Chapter Summaries

After being released from the asylum, Mark Parker returned to the Parker home and learned that a green demon had threatened Peter Parker’s family. With only three days before the demon targeted him, Mark entered his newly loaded Demon Hunter game to gain powers and survive.

• Ben Parker, May, and Peter Parker welcomed Mark home with a celebration after the asylum was destroyed in a Green Goblin attack.
• Mark noticed Peter Parker’s missing right forearm and shut the door when Peter tried to apologize for the accident that had caused it.
• A green demon threatened Peter’s family and gave him three days to cooperate, warning that Mark would be the first one harmed.
• Mark overheard the threat and realized he would have to protect himself rather than rely on Peter.
• Mark’s Demon Hunter game finished loading, and he entered it to gain abilities before the three-day deadline.

Mark entered the game, named his Demon Hound Bruce, and began treating Peter Parker as his dog while believing they would hunt demons together. Peter gave Mark his medicine, and Mark ended the chapter mistaking the pills and water for food and tea from Bruce.

• Mark claimed his starter pack, equipped his gear, and followed a quest arrow to find his Demon Hound.
• Mark named the black Doberman Bruce, but Bruce stayed beside a red Pomeranian that Mark suspected was a demon.
• Mary Jane warned Peter Parker that someone had entered his home, and Peter found Mark calling him Bruce.
• Mark completed the quest, received Defense Cloth Armor, and inspected Bruce’s demon-detecting talent and combat skills.
• Peter gave Mark his prescribed medicine and water, and Mark thanked Bruce for a roasted chicken leg and hot tea.

Mark followed a quest to find Bruce and set off through the city as an inexperienced Demon Hunter, using his enhanced movement to escape notice. He found Bruce in the form of Curt Connors’s Lizard Man, who mistook Mark for a lunatic before discovering Mark could effortlessly catch his wrist.

• Peter Parker locked Mark in a room, but Mark escaped through the window after a quest directed him to follow Bruce.
• Mark hid from a girl who spotted him, then used Quick Movement to leap across the forest and reach a nearby town.
• Mark’s web-slinging in New York startled bystanders, who mistook him for Spider-Man and called the police.
• Curt Connors heard news of a lizard-like attacker at a psychiatric hospital, transformed into a Lizard Man, and went looking for the culprit.
• Mark appeared outside Curt Connors’s window, called him Bruce, and caught his wrist when Curt tried to attack him.

Mark accompanied Curt Connors, whom he mistook for Bruce, to hunt a demon and gained a jumping skill before they reached the Green Goblin’s castle. There, Norman Osborn attacked them, and Connors confronted him over the asylum attack and his research funding.

• Mark overpowered Curt Connors, called him Bruce, and persuaded him to lead the way to a demon’s lair.
• Natasha and Nick Fury watched Mark and Connors on surveillance, identified Mark as a target, and sent Natasha to follow them.
• Mark completed a quest by keeping up with Bruce and gained the Level 1 Jumping skill as they arrived at a castle.
• Connors called out the demon, and Norman Osborn emerged in green armor and blasted the pair with fire.
• Connors confronted Norman about attacking the asylum, then realized Norman could cut off his research funding if Connors beat him.

Mark fought Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin alongside Natasha, whose pistol unexpectedly fired a holy dart that wounded him and drove him away. Mark completed his demon-hunting mission and left the game, while Natasha told Coulson that Spider-Man seemed to use magic.

• Professor Connors abandoned Mark to Norman, and Norman prepared to attack him as the Green Goblin.
• Natasha arrived by helicopter, attacked Norman, and escaped after he destroyed the aircraft with a Pumpkin Bomb.
• Mark embraced Natasha, and her pistol fired a holy dart that pierced Norman’s armor and sent him fleeing on his Glider.
• Mark received mission rewards that increased his strength, tested his new power, then left the game after Professor Connors fled.
• Coulson arrived to support Natasha, who asked him to investigate Norman and watch for Spider-Man’s strange magical abilities.

Mark discovered that his game stats had strengthened him in reality, then watched a news report identifying Spider-Man as an “Unknown Evil Entity.” He and Peter Parker each suspected the other’s secret identity without revealing it, and Mark ended the chapter preparing for the dangerous showdown ahead.

• Mark checked his attributes and realized his game stats had increased his strength in reality.
• Peter Parker told Mark that Uncle Ben and Aunt May were sleeping after working the night shift, then made breakfast with him.
• Mark and Peter watched a report about Spider-Man and the Lizard Man, and each recognized clues connecting the other to the night’s events.
• Peter left for his part-time job, and Mark found a crude Mechanical Arm hidden in the cabinet and concluded Peter was Spider-Man.
• Mark thought about his life-or-death showdown in three days and decided he needed to become stronger.

Mark avoided entering the game alone, then joined Bruce and went to Stark Tower to collect his Beginner Demon Hunter badge. Tony had a Spider-Man suit made from Mark’s design, and Mark received a rare Demon Hunter Outfit before setting out to sell his old equipment.

• Mark declined to enter the game while Bruce rested and drew a Spider-Suit design for Peter to find.
• After Bruce recovered, Mark entered the game, finished dinner, and followed him to Stark Tower to collect their Beginner Demon Hunter badges.
• Tony mistook Mark’s suit design for a superhero costume, had Happy arrange its production, and named Mark Spider-Man in news reports.
• Natasha led a team toward Stark Tower as Harry brought Mark his rare Beginner Demon Hunter Outfit and badge.
• Mark changed into the new outfit, followed a quest to find the Game Merchant, and asked a woman smoking in an alley to buy his old equipment.

Mark discovered that game gold could become real money, while Natasha and her agents failed to capture him as Spider-Man. After a bizarre news report about Spider-Man forcing a woman to buy his equipment, Mark and Peter each decided the other needed help, and Gwen Stacy arrived to take Peter to school and visit Mark.

• Mark threatened a woman in the game and made her pay a dollar for his helmet, broom, and bedsheet before losing Bruce and logging out.
• Mark realized that a gold coin in the game had become a real dollar, and decided to earn more money after waiting for Bruce.
• Mark, Peter, Ben, and May watched a woman accuse Spider-Man of robbing her, and Mark and Peter separately resolved to improve the other's situation.
• Gwen Stacy arrived at the Parkers' home to drive Peter to school and told Mark she had heard he was discharged.
• Mark recognized Gwen as an old classmate, though he privately admitted he did not actually remember her.

Mark went with Gwen and Peter to Empire State University, where he protected Peter from Jeni and heard Gwen recount how he had saved her three years earlier. After Peter left to meet Professor Connors, Mark entered the game and found a Wisdom Flower seed.

• Gwen invited Mark and Peter to tour Empire State University, and Mark insisted on riding in the front passenger seat of her sports car.
• Jeni threw a basketball at Peter, but Mark caught it, burst it, and knocked Jeni down by throwing the deflated ball back at him.
• Gwen told Peter that Professor Connors had been looking for him, and Peter went to the Laboratory Building to speak with him.
• Gwen thanked Mark for protecting her, Peter, and Harry from the Green Giant three years earlier, but Mark did not remember the event.
• Mark entered the game after Bruce's stamina recovered, then found a Wisdom Flower and collected its seeds.

Curt Connors forced Peter to help search Richard's old house for research that could fix the Regeneration Serum, then transformed into the Lizard Man after Gwen discovered his secret and carried her toward the rooftop. Meanwhile, Mark teased Ned on the Emerald Lawn before a notification sent him to aid Bruce, who had found traces of the Demon.

• Curt Connors threatened to kill Peter's brother Mark and use Ben Parker and May as leverage until Peter agreed to help him.
• Connors showed Peter genetic research he had done with Richard and told him to search their old house for a hidden backup, which Connors had bought.
• Connors's emotions triggered lizard scales on his face, and Gwen Stacy entered the laboratory and saw them.
• Peter lunged at Connors to protect Gwen, but Connors transformed into the Lizard Man, threw Peter aside, and carried Gwen through a wall toward the rooftop.
• Mark held Ned Leeds in place while teasing him and collected a Wisdom Flower seed.
• An explosion sounded in the forest, and a notification told Mark that Bruce had discovered traces of the Demon and needed help.

Mark used Spider-Man’s powers to drive Professor Connors away and rescue Gwen Stacy, earning rewards from the game. After Spider-Man left, Gwen suspected that he was a lot like Mark, while Peter denied it and feared Mark’s identity would be exposed.

• Mark followed a danger alert to the city wall, where Professor Connors was carrying Gwen Stacy away, and mistook her rescue for a quest to save a princess.
• Mark told Peter Parker to attack, but Peter could not fight, so Mark used his Demon Hunter Holy Light Fist and forced Professor Connors to flee after he dropped Gwen.
• Mark caught Gwen before she hit the ground, received stat boosts and the Demon Dragon’s Fang, then exited the game and left her behind.
• The crowd changed its opinion of Spider-Man and praised him as a hero, while Peter objected to their romantic interpretation of the rescue.
• Gwen asked Peter whether Spider-Man seemed a lot like Mark, and Peter denied it, making Gwen suspect that he was hiding something.

Mark persuaded Gwen Stacy to contact S.H.I.E.L.D. about capturing Professor Connors and asked to work with the agents. When Natasha arrived, Mark demonstrated his game equipment and claimed he had superpowers.

• Mark learned from Gwen Stacy that Spider-Man had saved her and that Professor Connors was the Lizard Man.
• Mark told Peter Parker and Gwen that S.H.I.E.L.D. could help capture Connors and asked Gwen to have her father contact the agency.
• George secured the scene and contacted S.H.I.E.L.D., whose agents arrived with Coulson and Natasha.
• Natasha questioned Gwen about Spider-Man’s identity, while Mark corrected her and insisted she call him Spider-Man.
• Natasha mistook Bruce for Spider-Man, then flipped Mark when he tapped her shoulder.
• Mark asked Natasha for help and summoned the Demon Hunter Set to demonstrate his supposed superpowers.

Mark searched for quests and gold in the game world, where Professor Connors tried to use him against Peter Parker. Mark attacked Connors instead, then met Tony at Stark Tower and skipped his quest dialogue.

• Mark found Peter's Spider-Suit in his room, tried it on, and drew a map of the Holy Light Continent before planting a Wisdom Flower seed.
• Mark entered the game and met Professor Connors, who asked him to chase away nearby agents in exchange for a gold coin.
• When Professor Connors told Mark to bring him Peter Parker, Mark attacked Connors with Holy Light Fist and disappeared.
• Mark traveled to town, where the crowds praised Spider-Man for defeating Lizard Man and saving a girl.
• Mark found Tony at Stark Tower, asked for a quest, and skipped Tony's dialogue.

Mark mistook his trip to S.H.I.E.L.D. for a demon-hunting game quest and arrived at the Holy Light Church, where he learned the game’s ranks and demanded a quest from Nick Fury. He remained convinced he was a player, while Fury and Natasha prepared to interrogate him.

• Tony asked Happy to handle Mark, and Happy escorted him downstairs after adjusting his Demon Hunter Set into a ridiculous outfit.
• Natasha and the agents met Mark in the parking garage and tricked him into riding with them to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Building.
• Mark mistook the trip for a game cutscene and believed he had found the Holy Light Church and the true demon-hunting headquarters.
• Mark met Nick Fury, whom he identified as an Upper-Class demon hunter, and asked Natasha about equipment grades and demon ranks.
• Mark read Fury’s disguised photo book as a demon hunter handbook and concluded that becoming a God-Class hunter would clear the game.
• Nick Fury asked Natasha whether she had told Mark he was there for interrogation, and Natasha joked that she would take Fury’s seat if Mark revealed anything useful.

Mark passed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assessment in Room One, earned Demon Hunter rewards, and upgraded several skills. After he logged out and left, Natasha named his ability to dodge their attempts to remove his mask Spider-Sense.

• Natasha suggested testing Mark in Room One, and Nick Fury approved the assessment.
• Mark endured the chamber's restraints, electrical currents, and gravity, then smashed through the door with a punch and kicked open another door to leave.
• Nick Fury declared Mark had passed, and Mark received a Beginner Holy Light Badge, gold coins, attribute boosts, skill points, and the Holy Light talent.
• Mark spent his skill points to upgrade Quick Movement, Jumping, and Demon-Hunting Dart, then asked Nick Fury for a quest and received 100 gold coins from Natasha.
• Mark logged out, but Natasha and Nick Fury could not remove his mask or keep up with him as he left.
• Natasha recorded the ability that let Mark evade them and suggested naming it Spider-Sense.

Mark spent his first earned money on a family barbecue, where Professor Connors appeared and transformed into the Lizard Man. As the Lizard Man attacked Peter, Mark unleashed a glowing Holy Light Fist.

• Mark told Ben Parker and May that he had earned one hundred dollars and took the family to barbecue at the Bronx Botanical Garden.
• Peter spotted Professor Connors emerging from the bushes, and Mark struck him with a stone.
• Professor Connors injected the remaining Regeneration Serum and transformed into the Lizard Man as Coulson and suited agents arrived.
• The Lizard Man dodged the agents’ gunfire and lunged at Peter, while Coulson was wounded trying to stop him.
• Mark’s light flared as he shouted, “Demon Hunter... Holy Light Fist!”

Mark fought Professor Connors, but a strange black liquid took over Connors and then chose Mark as its host. Venom briefly transformed Mark before fleeing into the woods, leaving Mark and Coulson’s proposed collaboration unresolved.

• Mark used holy light to knock the Lizard Man into the stream, then told Ben Parker, Peter, and May to escape while he held Connors off.
• Coulson’s agents fired on Connors as Mark dodged his pounce, and Connors smashed a boulder that released a strange black liquid.
• The black liquid covered Connors, strengthened him, and rendered the agents’ bullets useless before he seized Mark by the throat.
• The liquid abandoned Connors and bonded with Mark, transforming him into a black demon that broke Connors’s claws and drove him away.
• Mark returned to normal without remembering what had happened, while Venom fled into the woods and Coulson denied agreeing to collaborate with him.
• Mark realized the black liquid was Venom.

After Peter and Mark returned home from the botanical garden, Peter reminded Mark that Gwen Stacy’s birthday was approaching. That night, the black symbiote infected Gwen, transformed her into a white-and-pink Spider-Woman, and planned to use her to get close to Mark.

• Mark checked whether Peter had seen the black symbiote, then took Peter and the Parkers home when the police arrived.
• Peter told Mark that Gwen Stacy’s birthday was coming up and that he should get her a present.
• After dance practice, Gwen was infected by the black symbiote, which slipped into her skin while she was opening her car.
• Gwen drove Peter home and made an unusually vicious remark about biting Mark’s head off, then later struggled with agitation and needed a sleeping pill to fall asleep.
• The symbiote transformed Gwen into a white-and-pink spider form, discovered her connection to Mark, and decided to use her identity to approach him.

Mark accepted a quest to exorcise a demon from a prince in the Kingdom of Locke, but his attempt led him to assault the newly awakened Captain Steve. Steve then woke up acting violently and appeared to be possessed.

• Natasha gave Mark a quest to find a black liquid, and his system instead directed him to exorcise a demon from Prince Locke.
• Nick Fury ordered an investigation into the Mental Hospital and suspected it might be connected to Spider-Man’s appearance.
• Mark fought through the agents guarding Steve’s room, mistook Steve for the possessed prince, and knocked him unconscious.
• Nick Fury and the others watched as Mark left, then Steve woke and attacked Nick Fury while spewing abuse.
• Natasha recognized that something was wrong with Steve, and the room erupted into chaos.

Mark explored the Holy Light Continent, then used Venom as a musical instrument by striking a church bell until the symbiote fled back to Gwen Stacy. After exiting the game to prepare the prince’s treatment plan, Norman visited Professor Connors and faced questions about his plans for the Regeneration Serum.

• Mark summoned Bruce and was bonded by Venom, which believed it had found a powerful host.
• Mark took Bruce to a church bell tower and repeatedly struck the bell, causing Venom intense pain.
• Venom abandoned Mark and returned to Gwen Stacy, while Mark exited the game to work on the prince’s treatment plan.
• Norman entered his hidden laboratory and asked Professor Connors to help with company paperwork.
• Professor Connors demanded to know Norman’s real plan, and Norman prepared to tell him.