The problem with robbing criminals isn't stealing the money. It's laundering it without drawing attention—from the police, the IRS, or worse... SHIELD.
Luckily, I wasn't some street punk with dreams of getting rich quick.
I had a plan.
And I had a system.
---
I spread the $250,000 across the floor of my small Brooklyn apartment, all in neat bricks of cash. Dirty money—tied to drugs, guns, and who knows what else. I didn't care. I wasn't planning on using it to open a bakery.
I was going to buy into Stark Industries before Tony Stark got blown up in the desert.
The MCU timeline was a ticking time bomb. In less than a year, this world would be flipped on its head. Aliens, demigods, mad titans… I had maybe 12 months before the planet turned into an active warzone.
And I wasn't going to be just another NPC caught in the crossfire.
---
Ding.
The system chimed again. A blue box appeared midair like a hologram.
[System Reminder]
Next Weekly Sign-In: 5 Days, 21 Hours
Hint: Higher Luck = Better Rewards
Interesting.
So luck mattered. I'd keep that in mind when selecting future investments—and possibly future enemies.
---
First step: I needed to go legit. Sort of.
The system had provided one legal alias—Victor Wick, complete with fake social security, a tax record, and a paper trail that screamed "quiet loner, possible hitman, probably pays in cash." I used it to open a discreet brokerage account through three shell corporations.
Nothing big. Just small, unnoticeable stock buys. Stark Industries. Oscorp. Even a small New York-based biotech company that would one day become Roxxon.
Each purchase was under $5,000.
Slow. Legal. Invisible.
By the time Tony came back from Afghanistan? I'd be sitting on a gold mine.
---
But the system didn't just make me smart.
It made me dangerous.
And I needed to stretch my legs.
---
Nightfall in New York meant one thing: predators came out to play.
I picked my next target carefully—a small-time weapons dealer who ran his operation out of an abandoned subway station in the Bronx. Supplied by low-level Hydra remnants, according to a rumor I picked up from a thug I may or may not have dangled out of a second-story window.
Thanks, Wick instincts.
I scoped the entrance. Three guys with semi-automatics. One camera on a fixed pan. Trash fire burning nearby.
Child's play.
I dropped in from the roof silently and landed behind the first guard.
Pistol. Whispered shot to the temple.
The other two turned.
Too slow.
One bullet hit the second in the knee—he collapsed with a scream. The third fired wildly, hitting nothing but shadows.
I disarmed him in three moves and knocked him unconscious with a spinning elbow strike.
---
"System," I muttered. "Scan and Analyze: Active?"
Nothing.
Still locked.
Fine. I'd do it the Wick way.
Room by room, I cleared out the makeshift base. I found crates of unlicensed firearms, some with Stark Industries logos.
Interesting.
Either these guys had a direct line to a corrupt Stark supplier… or they'd looted old shipments.
I made a mental note.
As I was stuffing a duffel bag with cash and weapons, the system pinged again.
---
[System Alert: Inventory Unlocked]
You may now store physical items in a personal subspace
Capacity: 20 Slots (Upgradable)
Would you like to store:
- Tactical Shotgun (x1)
- Glock 19 (x3)
- $170,000 Cash (Clean)
- Fragmented Stark Blueprint (??)
I stared at that last item.
"Fragmented Stark Blueprint…?"
Stored.
---
Back at my apartment, I took a breath.
I wasn't rich—not yet.
But I had two weeks of successful operations behind me, nearly half a million in clean cash, and enough black-market weapons to start a small revolution.
And more importantly, I had momentum.
The system was evolving. Unlocking. Rewarding action with utility.
I'd bet anything that "Scan and Analyze" would be next.
---
I pulled up my status screen again.
[Victor Wick – Status Screen]
Template: John Wick (Active)
Level: N/A
Power Tier: Low-High (Based on equipment, situational modifiers)
Attributes:
- Strength: 4/10
- Speed: 6/10
- Reflexes: 8/10
- Intelligence: 7/10
- Luck: 3/10
- Aura: ???
Inventory: [8/20 Slots Used]
- Glock 17 x2
- Tactical Knife x1
- Gold Coins x5
- Stark Blueprint (Fragmented) x1
- Cash Bundles x2
Not bad.
But three things stood out:
1. Luck was low.
2. Aura was still unknown.
3. No level system—yet.
I had a feeling the system wasn't done evolving.
And that meant I couldn't sit still.
---
Two nights later, I walked into a dive bar in Harlem.
Not because I was thirsty.
Because the bartender had no heartbeat.
And I only noticed because the moment I saw her, the system flickered.
[Potential Bloodline Detected: Mutant – Omega Class]
She glanced at me. Dark eyes. Curious. Controlled. She said nothing.
I ordered water. She slid it over without a word.
And then she smirked. Just slightly.
"You're not from around here," she said quietly.
I didn't answer. I didn't need to.
Her fingers grazed mine on the glass. Cold. Not human.
"Let's not pretend," she said. "I saw your face in two different gang reports this week. And you don't show up on any cameras."
"Lucky me," I said.
She chuckled. "That's not luck. That's training."
She leaned in. "You're building something, Mr. Wick. Just remember… in this city, power attracts attention. And attention? Gets you killed."
---
I left the bar with more questions than answers.
Who was she?
Why did the system react?
And how many others like her were walking around before the MCU spotlight ever hit?
The world wasn't waiting for Iron Man to wake it up.
It was already awake.
And I was playing a dangerous game.
---
[Sign-In Timer: 2 Days, 3 Hours]
[Scan & Analyze: 76% Synchronization… Unlocking Soon]
I holstered my pistol and checked the street.
No tails.
No drones.
But in this world? That didn't mean I was alone.
---