radicalducati Chapter 3 Gwen, You've Been Hired
Chapter 3 Gwen, You've Been Hired
In the bookstore's rest area, Russell gazed at the girl before him, remaining silent.
He never expected that the first person to come for a job would be the ghost spider he had met the night before.
"Russell".
Russell broke the deadlock by reaching out.
“Gwen, Gwen Stacy.”
Gwen reached out and shook hands with Russell.
A hint of surprise crossed her face.
Clearly, she hadn't expected that the bookstore owner would be the man she had met briefly the previous night.
Withdrawing his hand, Russell smiled slightly and looked at Gwen teasingly, "Gwen, may I call you that? Or should I call you 'Ghost Spider'?"
"Just call me Gwen normally, Mr. Russell." Gwen blushed, feeling a little uncomfortable having her other identity exposed.
“Just call me Russell, sir. That’s too formal,” Russell replied gently.
“Okay, Russell.” Gwen’s tone relaxed a bit.
"Gwen, can you tell me about last night? Has the girl who was kidnapped by the vampire been found?"
Russell asked Gwen about yesterday's vampire incident.
Over the past three months, vampires have been appearing in New York more and more frequently, and he senses that something big is about to happen. If things don't look good, Russell plans to leave to lay low for a while.
Vampires don't drop attribute points!
“Found her, but she’s already been transformed, damn vampire!” Gwen’s voice turned somber as she spoke of the girl’s ordeal.
"What should I do?"
“I took her home first and left her with her family. She seemed terrified, poor girl.”
"Are there many such cases lately? I mean, vampires turning into ordinary people," Russell continued.
“I’ve encountered three or four cases this week,” Gwen frowned. Clearly, she had also sensed that something was wrong.
"Are there many vampires in this world?" Gwen asked, somewhat puzzled.
She arrived in this world by accident two weeks ago and has no understanding of its deeper aspects. In her original world, there was no such species as vampires.
"I don't know, but they certainly do."
"You mean, we can ask a few vampires?"
Gwen looked at Russell, somewhat eager to try.
Faced with Gwen's expectant gaze, Russell demurred, "It's not us, it's you, Ghost Spider! I'm just an ordinary person."
Gwen rolled her eyes: "No ordinary person can kill a vampire with ultraviolet light without batting an eye."
"I've just improved my mental fortitude by a tiny bit," Russell said, gesturing with his fingers to defend himself.
"Let's not talk about vampires for now. Can you tell me about something else?" Russell changed the subject, asking about the 'big event' that happened last night.
He didn't want to be conscripted by Gwen to investigate vampires; Russell would rather get Gwen for free.
Let Gwen investigate; he will share information.
Which matter?
"I saw you on TV last night about the two robots fighting, and you went over there."
Compared to vampires, Russell was more interested in the aftermath of Iron Man and Iron Monger.
He wanted to know how far the original storyline would veer after Spider-Man's intrusion.
"That was, of course, with the help of the Ghost Spider... In the end, they successfully defeated the evil Obadiah."
When talking about her superheroic feat last night, Gwen's tone became cheerful.
Fighting evil and helping others brings her joy and fulfillment.
"You mean, that tall, clumsy robot is Obadiah, the COO of Stark Industries?"
"Is the other gold and red robot Tony Stark?" Russell asked, feigning ignorance.
Even bystanders should maintain proper etiquette and be mindful of emotional value.
"Shh! Don't let this get out of the picture." Gwen made a shushing gesture and whispered a warning to Russell.
“I understand, I understand,” Russell nodded.
Before he knew it, Russell had already sat down next to Gwen.
Even though there was no one else in the bookstore lounge, the two unconsciously stood side by side, heads down, whispering to each other.
"I heard Tony Stark is holding a press conference this afternoon. Shall we go check it out?" Russell suggested, recalling a famous scene.
"What's so interesting about that?" Gwen, as one of the participants in last night's big event, already knew all sorts of inside information and was not interested in the press conference.
"And...aren't we interviewing a reading room administrator?"
Russell's tone shifted, and he said seriously, "Gwen, you've been hired!"
"what!"
Gwen exclaimed in surprise, a little out of sync with Russell's pace.
Russell: "This job is not complicated, and I believe Gwen can handle it."
As for the job duties, they mainly involve checking the identity of borrowers, maintaining order in the reading room, and preventing book theft.
"You can figure out the specifics yourself."
Gwen: "......"
Gwen was puzzled and asked to figure out what to do herself.
Russell reassured him, "Don't feel pressured. I just run this reading room to pass the time. Profit or loss is not important."
I don't know the market rate for salary, so let's start at 10,000 per month. If you have no objections, we can sign the contract now.
With that, Russell went to print the contract.
"Wait a moment."
Gwen called out to Russell.
Although both are visitors from another world, unlike Russell, Gwen lived in New York in another world for eighteen years.
Her monthly salary is $10,000, and her annual salary is $120,000. Her father, George Stacy, the New York City Police Commissioner, earns a slightly lower salary.
"Isn't the salary too high? Also, is it possible to not sign a contract?"
"We can discuss the salary further, but why not sign a contract?"
"Because...because...me"
Should I tell Russell that I'm not from this world, but came from a parallel universe and am currently an undocumented person?
Such an absurd thing, even Gwen herself wouldn't believe it if she hadn't experienced it firsthand.
Seeing Gwen rambling incoherently and racking her brains for an excuse, Russell couldn't help but laugh.
"Haha! Fine, no contract then. Let's talk about salary."
Seeing that Russell didn't press the matter of the contract, Gwen breathed a sigh of relief.
"A monthly salary of five thousand... no, three thousand."
"This is the first time I've seen someone complain about the salary being too high, so I'll listen to you." Russell smiled and didn't argue with Gwen about the salary issue.
"Russell".
"Ok?"
"Can I get an advance on a month's salary?" Gwen looked slightly embarrassed.
“I’ve run out of money. And I need to rent a place.”
Only God knows how she got through those three weeks.
When Gwen first arrived in this world, all she could think about was how to get back, but reality quickly taught her a harsh lesson: everything—food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—cost money.
Seeing the uneasy Gwen, Russell fell silent.
Are all superheroes this poor? Or is it just Spider-Man?