In the bookstore's lounge area, Lucas gazed at the young woman before him, silent.
He hadn't expected that the first person to apply for the job would be Ghost-Spider, whom he had met by chance last night.
"Lucas."
Lucas broke the deadlock first, extending his hand.
"Gwen Stacy."
Gwen shook Lucas's hand.
A hint of surprise could be seen on her face. Clearly, she also hadn't expected the bookstore owner to be the man she had met briefly last night.
Withdrawing his hand, Lucas smiled slightly and looked at Gwen, teasing, "Gwen, may I call you that? Or should I call you Ghost-Spider?"
"Please just call me Gwen normally, Mr. Lucas." Gwen said shyly, a little uncomfortable at having her other identity revealed.
"You can call me Lucas too. 'Mr.' is too formal." Lucas replied gently.
"Okay, Lucas." Gwen's tone relaxed a little.
"Gwen, can you tell me about what happened last night? Was the girl kidnapped by the Vampire found?" Lucas inquired about yesterday's Vampire incident from Gwen.
Over the past three months, Vampires had been appearing in New York more and more frequently. He felt that some major event was about to happen. If things went south, he planned to leave and avoid trouble.
Vampires don't drop stat points anyway.
"She was found, but she's already been turned. Damn Vampires." Speaking of the girl's plight, Gwen's tone became somber.
Lucas asked, "So what happened?"
Gwen answered, "I sent her home first and had her family look after her. She seemed terrified, the poor girl."
Lucas continued to ask, "Have there been many such incidents recently? I mean, Vampires converting ordinary people."
"I've encountered three or four this week." Gwen frowned.
Clearly, she also sensed that something was wrong.
"Are there many Vampires in this world?" Gwen seemed a little confused.
She had unexpectedly arrived in this world half a month ago and didn't understand the deeper aspects of it. In her original world, there was no such species as Vampires.
"I don't know, but they must know themselves." Lucas said.
"You mean we can find some Vampires and ask them?" Gwen looked at Lucas, a little eager to try.
Facing Gwen's expectant gaze, Lucas corrected, "Not 'we,' it's 'you,' Ghost-Spider. I'm just an ordinary person."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "An ordinary person can't kill a vampire with a UV light without batting an eye."
Lucas said, gesturing with his fingers to defend himself, "I just have slightly, like, a zillion times better psychological fortitude, that's all."
"Let's not talk about Vampires for now. Can you tell me about something else?" Lucas changed the subject, asking about the 'major event' that had happened last night.
He didn't want Gwen to rope him into investigating Vampire matters, he preferred to freeload off Gwen.
Let Gwen investigate, and he would share the information.
"What thing?" Gwen asked.
"The two robots fighting last night, I saw you on TV." Lucas said.
Compared to Vampires, Lucas was more interested in the aftermath of Tony and Obadiah. He wanted to know how far the original plot would deviate after Gwen's intervention.
"With the help of Ghost-Spider, the evil Obadiah was finally defeated."
When talking about her superheroic deeds last night, Gwen's tone became lighthearted.
Fighting crime and helping others brought her joy and satisfaction.
"You mean... that tall, clumsy robot was Obadiah, COO of Stark Industries? And the other gold and red Robot was Tony Stark?" Lucas pretended to be ignorant, playing along.
Gossipers must also have the integrity of a gossiper, emotional value cannot be lacking.
"Shh... You absolutely must not spread this news." Gwen made a shushing gesture, lowering her voice to warn Lucas.
"I understand." Lucas nodded.
Unconsciously, he had already moved to sit beside Gwen. Although there was no one else in the bookstore lounge, the two still unconsciously sat shoulder to shoulder, whispering with their heads lowered.
"I heard Tony Stark is holding a press conference this afternoon. Shall we go together?" Remembering a famous scene, Lucas couldn't help but suggest.
"What's there to see?"
As one of the participants in last night's major event, Gwen already knew all sorts of inside information and wasn't interested in the press conference.
"Also, aren't we interviewing for a job?"
Lucas's tone shifted, and he said seriously, "Gwen, you're hired."
"Ah!"
Gwen exclaimed, a little unable to keep up with Lucas's pace.
Lucas said, "This job isn't complicated, and I believe you can handle it. As for the job content, it's mainly about verifying borrowers' identities, maintaining order in the room, and preventing book theft. How to do it specifically, you can decide for yourself."
Gwen: "..."
Gwen was puzzled, what did 'decide for yourself' mean?
Lucas comforted her, "Don't feel any pressure. I run this bookstore just to pass the time, profit or loss isn't important."
"As for the salary, I don't know the market rate, so let's start with ten thousand per month. If you have no objections, we can sign the contract now."
With that, Lucas was about to go print the contract.
"Wait a moment." Gwen called out to Lucas.
Although both were visitors from another world, unlike Lucas, Gwen had lived in New York in another world for eighteen years.
A monthly salary of ten thousand, an annual salary of one hundred and twenty thousand. Her father, George Stacy, Director of the New York City Police Department, earned less than that.
Gwen asked, "Isn't the salary too high? Also, can we not sign a contract?"
Lucas said, "We can discuss the salary again, but why not sign a contract?"
"Because... because... I..."
Should she tell Lucas that she wasn't from this world, that she had come from a parallel Universe, and was now undocumented?
Such a far-fetched story...
If she hadn't experienced it herself, even she wouldn't believe it.
Looking at the incoherent Gwen, who was racking her brain for excuses, Lucas couldn't help but laugh. "Haha! If you don't want to sign a contract, then don't. Let's talk about the salary then."
Seeing that Lucas didn't continue to press about the contract, Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. "Five thousand a month... no, three thousand."
"It's the first time I've seen someone complain about a salary being too high. I'll listen to you." Lucas smiled and didn't argue with Gwen about the salary.
"Lucas."
"Hmm?"
"Can I get an advance on a month's salary?" Gwen's expression was slightly awkward.
"I've run out of money. And I still need to rent a place."
Only God knew how she had managed these past three weeks.
When she first arrived in this world, Gwen was full of thoughts about how to go back, but reality quickly taught her a harsh lesson: food, clothing, housing, and transportation all cost money.
Looking at the flustered Gwen, Lucas fell silent.
Are all superheroes this poor? Or is it just Spider-Man?