[Sacrifice Successful!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained 3,000 Sacrifice Points!]
The cold mechanical notification sounded, and the balance displayed on Peter's virtual interface instantly jumped from zero to 3,000.
Watching his parents' old manuscript transform into a valuable supply of Sacrifice Points put him in an excellent mood.
He didn't immediately rush off to buy something from the System Shop, however.
After all, the merchandise only refreshed once a month. None of the currently available items was going to grow legs and run away.
He could wait until he'd obtained access to the Lizard Serum and then make a more informed decision about which items to purchase.
For now, those 3,000 points represented both his savings and an emergency reserve against the unknown.
Satisfied with his decision, Peter looked down at the copied manuscript in his hands and happily returned to his studies.
...
Two mornings later.
"Got it!"
Peter stared at the thick notebook he'd filled with calculations.
Although exhaustion was written all over his face, his eyes gleamed with excitement.
Thanks to his extraordinary intelligence, he'd needed only two days to thoroughly understand the knowledge and mathematical principles behind the decay-rate algorithm.
He activated the Horse Talisman to eliminate the dark circles beneath his eyes, grabbed his backpack, and strode out of the house.
When he boarded the school bus, he was greeted by the usual noisy atmosphere.
A quick glance around revealed Gwen sitting alone beside a window.
She was curled up in the corner with her head lowered, giving off an unmistakable please don't talk to me aura.
Large dark circles hung beneath her beautiful eyes, making it obvious that she hadn't gotten much sleep over the weekend.
Peter didn't even need to think about what had happened.
Gwen had undoubtedly spent the entire weekend struggling to familiarize herself with her newly acquired Spider-Man abilities.
Judging by her defeated expression, the results hadn't been particularly encouraging.
With that in mind, Peter walked straight over and dropped into the seat beside her.
Before recovering the memories of his previous life, he and Gwen had always been close childhood friends, but they deliberately kept some distance between themselves at school.
He'd certainly never taken the initiative to sit next to her on the bus.
That particular seat was normally reserved for Gwen's best friend, Betty Brant.
But the current Peter had none of the pointless awkwardness and self-consciousness that so often plagued teenage boys.
"Morning, Gwen."
He turned toward her with a faintly teasing smile.
"You look like... you didn't get much sleep."
The unexpected voice and the sudden dip of the seat beside her made Gwen stiffen.
She jerked her head up.
When she saw Peter's face so close to hers, she reacted like a startled rabbit, instinctively squeezing herself toward the window.
She was terrified!
What if she lost control of the countless microscopic hooks covering her body and accidentally stuck herself to Peter?
If they ended up glued together...
The teasing from their classmates and the knowing looks from her best friend Betty would be enough to make her want to disappear on the spot!
And if she panicked and accidentally lost control of her strength, tearing Peter's clothes apart in front of everyone...
That would be even worse!
Unfortunately, Gwen's increasingly frantic thoughts looked rather different from Peter's perspective.
As though he could somehow hear exactly what she was thinking, he didn't move away.
Instead, he deliberately leaned a little closer.
Lowering his voice, he asked in a wounded tone, "What, you don't want me sitting here? Should I leave?"
"N-no!"
Gwen immediately panicked.
"Why would I not want you here?!"
Her cheeks turned pink as she desperately tried to explain herself.
She wanted to reach out and grab his hand to prove she wasn't rejecting him, but her arm froze halfway through the movement.
She didn't dare touch him!
The conflict between what she wanted to do and what she was afraid of doing nearly drove her crazy.
She looked utterly miserable.
To Peter, who had a rather mischievous streak, the sight was almost unbearably adorable.
'God, she's cute.'
Rather than backing off, he moved closer still.
Their faces were now nearly touching.
"You're sure you don't mind?"
His voice dropped even lower.
The warm breath escaping his lips brushed lightly against Gwen's ear, making her delicate earlobe turn faintly red.
"Then why are you sitting so far away? There's practically enough room for another person between us."
With Peter so close, Gwen's thoughts dissolved into a confused mess.
Her heart was pounding so hard that it felt ready to leap out of her throat.
'Peter... what's gotten into him today?!'
'Why is he suddenly acting so... so weird?!'
"I... I just..."
She stammered helplessly, unable to come up with a convincing explanation.
She couldn't exactly tell him that she'd suddenly developed supernatural spider powers!
Something so ridiculous would be impossible for Peter to believe.
He might even think she was playing some elaborate prank on him!
Watching Gwen struggle to invent excuses until she looked ready to cry, Peter finally decided he'd teased her enough.
Any more, and this future little spider heroine might genuinely explode from embarrassment.
With a quiet chuckle, he straightened up and restored a normal distance between them.
"All right, all right. I'll stop teasing you."
His tone suddenly became perfectly serious, as though the mischievous bastard from a moment ago had never existed.
"Actually, there's something I wanted to ask. You're an intern at Oscorp, right? You work with the cross-species genetics project. The scientist in charge is... Curt...?"
He deliberately pretended he couldn't remember the name.
"Curt Connors."
Gwen supplied the answer almost immediately.
At the same time, her eyes brightened.
Peter had inadvertently reminded her of something important!
Dr. Connors was an expert in genetics. Perhaps he could offer some advice that would help her understand and control her newly acquired abilities.
But why had Peter suddenly brought him up?
"Oh, right. That's the name."
Peter snapped his fingers, looking as though he'd finally remembered.
"That tour the other morning suddenly got me really interested in biology. The more I thought about it, the more promising the field seemed."
He paused before continuing.
"So... do you think you could introduce me to Dr. Connors?"
It was an excuse he'd invented on the spot, but it sounded reasonably convincing.
"Biology?"
Gwen looked a little confused.
"I thought you preferred physics. Didn't you say physics was the ultimate romance of the universe?"
"Well, both my parents were biologists."
Peter spread his hands in an exaggerated shrug, then smiled with almost outrageous confidence.
"Besides, with my intelligence, I figure putting in a little effort should be enough to earn doctorates in both biology and physics."
His declaration was remarkably arrogant.
Yet somehow, the confidence behind it was so natural that Gwen found herself struggling to argue.
She could clearly feel that Peter had changed.
He wasn't the slightly introverted, nerdy science enthusiast she remembered.
He had become more confident and outgoing.
And perhaps even a little...
Charming.