Not Everything Comes with Special Effects

"You should have said hello just now, Annie."

Listening to the sound of an engine starting outside, Ryan suddenly spoke.

"Ah, but I waved, didn't I?"

Annie replied expressionlessly as she looked at him.

"I meant you should have been a little friendlier."

Ryan sounded somewhat helpless.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry. Faced with a strange woman who walked into the house without even saying hello, waving was about as far as I could go."

Annie sneered at him.

"Okay, okay, my fault. I shouldn't have forgotten to tell you about it, but I really didn't have time then. And something really awkward happened at the time, so..."

"So you completely forgot about me." Annie calmly finished for him.

Ryan was left speechless. He could only widen his eyes, trying to project the authority of an older brother and guardian, but he ultimately crumbled under Annie's equally unyielding gaze.

"Sorry. It won't happen again."

Feeling guilty, Ryan lowered his head like a defeated rooster and apologized.

"Fine. I'll forgive you this time."

Seeing Ryan hang his head, the corners of Annie's lips lifted slightly before quickly smoothing out. Pointing at the medicine he was carrying, she asked with a hint of nervousness, "What did the doctor say about your condition?"

She was afraid—afraid that once Ryan recovered his old memories, his attitude toward her would change.

"The doctor said it's permanent amnesia. There's no cure." Ryan glanced at Annie and spoke in a sorrowful tone.

"Really?! That's wonderful... I mean, that's terrible!" Annie's face lit up with joy, then she realized her reaction was wrong and hurriedly put on a sad expression. However, the delight in her eyes was impossible to hide.

"Of course it's... fake! What is going through that little head of yours? You need to know that whether or not my memories return, I won't change how I treat you!"

Ryan rubbed Annie's little head hard in annoyance. He could tell that this little girl had been tense and worried all along. He hoped this joke would help Annie lower her guard a little; as for the rest, only time could solve it.

"Who cares about you!" Realizing she had been tricked, Annie gritted her teeth, slapped away the large hand messing up her hair, and ran upstairs. "I'm going to bed."

"This brat!" Watching her vanish in the blink of an eye, Ryan shook his head, leaned back against the sofa, and let out a long breath.

Now that all the miscellaneous matters had been dealt with, it was time to think about that thing hidden somewhere in his body or soul.

His fingers tapped twice against the sofa. With a thought, a light screen appeared before him.

Compared to that morning, everything was the same except for the number representing Influence Value, which had changed from 1 to 13.

Ryan remembered that nearly thirteen hours had passed since the panel appeared, so he could conclude that Influence Value increased by roughly one point per hour. He had no idea what kind of actions could speed up that rate.

That would need to be tested later. For now, the most important thing was another option: the Traversal System.

The Traversal System carried many of his hopes: returning home, gaining extraordinary abilities, avoiding Thanos's sunset snap twenty years from now... There were simply too many possibilities.

Although the origin of this system was highly suspicious, refusing to eat for fear of choking had never been a solution. Besides, after being bound to his soul, if there really was a trap in it, there was no way he could escape it anyway. He might as well take the plunge. If he could gain power beyond that of ordinary people and live longer than expected, then even if the trap eventually killed him, he would still come out ahead.

After all, as an ordinary mortal, he had at most a hundred years to live, most of which would be spent in busyness. Being able to experience something this extraordinary meant that even death would not make his life a wasted one.

"The system's remaining energy can still support one search. I have to try eventually!" Ryan took a deep breath, suppressed the stray thoughts in his mind, and fiercely drove his consciousness into the search button.

The air was utterly silent.

There were no lights, no special effects. If a new world had not appeared beneath Search Worlds and Traversable Worlds, he would have thought the system had crashed.

"That simple?"

Looking at the world designation BS4515715*Q4 that had appeared beneath Earth-199999, Ryan's brow twitched violently.

He had already prepared himself the moment he learned that the Marvel Cinematic Universe existed as a numbered designation, but when reality truly developed this way, he still could not help feeling disappointed.

Having only a designation and no familiar name meant he could not determine what kind of world lay on the other side or what dangers it held. It also meant he would need far more preparation—and more time to prepare.

With a slight sigh, Ryan walked to a room on the second floor and began searching through it.

This had originally been his father's room. During his private time with Mocha today, he had learned through their conversation that his father had been a military enthusiast while he was alive and had collected many things related to the military. What Ryan was looking for now were those dangerous collectibles his father had hidden away.

If things were as he expected, these collections could spare him a great deal of trouble.

"This should be it!"

After searching for half the day, Ryan's face brightened as he dragged a large leather suitcase out from beneath the bed.

The suitcase was roughly 0.6 cubic meters in size, with what looked like a very high-end lock attached to it. Barring any surprises, it should contain what he had been looking for.

As for the key, he had found a strange-looking one earlier while searching through the drawers. Comparing it now, it was indeed the key to this lock.

After inserting the key into the keyhole and turning it, Ryan opened the case. At the sight of what lay inside, his body involuntarily shuddered.

Grenades, a sniper rifle, rifles, pistols, boxes of ammunition, and even complete sets of military uniforms and combat knives—it was practically a miniature armory.

They were all good things, but thinking about how close he had been living to bombs made him feel a lingering fear.

But now, what should he do?

Looking at the pile before him, Ryan fell into thought.

He did not know how to use guns. In his previous life, he had only seen them on television or computers; this was the first time he had truly seen and touched them.

Becoming proficient with them would take quite some time.

"Looks like I won't be trying again today." With regret, Ryan restored the room to its original state and returned to his own room.

Traveling between worlds was something that required caution, especially for someone as afraid of death as he was.

Unless he had considered every problem and brought his body into peak condition, he would not take the risk.

And there was Annie, too.

He had to consider what would happen to Annie's life if he truly left and never returned.

This adorable, sensible little girl had already found her way into his heart in such a short time. Therefore, he had to find a way to leave something behind for her.