Marvel: A Man with a System

David's shoulders ached slightly from practice.

With a deep breath, he headed straight for the shower. The cold water shocked his system at first, but as it ran down his body, the tension in his muscles eased.

As he changed into his work clothes, his eyes drifted towards the waterproof bag he had recovered. Something about it nagged at him.

He sat down, unzipped it, and pulled out the playing cards, flipping through them absentmindedly. They were old, slightly bent at the edges. Nothing special. He tucked them into his wallet.

Then, his fingers brushed against something else.

A stack of papers. Photographs.

His brows furrowed as he took them out and froze.

One of the photos showed a damaged car, parked in an impound lot.

Even though it had been years, he recognized it instantly.

His mother's car.

His breath hitched. His fingers clenched the edges of the photo, his vision tunneling.

Rage flared in his chest, sharp and suffocating. His hands shook. The anger burned hot, threatening to consume him.

He forced himself to take deep breaths.

Calm down. Think.

But the emotions were too raw. His mind was too clouded. No new clues presented themselves.

Just the relentless, boiling rage. He exhaled sharply and shoved the photos into his inventory, out of sight.

Not now.

He needed a clear head.

---

---

By the time he had calmed down, he saw the clock—it was time for his shift.

David grabbed his jacket, double-checked his wallet, and stepped out into the evening streets. The air was crisp, the city buzzing with life as he made his way to the diner.

The routine of work was a welcome distraction. Taking orders, refilling coffee, wiping down tables—it was mindless, simple. A break from the weight pressing on his mind.

Before long, his shift ended, and he clocked out.

---

---

On his way home, David stopped by a small grocery store. He grabbed the essentials like rice, eggs, vegetables, and a few instant meals for quick fixes.

As he left the store, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He pulled it out and saw Joe's name flashing on the screen.

Joe: "Yo, Dave! Bar tomorrow night. No excuses."

David sighed, shaking his head before replying.

David: "Fine. Just text me the place."

Joe: "That's my guy!"

---

---

Back home, he unpacked the groceries, neatly arranging his fridge and cabinets.

It was a mundane task, but there was something grounding about it.

Next, he prepared a simple meal—rice, eggs, and some sautéed vegetables. Nothing fancy, but enough to fill his stomach.

Then, slipping into bed, he stared at the ceiling.

He couldn't sleep, so he grabbed his hoodie. Came out of his house grabbing his keys and his phone.

He needed some fresh air, so decided to made his way to the terrace of his apartment.

Just as he locked the door and turned, he bumped into someone. A woman.

"Hey, watch where you're going," she said.

David blinked, caught off guard. "I'm really sorry," he replied quickly before heading upstairs.

The woman muttered under her breath, "Did he just call me ma'am?" She shook her head, too tired from her shift to care, and entered her apartment—just a few doors down from David's.

David by the time reached the terrace, he thought the place looked familiar, like he has seen it some place but he brushed it off.

He slightly leaned against the parapet wall looking down his apartment and, letting the cool night breeze wash over him.

The terrace was quiet.

David leaned against the parapet wall, looking down at the city below. The cool night breeze washed over him, carrying the distant hum of car horns and murmured conversations.

His fist tightened unconsciously as he thought about the photograph. His mother's car. The rage threatened to bubble up again, but he forced himself to let it go—for now.

With a sigh, he pushed off the wall and sat down on a nearby ledge. His fingers absentmindedly tapped against his thigh before he remembered something.

He hadn't checked his system in a while.

"Status," he muttered.

A translucent blue screen appeared before his eyes.

[STATUS]

[Name: David Arthur Brown

Age: 23

Race: Human

Strength: 9

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 12

SP: 30

Skills: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Master), Parkour Mastery, Hacking Mastery (Expert)

Inventory: Glock 17 (5 Mags, Leg Holster), $800 Cash, Knuckle Dusters (Hidden Knives) – 2 nos, 1 Random Lottery Card]

David's gaze locked onto the last item.

"Oh, right... the lottery card."

He slapped his forehead. He had completely forgotten about it. That was his system reward, and he hadn't even thought to check what it did.

Taking a deep breath, he reached into his inventory and pulled the card out. 

"System, what does this card do?"

A mechanical voice responded in his mind.

[Random Lottery Card: Grants five random rewards. This card can only be obtained through mission rewards.]

David exhaled. Five rewards? He was surprised.

Then a small grin tugged at his lips. Finally, some good news. Without hesitation, he decided start the lottery draw.

"Use the lottery card."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the card dissolved into golden particles, and the system screen flashed brightly.

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED:]

-Perfect Recall (Skill)

-Character assimilation slot: +1

-100,000 Dollars

-Cooking mastery

-Bullet time (Skill)

David nearly jumped in excitement.

The skills and assimilation slot were gold.

[Perfect Recall: The user can remember and recall everything they have ever experienced, encountered, or learned. One exposure is enough for complete retention.]

[Bullet Time: Under stress, the user's adrenaline spikes, allowing them to perceive and react at enhanced speeds.]

[Character Assimilation Slot: Allows the host to assimilate traits or skills from chosen individuals.]

These were the necessary skills he really needed for him. and with Assimilation, if his luck was high he could instantly become extremely strong.

And cooking mastery could help in making money if he becomes a chef or decides to start a hotel.

He quickly clicked the perfect recall skill to learn it, suddenly he had an ominous feeling but it was too late.

A sharp, overwhelming flood of memories surged through his mind.

His past life. His current life. Every detail, every moment—clear as day.

It was too much. His vision blurred, his body swayed and he blacked out.

--

--

[The Next Day]

David woke up to the cold wind biting at his skin.

Shivering, he groggily sat up. Did I… fall asleep on the terrace?

Cursing his stupidity, he rushed downstairs to his apartment.

After warming up under his blankets, he took a deep breath.

He could now really recall everything from both his lives. Before this it was becoming foggy to differentiate between them.

Now, everything was crystal clear. His past and present no longer felt jumbled.

Now he had perfect grasp of his memories, which almost made him drool of the possibilities he could use this skill.

His fingers twitched with anticipation. It was time to test them.

He grabbed his brand-new laptop, powered it on, and hooked up to the internet.

His previous theoretical knowledge had merged with his hacking mastery skill as if he had spent years mastering the craft.

He cracked his knuckles and got to work.

Firing up his brand-new laptop, he got to work.

Creating multiple fake identities, setting up encryption layers, routing his connection—he moved with newfound confidence.

Now, he needed a name.

He smirked. His old self had once dreamed of becoming a hacker, but he had lacked the skills. Now? He had more than enough.

After some thought, he typed: Grey Phantom

He then applied to a mid-tier hacker forum under his new alias, using an encrypted message with code embedded inside to prove he wasn't just some script kiddie.

After a few minutes, a message popped up: [Welcome, Grey Phantom.]

David took a deep breath. It was easier than he expected.

---

---

Inside the forum, different sections were available—cracking, data retrieval, penetration testing, security bypasses, bounty boards.

He scrolled through the freelance requests, searching for something simple yet rewarding.

Then he found one.

[Job Posting]

Request: Extract personal messages from a social media account.

Payment: $5,000

Difficulty: Beginner

Status: OPEN

David leaned back. Simple social media hacking? Child's play.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard. He could do this in under an hour, he clicked "Accept."

Now that he had accepted the job, David needed to act carefully. He couldn't afford to make mistakes.

The first step was gathering information.

He checked the request details and found the target's username.

Using OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) techniques, he ran a quick background check.

Within minutes, he had a list of possible emails associated with the account.

Next, he needed access.

David had two options:

1. Phishing Attack: Trick the target into giving their login credentials.

or

2. Brute Force Attack: Exploit weak passwords or security flaws.

Since the request mentioned a social media account, he assumed the target was an average user, which meant weak security.

He decided to run a password dictionary attack.

David launched a script that automatically tested thousands of common passwords.

"Come on…" he muttered, watching the screen.

Within six minutes, the system beeped.

[Password cracked: sunshine123]

He logged into the account, browsed through personal messages, and extracted the necessary data.

Before sending the information, he wiped all traces of his presence—no logs, no alerts, nothing.

Then, he attached the extracted messages to an encrypted file and sent it to the client.

Minutes later, a new notification appeared in his crypto wallet.

[Transaction Received: 0.083 BTC (~$5,000)]

David stared at the screen. He had just made $5,000 in less than thirty minutes.

It was faster than any job he had ever done in his life. Since he tested his skills he decided to stop there. He would try it another time.

Just as he closed his laptop. He received a system quest.

[Side Mission:

Display your hacking skills.

White hat hacking: 0/10

Time limit: 1 month.

Rewards: +5 intelligence, 100 System points]

[Do you accept the Mission?]

[Y/N]

He grinned while he read through the mission description and accepted the mission.

Then the system issued his daily mission.

He then decided to finish his morning chores and do the daily mission.

After finishing the daily mission he checked his status.

[STATUS]

[Name: David Arthur Brown

Age: 23

Race: Human

Strength: 11

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 18

SP: 33

Skills: Hand-to-Hand Combat (Master), Parkour Mastery, Hacking Mastery, Perfect Recall, Cooking Mastery

Inventory: Glock 17 (5 Mags, Leg Holster), $100,800 Cash, Knuckle Dusters (Hidden Knives) – 2 nos, Bullet Time (Skill Card)

Character Assimilation: Nil]

He was satisfied. He decided to take his bath.

While he took the shower he recalled everything that has happened yesterday and then it clicked.

"Holy shit the woman that I bumped it to was Claire temple," he remembered from the daredevil series and the other marvel TV series she was in. 

To Be Continued...