[System]Received blueprint (Common) — "Refined Extremis Formula (Marvel)." (Unlocking this blueprint costs 500 OP.)
Extremis — the latest development in the pursuit of a super-soldier. It grants a person superhuman strength, lightning reflexes, and exceptional endurance. Extremis users gain the ability to generate extreme heat through a metabolic process, enabling them to heat any part of their body to thousands of degrees Celsius at will. Regeneration with Extremis is impressive: wounds turn to smoldering ash from which lost tissue can regenerate within minutes, returning to normal skin, flesh and bone. But this power comes at a price: the body registers on thermal scanners, and excessive overheating can trigger a catastrophic explosion. Use with caution!
This... flips my plans on their head, making them suddenly obsolete and absurd. Bloody Extremis, from this same universe! Okay, it's not certain it's this variant's exact origin, but still… Even under a heavy neuro-stimulant I can't contain my excitement. I want it. I want it, I want it — a physical hunger for the power that this blueprint promised. Especially since it's a refined version, so presumably the risk of explosive failure on injection is reduced; overheating, unfortunately, remains an issue. But damn, it looks delicious — and I have 485 OP left, with 15 OP I can earn in about half an hour. That means I could obtain knowledge of how to make a goddamn super-soldier serum, without leaving my place and pretty quickly.
Forcing myself to calm down, I switched to cold calculation. Emotions aside. Extremis is here — or rather, the recipe is. Unlike a simple Elixir of Intellect, this won't be doable with what I currently have. If memory serves — and under the neuro-stimulant the odds of error are low — Extremis involves nanotechnology, which is practically top-tier stuff. I'd need a more advanced lab, resources, money, and more knowledge. The last is the most important. Unlocking the recipe now would be like buying a starship blueprint when all I have in the backyard is a pile of scrap metal and a wrench. Tempting, but utterly useless at this stage.
No matter how tempting the recipe was, I resisted and spun the gacha again for 250 OP, hoping for something at least as useful — or better — than that broken super-soldier blueprint. Damn, that blueprint was Common rarity; nothing higher had dropped for me yet. Maybe now?
[System]Received item (Common) — "Box of Magical Ore (Each Comes Home)." (Unlocking this item costs 400 OP; ensure you have 1 free inventory slot!)
Who forges without metal? In this world equipment means a lot, and without quality materials a craftsman can't fulfill his potential.
Fortunately, you have a capacious storage box (2×2×1 m) filled to the brim with chunks of raw ore — from common iron to the rarest heavenly metals. The rarer the ore, the scarcer it is in the box. Hopefully you have the tools to refine and forge them! The box's contents replenish monthly.
An item! Finally. In that moment my overloaded brain instantly mapped the chain: Extremis is the goal. The ore box is the means. It's not money — it's a foundation. An endless source of resources to build a lab, to create equipment, to achieve financial independence. Why the hell is this "Common" Box of Ore so busted? Yes, unlocking it isn't cheap, but monthly replenishment of a range of ores — from ordinary to a hypothetical Adamantium or Uru... No, it's too good to be true. It could hold gold and platinum too, which would solve my financial problems. Priorities changed instantly. First — unlock this box. Second — something from Arcanum, like the Muscle Stimulator, for survivability. Third — once I'm more established in this world with a proper workshop and funds — the Extremis blueprint.
So I had about an hour and a half to two hours while the Elixir of Intellect persisted; I needed to sort out the next steps:
Where did I leave traces, if any, and did I attract unwanted attention?
How to most efficiently earn enough OP to hit 400 — ideally today.
Calculate the budget needed to move out of this dump and how to convert valuable ore from the box into money without drawing scrutiny.
Other questions, time permitting — and, at minimum, review key origin points of major characters in this universe and compare them to this world. It wouldn't hurt to have a baseline for where the starting point is.
Alright, let's go in order. My head, like a powerful processor, devoted full resources to the first task. I noted the Phantom Orchid as the likely trace — and not as a maybe, but as a very real one. It grows at night in a park in one of central New York City neighborhoods; it couldn't have gone unnoticed. There's no public record of this flower — which makes sense, just like you wouldn't find info about Vibranium in public sources. So the Phantom Orchid's existence is hidden knowledge, for the initiated, and I trespassed.
Who collects these mystical flowers in Bowling Green Park? S.H.I.E.L.D.? Some order of mages? A corporation like Oscorp? The important thing: on the night I took it — or the next night — whoever collects them didn't find the plant. My main mistake, driven by impulsive greed, was taking the entire flower cluster with several dozen blooms. One missing bloom could be blamed on an animal or a vandal. The disappearance of the whole plant is a clear theft. So — could they come after me? And how?
Threat analysis: standard methods. Camera tracking: the city is full of them. Pros can build a heat map of my movements, track my "digital ghost" — my phone, even if it had been off (and it WAS NOT off) — leaving traces via cell towers. They'll construct my route and narrow it down to Hell's Kitchen, where cameras are imperfect but present. Maybe down to my street, which is relatively decent by neighborhood standards. After that? Door-to-door checks, anomaly searches — like a sudden spike in my apartment's electricity consumption. Or maybe I made a huge footprint somewhere I can't recall even with the neuro-doping. In any case, agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D., if they want to find me, will. It's a matter of time and priority. For now I'm an unknown thief of a rare, but not world-shattering, plant — assuming I even made it onto their radar. But if they learn I synthesized something from it...
Threat analysis: nonstandard methods. A hypothetical Lenape tribe shaman collecting the flower for a potent magical tobacco? If he's truly a mage, then… I don't recall local magic users having foresight or direct access to an information field, unless through Great Artifacts like the Eye of Agamotto (which, in effect, is a Time Stone). I doubt anyone would deploy a cosmic-level artifact to look for a flower. Besides, I want to believe I'm a "blind spot" for this world. My being an interloper and having a System might make me invisible to magical sensors. The fact that almost two days have passed and no one's shown up is the best proof. If they search for me, they'll use standard methods. So yes, worrying is reasonable, but panicking is premature. Still, it imposes a hard condition: I need to accelerate my move. With only $200 in my account...
Okay — did I leave other traces? Materials procurement: I tried to use different hardware stores or buy secondhand from private sellers, paying cash. For now, that seems clean. And overall, my gear doesn't scream "meth lab" — just ordinary lab supplies. Interactions with Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn? I think they've already forgotten me. Note to self: avoid blatant mistakes when dealing with restricted resources. That attracts attention.
First item is clear. The threat is real but delayed. I've got a window I must use. And that brings me to the next point.
Next on the agenda: how to most efficiently grind today until I reach 400 OP?