Finally, peace. I stretched out on the couch after a long, hot shower.
Time to see what changes have happened in the system.
Hmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...
Not what I expected, but it's okay.
I thought I'd be able to make deals with others regularly, complete missions, and maybe get rewarded by the system afterward. But apparently, that's not how it works.
I won't be doing business every day or even every week. It's all tied to the Gacha spin now. Each time I roll, there's a chance I might get a Service Token. Maybe it's a one-off job. Maybe it opens a chain of deals. Or maybe it's a dud.
Some tokens come with preset missions, clean and simple. Others are more open-ended, letting me negotiate the terms with whoever's on the other end. A few rare ones even allow me to set the price myself, if the target's desperate enough.
It's good since I don't want forced quests.
I like the freedom.
I leaned back, a grin tugging at my lips.
"Alright, let's see what chaos the next spin brings."
---
Helen pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Her eyes immediately landed on her daughter, curled up in bed with the blanket tucked under her chin.
"What's up, Mom?" Gwen asked, trying to sound casual.
"Just checking your fever," Helen said, walking over to the bed. She pressed the back of her hand to Gwen's forehead, brows drawn tight with worry.
"It's gone down now," she murmured. "You feeling better?"
"I'm fine," Gwen nodded quickly, trying not to look too weak. "Really. No need to worry."
Helen didn't look convinced. "If you're still not feeling right, we'll go to the hospital after George gets home. I mean it. You've been vomiting for two days and that fever was no joke."
Gwen sat up a little straighter, shaking her head. "Mom, no. Seriously. I'm good now. I can even go back to school."
Helen didn't answer right away. Her gaze drifted, voice quiet but edged with fear. "Ever since you came back from Oscorp, it's been like this. Your dad even thought it might've been the accident. That school bus," she paused, swallowing hard, "it came face to face with that thing… that monster tearing up the city."
Gwen didn't say anything. Her eyes dropped to the blanket, but the fear in them hadn't gone away.
She could still see it, how the monster hurled cars like they were toys, how the screams filled the air, how people ran and fell and didn't get back up. The bus had barely swerved in time. She had been lucky, stupidly, impossibly lucky, to come out of it alive.
Seeing the look in her daughter's eyes, Helen gently reached down and ran her fingers through Gwen's hair.
"Get some rest, sweetheart," she said softly. "If you're feeling better tomorrow, you can go back to school. But if anything feels off, even a little, we're going to the hospital. No arguments."
Gwen nodded with a quiet "Hmm," not bothering to argue, and let her mom leave. The soft click of the door closing left the room in a hush.
She slowly lifted her hand and stared at her wrist. A faint red mark stood out against her skin, the memory of it still fresh.
"How can I let them take my blood…" she muttered under her breath. "Who knows what they'd think of me."
She remembered Oscorp, how something had bitten her. At first, she wasn't even sure it had happened. But the mark didn't fade, and neither did the strange feeling crawling under her skin.
After all, a mutant creature bit her.
How could she know what it really was? All she knew was, first, it happened inside Oscorp, one of the biggest, most secretive companies in the world. And second, she wasn't normal anymore.
She felt it, stronger, sharper, like her body was no longer fully her own.
And if she told anyone, especially the authorities, who could say they wouldn't just sweep it under the rug? Silence her to protect their spotless, white-collar image?
She trusted her father, believed with all her heart that he'd fight for her, protect her no matter what. But he was already drowning in stress, dealing with the chaos that had taken over the city.
She couldn't drop this on him.
And deep down, she knew she wouldn't be the first casualty buried under a corporate smile.
After all, she'd seen the movies. She remembered how those stories ended.
And Gwen Stacy wasn't ready to become someone else's cover-up.
"Let's hope nothing bad happened," Gwen muttered, forcing a shaky laugh as she stared at the mark on her wrist. "I really don't wanna wake up as some giant bee queen or something."
She smiled to herself, weakly. Joking helped. A little. Just enough to keep the panic from bubbling over.
************
Suggestions for characters giving mission