Cheating My Way Through Marvel and Beyond

"AHH! FUCK!"

Jack shot up, gasping for air, his heart pounding like a war drum. His entire body was drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged.

"What the hell?! Where am I?"

He blinked rapidly, trying to process his surroundings. The dim, flickering light overhead barely illuminated the cramped, musty room. Peeling wallpaper. A damp, moldy smell. A rickety old fan spinning lazily in the corner, making a sad creaking noise.

This was not his bedroom.

"Wait… wasn't I just at home watching a movie?"

His mind scrambled for answers. He had a habit of watching movies late at night, phone plugged in because he was too paranoid about the battery dying. Maybe it was the summer heat, or maybe his phone was just a piece of shit, but—

BOOM!

His phone had exploded.

And now… he was here.

"What the fuck happened?! Did I… transmigrate?!"

Before he could even attempt to make sense of things, a tsunami of foreign memories came crashing into his mind.

Jack clutched his head as the information poured in.

And what he saw pissed him off.

The previous owner of this body—also named Jack—had the worst luck imaginable.

His parents? Dead.

His inheritance? Scammed away by greedy relatives.

His business? Destroyed after being backstabbed by a "friend" and a cheating girlfriend.

His financial situation? Five hundred thousand dollars in debt, with exactly eighty bucks to his name.

Jack exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples.

"Damn. Even side characters in a tragedy get a better deal than this poor bastard."

His gaze shifted to the bedside table, where a small bottle of rat poison sat.

The air in the tiny, converted garage-turned-rental felt suffocating.

"Betrayed, broke, and stuck in this dump… What a fucking jackpot."

For a brief moment, he actually considered drinking the poison.

"Maybe… if I die again, I'll get a better restart?"

But the thought quickly vanished.

"Fuck that. Even a shitty life is still life. And now that I'm here, there's no way I'm going out like some tragic side character."

Just as he was trying to figure out his next move—

"World entrance detected. System binding in progress…"

Jack froze.

"Wait. What?"

Beep!

"Binding successful. System activated. Host: Jack. A world entrance has been detected. Do you wish to travel to another world immediately?"

Jack nearly choked on his own spit.

"Hold the hell up! Explain first!"

"This system allows the host to travel between worlds. Completing tasks earns points, which can be exchanged for rewards in the system mall."

Jack's lips curled into a smirk.

"A cheat. I actually have a cheat system!"

"Alright, open the mall. Let's see what goodies I can get."

"Insufficient access. The mall unlocks after completing your first task."

"...Of course."

"Rewards include skills, gene enhancements, money, and more… Please unlock the mall for details."

Jack exhaled sharply.

"Fine. What about the 'world entrance'? What does that mean?"

"Traveling to other worlds requires coordinates. I detected residual world coordinates on the host."

A vision suddenly flashed in Jack's mind—

A massive, clunky steel suit raising its right arm at the entrance of a cave. Flames spewing outward.

An endless desert.

Jack's heart skipped a beat.

"Wait. No way."

"This is… the movie I was watching before my phone exploded?"

Iron Man.

Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jack sucked in a breath.

"A world of superheroes, gods, and planet-destroying threats?! Are you shitting me? What the hell am I supposed to do there?!"

He quickly tried to reason with the system.

"Listen, buddy. That world is insanely dangerous. Can I get some kind of starter pack? You know, so I don't immediately become street decor?"

"You get what you pay for. The host should understand this principle. Besides, in your current situation, what do you even have to lose?"

Jack felt his eye twitch.

"...Tch. Asshole."

But the system wasn't wrong. I have nothing to lose.

A dead-end life here. A golden opportunity ahead.

He licked his lips, the thrill of something new starting to set in.

"No more hesitation. I'm in. Start the transfer!"

"Confirmed. World travel initiation will freeze real-world time. You may return after completing required tasks. Preparing transfer in 3… 2… 1…"

Jack's vision snapped to black.

A New World

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the middle of a run-down street.

The air smelled of gasoline and cheap food. Garbage and fallen leaves littered the pavement. The two-story buildings looked like they hadn't seen maintenance in decades.

A stray dog trotted past, giving Jack a look of deep disappointment before moving on.

"Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too, mutt."

Jack stretched, cracking his neck.

"System, where am I?"

"Identity loaded. Relevant memories available. Please access them yourself."

A flood of new memories appeared in his mind—but unlike the original Jack's memories, these weren't fully integrated. They felt more like a file he had to skim through.

His new name was still Jack.

"Alright, let's see…"

22 years old. Graduated from UCLA.

A brilliant student, good enough to earn a scholarship from Stark Industries. That scholarship had landed him an internship at Stark Industries.

Jack smirked.

"Not bad! At least I'm close to the protagonist of this world. Meeting Tony Stark as an intern might be tough, but hey, I've got a shot."

But then—something even bigger popped up in his memory.

"When I was 13, my neighbors' home was attacked by Hydra terrorists. The battle spilled into our house."

"My parents… they died that day."

Jack clenched his fists.

"The neighbor, feeling guilty, took care of me afterward. Sponsored my education, helped me survive. And now, I came to Baltimore to tell him the good news about my Stark internship."

His breath hitched as he read the man's name.

Isaiah Bradley.

Jack's eyes widened.

The first super soldier before Steve Rogers.

A forgotten hero. A man experimented on, imprisoned for 30 years, and constantly hunted by Hydra.

Jack took a deep breath, his mind racing.

"This… just got interesting."