Empire State Building

I was Spider-Man, New York City's superhero.

I was New Yorkers' friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, a fine example to primary and secondary school students around the world. I enjoyed helping others, loved taking down thieves and robbers even more, and especially loved helping elderly ladies cross the street. No one had ever falsely accused me of anything.

Some time ago, I joined a school-organized academic exchange group and went to nearby Pennsylvania. Then something major happened in New York, and the Daily Bugle went crazy slamming me, calling me a coward who had fled without fighting, even though I was completely innocent.

The Daily Bugle's owner was a thoroughgoing miser. He docked my pay while desperately attacking me—the universally acknowledged good neighbor of New York City, Spider-Man.

I liked standing atop the Empire State Building and gazing over the entire city. Few people came here, and the cold wind howled. I believed God had reserved this place specifically for me to ponder life.

A beautiful, pure, peaceful sanctuary.

Until I met that bastard—a despicable, arrogant, utterly rude guy. He destroyed everything. I had never seen anyone so shameless.

He told me I was still too young.

"Hot, hot!"

Spider-Man held a freshly bought hot dog in one hand as he quickly climbed to the top of the Empire State Building. He liked this place. Whenever he went out as Spider-Man, whether excited, disappointed, or lost, he would come here and quietly gaze into the distance. His heart would always miraculously calm down. This was his sanctuary. Few people came here, and he liked keeping beautiful things in places that suited his mood.

Like this hot dog.

The shop beside the Daily Bugle sold the tastiest hot dogs. It was the most affordable place in all of New York, with the most attentive service.

"Hot, hot!"

The hot dog went from his left hand to his right, then back to his left. Spider-Man repeated his daily routine, never tiring of it.

Then he suddenly noticed someone on the other side of the roof's edge and was greatly startled. Other than school groups and staff who came regularly for tours or cleaning, this was the first time he had seen someone come up here alone.

He scratched his head and slowly moved closer. He thought he should go over and say hello, share the experience of how lonely the heights could be, and demonstrate the friendliness of Spider-Man, a good citizen.

But what he saw made him collapse.

The man stood at the edge of the platform atop the New York skyscraper, arrogantly undid his belt, and relieved himself below.

The stream was steady and powerful, charging forward with unstoppable momentum. It traced a beautiful arc through the air before falling four hundred meters to the ground.

Spider-Man went crazy.

Sanctity, purity, beauty—it was all bullshit. At that moment, they had all gone to see God.

If the world had a color, it had to be gray.

Spider-Man was beside himself with rage, nearly blinded by fury. He even wanted to kick this man off the roof to preserve the honor of this sacred ground.

"Y-you... how dare you!" Spider-Man was so angry he could barely speak.

Donnie turned his head indifferently. Seeing a pervert in a full-body red skintight suit, he immediately understood who this was.

His tense body gradually relaxed. He had thought he had lured the watchers hidden in the dark out, that they intended to harm him while he was off guard.

"This is the Empire State Building, the famous New York Empire State Building, a world-renowned symbol of New York City! How dare you..." Spider-Man pointed at him with a trembling hand. This was the despair of a shattered dream.

"I know this is the Empire State Building."

Donnie expressionlessly looked the pervert up and down, paying particular attention to Spider-Man's skinny frame. Then, as though he had suddenly understood something, he smiled arrogantly and revealed a disdainful expression. "What are you looking at? Never seen one as big as mine?"

Spider-Man froze. He was practically going insane, his mind thrown into chaos, his worldview collapsing.

"Y-you... You're utterly shameless! Didn't anyone teach you not to..."

"Not to what?" Donnie said. "Who says you can't relieve yourself on the Empire State Building?"

"But no one has ever done this before! No one has ever been so shameless..."

Donnie said scornfully, "Because they weren't as big as me. They didn't dare let anyone see."

Spider-Man's body swayed, and he nearly fainted to the ground. It was the blow of a shattered myth. He could not believe his sanctuary had been defiled like this. Worse still, the desecrator acted as though it were perfectly natural and felt completely at ease.

The stream drifted with the wind all the way to the ground, startling some pedestrians. Some looked up at the sky and began cursing. The weather forecast had said it would be sunny today, so why was it raining?

"It's all fucking Ross's fault." The pedestrians cursed as they hurried home to get umbrellas.

At that moment, Ross was curled up in a holding cell, trembling.

Donnie adjusted his clothes and narrowed his eyes as he gazed into the distance. It was said that from the top of the New York Empire State Building, one could see five other states.

As a symbol of New York City alongside the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building stood high above the city, overlooking it all. Its design was grand and vigorous, truly exceptional. It made people feel refreshed, as though the whole world were in their hands.

Spider-Man had already calmed down and realized that the person before him was unusual.

How had he gotten up here? The door leading to this rooftop was clearly locked tight. All he had to do was turn around and check.

"Buddy, how did you get up here? It's so high, yet you're so short... I mean compared to this building, you're tiny. Just a little dwarf... Even though you're over six feet tall, you're still a little dwarf..." Spider-Man jumped over and asked curiously.

"Then how did you get up here?"

"I climbed up."

"What a coincidence. So did I."

Donnie seriously told him that the building was very, very tall. He could take the elevator to the upper floors because he had a high-level access card. Then he crawled out through a ventilation shaft and climbed up the wall for a while.

Spider-Man's response was, "Bullshit." Was the Empire State Building owned by his family or something? And how exactly had he climbed up the wall? It was not like he had been bitten by a spider too and could scale walls.

Nothing but lies. This guy was definitely not a good person.

"It's not that I don't believe you. It's just too unbelievable. If your talent for making up lies were half as thick as your skin, you could conquer the entire world... Fine, I just don't believe you..." Spider-Man rattled on, hurling countless doubts at Donnie. He wanted an explanation, or else he would knock him down and send him to the police.

"Can you still get down?" Donnie suddenly asked.

Spider-Man was a little confused and answered instinctively, "Of course I can. It's easy. If I can climb up, then I can jump down. By the way, you still haven't told me the truth. You're far too rude."

"Then carry me down. I'm tired." Donnie waved a large hand, looking extraordinarily heroic. "You're a good neighbor. You have to help me."

Spider-Man groaned, completely unable to complain anymore. He did not even have the strength to hit anyone. How could there be someone so shameless in this world?

Not far from the Empire State Building, a small drone flew about openly, taking in everything below.

Donnie had noticed it long ago. At first, he thought it was a probe sent out by some organization or agency to test him and gather intelligence, hoping to capture or kill him in one stroke.

But he realized he had guessed wrong. The drone was following Spider-Man. Wherever Spider-Man went, the aircraft followed, brazenly unconcerned with hiding itself.

In the distance, at the Daily Bugle headquarters, the newspaper's owner James stared at the transmitted footage with shining eyes. He was wildly excited and burst into loud laughter.

Though the footage had no sound, he had already automatically filled in the entire conversation in his mind. This was the most basic quality of a media professional.

Spider-Man, you little piece of trash! I've finally caught you with a huge scandal!

"Parker! Parker! Peter Parker! I have an important assignment for you... Where is he? Has that bastard skipped work again? I'm docking his pay!" James shouted.

As a series of orders was swiftly issued, James, the decisive and hot-tempered boss, summoned a large group of people and gave them instructions. Rarely, he even wrote the article himself. He had already prepared the headline.

"Spider-Man's Shocking Secret! The Man Who Pees Thirty Feet into the Wind!"