"Hey! Stop the bus!"
"Stop!"
"Tell him to stop! Please!"
Bus? What am I doing on a bus?
It felt weird. A moment before, I was standing in my house, but now I was sitting in a moving bus.
I tuned out the laughter of the people sitting on the bus.
I remember selecting that option on my system HUD.
So, was it success or failure?
Or, did I transmigrate again?
I opened my status window, and it appeared in front of me.
Good, that reduced the possibility of me dying in my house for whatever bullshit reason and coming to this world.
I looked out of the window. The streets outside felt… wrong. Old signboards. Muted colors. No digital displays. It looked like I'd been thrown two—maybe three—decades into the past.
Where did the system send me?
I remembered it all started with the notification I got when I accepted the Charisma stat increase to E1 after completing the Art of Persuasion mission.
I didn't receive it immediately; I only did it at night, back home.
Immediately after the upgrade, I got the following notification:
Congratulations! Feat Achieved!
Raise any one stat to E1 or higher
Reward: System: Multiverse Travel Unlocked
It was interesting, but just like the Dungeon, I wanted to find a guinea pig to test it first before trying it myself.
Even more so, as it didn't offer the same benefits as the Dungeon. There was no such note that upon dying, I would be back to the main world. The only saving grace was that I could return anytime I wanted.
Unfortunately, only I could use it, unlike the Dungeon. I wasn't sure whether it would stay that way or be a temporary limitation.
So, I had decided not to use this function for the time being. However, that decision didn't last long.
The sword named Tombstone suddenly appeared over my head. I was pathetically underqualified to deal with him. I needed time to improve myself. Time that I didn't have.
So, as a last resort, I had no choice but to be the guinea pig myself.
There was only one option for where to travel. It was Earth-96283. This gave me no idea where I was going.
The only information the system gave me was that the trip lasted three months. No, I won't be away for three months. The timescale was such that a month in this world equaled a day in the main world. So, three months here would be three days there.
It is the best way to get time to grind my skills. It was like a protagonist in a xianxia novel who got a time-dilation treasure that let him cultivate for years, only to return massively stronger in mere days, ready to face-slap even more young masters.
Before I could even consider exploiting this new function, I learned it would take time to go on another trip after one trip.
Even then, it was still awesome.
Of course, if it had the same post-death safety as the dungeons, it would be even better.
Whatever.
I checked the new notification I got.
Welcome to Earth-96283!
The current world stay time is 3 months.
Since this is the first multiversal travel, an identity is created to ensure seamless integration into the world.
Optional Mission: Acquire Human Performance Enhancer formula and research notes from Oscorp
Reward: On the next multiverse travel, Earth-96283 can be selected for the next travel
Failure Condition: Unable to acquire the mission items in time, or left the world before completing the mission
Failure Consequences: No longer be able to access Earth-96283 for travel
Human Performance Enhancer? Why do I feel like I've heard this term before?
But it sounded important enough that it wouldn't be kept in a little warehouse with minimal security, like the ones the battery prototypes I stole with Felicia were kept in.
It might even require me to infiltrate their headquarters.
Yeah, I am not doing it—too much danger. My main aim in coming into this world is to hone my skills and finish my missions. I have three months. If this world feels significant enough to warrant a second trip, I might try to acquire it; otherwise, it doesn't matter.
After I decided that, I once again tuned into my surroundings.
"Hey! Please stop the bus!"
Who is yelling?
The sound was coming from the other side of where I was sitting.
Was anyone running after the bus? But it had been a few minutes since the guy was screaming after I first heard him, and he might have been doing it for a long time before that, so why wasn't the driver stopping?
That's when I noticed my fellow passengers. They were young. Students?
They were all laughing and gloating, listening to the guy screaming and pleading outside.
"Stop!"
More passengers laughed.
"Catch a cab, Parker!"
Parker?
I immediately looked at the part of the notification about a new identity I had previously skipped, thinking it was just a convenient handicap.
My head throbbed as a set of memories entered my brain.
Nothing much. The memories were minimal. I was an orphan. After cycling between multiple foster homes, I settled in my current one. They didn't care about me; they were only after my care money. They cut as many corners as they could to save as much money as possible.
Since I transferred here, I also had to change schools. So, now, with only three months till graduation, I had to transfer to a new school. The school was Midtown High. It was my first day.
I looked at the bus passengers again. I realized they were my fellow students and I was sitting in a school bus.
As I heard the boy's screams as he ran after the bus, I felt an ever-growing sense of déjà vu.
I looked at the guy sitting beside me, laughing with the others at the guy I suspected was Peter Parker of this world.
"My man, what's the day?"
The boy sitting beside me stopped laughing and looked at me, confused.
"Friday."
"The date?"
"15th"
"Of?" Why is this idiot not telling me the whole date?
"March"
"Dog," I said, annoyed. "The year?"
"2002"
"Thank you," I said, exasperated. He gave me a weird look. "You looking like I'm crazy."
"Whatever," I said dismissively. "Do we have any upcoming science field trips to Columbia University?"
"Yes, it's in around six weeks."
Looks like I know in which world I am.
I stood up from my seat at the back and walked towards the bus driver. The students looked at me in confusion.
"Hey," I said calmly, resting a hand on the railing beside him. "Stop the bus."
The driver glanced at me, amused. "Or what?" He chuckled. "Sit down, kid."
I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Stop. The. Bus."
I said and squeezed his shoulder. Of course, I held myself back; otherwise, if I used my full peak human strength, it might cause severe injury, and that would make things unnecessarily complicated.
The protest died in the driver's mouth as a scream came out of it. "Y-yes," he croaked, bringing the bus to a halt.
I opened the door and looked out. Peter Parker came running, panting like a dog, shirt soaked through with sweat. He barely managed to grab my outstretched hand before stumbling forward.
I pulled him in and shut the door behind him.
"So," I said, giving him a quick once-over, "you're Peter Parker."
He nodded, still catching his breath.
"You're… not popular."
He hesitated, then gave a small, awkward smile. "Thanks for helping me."
"Don't thank me yet," I replied. "I didn't do it for free."
"Oh, look, Peter got an admirer."
"Be careful of your ass, Parker."
Flash and his fellow bullies hooted, but I ignored them.
Sometimes, the best way to deal with a barking dog is to ignore it.
Peter looked at me in confusion.
"I knew you were some sort of genius," I said with a smile. A hint of pride flickered across his face, but he smothered it.
"But seeing how those insecure bitches acted—how, instead of working hard to improve themselves, they'd rather pull you down to their level or below just to feel some vain sense of superiority—I think you're a great genius."
"Say that again, asshole." A bully snapped in the background.
"Hey, new guy," Flash said, getting up. "There is a hierarchy that we follow here."
"And Parker here," Flash looked at Peter with a mix of contempt and superiority, "is at the bottom of that hierarchy."
Flash looked back at me. "So, if you don't want to join him there, you'd better learn to respect your betters."
I laughed. I laughed so hard. This Flash sounded even more pathetic than the Flash in my world.
"What are you laughing at, you bastard?" Flash roared. He came towards me and punched me directly in the face.
I calmly caught the fist with my hand and closed it. Flash tried to pull back his hand, but couldn't. I clutched his fist tighter and twisted his hand. He screamed in agony as he desperately tried to pull his hand, but it was all for naught.
I let go of his fist, clutched his neck the next instant, and pulled his head in. With an expressionless face, I looked him dead in the eye. "The only hierarchy I am interested in is the one I sit at the top of."
I let go of him, and he backed away, saying, "This is not over."
I ignored him and his threats. Sometimes that was the best way to deal with people like him.
Flash looked even more offended by that. In anger, he forgot his recent humiliation and took a step forward. I gave him one look. The step froze mid-air. He cursed under his breath and sat back in his seat while continuously glaring at me.
I looked back at Peter, who was looking at me with wide eyes. "So, where were we?"
I made a face as I remembered it. "Yeah, the genius part."
"So, genius?" I said with a smirk. "There are only three months till graduation. Help me with science, and I will make sure till graduation, you will not miss your bus again."
"Deal?" I extended my hand.
Peter thought for a moment. "Deal." He shook my hand with a smile.
This whole exchange felt like a delinquent student protecting a class topper in exchange for help with studies.
Laughing at the thought, I walked back to my seat. I sat down, but noticed Peter was still standing. Ah, yes, no one wanted to sit with him.
"Go sit somewhere else," I said to the guy sitting beside me.
"W-why should I?" The guy stammered. His eyes showed some fear after watching the earlier exchange between Flash and me.
Since it was interesting playing a delinquent, I might as well embrace that role fully in this setting.
I clutched his collar. "Leave, or else." I left the rest unsaid.
The fear intensified in his eyes, and he got up and sat elsewhere.
Peter still hadn't moved.
I tilted my head toward the empty seat. "You need an invitation?"
"No," Peter said quickly, sliding into the seat beside me.
—
The classes were a nightmare. Attending college once again from the beginning was already too much, but now, in this world, I also had to attend school again. The only silver lining was that it was for only three months.
Somehow, I completed the classes for the day, then I was finally left to think about what to do for the next three months.
That's how I concluded that I was extremely poor. I wasn't given any extra money. My so-called foster parents spent as little as possible, just enough to sustain me.
Now, I could return to my old business of removing excess electrical appliances from homes. But there was just a tiny problem with that. I didn't know any fences here. Unless I solved that problem, I could forget about that business venture.
Then, the only option was to hunt criminals for my Vigilante mission and relieve them of whatever money they had.
That's why I was hiding in a corner, wearing all black while looking at seven members of the Red Hook Gang. I had asked the nearby homeless people about the gang concentration in the area. They'd tried to negotiate for information. I declined the negotiation. A few minutes later, they were far more cooperative.
Now I had a clear picture of the local gangs and their patterns.
The Red Hook Gang was small. Disorganized. Low-level.
They were spread out across the alley, talking loudly, carelessly. Knives. Pipes. Bats.
No guns—at least none visible.
I watched them quietly, mapping their positions.
Seven targets.
No weapons.
No witnesses.
I just needed to isolate them one by one.
And end it cleanly.
At the entrance stood two thugs. One had a baseball bat in his hand, the other was empty-handed, but had a knife sheathed at his waist—both were drinking.
I threw a small stone at the side. Both thugs, alerted by the sound, started looking around.
"You hear that sound?" the bat thug asked in confusion.
"Maybe some guy who lost his way," the knife thug laughed. "Let me go and show him the correct way."
The bat thug, too, laughed at that. The knife thug, without a word, headed toward the sound. The bat thug first looked for a few seconds, then got bored and went back to drinking.
The knife looked around the area where the stone fell, but couldn't find anything.
I closed the distance silently, clamped a hand over his mouth, and wrenched his head sideways with controlled force. His body went slack almost immediately.
I dragged the body towards the side out of sight of anyone and took the knife from its waist.
Then I sneaked near the bat thug. Peaking inside, I saw that no other thug was looking towards the entrance. Taking advantage of the chance, I put a hand on his mouth from behind and snapped his head.
I dragged the second body back to the spot where I'd left the first. Then I dumped both into a nearby dumpster after emptying their pockets.
With the entrance clear, I slipped deeper into the alley, moving with the silence of a seasoned predator.
It felt like playing a stealth-action video game, but with real-world stakes and real-world physics. No health bar, no respawn.
I crouched behind a stack of crates, observing the remaining five members. Two were huddled around a small, burning barrel, talking loudly. One loner was smoking some distance away, standing against the wall, looking at the sky. The last two were at the far end of the alley, drinking.
It would be too dangerous to just go inside from here. There was a high chance someone would spot me.
My eyes landed on a ladder going up to the roof of the first building. Perfect. Climbing on top, I had a clear view of every gangster.
Looking around on the roof, I saw a few pieces of debris. I picked up a smaller one and hurled it near the alley entrance.
"What was that?" one of the gangsters, a hulking guy with a dirty bandana near the barrel, grumbled.
"Probably a cat, Donnie. Chill out."
"Sounded heavier than a cat, man. I will go and take a look," the hulking one said, and left.
I watched from above as he came towards the entrance, scanning around warily. It was not the right time to attack. His buddy was alert and could come at the slightest disturbance.
I picked up another piece of debris and, this time, threw it out of the alley. The location was a bit far, but close enough that the thug would hear.
"What?" The hulking thug exclaimed.
"Is something wrong, Donnie?" The other, concerned, asked upon hearing his buddy's voice. "Want me to come?"
"Nah, no need," the hulking thug denied his friend. He looked out of the alley near the location where the debris fell. "Probably just a cat, as you said."
Feeling curious, the thug walked out of the alley toward the sound, a metal pipe in hand.
I waited, and when the thug was far from the alley, I slid down from the ladder. The thug ended up like his two buddies, dumped in the dumpster.
"Donnie? You there?"
Shit. The other thug near the barrel was out looking for his friend. He had heard the dumpster lid slam shut and was walking towards it.
I hid behind the dumpster, peaking at the thug from the corner.
Just as the thug came near the dumpster, I immediately went out of my hiding place, and before he could react, I punched him in the throat. The voice died in his mouth as he wheezed and coughed. I didn't let him suffer much longer as I stabbed the knife I got earlier into his heart.
Life drained from his body, and I dumped the body in the dumpster, too. Unfortunately, it was now too full to dump another body. Even for the last one, I had to adjust it inside to close the lid properly.
I sneaked back to the alley entrance. The other three thugs were not spooked.
I climbed the ladder, went up to the roof, and looked for ways to take down the rest, but I didn't find any.
For a change of perspective, I decided to change the rooftops. The alley was small, so I jumped from the roof to the roof of the building on the other side.
I scaled the rooftops to find anything. The next rooftop was lower. It also belonged to the building where the smoking thug was standing.
Looking down, I saw a ledge. Carefully, I climbed and landed on the ledge. My foot nearly slipped, but I was barely able to stay on the ledge. I couldn't help but think that Black Cat would have easily done that.
Next, I climbed down onto the roof and approached the edge. This time, I had to be careful, since the roof was lower and the two of them might see me. However, the likelihood was slim, as they were too absorbed in their conversation.
Thinking about how to take down the rest, I saw a big concrete chunk. It would do.
I picked it up, and I could barely lift it. Slowly, I lifted and dragged it towards the edge directly above the location where the thug was standing and put it there while making sure the other two weren't looking towards me.
Then, after confirming the location was correct, I pushed the concrete chunk.
"Aaah," the thug screamed as the concrete chunk fell directly on his head.
"Marco?!" The other two thugs were alarmed as they came towards him. I had already moved back to avoid them seeing me.
I peered over the edge and saw them trying to pull the concrete off their friend.
"Donnie? Casey? Philip?" one of them yelled, voice rising. "Where the hell is everyone?" Despite such a loud noise, the others didn't appear. His eyes widened as he realized something was wrong.
I looked at the other guy, still trying to remove the concrete. I looked down; the distance wasn't much, so I jumped from the roof.
As I landed on my feet, the other two immediately turned towards me due to the noise.
I already focused on the thug near me. He was kneeling, pulling the concrete, so it took him a moment to get up and turn around. I used that time to shorten the distance and stabbed the knife in his stomach. He looked at me, stunned. I pulled the knife and stabbed him in the heart.
"W-who are you?" The last thug asked in panic. But then he saw my blood-stained knife and backed off with a pale face.
I took a step forward, and the thug, like a coward, immediately turned around to run. I picked up the baseball bat of the thug lying at my feet and threw it at the running thug. The aim was off; fortunately, the bat hit his legs, and he tripped and fell with a scream.
I walked to him with steady steps as he tried to drag himself backwards, looking at me.
"Who are you? What did we do to you?"
"Please, I beg you, let me go."
"Who am I?" I said as I came near him and crouched to look him in the eye. "I am." Then, with a swift motion, I stabbed him in the heart. I finished the sentence as I saw the life leave his eyes.
"47"