[Translator’s Notes]
Hello, everyone!
😊 Welcome to another story!
This story will focus on the MC’s journey through the Marvel as they gradually rise to become a major villain.
Like the other two Marvel stories, this one will also feature characters from outside the Marvel universe who join the MC as accomplices.
However, these allies will primarily be villains or morally corrupt characters who share similar goals with the MC.
I hope you enjoy the story!
Happy reading!
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Inside a high-rise apartment in New York, Jason emerged from the bathroom with his hair still dripping wet.
He wrapped himself in a gray bathrobe, poured a glass of whiskey, and stood before the floor to ceiling windows, gazing down at Manhattan’s nighttime skyline.
Towering office buildings disappeared into the clouds, their windows blazing with light.
Cars packed the streets bumper to bumper, while the laughter of pedestrians drifted up from below.
It was a picture of dazzling prosperity.
On the giant screen overlooking the plaza, a news anchor in a blue and white striped suit was enthusiastically reading from his script.
“According to sources familiar with the matter, the military intends to purchase Stark Industries’ newly developed cutting-edge weapon, the Jericho Missile…”
Jericho Missile?
Jason drained his whiskey in one gulp and desperately searched through the memories of his previous life.
Wasn’t there some senior executive at Stark Industries who turned out to be a villain in the movie?
What was his name again?
Too much time had passed.
Most of the memories from his previous life had already faded.
Jason Walter had been born on October 15, 1981, in the slums on Manhattan’s West Side, a neighborhood better known as Hell’s Kitchen.
His father had been a low-level gang member, while his mother worked at a nearby convenience store.
Jason was their only child.
Because of his father, Jason’s childhood memories were filled with gangs, guns, violence, and everything that came with them.
It had also left him with a rather warped personality, making it difficult for him to fit in with the other children around him.
Life at the bottom was hard.
To keep himself fed, Jason began stealing on the streets at eight.
At ten, he started extorting his classmates.
By twelve, he was using a 9mm handgun to rob pedestrians unfortunate enough to be walking alone.
When he was thirteen, both his parents were killed after getting caught up in a gang conflict.
From then on, Jason completely stopped holding himself back.
Before long, he was sent to juvenile detention for aggravated assault.
After his release at seventeen, Jason joined a small gang in Hell’s Kitchen.
Thanks to the skills he’d picked up while locked away, he quickly distinguished himself.
Not long afterward, Kingpin, still in the early stages of building his criminal empire, reached out to recruit him.
Jason gladly accepted and soon became one of Kingpin’s most formidable enforcers.
Over the next ten years, Jason relied on sheer ferocity and a willingness to risk his life, climbing upward one corpse at a time until he eventually became Kingpin’s right-hand man.
He had a car, a home, money in the bank, good looks, muscles, women, and several hundred hardened killers under his command.
At only twenty seven years old, Jason had finally reached what most people would call the pinnacle of success.
And yet…
Jason looked toward the giant screen in the plaza.
Tony Stark, sporting his trademark goatee, was being interviewed by a female reporter and talking circles around her so thoroughly that she looked ready to reconsider every decision she’d ever made.
A deep sense of exhaustion suddenly washed over Jason.
In another year, the age of heroes filling the skies and villains crawling out of every hole would truly begin.
Earth would turn into the main battlefield for wars spanning the universe, with one cosmic heavyweight after another dropping by whenever they felt like reminding everyone they existed.
Jason might be the number two man in a powerful criminal organization, but so what?
Even if he rose all the way to Kingpin’s level, what difference would it make?
In the eyes of those cosmic monsters, a slightly stronger ant was still an ant.
The thought left Jason’s future looking unbearably bleak.
[Ding! You slept with Kingpin’s girlfriend. You have earned 20 Villain Points!]
“What?!” Jason’s brows knitted tightly as a translucent screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.
So this is the damn system that showed up twenty seven years late?
After staring blankly for several seconds, Jason turned toward the solid wood bed five paces away.
An elegant woman lay asleep beneath the down comforter, a satisfied smile resting on her face.
Her name was Vanessa.
Kingpin’s girlfriend.
And who exactly was Kingpin?
Jason’s boss.
A monstrously powerful man who could punch through a concrete wall.
A crime lord commanding hundreds of killers with nothing to lose.
The king of New York’s underworld, with a hand in virtually every illegal business in the city.
Vanessa was the only woman Kingpin truly loved.
If some idiot so much as whistled at her, his corpse would probably be found in a dumpster before sunrise the next morning.
Jason knew exactly how important Vanessa was to Kingpin.
Which was why, even now, he still thought the whole thing was completely insane.
A few days earlier, one of Kingpin’s businesses in Los Angeles had run into trouble, forcing him to leave New York overnight.
Before departing, Kingpin had worried that Vanessa might be in danger.
After all, he had at least as many enemies as he had men working for him.
So he ordered one of his most trusted subordinates, Jason, to protect her.
Jason would much rather have flown straight to Los Angeles and slaughtered those sons of bitches himself, but Kingpin had already given the order.
No matter how unhappy Jason was about it, he could only obey.
And so Jason became Vanessa’s personal bodyguard, following her everywhere and diligently protecting her safety.
Because he was already irritated about the assignment, Jason never bothered pretending to be friendly with her.
Strangely enough, his cold attitude only made Vanessa more interested in him.
She began actively seeking him out for conversation.
Then they started going to restaurants together.
Shopping together on Fifth Avenue.
Visiting art exhibitions together.
And then…
Well.
[Ding! Quest completed. The Big Villain System has officially activated!]
The translucent screen flashed, dragging Jason’s attention back to the present.
━━━━━ SYSTEM ━━━━━
Host: Jason Walter
Level: 1 (20/1,000)
Complete quests or commit evil acts to earn Villain Points.
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[Attribute – Average adult: 10]
✪ Strength: 33 (Ability to lift and bear heavy loads)
✪ Agility: 32 (Movement speed and neural reaction speed)
✪ Endurance: 30 (Resistance to damage and physical recovery)
✪ Intelligence: 28 (Mental capacity and ability to process information)
✪ Remaining Points: 0 (Gain 10 Attribute Points with each level)
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Notoriety: 0 (Evil acts that leave an unforgettable impression on others will earn Notoriety)
Accomplices: None (Once sufficient Notoriety has been accumulated, villainous Accomplices may be recruited. Sources include, but are not limited to, film and television, anime, novels, games…)
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Credits: Credits may be used to purchase items from the Shop (Exchange rate: $10,000 = 1 Credit)
[Skill]
𖦏 Combat Mastery (Level 4)
𖦏 Driving Mastery (Level 3)
𖦏 Firearms Mastery (Level 4)
𖦏 Melee Weapons Mastery (Level 2)
[Shop: Click here]
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The Four Core Attributes, Notoriety, Accomplices, Credits, Abilities, Shop…
Jason went through everything one entry at a time.
Only after he’d fully understood every item did he open the Shop interface.
[Shop list]
[Melee Weapons Mastery, Combat Mastery, Firearms Mastery, Driving Mastery, Piloting Mastery, Special Operations Mastery, Special Vehicle Mastery, Interrogation Mastery, Lockpicking Mastery, Theft Mastery, Chinese Language Mastery, Psychology Mastery, Political Science Mastery, …]
The Shop contained a bewildering variety of items.
Jason had only made it through a small portion of the list when the Nokia in his pocket suddenly rang.
The caller ID read—
KINGPIN
Every hair on Jason’s body stood on end.
Shit!
He found out!
A chill raced down Jason’s back.
No.
No, no, no!
I kept this completely under wraps.
There’s no way Kingpin could possibly know.
Stay calm.
I have to stay calm.
I can’t panic and give myself away.
“Mmm…” The ringtone disturbed Vanessa’s sleep, making her roll over beneath the covers.
Jason had no time to appreciate the spectacular view.
He immediately covered the phone’s speaker with one hand, hurried out of the bedroom, and answered the call.
“Boss.”
“Jaaason…” The familiar rough voice rumbled through the speaker.
Jason involuntarily swallowed.
“Boss, what’s up?”
Silence.
Jason hurried to fill it.
“Everything’s normal here in New York. Our cooperation with Madame Gao is going smoothly too.”
Still silence.
A very bad feeling crept over him.
“Boss… did something happen in Los Angeles?”
Kingpin finally spoke.
“Tell me, Jason.” His voice was terrifyingly calm.
“What was it like sleeping with Vanessa?”