"Boom."
The piercing sound of twisting metal, along with the violent impact, made Soya's consciousness blur instantly amidst severe pain. His last memory, was of himself driving a rented Ford Mustang, on a road outside New York, being hit head-on by an out-of-control container truck.
"Am I going to die... How unwilling I am..."
Soya, an ordinary international student. He had just received his Columbia University diploma, and before he could even dream about the future, it seemed like it was about to come to an end.
Darkness, endless darkness... He did not know how much time had passed, perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.
[Detected host's vital signs nearing collapse... Compatible with Kryptonian bloodline... Activation conditions met.]
[Kryptonian Inheritance System starting... Merging in progress...]
[Cell structure reorganizing... Bone density strengthening... Neural reaction speed increasing...]
A series of cold, mechanical voices abruptly sounded deep within Soya's mind.
"What is this?"
Soya's consciousness struggled to coalesce. He felt, as if his body, had been thrown into a furnace. Every cell was screaming and tearing apart, then, reassembling in an unimaginable way. After the intense pain, came an indescribable feeling of comfort. It was like a long drought ending with sweet rain, or like breaking free from invisible shackles.
[Merge complete. Host: Soya (Kal-El bloodline branch).]
[Current Kryptonian abilities unlocked: Super Physique (Basic). Super Strength (Basic). Super Senses (Basic).]
[Newbie Mission Issued: In the Marvel universe, feel and control your power. Mission Reward: Unlock Flight ability (Elementary), 100 Energy Points.]
Kal-El? Krypton? Soya violently "opened" his eyes, only to find he wasn't in a hospital, but in a pure white, void-like space. Before his eyes, there was only a semi-transparent blue panel, clearly displaying that information.
"I... did I transmigrate or..."
Soya was somewhat dazed. But immediately, a massive flood of memories poured into his mind. They were fragments about Kryptonian civilization, about a story of an infant named "Kal-El" being sent to Earth, and... the description of this "Kryptonian Inheritance System".
Simply put, due to some unknown coincidence, he possessed the bloodline of a Kryptonian, and at the moment of near death, activated this system, gaining the abilities of Superman!
Superman's abilities?! I... Soya... traveled through time and became Superman... And traveled to... the Marvel universe...
"Damn, wait, could it be because of the car accident?!"
Soya realized something. With a thought, the pure white space before him receded like a tide.
"Crack... crack..." He heard the sound of his own bones grinding, not breaking, but... growing and realigning?
Soya slowly opened his eyes. What met his eyes was the deformed driver's cabin. Outside the shattered windshield, were flashing police lights and fire truck lights. The air was filled with the smell of gasoline and burning.
He looked down at his own body. The body that should have been mangled and shattered was now completely intact. Even the dark circles under his eyes from staying up late to finish his thesis had disappeared. His skin was as fine as a newborn baby's.
"My god..."
Soya tried moving his fingers. An explosive feeling of power came from his fingertips. He could clearly hear the whispers of rescue workers hundreds of meters away, could smell the salty sweat on the firefighters, and could even "see" the patterns on every screw inside his twisted car door.
Super Senses! Super Physique!
He tried pushing the deformed car door.
"Screech. Bang." The heavy car door, which was almost embedded into the car body from the crash, was easily pushed open in his hands as if it were made of paper. Then it fell to the ground with a "clang", creating a shallow crater.
The surrounding rescue workers and police were stunned. They stared dumbfounded, as Soya, completely unharmed, climbed out of the driver's cabin that was nearly crushed into a tin can. He stood up, and brushed the dust off his clothes. Apart from a few tears in his clothes, there wasn't even a scratch on his body.
"Sir, are you... are you okay?"
A firefighter stammered, his eyes full of disbelief. Soya grinned, revealing a row of neat, white teeth.
"I'm fine. Better than ever."
He was also shocked by himself, then gave an awkward laugh. The sunlight shone on him, casting a golden edge around him. He could feel a giant dragon powerful enough to shake the world, lying dormant within his body.
Marvel world? If this is the Marvel universe... then things are about to get really interesting!
[Newbie Mission "Feel and Control Your Power" partially completed. Current progress: 20%.]
The system's prompt sounded at the right moment. Soya clenched his fist, a confident curve lifting the corner of his mouth.
This world was about to change because of him!
...
It was already evening by the time he finished giving his statement at the police station. Regarding how Soya survived that horrific car crash completely unscathed, the police and medical personnel were utterly baffled. In the end, they could only attribute it to a "miracle", or some unknown "burst of human potential". Soya was happy to let them think that.
His mind was now full of how to test and master his newly acquired power.
Walking on the bustling streets of New York, everything around him seemed different in his eyes. His Super Senses allowed him to easily capture every detail: the aroma of coffee beans grinding in a corner cafe, the roar of the subway passing through tunnels several blocks away, even the barely audible whispers of love between couples on the roadside.
"This feeling... is amazing."
He walked into a quiet, secluded alley, with no one around.
"System, what exactly is the level of Super Strength (Basic)?"
Soya asked silently in his heart.
[Super Strength (Basic): Can easily lift objects weighing 10 tons. Full power burst can reach 20 tons. As the body's absorption and conversion efficiency of solar energy improves, strength will continue to grow.]
10 to 20 tons! Soya gasped sharply. And this was just the basic level!
He saw a discarded garbage compactor in the corner of the alley, which looked like it weighed at least three or four tons. Soya walked up to the compactor, grabbed its edges with both hands, and exerted a little force.
"Up!"
The heavy metal compactor was easily lifted over his head as if it were made of foam plastic. He didn't even feel much weight, as if he had just lifted a basketball.
"Damn!"
Soya startled himself and quickly put it down gently. The ground shook slightly.
"This power... is awesome!"
He excitedly waved his fist, creating a gust of wind.
What would Super Speed feel like?!
Although the system panel didn't explicitly list "Super Speed", the Kryptonian physique itself included speed and reactions far beyond ordinary humans.
With a thought, he took a step forward.
"Whoosh!"
The surrounding scenery instantly blurred. He almost turned into an afterimage, instantly appearing at the other end of the alley, a full fifty meters away!
"Cough..."
The wind pressure generated by the high speed made him somewhat uncomfortable, but more than that, it was an extreme sense of exhilaration.
"And this is just the body's instinctive reaction. If combined with the flight unlocked by the system..."
Soya licked his lips, his eyes full of anticipation.
Just then, his super hearing caught a scream.
Yo! Is the show about to start?