"Why are you spacing out? Hurry up and tell me."
The girl's small, pale hand waved in front of Finney's face. With a dissatisfied look, she urged, "My time is precious. Tell me already—what happened to that guy just now?"
"What are you getting at?" Snapped out of his memories, Finney frowned at the girl and asked, "You're still investigating that incident, Skye? I've told you a hundred times—it's dangerous, and this isn't the right time to be looking into it."
Skye Halsage—that was the girl's name. She was Finney's sister, though not by blood. Not a half-sister, nor an adopted sibling. She was brought into his life through the 'Golden Magic'—the very first time Finney had successfully used the ability.
After acquiring the 'Golden Great Technique,' Finney—still just a baby—had spent every moment he wasn't eating, sleeping, or crying studying the system. While the 'Golden Great Technique' was incredibly powerful, there were countless other fascinating abilities across anime worlds. He wanted more.
So, his daily obsession became figuring out how to trigger another extraction. He watched the system interface within his mind every day, noting that the experience bar increased ever so slightly. But at that pace, he feared it would take an eternity to draw a second skill.
At that stage, though, he was barely able to crawl. Solving this problem seemed impossible in the short term.
As fate would have it, when Finney was about one year old, he started noticing oddities in the world around him. The house had modern appliances, but everything seemed slightly outdated, as though from a different era.
One day, after learning to understand the language, he overheard a TV broadcast commemorating the fifth anniversary of billionaire Howard Stark and his wife's death—and praising their son, Tony Stark, for his accomplishments. That was the moment Finney realized exactly where he was.
The Marvel Universe.
The revelation hit him like a freight train. All his dreams of easy riches and living a peaceful life vanished in an instant.
He wasn't unfamiliar with the name Marvel. In his previous life, he had enjoyed the movies. But he never imagined he'd be reborn into such a chaotic and dangerous world—a world of aliens, superhumans, and galactic threats.
As he pieced together information from the outside world, he was relieved to discover there were no mutants. That lowered the baseline threat level. Still, the dangers in Marvel's New York—where catastrophic events were almost routine—meant he had to act fast.
He didn't want to gamble on surviving Thanos' snap. Living in a city constantly under threat, he needed power. Urgently.
Despite his desperation, progress was slow. Seven years passed. Finney tried everything—touching safe voltage outlets, eating different foods, anything he thought might charge the experience gauge. Nothing worked.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Though Finney had grown into a clever, well-behaved child, he made sure not to display anything that would catch the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra. Still, he earned the deep affection of his parents, who had him late in life.
Finney found their doting love overwhelming, though. He tried to push back and avoid being treated like a baby. But resisting too much would raise suspicion, so he played the role of a typical misbehaving kid.
On his seventh birthday, after being dragged around a mall all day, Finney finally reached his breaking point. Exhausted, he flopped onto his bed, surrounded by plush toys, staring at the ceiling.
That's when a thought popped into his head:
"It would be nice if I had a sister."
It wasn't a deep wish—just a fleeting thought. He hoped having a sister might share the weight of his parents' attention. He didn't want a younger sibling who'd be more work, nor an older brother who might cause trouble.
Right after thinking it, he felt a searing pain in his head. His vision darkened, and he nearly passed out. Even without losing consciousness, the sensation was like a brutal three-day hangover.
At that same moment, a young girl stumbled up to Finney's house, holding her head in pain and collapsing on the doorstep.
Finney's head was spinning, but what followed thrilled him: the experience gauge in his system had suddenly maxed out.
It had taken seven years, but finally—finally—the skill had activated.
Just as Finney was about to trigger a new extraction, his parents' voices called out from downstairs.
"Did it already work?" he muttered, pushing aside his excitement and getting up to investigate.
Downstairs, a little girl sat stiffly on the sofa. Her amber eyes were wide, framed by long lashes and arched brows. A big lump swelled on her otherwise flawless forehead.
Finney's parents sat beside her, and across from them were a man and a woman, both looking rather apologetic.
"Finney, this is—"
"Skye!" the girl interrupted sharply, her clear voice steady. "My name is Skye."
"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Hellset," the man across from her said. "But we're taking her back to St. Agnes."
"St. Agnes?" Finney echoed.
His head still ached, and he didn't fully understand how the ability had worked. But he wasn't about to let someone who might be key to his future be taken away.
"It's an orphanage," his mother explained, coming over and gently taking his hand. "Your father and I want to adopt her. Is that alright with you?"
"Absolutely!" Finney nodded without hesitation. He didn't care about the details. As long as he got a sister to help divert his parents' attention, he was happy.
His parents clearly adored the girl already.
Skye looked surprised by the offer, but didn't seem happy—only cautious and a bit sad. She had already been through three failed foster homes. Getting thrown out again was a pain she wasn't eager to repeat.
But no matter her doubts, she couldn't escape the influence of the 'Golden Great Technique'—nor the affection of Finney's parents.
The next day, both lawyers by trade, Finney's parents finalized the adoption in just two hours. Skye officially became his sister.
Having summoned Skye through the 'Golden Evolution,' Finney gained new insight into how the system worked. He theorized that the experience gauge increased not only with time, but also through actively using abilities.
That theory would be confirmed when he drew his second skill.