Spider-Man

Knock, knock!

A knock at the door drew everyone's attention to it.

A somewhat dispirited-looking white teenage boy stood at the entrance. He held a skateboard in one hand and a camera in the other, and stared sheepishly at the middle-aged male teacher at the front of the classroom.

"Peter, you're late again!"

The middle-aged teacher shot the white boy a sidelong glance, set the lesson plans he had just finished organizing on the lectern, and said evenly, "Also, I believe I've told you not to bring your skateboard into the classroom."

"Sorry, Mr. Pierce. I missed the bus. I'll put my skateboard in my locker after class."

The white teenager hung his head and earnestly apologized over and over. After Pierce gave him a few scoldings, he returned to his seat as if granted a pardon—conveniently, the empty seat to Li Si's left.

The main character was here!

Li Si glanced at the white boy beside him.

Peter Parker, New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

But from his thoroughly down-on-his-luck appearance, it was obvious the story hadn't begun yet. Right now, Peter Parker was just an utterly unsuccessful, practically invisible student.

Li Si casually used the player's built-in Scout skill on him, and the result was exactly what he expected.

Name: Peter Parker

Strength: 5

Constitution: 8

Intelligence: 4

Spirit: 9

...

Insufficient Perception to obtain further information.

Those stats were downright pathetic. His Strength was even lower than Li Si's; in terms of combat ability, he probably had only five goose points. Intelligence was the only area where he was a little better, and that was thanks to the genes he'd inherited from his parents.

But as they said, comparison was the thief of joy. Peter was a second-generation scientist, with his father having already paved the way for him.

All it would take was a bite from one of Oscorp's genetically modified spiders, specially engineered using the Parker family's genes, and every stat except Intelligence would shoot well past forty.

"Who are you?"

Peter Parker felt a little unnerved by Li Si's stare and asked him.

"Lee Stein. I'm a new transfer student."

Li Si smiled apologetically and held out his hand as he introduced himself.

"Oh, oh, hi. I'm Peter, Peter Parker!"

Peter Parker was clearly not much of a people person. He hurriedly shook Li Si's hand, wearing an awkward grin.

"Nice to meet you, Peter!"

Li Si didn't rush to befriend him. He made a little small talk, then sat up straight again after Pierce finished organizing his lesson plans and announced the start of class.

[Notification: You have triggered a daily quest—Study.]

[Daily Quest—Study]:

Quest Description: As a high school student, studying is currently the most important thing in your life. Please pay attention through the required number of class periods.

Quest Reward: General Experience +50/per class.

As soon as Pierce announced the start of class, a quest notification popped up before Li Si.

Li Si only glanced at it and didn't give it much thought.

Daily quests were issued based on the starting template. The Student Template's daily quests were easy to complete; basically, all you had to do was sit in class. The experience rewards, however, were correspondingly small.

High schools in New York were more or less like universities in China. The required subjects were limited to a few courses, such as English, mathematics, science, and social studies, and there were only three or four classes a day. Each class was like a Blue Fox battery: one class could outlast six. Once the four periods were over, the day was basically done.

By that calculation, daily quests earned you only 200 general experience a day—not even as much as a single attendance quest under the Soldier Template.

The upside was that it was safe. After all, this game had no resurrection mechanic. If you died, you had to start over from scratch.

Time passed slowly as Li Si concentrated on the lesson...

This was a science class, and it covered only basic physics and chemistry. In truth, there wasn't much for Li Si to learn from it.

After all, he'd received a good education both before and after transmigrating. In particular, technology in this world was highly advanced, and that had led to a deeper and more comprehensive education. Those basic concepts had long been etched into his mind.

Still, Li Si listened with great attention. Good study habits had to be cultivated, and the biggest change brought by Full Immersion Virtual Mode was that knowledge stopped being lifeless data on a panel and became real knowledge.

That was also why he'd chosen the science and technology route. Other powers couldn't be taken out of the game until the achievement exchange system became available later on, but knowledge wouldn't fade from his mind. Whatever he could accomplish in the game, he could accomplish outside it, too.

This game world, which blended together various superhero films, was full of advanced technology. But even if he obtained the technical documents, he'd need a sufficiently solid foundation to understand them. So even if he had to force himself, Li Si needed to get used to studying.

[Notification: Daily Quest—Study complete. Three class periods accumulated. You have received 150 general experience.]

[Notification: After attending Pierce's class, you gained targeted experience (Biochemical Knowledge) +20 and targeted experience (Physics Knowledge) +30. You have unlocked Knowledge: Biochemical Knowledge; Knowledge: Physics Knowledge.]

[Notification: After attending Pavala's class, you gained targeted experience (Linguistic Knowledge) +35. You have unlocked Knowledge: Linguistic Knowledge.]

[Notification: After attending ..., you gained targeted experience (Mathematical Knowledge) +30. You have unlocked Knowledge: Mathematical Knowledge.]

--Knowledge--

Biochemical Knowledge LV0: (20/100)

Physics Knowledge LV0: (30/100)

Linguistic Knowledge LV0: (35/100)

Mathematical Knowledge LV0: (30/100)

The whole day passed. Immersed in studying, Li Si didn't come to his senses until school let out, when he checked the game system's notifications.

There had only been three classes today. The 150 general experience and the four unlocked areas of knowledge were all he'd gained.

Knowledge was like a passive attribute, affecting checks for certain skills and quests. For example, applying to certain companies required specific knowledge. In addition, the Research and Development skill that came with the Scientist Template also relied on knowledge checks to combine blueprints and research results.

Of course, that was how things worked under normal circumstances. After Full Immersion Virtual Mode was activated, everything leaned more toward reality, and many system functions were also reduced or altered.

In Full Immersion Virtual Mode, knowledge was more like a measure of one's aptitude for learning. For example, Biochemical Knowledge improved Li Si's ability to learn and research biology, chemistry, medicine, and related subjects. If it reached LV1, it could probably improve that ability by around ten percent.

This was somewhat like adding points to the Intelligence attribute, but more specialized. The Intelligence attribute fundamentally improved the brain's capabilities, whereas this was more like a specific percentage-based bonus.