Chapter 2: The Marvel of Chance

  “I am Iron Man.”

  The screen dimmed, and the old Marvel Studios logo rolled across his cracked phone. Aditya y on his bed like a corpse—arms flopped, shirt wrinkled, the glow of the screen flickering off an empty soda can banced on his chest.

  For the seventh time this month, he’d rewatched Iron Man 1. And for the seventh time, he whispered the same words like a prayer to the multiverse.

  “If I ever get reincarnated into Marvel with some busted-ass system,” he muttered, “I swear I’m building a harem.”

  He smirked, tossing the can aside.

  “Wanda, Natasha, maybe even He if the writers aren't cowards. Throw in a cool-ass ability like a Third Eye or something broken and mystic—hell yeah, I’d run that universe.”

  The fan hummed overhead. The world was quiet. Too quiet.

  Then—nothing.

  Not darkness. Not sleep. Not silence.

  Just... presence.

  Aditya blinked. Or thought he did. It was hard to tell. There was no bed. No ceiling. No body. No time.

  Only presence.

  And light.

  A vast, white radiance surrounded him—not warm, not cold. Just... there. It felt like standing in the center of truth. Like every atom of existence had gathered to witness this one conversation.

  Then came the voice. Calm. Unshakable. Ancient.

  “You are dead, Aditya.”

  No thunder. No echo. Just a statement.

  Aditya, still vaguely shaped like himself, paused.

  “...Huh.”

  “No screaming?”

  “Honestly?” he said, “Kinda expected this. Dying mid-YouTube binge just fits my luck. Was it a heart attack?”

  “Bus crash. Your fault, partially. But irrelevant now.”

  “Well, damn,” Aditya shrugged. “Guess that’s that. No family, no girlfriend, just corporate svery. Not gonna miss much.”

  The light pulsed—was that... approval?

  “Then listen carefully. You are offered a choice. Rebirth. In any world you desire.”

  Aditya’s mental jaw dropped. “Wait, for real?”

  “You may choose where to go, and you will retain your memories. That is all.”

  He didn’t hesitate.

  “Marvel. MCU timeline. Final answer.”

  Silence.

  Then… a soft chuckle?

  “As I suspected.”

  Aditya squinted into the void. “Who even are you?”

  “I am the One Above All. The Creator. Of your world… and many more.”

  Aditya’s soul twitched. “So... like, the big boss of Marvel?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  Aditya coughed awkwardly. “Right. Okay. Well… thank you, sir. Or light. Or god-light-sir.”

  The presence didn’t react. It only continued.

  “Before your soul transitions, I must inform you of something else. I overheard your little wish... about the system. And the Third Eye.”

  Aditya stiffened.

  “Oh, uh, you did?”

  “I find it… amusing. As such, I will grant it. A System to guide you. And a unique ability—The Third Eye. With it, you will see the unseen, copy power, and perhaps even evolve it in time.”

  Aditya blinked—again, mentally. “Are you serious? That’s... That’s insane. I thought karma was supposed to suck in my life.”

  “You lived without expecting reward. That, too, is karma. So accept this as a gift from the Creator.”

  He was grinning now. Full anime-protagonist-mode.

  “I accept. Hell yeah, I accept.”

  The light around him began to shift, folding and spinning like paper across dimensions.

  “Then go. Change what must be changed. Become what you must. And do not squander this chance.”

  The void began to colpse inward as Aditya’s soul surged forward into the fabric of another universe.

  Just before he vanished, he heard the One Above All whisper—

  “Let’s see what you do with a lie."

  Then everythig turned white.