Chapter 1: Ghost-Spider? I Didn't Expect You to Be This Kind of Gwen!
Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City.
Through the morning mist, sunlight filtered into a small attic studio.
In front of an easel, a young man with an effortless charm leisurely painted the image in his mind.
A war scene soon took shape on the canvas—a glowing blue portal loomed atop a skyscraper, monstrous soldiers swarmed like an endless tide, and colossal warships cast shadows over the city…
"Ethan! Breakfast is ready! Hurry up and come down!"
A voice called from downstairs.
"Got it, Jessica. Just a minute."
Ethan Lee responded casually, finishing the last stroke before covering the painting with a white cloth.
The Battle of New York hadn't happened yet, so it wasn't the right time for anyone to see this particular piece.
Yes, Ethan Lee was a transmigrator.
From the presence of Stark Industries and Oscorp, he had already deduced that this was the Marvel Universe.
And after realizing that he was just an ordinary person? He made the wisest decision possible—lying low and living comfortably.
Save the world? That was the superheroes' job.
But there was one thing worth mentioning…
While Ethan might be an ordinary person, in terms of connections, he was anything but.
For example, his next-door neighbor to the left was George Stacy, the New York City Police Commissioner. George's daughter, Gwen Stacy, was just a few years younger than Ethan, and they had been close since childhood.
Then, there was the neighbor on the right. That house belonged to Ben Parker and May Parker. And, of course, their nephew, Peter Parker.
That's right. Spider-Man.
Ethan never expected that one of his favorite characters from his past life would grow up right next door to him.
But that wasn't even the craziest part.
The girl who had just called him for breakfast was Jessica Ye—full name Jessica Campbell.
She was Gwen's high school friend, whose family had tragically died in a car accident. Back when they were kids, Ethan, acting on impulse, had taken her in as his adopted sister.
It wasn't until later that he realized something shocking—her life story matched that of Jessica Jones.
Superhero connections? Fully stacked.
And as everyone knew, being a friend or relative of a superhero was not great for life expectancy.
Yet somehow, Ethan had managed to survive unscathed so far.
Maybe that was only because Peter and Jessica hadn't become superheroes yet.
---
Downstairs
By the time Ethan came down, two girls were already seated at the dining table, casually enjoying breakfast.
Jessica and Gwen.
Both dressed in stylish yet comfortable casual wear, both effortlessly beautiful—one with long, flowing black hair, the other with shoulder-length blonde locks.
The contrast between the two, a dark-haired beauty and a radiant blonde, was stunning to say the least.
"Morning, Gwen. Didn't expect to see you here," Ethan greeted as he took his seat.
Gwen shot him a playful wink. "The breakfast Jessica made using your recipe is amazing."
So she was just here for the food.
"Ethan, sit here."
Jessica patted the chair between her and Gwen.
A spot specifically reserved for him.
There was no need to guess what that meant.
"Jessica, it's Lee, not Li," Ethan corrected jokingly as he sat down.
He picked up a soup dumpling and placed one on each of their plates.
"We've lived together for so long. I'll be heartbroken if you keep saying my name wrong~"
"Ugh, Chinese pronunciation is too hard," Jessica complained, curling her tongue playfully. She tried again, "Lee… Lee."
"Lee~" Gwen pronounced it effortlessly.
Jessica turned to her in surprise. "Hey! That was really good!"
Gwen smiled. "I've been learning Chinese lately."
"Seriously? That sounds difficult."
"My brother teaches me occasionally, but I still can't get it right," Jessica admitted.
Ethan chuckled. Jessica had a natural talent for cooking, but languages? Not so much.
"You should start with pinyin first," Gwen suggested. "Here, I'll show you a good website."
She pulled out her phone, tapped a link, and leaned past Ethan to show it to Jessica.
"This one. Try it."
Without hesitation, she pressed close to Ethan, her delicate figure practically brushing against him.
Jessica and Gwen started chatting excitedly, while Ethan simply got used to the close contact. It wasn't the first time, after all.
A beautiful woman by your side made breakfast taste even better.
Before long, the dumplings and egg drop soup were all gone.
---
Huh?
Jessica, still browsing her phone, suddenly gasped.
"Whoa, check this out!" She turned the screen toward Ethan. "A superhero! How cool is that?"
Ethan glanced at the screen.
The headline read:
"Mysterious Masked Hero Appears in New York"
A photo was attached.
His brows furrowed. Wait… Peter already debuted?
Something didn't seem right.
Frowning, he enlarged the image.
And then… he froze.
The figure in the photo had an unmistakably curvy silhouette.
The suit was black and white, accented with purple.
And instead of the usual Spider-Man mask, this one had a white hood.
…Ghost-Spider?
Gwen Stacy?
Ethan blinked, then looked at Gwen's unmistakable blonde hair.
Something felt off.
A lot of things, actually.
I didn't expect you to be this kind of Gwen…!