The Shadow Monarch In The Marvel World

"Haha... wait, what?" A young black-haired man paused, realizing he was standing amidst the clouds. He blinked in shock. Just a moment ago, he had blown himself up—along with the enemy base—to buy his allies enough time to make the critical move that would win the war. And yet, here he was, alive and unharmed, standing atop a golden cloud.

"Surprised?" A kind, sagely old man sitting at a table before him chuckled. "Your actions accumulated a great deal of good karma. After all, you were the key reason World War III didn't start."

He gestured for the young man to come closer. For some reason, an overwhelming sense of peace washed over him, as if he had nothing to fear from this stranger. Without hesitation, he walked over and took a seat on the cloud.

"So… I can go to heaven? Never thought I'd make it there," the young black-haired man muttered, rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't particularly religious, so the idea of being welcomed at the gates of heaven felt surreal.

The old man chuckled. "Well, you have two choices—you can enter heaven, or you can be sent to another world."

The young man froze, momentarily stunned. "Wait, another world? What kind of world? Do I get some wishes?"

He completely overlooked heaven, latching onto the possibility of a new life with undisguised excitement.

"Haha! The world I want to send you to is Marvel... but there are no wishes," the old man said, barely holding back his laughter as he watched the young man's face freeze in shock.

"W-what?" The young man stammered, suddenly reconsidering whether heaven might not be such a bad option after all.

The old man smiled. "However, I will grant you something. I offer you the power of the Shadow Monarch, along with the leveling system."

In an instant, all thoughts of heaven vanished from the young man's mind.

"But before I grant you these abilities, there are two important things you need to understand," the old man said, cutting off the young man just as he was about to speak. The interruption made him pause, choosing instead to listen carefully.

"First," the old man continued, "the Shadow Monarch's power will be different. Normally, only someone with full access to the Shadow Monarch's abilities can use them on beings without mana. And in Marvel… mana doesn't exist. That means this skill would be useless to you—unless I granted you the full extent of its power."

He smiled lightly. "And that's not happening." The young man was left speechless. He hadn't even known of that limitation.

"I want you to earn it," the old man said. "So, instead of granting you the full power of the Shadow Monarch, I'll give you a weakened version—one with the potential to become even stronger than the original."

He watched the young man closely, curious about his reaction. The young man thought for a moment before nodding. He saw no issue with it, he never feared hard work.

"Second," the old man continued, "the system I'm giving you will be a bit different. It won't be as simple as just dumping all your points into one stat without consequences. For example, if you focus purely on speed, you'll face two major problems. First, your legs won't have enough power to properly utilize that speed. Second, they won't be durable enough to handle the strain. I want to add some realistic elements to the system."

He smiled lightly, watching as the young man stood there, momentarily speechless.

"Don't worry. Given how complex I've made this system, it'll be quite nice to use... Oh, I almost forgot." The old man chuckled. "The system will disappear once you reach a certain point. After that, you'll have to rely on yourself to grow stronger."

He finished speaking and watched the young man's reaction. The young man simply sighed. "Well, I can't complain about an opportunity like this. Let's do it." He shrugged, accepting the terms without hesitation.

The old man laughed, nodding in approval before waving his hand—sending the young man away.

***

Marvel Universe – Earth-2149

A young, average-looking man lay sprawled on the ground, motionless. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, revealing confusion as he stared up at the clear blue sky. For a moment, he simply lay there, disoriented, before finally pushing himself to his feet. Immediately, he began checking his body, ensuring everything was intact.

"This… isn't my body." The realization hit him like a shockwave as he finished assessing his physical condition. His hands, his build, everything felt foreign, unfamiliar.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he called upon the system. Instantly, the interface materialized before his eyes.

[STATUS SCREEN]

Name: Ashburn Blackheart

Race: Human

Age: 28 seconds

Level: 1

Title(s): None

[STATS]

HP: 15/15

(Determines how much damage can be sustained before incapacitation. Formula: (Durability × 10) + (Power × 5))

MP: 13/13

(Represents available energy for magic, abilities, and special skills. Formula: (Intelligence × 12) + (Charm × 3))

HP Regen: 0.1 per minute

(Determines natural HP recovery rate. Formula: (Durability ÷ 10)

MP Regen: 0.4 per minute

(Determines how quickly MP regenerates. Formula: (Intelligence ÷ 5) + (Charm ÷ 5))

[ATTRIBUTES]

Power: 1 (Raw physical and magical force. Affects attack strength but requires Speed for momentum and Durability to prevent self-damage.)

Speed: 1 (Acceleration, agility, and reaction time. Influences dodging, attack momentum, and movement efficiency.)

Durability: 1 (Physical resilience, pain tolerance, and self-damage resistance. Ensures that Power and Speed can be utilized safely.)

Intelligence: 1 (Affects strategic thinking, spellcasting, learning speed, and skill application efficiency.)

Charm: 1 (Influences persuasion, charisma-based abilities, social manipulation, and in some cases, mental resistance.)

[CLASS & SKILLS]

Job Class: Shadow Monarch

Skills: None

Job-Specific Skills: [Shadow Extraction]

[SYSTEM NOTES]

A stat of 1 represents the abilities of an average human. A stat of 2 would be twice as strong as an average person, and so on.

MP is not limited to magical energy; it also encompasses stamina, spiritual energy, and any new forms of energy that may be acquired.