Gwen Stacy

"Not too far off from what I expected. My physical stats are still way too low."

After giving his stats panel a quick glance, Li Si wore a rueful expression.

He was a couch potato, after all. His physical stats fell well short of the average adult man's.

But plenty of people these days were in poor health, and women also had an innate disadvantage in strength. Not many could reach even the theoretical standard across all attributes.

By comparison, his stats were already pretty good. At least his Intelligence was a little higher, and his Spirit was through the roof.

His Spirit stat hadn't been nearly this high in his previous life. The only reason it was now at 1 was the training he'd undergone while controlling the Hulk in his previous life.

"System, activate sleep mode and wake me five minutes before the game launches!"

There were still more than ten hours until the game officially opened, but Li Si had no intention of logging out. The game pod had enough nutrient fluid to keep him alive, so he didn't need to log out to eat. He simply gave the system his instructions and drifted into a deep sleep.

When Li Si woke again, fourteen hours had passed.

"Set the virtuality level to 99% and activate full-immersion mode!"

With the launch countdown underway, Li Si spoke quickly.

[Checking supported hardware... Installed.]

[Activating full-immersion mode will raise pain to the real-world level and disable some system functions. The presentation of certain system functions will also change. Confirm activation?]

Li Si already knew what full immersion entailed, so he didn't hesitate. "Confirm activation! Log me into the game automatically when the countdown ends!"

[Confirmation complete. Full-immersion mode activated successfully!]

[Earth OL launch countdown initiated... 4 minutes 25 seconds... 24 seconds...]

[...5...4...3...2...1. The game has officially launched. Logging in!]

......

Li Si's vision went black. When the scene shifted, he was in a room.

It was a hallway, dimly lit. A row of lockers lined one side, and a series of classrooms stood along the other.

He was now dressed casually, with a backpack slung over his shoulders.

After quickly browsing the memory recording, Li Si smiled knowingly. He followed the classroom numbers and soon found the right one, then walked inside.

Before he could even enter, the middle-aged male teacher with graying hair at the front of the classroom waved him over.

"Hey, Lee. I thought you were going to be late on your first day!"

The teacher smiled and motioned for Li Si to stand beside him. Then he clapped his hands to quiet the class. "Everyone, let me introduce our new transfer student. Let's give him a round of applause!"

"A new student?"

"An Asian? Is he an exchange student?"

"Oh, why couldn't it be a girl? I hear Asian girls are really pretty!"

The classroom erupted in excited chatter, but the students still gave him a welcoming round of applause.

"Lee, come up and introduce yourself!"

The teacher gestured invitingly, then stepped aside and gave the podium to Li Si.

"This is a pretty great atmosphere!"

Reveling in the feeling of being back at school, Li Si couldn't help smiling. He walked up without the slightest trace of nervousness and introduced himself.

"Hi, everyone. I'm Lee Stein, but you can call me Lee. I'm a guy—so, sorry to disappoint some of you!"

Li Si shrugged and joked before continuing:

"All right, on to my hobbies. I've got plenty: all kinds of sports, all kinds of mechanical and genetic studies. And most importantly, I like girls, so some of the guys here don't need to get any ideas!"

"Boos!"

Li Si's introduction earned a chorus of laughter and teasing boos from the class.

"Well, thanks to our Lee Stein for that entertaining introduction. You don't look Asian at all. Aren't you supposed to be shy?"

The teacher laughed.

"That's just a stereotype. Asians are simply more reserved. I'm an exception—a confident exception!"

Li Si spread his hands in mock resignation.

"All right, confident Lee Stein, here's some good news: your classmates are all straight guys, so at least you don't need to worry about them making a move on you."

The teacher was clearly the type who liked to joke around with his students. After teasing Li Si, he added, "But there's bad news, too. The seats have already been assigned, so you'll have to sit in the back row for now!"

"Compared to the good news, that barely counts as bad news."

Li Si grinned and walked over to take his seat in the back row.

The seat next to him was empty, and in front of him sat a very pretty blonde girl.

He hadn't seen the person he'd been expecting just yet, but at least the blonde girl confirmed that he'd come to the right place.

This seat couldn't have been better for him.

"Gwen Stacy!"

The blonde girl turned around as Li Si sat behind her and introduced herself, holding out her hand.

Li Si shook her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Gwen. I'm sure we'll become good friends!"

"I think so too!"

Gwen gave him a simple smile, neither warm nor distant. Then she turned back around and focused on the lesson.

Behind her, Li Si's lips curled into a slight smile.

Gwen Stacy. She was the new Spider-Man's girlfriend.

To be honest, he was quite fond of her character: a rational, top-of-the-class girl, quiet but with a wild streak. By his standards, she was absolutely his ideal type.

Unfortunately, every second counted in the early game, so he couldn't afford to waste his energy chasing girls. Better to let things unfold naturally.