Sixteen-year-old Kaito Nakamura was just your average anime-addicted otaku, glued to his laptop, tears in his eyes, having just binged Squid Game in one sitting. Yeah, he was emotionally compromised.
"Bro... Il-nam was Player 001?!" he whispered, betrayed. "Trust issues: activated."
He sighed, slapped his laptop closed, and did the unthinkable: he went outside.
Big mistake.
Because fate—or perhaps some sick cosmic algorithm—had queued up his death via the legendary Truck-kun, who took no days off.
A blinding flash. A loud HONK. Then darkness.
When he opened his eyes, it wasn't pearly gates or an anime girl with a clipboard waiting for him. No. He was in a clean white room, lying on a soft bed.
[DING!]
Welcome, Host, to the Intelligence System!
As you gain prominence in this world, you will receive scientific inventions, places, and resources from across fictional and real multiverses. Let the games begin.
He blinked. "Wait—System? You mean THE SYSTEM? Like, cheat-code powers, starter pack, anime logic system?"
Correct, Host.
Your journey begins now.
World: Unknown Variant of the Marvel Universe.
Good luck.
"Wait, Marvel?! Like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and everyone-dies-every-five-minutes Marvel?!"
Before he could finish his geek-out, a wave of foreign memories crashed into his skull like a tsunami with no regard for brain cells. He gritted his teeth, eyes wide as the past of this body replayed like a tragic anime backstory montage.
He gasped. "No freaking way... I'm the grandson of OH IL-NAM?! Like, Squid Game grandpa?! The one with the tumor, and the games, and the—"
He paused. Looked straight ahead.
"...Did I just get reborn into the body of a morally ambiguous Korean billionaire-slash-game-master's grandkid?"
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "God, I hope this isn't Squid Game: The Next Generation. Please don't let me start the Hunger Games in this world."
Current Identity: Oh Hyun-wooAlias: HirotoStatus: Recently Deceased (cause: organ failure).Rebooted. New firmware installed. Welcome back.
Hiroto—because yes, we're rolling with that now—swung his legs over the bed and headed to the bathroom. "Let's see what kind of anime protagonist face I'm working with."
He stepped into the shower, letting the hot water wake him up from the weirdest isekai trip ever. Once cleaned, he wiped the fog off the mirror.
A tall, muscular teen stared back at him. Mid-length black hair that brushed his ears, sharp green eyes that looked like they could cut glass, and an expression that screamed: I've seen some stuff, bro. Thin black eyebrows framed his face like punctuation marks on a sarcastic tweet.
"Damn," he muttered. "I look like the kind of guy girls simp for, but also the kind who hides emotional trauma behind killer abs."
He chuckled. "Peak anime vibes."
Back in his room, Hiroto threw on a tight black shirt that hugged his body like a clingy ex, tan baggy training pants with a sleek black belt, and soft martial arts slippers. Drip: acquired. He even made his bed, just to flex on his past self.
[DING!]
Beginner's Gift Pack Unlocked.
Congratulations, Host! You have received:
The Island
All Dharma Initiative Facilities and Personnel
His jaw dropped. "Wait. You mean THAT island? LOST island? Secret bunkers, creepy experiments, smoke monsters, polar bears in tropical climates, and morally gray science cults? That Dharma Initiative?"
Correct, Host. Please select placement location for Island.
"Hold up. Hold up." He ran a hand through his hair. "I've barely been here five minutes and you're already handing me my own sci-fi supervillain base? Bro, this isn't just a cheat code. This is Jeff Bezos meets Tony Stark levels of OP."
He thought for a moment. "Alright, System, put that island somewhere low-key but strategic... like somewhere between South Korea and Japan. Let's keep it K-Drama adjacent."
Placement Confirmed. You may now begin recruiting, researching, and expanding.
He gave a slow grin. "So, I'm a Squid Game legacy, in the Marvel multiverse, with my own secret sci-fi island, and a system that gifts me tech from across fiction. Yeah... this is definitely going to be a wild ride."
Then he looked up, breaking the fourth wall with a smirk.
"Oh, and if you're reading this thinking, 'Wow, Hiroto's got it easy with his OP setup and good looks'—trust me, it's not gonna be that simple. This is the Marvel universe. People die here... a lot. Plot armor is basically a subscription plan you cancel for one episode and boom—dead."
He cracked his knuckles, that glint in his green eyes flaring with excitement. "But hey, at least I've got memes, a sick wardrobe, and a science cult base. Let's see what this world's got."
End of Chapter 1