ALL NOVEL Chapter 3
How do I want to do this? Gwen couldn’t help but ask herself. I’d rather not get physical. It’s not that I’m scared of fighting; I think I could beat most normal people out there, apart from the most skilled. I don’t know my strength. I don’t want to kill the man.
She heard the young man talk while such thoughts were going through her mind. “Just hand over your purse and jewellery, and you can go.” The man spoke in something of a casual, lazy voice, showing that he held no fear of the woman before him. It was honestly more threatening in a way. He displayed the confidence and calmness to take what he wanted from the woman, and the woman seemed to recognise this as well.
He was still playing with his knife, waiting for the woman to make her move before Gwen tapped him on the shoulder. He jerked slightly and slowly looked over his shoulder. “Hey there, are you sure you want to continue?” She couldn’t help but ask, getting a proper look at his face from under his hood. He reacted fast, the dagger in his hands going into a reverse grip as he slammed the knife towards Gwen’s gut with little to no hesitation at all.
The Knife didn’t reach, however, as Gwen caught his wrist, twisting it and causing him to drop it. I hope I didn’t break anything. Letting go of the wrist, Gwen noticed something. Well, this guy has probably killed before, and this isn’t his first mugging. Let’s test some moves. As she thought so, she noticed the man getting ready for combat as he raised his fists before his head and…turned away and ran.
Gwen was stumped. “Hey! You tried to stab me! Why are you running now?” she couldn’t help but exclaim in confusion; only then she noticed that he seemed to be running towards the woman. “Ah.” She realised, and her wrist shot out and a web attached to the man's back; Gwen proceeded to pull on the webbing quite hard, and the man landed on his butt.
“Agh. What the fuck, woman?” The man yelled out, his earlier calm confidence replaced with some fear.
“Hmph. You shouldn’t have tried to take her hostage and let me have my fun in this fight.” She replied, descending on him in a barrage of light punches, well light for her. She quickly found the right strength that should be used for regular people, and the man was left on the side with a black eye and a fractured arm; her first punch may have been a tad bit strong. “Now, have you learned your lesson that mugging people is bad?” She asked but only got a choked sob from the man as he nodded. “Good.” She stated, webbing his wrists and feet to the floor.
She took her phone out of her inventory, turned it on, and was about to report the crime. However, after looking at her lock screen, which held a picture of her and her father, she knew she shouldn’t make a phone call with her cell. She looked up and found that the woman had stepped back a couple of paces while looking nervously at the figure before her.
It must be stated that it was pretty dark in the alley, and the woman's fear was well-founded. “Hey there, lady, can you call the cops?” Gwen asked and got a hesitant nod in return. "Excellent!” she replied, not wanting the woman to be in fear. She webbed her way out of the alleyway and found herself a good vantage point, where she sat and watched over the proceedings as the cops came and arrested the man while also questioning the lady.
[Congratulations Gwen! You’ve finished your first quest. To the first of many!] Yuri said, quite happy with how it turned out, and Gwen could almost see her clapping her hands in childish excitement.
“Yeah, I think I’d be pretty good at this small-time stuff; it does make me wonder what I may face in the future, though. Plus, it does feel good to help people.” Gwen realised. She may have never been someone to stick their neck out for others like Peter, but seeing the look of relief on the woman’s face when the man was down made her realise that she may have been quite a softie. Also, she found herself quite proud that her actions allowed the woman to arrive home safely. It was a new feeling, and Gwen liked it quite a lot.
[Well, would you like to accept your rewards?]
“Hehe, of course I do!” She was also happy she was actively rewarded, but nobody else needed to know that.
[Quest Completed: Stop the Mugging.]
[Rewards: 1 Gacha draw, 500 Yuri points.]
Gwen was quite excited as she looked at the rewards. A Gacha was like trying to win the lottery, and Gwen realised as she opened the Gacha tab of her system that she had two free Gacha draws. “Why do I have two free spins, Yuri? I thought that I only had one.”
[Ah, the first one was free, a gift of the system. I was surprised you had yet to open the Gacha or Store page, so I wanted to see how long it would take.] Yuri explained, and Gwen thought she was spinning around in her chair as she looked innocent.
“Huh, well, I’ll open the store page shortly. Let’s see what these two draws get me.” Mentally clicking the spin button, the prize wheel quickly spun before finally landing on a white. It was a packet of instant noodles. “Well, I don’t know what else I expected from a white drop. But this makes sense, I suppose.” Gwen shook her head, smiling wryly as she took the instant noodles out of her inventory. Her smile quickly stiffened as she looked at the image on the package of the instant noodles. A familiar cute pink-haired girl was on it, making a cutesy pose that was also quite suggestive, her fingers making a V-shape and her tongue looking like it was about to lick it.
[What do you think? Shall I wear less clothing in my next one? Show some skin?]
“So that really is you? And you look great, by the way!” Gwen complimented with a smile.
[Hehe…I know I look great!] Once again, Gwen felt she was sticking her chest out in pride, with a light blush on her cheeks.
Placing the instant noodles back into her inventory, Gwen quickly returned her focus to the Gacha and spun the wheel again. This time, rather than landing on a white common drop, it landed on a green uncommon drop. Gwen looked at the familiar handheld device that she didn’t expect to see as a drop from the Gacha, but Gwen couldn’t help but smile. It was a police scanner.
However, it wasn’t the usual police scanner that Gwen was used to seeing on her father's uniform, but an enhanced one. It was still a handheld device, but unlike the clunky design she was accustomed to, this one seemed much sleeker and even held more functions. Flipping through the device, she quickly realised that it even had a camera to record any evidence, as well as using the scanner to identify people with a criminal record. “Damn. Is this the type of thing that can come out of uncommon drops? This single device could cause the entire police force a much easier life.” She was genuinely surprised, but that surprise just started as Yuri’s words shocked her.
[If you’d like, you can add the police scanner in your hand and combine it with your suit for a small price of 100YP.]
Furrowing her brows, Gwen asked. “What do you mean combine exactly?” She was somewhat picturing it attached to her hip or something, but she didn’t want it to affect the sleek attire of the Ghost Spider outfit she had quickly grown to love.
[It will become a visor in your vision whenever you wear the suit and won’t affect the outward design in any way.]
Gwen’s eyes were practically shining as she heard that. Only after a second of hesitation did she agree to have them combined. -100YP later, the police scanner had disappeared, and Gwen only blinked before a visor-like thing appeared in her vision. “Okay, that’s damn cool.” She couldn’t help but say that as she quickly navigated the interface, she found out what did what over the next few minutes.
A few minutes later, when she had a decent understanding of her new tech, she decided she wanted to put it to the test. She quickly dropped from her building in the dead of night and found a pedestrian. Perked atop a streetlight, she used the face scanner on the man walking along and minding his own business. The scanner quickly took a picture of his face, and Gwen got to see how it was compared to thousands of different mugshots and police sketches over the next minute.
The man was clean, at least according to the police scanner. Determined to find someone who at least had a criminal history so she could confirm that it worked, Gwen webbed herself away and found the next pedestrian. With it so quiet at night, Gwen went through six people before finally catching a match. However, this person wasn’t a picture of a mugshot that it had been compared to, but a police sketch. And the person in question had something of a history, too. “Haha, this guy’s a wanted kidnapper! Great!” She couldn’t help but say…only to go silent as she felt something was wrong with her words. “Umm…You know what I mean. It’s not good that he’s a kidnapper; it’s just…Well, you know, right?... Right?”
[...]
“...”
[Ahem, leaving that aside…]
[Quest Generated: Deal with the Kidnapper.]
[Description: Save anyone that the kidnapper may have kidnapped and call in the police to make sure that they are dealt with appropriately.]
[Rewards: 2000 YP, 1 Gacha Spin]
Gwen’s eyes shone at the new quest as she smoothly leapt off the streetlight that she was on and continued to follow the man silently from the rooftops. The man walked along with a carrier bag, probably after a midnight shop. For the next ten minutes, Gwen followed the man as he took as many back alleys as possible and often looked over his shoulder for any tails. Unfortunately for the man, he’d never been tailed by someone who could walk on walls, jump from building to building and have entirely silent steps.
I’m really like a Ghost Spider, aren’t I? Gwen asked. Ghost Spider was the name Yuri had called the outfit, and she was keen on embracing the name if she could. She liked the idea of being something of a ghost, keeping out of vision and staying silent when taking down her enemies. It was the more systematic approach to handling criminals, and as she followed the man from the shadows, she found herself liking it more and more. She was sure that with her strength, she could even enter a gunfight, and as long as she was careful, she could get out without a scratch. But it didn’t have the same level of satisfaction as the sneaky, sneaky, silent takeout before they knew what was coming. It was similar to how she played games, too; she’d always go the sneaky route if possible.
While having such thoughts, Gwen noticed that the man had stopped and was having another look around before sighing and entering the large building before him. It seemed to be a storage warehouse, but Gwen quickly noticed that the door the man entered through seemed to have been forcefully entered. The handle of the door was by the ground a few meters away.
With such thoughts, Gwen looked around and realised there was no security around the warehouse, but after she focused on her senses, she could hear the muffled chatter of a few people inside. Gwen didn’t use the same entrance as the man used, and she thought seriously about how she would handle the situation. She quickly decided that the best thing to do for now was to gather as much information as possible to determine if and how she would act.
With that thought in mind, she quickly found herself on the roof of the building and dropping silently through the roof skylight of the warehouse onto a support beam. With stealth as her advantage, she fully intended to use that as much as she could as she looked around the warehouse. Her enhanced senses quickly told her the number of people and even went so far as to infer their height and weight through the sounds of their footsteps.
Gwen quickly found herself hoping from one support beam to the next in complete silence as she saw the same man she had been following earlier; he was being followed by a rough-looking man who held an assault rifle in his arms. They went up some stairs and entered an office-like space that appeared to overlook the rest of the warehouse. Gwen stayed close as she listened in on their talk.
“Any reply from the Osborn family yet, Chief?” The armed guard asked, and Gwen’s eyes turned to slits as she stared at them through the darkness of the warehouse. Had Harry been kidnapped? Maybe his twin sister? Now that this had turned somewhat personal, Gwen didn’t think she could hold back as much as she planned. Luckily, Gwen had the presence of mind not to slip up as she continued to listen to their talk.
“No reply just yet. They are probably still discussing their options with the police and trying to set up a trap. I’ve been in this situation enough to know when things will go badly, and everything is going according to plan.” The ringleader said, and he had this confidence about him that made even Gwen believe he would succeed… you know, if it wasn’t for the fact that she was about to beat the shit out of him.
With the two of them being isolated from any of the other grunts patrolling the area, she unravelled a web and slowly descended herself from above them, like a spider dangling from a web. She found herself in reach moments later as she smashed their heads together with enough force to knock them both out. Dropping from the web, she silently landed behind the two unconscious men before tying them up with her webs, giving the ringleader a few extra kicks. She also picked up the assault rifle and bent it out of shape with her enhanced strength.
Looking around the warehouse, she found the other five guards in two groups of two as they patrolled around the area, and the last one guarded a door. They were lacklustre as things went, but Gwen played with them a little before ensuring they were all knocked out. What an embarrassment of a group. This almost feels like a tutorial that Yuri threw at me to get into the swing of things.
While thinking of such things, Gwen arrived at a door with the last guard standing there with a bored look in his eyes. Gwen quickly knocked him out and gave him a few extra kicks. Opening the door, Gwen was saddened by the sight of a girl who was tied up to a chair with a blindfold over her eyes. She was shivering in fear as she jerked at the sound of the door opening. “Hey there. You’re Hailey Osborn, right?” She asked in a soothing voice, lifting the blindfold from her eyes. “I’m here to help you! Let me get you out of all of this first.”
Hailey was still scared, but seeing that her bindings were being undone, she looked towards the door, where she noticed that a man had been knocked out and already felt a little better. She looked back towards the masked woman before sighing in relief.
Gwen scooped Hailey in her arms and took her out of the room before webbing the ceiling. Pulling the two of them up and out of the same window, she entered, much to Hailey’s surprise. “Alright, let’s get you home. Or would you prefer Oscorp Tower?” Gwen asked as she looked at the familiar building in the distance.
The girl, still afraid of everything happening, quickly looked towards Oscorp Tower and felt better because her home was in sight. “Oscorp Tower,” she replied quietly.
Gwen nodded and wrapped her arm around Hailey’s waist before warning. “This may be a little scary initially, but enjoy the ride.”
Hailey already knew what would happen from the prior trip through the window. She nodded, wrapping her arms around the masked woman’s neck. Feeling secure, Gwen slipped off the building, getting a shriek from Hailey, before webbing their way to Oscorp Tower. The first few web slings also got a similar scream, but that noise quickly turned from fear to excitement as she laughed throughout the journey home.
A few minutes later, Gwen gently landed outside the Oscorp Tower, holding up Hailey Osborn as she stumbled for a few seconds. She was still in the attire that Gwen happened to see her in earlier at school, so she assumed she must have been kidnapped on the way home. Hmm, what should I do? Do I leave her here? What would I do if I went through a traumatic experience? I’d most likely want to chill out and read Yuri books. Aha, that’s it! Can you open the store and buy me a Yuri book that Hailey would like?
[Oho… I must say, I truly am impressed. Spreading the Yuri, not even a day after you got the system. Impressive indeed. Impressive enough to unlock the hidden power.]
[Hidden Quest Complete: Spread the Yuri.
Reward: -Yuri Book Summoning-
Using this skill, the host can spread Yuri more effectively and earn more Yuri Points!]
Understanding of the skill flooded Gwen’s mind as she closed her eyes. Reaching behind her back, a book appeared in her hand. “Hailey, I’m sure you’ll be fine from here on out, but I’ll leave this with you. Whenever I get stressed, I read these books to clear my mind.” Gwen said, giving the flushed Hailey a head pat before swinging off into the streets, only to hear a muffled call of ‘Thank you’ behind her.
[Yuri Spread - +200 YP]
[Yuri Headpat - +100YP]
Right. That makes sense. Gwen thought to herself ironically, but after thinking about it seriously for a second, she quickly realised it did make sense. Shaking off such thoughts, Gwen looked to the quest and realised she still had some things to sort out. Looking back over the visor, she quickly navigated it as she sent a video she had been recording the entire time and added a quick message about what had occurred.
She quickly returned to having fun, web-slinging and flipping through the air. Ten minutes later, the police must have apprehended the criminals in the warehouse as she was greeted by another message.
[Quest Complete: Deal with the Kidnapper.]
[Rewards: 2000 YP, 1 Gacha Spin]
[Collect Rewards?]
“Hehe, no need to ask, just accept them. I wonder what this Gacha will get me.” She couldn’t help but wonder, slightly expecting something new and exciting to pop up. She sat on the edge of a building when she pulled the Gacha, and her excitement diminished as she got another common drop. It was a pen. Taking it out, she wasn’t surprised by the Yuri-themed decorations as she looked at it this time. She couldn’t ever imagine herself using such a thing in school. “Well, that’s staying in my inventory.”
[Oho… What if I told you that it was a magic pen that allowed you to write 10% faster with more precise handwriting?]
Gwen couldn’t deny that it would be helpful. But it would still be embarrassing to take that out while at school. Maybe I’ll only use it when at home and doing homework?
[‘Ah, I suppose she’s still got some shame left. Well, that should be gone by the end of the week, and she’ll be using that in school soon as well.’] Yuri thought to herself.
“Well, I guess it’s time to get home. I am getting a little sleepy now,” Gwen said with a yawn. Looking at the time, it was already 3 a.m., and she had to be up at 06:30 a.m. to get ready for school. “I do hope you were right about me not needing as much sleep anymore, Yuri.”
—
Gwen woke up the next morning feeling very peaceful. The night before, the web swinging, the fights, the saving people. She even returned a child to their family. She had a giddy feeling in her stomach and couldn’t help but smile. She had never realised that helping others could be so rewarding, making her want to do it more. Her bright blue eyes opened with a newfound light in them.
Jumping off her bed with a spring in her step, Gwen showered and prepared for school. Stepping out of her room and entering the kitchen, she found her Dad already making toast for breakfast. “Good morning, dear. Did you have a good sleep?” He asked.
“Yep, you’re also looking better than yesterday. Maybe you’re excited to ask out Aunt May?” Gwen asked with a grin. Seeing her father wake up with newfound determination and a bit of a spring in his step just due to the thought of asking her out made Gwen feel quite happy for him. Not only that, George also responded with a nod of his own, just cementing Gwen's thoughts.
Father and daughter sat down at the counter and had breakfast with each other. “So, what’s your game plan? Want me to try and get Peter out of your hair? Maybe we could go bowling or something after school?” Gwen asked.
“Hmm. While that would be appreciated, you should focus on your game plan. Leave the May side to me, and you can focus on Jean.” George said. “That being said, what’s your plan for your date?”
“Good question. It’s hard to say with Jean, but I know her quite well, and she’s not one for crowded places. Maybe a quiet candle-lit dinner?” Gwen said, still pondering about it, but even then, her first task was to ask Jean out on a date, and anything else could come later.
Finishing up breakfast, Gwen and George left the house and went their separate ways, Gwen meeting up with Peter on the way to school. “Hey Pete, what would you think about Aunt May and Dad getting together?” Gwen couldn’t help but be curious.
Surprised by the question, Peter went silent for a while, pondering. “Hmm, I think that’d be nice. May does need someone to look after her when I’m not there, but that’s all up to her. As long as she’s happy, then I’m happy.” Peter said.
“Hmm, good. Dad and I made a pinkie promise. Today, he’s asking out Aunt May, and I’m asking out Jean.” Peter raised a brow at that, followed by a smile.
“So you finally came out to your old man. How did he take it?” Peter asked, and despite asking, he didn’t feel worried about it as he knew George quite well.
“About how we expected it would go. He was chill about it. I asked him when he would ask Aunt May out, and then he countered by asking me about Jean. He knew about it for quite a while, apparently, and I suck at keeping secrets.” While saying that, Gwen couldn’t help but ask Yuri something. Yuri, do you think I should let Peter know about my spider powers? While she trusted Peter, some things must be kept to themselves, even between friends.
[It’s your choice. You don’t have to tell him immediately and ponder it for a while. You may also want to consider that the original spider you would get bitten by is still out there. Perhaps this universe can get a Spider-Man as well.]
Gwen had never thought about that. ‘Wait a moment, you said it was in a couple of weeks. Does that mean I would get bitten during the Oscorp field trip?’ Gwen thought to herself as she thought about her schedule. ‘Actually, that would make sense now that I think about it. Wasn’t Dr Curtis Connors researching cross-species genetics? Getting bitten by one of their spiders in the lab must have been what happened. Well, for that timeline, at least.’
“Gwen, you awake in there?” Peter asked, snapping Gwen out of her thoughts.
“Yeah, sorry, just lost in thought for a second,” Gwen replied, shaking her head. “Anyway, let’s get to school.”