~New York, Queens ~ Midtown High School~
The warm morning sunlight bathed the campus as energetic students streamed through the school gates, laughing and greeting each other.
A sleek silver-gray sedan pulled up to the entrance, and a handsome young man stepped out, drawing envious or jealous glances from passing students.
Midtown High was just a public school relying on government funding, and most of its students came from ordinary families.
A rich kid who could ride in a car like this should have been attending some expensive private high school, the kind of place where the wealthy sent their children.
"Harry!" A bespectacled boy called out.
The handsome young man turned and saw his only friend in school...
Thanks to his privileged background, Harry Osborn wasn't exactly popular at Midtown High. If not for the teachers giving him special treatment, he might have ended up like his friend Peter... a punching bag for school bullies.
"Tomorrow, the school is organizing a trip to Columbia University's research center. I can't wait!" Peter, looking every bit the nerdy type, was practically buzzing with excitement.
He always had a keen interest in anything strange and novel.
"Oh, sounds like it'll be a fun trip." Harry replied absentmindedly, his gaze trailing a red-haired girl walking ahead... Mary Jane, a stunning beauty who could set any teenage boy's hormones racing.
"Excuse me." A voice came from behind Peter and Harry.
A casually dressed young man looked at the two blocking the way, his eyes glinting with something unreadable.
"...Morning, Sean." Peter quickly pulled his friend aside as soon as he recognized who it was, as if avoiding the plague.
"Did that guy bully you too?" Harry asked curiously.
"No, but it's best to stay away from him," Peter shook his head, "I heard Sean pissed off some gang members. Yesterday, some thugs were seen dragging him to an abandoned factory in the suburbs."
Harry glanced back at the guy...
He looked clean-cut and bookish, hardly the type to be mixed up with street gangs.
Walking ahead, Sean allowed a faint smile to tug at his lips. He had overheard Peter and Harry's conversation.
The old Sean had been a loner with no real friends at school, which made him an easy target for those drug-pushing thugs. Public schools weren't exactly strict, and rebellious teens made for reliable customers.
"So, I really am in that world, the one crawling with superheroes and mutants."
Sean looked up at the sun, feeling its warmth seep into his skin. He clenched his fist, sensing the incredible power surging within him.
No one would ever guess that mysterious golden elixir had completely transformed his human body.
He could feel it... the sunlight slowly being absorbed into his cells, as if he were drawing energy from a star itself. The process was subtle but the steady, intoxicating growth of his strength was undeniable.
"Spider-Man, the Green Goblin… Who's next?" A bright grin spread across Sean's face.
He had quickly accepted the reality of his transmigration and his new identity. The virtual character combat system in his mind gave him both confidence and purpose.
Since he was now in a world of infinite possibilities, he might as well enjoy it. Whether he crossed paths with superheroes or terrifying villains, it would all be part of his new life...
...
Sitting in the classroom, Sean felt both familiarity and strangeness. Tenth-grade coursework wasn't particularly challenging, especially for someone whose mental faculties had been enhanced.
Flipping through the textbooks, the knowledge came to him effortlessly, like simple shapes being pieced together.
Bored, Sean let his gaze wander across the room...
There were quite a few familiar faces in his class... Harry Osborn, the rich kid currently making eyes at Mary Jane; Peter Parker, the shy nerd who would one day become Spider-Man; and a curly-haired boy slumped in the corner who looked vaguely familiar.
"Who's that?" Sean quietly asked the student next to him.
Ignoring the odd look he got, he finally placed the name, "That's Dave. Dave Lizewski..."
Dave Lizewski, raised by a single parent, bullied just like Peter, and amusingly enough, someone who would eventually become a 'superhero' too.
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"If this guy were in the combat system, he wouldn't even rank as a weakling..." Sean smirked at the daydreaming boy.
If sheer stubbornness counted as a superpower, then Dave Lizewski (the future 'Kick-Ass') could indeed be called a 'superhero'...
...
After a day of experiencing life as a high school sophomore, Sean leisurely left the classroom.
News of his run-in with street thugs seemed to have spread, and people were subtly keeping their distance. Nobody wanted to get tangled up with gangsters, it could get them expelled...
Just as he stepped out of the school gates, Sean spotted a group of figures loitering at a street corner...
A red motorcycle roared to life, and the gang leader from yesterday sat atop it, glaring at him with malicious intent.
"Wow, you've got some luck kid! Playing dead yesterday, huh? Let's see you run today!" The baggy-outfitted thug sneered at the young man with his hands in his pockets.
Yesterday, he had thought he'd killed someone and nearly fled town in panic. But today, he got word that Sean was alive and well, strolling into school like nothing happened.
"Boss, this punk doesn't even have a scratch on him! Must've gone to some fancy hospital!" the nose-ringed guy chimed in.
"You're damn right. Guess we gotta give him some fresh wounds today!" The gang leader laughed wildly, his menacing gaze sweeping the area.
Students near the entrance hurried away not wanting any part of this mess.
"Peter, what are you doing?" Harry grabbed his friend's arm, worried the bookworm was about to do something reckless.
"I'm getting a teacher! Otherwise, Sean is gonna get beaten to a pulp. These guys are bad news..." Despite his timid nature, Peter had a strong sense of justice.
He couldn't just stand by while his classmate got jumped.
"Teachers can't handle these guys. Even the cops won't do much," Harry said helplessly.
Even if the police intervened, these thugs would just spend a couple of days in lockup before being released... and then Sean would face even worse retaliation.
While Peter and Harry debated, Sean had already walked right up to the gang leader. He dropped his backpack casually, looking completely unfazed by the impending violence:
"I was actually looking for you guys," the black-haired young man said with a smile.
"Boss, you hear that?" The nose-ringed thug burst out laughing.
"You were looking for us? What, yesterday's beating wasn't enough? You want another round? Hahaha!" The gang leader roared with laughter, wondering if he had knocked the kid stupid.
Sean stood there calmly, letting them mock him.
Only when their laughter died down did he speak again, "Now you've got two choices. One... I beat you up and you crawl away. Two... you beat yourselves up, and then crawl away..."
"...Which one is it gonna be?"
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