"Beep, beep, beep—"
A military pager fell to the ground. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury stared in shock as his body rapidly turned to ash. After muttering, "Damn it," he crumbled into ashes and scattered into the wind along the streets of New York.
At last, a symbol seemingly belonging to Captain Marvel appeared on the pager's screen.
This was the post-credits scene from Avengers 3.
As the movie reached this point in the theater screening room, the names of the crew began scrolling upward, signaling the end of the film.
"That's it? Thanos hasn't even been taken down yet."
Still unsatisfied, the audience chatted among themselves as they gathered their belongings and gradually left the theater.
High school student Lu Ming sat blankly in one of the best seats, clutching a large tub of popcorn. He was still immersed in the Marvel storyline he had just watched.
"No wonder they spent more than a dozen standalone Marvel films building this up."
"Doctor Strange saw millions of possible futures, only to get screwed over by that pig of a teammate, Star-Lord, in the end."
"Captain America and Iron Man were pretty good, though. Their battles on opposite sides of the universe were both top-notch."
"Thanos really was the final boss behind Marvel's third phase. One snap wiped out half the life in the universe—"
"Spider-Man had only just returned, and Black Panther was still at the height of his popularity... More than half the Superheroes died just like that. Can they come back to life? Too bad Avengers 4 won't be out until next year."
Lu Ming shook his head regretfully. As a hardcore Marvel fan, waiting an entire year was simply agonizing.
Agonizing!
"I should watch it again." Lu Ming rose from his seat just as the credits on the screen came to an end. Amid the scrolling production names, a line of text suddenly rose from the bottom.
Do you want to enter the world of Marvel movies?
YES/NO
Lu Ming froze when he saw the words that had inexplicably appeared on the screen. Perhaps because of the 3D effects, the text seemed to have detached from the screen and was floating realistically before him.
What the hell? Is this a second post-credits scene?
Confused, Lu Ming looked around. The audience had already left, and he was the only person remaining in the enormous theater.
When he looked back at the screen, the text was still floating in the center. Its black letters were gradually fading to white, on the verge of disappearing completely.
A prank? You think that's enough to scare the great king of skipping class?
Lu Ming chuckled and reached out to select an option. However, the instant he raised his index finger, an electric jolt shot from his fingertips through his entire body.
Holy crap, this was mandatory?
Before Lu Ming could even complain, his vision went black and he lost consciousness.
After an unknown period of unconsciousness, Lu Ming gradually woke up in a dizzy haze.
He propped himself halfway up on a single bed and looked around in confusion. He found himself in a somewhat cramped wooden room, filled at a glance with European-style furniture and decorations. Beside his bed stood rows upon rows of identical single military beds.
"Where... am I?" Lu Ming asked uncertainly. As if suspecting his eyes had deceived him, he rubbed them and quickly looked again.
That was right. He was lying on a single bed in a military barracks—or, more precisely, an old-fashioned European-style military barracks.
"No way, did I really transmigrate? Into the Marvel movie world?" Lu Ming could not make sense of it for the moment. Having suddenly awakened in an unfamiliar foreign military camp, he urgently needed to verify the suspicion in his heart after recalling the strange choice before he passed out.
He immediately unzipped his pants, lowered his head to check, and let out a sigh of relief first.
Luckily, little brother was still there.
"Looks like this wasn't transmigration. It was soul transmigration."
Lu Ming was on the verge of tears. Although he could not see his current face, the pale skin and other physical traits told him that his soul had entered the body of a foreign young man roughly the same age as his former self.
Lu Ming sat on the single bed for quite some time before accepting the harsh reality before him. However, he had been an orphan raised by relatives in his previous life, and with the information overload of new things in the twenty-first century, he found it surprisingly easy to accept his inexplicable soul transmigration.
Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. Panicking or refusing to accept it would only lead to his own destruction.
More importantly, as one of the countless transmigrators—and possibly in a world like Marvel, where the death rate for ordinary people was terribly high—he had to have some kind of cheat ability!
With that thought, Lu Ming was about to search himself for some built-in system.
Just then, the room door suddenly opened, and a skinny blond young man with blue eyes walked in.
When the blond young man saw Lu Ming awake in bed, he paused slightly before quickly approaching in delight.
Lu Ming reacted quickly as well. He knew that the newcomer was very likely a friend of this body's original owner.
If he could fool him, he could learn this body's original identity, information about his current surroundings, and intelligence on the present state of this world.
Adapting to the body he had taken over and blending into the larger environment was the first hurdle for a soul transmigrator!
The corners of Lu Ming's lips lifted as he made sure to wear a friendly smile. Yet the young man's first words instantly froze that smile on his face.
"Kyle, are you all right?" the young man asked.
It was unmistakably authentic English!
Lu Ming's lips twitched slightly. Looking at the concerned young man before him, his earlier smile vanished completely. He pressed his lips together, unable to stop himself from wanting to curse inwardly.
What the hell? Wasn't the whole universe supposed to speak Chinese? Novels and comics were all lies, weren't they?!
In his previous life, he had merely been a failing high school student. No matter how good his English was, there was no way he could carry out a normal spoken conversation with a foreigner. Not only would his clumsy English likely expose him if he spoke now, but he could not even understand a single sentence the other person was saying.
Seeing Lu Ming's face turn pale, the young man grew even more worried and rattled off another string of English greetings.
Lu Ming forced out an ugly smile, his clenched fist slick with cold sweat. He had never imagined that a language barrier could put him in such a predicament.
Just as he was about to take a gamble and answer at random, several translucent White Cards suddenly sprang up behind the young man's head, floating and rotating around him.
The young man seemed unable to see the cards surrounding him and continued asking worried questions.
Four White Cards?
As though he had found a ray of salvation, Lu Ming's attention immediately shifted to the cards around the young man.
US Soldier Training Uniform Set
Bicycle Riding
Street Fighting Skills
Basic English Mastery
Aside from the first card, which was labeled an "Item Card" and could not be drawn, the other three were all "Ability Cards" available for drawing.
Without a second thought, Lu Ming ignored the other cards and focused on the final Basic English Mastery Ability Card.
Basic English Mastery: Allows mastery of common spoken and written English. White Ability Card. Current status: Available for drawing. Proceed with drawing?
Reader's note: This is a movie fanfiction novel, a light and entertaining power fantasy, not serious literature QAQ
This fictional world is not the real world either. It is the Marvel movie world, where technology, mutations, and all kinds of evolutionary branches have gone wildly off course. Please do not use real-world history or objects to scrutinize it. (Please go easy on military and history enthusiasts.)
The opening plot is a little clichéd, but it gets better after Chapter 4. (If it is not to your taste, pretend I never said anything.)
Before you continue