“Yes, we are getting off the elevator, thank you.”
Finn reacted first and got off the elevator.
Peter followed closely behind, his mind still in a complete mess.
He was a mess, but someone else was even more of a mess than he was.
[Spider-Man? Peter Parker is Spider-Man? How could I run into Spider-Man here? Peter Parker is also Harry's friend, which means Harry's best friend is Spider-Man? Does Harry know about this? How could I be so lucky to run into Spider-Man just like that! He's so young! Only eighteen! He's even a year younger than me! Spider-Man is actually a high school student? Did he become Spider-Man at sixteen? Does Harry know his good friend is actually this incredible?]
Peter's mind was in a state of chaos. He tried to process his current situation, but he was suddenly overwhelmed by the massive volume of Finn Osborn's inner thoughts, which washed over his brain and left him unable to think of anything. He could only hear Finn's words exploding in his mind like a dense barrage of "mental bullet comments!"
Finn Osborn.
Peter could no longer help but call out Finn's name, attempting to disrupt the other presence in his mind that was far too overwhelming.
"I'm here." Finn subconsciously stopped in his tracks.
Just as he had responded to the Host in the first instance in so many other worlds, he nodded vigorously while staring at Peter and replied.
Peter met Finn's clear, piercing green eyes and froze instinctively, seemingly surprised that the young man would respond to him so seriously.
Spider-Man!
In the next second, Finn's inner voice rushed in again, but it was no longer as chaotic as before.
[It's actually the real Spider-Man!]
Peter could even clearly hear the rising intonation of surprise and excitement in Finn's voice.
The anxiety and trepidation he felt about his identity being exposed suddenly eased the moment he met Finn's bright, sparkling eyes.
—Perhaps, Finn is a fan of Spider-Man too?
As Peter let out a sigh of relief, he felt a small surge of excitement in his heart; he had always hoped that his deeds as Spider-Man would receive the support and affection of the public.
Although he had called out to Finn, Peter did not know what to say for a moment.
His heart was filled with doubts about Finn: Why did it seem like only he could hear Finn's inner thoughts? Why did Finn want to become a "bad brother" hated by Harry? Who was that System PP who could access his data? What exactly was Finn trying to do?
But Peter also felt that he shouldn't expose the secret of being able to hear Finn's inner thoughts right then and there.
"I have a few classmates who are quite eager to meet you." In order to further uncover Finn's secret, Peter clearly needed to find an opportunity to maintain contact with Finn. However, Peter really didn't know what to say at this moment and could only try to make small talk; after all, as a handsome and wealthy socialite, Finn Osborn was quite famous on social media. Indeed, Ned had discussed this with Peter before, expressing curiosity about how tickets to those parties were distributed.
Sure thing." Finn winked and made a casual suggestion, "I love making new friends. There happens to be a party tomorrow night. If you and your friends are free, you can all come along. Shall I send you the address?
"That would be wonderful, if possible." Peter froze for a moment; he hadn't even expected it to go so smoothly.
Finn and Peter exchanged phone numbers, Finn also sent the address of the villa where the party would be held to Peter.
[I got Spider-Man's phone number!]
Immediately after, Peter heard Finn's extremely smug inner voice echoing in his mind.
Peter couldn't help but laugh, but quickly stifled it.
“Do you need me to send a driver to pick you up tomorrow night?” Finn asked.
No need," Peter hurriedly shook his head. "We'll go by ourselves.
Then I'll be going," Finn said, clearly in a good mood. "Go back to your work if you have things to do. Harry is still waiting for you. See you tomorrow.
Peter nodded. As he watched Finn's departing figure, he could still hear the young man humming a wordless, cheerful tune in his heart. After Finn left, Peter walked several laps around the entrance of the Osborn Building, testing whether he could hear the thoughts of others. After coming up empty-handed and full of doubts, Peter finally found Harry Osborn in the CEO's office on the top floor of the Osborn Building.
“You ran into Finn.” Harry didn't even ask why Peter was late; he simply spoke in a casual, affirmative tone.
Yes." Peter nodded. "I just ran into him just now.
"What do you think of him?" Harry Osborn asked.
".. Quite friendly," Peter said after thinking for a moment.
Harry froze for a moment, seemingly surprised that Peter would give such an evaluation, before letting out a sneer. "True, Finn loves making friends; you two probably have plenty in common." The sarcasm in the young man's voice was unmistakable—Harry knew all too well that no one ever described him as "friendly"; most people simply found him cold and acerbic, like a machine.
Peter couldn't quite read Harry's thoughts, but his sarcastic tone clearly sounded unhappy. Peter had already suspected that the brotherhood between Harry and Finn was not very good, especially regarding the distribution of their father's inheritance.
Moreover, it sounded as if Finn and Harry had just had a significant argument in the conference room.
Peter had previously read a report about a citizen who had impulsively bought an "Ultimate 7s" scratch-off ticket, only to find that it had actually won him one million dollars. Afterward, in a fight over the ticket, his own brother had even killed his older brother.
And now, what lay before the two brothers was not one million dollars, but the entire Osborn Group. Such temptation was a test of human nature, far more cruel than a lottery ticket.
"Finn.." Peter knew he didn't have the standing to say that, but he spoke up hesitantly nonetheless. Based on the inner thoughts he had heard, Finn didn't want to fight for the Osborn Group at all.
What do you think he came here for?" Harry thought Peter was asking what Finn came to the Osborn Group for. "It's nothing more than for shares in the Osborn Group, to fight for this inheritance that everyone is envious of.
"It's not necessarily like that." Peter Parker suddenly thought of Finn's bright green eyes.
"It seems you really did have a pleasant chat with him." Harry's knuckles instantly turned white as the mockery in his eyes deepened. His own overambitious brother had just burst into the executive boardroom, standing up to him with righteous indignation, demanding things that did not belong to him, following closely behind, his friend had already begun to speak up for this brother he was meeting for the first time.
Spider-Man: ".." In reality, they hadn't even spoken much; it was just that his inner thoughts had been forced upon them in a large amount.
But at this moment, as Harry's voice fell, the air pressure in the office suddenly dropped.
Peter also saw that Harry was somewhat angry; fearing that continuing to defend Finn would have the opposite effect, Spider-Man did not dare to say anything more.
Let's not talk about Finn." Harry did not want to argue with Peter over the topic of Finn, he truly did not want his friend to have too much contact with Finn. "You're here for Dr. Connors' research project, aren't you?
"That's right, I want to join Dr. Connors' research project. I've already spoken with Dr. Connors.." Dr. Connors' research project was sponsored by the Osborn Group, the list of research personnel had already been finalized; Dr. Connors had no way to make an exception to add an extra intern for him. However, Peter thought that if Harry could agree directly, it would be the fastest way.
Understood." Harry didn't care about such trifles. "I've already had Felicia add your name to the team roster. Have her input your information in a moment.
"Thank you so much, Harry!" Peter also thanked Harry's help very sincerely.
It was clear that Harry was resistant to the topic, so Peter did not dare to continue the conversation. After leaving the office, Peter also did not dare to tell Harry that he had to attend a party hosted by Finn tomorrow.
By this time, Finn had already rushed home to make it to the expensive master dance class he had signed up for.
After finishing his meal, he didn't idle about, but instead began reviewing the meeting minutes from the one he had missed at the Osborn Building today.
Finn felt that he could pretend not to be able to answer the questions posed by Harry Osborn, but he couldn't truly be empty-headed. After all, having been a system for a long time, Finn's memory was excellent. After going through the meeting minutes thoroughly, Finn began drawing again.
Finn likes drawing.
When he was working on the system before, in the later stages of every world, the Hosts would all, with startling consistency, fall into sticky romances and start blocking him all night long, leaving Finn to amuse himself by drawing in his own empty, white space.
Now that he had become a human, he was very proficient at using a tablet to draw. Finn had even created a dedicated drawing account and designed a series of stickers called "Summer of Insomnia," featuring a little boy named "Summer" as the protagonist.
Of course, there weren't many followers or downloads, but Finn didn't really care much anyway.
Instead, today's meeting gave him new inspiration, he began working overtime again to upload new images and GIFs of the "Mr. SUIT" persona to his account.
By the time he finished all of this, it was already midnight, System PP had already urged Finn to sleep several times. But Finn still felt no sleepiness at all, rolling around on his large two-meter bed out of boredom.
System PP realized that this Host of his truly could never stay idle for a single moment.
"So boring." Finn had absolutely no desire to sleep; sometimes he felt his spirit was like the unshakeable spirit of the System, capable of working twenty-four hours a day without rest.
System PP's electronic boyish voice rang out at the right moment: 【Host, you have already accomplished many things today; it is time to rest.】
"Why wait until tomorrow for the party?" Finn still wanted to play. Perhaps this was a side effect of the System becoming human; he only wanted to indulge in play with his own tangible body.
System PP: [Host, based on the current expenditure plan, one party a week is already the limit, we also need to control the budget.]
Finn knew this too. He hugged his pillow and sighed, scrolling through his phone listlessly, when he suddenly came across a short video of a stray dog—a scruffy little puppy was huddled in the bushes in the countryside, looking pitiful. The person who posted the video also called for someone to come and rescue it, saying that the puppy was extremely shy and had bolted all at once, making it impossible to catch, but it still appeared to be a young puppy.
"Let's go find that stray dog!" The location wasn't particularly far away, Finn suddenly felt a surge of interest again.
Finn thought of it and immediately acted. He slipped out of the villa, drove to the garage where he had hidden his car, drove away, heading toward the remote outskirts according to the location sent in the video.
But once he arrived at the location, he searched for a long time but found nothing; instead, the stomachache in his persona flared up without warning.
My.. my CEO sickness is acting up..
Finn cursed inwardly, collapsing onto the grass as he felt the familiar, twisting pain in his stomach.
That's right. When Finn became "Finn Osborn," he had also added some character traits to himself. These traits were debuffs added based on his past experiences, all for the sake of making it easier to develop angst-filled plots later on. For instance, right now, he didn't have the status of a CEO, yet he possessed the illnesses that a CEO should have.
—This sickness arrived at just the right time.
Thinking of this, Finn was even somewhat excited.
“A lonely, desolate night, a remote and uninhabited wilderness.. As a second-generation rich who has never suffered a moment of hardship in his life, I can't even find a dog in the middle of nowhere, now my stomachache has flared up, hurting so much I can't even stand.." The handsome but pale and haggard young man collapsed weakly onto the grass, his furrowed brow expressing both pain and a strange sense of anticipation, "PP, how is it? My Misery Value—"
System PP: [No increase.]
Finn's pupils dilated: "Why!!" How could this be!?
Finn clutched his cramping stomach, struggling to prop up his upper body, launched a heartbroken accusation at his System in the middle of the empty wilderness:
“How can you use such a cold, lifeless mouth to say such chilling words!?”
Chapter 4: Requesting Battle and Seeking Scolding
System PP remained silent for quite a while.
He wanted to say something, perhaps because the Host was so excited at this moment that he didn't look like he was being "bullied" at all. Besides, he was a System; it was only natural for a mouth without temperature to speak such cold words.
That's not right; System PP didn't have a mouth to begin with.
But considering the Host's mood, System PP still chose a more tactful way of putting it.
System PP: 【Could it be because.. no one noticed?}
Finn froze for a moment, then suddenly seemed to have a sudden realization.
So, it was because there were no spectators.
Then, the young man covered his stomach with both hands and lay back down "peacefully."
Then I'll lie down until I'm discovered.
Finn's bizarre logic caused System PP to stall for a moment: 【What if no one ever finds him?】
"Wouldn't that just be even more miserable?" Finn grimaced, enduring the twisting pains in his stomach. Since he had already come all this way, he absolutely could not return empty-handed. He didn't believe that such a miserable scene could not even compare to the countless times his brother had scolded him in the conference room today.
After lying down for a while, Finn felt both pain and boredom, could only think of something else to distract himself.
“PP, play some movies for me. The ones with really tragic plots.”
System PP began to patiently persuade Finn to give up on the "Corpse-Lying Plan" while simultaneously, as requested by the Host, pulling up a screen in Finn's field of vision to play a movie, the movie began to play.
"An outdoor movie is not bad either." Finn said, feeling the cool night breeze and the fresh, natural scent of grass on the tip of his nose. The cramping in his stomach gradually subsided, the young man lying on the grass shifted into a more comfortable position, continuing to focus intently on the film playing on the screen in his field of vision.
[……] System PP felt that the reason the Misery Value remained so low was that Finn, with his overly positive mindset, should also look for some reasons within himself.