Something warm.
And still.
And too quiet.
I blinked against the light leaking through the curtains, but didn't move.
The bed felt… unfamiliar. Too flat. Too neat.
No tail thumping. No eager huffing by the door.
Loki was probably already up, tail going, staring at the front door like the it owed him rent.
I groaned and sat up—then froze.
Something brushed my cheek.
Soft. Lighter than it should've been.
Green.
I stared at the strand resting on my shoulder.
Then grabbed a handful, just to be sure.
Still green.
"…Right."
Memory slammed back like a boss intro.
Dice. Flash. Grimoire. Mutants. Rooftop parkour.
Thousands of pots in my inventory and zero regrets.
So much for normal.
I swung my legs off the bed and stood — slowly. Carefully.
Muscles protested a little, like I'd done a full week's worth of cardio in one night.
Which… yeah, fair.
I stretched my arms overhead, spine popping in three different places.
That helped.
A little.
[System Notification]
First Day Survived
+50 CP awarded
— Duration: 24 hours
— Outcome: Intact
— Vital signs: Acceptable
— Collateral damage: Statistically impressive
Congratulations. You didn't explode.
I blinked at the text.
"…Thanks, I guess?"
The HUD didn't close.
Of course.
"Seriously? First thing in the morning?"
The screen shimmered.
Spell Draw
Name: I Read About Them Before
Source: Touhou Project: Forbidden Hermit
Chapter: Lore
Cost: 100 CP
Your knowledge of youkai is vast, drawn from countless books and studies.
You understand most youkai — their types, behavior, weaknesses — except those long forgotten.
Grants insight into their psychology, and how to protect yourself from their attacks.
I squinted.
"...Youkai."
I could see the value.
If I ever landed in Gensokyo, sure.
Library nerd powers activate. I'd be the MVP of not dying to spooky Japanese folklore.
But in the middle of mutant riots, Sentinel programs, and Magneto trying to rewrite geopolitics?
Yeah. Not exactly high priority.
"Hard pass."
Spell Draw
Name: Sorcery - Alchemy Ritual (Four Dots)
Source: World of Darkness: Sorcery
Chapter: Making
Cost: 50 CP
Allows the creation of supernatural potions and chemical substances.
Four-dot tier includes:
– Temporary physical enhancement formulas (up to superhuman level)
– Anti-aging drug regimens
– Side effects: extreme hunger during active periods
Note: Requires prior perk: Sorcery – Alchemy (Four Dots)
I rubbed my face.
"Cool. Illegal science juice."
Actually not bad — in another context.
Being able to brew super-steroids or slow down aging wasn't exactly useless.
If I was building a lab. Or trying to sell black market upgrades in Blade Runner.
But it needed a base perk I didn't have.
And between Terraria crafting, system perks, and breaking into museums, I had enough projects.
"Not today, Walter White."
Skipped it.
I closed the menu and sat back against the mattress.
Planning time.
If the timeline was still on track, Rogue hadn't escaped yet.
Wolverine hadn't found her.
The X-Men and Brotherhood hadn't even met.
Which meant… this was the quiet before the storm.
One of my exit options involved interfering with Magneto's big plan.
That could mean helping him.
Or wrecking his odds completely.
And right now?
That meant options.
I could intercept Rogue early — prevent the Brotherhood from ever finding her.
She's the lynchpin. No Rogue, no Statue of Liberty showdown.
Or… go bigger.
I could activate the Class Card, track down Magneto, and end it myself.
Assassinate the man, disable him, sabotage whatever base he's hiding in.
It'd be loud. Messy. Permanent.
Or flip the script and go for Charles instead.
Not permanently — probably.
But if I shut down the psychic interference early, it'd reshape everything.
Or — Jean.
Phoenix.
Sure, it's the movie version. Watered down, unstable, and sitting way beneath the surface.
But it's still the Phoenix Force.
Still a cosmic nuke waiting for a trigger.
No idea what I'd even do with that.
But there's no way the system wouldn't reward me for it.
Whether I helped her break free or put her down — it'd count.
Big risk. Bigger payout.
And then there was Cerebro.
If I could find the mansion, sneak in, and drop the whole system into my inventory…
Same with Magneto's helmet.
If I could grab it, it'd give me psychic defense — guaranteed.
Assuming he even has it yet.
I honestly couldn't remember.
Still… good list.
Now I just had to pick a target.
As for Rogue…
I almost discarded the idea.
Sure, she was important — the whole plan hinged on her — but taking her off the board now wouldn't be hard.
Not with the Class Card active.
The problem?
I had no clue where she was.
No idea what house she was about to leave, or where she'd run off to.
And without that info, I'd be chasing shadows.
Still… if interfering this early gave me a massive boost in CP—
I might need to revisit the idea.
Still… good list.
Now I just had to pick a target.
Magneto was the simplest. High-profile, high-stakes.
Find him, kill him. Or cripple him hard enough to derail the entire Brotherhood.
He was powerful, sure—magnetic manipulation on a large scale.
But unless he sensed me coming, he'd be vulnerable.
And if I pulled it off?
The system would treat it like ending a boss fight before the intro cutscene.
Taking out Charles was definitely on the table.
With Presence Concealment active, nobody could sense me — not even psychics.
Probably.
But if he was using Cerebro when I got close…
I wasn't sure if that still held true. And I didn't feel like testing it with my brain as the control group.
Still — high value target. Easy CP.
Just needed the right setup.
Then there was Rogue.
I'd almost written her off—couldn't track what I couldn't find. I didn't know where she was, or where she'd run once things started moving.
But the more I thought about it…
If I could find her — cut the Brotherhood off before they even knew where to look —
Hide her somewhere. Remove the lynchpin from the board.
That alone might be worth a serious CP reward.
Jean.
I didn't even know where to begin.
The Phoenix Force was buried under layers of mental blocks, trauma, and suppressed memories.
It wasn't active yet—but it was there.
And touching it, changing it, unleashing it or sealing it permanently—
That was the kind of high-concept trigger the Celestial Grimoire loved.
If I could find a way to interact with it safely… or dangerously…
Either would count.
Too risky to rush.
But I'd keep her on the board.
And then there was Cerebro.
If I could find the mansion, sneak in, and drop the whole system into my inventory...
Same with Magneto's helmet.
If I could get my hands on it.
Assuming he even had it yet.
But if I spotted him wearing it, I was taking it. Period.
So.
Rogue.
Magneto.
Charles.
Jean.
Technology
Tracking Rogue sounded good on paper — cut off the Brotherhood's plan before it started, remove their key piece.
But I had no idea where she was.
Didn't remember if she was even in New York yet.
Something told me she wasn't.
Which meant: wasted effort. For now.
Better to aim at what I could reach.
Magneto.
If I could find him, take him out — or at least steal his helmet — it'd be a massive opening.
With that helmet in my hands, going after Charles would be a real option.
Without it? Risky. Depends on where he's holed up.
So, step one: locate the Brotherhood.
Maybe I could slip in under my Enkidu identity — a mercenary mutant looking to join up.
Or maybe I'd just wait. Let the plan unfold in New York, and track the fallout.
Either way… the board was set.
But before diving into Magneto's lair or poking at Professor X, I needed to handle something simpler.
Practice.
If I was going to survive here — really survive — I couldn't flinch when it came time to kill.
Not just monsters. Not hypotheticals.
People.
So I'd start small.
Someone expendable.
Someone the world wouldn't miss.
And more importantly — someone I could loot.
I hadn't tested that part of the Terraria perk yet.
Did enemies drop gear? Currency? Raw materials?
Was it tied to the source world, or just randomized?
Only one way to find out.
No Brotherhood politics. No careful infiltration.
Just a name, a map, and a phone.
I scrolled through a few shady forums — late-'90s relics running on black backgrounds and green text, filled with conspiracy theorists and edgy teens who thought anonymity meant insight.
Most of it was garbage. Urban legends, hearsay, one guy swearing his cousin's friend could shoot lightning from his fingertips.
But some stories repeated.
South Bronx.
Turf war brewing.
Weird injuries. People moving too fast.
One thread mentioned a guy with metal claws — not the cool kind. Homemade. Rusty.
Another talked about someone who "walked through a locked vault" and didn't trigger the alarm.
No proof. No names.
Just enough smoke to suggest fire.
Exactly what I needed.
The warp kicked in without noise or flash.
[Warp Activated – NY South]
I arrived on a rooftop near Battery Park—same place I anchored earlier. From here, the South Bronx was just a few kilometers north.
I didn't activate the Class Card, no need for it.
I moved fast, crossing rooftops one by one. Leaps, drops, short climbs. I kept my profile low, hugging ledges and avoiding open skylines.
When a gap was too wide or a wall too high, I used flight—short bursts, low to the ground. Quiet. Efficient.
Mystical Infiltration kept me hidden. Stranger ran passively in the background. Between the two, I wasn't being seen. Nothing triggered. No one looked twice—because no one looked at all.
I crossed into the South Bronx. The texture of the city changed.
Fewer cars. Dimmer lights. More shadows than windows. The streets weren't empty—but the people in them moved like they expected something to go wrong.
I climbed up a service ladder and crouched behind a vent on a five-story building. From here, I could see a cluster of blocks ahead—three rooftops with movement, and at least two groups below.
One was loud. Messy. Baseball bats and shouting matches. Gang territory.
The other was quieter, but not subtle, same age range. Hoodies, boots, restless hands. Loitering near a corner store with boarded windows, same kind of posture, same kind of tension.
Different colors.
I stayed low and kept watching.
The first group wore red—mostly bandanas, but a few had shirts or hats to match. Sloppy but consistent. The second group leaned blue, or close enough. Jackets with patches, some spray-painted symbols on the alley wall behind them.
Nothing special. Just territorial lines.
I watched for a few minutes, long enough to spot someone peeling off from the red group. Young. Hoodie down, no one stopped him and no one followed.
He crossed the street like it was routine.
I stood up and moved across the rooftops, keeping pace without drawing attention. He walked steady, cutting through a side street without looking back. No caution, no spot checks.
I dropped to ground level half a block behind him, followed along, and closed the gap. Mystical Infiltration still active, Stranger layered over it. There was nothing subtle about the approach, but he didn't hear it.
He turned into a narrow passage between buildings. I followed.
One arm over his mouth, the other around his neck. The body resisted for less than a second. Vertebrae shifted under pressure. He slumped.
I eased him down, checked the space. Clear.
As the body settled, the loot dropped.
Seventeen dollars in small bills.
A cheap plastic lighter.
One torn red bandana.
I took the cash. Straight into the Inventory
Grabbed the bandana too. Might help later.
Left the lighter where it was.
Then I searched the body. Jacket pocket had a folding knife—cheap but solid. I kept it.
Old phone in the front pocket, screen cracked but still on. I took that too.
I checked the alley one last time. Still quiet.
Time to move.
One turn, then another, until I was clear of the alley. No one had followed. No one had looked out a window. The street ahead was empty.
First kill. Thought it'd be a bigger deal.
There was some tension when I grabbed him—sure. But then it was done. Clean. Quick.
Turns out, it's easier than it looks.
Not saying that's good. Just... surprising.
Honestly, I haven't had time to process much. Dice roll, system drop, magic, mutants, rooftops, now this.
Feels more like a game than something permanent. Like I'm still waiting for someone to call timeout.
Maybe I'm just handling it better than expected.
Hard to tell.