Superheroes aren't heroes. They're just products.
It wasn't always like this. The old writers and artists had dreams. The superheroes they created were symbols, icons. Like Captain America and his universe-wide perfect ass. The main reason he became the leader of the Avengers was his personal charm and spiritual symbolism.
But now it's different.
Times have changed, kid.
Gwen's generation of superheroes no longer needs to save the world. They need to express themselves.
Or, to put it another way, they're细分 market products generated by big data algorithms.
Whether Gwen herself wants to be a superhero doesn't matter. Whether her personality is good or bad doesn't matter. Whether she has a sense of justice doesn't matter either. As an eighteen-tier bottom-rung superhero, she is just one of the products displayed on the shelf. To increase her popularity and traffic, she has to travel across dimensions and universes to leech off the heat, gradually raise her fame, get her own solo series, team books, and fans…
To be honest, being at the bottom in any industry is hard. She only has the slight advantage of being fair-skinned and beautiful. Next door, Silk Cindy draws her own doujinshi and still gets zero views. A lot of people don't even know that girl exists. That's what you call tragic.
Of course, as the saying goes: with great power comes great responsibility.
Even in another world, Gwen actually doesn't mind continuing to be a superhero, as long as it's in the way she likes.
For example, putting on her tight suit and night-crawling through Gotham.
Gotham at night is very quiet.
Unlike the Hell's Kitchen she's familiar with.
Gotham people like to work during the day, no matter what line of business.
They rob banks openly and fearlessly.
Night is rest time. Only lunatics wander the streets.
The sound of breaking glass came from below. Gwen ignored it completely.
A proper superhero shouldn't bother with these trivial little things. There's no way to manage them all.
Besides, you can't guarantee whether the person has protagonist luck. Urban legend says there are three kinds of people in America you should never mess with: divorced and bankrupt middle-aged men, big-breasted and sharp-tongued female reporters, and underage single-parent thieves.
Gwen was climbing.
The tallest building in Gotham City was Wayne Tower—Bruce Wayne's Wayne.
It was said to be family property. The land alone was worth over ten billion, right? What a fucking tycoon!
Her phone was finally fully charged. It was practically a miracle.
Gwen couldn't wait to turn it on and open the app. The cover read "Spacetime Travel Destiny Wheel."
For real?
Once inside, there was only a gacha machine. Next to it was written: "New Player Benefit! One free gacha draw!"
Wait… first tell me if this is Japanese-style or Chinese-style. We don't do this trope here…
Gwen clicked the draw with some suspicion.
The gacha machine on the screen started spinning wildly.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
A chibi spider popped out: "Congratulations! You obtained SR Skill — Assassin's Creed Leap of Faith!"
"SR Skill — Assassin's Creed Leap of Faith: Instant cast, 1-day cooldown, no cost."
"Skill Effect 1 — Jump from a high place and land in haystacks, dumpsters, or other specific cushioning objects to completely ignore fall damage regardless of height."
"Skill Effect 2 — If no cushioning object exists on the ground when the skill is activated, there is a 2% chance to trigger spacetime travel."
"Skill Effect 3 — Accumulate achievement points based on jump height (achievement points can be exchanged for gacha draws)."
"Hmm…"
How should she put it?
Don't lie to me. I know this is the newbie guaranteed draw! I've seen plenty of games that give SR at the start!
The problem is—Gwen Stacy is already a Spider-Woman. What the hell do I need the Leap of Faith skill for? Isn't this just putting floaties on a fish?
Wait… no, that's not the main issue. Let's start over.
What the fuck is Skill Effect 2? There are too many plot holes and I can't even complain properly! Do I have to gamble on this 2% chance to go home?
Wait, no. Let me think again. Something feels off…
Gwen stayed silent for a long while. Then a light bulb lit up above her head! I overthought it!
This is a fucking language trap. I almost fell for it!
Effect 2 and Effect 3 have to be read separately. Farming achievements requires jumping from height, but traveling doesn't need a high jump! Jumping off the couch also counts as "jumping from a high place," right?
This skill is actually pretty generous! Getting SR at the start really is the mark of an African war god! This thing is way too kind!
But you can't fool me! I know the first recharge package is coming next! Where's the paywall? Does this support blue-green bank transfers?
"System? System? Is there a system? Come out and explain what the achievement points are good for!"
No one responded. No virtual interface, no AI system, no first-recharge package, no pay-to-win options. Just a simple gacha machine.
Unbelievable! This isn't a Penguin product from the distant Eastern country! It's a green, eco-friendly golden finger so conscientious it makes customers feel guilty!
Our great American Spacetime Administration's black tech is number one in the world!
So… let's farm some achievements first!
That was the entire reason Gwen climbed the building in the middle of the night.
Wayne Tower actually had over a hundred floors. It was insane. Gwen looked through the windows and saw many floors were completely empty.
This is how rich people live: build a hundred-story skyscraper, only use the bottom and top floors, and the only purpose of all the other floors is to give the top-floor CEO office a perfect "looking down on all mountains" view.
Don't ask why. That's just the joy of being rich.
There was actually a person on the roof.
Gwen almost got scared to death.
Think about it. In the middle of the night, on the roof of the city's tallest building, there's a person standing there. Wouldn't you be scared?
Gwen nearly lost her footing and wasted the skill. Luckily she could still walk on walls and managed to steady herself in time.
The person opposite her was also startled.
Think about it. In the middle of the night, on the roof of the city's tallest building, a white thing suddenly crawls up. Wouldn't you be scared?
But he wasn't scared off.
This guy was already drunk off his ass and could barely stand.
He was a balding middle-aged white man wearing old-fashioned black-framed glasses, a cheap suit, and a plaid shirt. Beside him were a briefcase, a laptop, and an entire case of Corona beer.
The beer was all gone except for the last half bottle. It was obvious that once he finished that half bottle, he was going to say goodbye to the world.
Who knows how long he had been nursing that half bottle—the carbonation had long since gone flat.
Seeing the helpless expression on the middle-aged IT guy's face, Gwen walked over openly and greeted him: "Yo, jumping off?"
"Uh… yeah…"
"What a coincidence. Me too!"