HEAD-PATTING IN MARVEL

Chapter 1: Please be gentle Truck-kun

'Year 202X, the pandemic is still going...

Now it's been the 9th time I've tested positive for the virus.

Hopefully... it'll finally be the end for me.'

Ryan thought in his mind as he looked at the self-test kit for the virus after having the symptoms.

He put the kit down and laid sideways on the bed. Covering his skinny body with a thin blanket, he checks for a part-time job with his phone.

Although he tested positive, he plans to do nothing about it. If this takes him out, finally his mundane and stressful life will be over.

The pandemic has caused him to lose everything - his friend, his family and his loved ones.

A life of depression - which he resides inside a 5m² single-room lodging. A cramped room with bare necessities, trying to survive in the world.

Suicidal thoughts tempted him every day- yet he is afraid to do it.

So he's hoping the virus will do it for him. He didn't actively seek the virus, but his hard life won't give him a break. Until today he is unsure whether his luck is good or bad.

After trying to avoid the responsibility, he still dragged himself to the hospital for a proper checkup.

Taking out a neatly folded shabby brown coat from his organized small drawer, he put on a mask and walked to the hospital.

For his first infection, irreparable damage occurred in his lung, causing him to cough all the time. In the cold weather, his coughs worsen as he is walking - causing people to stare at him on the streets.

"I'm sorry sir, your credit card declined", said the hospital receptionist.

Ryan is silent when he hears what the receptionist said. The young receptionist looked at him with a concerned look, but there is nothing she can do about it.

All these years of treatment have emptied his bank account. He's badly in debt and now he lost himself in fantasy.

He couldn't get his medication this time as he didn't get enough money. After thanking the nurse, he left the hospital.

On his way back, he scrolls on his phone, searching for novel recommendations. The cracked screen is displaying some of the novels he had added to his to-read list.

His favorite thing to read is a transmigration novel.

A desire to start over in another world, maybe become young again instead of nearing 40 years old.

In which life is simple in the tale.

Maybe trying world-building or can become overpowered with a system.

Maybe...just maybe...he will love his life there.

Nothing is interesting to him in his life right now other than the novel and manga he read. His daily life consists of working, eating, or sleeping.

Sometimes he couldn't eat, or couldn't sleep, but he never couldn't work - without it, he'd lose his ability to eat and his place to sleep.

Still on his phone, Ryan tuned out the surroundings as he walked home.

A drunken man is driving carelessly on the road a block away. Loud music is blasted from the truck speakers as the man sings along with the song that is playing.

Unaware, Ryan is crossing the street to get across the bodega on the other side, maybe buy a sandwich or two for tonight's dinner.

'If I can get to another world it'll be perfect. As long as it's not Marvel or DC universes. Those universes are too dangerous.'