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Chapter 8 - Chapter 008: Enlightening Spider-Gwen! A Photo with the Hulk!

Faced with Lorien's straight-to-the-point words, Gwen looked genuinely rattled, as if she'd taken a direct hit. Her fingers fidgeted, her gaze drifted away, and her soft pink lips pressed together. She didn't seem to know how to respond.

From her expression alone, Lorien could tell she was holding something back.

Leaning back in his chair, he pulled open a drawer, took out a photograph, and slid it across the desk to her.

Gwen picked it up—and her eyes widened in surprise.

It was a picture of Lorien with one of the superheroes: the Hulk.

Yes, the Hulk. Not Dr. Banner.

In this Avengers 2 era, everyone in America knew there was a massive green superhero with a notoriously bad temper. Not long ago, he'd gotten into a fight with Iron Man and ended up leveling an entire building. And now, he seemed to have vanished.

Yet from the look of the photo, the Hulk clearly respected Lorien.

Recognition from a superhero—that was no small thing.

"You should know who he is," Lorien said. "What I want you to understand is that a psychologist will never share a client's information with a third party. Whatever you tell me stays between us. No matter what, it won't come from me."

His voice came from just beyond the edge of the photo.

Gwen lifted her eyes to him, bit her lip, then finally set the photo down.

"I have a friend…" she began. "She suddenly developed some abilities—her body's more agile now, and she's stronger too."

"Should she go get checked out? If she does, will she end up being studied?

"Or should she start doing good deeds? But would that be putting too much emphasis on justice?"

"So now… she doesn't know what to do. Or rather—what to do next."

At the mention of this "friend," Lorien almost laughed, but he kept a straight face.

Between the lines of her story, he only saw one word: confusion.

Though Gwen's kind of confusion was a little different.

"Your… friend is lost. Lost about the road ahead. It's like she suddenly stumbled upon a fortune—only in this case, abilities—and now she's torn between whether to use it, if she should use it, and how she ought to use it."

Gwen quickly nodded, agreeing with every word.

Lorien gave a small nod back, then reached for a sheet of paper and a pen. For the next ten seconds or so, he scribbled and sketched before turning it around for her to see.

The style was like something out of a children's storybook, yet the image showed a lone figure swinging on a swing in the middle of a bustling city.

"So my advice is this.

Let your friend hold onto the money and just go home to sleep. Sleep until she's certain it's really hers, and no one's coming to take it back. Then she can think about how to use it, and where to use it.

Finding money—just like suddenly gaining abilities—is a temporary matter, not a decisive one.

Or, she could spend just a little of that money to take a look at the world first. Once she's seen enough, then decide. That way, even if the money gets taken back, she won't have lost much."

Not a single word mentioned abilities, yet every word was about them. That's the beauty of using examples.

Gwen had always been smart. With her new abilities, she was even sharper. She understood immediately that Lorien's advice worked just as well when applied to suddenly gaining powers.

That's why so many old sayings still hold true today—because their core logic is sound.

Gwen's thoughts began to clear.

So… if you suddenly came into money—or powers—the best thing to do is to stay home and live quietly. Once life feels stable, then decide how to use it.

Lorien thought for a moment, then smiled.

"I once heard a song with lyrics that fit this situation perfectly."

"What lyrics?" Gwen asked, curious.

'If one day I become rich, my first choice won't be to travel the world. It'll be to lie on the biggest, softest sofa in the world, eat and sleep, sleep and eat, and live like that for a whole year.'

When Lorien finished quoting the line, both he and Gwen laughed—genuinely and happily.

Gwen brushed a few loose strands of blonde hair back behind her ear.

"Then I'll tell my friend," she said. "Tell her the best psychologist in the world advised her to stay home, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, and turn into a little piggy~"

"I never said that," Lorien replied, leaning back in his chair. He reached for his milk tea, taking a sip before adding, "Those were the lyrics."

"I don't care It's the same meaning"

Gwen tilted her head playfully, but before she could say more—

Ring ring ring~~~

Her phone went off. She glanced at the caller ID, then at the time, and quickly looked back at Lorien apologetically.

"Sorry, I forgot about band practice! My friends are waiting for me—I've got to go!"

Lorien nodded.

"Then go. Don't keep them waiting too long—it's rude."

Gwen grabbed her small green bag, scooped up the unfinished milk tea from the table, and headed for the door.

Just as it was closing, she leaned back in, gave Lorien a left-eyed wink, and grinned.

"Thank you, Mr. Lorien—you've really helped my… friend."

"You're welcome. Now go."

"Thanks~"

Her voice echoed faintly as she ran into the elevator.

As for whether she paid… well, it didn't really matter. But if she didn't, she'd have to come back in person to make it up. And wouldn't that be perfect?

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