Gwen Stacy

On the rooftop of Midtown High School's top-floor teaching building, Bai Ye gripped the railing and gazed into the distance.

He was considering whether he should drop out now. After all, his background was the same as everyone else from Starting Point Orphanage. Whether he went to school or not didn't really matter.

Yes, Bai Ye had no parents in this world. Or rather, as far as this world's Bai Ye was concerned, having biological parents was no better than not having them.

After hesitating briefly, he abandoned the idea. Before recovering his memories, his plan had been to study hard, stay away from the criminal underworld, and live like a rich man.

Bai Ye rubbed his aching head as he considered how to make money in the short term.

Most of the living expenses he had worked so hard to earn had already been burned through by a string of purchases.

As for studying, even if he didn't drop out, he could still take leave and skip class. He would drag it out one day at a time.

"This is driving me crazy. If it comes down to it, I'll just become some rich woman's pretty boy. It's not like I can go back to robbing banks like before," Bai Ye grumbled.

His memories had awakened a little too late. Otherwise, with the memories from his previous life, he could have exploited the time gap. Even if he couldn't achieve billionaire-level financial freedom, he wouldn't be troubled by a mere few tens of thousands of dollars.

Standing on the rooftop, he looked into the distance. Feeling the gentle breeze, Bai Ye took a light breath of chilly air and gazed at New York's densely packed skyscrapers.

As he looked down at the ground from such a height, a new training method suddenly came to mind.

If he put his body on the line between life and death, would it train his mind more efficiently?

The instant the thought arose, Bai Ye took off his coat, gripped the edge of the railing tightly with both hands, and in the next moment, his perspective flipped upside down as he balanced in a handstand atop the smooth iron railing.

Although his arms held his body steadily in midair, he was more than ten meters above the ground. One slight mistake, and even if he did not die, he would be crippled.

In that state, Bai Ye's breathing quickened slightly, and his adrenaline began to rise, bringing an unprecedented level of focus to his senses.

This was an unconventional method from traditional martial arts: Heaven Stealing!

Put scientifically, it meant keeping the body in constant danger, using environmental pressure to concentrate one's energy, accelerate blood flow, and create an extreme state.

It was like the night before a college exam, when study efficiency skyrocketed and the pressure of failing let you speedrun an entire subject in a few hours.

After stabilizing himself, Bai Ye shifted all his weight onto his right hand, raised his other hand behind his back, and began doing one-handed handstand push-ups.

The control granted by his 1.4 Spirit attribute made every movement as steady as a machine.

Under the pressure of death, every rise and fall of his body kept his nerves taut. Thoughts of backing down surged through his mind again and again, but Bai Ye's brain forcibly suppressed them.

His eyes remained fixed on the plus sign beside Constitution on the Stat Panel.

If he made even one mistake in balancing his body, he would immediately add all his unused Attribute Points to Constitution.

That would raise his Constitution directly to 1.9. Combined with the protection of his internal energy, he might not emerge completely unscathed, but he would at least survive a fall.

Bai Ye would not normally put himself in mortal danger for no reason, but with so many safeguards in place, backing down now would be far too cowardly.

132... 133... 134...

With his focus so concentrated, even without added weight, every one-handed handstand push-up consumed extra stamina just to maintain his balance.

Soon after he passed 160 repetitions, Bai Ye's stamina began to give out, and his arm started trembling uncontrollably. Left with no choice, he drew internal energy from his Dantian to compensate for his waning strength.

"Creak..."

Just as Bai Ye was fully focused on his handstand push-ups, the iron door creaked open.

A blonde girl pushed the door open and stepped onto the roof. She saw a handsome young man with fair features and skin flushed red below the neck sitting casually on the railing, looking at her.

"Classmate, shouldn't you be in class right now? Don't you think you came to the wrong place?" Bai Ye had flipped himself onto the railing and sat down before she opened the door. He casually examined the newcomer as he spoke.

With her long, wavy, shoulder-length golden hair, delicate features, and lovely figure, Bai Ye gave her an impressive 1.3 in Charm.

"I should be asking you that, Bai Ye. Did you come up here to rest during extracurricular practical training too?" The girl raised a brow, looking Bai Ye up and down as she smiled.

"You know me?" Bai Ye asked doubtfully.

"Of course I do. At last year's freshman welcome party, every student in the school probably remembered you. I just happen to have a good memory, so I remembered your name."

The blonde girl slowly approached, admiring Bai Ye's looks as she extended her right hand. "Let's get acquainted. My name is Gwen Stacy."

Bai Ye had not expected the person before him to be Gwen Stacy. Out of politeness, he reached out, intending to give her hand a light shake.

But the moment their palms touched, she grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle tug, pulling Bai Ye down from the railing.

"Don't you think sitting on the railing is dangerous?" Gwen smiled softly.

Bai Ye gave the woman a speechless look, suspecting that this overly familiar woman was trying to flirt with him.

At the same instant they touched, a faint prickling pain in the skin of his arm allowed Bai Ye to see her data as well.

Name: Gwen Stacy

Strength: 1.0

Agility: 1.0

Constitution: 0.9

Spirit: 1.1

Charm: 1.3

...

After confirming that she was not some female Spider-Man version of Gwen, but merely an ordinary, harmless person, Bai Ye felt there was no need to pay her too much attention.

He put his coat back on, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked toward the door. "If you want to rest, you can have this place. See you."

Seeing Bai Ye about to leave, Gwen wanted to say something, but with a blink, Bai Ye had vanished from the rooftop. She could only let out a helpless sigh.

After coming down from the rooftop, Bai Ye looked at the changes in his attributes. Although Gwen's arrival had interrupted his training halfway through, Heaven Stealing had proven quite effective.

The training effects for Strength and Constitution had only increased slightly, but the number of training sessions needed for Spirit had been reduced by around 50%.

Keep it up. My deskmate will become Spider-Man in a few days. Once he transforms, I can check his Three-Dimensional Attributes and roughly infer how much each attribute point improves someone.

Afterward, he found an empty room nearby and began slowly cultivating the Purple Mist Divine Skill. By the time he came back to his senses, it was already ten at night, and he was still at school.

This book has been signed, so feel free to invest, everyone.

Bring on the recommendation votes, monthly votes, and tips. I can take it.