Oscorp:
It was late at night.
I calmly walked towards the Wing C entrance.
I placed the ID on the scanner. It beeped, then a green light lit up, and the door opened.
I entered, keeping my head down; the shadow of the cap on my head partially hid my face.
Armed guards stood at either side of the room. But because it was late at night, they weren't as vigilant.
"Wait." A voice called out. My body tensed momentarily, then relaxed.
I calmly turned to my right and looked at the man sitting behind a desk.
"I don't believe I remember seeing you here before," the man asked, his face filled with mild suspicion. "Are you perhaps a new employee?"
"No," I replied, keeping my reply short. "I was on the day shift before. Due to personal reasons, I requested a transfer to the night shift."
The man nodded in understanding but still looked sceptical. "Can I see your ID?"
I passed it to him without a word.
He matched the face on the ID; both had slightly dark skin and thick moustaches.
"No problem here," the man said, returning the ID to me. "Thanks for cooperating, Jim."
I nodded and put the ID back.
"Mitch is the night shift supervisor for Wing C. You can ask him for instructions."
I thanked him lightly and left the room.
I didn't meet Mitch; I went to the janitor's room. I picked up the cleaning supplies and left.
From there, I made my way to the second floor, and then I picked a corner and started mopping.
Oscorp had a massive facility. It would take too long to look at each room and lab individually to find what I wanted, and it would only increase the risk of being caught.
A better approach was to identify which areas and labs the military frequented most, thereby massively reducing the search scope.
I kept my head down and dutifully cleaned the floors.
People passed by—scientists, technicians, late-night assistants. None spared me more than a glance.
It was late, and not many people were present here.
While moping, my gaze went to my left hand. It was just a set of bones before, but now it looked good as new. As I had expected, upon waking, all my injuries had healed. My left hand looked fairer than the right because of the new skin and flesh.
Not a scar remained after healing.
Speaking of scars, I suddenly felt a little itchy on my chest. It was the scar on my chest.
Previously, I wondered if even my hand had healed cleanly, then how come the scar on my chest has not healed till now?
It felt like a contradiction, but if my theory was correct, then the scar wasn't on my body because there had been a wound there. There was no wound on the body for the Gamer's Body skill to heal.
The scar was more like a reflection of a wound on my soul over my body.
My body was in the hospital, sleeping, and I had never left that place. Peter had confirmed that.
That means it was either my soul, consciousness, astral projection, or something else in the dimension of the Web of Life and Destiny. There, the leech attacked that and not my body.
Of course, it was all a conjecture. It might or might not be true.
But it was clear that the Gamer's Body skill either couldn't heal it or did so incredibly slowly.
While in my thoughts, I came upon a lab. The lab was empty, and I was considering how to get inside when a lab assistant appeared.
The lab assistant places his ID on the scanner. The door opened, and he walked in. I looked left and right. There was no one. I sneakily entered before the door closed.
The door closed behind me. The lab assistant hadn't noticed me. I tiptoed behind him and with one hand held his mouth and choked him with the other. He thrashed for a few seconds before he fainted.
I took off his outer clothes and his ID, then zip-tied the lab assistant's hands and feet and taped his mouth. I looked around and found a closet in the lab.
Judging by the thin layer of dirt around it, the closet hadn't been used for some time. I shoved the man inside.
I put his clothes over mine. His build was similar to mine, so it wasn't difficult. Then I put on the lab coat.
I went to the computer and took out the same device I used at the University. Within a minute, I was in.
The system contained research about a new fuel. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, so I didn't waste my time copying its data and left the lab.
One by one, I visited labs I knew were more frequently used by the military. Some had what I wanted. I acquired the data on the glider, its fuel, the Green Goblin suit, and the spherical bomb.
Still no signs of the Human Performance Enhancer formula or the bomb that disintegrated flesh. If they weren't here, then that meant they required higher clearance and should be on the third floor.
The second and third floors looked the same, just with one jarring difference. There were no guards on the floors below, but here, occasional guards were patrolling the corridors.
That massively increased the difficulty.
Fortunately, no one could look inside the labs through the doors on this floor.
I had to visit four labs on this floor.
The first lab was empty. One guard was standing outside nearby. I walked to the door calmly and scanned the lab assistant's ID. The door opened. The guard gave me a look, then looked away disinterestedly.
I entered the lab and went straight to the main terminal. It consisted of research on automatic assault rifles. It was useless to me, as no matter how good these improved schematics were, in the main world, which was more than two decades ahead, they would be nothing more than antiques.
I left the lab and walked to the next lab. It was the fifth lab from the one I was in.
I entered the second lab. This lab looked visibly different from the other labs I had visited. It was easily ten times larger, with a portion of the lab reserved for testing.
I noticed a bunch of metallic spheres sitting in glass cabinets.
Bingo.
On the main terminal, I found the research data on the flesh-disintegration bombs. I copied the data into the drive. Just as I closed the terminal, someone else entered the lab.
"Are you looking for something?" An aged but authoritative voice asked. He was one of the scientists.
I turned around.
"Sir, I was newly assigned to this project just yesterday," I answered respectfully. "I was in Wing C previously."
I respectfully walked towards him and stopped a meter away.
"I was just looking at my new work location. I didn't mean to intrude," I said apologetically.
The scientist gave me a deep look. "I haven't heard of any new reassignments."
I frowned.
"It shouldn't be possible," I said with hesitation. "Is there perhaps a communication mistake?"
The scientist's face softened slightly, and the suspicion visibly reduced.
"It might be possible," the scientist suggested. "Show me your ID. I will confirm with the higher-ups, then enter your details into the project hierarchy myself."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." I took another step towards him and respectfully handed him the lab assistant's ID.
He took the ID. He looked at it casually at first, but then he noticed the discrepancy. The faces didn't match.
"You—"
I was close enough that I punched him in the temple, and he was floored. Then I followed the same routine. I took his ID, then taped his mouth and zip-tied his hands and feet. Then I shoved his body in a closet in the lab.
Then, as if nothing had happened, I left the lab and made my way to the third.
This time I walked faster.
I wasn't much worried about the lab assistant. I had locked the closet so he couldn't leave. Also, there was a very low chance someone outside the lab would hear his muffled screams. No one would miss a lab assistant much, and he might even be rescued in the morning when the lab staff arrived.
But the scientist was different. I didn't know whether the scientist came to the lab to do overnight research or was just there to look for something, and whether someone was expecting him.
If it were former, I would not have much to worry about, as I had locked him in a closet far from the lab entrance, so no one should be able to hear his muffled screams from outside the lab. But if it was the latter, there was a possibility someone might rescue him.
Then the entire facility would launch a witch hunt against me.
I had to leave before that.
I arrived at the third lab after walking for more than five minutes. Unfortunately, it was a bust. It didn't have what I wanted.
I made my way to the fourth lab.
Finally, I arrived at Lab C35.
I used the scientist's ID directly, and the door opened.
I saw a glass chamber in the middle of the lab. In a nearby glass cabinet, I saw tubes filled with green liquid. Seeing those, I knew I was in the correct lab. The chamber was used to test the serum on human subjects.
The lab was empty. Oscorp's lead scientist, Dr. Mendel Stromm, was murdered by Green Goblin because he thought the formula wasn't stable enough. It seemed that Oscorp still hadn't found his replacement, so the lab was empty.
I copied the entire research data on the Human Performance Enhancers.
Then, I left the lab.
I entered one empty random lab using the lab assistant's ID and left the scientist's ID inside.
The journey back to the second floor was tense but, fortunately, uneventful.
I entered the lab where I had locked the lab assistant. I took off the clothes that I wore and threw them in the closet with him.
I opened the door with the lab assistant's ID. As I left the lab, I threw the ID in; it landed on a chair inside.
The janitor's cart was still in front of the lab, where I had left it earlier. I took it back to the janitor's room.
The entire time, I had been wearing gloves, so I didn't leave fingerprints anywhere.
I left the room and returned to the Wing C worker entrance.
The man was still sitting behind the desk, with a few guards inside the room. He saw me coming and recognized me immediately.
"Leaving early?"
"We are out of solvent," I answered calmly. "Going to the depot to get it."
He nodded, and I calmly walked out of the building. I made my way to the parking lot and got inside my car. I showed my janitor ID to the guard at the facility entrance gate, and he opened the gate for me.
It was then that the whole facility woke up with alarms blaring everywhere.
The guard looked stunned, and I just stepped on the gas.
I didn't drive straight to my next destination.
I doubled back. Cut through side roads. Changed routes twice. Then once more for good measure.
Only when I was certain no one was following did I leave the city limits and pull into the forest.
I stripped out of the janitor's uniform and pulled on black clothes. The fake mustache came off first, then the prosthetics on my face that made my face identical to the face on the ID.
I burned the fake ID, janitor clothes, the mustache, and the prosthetics.
Then I took a fuel can out of the car and started pouring gasoline onto it. After emptying the can, I tossed it inside. A tiny spark, and the car was covered in flames.
With the burning car behind me, I walked to another hidden location where I had parked another stolen car.
I drove the car to a third hidden location and abandoned it. From there, I walked to a fourth hidden location. I climbed my personal par parked there and then calmly drove back to the city.
Finally, in the city, I drove leisurely and checked the notification I got earlier.
Optional Mission Completed!
Description: Human Performance Enhancer research data acquired.
Reward: Earth-96283 can now be freely selected as a destination for multiverse travel.
I didn't feel much when I saw the notification.
The mission wasn't even a priority in the beginning. Truthfully, I had even forgotten about it.
My main aim from the start was to improve myself so I would have a better chance in dealing with life-threatening situations in the main world.
But everything changed when the Green Goblin attacked.
Just like he was offended that I used him, I was also offended because he nearly killed me.
Near-death experiences can be a bitch.
That's why I decided that I might as well target him and take all his life's research.
Oh well, it was not as if the trouble was useless.
The Human Performance Enhancer was much better than the Super Soldier Serum, just with a teeny tiny problem: it would turn people into violent psychopaths.
I couldn't do anything about it, but soon I would have a genius in biology under my payroll. She should be able to stabilize it after some research.
—
Today was finally the day Uncle Ben was discharged.
I drove directly to the Parker residence. Peter and Aunt May had already brought him home.
"Kevin," Aunt May said cheerfully at the entrance. She looked extra happy now that her husband was back home.
"Hey, Aunt May," I greeted with a smile. Then I followed behind her.
"How's Uncle Ben?"
"He is much better, dear."
We entered a room. There he was, half-lying on the bed. Uncle Ben looked weak, his face pale. Peter was beside him, helping him set the pillows in a comfortable position.
"Hey, Uncle Ben," I called as I entered the room.
"Hey, Hotshot," Uncle Ben responded with a smile. But his voice was weak.
"Did the doctor say how long it will take for him to make a full recovery?" I asked, turning to Peter.
"The doctor said it can take around six months or even longer for full recovery," Peter answered quietly.
"Why the long face, buddy?" Uncle Ben said with a smile. "Don't worry, I will definitely accompany your aunt and come to see you on your graduation day."
"No, please don't exert yourself, Uncle Ben," Peter said with worry. "I don't want you to worsen your situation."
"Oh, come on, don't be so dramatic," Uncle Ben laughed. "I am sure I will be good enough till then to visit you."
"Don't worry, Uncle Ben, I will make sure you visit Peter's graduation," I suddenly interjected. "And that too in much better health."
"Then, thank you, Hotshot," Uncle Ben said with a smile. He likely thought I said that to motivate him.
But I meant more than motivation.
I smiled, and warm light appeared on my hand. The family of three looked at me with stunned silence.
"Tell me if you feel any discomfort," I said, and placed my hand on Uncle Ben's chest at the bullet wound location. He was too shocked even to answer.
Soon, Uncle Ben's expression relaxed. "I feel better?" Uncle Ben said in confusion.
When I felt I was near the end of my mana, I stopped the spell and removed my hand.
"How do you feel, Uncle Ben?" I asked with a smile.
Even without me asking, I could see his previously pale face now had some colour.
"Uncle Ben, you alright?" Peter asked with worry.
"Ben, you ok?" Aunt May also asked.
"I don't know," Uncle Ben said with uncertainty. But his voice was stronger than before. "I feel less pain in my chest."
Both Peter and Aunt May noticed the positive changes in Uncle Ben.
"Kevin, what was that?" Peter asked.
"Healing magic," I answered coolly.
Peter was quiet for a few moments. "That… really didn't answer anything."
I only laughed.
I turned back to Uncle Ben.
"Uncle Ben, I have only recently learned this spell, and it is of the lowest level, so just applying it once is not enough. I will occasionally apply it to you. And by the graduation date, you should be in good enough shape to easily visit the graduation."
"Is this real?" Aunt May whispered.
"Aunt May, the world is bigger than we think," I laughed.
Aunt just stood in disbelief. She added in barely a whisper, "I'll need time to understand."
"I request you not to tell about it to anyone," I requested.
The three promised immediately.
Revealing the magic to them was a calculated risk. They were good people, and good people in debt could go to incredible lengths to return the favour.
Healing Ben was a personal choice.
But that wasn't the only reason.
Since I fucked with destiny and in return destiny fucked me back, I thought I might as well fuck it some more.
I had dinner with the Parker family. There was no plan for that initially, but Aunt May insisted.
After dinner, I went to Peter's room. He still looked sceptical about what had happened earlier. It looked like his scientist brain couldn't comprehend something like magic.
"Was it really magic?" Peter asked for the umpteenth time.
I sighed.
"If Aunt May asks this question, then I can still understand," I said. "But not from a web-slinging, wall-crawling, man-spider."
"Fine," Peter raised his hands in surrender.
I left and drove back. While driving, I thought about the spell I had used.
The spell was from the Order Magic Tome that I got as a reward after completing the Paramedic mission. I had recently completed it a few days back.
Title: Paramedic
Hidden Objective: Ensure the survival of a critically injured person with a high probability of death (Completed)
Bonus Reward: Order Magic Tome
Clearly, Uncle Ben played a significant role in helping me complete the mission's hidden objective.
The Order Magic School was a broad school of magic encompassing disciplines such as healing, barrier, sealing, and contract magic, among others.
The spell that I used before was from the healing school.
Minor Heal
Type: Spell
School: Order
Rank: Novice
Description: Heals minor injuries. Larger injuries require continuous application.
I had given myself some time to learn more spells, after all, I had a related mission for that too.
When I studied the Eromancy Magic Tome more, I realised that I was wrong in calling it sex magic. It was a broad magic school just like order magic. It encompassed disciplines like charm, fertility, and sex magic, among others.
Soon, I would complete the first objective of the Mage mission.
—
The day of graduation finally arrived.
"Say chess," The photographer said.
"Chess!" Peter and a bunch of other students said with happy smiles.
The photographer clicked a picture.
"Peter," Aunt May said to Peter. "Darling, I am so proud of you." She affectionately kissed his cheek.
"Well done, my boy," Uncle Ben said proudly, extending his hand. Peter shook it.
I watched all that from the background.
Some other parents pulled Aunt May and Uncle Ben for small talk. Harry pulled Peter.
Norman came from behind them.
"You made it," Norman said with a smile. It looked like he didn't expect Harry to pass, but somehow he did and proved his father wrong.
"It's not the first time I have been proven wrong," Norman said with a calm smile.
"Congratulations," Norman extended his hand.
"Thanks, Dad," Harry said calmly and shook his father's hand.
Then Norman looked at Peter, and his expression actually brightened compared to when he talked to his son. He looked at Peter as if Peter were the son he had always wanted but never had.
"Peter, the science award! That's terrific," Norman said with a proud smile.
"Yeah," Peter nodded with a smile.
Norman started having a heart-to-heart conversation with Peter.
Harry left. He stopped at a distance, looking somewhere. I followed his gaze and saw Mary Jane breaking up with Flash.
"I don't want your ring anymore," Mary Jane said with annoyance. She handed him the ring, "Here's your ring."
Flash was first quiet for a moment, then he said dismissively, "You know what? Whatever."
Flash walked off. "Your loss."
Harry looked at the scene with interest.
I stopped watching him and just started watching anyone randomly.
A few minutes later, I noticed the Parkers coming towards me.
"Dear, your foster family didn't come?" Aunt May asked with concern. Both Peter and Uncle Ben also looked at me with concern.
"Don't worry, Aunt May," I waved my hand. "They don't care about me. I don't care about them."
Hell, I didn't even see them once. Why should I care about some nameless strangers?
But it looked like Aunt May and even the other two understood it differently. She thought I was angry at them and was just saying that to mask that anger and sadness.
"It's ok, dear," Aunt May said, caressing my cheek. "We are your family." Both Uncle Ben and Peter gave an encouraging nod.
I internally sighed.
Forget it. If I explain, they might twist it even further.
I smiled sincerely, "Thanks, Aunt May."
Aunt May smiled happily. "Come with us, dear. We will have a feast for both of your graduations."
Back at the Parker residence, we had a hearty meal.
I left after the meal.
I came back to my apartment to pack my bag. I kept everything necessary, like the various research notes and Peter's explanations.
I converted the money I had into gold. Even if both worlds used dollars, that didn't mean that currency notes from one world might work in another. But metal would remain the same irrespective of worlds as long as the physics rules remained the same.
After packing everything, I came back to the Parker residence for the final goodbye.
Today was my last day in this world.
I entered and went to Peter's room. Aunt May looked confused regarding the bag, but didn't ask.
"Hey, Kevin," Peter said, surprised. "What happened?"
"Nothing, I just came to say goodbye," I said with a smile.
"Goodbye?" Peter looked confused. "You going somewhere?"
"Somewhere far away," I answered vaguely.
"Fine, if you don't want to tell," Peter said. "I thought that you, me, and Harry could have rented a room together."
I shook my head and took out a small book from my bag. I passed the book to Peter.
"Here, a gift for you," I said with a smile.
Peter looked confused as he received the book. He opened it, and the first page was titled "Magic Theory". The book was a small copy from my Order Magic Tome.
"It consists of five parts," I said, drawing his attention to me. "First is Magic Theory, then the next four are four spells."
"One is the spell I have been using to heal Uncle Ben. One more healing spell, but one level higher. The other two are barrier spells of similar levels."
"K-Kevin, I, but," Peter looked stunned.
"Have fun, bro," I said. "And make sure to continue healing Uncle Ben once I am gone."
Then, I jokingly added, "Maybe, after you are proficient enough, you can change your name from Spider-Man to Spider-Sorcerer."
I laughed, but Peter didn't laugh.
"Kevin, this is too precious," Peter said with hesitation. "I can't take this."
"Nah, this is just low-level stuff," I waved my hand carelessly.
My face turned serious, "I believe you, Peter."
"Oh, yeah," I added as an afterthought, "make sure that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."
Peter made a face as if he'd been given too much responsibility he didn't even ask for.
"And take this too," I said and threw my car keys to him. There were far better cars available two decades later. Since Peter liked it, I decided to give it to him.
Peter subconsciously caught the keys. Then it suddenly clicked in his brain what had happened.
"What the fuck, Kevin?" Peter snapped. "Where the hell are you going?"
"Told ya," I smirked. "Somewhere far away."
Then, without giving him any time to say anything else, I climbed down and found Aunt May and Uncle Ben sitting together.
"Aunt May, Uncle Ben," I called them both.
"Yes, dear," Aunt May asked with a soft smile. Uncle Ben also looked at me.
"Thank you for everything," I started.
"What are you saying, dear?" Aunt May said, "You are our family. You don't need to be thankful for anything."
"Yes, buddy," Uncle Ben agreed. "Rather, it should be us thankful to you."
I said smile and shook my head.
"Well, I just wanted to say goodbye to you guys," I said, changing the topic.
Both of them look confused.
"Goodbye?"
"Yeah, I am going somewhere," I said, "I don't know if and when I will return."
Their faces immediately fell. Aunt May looked like she might cry at any time. Peter also looked at us from the side.
"Since you have decided," Uncle Ben said, with a sad smile. "I will not stop you. But remember, you will always have a family here."
Aunt May finally started crying.
What followed were sad hugs and goodbyes.
I also felt sad, but I left the house in front of their sad eyes.
I walked for some time and stopped in a deserted alley. A screen appeared in front of me. I mentally selected "Yes", then I disappeared from the alley.
What I didn't know was that Peter was watching me from the rooftop and saw me disappear.
—
Main World:
Monday:
Empire State University, Cafeteria, Lunch Break:
Marko and Felicia were sitting together and eating lunch.
"Hey, Felicia," Marko called, looking at Felicia. "You know where Kevin went?"
"Nope, he didn't say anything," Felicia answered coolly, but there was a hint of concern in her voice.
"Really?" Marko said, surprised. "I thought he just didn't tell me. So, he didn't tell you, either."
Felicia turned to Marko and gave a sweet smile. "You mean something by that, Marko?"
Marko felt a chill and immediately denied, "No, absolutely not."
Felicia smirked and went back to eating.
As they ate, someone approached their table.
"Marko, do you know why Kevin didn't come to classes today?" Gwen asked with concern. "He never missed a class before."
"Sorry, Gwen, he didn't tell me," Marko said apologetically.
Gwen bit her lip. She turned to Felicia. "Felicia, do you know?"
Felicia was about to deny, but she suddenly had an idea. A playful smile appeared on her face.
"Of course," Felicia said.
"You do?" Marko exclaimed before Gwen could react.
Felicia didn't humour Marko; her eyes stayed on Gwen.
"Yeah, we fucked this weekend so much that Kevin was completely exhausted," Felicia said with a sultry smile. "He was so tired he had to take today off."
Marko choked on his soup at the sound of that and started coughing violently.
Gwen's face was red like an apple. At the same time, she felt extreme heaviness in her chest. She mumbled a faint, "Oh", and left for her table.
"You have an opinion, Marko?" Felicia asked Marko, who stared at her incredulously.
"Nope," Marko answered hurriedly and went back to eating.
The cafeteria returned to peace, but the peace was short-lived.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Everyone followed the voice. It was the same guy who told everyone to check the news during Giganto's attack.
Seeing his reaction, some students had even thought of the worst.
But this time, instead of dread, his face showed an excited smile.
"Guys, check the news," he urged.
But it looked like he thought that wasn't enough, so he directly announced it with an excited smile.
"Captain America is back!"