A long, slow yawn broke the silence in the living room. Jeff didn't cover his mouth. Why would he? There was no one else around to see it, and honestly, he was way too tired to care. His body sank deeper into the couch. After a whole week sitting there, the cushions had taken his shape, holding him like a soft trap made for movie marathons. He blinked slowly. His eyes were red and heavy, and surrounded by dark circles as if he was a panda...or as if someone had punched him.
But these weren't caused by a fight—they were caused by too many hours of watching movies, shows and not enough sleep.
The TV was still glowing, playing dramatic music as the credits rolled. Names of artists and editors flew up the screen, moving too fast for Jeff to even read. Just a few minutes ago, he had watched the Thunderbolts beat The Void. Not Sentry—no, not Bob Reynolds, the super-powerful man with a troubled mind. But The Void—the terrifying creature that came out of him, like all his worst thoughts turned into something real.
And how had they beaten it?
By using the "power of friendship."
Jeff sighed and let his head fall to one side. "This should be it, right?" he said out loud in a dry, rough voice. His throat felt dry from too much caffeine and not enough talking. He wasn't really talking to anyone—it was just something he said to himself, the last sentence of a man who had spent too long watching superheroes, explosions, and end-credit scenes.
He rubbed his forehead and sighed again as the credits stopped. The screen dimmed and showed a new message: Watch It Again?
Jeff almost threw the remote across the room.
'Watch it again?' he thought. He wanted to find the Disney+ developers and yell at them until they regretted their life choices.
But he decided to be magnanimous and spare the poor fellows.
He stood up slowly, groaning as his joints popped like bubble wrap. His body was not made for this kind of binge. He was 27 years old now, not a teenager anymore. His knees ached, his back was sore, and the headache he had been trying to ignore now felt like it was glued to his skull.
He slowly walked to the kitchen. As he passed by, he saw empty energy drink cans, fast food boxes, and paper bags scattered around. His fridge was almost empty—only one old slice of pizza sat inside, looking like it belonged in a science museum.
He poured a glass of water and stared at the sink as the water flowed. He saw his own reflection in the metal—tired eyes, pale skin, messy hair, and a hoodie stained from multiple meals.
Jeff walked back to the couch and dropped down like a tree falling in the forest. The spot he had been sitting in all week felt like it welcomed him back. He pulled out his phone and opened the Notes app.
There it was—his MCU watch log. He had kept track of everything:
Day 1: Iron Man, Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers
Day 2: Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Winter Soldier, Guardians 1 and 2, Age of Ultron, Ant-Man
Day 3: Civil War, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Doctor Strange, Ragnarok
Day 4: Infinity War, Endgame, WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Day 5: , Loki, What If...?, Hawkeye, Daredevil
Day 6: Daredevil (Rest), Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk,
Day 7 (Today): Quantumania, Guardians 3, Punisher, Thunderbolts, The Marvels
Of course he used the 2x speed whenever necessary and skipped some parts that he clearly remembered or were useless in order to cover as much as possible.
Also he hadn't watched Deadpool and Wolverine again as he had recently seen it. As for the other phases it had been a long time since he had watched them, that was why he had to watch them again. He did his best to cover as much as possible within a week and although a few shows were still left, he couldn't do much about that as he had already reached his mental limit after watching all of these.
The past seven days were hell for him as he watched the MCU movies and shows, even at the cost of his sleep.
But why?
Why did he do this to himself?
All this had happened because of the golden panel.
Seven days ago, Jeff was at work, staring at a spreadsheet on his computer screen. The numbers started to blur together, and the lists of invoices and inventory all looked the same. His fingers moved across the keyboard out of habit, just like they did every other day.
Then, without warning, something impossible happened.
A golden panel appeared out of thin air—right in front of his face.
It hovered there, just inches from his eyes. Translucent and gleaming, edged in radiant gold, it looked like a hologram pulled from another world. It shimmered faintly, its surface covered in glowing text. Jeff blinked. Rubbed his eyes. Looked around.
No one else reacted.
He glanced over his shoulder at the woman two rows behind him. She was yawning into her coffee. The guy across the aisle was angrily tapping at his mouse. Not a soul noticed the golden miracle floating before Jeff's eyes.
He slowly raised a hand to wave it through the panel.
It passed through like mist, but the panel didn't disappear.
It just hovered.
Then, the text rearranged itself as if responding to his touch:
×~×
• Do you wish to transmigrate?
Target World: AUMCU (Alternate Universe Marvel Cinematic Universe)
•YES | NO
×~×
Jeff stared. For one ridiculous moment, he wondered if someone had slipped something into his coffee.
But he hadn't had any coffee yet.
And this—this was too clear, too crisp to be a hallucination.
Under the two options, smaller glowing lines of text began to scroll into view:
×~×
• If YES is selected:
~You will transmigrate to the AUMCU after 7 days.
~You will receive a personalized system designed for your survival and progression in the new world.
~The nature of your system will be revealed only after confirmation.
• If NO is selected:
~This opportunity will disappear forever.
~The golden panel will vanish.
~You will continue your life as normal.
You have 15 minutes to decide.
If no selection is made within the allotted time, the panel will auto-dismiss and count as a "No."
×~×
Jeff read it all twice.
His heart thudded—not with fear, but with awareness. A crossroads had appeared in the middle of his routine life. He didn't know who had sent this panel or how it worked. But somehow, he felt that it wasn't fake.
He stood up. Walked to the printer. Talked to a colleague about toner. Walked back.
The panel was still there. Floating. Waiting. Only visible to him.
He sat down and stared at the golden choices once more.
Transmigration. To another world.
A system.
He'd read about this kind of thing a thousand times in web novels. He'd seen it in fanfiction, in memes, in wild Reddit threads where people debated what powers they'd pick in fictional worlds. But never—not once—had he thought something like this would happen to him.
The decision, in the end, didn't take long. This offer, as insane as it was, felt like the only spark of purpose he'd ever seen.
He reached forward and tapped YES.
After he had tapped YES, the golden panel shined brightly before fading into nothingness. But almost immediately, a new panel had appeared in its place—simpler, cleaner, but still edged in that same glowing gold. It had displayed a clear message:
×~×
Transmigration Countdown Active
Time Remaining: 6 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes
×~×
Jeff remembered staring at that timer, the weight of the decision pressing in as the minutes began to tick down. That was six and a half days ago. The moment that had started everything. The sole reason he was re-watching all the MCU stuff.
But before he could fall deeper into that memory, a sudden itch flared up at his buttocks, bringing him back to the present like a slap across the face. He twisted and scratched furiously for a few seconds, muttering, "God, that's the stuff."
Sighing with relief, he flopped back onto the couch. Enough nostalgia. The recollection reminded him of his system which he had obtained after agreeing to transmigrate.
It had been a few days since he last opened the system panel—he had been too busy burning through every corner of the MCU, trying to mentally prepare himself for what lay ahead.
He waited no more and willed the system panel to open. He had found out after experimenting that the golden panel of his system could be brought out and closed with a single thought making it quite convenient.
With just a thought, the golden panel showed up again in front of Jeff's eyes. It floated in the air, glowing softly, with neat writing that made it easy to read. The whole thing looked like a clean, organized screen—like a control panel made just for him.
×~×Lifespan System×~×
(Personal details will appear after the host transmigrates)
---
• System Overview •
1. Lifespan Conversion Rate
The host can exchange 1 year of lifespan to gain 1.2 stat points.
2. Ageless Peak Condition
Even if the host has just one day of lifespan left, their body will remain in a perfect, youthful state — with no aging or physical decline caused by time.
>Note:
•This only prevents the natural effects of aging caused due to lifespan conversion into stat points.
•It does not provide healing, invincibility, or immunity to injury, disease, poison, or other external threats.
•Reduction or use of lifespan to gain stat points does not worsen or speed up any disease or condition the host already has.
3. System Points
System Points can be earned in the following ways:
•By completing System Missions
These missions are not compulsory. The host is free to accept or ignore them. Rewards are given based on he difficulty of the missions assigned by the system. The system deploys tasks based on unfolding events, the level of difficulty, and their impact on the broader narrative.
•By interfering with the Marvel storyline
The more important or impactful the interference, the more points the host earns.
> Conversion Rate:
10 System Points = 1 year of lifespan
×~×
As Jeff read through the panel again, his eyes started closing on their own. His body felt completely worn out—he just couldn't stay awake anymore. His head slowly leaned to the side, his vision became blurry, and the golden panel in front of him began to fade out of focus.
Letting out a tired sigh, he closed the system panel with a simple thought. The soft golden light disappeared, and the room grew quiet and dim again. Jeff didn't even try to go to his bed. Instead, he moved a bit and got comfortable on the couch, which now felt more like his home than anything else.
Just before falling asleep, he lazily grabbed his phone and set four or five alarms for the next morning. He still needed to watch the X-Men series. Even though the MCU didn't show mutants properly until Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the world he was going to—the AUMCU—might have them. There was a good chance the X-Men could appear there, so he had to be prepared. It had been a really long time since he watched their movies, and he didn't want to miss anything important.
Thinking about that, he turned on his side, let out a deep yawn, and told himself to stop thinking for now. He needed sleep more than anything else.
And just like that, Jeff fell asleep—snoring softly, surrounded by food wrappers, empty drink cans, and the quiet memory of superhero fights.
××
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