Congratulations, Host, for successfully arriving at the sign-in location!
Commencing sign-in…
Please do not exit midway!
1% … 22% …
The familiar mechanical voice echoed in Senju Haruto's ears the moment he stepped out of the restaurant and faced Obadiah Stane's Iron Monger suit head-on.
Sign-in initiated!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT!
The Gatling gun on Iron Monger's shoulder erupted with fire, spitting out a blazing tongue as countless bullets screamed forward.
Inside the Mark II suit, Jarvis was already calculating. The armor was at its critical threshold. One more barrage like this and Stark himself could be in serious danger. With no choice, the AI forcibly pulled the suit into evasive maneuvers.
From the sidelines, it looked like Haruto was about to be shredded by the storm of incoming fire.
And then—
An unbelievable sight.
Everyone watching the fight froze. Even pedestrians who had been running for their lives skidded to a stop, hands fumbling for their phones to record what was happening.
If Stark and Stane's battle represented the pinnacle of technological warfare—modern weaponry clashing at its limits—then what Haruto displayed was something beyond science, something supernatural.
No, something closer to…
"Magic… that's magic, right?"
"Those bullets—it's just like that scene from The Matrix! "
"Film it! Quick, upload it to YouTube!"
The crowd erupted, not in terror but in awe and manic excitement. This was the kind of spectacle they'd only ever seen in movies.
At this point in history, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had only just begun its ten-year arc. Captain America and Captain Marvel existed, yes, but because of the eras they were tied to, poor communication, and their subsequent absence, hardly anyone truly believed in superpowers.
And yet, here was Senju Haruto—delivering a sensory and psychological shock no one could deny.
Meanwhile…
The U.S. military, foreign intelligence agencies, and shadow organizations across the world all took notice of the amateur videos spreading like wildfire online.
Haruto had expected this might happen. After all, the MCU differed from the real world he came from. With monsters like Stark and others pushing technological limits, this universe was far more advanced. The internet too.
Expose yourself once, and your presence would be permanently etched into the digital world.
Sure, he could erase that data if he really wanted to. But what a hassle. And besides…
With the power he wielded now, what was there to fear?
Was he—someone who surpassed the Sage of Six Paths, who mastered sorcery, and carried an arsenal of divine artifacts—supposed to cower before S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Was he supposed to quake before Nick Fury?
Then, like some cliché Marvel self-insert protagonist, try to curry favor by joining S.H.I.E.L.D., running errands, and scraping together brownie points with the Avengers?
What a joke.
That kind of childish compromise was something only the weak would ever consider.
Haruto was different. Aside from showing up at required sign-in locations, he did whatever he pleased.
"You dare disturb my meal?" Haruto's voice rolled out low and steady. It wasn't loud, but it carried an otherworldly resonance, rippling through the air like a wave.
Everyone in the street—no, the entire neighborhood—heard his words as though whispered directly into their ears.
It left people feeling both oddly reassured and utterly terrified.
What kind of being could do this so easily?
Even Stark was stunned, his mind racing.
Had Haruto just been casually eating here by coincidence? If so… wasn't Stane absurdly unlucky to stumble into this mess?
After all…
This was the same man who had casually created hundreds of thousands of mechanical lifeforms.
And now…
Stark swallowed hard, eyes flicking to the countless cars parked up and down the street. Cars weren't built like firearms, but in the end, they were still metal constructs.
If Haruto really had the ability to transform them all into mechanical lifeforms—
Gulp.
The thought alone made Stark's mouth go dry. For the first time, he actually pitied Stane. What rotten luck to provoke this man.
"Who the hell are you?!" Stane barked through the Iron Monger's comms, trying to steady his breathing. The situation unfolding before him was incomprehensible, unnatural—but surrendering now meant throwing away everything he'd built. His life's work.
There was no room for compromise.
"I won't repeat myself," Haruto said coldly. His expression remained blank, his gaze not even focused on the Iron Monger.
Instead, his eyes followed the progress bar floating before him.
89% … 97% … 100%!
Congratulations, Host. Sign-in complete.
Reward obtained: Optimus Prime and Megatron!
"…Optimus Prime? Megatron?"
Haruto blinked. As a transmigrant, of course he knew exactly who those names belonged to. His own AllSpark had come from the Transformers universe, after all.
Optimus Prime—the leader of the Autobots.
Megatron—the ruthless commander of the Decepticons.
The AllSpark could create endless mechanical soldiers, but the quality was nowhere near that of leaders like Prime and Megatron.
Still, Haruto wasn't shaken.
Their power wasn't overwhelming enough to make him feel threatened.
Of course, "weak" in Haruto's eyes didn't mean weak against someone like Iron Monger. Against Stane, even one of them would be more than enough.
"You only blocked my firepower!" Stane snarled, sweat dripping down his temples.
His mind raced—between his life's work and the desperate gamble of one last strike, he chose the gamble without hesitation.
From Iron Monger's back, an RPG launcher unfolded and locked onto Haruto.
Stane's thought process was simple: just increase the firepower, and he could crush this man.
WHOOSH!
The rocket screamed forward, detonating in front of Haruto with a thunderous boom. The bullets frozen mid-air clattered lifelessly to the ground as a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire roared skyward.
Stark's latest weapons technology—lethal, devastating. It was supposed to be the trump card to finish Stark himself. Instead, Stane had fired it at Haruto.
For a moment, Stane felt a rush of savage triumph.
But it didn't last.
The smugness drained from his face, replaced by horror.
The mushroom cloud dispersed under a surge of wind.
And standing between Haruto and the Iron Monger was…
…a gleaming red-and-blue semi-truck.
"Huh? A… truck?"
Where had it come from?
Stark blinked in confusion, utterly dumbfounded.