Reborn as Superman's Son, Ch 43

Chapter 43: Eden: Where the Hell Did I End Up?! Is This Still the Invincible Universe?

"Oh my god!"

"Where the hell did I end up?!"

"Is this still the Image universe?!"

Eden was truly speechless.

"I must have opened the door wrong."

Eden smiled as he gently closed his bedroom door.

"Breathe in, breathe out."

Then Eden adjusted his breathing and gradually calmed his emotions.

After giving himself a mental pep talk, he reopened his bedroom door with a smile and said, "Mom, Dad, what's for breakfast?"

"Listen here, Spider-Man! You're no hero—you're a pathetic criminal! I will expose your true identity and show the world your clown-like face for what it really is!"

The moment Eden opened his door, he saw a giant screen several kilometers away displaying J.K. Simmons' massive face, furiously roaring about how he'd make the whole world see Spider-Man's disgrace.

"Heh."

Eden laughed bitterly at the scene before him.

Honestly, he'd seen people travel to other worlds before, but this was the first time he'd seen someone travel with their entire bedroom intact.

"System, get out here."

When in doubt, Eden called the System.

*[Master, I'm here.]*

The System immediately responded to Eden's summons.

"How does it feel to be home?"

Eden asked with a smile, inquiring about the System's feelings.

*[Pretty good.]*

*[Um...]*

*[What I mean is, wherever Master is, that's my home.]*

The System instinctively answered Eden's question, then immediately corrected itself.

"Alright, no need for loyalty speeches."

"Now. Immediately. Send me back."

Eden commanded, "Even if you can't send me directly back to my universe, at least send me back to Mark's universe first."

Right.

Eden knew that Angstrom Levy from his home universe had successfully developed a multiversal travel device—what the System called the Multiversal Master Key.

So what Eden needed to do now was return to Mark's universe and wait for his universe's Angstrom Levy to retrieve him.

*[I can't do it, Master! I can't!]*

The System answered weakly.

"Oh!"

"My god!"

"System, you're so useless!"

Eden's eye twitched. He was so angry at his System's incompetence that he went completely numb.

The last thing that made Eden feel this level of uselessness was some unknown "Wrath of God."

*[...]*

The System fell silent.

It felt wronged inside, but it couldn't say anything.

"Forget it."

"The most important thing now is figuring out what universe I'm in—whether it's just a Spider-Man universe or the full Marvel universe."

"And I need to know which version of Spider-Man this is."

Eden sighed. Unlike the Image world, the Marvel world was clearly more complex and far more dangerous.

An hour later.

"Billionaire, world's greatest playboy, Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark mysteriously disappears."

"World-renowned scientist Dr. Bruce Banner listed as America's most wanted by the military."

"American government claims to have found Captain America Steve Rogers' World War II crash site, preparing to investigate."

"A mysterious hammer has appeared in Mexico—reportedly no one can lift it!"

"And there's our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man—Peter Benjamin Parker, 17 years old, high school student."

Eden sat in a Starbucks, using an Apple laptop he'd "zero-dollar purchased" to continuously gather information.

"Overall, it looks like the MCU."

"But damn it, someone's messed with the timeline and compressed a bunch of major events together."

Eden quickly reached a conclusion.

"But why should I give a shit?!"

Eden adjusted his emotions and decided to respond to change with no change—in other words, to lie flat.

Eden's super-brain told him that as long as he did nothing, the anxious one wouldn't be him—it would be whoever sent him to this universe with ulterior motives.

Though Eden suspected the mastermind was probably his Superman dad.

*[Master.]*

Just then, the System suddenly spoke up.

*[Yes?]*

Eden replied flatly.

*[Do you remember that I'm a 'Super Villain Development System'?]*

The System said weakly.

"So what?"

An ominous premonition rose in Eden's heart.

*[Even if you do nothing, trouble will come looking for you.]*

*[And most importantly, this is New York in the Marvel universe—crimes happen every single second here.]*

The System reminded him.

"Haha!"

Eden laughed.

"I really need to uninstall you, System."

Eden decided that since he was stuck in the Marvel universe anyway, he might as well look for ways to uninstall this garbage system.

*[No! Master!!]*

The System protested weakly.

"BOOM!"

At that very moment, accompanied by a thunderous crash, the wall beside Eden was smashed open!

A guy who looked like a rhinoceros burst through carrying a huge bag of cash from the bank next door into the café, roaring, "I'm parched, bros! Give me water!"

"..."

Eden fell silent. This was the first time he'd seen a bank robber who, instead of going home after the heist, crashed into a neighboring café for a drink.

"Very Marvel. Very Disney."

Eden shook his head and stood up from his seat.

Ten minutes later.

"Everyone, don't be afraid!"

"Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here."

Peter Parker, who'd called in sick, entered the coffee shop. His face immediately changed when he saw the Rhino covered in blood like a crimson mess. His whole mental state deteriorated as he shook his head. "Jesus! What the hell happened here?!"

Yes, the battle suit that had been fused with Rhino's skin had been forcibly ripped off and crumpled into a ball. Blood poured from his body like rain. He looked on the verge of death.

"Spider-Man!"

"You killed him?!"

"You murderer!!"

The NYPD, always fashionably late, finally arrived at the café with guns drawn. They looked at the nearly dead Rhino, then at Spider-Man in the café, and roared in unison.

"Damn it!"

"This wasn't me!"

The little spider tried to explain but couldn't get a word in.

Unfortunately, some cops looking forward to paid administrative leave had already emptied their clips at the little spider.

"Shit!"

"When I find out who did this!"

"Framing me like this!"

After dodging the bullets, the little spider web-slung away and disappeared between the buildings.

*[Ding!]*

*[Framing Rhino's death on the little spider—this is super villain behavior! Gained full attribute BUFF! All your attributes increased by 10%!]*

Not far away, Eden—who'd been trying to do good but made things worse—stared wide-eyed at everything unfolding.

Right now, Eden didn't know whether to call his luck too good or the little spider's luck too bad.

"Sorry, Parker."

"I didn't mean to screw you over."

Eden shook his head. He believed New York's police could distinguish right from wrong and restore the little spider's good name.

With that thought, Eden returned to his apartment.

For the rest of the day, Eden didn't leave. He holed up at home, hoping his dad would come pick him up in time.

However, nothing happened.

The next morning.

Eden opened his apartment door and saw J. Jonah Jameson laughing on a screen: "Hahaha! Spider-Man exposed! He killed someone! He's a murderer!"

"..."

Eden fell silent. He had to admit he'd overestimated the NYPD's efficiency.

"Sorry, Peter Parker."

Eden offered the little spider his most sincere apology.

Speak of the spider, and the spider shall appear.

Just as Eden wondered where to find entertainment today, how to pass the time, he watched his friendly neighbor Spider-Man land in a nearby alley, change into regular clothes, and walk toward him.

"Haha!"

"He's not coming to find me, is he?"

Eden chuckled inwardly and shook his head. He didn't know Spider-Man, much less Peter Parker.

No.

More accurately, he knew Peter Parker, but Peter Parker didn't know him.

Just as Eden thought this, he watched Peter Parker walk straight up the stairs of his old apartment building, getting closer and closer to his position.

"Hm?!"

Eden felt a bit strange. He stood at his apartment door, wanting to see why Parker was skipping school to come here.

Just as Eden felt puzzled, he watched Parker jog right up to him and ask, "Hey, Eden! Why didn't you come to school yesterday? The teachers and classmates were all worried about you. They sent me to check on you."

"What the fuck?"

“First you yank me into another universe…”

“Then you bring my whole bedroom…”

“…And now you’ve given me an identity?!”

“Why am I a high-schooler again?”

"Goddammit."

"Will I ever graduate high school in this lifetime?"

Eden stared dumbfounded at Peter Parker. He was completely done.

And so.

Midtown School of Science and Technology.

Eden, who'd already graduated from Reginald Vel Johnson High School, found himself sitting in a high school classroom once again.

Noon.

"Hey!"

"Pathetic Parker!"

"You know what I'm going to do, right?!"

After enduring half a day of incredibly boring classes, Eden was about to head to the cafeteria when he saw the school's star athlete "Flash" Thompson looking at him with a vicious grin.

Well, to be accurate.

Thompson was looking at Peter Parker hiding behind Eden, wearing oversized clothes that made his frame look skinny.

"Come on in, Parker!"

Thompson opened a student locker and beckoned to Peter Parker, signaling him to crawl inside immediately.

"Sigh."

Peter Parker looked at "Flash" Thompson preparing to bully him. He sighed helplessly, lowered his head, and silently walked over.

It seemed Peter Parker had grown accustomed to this bullying. Even though Parker possessed the raw strength to tear Thompson apart, he would never use his extraordinary powers against ordinary people.

Peter Parker always remembered one thing: "With great power comes great responsibility!"

"Damn."

"Parker's too kind."

"He really is our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

"If I were Parker and became Spider-Man on day one, I'd officially upgrade from Peter Parker to Petty-ass Parker."

Eden watched Peter Parker silently accept bullying from a "normal person" and frowned, feeling ashamed he couldn't match that restraint.

"Hahahaha!"

At the same time, quite a few students gathered around with interest to watch the scene unfold.

These students seemed completely accustomed to "Flash" Thompson's bullying and found it entertaining.

"Come on! Come on in!"

Thompson smiled at Parker expectantly.

"Peter, where are you going?"

"Didn't we agree this morning we'd eat lunch together in the cafeteria today?"

Just when everyone was treating Peter Parker like entertainment, Eden stopped Parker from "submitting" to Thompson's bullying and smiled.

"Eden?"

Parker looked up at Eden, momentarily stunned.

Since when was his relationship with "Eden" this good?!

Come to think of it, Peter Parker suddenly felt strange—his memories of "Eden" seemed very vague. The guy seemed to have even fewer friends in class than he did, even more invisible.

"Hey, kid!"

"Who are you?"

"Don't you know that helping pathetic Parker build courage is my daily lunchtime routine?"

Thompson looked at Eden blocking Parker with a flash of displeasure and roared.

"Pffft hahaha!"

The students gathered around burst into laughter at Thompson's words.

"Hahaha!"

Eden couldn't help but laugh too.

He'd been holding in a bellyful of anger, and finally someone walked right into his line of fire.

So Eden turned around, lightly patted Parker's shoulder, and said, "Peter, go save us seats in the cafeteria. I've got something to take care of!"

"Huh?!"

Parker froze. When Eden laughed along earlier, he thought Eden was teaming up with Thompson to mess with him, but now something seemed off.

"Eden, what are you doing?"

Parker looked at Eden and asked in confusion.

Unfortunately, by the time Parker asked, Eden was already walking toward Thompson.

"You really like bullying people?"

Eden walked up to Thompson. At 6'4" tall, he looked down at the 6'2" Thompson and asked.

"This guy's this jacked?"

Thompson looked at Eden, who was even taller and more imposing than him, and his heart skipped a beat.

Though Thompson felt intimidated looking at Eden, he still gritted his teeth and said, "So what? I'm bullying 'pathetic' Peter Parker—what's it to you?! You trying to stand up for him?"

"Hahaha!"

"You're actually asking me what it's got to do with me?"

Eden laughed.

Then, something happened that shocked everyone present.

Eden lifted Thompson up with one hand, walked straight to Thompson's locker, tore the locker door off with his bare hand, and dumped all of Thompson's belongings onto the floor.

Then Eden stuffed the 170-pound Thompson directly into the locker and roared, "Now do you understand what it's got to do with me, Thompson?!"

"You like giving people nicknames, don't you, Thompson?!"

"Listen up—from now on, your name is 'Dumbass' Thompson!"

"You like stuffing people into lockers, don't you, 'Dumbass' Thompson?!"

"From today on, every day at noon, you'd better be waiting in this locker!"

"Remember—get in by yourself!"

"If I don't see you in this locker at noon even once, you're finished. Got it?"

Eden pointed his finger at Thompson's nose and spoke word by word.

His voice was loud enough to ensure everyone could hear.

"Whoa..."

Not far away, Peter Parker stared in shock at Eden, who stood about thirty feet away doing everything Parker had secretly wanted to do all along, murmuring, "Eden's like a Superman!"