Chapter 10 : Mastery and Memory
The soft glow of the holographic interface filled my room, casting shifting patterns across the walls.
Leech was running quietly in the background, a subtle pulse at the edge of my awareness. One-meter radius of nullification, stable, controllable. I'd have time to experiment later. For now, it was time to move on.
I focused on the next category: Abilities.
Two stood out first: Advanced Computer Skills and Photographic Memory.
[Assimilate Ability: Advanced Computer Skills?]
[Confirm?]
"Go."
Immediately, my mind opened. Streams of logic, lines of code, protocols, and systems cascaded through me.
It wasn't just understanding—it was mastery. Every programming language I had ever glimpsed, every piece of software I'd struggled with in my old life, now made sense. I could hack into most organizations from my old world with ease, access their networks, manipulate data… all from a thought.
I leaned back, absorbing the implications.
I could start building something like JARVIS.
A digital assistant, intuitive, omnipresent, capable of handling everything from surveillance to security breaches.
Of course… the resources I actually had were limited. Hardware, servers, power supply—all of it a far cry from the infrastructure Tony Stark had access to.
Still, the idea existed now in a way it hadn't before. A blueprint in my mind, waiting for the right moment.
Next, I turned to the more subtle, but no less important, Photographic Memory.
[Assimilate Ability: Photographic Memory?]
[Confirm?]
Instantly, the world sharpened.
Not physically—my eyes hadn't changed—but mentally, everything clicked.
I remembered.
Everything.
Not just this new life—the memories of this multiverse, the ten pulls, the moment I realized the Gacha was more than a game—but also every single memory of my old life. Every late night struggling over homework, every awkward social interaction, every time I had made a complete fool of myself.
I flinched, remembering all of it. Twice over now.
Two lives, two sets of embarrassments, all vivid and immediate.
But along with the cringe came clarity.
I could connect the dots between who I was and who I was becoming. The absurdity of Yuuki Rito's luck, the precise danger of Leech's field, the digital possibilities unlocked by my new abilities—they weren't just random. Everything was a puzzle piece, part of a strategy the Gacha was teaching me.
For the first time, I felt… grounded in this life.
Not safe, not normal, but… aware. Capable. Equipped.
I exhaled slowly, letting the torrent of memories settle into a framework I could work with.
Advanced hacking. Perfect recall. Strategic nullification. Influence, manipulation, survival.
The tools were here. The question now was: how to use them.
I ran my hands over the interface, idly testing my new capabilities. Lines of code rearranged themselves in my mind; every system I had ever seen flickered in memory like a holographic map of possibilities.
I smiled, faintly, at the scope of it all.
So this is the start.
Not just survival. Not just exploration. Now… preparation. Planning. Conquest.
And perhaps, just maybe, a little redemption for all those past moments that had made me wince.
I leaned back, letting the glow of the holographic interface wash over me. Ten pulls. Ten gifts. I had tackled the Templates, absorbed two of the Abilities, and started to feel the edge of this strange new life sharpening beneath my fingers.
But four Abilities remained.
Four more pieces of this puzzle, each potentially as terrifying—or as powerful—as the ones I had already taken in.
I took a deep breath.
Time to see what the rest of the Conquest Gacha had in store.
And this time… I'd be ready to fully absorb them.
I shifted my attention back to the Abilities tab, taking a deep breath. Four remained. Four more keys to unlock, each with the potential to reshape the way I approached this strange new life.
I started with the first: Harem King.
[Assimilate Ability: Harem King?]
[Confirm?]
"Go for it," I muttered.
Nothing. Not a spark, not a tingle, not even a flutter. Just the same steady hum of the hologram. I waited, half-expecting something dramatic.
…but nothing came.
The interface simply marked the ability as assimilated. I exhaled, a little disappointed, but it made sense. The power of influence over multiple consensual relationships wasn't about immediate physical change—it was subtle, social, psychological. I wouldn't feel it coursing through my veins; I'd feel it when I actually used it.
Next: Seed of Potential.
[Assimilate Ability: Seed of Potential?]
[Confirm?]
Again, silence. No change. No surge. The tag shifted to "assimilated" without a single ripple of sensation. Just like Harem King, this one worked quietly. Its impact would only manifest in action, when I engaged with another person.
I rubbed my temples, realizing that some powers weren't meant to be felt—they were meant to be wielded. Patience, observation, understanding… that would be their key.
Finally, I reached the third: Pleasure Lock.
[Assimilate Ability: Pleasure Lock?]
[Confirm?]
This time, something shifted. A subtle pulse ran along my skin, not unpleasant but undeniably noticeable. My mind suddenly flooded with information—rules, mechanics, limits.
The range: five meters. I needed to be close, close enough to feel the presence of my target.
The effect: the capacity for sexual pleasure could be suppressed at a threshold of my choosing. I could set it precisely, fine-tune it, adjust it.
The accumulation: the blocked pleasure wasn't lost—it gathered, storing energy that could be released later. The amount depended on how well I controlled the ability.
The release: I could trigger it manually, whenever I wished, or set conditions for automatic release when the situation demanded it.
I leaned back, processing the extent of it. This was… intense. Dangerous. Creepy, even. But immensely powerful. Subtle, precise, and personal—Pleasure Lock wasn't just a weapon, it was a lever, a way to influence and control in ways that few others could.
I exhaled, letting the information settle. Harem King and Seed of Potential were quiet, strategic. Pleasure Lock… was the first ability that made the stakes feel real, that made me feel the weight of the system's game.
One ability remained. One final key before I had the full deck.
Finally, I moved to the last ability: Mind Whisper.
[Assimilate Ability: Mind Whisper?]
[Confirm?]
"Go for it."
The moment I confirmed, a subtle, almost electric tingle brushed the edges of my consciousness. Unlike Harem King or Seed of Potential, the effect was immediate—though subtle, almost imperceptible at first. I could feel the ability to interact with the minds of others, a faint, delicate awareness of influence hovering at the edge of perception—but with no one nearby, it remained light, almost like a whisper of potential waiting to be used.
The power worked in a very precise way: I could plant subtle suggestions, nudge thoughts, or guide decisions without anyone noticing. The effects were cumulative and indirect, building over time rather than forcing immediate action. It required careful calibration—too strong, and the target might sense something amiss; too weak, and the influence would fade unnoticed. Right now, with no one around, I could only sense the potential: the framework for controlling perception, emotion, and choice, gently, almost imperceptibly.
It wasn't overwhelming. No flood of voices, no intrusion into private thoughts—just a gentle sense that the world's minds could be nudged, swayed, or guided if I chose. The tool was ready, waiting, and entirely in my control.
A slow, thoughtful smile spread across my face. "Alright… now we're talking. Subtle, strategic, and potentially game-changing. This one's going to be interesting."
I leaned back, letting the faint hum of the hologram settle around me, already imagining the possibilities. Every pull, every assimilation… it all added up. And now, with Mind Whisper finally under my belt, the full scope of the Conquest Gacha's toolkit was laid before me.
I leaned back, letting the quiet hum of the hologram wash over me. Six abilities, two templates, and a world of possibilities stretched out before me. Each piece of the Conquest Gacha puzzle was now in my hands, but knowing what they could do and knowing how to use them were two entirely different things. For the first time, I felt the weight of choice pressing down—not just survival, but strategy, influence, and the shaping of my new life. It was time to sit, think, and figure out exactly how I was going to play the game the system had set before me.
The holographic interface had faded, but the word still burned in my mind.
Conquest.
It wasn't just a name anymore — it was the axis around which everything I'd received seemed to turn. Every ability, every template, every strange gift was designed for one purpose. But what exactly did conquest mean to this system?
I leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling as the faint hum of the room filled the silence.
Was it about status?
About winning people over in a tangible, social sense — turning strangers into allies, allies into partners, partners into something more? Maybe every successful relationship, every person who accepted me as part of their life, counted as a conquest. That would fit the logic of a game system obsessed with social structure — progress through recognition, acceptance, even commitment.
But what if it wasn't about labels or social roles?
Maybe it was about emotion. Winning hearts, not titles. Earning someone's love, trust, and devotion — truly conquering their feelings. That interpretation felt… heavier. Deeper. It wasn't just manipulation or strategy anymore — it was connection. Genuine, complicated, human. If that was what the Gacha rewarded, then it wasn't a game about domination at all, but one about understanding.
Then again… this system wasn't exactly subtle.
Maybe the answer was the most primal one — sex. Physical conquest, simple and direct. The Seed of Potential ability practically screamed that. Pleasure Lock, too. Both linked power to intimacy, as if the act itself was part of the system's logic. Maybe that was what it wanted — influence through desire, control through pleasure. A biological transaction framed as progress.
Or maybe — and this was the unsettling part — it was all three.
Status. Emotion. Desire.
Different faces of the same coin. Conquest might not be about just one kind of victory, but the fusion of them — to gain not only someone's affection or attraction, but their recognition of me as someone worth following, trusting, maybe even belonging to.
That thought lingered, both fascinating and dangerous.
I exhaled slowly.
There was no clear answer, and the system wasn't offering one. Maybe it wanted me to find out the hard way.
Fine. If I couldn't define "conquest" yet, I could at least do something useful — something that mattered just as much.
I needed to understand where I was.
Not just the city, or the country, but the timeline — the version of Marvel's world I'd landed in.
Because knowing when and where you are determines how long you survive.
So, I started digging. First, I pulled on the memories of my new life — Alex Orzat, eighteen, college student, decent grades, average existence. Then, I cross-checked everything online. News archives, social media, tech articles, government databases — whatever I could access.
It didn't take long to confirm that Tony Stark had already become Iron Man.
That part was almost laughably easy — the man had literally announced it himself during a live press conference, just like in the movies.
His face, his company, his suit — all over the news.
If this world mirrored the one I remembered, then the age of heroes had already begun… just not in full swing yet.
Spider-Man, though? No headlines yet. No masked hero swinging across New York. But I knew for a fact that Peter Parker was still just a high school kid — awkward, brilliant, and one radioactive spider bite away from becoming a legend.
Then came the Fantastic Four.
Media outlets and scientific journals were buzzing — Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm had just returned from an experimental spaceflight that ended in a "radiation incident." No official report, but strong speculation about… changes.
If that was true, it meant the storm had already happened — and their public debut was only a matter of time.
The mutants, on the other hand, were a different story.
Their existence wasn't hidden — far from it. The internet was full of debates, protests, and hate speech directed at them. People knew mutants existed; they just didn't accept them.
But when it came to the X-Men, there was nothing — no official acknowledgment, no confirmed sightings, no reports of mutant teams operating in the open.
Still, I knew what to look for.
If Charles Xavier was alive in this world — and if things followed the pattern I remembered — then his school should exist.
A quick search confirmed it: Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, located in Westchester County, New York.
On paper, it was exactly what it claimed to be — a private institution for exceptional students, fully accredited, with faculty records and perfectly mundane photos.
No trace of superhumans, no mention of "mutants." But I knew better.
If the school was there, then so was Xavier — and that meant the X-Men existed, even if the world hadn't seen them yet.
And Magneto?
He was out there, but quiet. News archives showed older attacks, ideological manifestos — the kind of rhetoric that made governments nervous. But nothing recent. No activity in months. Almost as if he'd gone underground… or was planning something.
Piece by piece, the puzzle formed in my mind.
This was a world on the edge of transformation — the dawn of heroes, the rise of mutants, the birth of chaos.
And I was sitting right in the middle of it… with a system built around conquest.
I leaned back, exhaling through a dry laugh.
"Guess I really did roll into the tutorial level of a cosmic sandbox."
The map was clear, but the rules of the game were not.
The realization didn't bring fear — it brought focus.
Now that I understood where I was, the next step was figuring out how to use what I had.
I had the tools, the powers, the knowledge.