"Student Pent?"
The Black female teacher asked again, this time with a face full of helplessness.
If Kain pent kept acting like this, she was planning to contact his parents about his recent behavior.
But Kain remembered the words he had heard during his dream walk. He quickly opened his textbook, found the question the teacher had asked, and replied,
"Yes, teacher. I know the answer, it's—"
"Very well, sit down."
Seeing that Kain had responded smoothly, the teacher nodded and continued the lesson.
After sitting down, Kain quietly looked at his palm, then pulled out his phone from his school bag, ready to search the Internet for information about this world.
There was something wrong with the dream magic—
No, more accurately, the problem was with him.
He wasn't the real Kain pent. He was a traverser.
Although he had successfully used black magic's dream walk to enter the body of Kain Pent from another universe, he couldn't access this world's Kain's memories.
He had no idea what the people around him were doing.
So far, he only knew he was in high school. Everything else was a mystery.
His only option was to gather information online—see if this world had anything like the Avengers.
"Hey Kain, don't use your phone in class."
A female classmate whispered while covering her mouth with a book. She tilted her head to remind him.
Kain glanced at her, then looked away. She was quite good-looking, but he wasn't in the mood to care.
It wasn't until the bell rang that Kain finally got a glimpse of this world.
It was still New York City.
But there were no Avengers. No S.H.I.E.L.D.
Maybe that kind of news wasn't available on the public web.
To dig deeper, he'd need a computer.
Still, he did find some posts related to Hell's Kitchen, which piqued his interest.
He also came across names like Oscorp and Dr. Otto—names that rang a bell.
"Kain, you've been on your phone all morning. The exams are coming up."
"…Who are you?"
"What?"
Gwen stared at him, surprised. She thought he was just playing dumb.
Just a while ago, he'd said he wanted to study hard and pass the internship at Oscorp. And now he was asking who she was?
"Fine. Do whatever you want. I won't bother anymore."
She turned away angrily.
After Gwen left, Kain shook his head.
This wasn't good.
The soul of the body wasn't the same as his own, and he couldn't access this world's Kain's memories.
It was like two consciousnesses sharing one body.
If they collided—he'd be kicked out.
When lunchtime came, Kain considered skipping his afternoon classes.
Maybe he should just head home and check the computer there instead of staying at school.
He wasn't very popular, but he was skilled at hacking.
The Red Queen had transmitted a knowledge package to him via electromagnetic waves—
including hacking skills.
Besides, his home conditions didn't seem bad.
He'd checked earlier: his clothes were decent, and he had about 400 to 500 dollars in his wallet.
In the cafeteria, Kain bought cheese pasta and juice, then sat alone in a corner to eat.
It didn't taste great, but it was edible.
"Hey, Pent. You avoiding us?"
Several students sat down next to him with trays in hand.
Kain looked up. Two of them were classmates from earlier.
The other three—he didn't recognize at all.
Jim smiled and said, "Lend us some money, Pent. I'll pay you back next time."
As for when "next time" would be, he didn't say. Not that it mattered—this wasn't the first time he'd borrowed money. If he ever intended to pay it back, maybe he would.
His dad's modified car business hadn't sold enough lately.
"No. Get lost. The smell of cigarettes on you is disgusting."
Kain frowned and then said to the dark-skinned student nearby, "Buddy, could you stay away from me? I hate the smell of you people."
"Fuck!"
The student's eyes widened in fury. He immediately stood up, ready to give Kain a proper beating.
But just as he moved, Kain struck him hard in the vitals. The student's head hit the floor, and he passed out instantly.
"Sh*t, are you crazy!?"
"Beat him to death!"
The others were stunned and enraged by the sudden attack. They stood up one after another, prepared to teach Kain a lesson.
But before they could act, Kain grabbed two of them by the collars and slammed their heads against the table with a loud bang.
They both collapsed, unconscious.
The remaining two threw punches at him, but Kain dodged them easily.
His hand-to-hand combat skills weren't great by professional standards—but compared to ordinary people or even average superheroes, Kain was a master.
"Trash. Where's that idiot Jim Bruns?"
Kain glanced down at a student ID card that had fallen on the ground, wiped his hands, and walked straight out of the cafeteria.
He had already eaten and didn't want to waste any more time.
After Kain left, murmurs began spreading in the once-silent cafeteria.
In the far corner, two otherwise unnoticed students were watching. One of them turned to the other and asked in disbelief,
"Parker… that was Kain Pent, right? Sh*t, how the hell did he just beat the crap out of Jim and his crew?!"
"It's insane… I don't know what's going on. Maybe he snapped?"
Peter Parker was just as shocked. Kain Pent usually got bullied even more than he did—and he'd always been quiet, like a closed book.
But today, in less than three minutes, he took out all five of Jim's gang like a completely different person.
Across the room, Gwen Stacy bit into her sausage in shock. It felt like a dream.
By the time she came back to her senses, Kain had already left the school.
After leaving, Kain tried checking his original universe's home address—
Luckily, it hadn't changed. When he returned, the housekeeper happened to be present, and so were this world's version of Kain Pent's parents.
He made up a random excuse and went straight to his room to start searching for more information.
Fortunately, the former Kain Pent had kept a diary—typical behavior for someone who suffered from school bullying.
From it, Kain gathered useful information.
The parents were familiar. Unlike his original universe, they were still alive here.
They were quite busy with work, but doing well in the hospital and pharmaceutical business.
According to what Kain found online, the Pent family had assets totaling over $100 million.
Jim and his crew—and also Thompson—used to bully Kain in school.
Jim's group did it mostly for money; Thompson just enjoyed it.
Kain also discovered that the former owner of his body had a crush on his deskmate, Gwen Stacy.
Kain ignored that part—he didn't consider it useful.
However, he found no trace of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, or even Hydra.
Still, that made some sense. If Hydra existed, the U.S. government would likely have formed a special science unit to counter them.
"Technology on this Earth is pitiful," Kain thought to himself.
"With no Hydra, they can't even build an arc reactor. Otto's artificial solar energy gets hyped like a miracle. The level of scientific development is laughable."
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed this world held little value.
The tech was primitive. He couldn't even leave the planet, let alone hunt for Infinity Stones.
Being able to Dreamwalk into this body could be considered a complete success of black magic.
After spending the entire afternoon gathering information in his room, Kain's parents returned home in the evening. They were always busy with their business, so they didn't pay much attention to "Kain Pent"—but they were generous when it came to material needs.
They had never been stingy with money. Currently, Kain had nearly a hundred thousand dollars in his bank account, so carrying a few hundred in cash was nothing unusual—even if it made him a target for Jim and his gang.
"How was school today?"
During dinner, Kain's father asked about his day as he usually did. If there was any problem, they were ready to help solve it. But Kain always replied with the same line: "Everything's fine."
This time, Kain casually replied, "Same as usual. Nothing special. By the way—are you still in the pharmaceutical business? Have you considered developing a new drug for sale?"
Bess Pent looked surprised, then smiled. "Researching new drugs isn't that easy. Even with a strong R&D team, it usually takes at least ten years to develop one."
After thinking about it for a moment, Kain dismissed the idea. He didn't plan to stay in this world too long, so it wasn't worth drawing unnecessary attention to himself.
As for money, he could earn it through financial markets, hacking methods, or by using personal safehouses. Suddenly, he asked, "I remember there's an empty villa in Brook Forest. Can I use it? I can pay rent."
"You want to move out?"
His father frowned slightly. "It's pretty far from your school. If you go there, you'll need a car."
Then he continued, "No need for rent—but no one's lived there in a while. If you're moving in, you'll need to clean the place thoroughly. I'll get you the key later."
"I'll handle it."
With that, Kain finished the rest of his meal and went straight to his room. After he left, the Pent couple exchanged confused looks. They both felt that their son seemed different today—like a completely different person.
Once back in his room, Kain registered a new financial account, then spent a few hours creating a simple artificial intelligence. Afterward, he continued studying the magic recorded in the Darkhold.
After all, this was an entire universe. If he came all this way and left without taking anything, it would feel like a waste.
Moreover, the spells Soul Tentacle and Devour were listed before Dreamwalk in the Darkhold—
So Kain had a strong suspicion about what Chthon might be planning.
…
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