Upon arriving and opening my eyes, thanks to the businessman setting, it was a fairly spacious house. Opening the window to check immediately, I saw Central Park beyond a few buildings.
"Living pretty well with this. The points were worth it."
Checking the setting through mail or photos and documents in the house, my parents had died in a traffic accident, my name was Jin, and I was 20 years old. I had inherited a house and some assets from my parents, and though not a huge building, I owned a roughly 5-story building near the house, receiving steady monthly rent. On the first floor of that building, I was running a business selling Japanese gaming consoles.
"A gaming console business. Since it's 1998 now... PlayStation 1, right?"
I immediately tried to check my bank balance by taking out my phone, but it was a Motorola flip phone, a StarTAC, not even a smartphone.
"Wow~na! Not even smartphones yet... Did I set the time too far back?"
Having no choice, I went to a nearby bank and checked my account balance; there were about 8 billion won in spare funds.
"Good that I can start comfortably."
The reason I came back 10 years was to secure funds, acquire technology, and learn magic from the 'Ancient One'. So I searched for the New York Sanctum, where Doctor Strange would become the Master in the future.
"I remember it was somewhere between 'Central Park' and the 'Statue of Liberty'..."
I roughly knew the location of the New York Sanctum but didn't know the address, so I had to search around for a while.
"On the way, eating pizza and sightseeing in New York isn't so bad, right?"
Wandering around like a tourist, I finally found the New York Sanctum. The building had a strange circular-patterned window, so approaching it, I could tell for sure. I immediately knocked on the door.
Knock knock knock!
After a moment, a man wearing the shabby robes seen on wizards in the movies opened the door. Probably before Kaecilius had betrayed yet, he seemed like the Master of the New York Sanctum before Doctor Strange.
"What brings you here?"
"I need to meet the Ancient One. Please send me to Kamar-Taj."
A stranger suddenly looking for the Ancient One flustered the Sanctum's guarding Master for a moment, but he soon composed himself and asked me again.
"Why are you looking for the Ancient One?"
"A major cosmic event is at stake. I must inform the Ancient One."
The Master pondered for a moment and spoke.
"It seems important, but I cannot send someone of unknown identity to Kamar-Taj. I will try to contact the Ancient One."
"Understood."
"Then, please come in and wait a moment."
"Yes, understood."
Guided by the Master, I sat on a sofa on the Sanctum's first floor and waited. After waiting about 30 minutes, a bald woman in yellow wizard robes came down from the second floor with the Sanctum Master. She looked exactly like in the movies, so I recognized her immediately.
"The Ancient One herself has come."
"Who are you? In the future I know, you do not exist. This should not be possible."
"Naturally. Because I come from another universe."
The Ancient One was surprised and asked again.
"Another universe, not the multiverse?"
Since I wasn't visible in the future either, she probably thought I came from another multiverse.
"Yes. Since I've come, the future must have changed."
"I see... So what brings you here?"
As expected of the Ancient One who has experienced many things, her understanding was quick.
"How far into the future have you seen?"
"I think I've seen enough."
"Do you know that half of all life in this universe will disappear?"
This is my assumption, but I think the Ancient One only knows the future up to Doctor Strange dealing with Dormammu. There are several reasons, but the biggest is that in the future, when Hulk comes seeking the stone, she refuses to give the Time Stone at first, but only understands and hands it over after Hulk explains Doctor Strange's actions. It seemed the Ancient One probably didn't know about the events of 'Infinity War'.
"No! What event causes half to disappear?"
As if my assumption was correct, the Ancient One was flustered.
"Someone is collecting the Infinity Stones. The main stage will likely be Earth. And we probably can't stop it."
"Sigh... An utterly unbelievable story. If you have time tomorrow, can we meet again to talk?"
The Ancient One said with a sigh. She probably intended to check the future with the Time Stone.
"Yes, let's do that. Then I'll come again tomorrow."
Leaving the Sanctum like that, I went to the gaming console business I operated, told the manager I might not be able to come for a while and to take good care of the store, and returned home.
The next day, I visited the Sanctum again.
"Welcome. We were waiting."
"Yes, hello."
As if they knew I would come at this time, the Ancient One and the Sanctum Master were waiting in advance. Guided by her, I sat on the sofa and began talking again.
"It's true. A crisis where half of humanity disappears is coming in the future. And it's also true that you, 'Jin', play an important role in it."
"That sounds like we manage to stop it well?"
"That, I cannot tell you. If I speak of it, that future might not come."
"Understood. I won't ask further."
"Then let's go to Kamar-Taj to learn magic."
Even though I hadn't mentioned it, the Ancient One suggested going to Kamar-Taj to learn magic. Seeing that she knew my intention, I must have spoken well in the future.
"I leave it to you."
"On the contrary, I leave it to you. Because you are someone who will do many things."
Thus, I went to Kamar-Taj and began learning magic. The Ancient One introduced me to the trainees as a wizard from elsewhere and arranged for me to have access to all books in Kamar-Taj. During training, I could also see some familiar faces. I saw 'Wong', Doctor Strange's ally, 'Mordo', who would later split due to ideological differences, and Kaecilius, who would become Doctor Strange's villain, training, but I didn't pay them much mind.
Ding~!
You have obtained the [(B) Mystic Arts] ability.
With Nano's help, I rapidly absorbed the knowledge from all books, and utilizing the absorbed knowledge with the [Genius] ability, I began acquiring magic at an incredible speed. In just one year, I rose from B-rank to S-rank. Not only did I learn magic, but based on future knowledge and Nano's analytical power, I quickly multiplied my wealth through stock investments.
However, there was one problem: [Mystic Arts] itself is magic that draws power from the multiverse and various dimensions, which is its advantage as it doesn't require special power, but conversely, it becomes useless if power cannot be drawn from those places. So, I began modifying [Mystic Arts] to link with my mana.
Ding~!
[(S) Mystic Arts] evolves into [(SS) Mana Mystic Arts].
Event [You have created your first original ability. Reward: 5000 points granted]
This took three years. My newly created [Mana Mystic Arts] uses power from the multiverse and various dimensions as well as my own mana, making its power tremendously better, but it also has the drawback of consuming a corresponding amount of mana. However, it was an expected drawback, so it didn't matter.
Now having nothing left to learn here, while teaching newcomers, I had unknowingly received the title of 'Master'. The wizards I had become close to over three years gathered and threw a congratulatory party. It wasn't grand since the poor wizards pooled money little by little for a modest party, but I appreciated the sentiment.
"Congratulations, Master Jin!" "Congrats! Jin."
"Thank you."
Kaecilius, before becoming a villain, also congratulated me, which felt strange, but I drank happily and enjoyed the party talking with the wizards. As the party ended and I was about to return to my quarters, the Ancient One called me.
"Congratulations on becoming a Master. Jin."
"Thank you, Ancient One."
"Jin, do not prevent my death. If you do, we cannot defeat Dormammu."
The Ancient One was living an immortal life by drawing power from Dormammu's dimension, the 'Dark Dimension'. Being such, perhaps she saw a future where they couldn't win because of her during the battle with Dormammu, or she was simply accepting her death. I also had no particular method right now. That's how powerful Dormammu is.
"Understood. But I will try to find a way."
"No. Just let things flow as they are."
"...Understood."
Being someone who sees the future with the Time Stone, she seemed to imply there was no way other than her own death no matter how hard I tried.
"You no longer need to teach people."
"What does that mean?"
"We cannot have someone who has important work to do waste time. Mordo and I can teach, so just visit occasionally."
"Understood."
I was grateful to the Ancient One for being considerate in her own way. Training in Kamar-Taj was fun learning different magic, but there were two things I really disliked. One was the toilet, and the second was the shower facilities. They were old-fashioned flush toilets, emitting strong odors and hard to clean. And for showers, you had to scoop water without a showerhead, so I just gave up and used teleportation to go home for the toilet and shower. Later I found out many others did the same.
'I've made a lot of money this time; as a token of gratitude, should I support Kamar-Taj with state-of-the-art toilets and shower rooms? They wouldn't refuse citing tradition or something, right?'
While I was having these thoughts, the Ancient One, somehow knowing, spoke up at the right timing.
"Oh right! And if you're going to provide support, please do it quickly. Frankly, I have many complaints too."
"Hahaha... Sure."
Truly a ghost-like person. She probably knew from seeing the future that I would provide support. Kamar-Taj couldn't hire laborers, so the wizards had to do the construction themselves. So I sent the necessary machinery and materials for construction, along with sturdy, modern toilets, sinks, bathtubs, etc. 'Wong' contacted me saying people were overjoyed, and some even cried, showing how inconvenient it had been until now. Thus, a construction craze blew through Kamar-Taj for a while, with all members doing their best in the construction, I was told.
After completing magic training in Kamar-Taj, I honed swordsmanship and throwing while steadily making profits through stock investments. I ordered specially made cards containing a highly elastic metal from a trump card company and purchased metal balls in bulk from a bearing company. Now, I also began investing in 'Stark Industries', Tony Stark's company.