Marvel: Neo Journey

After seeing his reflection in the mirror, Neo was so shocked and amazed that he screamed.

Neo: WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!

Looking at his reflection, he noticed several black markings covering his face, resembling tattoos. They shifted slightly with his emotions, and upon closer inspection, they even seemed somewhat majestic.

Neo immediately recognized them—Sukuna's tattoos. And judging by his face, he knew they were probably covering his entire body.

What surprised him the most was the fact that he didn't feel anything. He hadn't even noticed when the markings appeared.

Now, he had a problem. These markings attracted too much attention. How was he supposed to hide them? As he thought about it, Neo remembered something the system had mentioned earlier: "AESTHETIC CHANGES CAN BE REVERSED."

But just as he was about to tell the system to remove them since they stood out too much, a strange thought crossed his mind.

"What kind of king doesn't draw attention?"

To anyone else, that question might have seemed odd, but to Neo, it felt completely natural—like he had always thought this way. Normally, he would prefer to avoid standing out, but this time... it was different.

Without even realizing this shift in his mindset, Neo made his decision. He turned to Alex and Carina and spoke about the tattoos.

Neo: These are the marks of my royalty.

Alex and Carina were utterly confused by his statement. They didn't understand a thing, but if that was the case, there wasn't much they could do about it.

A moment later, Neo stood up to get dressed, while Carina also went off to change.

Once they were done, they looked more like regular people. Then, Neo spoke.

Neo: Follow me. We're going to find a place for our home.

Alex didn't question how his master would get a place to live—his lord always got what he wanted.

Carina, on the other hand, couldn't stop wondering. How are we supposed to pay for a rented house?

Little did she know, the house wouldn't be rented at all.

On their way to New York, Neo noticed Alex was focusing intensely on the journal.

He could only hope Alex would gain some knowledge about the Cursed through it, or at least improve his energy control.

When Neo set foot in New York City, the first thing he noticed was the incredible concentration of curses along his path. He sensed hundreds of them scattered throughout the city, which was, at the very least, concerning.

As he walked through the streets, the system suddenly chimed.

[CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOST FOR ARRIVING IN NEW YORK, THE CITY FILLED WITH THE MOST MYSTERIES.]

[SINCE THE HOST HAS JUST ARRIVED IN THIS PLACE FULL OF POTENTIAL SORCERERS, THE SYSTEM HAS A QUESTION REGARDING HIS PATH IN THIS UNIVERSE.]

Seeing the two screens appear, Neo was surprised and carefully read the next message.

[WHICH PATH DOES THE HOST PREFER?]

[THE PATH TO STRENGTH IS FILLED WITH DOZENS OF OBSTACLES, EACH OF WHICH CAN BE OVERCOME IN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WAYS. SO, WHICH ONE WILL YOU CHOOSE?]

[PATH OF THE CONQUEROR: AS THE STRONGEST, YOU EAT WHEN YOU'RE HUNGRY, SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE TIRED, KILL WHEN YOU'RE ANGRY, AND CONQUER THOSE WHO DON'T BOW. THIS PATH IS PAVED WITH THE BODIES OF YOUR ENEMIES—AND PERHAPS EVEN YOUR ALLIES—WITH THE WORLD BOTH HATING AND FEARING YOU.]

[PATH OF THE TEACHER: WHEN THE WORLD IS IN DANGER, YOU WON'T SAVE IT ALONE—NOT EVEN OTHERS CAN. SO, WHO WILL HELP? SIMPLE: YOUR DISCIPLES. THEY WILL GROW ALONGSIDE YOU AND WILL ALWAYS BE THERE THROUGH THICK AND THIN.]

[PATH OF THE KING: DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FALSE KING AND A TRUE ONE? SIMPLE. A KING IS NOT ABOVE HIS PEOPLE BUT IN FRONT OF THEM, SO THAT WHEN THEY NEED HIM, HE WILL BE THERE TO PROTECT THEM—WHILE ALSO COMMANDING THEM. A KING IS A SYMBOL OF POWER AND PRIDE, BUT ALSO OF PAIN AND REGRET.]

[WHICH PATH WILL THE HOST CHOOSE?]

Faced with this wall of text, and being preoccupied with finding a place for himself and his group to stay, Neo asked the system:

"Can I choose my path later?"

The system responded.

[OF COURSE, HOST. JUST SAY WHEN YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR CHOICE. HOWEVER, BE WARNED: YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY MISSIONS UNTIL YOU CHOOSE YOUR PATH.]

Already expecting a response like that, Neo and his group (minus the brownie) wandered the city, searching for a place to stay.

What they didn't know was that Neo was actually looking for an empty and quiet location to restore Urahara's shop. But as he walked, he still had some doubts that needed to be answered.

"System, how does installing a building like Urahara's work?"

[THAT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU MEAN. IF YOU'RE REFERRING TO THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF THE BUILDING, THE SYSTEM PERFORMS A MENTAL REMODELING ON ALL BEINGS WITH LOW MENTAL STRENGTH, GIVING THEM FALSE MEMORIES OF THE SHOP'S CONSTRUCTION.]

Neo found this intriguing, but another thought crossed his mind, and he asked:

"And what about security measures against intrusions and attacks?"

The system responded instantly.

[THE INSTALLED LOCATION WILL HAVE ALL THE PROTECTIONS IT NORMALLY POSSESSES IN ITS ORIGINAL UNIVERSE. HOWEVER, THE SYSTEM HAS MADE MINOR MODIFICATIONS TO ALLOW THEM TO FUNCTION USING CURSED ENERGY INSTEAD OF THEIR PREVIOUS ENERGY SOURCE.]

Hearing that, Neo had an idea. After taking a taxi with his group to a suburb a bit further from the city center, he began searching for a suitable place—while another "sibling" debate broke out.

Carina: But what about the X-Men?

Alex looked at her in confusion.

Alex: What about them?

Carina clarified her question.

Carina: Would they beat the master?

This time, Alex was slightly surprised and smirked.

Alex: Look who finally asked a question worth discussing.

Carina almost took it as a compliment, but when she caught the sarcasm, she scoffed.

Carina: Are you calling me boring, you bastard?

Alex immediately struck a dramatic pose.

Alex: Meee? Never.

He was clearly joking, and just as Carina was about to punch him, Neo suddenly stopped.

The two immediately halted and turned to look at the run-down building Neo was staring at.

Alex frowned and asked.

Alex: What is it, my lord? Is something there?

Neo said nothing. A few seconds passed, and when they blinked, the dilapidated building had transformed into a small Japanese shop, with a sign above it that could be read in two ways.

To normal people, it simply said: "Neo's Trinket Shop."

But to those who could perceive Cursed Energy, the sign above it read: "Sukuna's Cursed Shop."

Seeing this sudden and bizarre change, Alex and Carina froze in place. They were about to ask what had just happened, but were met with only one sentence.

Neo: Home sweet home.

Neo stepped inside the shop. But before disappearing through the entrance, he glanced back and saw the two dumbfounded fools still standing there.

Neo: Hey, what are you two doing? Aren't you coming in?

Alex considered questioning it, but then he remembered who his master was—and thought better of it.

Carina looked at everything and sighed, thinking that, after everything that had happened today, this was probably the least shocking thing so far.

______________________________________

And just like that, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

Nothing particularly interesting happened during that time, aside from a few people asking when they had moved in and similar things. Some individuals had resisted the system's mental alteration, but a bit of persuasion and conversation was enough to handle them.

The one who enjoyed the house the most was Brownie. Inside, he could stay out of the talisman and only had to capture anything that invaded their home.

Carina was making great progress in developing her own fighting style using electricity. With Neo's guidance and corrections to her stance, she had improved significantly.

Alex, on the other hand, showed a natural talent for crafting cursed tools. With the diary Neo had given him, he could already create grade 4 tools, and if he really pushed himself, even a grade 3. For someone who had only started a few weeks ago, his growth was astounding.

Now, the "Sukuna's Cursed Shop" officially sold cursed tools. The cheapest item was a pair of glasses that allowed normal people to see cursed energy, priced at $30,000. An absurd barrier for what appeared to be an ordinary shop, but high enough to keep away casual buyers.

Neo was convinced that Alex was born to be a Jujutsu blacksmith. However, crafting cursed tools required expensive materials, and their funds were running out. They had been surviving on what little money Alex had left in his bank account, but now he was in the red. They urgently needed a new source of income.

During those two weeks, Neo had been thinking about which path to choose.

At first, he considered the Path of the Conqueror, but he quickly dismissed it. No matter how strong he was, he was nowhere near the level of the universe's most powerful beings.

The Path of the Teacher was the least appealing to him. Teaching was not his strength—in fact, he thought training with him would be suicidal, as all his attacks were designed either to kill or to incapacitate his opponents permanently.

So, his choice was obvious: the Path of the King.

Now, as he sat on the couch doing nothing while Alex managed the shop and Carina trained with Brownie, Neo finally made his decision.

'System.'

[YES, HOST?]

Neo looked at the screen in front of him and declared with pride:

'I choose the Path of the King.'

[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST, FOR CHOOSING THE PATH OF THE KING.][NOW THAT THE HOST HAS CHOSEN A PATH, A MISSION IS BEING CREATED TO SOLIDIFY THIS CHOICE.]

Neo was surprised by how quickly he received a mission.

After a few seconds, a new screen appeared before him.

[MAIN MISSION: A KING NEEDS RESPECT][OBJECTIVE: BE RECOGNIZED AS A POWERHOUSE][REWARD: ???]

Reading the mission, Neo furrowed his brow.

This wasn't something that would happen overnight. Especially since, at his current level, he could barely defeat a special grade.

But he could attract the attention of some important people, and a macabre smile starts to appear on his face.

________________________________________________________________

At a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, a certain man, who looks to be over 40 with a balding head, runs as fast as he can through the hallways until he reaches Director Fury's door.

Without even knocking, he bursts in, extremely tired from running so much. Nick is caught off guard and even gets a little startled, but quickly calms down as if nothing happened, then irritably asks.

Nick: "Coulson, you know you have to knock before entering, and what's going on with you?"

Coulson, still out of breath, places a laptop in front of Fury.

When Nick sees what's written on it, his eyes widen.

On the laptop is a post from a social media platform titled "Sorcerers and Curses," but what really catches Nick's attention is not the title. It's the content, which talks about the invisible monsters, explains how to deal with them if you can't see them, and the answer is: run.

But what really freaks Fury out is the part about people who can see the monsters—not curses, as the post calls them. These people have powers, which terrifies Fury at the idea that, beyond mutants, more people in society could have powers.

After reading everything, Fury immediately orders:

Nick: "Delete the post right now, and find the person who wrote this and bring them to me."

Coulson, already prepared, replies:

Coulson: "We've already done that, and we're sending someone to bring them here."

Coulson says proudly.

While Coulson begins arranging things to capture the person, Fury, in the meantime, reads the name of the user who posted it.

"Sukuna, the King of Curses."

___________________________________________

Neo was washing the dishes when he suddenly stops and says.

Neo: "They're finally here."

He leaves the kitchen and starts heading out.

Seeing this, Alex asks, confused.

Alex: "Where are you going, my lord?"

Neo stops, looks at Alex, and says.

Neo: "I'm going to meet a grumpy bald guy."

____________________________________________________

Hey, guys, if you're enjoying my fic, please send power stones.

Oh, and just to let you know, I'll try to get another chapter done by tonight, but if not, I'll do it tomorrow. If you want to know anything, or if there's something you didn't like, or if you think I could improve anything, just let me know. I always read your comments.