Chapter 023: Change

Midtown High School, inside an empty classroom.

Peter Parker looked at Gwen Stacy with disbelief, and it took him a long moment to come back to his senses. "You mean, in your dream, you were bitten by a spider, became Spider-Woman, and I was your friend?"

"Yes." Gwen Stacy nodded nervously.

Because she wasn't sure if Peter Parker would believe what she said. Actually, if she hadn't had the same dream for several nights in a row, she wouldn't have believed it either.

"Even though I think what I'm saying is incredibly hard to believe, even absurd, I'm not a liar. Please believe me, I..."

"I believe you."

"I'm not... wait, what did you just say?" Gwen Stacy thought she might have misheard.

"I believe you." Peter Parker said each word clearly.

After a brief silence, Gwen Stacy said excitedly, "Oh my god, you believe me, you're willing to believe me. Thank you, thank you."

"You're welcome." Peter Parker looked at Gwen Stacy seriously.

Gwen Stacy couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "I thought you'd think I was crazy. I never expected you to believe me."

Peter Parker looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then turned to Gwen Stacy and said, "I'm willing to believe you because of this."

He suddenly leaped up to the classroom ceiling, crawled around quickly like a spider under Gwen Stacy's incredulous gaze, and then jumped back down.

"You you you you..."

"Take a deep breath. Don't get too excited." Peter Parker comforted Gwen Stacy and said seriously, "Now you understand why I believe you, right?"

"It's you, it's you, you're Spider-Man."

"Yes, it's me. In your dream, the one bitten by the spider was you, but in this world, the one bitten by the spider is me." Peter Parker revealed his secret.

"Oh my god."

"At first I found it incredible too, but now I've discovered something even more incredible." Peter Parker looked at Gwen Stacy with amazement.

"Something incredible... you mean... me?"

"Yes."

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't you understand why you're having these dreams?" Peter Parker said. "Do you think it's just a dream? Haven't you considered that this dream might not just be a dream, but something real?"

"Something real?" Although Gwen Stacy wasn't as smart as Peter Parker, she was still a top student and quickly understood what he meant.

"You mean, parallel worlds."

"Yes, that's right, parallel worlds." Peter Parker nodded affirmatively. "I'm not sure what's happening, but now I can say for certain that you're not just dreaming—you're glimpsing a parallel version of yourself. The dreams you're having are real; they're the life of another you in another world."

"You mean, in some parallel world, I'm Spider-Man." Gwen Stacy said incredulously.

"That's the only reasonable explanation for why you know about me and how Spider-Man came to be." Peter Parker found Gwen Stacy truly remarkable.

Being able to glimpse a parallel version of oneself was unimaginable and a topic well worth studying.

"I..."

Ring ring ring...

Just as Gwen Stacy was about to say something, Peter Parker's phone suddenly rang, interrupting the good atmosphere between them.

Peter Parker jumped as soon as he answered the phone.

"Hey, Mary Jane, sorry, I'll be right there. Sorry, sorry, I'm coming now."

After hanging up, Peter Parker immediately said to Gwen Stacy, "Sorry, I have something to take care of, so let's leave it here for now. If there's a chance, we can talk more. Goodbye. Remember to call me; my number is XXXXXXXX..."

Gwen Stacy watched Peter Parker rush off anxiously, and her surging emotions gradually cooled.

She suddenly realized something.

Maybe in some parallel world, she and Peter Parker were good friends, with a hint of something more between them.

But in this world, they didn't really know each other.

Peter Parker wasn't her friend; instead, he was Mary Jane's friend, and the two seemed to have a good relationship.

In other words, coming to find Peter Parker like this had been far too abrupt.

The two of them were not friends.

They were just strangers who didn't know each other.

After realizing this, Gwen Stacy smiled to herself, stood up, and walked out of the classroom. When she reached the main entrance, she saw Mary Jane, who was still angry, and Peter Parker, who was constantly explaining to her.

So she straightened her clothes, wore a faint smile of relief, and left Midtown High School after the two had gone.

Now she should go home. If she was late, it would worry her father.

Half an hour later, Gwen Stacy arrived home.

But the moment she opened the door, she was stunned by the scene before her.

The usually tidy and clean home was in complete disarray. The trash can had been knocked over, a perfectly good tomato had been stomped on, its juice splattering everywhere.

The white floor was covered in black footprints, the painting hanging on the wall had fallen, and glass shards were scattered all over.

The vase at the kitchen entrance had fallen and shattered into pieces.

The whole house looked as if it had been ransacked by bandits.

Of course, that wasn't what shocked Gwen Stacy the most. What shocked her most was that there was a stranger in her house. The stranger wore a black coat, had a bushy beard, sat at the dining table, and held a gun in his hand.

And that gun was pointed at her mother.

Helen Stacy!

Dressed as a housewife in an apron, Helen, who should have been cooking in the kitchen, was now sitting pale-faced on a chair, not daring to move.

Especially when she saw her daughter come home, her already pale face turned even whiter.

But the stranger grinned. "Look, look who's back. Isn't this George's precious daughter?"

Gwen Stacy immediately realized that this person was here to cause trouble for her father.

Her father was the police chief and had made many enemies, but this was the first time Gwen Stacy had seen someone bold enough to break into their home without fear.

After a brief moment of shock, Gwen Stacy quickly calmed down.

She looked at the gun in the thug's hand, then at the thug himself, and took a deep breath.

At that moment, the rhythm of her breathing changed!