Am I (Not) a Hero?

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...

[Peter Parker's POV]

I was patrolling the city while doing extreme parkour on the web. I wasn't sure what exactly I expected at this time of night, but the streets didn't turn into chaos.

Still, New York is big, and sooner or later, I was bound to notice something.

For instance, some guy was now trying to break into a car.

To avoid getting into an awkward situation, I waited and made sure it wasn't the owner of the car.

They don't usually look around so nervously every few minutes.

I silently snuck up behind him and said as hoarsely as I could.

"God bless you, prisoner."

He glanced over his shoulder and started to run, but I caught him by the arm.

"I get it, I get it. The car is yours, but you forgot the keys, broke them, or something. The police will definitely cover you with a blanket and listen to how badly Spidey mistreated you."

I wrapped him in webbing and pushed him gently into the car, just enough to trigger the alarm.

Leaving the situation to resolve itself, I watched from the rooftop.

The car's owner ran out in just his sweatpants and slippers, cursing out the webbed-up criminal and me for messing up his car.

He apparently called the police. I've finished another task, and I hope this will be added to my list of good acts on the Day of Judgment.

It's kind of fun in a way, messing up other people's criminal plans. Jokes aside, I should probably start keeping some stats on myself to see how much I'm doing for the city.

Nevertheless, those are just the fantasies of an isekai protagonist without a System… Why don't I have one? I'm exaggerating, of course.

I've got plenty of mutations, even extra ones, like pheromones. I'm just thinking of random nonsense because it's boring to swing around aimlessly.

It's more fun to do it with someone than alone.

'That's a confusing word, isn't it? It could be taken as either sad or vulgar.'

Honestly, I didn't expect to take down some crime boss on my first night out. Unfortunately, I don't have that specific escalation power.

Still, the night could be a little more exciting, right? Did I show off during the day for nothing?

'Or maybe it was for nothing, who knows? People probably saw the stuff about me breaking faces and got scared.'

After wandering the city for about twenty minutes, I just sat on a rooftop, dangling my legs off the edge.

Without Spider Drones, keeping the city in order is a real pain.

I couldn't remember the original Spider-Man's routine, but how long did he patrol the city at night?

Until two or maybe four in the middle of the night?

I'd like to at least get some sleep this weekend. Even though I feel great physically, I'm already getting bored.

After a brief moral break, I jumped across the rooftops once again.

'Maybe I should sell a few songs? It's not like rewriting a book; I remember a lot of tracks. How much do they pay for ghostwriting on the internet?'

I thought, considering ways to earn money in this parallel world that's stuck a decade in the past.

Well, what else could an ordinary person do who didn't memorize the locations of oil, gold, or other resources?

I don't even remember the results of major football matches since I was never interested in them.

If I had known, I would have ended up here. I would've memorized everything, but unfortunately, that's not how the world works.

'Then again, I could just steal money from gangs. There's no need to mess with someone else's culture with my playlist.'

I pushed that thought aside for the time being.

That's its own kind of interference, something I never liked in progressive literature.

What could I really contribute to this world?

Create mobile gacha games like FGO to milk money from people?

That's an idea, but it would require a lot of people, with a few artists for sure.

It's all too complicated. I'll forget it for now and not think about it until I really need the money.

Hmm, maybe that's why I never achieved anything in life—I keep putting everything off.

'Where is she? If she's not planning to come out, at least send me a message so I'm not waiting.'

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check for any news from my supposed partner.

It turns out there wasn't.

The dull night dragged on.

The only interesting event was a drunk guy, completely wasted, who decided to grope some lady screaming at the top of her lungs.

I didn't even have to hit the man and just threw him by the collar, and he passed out.

Apparently, they knew each other.

The furious woman kicked him and quickly ran off without even giving me a glance.

Afterwards, Silk finally showed up after two hours of my solo patrol.

'God, finally!'

I mentally commented on Silk's appearance.

After glancing at Silk, I could see that her suit had become more refined. She could totally be on a poster or magazine cover now.

I could just...

'Oh, seems like the neutralizer has worn off.'

I realized my last thoughts.

Fortunately, there was usually a good wind at the building height.

'I'll need to work on the pheromone neutralizer's duration, or I'm going to run into some serious issues.'

"How's the situation in the city, Spidey?"

Silk asked, also making an effort to keep her distance.

"For now, it's quiet, Silk. But I feel like it's just the calm before the storm."

I spread my hands out in an exaggerated shrug.

"The news hasn't mentioned major crimes for a long time even though our city is especially famous for them. It could be because of the appearance of the Fantastic Four. After all, they were powerful."

Staring grimly at the dark city, I concluded.

"But sooner or later, all that filth will gather strength and crawl out of its holes. They'll be stronger, angrier, and prepared with something super-techy."

I gave her a subtle spoiler to warn her about what's to come.

"Less drama, you're not recording a dark monologue."

She joked but admitted.

"I wouldn't want to say this seriously, but you're probably right."

She didn't fully understand—not at all. It was just a vague idea for her, but I knew how it would be. If only she knew too...

With nothing else to do, Cindy started a game of tag again.

It didn't work out well, but nothing critical.

Spider-Man himself had plenty of mistakes, right?

The stupidest ones were having romances with ordinary people when dozens of super-strong psychopaths were hunting him.

The city was quiet, and nothing was happening, but about an hour or even more had passed.

I seemed to be becoming disillusioned with the idea of daily patrols.

However, luck was on our side. This luck came in the form of a siren sounding in the distance.

When we got there, we saw the police chasing someone.

Those 'someone' were criminals shooting back from a stolen police car.

Since chasing the car at that speed wasn't easy, and I still had no experience with superhero landings, I had to act differently.

There were more and more police cars, and they gradually blocked the roads along which the criminals could escape.

Wow, it seems like they've earned a four-star wanted level.

When are the tanks and helicopters coming?

After analyzing their potential route, I barely managed to get ahead of the fugitives along the most obvious route.

I shouted to Cindy to help me block the street with a wall of web. We quickly wove something crude and messy but as thick as possible.

As the car approached our trap at full speed, the criminals tried to shoot through the web, but it didn't help much.

It's not just some cloth—it won't fall apart even if riddled with holes.

The car slammed into the wall, tangling the stolen vehicle in the web.

Since part of the web was from Cindy, it wouldn't disintegrate for at least the next few hours.

Heck, they might never get the car cleaned.

The prisoners in orange jumpsuits tumbled out of the back doors they managed to open and started firing into the air, trying to shoot us.

Cindy helped cover their guns by webbing them and copying my moves. This allows us to quickly suppress their resistance and tie them all up.

As soon as we finished, several police cars screeched to a stop right in front of us.

The officers jumped out and immediately pointed their guns at us.

Silk tensed up and prepared for action.

Their sudden arrival scared me a bit.

The habit of being wary of cops will probably stick with me forever, even though I've never been in trouble with the law.

"Freeze! Hands up!"

One of them shouted.

I mockingly slowly raised my hands up.

"Well, this is what happens when you try to help people."

I smirked at Cindy, who was clearly on edge.

"Officers, sorry, but I forgot my ID at home. May I ask why we're being detained?"

There wasn't any real danger coming from their guns, or maybe my spider sense just wasn't picking it up.

I didn't know much about U.S. law, but surely they wouldn't start shooting at us indiscriminately, right?

We could easily fight back and take them all down. The main thing was not to provoke these brave officers, and everything would be fine.

"Take off your masks!"

The lead officer stepped forward and said.

"Yeah, right, on it."

I nodded.

"I'll get right on that. Because, you know, superheroes always take off their masks when asked politely, but seriously, we're done here."

I signaled to Silk and shot a web onto a building, running away from the crime scene.

"You guys handle the rest, officers!"

I shouted as I swung away.

They didn't fire at us but yelled something bad as we left. After meeting up with the slightly shaken Cindy a block away, I asked her how she felt.

"I'm still shaking from the adrenaline."

She answered with her voice trembling slightly.

I reassuringly placed my hand on her shoulder and stepped back after a moment, wary of my instincts, troubled by the scent in the air.

'This wasn't the time'

I thought, and who knows if she'd even be okay with it.

"I'm a bit shaken too, but now we've participated in a full-on chase. I bet something will be written about us tomorrow. Maybe even something good."

I said with a chuckle, pulling out my phone to check the time.

"Well, I guess we're done with side quests for today. It's unlikely anything big will happen again, right?"

"I don't know, this city is unpredictable."

Cindy shook her head uncertainly.

"But we won't be able to track down all the criminals anyway, I guess it's time to go back."

"Well, see you tomorrow then. Should we meet up at the hangar during the day? It'll serve as our base until we can set up a proper one."

"If I can... I'll figure out a time later; I'm not sure if my parents will let me out."

We said our goodbyes and flew off in the direction of our homes.

There seemed to be so few crimes; maybe I wasn't looking hard enough?

However, I'd rather have fewer crimes in general, but that's never going to happen.

That's just how people are. Some will back down, while others will only grow more determined to commit evil acts.

I'm no exception to that.

It's just that circumstances are very different.

Some are driven by despair, while others are just driven by the power they have... To be honest, I was more scared of the cops than the criminal's guns when they caught up with us.

Does that say something definitive about me as a person with malicious intent?

I don't want to answer that question.

...

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