The rooftop of Midtown High School was quiet.
Noah Vale stood by the railing, gripping the metal bars as he looked out across New York City.
For a moment, he considered dropping out of school entirely.
He didn't exactly have a family pushing him to stay. In this life, Noah had grown up on his own. His biological parents existed somewhere out there, but their absence had never made much difference.
If anything, his life had always been easier without them.
Still, after a moment of thought, Noah dismissed the idea.
Before recovering the memories of his past life, his goal had been simple—study hard, stay away from trouble, and eventually live comfortably.
Dropping out now would complicate things.
Besides, money was becoming a problem.
His savings had almost vanished over the past few days thanks to gym memberships, equipment, and other expenses.
Noah rubbed his temple.
I need a reliable way to make money… and soon.
Skipping classes might be manageable.
Actually dropping out? That required a better plan.
He leaned back against the railing.
"If all else fails," he muttered to himself, "I guess I could try dating a rich woman."
Then he snorted.
"Still better than going back to robbing banks."
The comment was half a joke—but not entirely.
If he had regained his memories earlier, he could have used knowledge from his previous life to get ahead financially.
Instead, he was now stuck worrying about a few thousand dollars.
Annoying.
Noah inhaled the cool rooftop air and looked out over the skyline.
Rows of skyscrapers stretched across the horizon.
From this height, the streets below looked surprisingly small.
As he stared downward, a new training idea suddenly appeared in his mind.
What if danger itself could become training?
If pushing his body to its limits improved his attributes…
Then putting himself in a life-threatening situation might strengthen his mind even faster.
Before he could talk himself out of it, Noah removed his jacket and gripped the railing.
In one smooth motion, he flipped upside down.
Now he was balancing on the outside of the railing, suspended several stories above the ground.
His arms held his entire body weight.
One mistake—
And the fall would leave him seriously injured, if not worse.
His breathing grew slightly faster.
Adrenaline surged through his body.
His senses sharpened dramatically.
Every movement became precise.
Perfect.
Danger forced his brain into maximum focus.
Students sometimes experienced something similar during exams—the pressure of failure suddenly pushed their concentration to incredible levels.
Noah shifted his weight to one arm.
Then he began doing one-handed handstand push-ups.
His Mind attribute of 1.4 allowed him to control each movement with machine-like precision.
But the psychological pressure of the situation made the exercise far more intense.
Every rep required absolute focus.
One slip would mean disaster.
His body trembled slightly as fatigue built.
At the same time, his mind screamed for him to stop.
Noah ignored it.
His eyes remained locked on the system panel floating in his vision—specifically the plus symbol beside Endurance.
If he lost balance, he would immediately dump all his remaining attribute points into that stat.
With endurance boosted dramatically—and internal energy protecting his body—he should survive the fall.
He wasn't suicidal.
But with multiple safety nets in place, backing down now would feel cowardly.
"132… 133… 134…"
The repetitions continued.
Even without additional weight, maintaining perfect balance in a one-handed handstand consumed enormous energy.
Soon his arm began shaking.
At around 160 repetitions, his strength started giving out.
Noah immediately circulated internal energy through his body to compensate for the fatigue.
Click.
The rooftop door suddenly opened.
Noah reacted instantly.
He flipped his body upright and sat casually on the railing.
A blonde girl stepped onto the rooftop.
She froze for a moment when she saw him.
The evening light illuminated her appearance.
Long blonde hair.
Sharp features.
Confident posture.
She looked like someone who belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine.
"Shouldn't you be in class right now?" Noah asked casually.
The girl raised an eyebrow.
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Noah."
She walked closer, studying him with interest.
"You're taking a break from field training too?"
"You know my name?" Noah asked.
"Of course," she replied with a small smile.
"At last year's freshman orientation, pretty much everyone noticed you. I just happen to remember names."
She stopped a few steps away and extended her hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Gwen Stacy."
Noah blinked.
He hadn't expected that name.
Still, he reached out politely to shake her hand.
The moment their hands touched, Gwen suddenly pulled.
With surprising strength, she dragged him off the railing and onto the rooftop floor.
"You really shouldn't sit on the railing like that," she said lightly.
"It's dangerous."
Noah gave her a flat look.
This girl was surprisingly forward.
For a second he wondered if she was flirting with him.
During the brief contact, the system interface had already updated.
Name: Gwen StacyStrength: 1.0Agility: 1.0Endurance: 0.9Mind: 1.1Charisma: 1.3
Just an ordinary person.
No spider powers.
No unusual abilities.
Satisfied, Noah lost interest.
He picked up his jacket and slipped it on.
"Well," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets, "you can have the rooftop. I'm heading out."
Before Gwen could respond, he walked toward the door.
By the time she turned around—
He was already gone.
She sighed softly.
"Well… that was abrupt."
Meanwhile, Noah headed downstairs.
Even though the training session had been interrupted, the results were encouraging.
The system analysis showed that his dangerous exercise had dramatically improved the efficiency of mental training.
The improvement for physical attributes had been small.
But the number of repetitions required to improve his Mind attribute had been reduced by nearly half.
Interesting.
Noah smiled faintly.
He would continue experimenting with the method later.
Especially since something important would happen soon.
In just a few days, Peter Parker was supposed to become Spider-Man.
Once that happened, Noah could finally measure how much a single attribute point truly affected physical ability.
With that thought in mind, Noah found an empty classroom.
He sat down and began quietly practicing the Violet Dawn breathing method.
By the time he opened his eyes again, the clock showed nearly 10 p.m.
Apparently, he had spent the entire evening training without noticing.