The dense text made his head spin.
Finn was numb from looking at it, his heart was numb too, lamenting that this was indeed a brand-new, rookie system.
[You should at least extract the core key information for me!]
"What kind of project do you want to participate in?" Harry hadn't expected Finn, who was focused on his painting, to be able to answer, so he asked again after a moment of silence.
Finn: "?"
When Finn met Harry's calm green eyes, the young man's gaze lacked its previous sarcasm, which made Finn suddenly realize that his brother seemed to be seriously considering the matter. He had simply wanted to provoke Harry into cursing at him a few more times to see if he could farm some more Misery Value, but he hadn't expected that Harry would actually begin to rationally consider the possibility of letting his unreasonable brother participate in the company's projects.
Very well, Finn panicked first.
He did not want to continue being a soulless machine, bound only to a workstation.
The fluorescent lights at the party were still waiting for him to light them up!
"I just want to take your place," Finn continued righteously, staring at Harry with a hint of anticipation in his heart.
—Brother, scold me a few more times!
Harry: ".."
When Peter Parker came to the Osborn Building to see Harry, Felicia, the secretary who was meeting him at the entrance, heard that Harry's brother Finn Osborn had arrived. The two brothers were currently conversing in the conference room, the atmosphere seemed rather unpleasant.
"Mr. Osborn might be in a bad mood today," Felicia reminded Peter kindly. As the President of the Osborn Group, she naturally had to deal with a non-stop workload every day, with her own younger brother crashing a meeting in front of the company executives, his mood was bound to be even worse.
"Okay, thanks for the heads-up." Peter had naturally heard some rumors as well; Harry had a younger brother two years his junior, a boy who loved to play and loved inviting crowds of people to parties. Because of Harry, Peter had also followed Finn's social media account; what he shared was the daily life of a "rich second generation," a colorful and vibrant world that was completely beyond Peter's imagination.
It seemed there was little brotherly affection between Harry and Finn, the inheritance distribution from their father, Norman Osborn, drove these already estranged brothers to the point of a complete fallout.
As Harry's friend, Peter was naturally curious about Harry's younger brother as well.
“Harry Osborn!”
As soon as Peter was led to the corridor by Harry's secretary Felicia, he heard the furious shouting of the young man who had just stormed out of the meeting room—
If I don't get my fair share, I won't let this go!
Immediately after, Peter saw that young man walking quickly toward him.
At first glance, Peter felt that Finn was very different from Harry, who wore a crisp suit and tie and possessed a steady, calm countenance.
The young man appeared to be an extroverted person, with a clear look of anger on his face. He was about the same age as Harry, with slightly long, curly hair. His features bore a resemblance to Harry's, yet they were not quite the same; he lacked that same cold, sharp edge, with facial contours and features that appeared somewhat softer and more rounded, but he possessed an undeniably superior appearance nonetheless.
Unlike Harry's seriousness, even with the young man frowning and glaring at this moment, he exuded a sense of unrestrained and vibrant vitality. He did indeed match the photos of the "Young Master of the Osborn Group" that Peter had previously seen circulating on social media.
Peter was still wondering whether to greet Harry's younger brother when a series of fragmented yet clear sounds suddenly rushed into his ears—
[PP! How was my performance just now? Three parts resentment, three parts rage, four parts stubbornness—it was a perfect portrayal of a wealthy family's inheritance struggle!]
After years of watching plays, System PP had finally become an actor, Finn was still hopelessly immersed in his own performance just now.
—A little script, masterfully executed.
System PP: [The Host's performance has been excellent. We have successfully harvested 0.5% Misery Value today. The current mission progress has been updated to: 2.5/100.]
[System PP high-fived you. gif]
System PP's electronic voice responded to Finn's performance, it was not stingy with its praise.
[0.5% is already a good start.] Finn felt that braving the conference room today was well worth it; although it was only 0.5% progress, it had already given him immense confidence. [PP, just you wait! I know this script inside out, there's even more misery to come.]
Peter froze instantly, his silence deafening in that moment.
He clearly saw that Finn's mouth did not move, yet he seemed to have heard a series of dialogues.
It didn't come from some corner of the corridor; instead, it was as if it had drilled directly into his mind without any obstruction. He hadn't even heard Finn speak, yet he seemed certain that the jubilant voice belonged to the young man, it appeared as though Finn was conversing with an entity called System PP.
Peter couldn't understand it at all, but he had a vague feeling that he had heard it—Finn Osborn's inner thoughts!?
"Did you hear something?" Peter asked, his body stiffening as he looked at Felicia inquisitively. Surely he wasn't hallucinating?
There was no sound." Felicia shook her head in confusion. "Mr. Parker, Mr. Osborn is waiting for you in the conference room.
"You are—" Just then, Finn had already stood before Peter, his handsome, fair face framed by a pair of green eyes filled with confusion and curiosity.
"Peter Parker. I'm Harry's friend." Peter was full of doubt, but he still hurriedly introduced himself.
"Harry's friend?" Finn was somewhat surprised.
[I thought Harry didn't have any friends.]
Peter: "!!"
He confirmed it again—this was definitely Finn's inner thoughts!
System PP: [Based on current intelligence, Peter Parker is Harry Osborn's only close social acquaintance, defined as a "Best Friend".]
I'm Finn, Harry's brother." Finn reached out to shake Peter's hand. The appearance of a new important figure caused Finn's mind to start spinning again. "Nice to meet you, Peter.
[PP, I just thought of a super tragic script!] Finn had some more manipulative ideas. [As a workaholic older brother, he only has one trusted best friend, Peter Parker. But then, that one and only best friend is snatched away by me, his stupid, wicked younger brother. I even intentionally drive a wedge between them, causing their friendship to shatter. While Harry is working overtime until midnight, he sees his friend having the time of his life at a party with his annoying younger brother.]
Just tell me, isn't that tragic!
Peter: ".." He understood every single word, but why couldn't he understand a thing when they were strung together?
And also, does anyone curse themselves in their heart as a [stupid, bad younger brother]?
[Forget it, I've made so many new friends, Harry only has this one good friend.] After thinking about it for a moment, Finn abandoned the thought again. [As the CEO of the Group, working so hard every day, battling so many people, earning so much money, attending so many meetings, having a true friend is something Harry deserves.]
While Peter's mind was filled with inconceivable thoughts, he heard Finn abandon his previous plan to himself once again.
I have things to do, I'm leaving now." After thinking it through, Finn no longer entertained the idea of continuing to target the Host. "Go find Harry.
Watching Finn's departing figure, Peter's footsteps took a sudden turn.
"I just realized I forgot something. I'll come back up in a bit," Peter said to Felicia. Regardless of anything else, the fact that he had just heard Finn's inner thoughts was true, it was simply too strange.
Before the elevator doors closed, Peter stepped into the elevator first.
Meeting Finn's surprised green eyes.
"I just remembered I have something to do, I'm going downstairs for a bit," Peter said, still using that clumsy excuse.
Naturally, Finn did not suspect a thing. As the elevator doors closed, the young man's body stiffened imperceptibly, his gaze immediately shifted toward the transparent glass behind him.
Outside the glass of the elevator lobby, the office areas of each floor of the Osborn Group were clearly visible. Countless employees were buried in their work, the sounds of footsteps and keyboards seemed to drift through the glass.
This wasn't the first time Finn had come to the Group, he actually quite liked the elevators here.
Seeing so many busy people, they all had their own rhythm and their own lives.
Standing here gave Finn the illusion that he had switched back to the former [System] perspective.
But soon, Finn's attention returned to Peter Parker.
You must know me too, right? Harry must have mentioned me to you before, haven't he?" Finn asked curiously. "He must have told you that I'm an ungrateful younger brother, a good-for-nothing who is overambitious and wants to compete with him for the Osborn Group.
"No, he hasn't." Harry had always been someone who avoided discussing his family matters, so he had never mentioned Finn Osborn in front of Peter.
"I should say something to backstab Harry right in front of Peter. That way, as Harry's best friend, Peter would pass my insults along to him, then Harry would definitely hate me, his brother, even more." Finn was still silently calculating his next move in his mind. Back when he was a System, he had always looked down on those who backstabbed their Hosts behind their backs, all of those people had eventually met a miserable end.
Peter stared intently at Finn, becoming once again certain in his heart that he could truly hear the young man's thoughts.
But, why..
Does he mean to be intentionally hated by Harry Osborn?
While Finn Osborn was contemplating how to "slander" Harry Osborn, Peter Parker took the initiative to confirm his suspicions—
I heard from Miss Felicia that you and Harry had some disagreement in the conference room today.. was it because of the inheritance of the Osborn Group?
Exactly. We are both sons of Norman Osborn. Why should the Osborn Group belong solely to Harry?" This question hit the nail on the head. Finn immediately played along, speaking with absolute certainty, his tone even carrying blatant hostility, excitement. "I don't believe the contents of the will. Harry wants to monopolize our father's assets for himself.
"The will must be real; either way, I'm not qualified to inherit it anyway." In the next second, a completely different inner voice drifted into Peter's ears. [Making two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month just by lying around? Who would want to be the CEO? How is that any different from being on call for the System all day? Plus, having to attend meetings from morning till night and deal with so many affairs.. just thinking about it feels like Hell mode difficulty.]
“……” Peter felt like his brain was about to fry.
[System PP, help me retrieve the profile for "Peter Parker."] Finn looked at the silent Peter, thinking that they simply weren't on the same wavelength, so as Harry's friend, Peter didn't want to waste any more words on him. Finn thought for a moment and spoke to his own system; although PP was a rookie system, retrieving some basic character profiles was possible.
Peter Parker, Greatly Shocked: "??" He could even retrieve data!?
System PP: [Please wait, Host. Data loading complete—]
This time, System PP quickly provided a character profile, even knowing what Peter Parker liked and disliked to eat.
"You've pulled quite a lot of information this time." Finn was shocked by System PP's efficiency, but he wasn't entirely surprised. When he was a system before, some character profiles were very long, especially those with a closer relationship to the Host.
Finn was so preoccupied with his conversation with System PP that he didn't even notice Peter's extremely complex gaze at this moment.
System PP: 【Host, there is one more special piece of information regarding Peter Parker.】
Any more special information? Tell me.
Finn Osborn said nonchalantly, having no idea that at this moment, Peter Parker's heart was in his throat.
System PP: [Peter Parker has another hidden identity.]
Immediately after, a new profile card appeared before Finn's eyes. It wasn't [Peter Parker], but—
"Spider-Man??" Finn's voice rose eight octaves in his mind.
The elevator operated smoothly and came to a stop on the first floor.
The two people in the elevator lobby both felt the elevator shake violently at that moment.
Both young men instinctively took a step back into a safe corner.
They looked at each other, eyes meeting.
The transparent elevator was deathly silent, with only the sound of two rapid heartbeats.
In the silent elevator where no words were spoken, two people were simultaneously terrified.
Chapter 3: Wilderness · Night
Outside the elevator, a staff member in black held his hand up to politely block the elevator door, not daring to lower it for a long time.
Looking at Finn and Peter, who remained motionless in the elevator car for a long time, the employee hesitated for a while before asking tentatively in a low voice, "Excuse me.. are you getting off?"
Finn and Peter stared at each other with wide eyes.
Two equally panicked individuals, both of whom ignored each other's highly unusual behavior at this moment.