Willy didn't answer right away. His stomach twisted.
On one hand, everything about the mission stank of hidden motives.
On the other… fifty thousand reward points.
Fifty. Thousand.
That was nearly a hundred times everything he'd earned since he was three years old.
All those ridiculous tasks over thirteen years—punctured tires, destroyed gardens, frozen swims, humiliations—and together they barely added up to a fraction of this single mission.
Willy swallowed.
It's insane.
And yet…
Fifty thousand points… I could buy almost anything…
His heart throbbed with a mixture of dread and temptation, the system's silence pressing on him like a hand urging him forward.
"Can I at least think about it?" Willy asked, forcing his mind to steady.
This wasn't some harmless prank mission—this involved superheroes.
Real ones.
And he had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to sabotage Peter Parker and Harry Osborn's friendship.
He didn't even know them yet.
Five seconds, the system replied cheerfully. Is that enough?
Five…
four…
"You're joking! Five seconds to think?!"
His brief moment of relief shattered instantly.
He felt his pulse spike as the countdown echoed mercilessly through his skull.
Three… two…
"Are you serious right now—"
One…
"Fine! I accept! I accept the damn mission!" Willy blurted the words out mentally, practically tripping over them as he surrendered.
Temptation had won.
Fifty thousand reward points… there was no universe where he could walk away from that.
Excellent.
Mission issued.
Deadline: six months.
Better get moving, host, the system hummed, sounding far too pleased.
"Wait—there's a time limit?"
"Half a year?"
"That's insane!" Willy stopped in his tracks.
Six months wasn't just fast—it was impossibly fast.
He hadn't even seen Peter or Harry in person yet, let alone figured out how to wedge himself into their lives deeply enough to pull them apart.
Complaining is pointless now, the system said, unbothered.
By the way, you'll be turning sixteen in a few days.
I'll have a birthday present prepared for you.
Willy winced. "A… birthday present?"
"Every 'present' you've ever given me could be used as trauma material."
"Just… please don't make this year another jump scare."
This time, the system's tone shifted—still mechanical, but strangely solemn.
Don't worry.
Sixteen marks the beginning of adulthood.
I'll prepare something fitting for your birthday.
"Great," Willy muttered under his breath, defeated.
"Just… don't ruin my life. That's all I'm asking."
Silence answered him.
The system faded like a closed door, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Only then did Willy lift his head and realize he had stopped in front of his classroom door.
Whew~
"William! Why were you sprinting like that?"
Tom finally caught up, panting as Willy stopped in front of the classroom door.
"Oh—Tom." Willy blinked, genuinely surprised to see him.
"Sorry, man. I… completely forgot you were behind me."
His mind had been tangled up in the system's threats and promises, and Tom had slipped from his awareness entirely.
"It's fine!" Tom brushed it off with his usual easygoing grin.
"So this is our class, huh?"
"Looks like most people are already here. And—wait… is that—"
He froze mid-sentence, eyes widening as something across the room caught his attention.
"What? A cute girl?" Willy followed his gaze, half expecting a pretty face or two.
Instead, the brightest corner of the classroom wasn't occupied by girls at all.
Sunlight washed over two boys whose presence seemed to pull the entire room's attention toward them.
A low ripple passed through the students nearby.
"That's…"
"Peter Parker and Harry Osborn," Willy finished for him, his voice calm.
"Didn't think we'd end up in the same class."
He didn't know if this was another one of the system's manipulative coincidences or just fate messing with him, but he didn't waste time trying to guess.
Peter, he knew, was brilliant but soft-spoken—the type who blended into the background when he wasn't acing every test.
The stares weren't for him; they were for the boy beside him.
Harry Osborn.
Son of the Osborn Group.
Practically Marvel's royalty, the closest thing the school had to a celebrity.
With a family name that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Stark Industries, it made sense the room tilted in his direction.
"Tom, stop drooling," Willy said, patting his shoulder lightly.
"Let's grab seats before the teacher gets here."
"Drooling?"
"Come on, man, I was just… surprised!" Tom sputtered, but he followed him toward the window regardless.
Willy slid into a seat by the window, letting out a slow breath. He didn't bother staring at the two future "big shots."
They were classmates now.
He'd have more than enough time to approach them—maybe too much time, given the mission looming over him.
As the other students chatted, he sank deeper into his thoughts.
'Break their relationship…'
'Break Peter and Harry's friendship.'
He sifted through what he remembered about Spider-Man, brow tightening.
Their bond was strong—built on shared pain, shared innocence, shared years.
Even after betrayal, even after tragedies that tore them apart, they somehow found their way back to each other.
Trying to split them now felt like trying to crack stone with bare hands.
'Where the hell am I even supposed to start?'
He rubbed his temples, frustration creeping into his bones.
Maybe someone around him could—
He glanced at Tom.
Tom was very enthusiastically admiring the girls across the aisle, chin propped on his hand, eyes sparkling with dreams of teenage romance.
Willy sighed internally.
'Yep.'
'I am definitely on my own.'
"Ahh… fifty thousand points," he muttered under his breath.
"These are going to be a nightmare to earn."