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Back at school, the teacher was explaining some physics lesson at the front of the class, while Dan was completely spaced out.
He stared out the window, lost in thought.
"Dan! Dan!"
Suddenly the teacher slapped the board and yelled his name.
"Huh? I'm here!"
Dan snapped out of it, totally confused.
The teacher looked annoyed. She already didn't have a good impression of him—in fact, most teachers didn't. After all, he'd gotten into a fight right at the start of the semester.
To most of the staff, Dan was just another slacker punk like Flash—someone wasting time here with no intention of learning.
"Dan, if you're not paying attention, you must think you know everything already. Come solve this problem on the board!"
Her stare locked onto him like a searchlight, while the rest of the class watched eagerly—especially Flash, who couldn't wait to see him mess up.
Peter, sitting nearby, looked nervous and quickly scribbled some formulas in his notebook to try and help.
But Dan just scratched his head and walked up to the board like it was no big deal.
"Using the law of conservation of energy… First kinetic energy, second kinetic energy, energy transfer… So by the formula, the answer is…"
Holding the chalk, Dan barely paused to think. He wrote out the solution step-by-step, clean and efficient—no extra fluff, just the correct answer.
Everyone was stunned. They kept comparing their own answers with Dan's, and those who really couldn't figure it out even flipped open their textbooks.
The physics teacher stared at Dan's answer for a few seconds in silence, then looked at the rest of the class and said:
"No need to keep looking. It's on page thirteen of your textbook. Solving a problem that's already in the book doesn't mean much. It just proves you reviewed ahead of time. But what about a problem not in the book—can you solve that?"
Without waiting for a response, the teacher quickly wiped the blackboard and wrote a new problem on it—one that definitely wasn't in the textbook.
Dan scratched his nose and immediately started solving it.
Three minutes later, the solution—neatly written, step by step—was already up on the board.
The rest of the students were about to lose it. What kind of monster was this? They were still reading the problem while Dan had already finished it.
And judging by the teacher's expression, it was obvious Dan had probably nailed it again.
The teacher took a deep breath and waved his hand.
"You got it right. Go back to your seat. I'll allow you to do whatever you want during my class from now on—just don't disturb anyone else."
Dan put down the chalk and gave the teacher a slight bow.
"Thanks, sir."
"Wooohoo! That was awesome!"
"Dan, you're amazing!"
"That was insane!"
For a moment, the entire class erupted in cheers. Their physics teacher was known for being super strict, and Dan had basically won him over on the first day. Of course they were hyped.
"Alright, quiet down!" the teacher said sternly. "Dan figured it out—can any of you do the same? If anyone wants to give it a try, come on up!"
With that, the room instantly fell silent.
Soon, the bell rang. Class was over, and the teacher dismissed them.
Immediately, Dan was swarmed.
A bunch of students came up, trying to recruit him.
"Hey Dan, want to join our study group?"
"We'd love to have you in our math group!"
"Why are the math guys getting all excited? Dan, join the physics group!"
"Don't forget about the chemistry group! Dan, consider us too!"
Dan was starting to feel overwhelmed. This was giving him a headache.
He rubbed his temples and grabbed Peter.
"Sorry, guys—I already formed a study group with Peter."
Peter looked totally confused as everyone stared at him. But after Dan shot him several desperate signals, he nodded.
"Y-yeah, that's right. Me, Dan, and Gwen—we already set up a group earlier this morning."
Peter looked a little embarrassed as he explained.
"Oh really? That's a shame."
No one expected someone to get to Dan first. Disappointed, they all left.
Once the crowd cleared, Dan let out a long sigh of relief.
"Alright, let's hit the cafeteria. I'm starving."
He nudged Peter and headed that way.
After getting their food, they found a quiet corner to sit in.
Not long after they sat down…
"Ahem, I gotta say, boys—leaving a girl all alone like that? Kinda rude, don't you think?"
Gwen walked up, carrying her tray.
Peter immediately got nervous when he saw her.
"H-Hey, Gwen."
"Hey yourself, Peter," Gwen said casually, sitting across from them.
Peter gathered some courage and said, "Sorry, Gwen. I kinda dragged you into our study group without asking."
Gwen took a sip of juice and waved it off. "No worries. I should be happy to join you guys—everyone wants to work with you now."
She glanced at Dan as she said it.
Dan didn't respond. He was too focused on eating.
Peter tried chatting with Gwen, but compared to her friendly, outgoing personality, Peter was clearly outmatched. After a few awkward exchanges, he gave up.
Then Gwen turned to Dan. "Hey Dan, how come you're so good at physics? Do you really like it or something?"
Dan was gnawing on a drumstick and replied casually, "Nah. I've got a tutor outside of school who teaches me."
"Oh yeah? Your tutor must be seriously good."
Dan thought about Rick, his tutor, and replied, "Yeah."
Gwen was about to ask another question, but suddenly, someone carrying a tray walked up to Peter.
"Hey, Peter! Long time no see."
Peter looked up and immediately stood with a huge smile.
"Harry! It's been ages! How was your summer?"
The moment Dan heard the name "Harry," he put down his drumstick and looked up.
Harry Osborn. Heir to the Osborn Corporation. Son of the Green Goblin. The future Young Green Goblin.
Now Dan was interested.
A good-looking guy stood there, dressed casually—but it was obvious from the brands that everything he wore was high-end. Especially that watch on his wrist—it alone probably cost several times more than everything Dan was wearing combined.
Harry gave Peter a big hug.
"Haha, not bad. My dad's been acting weird lately—he suddenly decided to start training me to take over the company. So I basically spent the whole summer at the office."
Then he looked at Gwen and Dan.
"Hey Peter, aren't you gonna introduce me to your new friends?"
"Oh! Right!" Peter snapped out of it and said, "This is my good buddy Harry—we've known each other since we were kids."
Then he introduced the others. "This is Dan. Met him at the start of school. He's the reason I haven't gotten bullied this year. And this is Gwen—we just met today."
Gwen gave Harry a warm, sunny smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Gwen Stacy."
Dan gave Harry a curious smile. "Hey. I'm Dan."
Harry shook hands with both of them. "Nice to meet you. I'm Harry Osborn."
"....."