Chapter 175: Gwen, You're Amazing. The Disappearance of Xi Nian
Late at night.
The room was dark, the lights already off. The window was wide open, letting in bright moonlight that spilled over the boy and girl.
Two strands of white spider silk drifted down, landing silently on the desk and floor.
Xi Nian held Gwen tightly in his arms, breathing in her familiar light fragrance, his face buried against the soft cushion of her body.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. They just hugged each other quietly, listening to the pounding of their hearts.
"What did you just say…"
Instead of pushing him away, Gwen turned her face slightly to the side, showing her delicate profile as she asked coolly.
"I said you're a fool," Xi Nian replied with a small smile.
Gwen gave him a sideways glare. That wasn't what he said earlier…
"Listen, Gwen. I called you a fool for a reason."
Xi Nian's eyes were serious. "Even though I've always treated you like my brother, which is my fault, you really underestimate your own charm."
Gwen froze.
Xi Nian sighed helplessly. "Don't you remember? Back when you turned fourteen, when we first started high school—I stopped casually putting my arm around your shoulder like before. Because by then, you were so cute it felt criminal. I was afraid of taking advantage of you before you even understood what was happening. So I kept some distance."
"But you stuck to me too much back then. So I had no choice but to keep treating you as my brother, using that as a way to restrain myself."
"Over the years, every time you tempted me, I forced myself to see you as just my brother, my best friend. But it wasn't sustainable—because you grew up too fast. The only way I could resist temptation was to deliberately ignore certain… details about your body, just so I could go on being your friend and brother."
They say girls mature faster than boys.
But Xi Nian had matured far too early—sixteen years ahead of Gwen.
"Now do you understand?"
Looking at her shocked, confused face, Xi Nian said sincerely, "It's not that you weren't attractive. You were too attractive, too early. And I could only restrain myself by hiding behind another role."
"No way. Are you lying to me, just trying to comfort me?" Gwen's lashes trembled.
"That's why I said—I'm a bastard, and you're a fool." Xi Nian chuckled. "Of course you're attractive. Don't underestimate yourself. You're literally the number one girl at our school."
"Actually, every time you sent me those private photos, I saved them. Especially the swimsuit and pajama ones…"
"Hey!" Gwen's cheeks turned red as she muttered, "But you never replied to any of them…"
Xi Nian gave a helpless smile. "What was I supposed to reply with? Say 'come over to my place'? Your dad would have killed me."
Gwen's face burned even hotter. She dared not speak.
Xi Nian decided to come clean.
"Every time we went out or when you worked out, I sometimes peeked down your collar. You developed too fast—like buns growing into rabbits overnight. That's why I always insisted on going shopping with you once a month. Even if you forgot, I'd remind you."
"And your legs—they're amazing, aren't they? Flexible, springy, perfectly shaped and long. Even the best ballerinas dream of legs like yours. And your little feet—they're like works of art. White, delicate, soft. The soles are pink and sensitive."
"Your lips too. Soft and resistant at the same time. The more they resist, the more someone would want to bully them, and before you know it, you're addicted…"
Listening to his half-confession, half-indecent words, Gwen's face turned crimson, like an apple. Her golden hair fell loose as steam practically rose from her head.
"Now you believe you're attractive, right?" Xi Nian shrugged.
"You're such a pervert, Xi Nian!" Gwen huffed, but the coldness from earlier was gone. It felt like their usual bickering again.
"So now you understand how hard it's been for me to endure." Xi Nian answered seriously.
What's wrong with a man being a little perverted?
"I don't believe you," Gwen said, staring straight at him. "Unless you kiss me right now."
Xi Nian's heart skipped a beat. He looked at her beautiful face and those soft lips with pale lipstick.
"Do you realize what you're saying? Gwen, that would make me a scumbag."
He took a deeper breath. "If I were acting as your brother, I'd tell you to kick me out of this room—or better yet, call your dad to shoot me."
"Stop talking. You owe me this," Gwen snapped stubbornly.
Seeing her determined face, Xi Nian didn't hesitate any longer. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her.
His lips were dry from the night air, but soon softened by the moist warmth of hers.
He savored her sweet familiar taste.
The Master of Affection triggered, awakening his Super-Spider physiology.
Their spider senses overlapped, heightening every sensation between them.
Two spider-empowered bodies, locked together like this, quickly spiraled out of control.
Their ragged breaths and faint sounds filled the darkness.
Then—
Knock knock knock!
From outside the door, Officer George's voice called out: "Gwen, what's going on? I thought I heard something."
Inside, Gwen's short-haired face was flushed, her breathing hot as she forced calm into her voice. "N-nothing. Just the wind blew the window open. I'm closing it now… mmph!"
"What was that?" George asked.
"I hit a chair by accident!" Gwen answered, holding back a whimper, because Xi Nian's lips had moved to her earlobe.
The sounds of his breathing filled her ear, making her body weak.
"Dad, I've got class tomorrow. I'm going to bed early," Gwen called out, biting her lip.
"Alright, get some rest."
George paused, then said firmly through the door: "Xi Nian doesn't know how good you are. One day you'll find someone better. When that happens, he'll regret it."
Xi Nian froze at those words.
He wanted to say aloud: Gwen, you're amazing.
"I know," Gwen whispered, nearly choking on her words.
When George's footsteps faded, Gwen glared at Xi Nian on top of her. A moment ago he was scared of her dad—now he dared this?
Xi Nian was about to explain, but suddenly stiffened.
Through his spider sense, he felt a strange, powerful energy gathering around Gwen!
In the next instant—
The entire city of Washington went dark, every light extinguished.
"Gwen!" Xi Nian gasped, stunned.
All the city lights vanished, except the spot beneath Gwen. The floor glowed brilliantly, like a colorful screen or a dimensional barrier!
"Xi Nian."
Gwen also froze—then her body sank into the glowing floor!
Xi Nian grabbed her immediately, and was pulled in with her.
The floor resisted him for a moment, but recognizing his Super-Spider genes, it let him through.
In less than a second, both of them vanished.
The light flickered and then disappeared. The room returned to darkness.
Outside, the city lit up again, neon blazing as if nothing had happened.
Moments later—
Step.
A bald woman in yellow robes appeared in the room.
"Too late, huh…" the Ancient One murmured.
At Xi Nian's home.
"Hmm?" Jarro blinked its single eye inside a glass jar, muttering, "Strange… Xi Nian has disappeared."
"Meow!"
A small orange cat leapt onto the balcony, its vertical pupils glinting as its tail turned black and swayed.
…
The floor had become a dimensional passage.
Xi Nian and Gwen, still holding each other, shot through a dazzling corridor of light. After about ten seconds, their vision cleared—
And they were falling.
From thousands of meters in the sky.
The blazing sun hung overhead. It was suddenly daytime.
The wind roared, Gwen's hair and dress fluttered wildly as they plummeted.
"Xi Nian, look down!" Gwen cried.
He looked below—through the clouds, a modern city appeared.
New York.
But something was wrong.
Xi Nian felt the dissonance immediately.
There was no Stark Tower. No Avengers HQ.
A terrible realization struck him.
But first—they had to survive the fall.
Neither panicked. After all, a city full of skyscrapers was a Spider's paradise.
At about 300 meters, they both shot webs at a building wall, slowing their fall. With another web-swing, they adjusted and landed smoothly on a rooftop.
Across the street, a giant screen was playing news:
"Yesterday at 4pm, our Spider-Man stopped a heavily armed gang in Queens in under five minutes…"
"Spider-Man has been protecting this city for ten years. We don't know who he really is, but one thing is certain—he is the world's best, and only, superhero."
The footage showed a young man in a red-and-blue web suit swinging across the city.
Xi Nian and Gwen exchanged looks.
"Spider-Man for ten years?"
"The world's only superhero??"
"Xi Nian… could it be…" Gwen whispered.
Xi Nian didn't answer. Instead, he called out to the jellyfish clone he carried: "Jarro, can you hear me?"
No response. It was inert, like an ornament.
"Yeah. If I'm right…" Xi Nian said bitterly, meeting Gwen's eyes.
"We've crossed into another world."
…
Brooklyn, New York.
From morning till afternoon, Xi Nian and Gwen searched through the library, reading books and browsing online.
After hours of research, they confirmed it.
They had crossed into a parallel world.
A world both similar and very different.
Here, countless villains existed—but only one superhero.
No Avengers. No Justice League.
No Iron Man, no Batman, no Superman, no Wonder Woman.
Only Spider-Man.
The same red-and-blue suited Spider-Man they had seen on TV earlier.
Thrown into such a world, Xi Nian felt unsettled but not hopeless.
If they could arrive here, there had to be a way back.
"Xi Nian, what do we do now?" Gwen asked calmly, sipping hot milk tea, her lips dusted with white foam. She seemed even calmer than him.
"We find him."
Xi Nian tapped the magazine cover showing Spider-Man, his eyes sharp. "You and I have the same powers as him. That can't be a coincidence. He must be the key."
[Please give powerstones if you're enjoying the story.
500 stones = 1 extra chapter
patreon.com/GuessMyName33 10$ for 80 chapters ahead]