A young man walked down the street, eyes glued to his phone, thumbs lazily scrolling through forums and gaming news. His steps were automatic—muscle memory guiding him through a world he wasn't really paying attention to.
"Man… I wonder what new apocalypse game is coming next…"
His voice was low, half a mumble, half a thought spoken out loud.
Apocalypse games were his thing.
Zombies. Nuclear fallout. Collapsed civilizations. Ruined cities where survival meant everything.
He loved them all.
A faint grin tugged at his lips as he kept walking.
"I wonder if there'll be DLC for Dying Light: The Beast…"
His sentence never finished.
A sharp, deafening horn blast ripped through the air.
His head snapped up.
Lights.
Too bright.
Too near.
A truck—speeding, unstoppable—was right in front of him.
For a split second, time stretched.
"…oh boy."
That was all he managed to think.
Then—
Impact.
There was no pain.
Just… emptiness.
His body felt distant, like it didn't belong to him anymore. His consciousness drifted, slipping away like sand through fingers.
What the…
The thought was incomplete.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then—
Light.
His eyes snapped open as he jolted up panting for breath.
"…!"
Breathing hard, he looked around in confusion.
"Damn… that dream was way too realistic…"
His hand ran through his hair as he tried to steady himself—but then he froze.
This wasn't his room.
His room back on Earth looked like something straight out of a gamer's fantasy—multiple monitors, posters, cables, pc that screams money.
This place?
A plain bed. A small table. Neatly stacked packaged food. Bare walls. No personality.
Nothing.
"…Am I still dreaming?"
He muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing as he scanned every corner.
"What is this?" he tried to stand up but suddenly many memories begun to play in front of him.
It was as if he is living an entirely different life in minutes.
He staggered slightly, grabbing his head.
"What the hell—?!"
Then—
Silence.
He blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then slowly exhaled.
"…Damn."
His voice was hoarse.
"I got isekai'd by Truck-kun…"
There was no panic in his tone.
Just disbelief.
And a little… acceptance.
He looked down at his hands.
Different.
Not drastically—but not the same either.
"…Please don't be a dream."
He muttered, then immediately pinched himself.
Hard.
"…!"
Pain.
Sharp. Clear. Undeniable.
He didn't stop.
He pinched harder.
Again.
Again.
Each time, the same result.
Real.
This wasn't a dream.
He slowly raised his head, a strange mix of shock and excitement flickering in his eyes.
"…Yeah."
A grin spread across his face.
"This is fucking real."
He leaned back slightly, letting out a shaky breath.
"HAHAHAHAHA—THIS IS FUCKING REAL!!!"
Ash shouted at the top of his lungs, punching the air wildly.
"This is real—oh my god! This is real! Damn, this is REAL!"
His excitement couldn't be contained as he kept looking around the room, almost afraid it might disappear if he blinked.
"Damn… not to mention I'm in the Marvel world…"
He muttered, recalling bits and pieces—Abomination, Iron Man, everything he knew.
"…This is the year 2010, huh?"
He paused, thinking.
"Not too early… not too late… but where's my cheat?"
[Congratulations, Host, on calming down. A bit too fast—but acceptable. Some hosts are like that.]
Ash froze.
Then slowly—
A smile spread across his face.
"System… you must be my cheat."
He sat back on the bed, eyes gleaming.
"Tell me—what's your function, my buddy in this life?"
[Nice to meet you, Host. As for my name—it is the Super Scavenger System.]
[My function is simple. I allow the host to travel to ruined, apocalyptic worlds—the kind you enjoy—and let the host scavenge items from there.]
[Anything scavenged from those worlds can be brought back to the Marvel world.]
Ash's eyes widened slightly. "Damm, this might be dangerous now"
Liking sucg genre and living in is totally different concept.
[Additionally, each time the host travels to a new world, the host will receive a Newbie Gift Pack to ensure survival in that world.]
"fortunately there is such thing" Ash sighed in relief seeing this as he continued to look at system messages.
[There is also an upgrade function. Unusable or undesirable scavenged items can be used to upgrade the host's current abilities or equipment.]
[That is all, Host.]
"Hm… now this is nice," Ash said with a smile.
"Alright—when can I begin world travel? After all, this is Marvel. Every second you stay weak here, you could die to some random villain… or even a hero."
He paused, then frowned slightly.
"Also, what happens to this body while I'm traveling to other worlds?"
[The host needs to spin the World Wheel to determine the first world.]
[Additionally, the worlds available may already be ruined… or worlds that are destined to be ruined in the future.]
Ash's eyes narrowed slightly at that.
"Future ruined worlds too, huh…"
[As for the host's current body—time will be paused each time the host travels to another world.]
Ash nodded slowly.
"Good… that makes things a lot safer."
A grin spread across his face again.
"In that case…"
He looked forward, anticipation building.
"Let's spin it."
An invisible chime rang in his mind.
Then—
Light bent.
Space in front of him rippled like disturbed water, and an illusory wheel slowly materialized in the air.
It was massive.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of segments rotated within it, each labeled with worlds he could barely read as they flickered past.
Ruined cities. Dead planets. Zombie-infested Earths. Collapsed civilizations.
Ash's breath hitched.
"…Damn."
The wheel began to spin.
Slow at first.
Then faster.
And faster.
Until the names blurred into streaks of light.
A faint ticking echoed with each rotation, like fate itself counting down.
"Alright…" Ash whispered, eyes locked onto it. "Don't give me something impossible right off the bat…"
The wheel didn't slow.
If anything—
It spun even faster.
A low hum filled the room.
Then—
CLICK.
The speed dropped.
Segments became visible again, one by one flashing past:
Nuclear Winter…
Dead Space Colony…
Fallout Wasteland…
Metro Underground…
Ash swallowed.
"Hey, hey… system… maybe something easier?"
No response.
The wheel slowed further.
CLICK.
CLICK.
It was stopping.
His heartbeat synced with it.
CLICK…
…then—
It stopped.
A faint glow highlighted the chosen segment.
Ash leaned forward.
Reading it.
Slowly.
"…Dying… Light… 2?"
For a second, there was silence.