Oscorp truly lived up to its reputation — efficient, clinical, and terrifyingly competent.
Within mere hours, the test results on Darren's "Life Elixir" came back.
And they were exactly as he'd promised.
A late-stage cancer patient, bedridden for months, drank the potion under controlled observation.
Minutes later, the man's vitals stabilized. His color returned. His organs, which had been failing, began functioning normally again.
The only thing that remained? A trace of cancer cells that refused to die off — but they'd stopped spreading entirely.
With continuous use, the doctors concluded, even a terminal cancer could become a chronic condition rather than a death sentence.
Oscorp's top biochemists ran dozens of analyses.
And every single one failed.
The elixir was… unreadable.
No chemical markers, no identifiable compounds, not even residue that matched known molecular structures.
It was as if the potion existed outside of science.
Norman Osborn's reaction was a cocktail of joy and despair.
He turned to Darren, eyes gleaming, voice tight with urgency.
"Dr. Darren how much of this Life Elixir do you currently have?"
Darren smiled politely and shook his head.
"That was my only successful sample so far."
Norman: "…"
You couldn't have led with that!?
The man's face twitched. He looked moments away from chugging the sample himself and calling it a day.
But before he could spiral too far into regret, Darren smoothly added,
"Of course… with sufficient funding, materials, and time, I can attempt to produce more."
He did have extra bottles in his inventory.
But revealing that now would end the fun far too early.
Instantly, Norman's expression transformed — from brooding CEO to radiant benefactor.
He clasped Darren's shoulder with both hands, his grip firm and trembling slightly with excitement.
"Dr. Darre , consider yourself hired. From this moment forward, you're Oscorp's Senior Research Scientist."
He beamed. "You'll have a private lab, an unrestricted research budget, and full authority over your project. Whatever you need — equipment, personnel, exotic materials — Oscorp will provide. As for compensation…"
He paused, smiling wider. "A six-figure salary, company car, and a penthouse apartment in Manhattan. Does that sound acceptable?"
Darren straightened his posture solemnly.
"Mr. Osborn, I would gladly lay down my life for Oscorp."
"Excellent," Norman said, satisfied. "Someone will show you around. My only request is that you begin producing a new batch as soon as possible."
"Of course," Darren replied smoothly.
With that, Norman exited — back to his maze of secret projects and questionable sanity.
Moments later, the lab door opened again.
A young woman in a crisp white coat walked in, her golden hair tied neatly behind her, eyes bright with quiet intelligence.
"Hello, Dr. Darren," she greeted cheerfully. "I'm Gwen Stacy. I'll be showing you around Oscorp today."
"Pleasure to meet you."
Under her lead, Darren began his "orientation tour."
Their first stop was the biotech division.
"This is Dr. Curt Connors," Gwen said, gesturing toward a kind-looking man in a lab coat — with only one arm.
Connors smiled and extended his left hand. "Welcome aboard, Dr. Darren."
Darren shook it, then subtly activated his scan ability.
[NPC: Dr. Curt Connors]
[Alias: The Lizard]
[Affinity: 0]
[Profile: Marvel's own one-armed wonder, mentor to Peter Parker, future reptile enthusiast]
[Status: Missing Right Arm]
Darren blinked.
Another one?
That made three supervillains in two days.
He forced a polite smile while his mind spun.
What was this place — a company or a villain incubator?
Everywhere he looked, Oscorp employees were geniuses.
And half of them, apparently, were one lab accident away from turning into monsters.
As Gwen continued the tour, Darren saw departments filled with bleeding-edge tech — gene-editing, AI-controlled prosthetics, weaponized robotics, nanomedicine.
Every project here could either save the world… or blow up Manhattan.
He couldn't help but marvel.
Oscorp wasn't just rich — it was a scientific cult.
Compared to this, Stark Industries was basically a boutique gadget store run by one eccentric rich guy and a stressed-out assistant.
And yet… that only made Tony Stark look even more impressive. One man competing with an army of lunatics and PhDs.
The elevator doors dinged open — and a man stumbled in.
A thin, nervous guy with thick glasses, clutching files like his life depended on it.
"Sorry! Sorry!" he panted, frantically pressing buttons.
Darren noticed the man's polished scalp gleaming like a solar panel and instinctively used his scan again.
[NPC: Max Dillon]
[Alias: Electro]
[Affinity: 0]
[Profile: Human power bank. Spider-Man's future nemesis. Currently: Spider-Man's #1 fanboy.]
Darren: "…"
Oh come on.
He was officially surrounded.
At this point, Oscorp wasn't a company — it was the Supervillain Startup Hub.
Every hallway had a future disaster waiting for radioactive exposure.
He half expected a guy named "Otto" with suspicious metal arms to crawl out of the vents next.
And the weirdest part? They all had one thing in common — every single one of them was somehow connected to Spider-Man.
It hit him suddenly.
This place wasn't Oscorp.
It was the Spider-Man Villain Breeding Facility.
He shot Gwen a wary glance. "You're not secretly a mad scientist too, right?"
Her smile was sunny, but something about it screamed plot twist waiting to happen.
[NPC: Gwen Stacy]
[Alias: Ghost-Spider]
[Affinity: 0]
[Profile: Daughter of the NYPD captain. In Earth-65, she's Spider-Woman — also known as Spider-Gwen.]
Darren sighed internally.
Oh, great. Not a villain… but still a Spider.
At this point, even the janitor was probably radioactive.
"Oscorp really attracts talent," Darren muttered under his breath.
Curious, he asked the system, "What's this 'Earth-65' thing about?"
[That refers to a server ID. Each 'Earth' corresponds to a separate, randomly generated game world. NPCs may resemble ones you know but are distinct entities.]
Darren's eyes lit up. "So there are other servers out there?"
[Yes. By upgrading your access level, you can travel between servers.]
He grinned. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
This game world was turning out to be way deeper than he thought.
Different Earths, different heroes, maybe even different versions of himself…
"Which server am I on right now?"
[Earth-9527.]
He chuckled. "Nice. Has a good ring to it."
By the time Gwen finished the tour, Darren had seen enough to realize one thing:
He hadn't infiltrated a corporation.
He'd walked straight into a nest of future supervillains, ticking time bombs, and alternate Spider-people.
And yet—
he wasn't worried.
Because as far as he was concerned…
this was going to be fun.
Besides, Fury hadn't given him a deadline.
So for now, he could relax, enjoy the free lab access, and catch up on his Batman movies in peace.