"Fuck," I cursed under my breath.
Either I'm hallucinating, or there's a floating blue translucent screen. The screen was familiar, something you would see in a manga or manhwa. It was currently displaying a loading bar, halfway filled.
Alright, I need to regather my bearings. My name is Alex—fuck! I mean Leo.
My name used to be Alex Xander, but now it's Leo Faith. This may be hard to believe, but I've been transmigrated. At least, I think that's the proper term—I'm not entirely sure.
Most people would assume I'm crazy, which would be a fair assessment. So, for now. I'm going to keep that piece of info to myself, the last thing I need is to be diagnosed and locked up—I don't want to go through that again.
My head is still a little fuzzy, but I somewhat remember my death. Mainly because it was ridiculous. I suffered the same fate as every other isekai protagonist: a truck flew through the sky and crushed me. I guess it could have been worse. It was quick, so I didn't feel any pain.
Waking up in a new body was strange, but waking up was the easy part. I spent thirty minutes in agonizing pain as my new memories merged with my old ones. It sucked.
According to my memories, I'm Leo Faith—a fifteen-year-old freshman at Midtown High. Give me a minute to explain before you start asking questions.
Life hasn't been easy. My dad's name was Marcos Lopez, a third-generation Mexican. My mom, on the other hand? She was as white as you could get. Her name was Hope Faith, a name that most (including me) knew was made up. She probably changed it before she met my dad.
Despite their differences, they somehow fell in love and had me. Sadly, my mom passed away when I was only four years old. Despite the loss, my dad did his best to support us, which wasn't easy. Since at the time, my mom had been the main income for the family.
My dad spent the next couple of years working to keep me sheltered and fed. He was so focused on caring for me that he forgot to care for himself, He passed away a year ago. Doctors said it was a mix of stress and overworking. With him gone, I was all alone.
Maybe my dad knew he wasn't going to be around forever, but he made sure I wouldn't end up on the streets after he was gone. He paid off our home, and his life insurance was enough to last me a couple of years. The house is in pretty rough shape, but it's livable. It wasn't the best life, but it was better than most.
Except for one major issue: I'M IN FUCKING MARVEL.
Why—why the hell am I in Marvel? I questioned internally.
If you were paying attention, I mentioned Midtown High. The same school Peter Parker went to—AKA Spider-Man. Now, that could just be a coincidence. Except, I clearly remember learning about Captain America in the fifth grade.
I know there are worse worlds to live in, but can you blame me for worrying? Depending on the universe, there could be an alien invasion per week or a purple simp trying to wipe out half of all life. Well, at least I have a system or something. Maybe it'll give me something to survive, hopefully something good.
[System Download complete.]
[Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of The Omniversal Gacha.]
Gacha? I'll be honest. I never really played gacha games in my first—or even new life, and I had a good reason.
I hated microtransactions with a passion. Unless it was DLC, I would never buy something in-game with my own money. I didn't want to become one of those addicts who spent hundreds of dollars on digital gemstones. A massive waste of money, if you ask me.
[Due to Host's current situation, The System has decided to gift you with a pair of Starter Cards.]
Starter Cards?
The screen suddenly shifted, revealing two golden cards.
"What the hell is this?"
[Since this is the Host's first ever DRAW, a brief tutorial will be provided.]
[The Gacha represents its rewards as cards. Each card has its own category—such as Skills, Abilities, Templates, Items, Schematics, and Summons.]
"Wait, what do you mean by summons?" The System didn't respond.
[The Gacha is determined by the Host's LV. Having a low level will give the Host "weaker" or "minor" rewards from the Gacha.]
So basically, I'll only be able to get weak or minor things. Nothing considered too powerful—like an Infinity Gauntlet or the Omnitrix.
"Damn, I got nerfed by my own System."
[The Host's LV can be increased by collecting XP. XP can be collected either by interacting with the world around you or by completing Gacha-given quests. Occasionally, the Gacha will give you an Ultra Card that is capable of bypassing the Host's level but will have its own restrictions.]
"Sounds useful, but I'm a little worried about this potential quest."
[As for the Gacha itself, each roll costs one Gacha Point—GP for short. The Host will be given one GP per day. GP is stackable and can also be earned through quests.]
"Are there any perks for not using them immediately?"
[Using multiple GP at once gives the Host a chance to collect Bonus Cards.]
"Can you tell me the odds?"
[Current GP: 0]
[1 GP = 1 Card (0% chance)]
[3 GP = 3 Cards (20% chance)]
[5 GP = 5 Cards (35% chance)]
[7 GP = 7 Cards (50% chance)]
[10 GP = 10 Cards (75% chance)]
"Thanks. Anything else I should know?"
[Host's information can be examined within the Status screen.]
"Thanks." It was a chore to read through, but it was important information. "So, what exactly are these Starter Cards?"
[Ability: BS Protection (Already Active)]
[Ability: Stable Mind (Already Active)]
'I have no idea what those are.'
"Can I get a description or something?"
[BS Protection: The Marvel Universe is filled with powerful beings capable of many things—from reading minds to sensing a life force across the universe. BS Protection blocks the user from being detected by highly advanced tech, or by extremely powerful beings.]
"Fuck yeah." Something to help me with my main worry.
With this, I don't have to worry about the Ancient One or the TVA kicking down my door. My chance of survival just tripled.
[Stable Mind: A strange ability. The knowledge of living two lives and being transported to a fictional universe would shatter the mind of a normal person. Stable Mind keeps the user from spiraling—basically keeps you from going insane.]
'Well, that explains a lot. I was kind of wondering why I wasn't freaking out.' I shook my head.
"That's not important. I need to figure out what else my system can do. System, can you display my Status?"
The screen shifted. I frowned at the information in front of me.
[Name: Leo Faith]
[LV: 1 (0/100)]
[Quest: None]
[Abilities: BS Protection, Stable Mind]
[Skills: None]
[Templates Absorbed: None]
[Templates in Progress]
[___]
[___]
[___]
[Summons: None]
I wasn't expecting much, but it still feels weird to see something so empty.
That didn't matter though—I needed to gather myself. I stood up and began to examine my home. It was pretty spacious. It had six rooms: a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, a laundry room, and one bathroom.
The house was in pretty bad shape. The appliances were old and worn out. There were definitely a few rats, maybe some bugs in the walls. It felt like a sauna during the day and a freezer at night. Yet I was still grateful, it was better than living on the streets.
I glanced in the mirror. I was around 5'8", with shaggy but short black hair, brown eyes, light tan skin, and an average build. I wasn't that big, but I wasn't a string bean either.
"I have no idea what to do," I muttered to myself.
As if it was listening, the blue screen appeared in front of me once again.
[New Quest assigned.]
[Quest: Go to school]
[Reward: 50 XP, 10 Gacha Points]
"Fuck." I hated school. After I graduated in my first life, I thought I was done forever. Apparently, I was wrong.
I really didn't want to go. But if I'm being honest, I was probably going to go even without the quest. I'm only fifteen and legally an orphan. Most kids my age would be in foster care.
Luckily, I worked out a deal with the court. As long as my life was stable, it meant I could live alone. which meant I needed to have a home, enough money to pay the bills, and a decently filled fridge. Every once in a while, a social service worker would show up to check on me, which sucked, but I didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or live in a foster home.
Okay, you can do this. It's just school—it can't be as bad as you remember.
As I would later find out, it would be worse.
"I guess this is the start of my new life," I let out a tired sigh.