The Shadow Monarch In The Marvel World

'Wow… it would take me two and a half hours to fully heal from all my injuries. Does that mean I can regenerate lost body parts? Or is it just natural recovery?'

His thoughts raced as he processed the information. Then, his gaze shifted back to the status screen.

'And what's with the new name? Ashburn Blackheart… I can't say I hate it.' Pushing those thoughts aside for now, he focused on his only current skill.

[Shadow Extraction]: A resurrection skill unique to the Shadow Monarch. This ability allows the user to reanimate slain targets as shadow soldiers, binding them to their command.

'…Hopefully, this guy had some ID on him.' Ashburn patted down his pockets, but they were completely empty. No wallet, no phone—nothing.

He sighed, glancing around at the dense forest surrounding him. The realization hit hard: he had no clue where he was, no idea whose body he had taken over… if he had even taken over someone's body at all.

The possibility that this body had been created and simply dropped into this world made his head throb.

'Great. And now I have to deal with the government at some point. That's going to be a pain.'

Sighing, he started walking forward—only to stop in his tracks as a rabbit darted toward him at high speed.

His eyes narrowed. Rabbits don't run toward people… they run away. At that moment, the system flashed.

[Name: Zombie Rabbit]

[Level: 1]

Ashburn froze as the system window popped up above the rabbit… his mind blanked for a moment. A zombie… in Marvel? His breath hitched as realization set in. There was only one place this could be.

[New Mission: You've found yourself in the Marvel universe of zombies.]

Objective: Kill 10 zombies.

Reward: [Zombie Virus Immunity], [2 Levels]

Punishment: [Death]

"Fuck!" Ashburn spun on his heels and bolted. But it didn't take long to realize the problem—he couldn't outrun the zombie.

'Why the hell is it so fast? Is this World War Z?' Thinking fast, he leaped into a tree, scrambling up to escape. Below, the zombie rabbit skidded to a stop, staring straight up at him.

His grip tightened on the branch as he stared back. Then he got an idea. He paused for a second, adjusting his position—then let himself drop.

With a hard thud, he landed squarely on the zombie rabbit, crushing it beneath him. Ashburn scrambled off immediately, heart pounding. 'Shit… hope I don't get scratched.' Risky as it was, he had just secured his first kill.

Taking a breath, he turned to the mangled remains and spoke. "Arise."

Darkness surged from the corpse, shadows twisting and expanding into a brief, eerie domain. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the shadows faded—leaving behind a small shadow rabbit.

Ashburn's eyes, which had just begun to brighten, dimmed slightly.

Why? Simple. Using Shadow Extraction had cost him MP. The original skill had no such drawback—he should have been able to use it freely, limited only by the three attempts per target. But now? His MP had been drained. 2 MP for a damn Rabbit...

He exhaled, resigned. 'Guess this nerfed version comes with limits… hopefully, they'll disappear as I grow stronger.'

"You're just a normal shadow rabbit, huh? Damn, I was hoping to see how a shadow zombie virus would spread."

Ashburn let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. Wouldn't that have been something? His amusement was short-lived. A low rustling in the distance made him tense, and when he looked up, his stomach tightened. More zombies were emerging from the forest, shambling toward him.

At least there weren't any insect zombies, if there were, he'd already be dead. He just had to deal with these small animals… rabbits, frogs, anteaters, bears. Wait. A bear?

His breath hitched as his eyes locked onto the hulking, rotting beast among the approaching horde. Decayed flesh clung to its massive frame, and the way it moved—slow, deliberate—made it clear it hadn't lost an ounce of its raw power.

Without hesitation, he scrambled back up the tree, gripping the branches like his life depended on it. He ordered the rabbit to go forward and face the bear, not wanting that thing anywhere near the tree. The small creature twitched, then hopped forward, fearless against the towering undead monster.

The bear opened its massive, rotting jaws, ready to snap up the shadow rabbit.

"Run!" At Ashburn's command, the rabbit pivoted and bolted in the opposite direction. The bear, without hesitation, turned to chase after it, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground.

Ashburn exhaled in relief, tension easing from his shoulders. 'So they're not after my life force or anything weird like that… That was a good sign.' It meant they were simply drawn to movement, things that seemed alive.

That made things much easier. His gaze shifted back to the smaller undead creatures still lingering nearby. He could handle them, he just needed a weapon.

His eyes scanned the tree branches around him. 'A stick should do. No way I'm risking getting scratched.'

With a sturdy stick in hand, Ashburn set his sights on the anteater. He'd heard before that an anteater's claws were strong enough to rip through a human neck. He had no idea if that was true, but he wasn't about to test it the hard way. If this thing was as dangerous as they said, then it was too valuable to ignore.

'If I can turn it into a shadow soldier…' The thought made him smirk. He could just stay perched in the tree and let it do the killing for him.

He ran his fingers along the sharpened tip of his makeshift weapon. 'This should work.' Glancing down, he spotted the anteater clawing at the bark, trying to climb up. Perfect. He positioned himself, preparing to drop down and drive the stick straight through its head... Then he froze. The zombies weren't just aimlessly moving. They were helping the anteater climb, letting it step on their backs to get better footing.