Chapter 17: Completing Two Emergency Missions Unknowingly
“Spiderman System, open Status!”
A translucent blue panel materialized in front of me.
[Spiderman System]
[Name: Dante Arashi]
[Earth: 76]
[Strength: E+]
[Speed: E+]
[Durability: E+]
[Agility: E++]
[Reflexes: E++]
[Intelligence: E]
[Skills: Bio-Electrostatic Adhesion: 2 (0/1000). Organic Webbing: 2 (9/1000). Spider-Sense: 0 (0/10). Accelerated Healing Factor: 1 (49/100). Enhanced Immunity: 0 (0/10). Superhuman Balance: 1 (83/100).]
“Good… I’m improving pretty quickly,” I muttered under my breath. But my brows soon drew together. “But, Spiderman System, why aren’t my physical stats increasing as well?”
My spoon froze halfway to my mouth. I stared at the blue panel, confusion flickering across my face. It felt strange watching my skills develop little by little while my core attributes seemed stuck in place, unmoving, as if bound by invisible chains.
The system’s response appeared almost instantly.
[They can be increased by completing missions, or through sustained physical training until a certain threshold is reached.]
“Hm… I see.” I scooped another spoonful of soup, swallowing slowly before speaking again. “Display the Mission feature.”
The status panel shifted seamlessly.
[Daily Mission: 1000 Push-Ups. 1000 Sit-Ups. 1000 Squat Jumps. Run 1000 Meters 10 Times.]
[Completion Conditions: Push-Ups: 0/1000. Sit-Ups: 0/1000. Squat Jumps: 0/1000. Run 1000 Meters: 0/10.]
[Reward: Attribute Status Enhancement below Level D---]
My hand gradually lowered the spoon back into the bowl. I stared at the list for quite some time.
A thousand? A thousand repetitions for each exercise? And ten kilometers of running?
“What does the reward from this mission mean?” I asked, my tone more serious now. The crease between my brows deepened. The room felt quieter, filled only with the faint clink of metal against ceramic and the steady ticking of the wall clock.
[As long as your Attribute Status remains below Level D---, you may use Attribute Status Enhancements to raise your attributes up to Level E+++. After that, higher-tier Attribute Status Enhancements will be required.]
I fell silent, digesting every word carefully.
So… as long as I remained under D---, I could push my attributes to the E+++ limit using that reward. After that, the system would demand something greater. Something harder.
“I think I understand.”
I nodded slowly, as though my mind were assembling a vast blueprint of this entire mechanism. Warm steam continued to rise from the soup, brushing against my face, which had grown calmer.
“But… Spiderman System? What does all of this actually mean?”
My gaze fixed on the transparent screen hovering before me. Its surface emitted a soft bluish glow that reflected in my eyes, forming a holographic image that seemed both tangible and untouchable at the same time.
The light pulsed gently, like a digital heart beating in steady rhythm, making the air around it ripple faintly as if drawn into an invisible current of flowing data.
An odd sensation stirred in my chest—a mixture of awe and caution. The screen had no frame, no projector, no visible source. It simply existed, suspended in the empty space of my room, which was still filled with the lingering aroma of warm soup.
[2 Emergency Missions Completed]
The words appeared with a brief flash.
“I already completed missions? But… Two Emergency Missions? That means there were previous missions before this?” I murmured, my brows knitting so tightly they nearly met. I leaned forward, closing the distance between myself and the screen, as if a closer angle might reveal hidden answers.
My voice sounded like someone who had just woken from a strange dream, unsure which parts were real.
“But when?” I continued softly.
[You have completed two Emergency Missions that appeared earlier. First Mission: Stop a Bank Robbery. Second Mission: Rescue May Parker from the threat of robbery and sexual assault.]
“What?!” My voice rose sharply, even though the only other sound in the room was the low hum of the refrigerator from the kitchen.
I rubbed my chin with the tips of my fingers, slowly, as if trying to squeeze clarity out of a fading memory. The image of that night was still sharp—I had stopped the bank robbers, taking them down one by one with swift strikes and carefully aimed webs. The narrow alley in Forest Hills came back to me as well, thick with the smell of garbage and damp asphalt. Two men had May pinned down, their hands rough and greedy. May’s panicked eyes still lingered in my mind, wide and desperate in a way that refused to fade.
But there had been no notification. No sound. No dramatic flash of victory like in a game.
“I’m pretty sure you didn’t respond at all back then,” I muttered to the system, which remained stubbornly silent. “No congratulations, no cool sound effects, not even a flashy ‘mission complete’ message popping up.”
The silence was irritating.
“Ah… right. I forgot. You’re not exactly responsive,” I hissed under my breath, then let out a long sigh. “Whatever. Forget it. Display the full status of those two Emergency Missions.”
I leaned back into my chair, settling more comfortably as I continued eating the remaining Chicken Soup May had made. Thin steam still curled up from the bowl, carrying the soothing aroma of boiled chicken and simple spices. The scent was warm and homely, a sharp contrast to the chaos from earlier.
Each spoonful spread warmth down my throat and into my stomach, easing the tension in my shoulders after hours of swinging between New York’s towering skyscrapers. My muscles, tight from constant motion and adrenaline, slowly began to relax.
It felt ironic. Just a few hours ago, I had been hanging between steel and glass giants, facing armed criminals without hesitation. Now I was sitting in a small, cozy kitchen, discussing dangerous missions while eating homemade soup.
The screen shimmered again.
[Emergency Mission: Stop the Bank Robbers]
[Completion Condition: Defeat the Bank Robbers and Restrain Them]
[Reward: Spider Robot]
[Status: Completed]
[Emergency Mission: Save May Parker]
[Completion Condition: In a small alley in New York, Queens, Forest Hills, May Parker was being held by two robbers who intended to rob and rape her. Save May before it’s too late.]
[Reward: Spider Watch]
[Status: Completed]
I fell silent for a few seconds, rereading each line carefully.
“Spider robot… and spider watch?” I murmured, trying to imagine their shape and functions. They sounded like high-tech equipment that should make my life significantly easier—or possibly far more complicated.
“Wow… so I really completed two missions without even realizing it, and the rewards aren’t small either?” I lifted my glass of water and took a slow sip. The cold sensation slid down my throat, a sharp contrast to the lingering warmth of the soup in my stomach.
A strange feeling surfaced in my chest—a mixture of pride and annoyance. Pride because my actions had apparently been recognized as important missions. Annoyance because the system hadn’t given me a single notification while everything was happening.
“At this rate,” I muttered quietly, staring at the calmly floating screen, “I could finish ten more missions without even knowing.”
The bluish light pulsed softly, as if laughing at me without making a sound.
“Spider-Man System! Release the mission rewards!”
I couldn’t quite hide the impatience in my voice. The enthusiasm was obvious—slightly childish, perhaps a bit too excited for someone who had just been complaining about the system’s lack of responsiveness. But curiosity won over everything else.
The air in front of me trembled faintly.
Not wind. Not an illusion. The space itself seemed to distort, forming subtle ripples like the surface of water touched by a fingertip. From the center of that distortion, a soft blue light emerged and began to rotate slowly, weaving into patterns that resembled a spider’s web expanding outward and interconnecting in delicate strands.
The light thickened, condensed, and gradually took shape in both of my hands.
A watch—and a small spider robot.
The blue glow faded like morning dew brushed away by sunlight, leaving behind two solid objects with weight and texture that I could clearly feel against my palms.
The watch was sleek and metallic, its surface smooth yet sturdy, with faint web-like engravings circling its frame. The tiny spider robot rested lightly in my other hand, its articulated legs folded neatly beneath its compact body, faint lines of blue light pulsing along its frame as if it were quietly alive.
A wide smile spread across my face before I even realized it. A strange sensation swelled in my chest—a mix of disbelief and pure excitement. It felt like opening a birthday present that turned out to be far cooler than I had ever expected.