Hunter Awakens

New York, Brooklyn.

Midnight streets.

"Hail Hydra!"

The suited thugs shouted their slogan as they recklessly emptied their submachine guns—every traitor had to die!

S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were monitoring this group of fanatical thugs from nearby.

The future Iron Man, Tony Stark, was busy flirting with hot girls at a party.

—This was the Marvel universe.

Su Ming lay on an iron bed reeking of disinfectant, blood still seeping from the bullet hole in his left shoulder.

The fluorescent tube on the ceiling buzzed, while three flies lapped at the plasma flowing from his wound.

"Three hundred dollars, sir."

The doctor in a skull mask shook a pair of rusty surgical forceps.

"Or you can settle the bill with a kidney."

Licking his cracked lips, Su Ming's memories remained frozen on the moments before he transmigrated:

An awards ceremony, a food delivery scooter in a torrential downpour, blinding high beams, and a rainbow vortex that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

When he opened his eyes again, he had become the unlucky bastard caught in the middle of a gunfight on the streets of Brooklyn.

"Ding! Detected that the host's vital signs are below the critical threshold. The Gold-Spending System has been activated."

A golden stream of data suddenly exploded across his retina, and a holographic interface unfolded amid the blood before his eyes:

[Name: Su Ming]

[Age: 28]

[Physical Fitness: 5]

[Current Account: $0]

[Existing Talents: None]

[Gift Pack Talents (Beginner):

Healing Factor → Sub-Wolverine-level regeneration. $5,000

Hawkeye Vision → Dynamic Vision Lv. 1. $3,000

Basic Combat → Jeet Kune Do Mastery. $2,000]

(Gift pack talent prices are not indicative of standard prices.)

As his consciousness gradually returned, Su Ming remembered struggling to this illegal clinic after being shot...

But wasn't I making a delivery?

Where am I? Did I transmigrate?

Hiss...

The agonizing pain in his shoulder kept sending alarms through his brain, and Su Ming realized his condition was probably terrible.

Yet this blackhearted doctor wanted three hundred dollars before he would treat him. Where the hell was he supposed to get three hundred dollars?

And this Wolverine-level regeneration... was it the ability of that Wolverine from his memories?

If it was real, maybe he would not need this damned doctor after all...

But the problem was... it cost five thousand dollars!!

And that was the gift pack price.

Since when did gift packs cost money?

Damn capitalism!

"Hey! Is the yellow monkey listening?"

The doctor suddenly pressed his surgical forceps against Su Ming's Adam's apple.

"Or do you want to see what it feels like to have the bullet removed without anesthesia?"

Su Ming stared at the Glock 17 on his waist as a price tag suddenly appeared across his retina:

[Used Glock 17 (with 12 rounds) → Estimated value: $350]

This system could appraise weapons too?

Was it limited to weapons alone?

"Wait."

Su Ming's mind raced. Fighting through the dizziness, he reached into his pocket and touched a metal object—the "Gold Medal Rider" badge he had been clutching when he transmigrated.

The gold-plated badge shimmered faintly within the system interface:

[24K gold-plated work badge → Estimated value: $50]

It seemed the appraisal target was not limited by item category. Then the question was—could it be converted, and how?

"Convertible item detected."

The mechanical voice vibrated inside his skull.

"Convert?"

Su Ming's spirits lifted as he silently answered, Convert!

The badge instantly vaporized, and his account balance jumped to fifty dollars.

His hand clenched excitedly inside his pocket. The confirmation of his guess filled Su Ming with exhilaration.

But it was not enough. Not nearly enough.

His gaze swept around the room until it landed on the thick gold chain around the doctor's neck, and the system immediately produced an appraisal:

[Gold-plated alloy necklace → Estimated value: $3]

His brow twitched.

"Looks like I'll have to use some unconventional methods..."

At this critical moment, Su Ming decided to take a gamble.

"Fuck!"

The curse that burst from his mouth stunned the doctor for half a second.

Now!

His bloodstained hand seized the surgical forceps and twisted them backward. The sound of a wrist snapping mixed with a scream that exploded through the clinic.

The instant the Glock 17 cleared its holster, Su Ming's knee had already smashed the doctor's nose. Blood immediately soaked through the mask.

"Unclaimed weapon detected. Appraise?"

"Appraise! Convert!"

The Glock transformed into a stream of blue data in his palm, and his account balance surged to four hundred dollars. But it was still not enough to exchange for the Healing Factor, while the agonizing pain in his shoulder blade was swallowing Su Ming's consciousness.

"Bang!"

The clinic's back door was suddenly kicked open, and three suited thugs carrying submachine guns rushed in.

"Hail Hydra!"

The scar-faced leader pulled back the bolt.

"Doctor White, you actually dared to treat a traitor to the organization..."

Before he could finish, Su Ming pressed his palm against the bloodstained operating table.

System notifications flashed frantically:

[Multifunctional operating bed → Estimated value: $4,400]

[Medical alcohol 5L → Estimated value: $50]

[Adrenaline x3 → Estimated value: $150]

Su Ming seemed to see the dawn. His eyes lit up.

"Convert everything!"

Deafening gunfire erupted as a torrent of bullets swept through the clinic. The instant Scarface's bullet pierced Su Ming's chest, golden light exploded across his retina:

[Account balance: $5,000. Exchange for Healing Factor?]

"Convert!"

It felt as though lava had been injected into his veins. Su Ming clearly heard the crackling sound of bones growing as the weakness rapidly faded and strength returned to his body.

The three submachine guns spat flames, but the bloody holes torn open by the bullets healed in the blink of an eye.

He who killed would one day be killed.

Scarface's terrified expression froze amid the smoke. When Su Ming crushed his throat, the crisp chime of coins being deposited sounded by his ear:

[Hydra wanted thug killed. Bounty +$5,000]

[Account balance: $5,000. Exchange for the remaining recommended talents—Dynamic Vision and Jeet Kune Do Mastery?]

"Convert!"

As Su Ming's vision refreshed, everything in his eyes became incomparably clear.

Darkness was no longer an obstacle. His gaze could always follow the flight path of a fly.

At the same time, a flash of insight entered his mind—he could easily deal with all kinds of close-range attacks, intercept them, and strike back hard.

Su Ming took a deep breath. The gunshot wounds from moments ago had nearly left him unable to breathe.

He marveled inwardly that the talents in the system's gift pack were indeed intelligent: regeneration solved his injuries, enhanced vision pierced the darkness, and combat skills allowed him to defend himself.

More importantly, the prices were not outrageous.

"Very good!"

A faint smile appeared on his lips, only to turn grave in an instant.

Through the filthy glass, he clearly saw a group of suited thugs running toward this place from several hundred meters away.

Their weapons gleamed coldly in the dim environment.

"Rocket launchers!? They really think highly of me..."

Without another word, he turned and ran.

His words lingered in the air:

"Thanks for the surgery... bed! Doctor..."

Midnight Brooklyn had two faces: clean, luxurious, and bright—filthy, poor, and dark.

Successful people indulged in pleasure at parties, while homeless people could die beneath bridges or in the shadows at any moment...

And even more numerous were the civilians struggling to make ends meet. They huddled inside their homes with their doors and windows tightly shut, keeping loaded pistols ready against the arrival of "zero-dollar shopping."

But Su Ming did not care about any of that.

Because—he was running for his life.

The Healing Factor might allow him to survive bullets, but that did not mean he wanted to experience the power of a rocket at close range.

Before transmigrating, he had been a star rider for a delivery platform, and he had great confidence in his speed.

After cutting through several alleys, even he was a little disoriented. Those people had probably lost him long ago.

Su Ming's mind kept turning as he ran:

Something as absurd as instantly healing gunshot wounds would have been impossible to believe if it had not happened to him.

But combined with the system's description—Sub-Wolverine-level regeneration.

A tough guy in a jacket, with strange hair and thick sideburns, appeared in Su Ming's mind.

And there was that cringeworthy slogan from the suited thugs—"Hail Hydra!"

Su Ming strongly suspected that he had arrived in the Marvel universe.

Thinking of the abilities he possessed, Su Ming knew that he now had, at the very least, the capital to choose what kind of life he wanted.

The title of "star rider" before his transmigration had not been an honor to him, but a shackle.

It had been a man's responsibility...

Now that he had transmigrated here, then sorry—no one would ever get to guilt-trip him, not even himself!

Thinking of the system that could exchange money for all kinds of talents, Su Ming's lips curled upward.

From now on, he would focus on making money and building an empire!