by Andi Dri
My name is Dante Arashi, a man of mixed Japanese–American descent who lived a quiet, uneventful life in a small rural village in Japan. That night, I was walking alone through the forest, trying to shake off the exhaustion and irritation left behind by an especially frustrating day. The humid air clung to my skin, the chorus of cicadas echoed endlessly, and a cold breeze brushed against the treetops, rustling the leaves as if they were whispering secrets meant only for the dark. For reasons I couldn’t quite explain, I kept walking deeper into the forest. Perhaps my mind simply needed distance from the suffocating rhythm of everyday life. Then, without any warning at all, a strange spider leaped down from a branch and bit into my hand. The pain was unnatural—far beyond that of an ordinary insect bite. It felt as if fire had seeped directly into my bloodstream, spreading rapidly throughout my entire body. My heart pounded wildly out of rhythm, my head throbbed as though it were being struck again and again by a heavy hammer, and my vision spun violently, like a broken carousel spiraling out of control. Seconds later… everything went completely dark. When I finally regained consciousness, the world had changed. I was no longer in the Japan I knew. I had arrived in the Marvel Universe—Earth-76. As if that alone wasn’t insane enough, a Spider-Man System appeared inside my mind, offering abilities and functions that could make my life as Spider-Man far easier… or plunge it into even greater chaos. I knew a little about this world—its characters, its enemies, its global threats—but Earth-76 was not a storyline I had ever read in any comic. There were new variables, new dangers, and unfamiliar elements that had never been told in any version before. Now, I must answer one critical question: Can I survive as Spider-Man in a world where even legendary heroes can fall at any moment? And if I fail—will this world still have any hope left? (Author’s Note: The pacing of this novel is intentionally very, very slow. If you decide to read it, I sincerely ask for your patience, as the story is deliberately written with a slow but highly detailed progression. However, once the story reaches the “Working at Stark Industries” arc, the narrative will include a significant number of time skips. Even so, I will ensure that the transitions remain smooth, and I will do my absolute best to keep the story enjoyable and coherent.) [Note: I use Ai to translate, because English is not my first language, if you feel like Ai's writing, it's because I use Ai to translate.]
