.
"You invited us?" Ned and Peter answered in a confused unison.
"I don't care," Harry added, not even looking up from his phone.
"Is this about how you've been acting like an elderly old man these past two days?" MJ teased as she examined my body. "Or the fact that you grew a couple of inches in, like, two days?"
I let out a cough. "One, I did invite you. Two, you will care in a moment. And three, I'm in the middle of a growth spurt and I tore my muscles while working out… I'm in severe pain." I raised an eyebrow. "Also, why are you here? I didn't invite you."
The group glanced at MJ. She just shrugged. "I was bored, so I decided to follow Ned and Peter." she answered.
"Okay, ignoring that for now." I focused my attention back on the group. "Everybody in this room has a problem, and I'm here to solve it."
I gestured to Peter. "Broke."
"Wha—" I shushed Peter before he could respond.
Next, I gestured to Harry. "Money with ties." Harry glanced up from his phone, an annoyed expression on his face.
Next was Ned. "As for Ned, well… I've got nothing. You're crushing it, Ned." I gave Ned a quick fist bump.
"This sounds like a pitch to a pyramid scheme," MJ added in her usual snarky tone.
"You're running my patience." I glared at MJ. She just stuck her tongue out like a toddler in response.
I let out a cough to clear the air. "Like I was saying, we all need money. Which is why… I have a pitch!"
I flipped the massive whiteboard behind me.
Omni Works
Everybody raised a brow in confusion.
"From your expressions, I can tell you're lost. Well, allow me to explain. We're all geniuses in one way or another—except for MJ." MJ blew a raspberry. "So why not put our genius to work… for ourselves?"
"I'm out." Harry tried to stand up, but I pushed him back into his chair.
"Hear me out?!" Harry stared at me, disbelief on his face.
Peter raised a hand. "Aren't we a little young to run a company?"
"Actually, no." I waved off his concern. "The legal age to run and own a corporation is fifteen." Everybody but Harry raised a brow.
"Why so young?" Ned asked.
"After the death of Howard and Maria Stark, their son had to take over. The only issue was that Tony Stark was only sixteen at the time, so to prevent a bunch of randos from taking over his family legacy, he persuaded a couple of politicians to pass a law, one that allowed somebody as young as fifteen to run a company," I explained.
"Sounds like Tony Stark bribed a bunch of politicians to pass a law that benefits the classic one percent," MJ simplified.
"In his defense, his parents had just died on the way to graduation," Ned added.
"Seriously?" Peter asked. "Man, that's kind of sad. His parents died on the way to his graduation, and instead of mourning, he had to fight to keep his family's legacy."
"Heh." MJ gave a so-so gesture. "He's a billionaire. His life ain't so bad."
"Okay, we get it." Harry cut them off, clearly annoyed.
"Sounds like a touchy subject," MJ whispered.
"It is. Don't bring it up," Peter whispered back.
"Like I was saying!" I spoke loudly to get everybody's focus. "I have a vision… for Omni Works to become a global enterprise. Imagine it, Stark Industries, Hammer Tech, Oscorp, Roxxon. One day, we could rival, or maybe even overtake them."
A quick glance let me analyze their expressions. Harry and MJ didn't seem like they were buying it. Ned was excited, and Peter looked confused.
"Oooh, oooh." Ned raised his hand like an excited child. "What exactly are we going to do?"
It was practically impossible to hide my grin. "That's the interesting part."
I grabbed a marker and began to write, using my body to obscure the group's vision.
Omni Works' Subsidiaries:
Omni Medical
Omni Media
Omni Defense
Omni Tech
MJ glanced at the board. "Sounds stupid."
"Everything!" Ignoring her, I slammed my hand against the table to emphasize my point.
Harry sighed. "That's stupid. One company can't dominate everything. If it could, my dad would have tried ages ago. Also, we can't just start a business!"
"Because nobody has had the resources to do it… yet." I began to point out everybody's strengths. "Peter's a master chemist, Harry's an engineer, and Ned's a master coder."
MJ raised a brow. "Harry's smart?"
Harry glared at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
"Alright, let's stop before somebody gets punched." I switched back to the main point. "Right now, the idea is impossible." I circled Omni Media on the board. "Which is why we're starting off small, we'll focus on one thing. Once it's big enough, we'll expand."
The table glanced around at each other. Everybody seemed unimpressed, well, except for Ned. From the looks of it, he was really into the idea.
"Just curious." Ned raised his hand again. "If we're starting off small, then what are we making?"
"Easy." A wide grin formed on my face. "We're gonna make a video game."
"Yes." Ned cheered under his breath.
"Yeah, no." Harry leaned back in his chair. "Seems like a lot of effort."
"Hard work, the enemy of the rich," MJ teased in her snarky tone.
Harry sat up straight. "Are we going to have a problem?"
"While it may be hard work," I grabbed Harry's shoulders, "just think about it. If we succeed, imagine the gloating. He'll be furious."
A wide smile broke across Harry's face, annoying his father was his favorite pastime. "I still think this is stupid, but what the hell. I'll give it a shot."
"Okay, so Ned and Harry are in. Peter?" Everybody stared at Peter.
"Well, I'm not sure. I mean, my schedule is pretty full already." Peter fidgeted nervously in his chair.
Honestly, I was kind of expecting this. Peter was always self-sabotaging himself, too focused on being Spider-Man.
"Come on, Pete. Think about it. If this works, we'll make some decent money. Imagine the tech you can buy, or make with actually decent materials." I leaned in closer. "You can help your aunt with the bills."
Peter considered it, then his eyes narrowed. "Alright, I'm in."
"In that case." I raised my hand in excitement. "Welcome to Omni Works!"
"I give you two months before Oscorp buys you guys out," MJ spoke, ruining the mood.
Everybody stared at her.
"Get out," Harry and I said in unison.
[Ding, New Quest Assigned.]
Oh?