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Thanks to the magic of money, Jasper and Mari Kobayashi were temporarily on the same page.
"So, like this?" Jasper lifted his shirt to reveal his perfectly toned abs. All his regular training had really paid off—his muscles were solid and seriously impressive. Let's just say, the kind of body that'd make a housewife clamp her legs shut and walk away blushing.
"Woooow~ Not bad at all." Mari reached out to touch his abs, then quickly whipped out her camera and snapped a pic.
"Don't just touch me like that," Jasper said, frowning.
Mari nodded... then gave his abs another squeeze. They were so firm compared to her soft body that her face suddenly started heating up.
His hard body and her soft one… wasn't that, like, the perfect combo?
She figured she could probably handle him just fine… Damn, why was her brain turning into mush?
In the end, Mari walked off with a whole bunch of pictures of Jasper. Back in her room, she hesitated—should she sell these pics?
Money, man.
Yeah, screw it. Money's more important. Boys come and go.
The Next Day
When Jasper got to school, he noticed something weird—girls were giving him strange looks. It didn't take him long to realize why.
As he walked into class, he saw Michelle Jones chatting with a group of girls. The moment she spotted him, she marched right over and yanked up his shirt.
Perfect abs on display. The girls' eyes lit up—it looked even better in person than in the photos.
Jasper: "What the hell?!"
He frowned and pulled his shirt back down.
Michelle gave him a dead-serious look. "Do you even know what you've done?"
"What?" Jasper tilted his head. He just sold some photos of himself, right?
Michelle said, "Pretty much every girl in school has a copy of your photo now."
"Oh~" Jasper just shrugged like it was no big deal.
He brushed past Michelle and sat down at his desk.
Michelle followed him. "I paid ten bucks for one, you know."
Jasper: "…"
"The photo?"
Michelle nodded.
She'd dropped ten dollars on a pic of Jasper. Yeah, it looked good, sure—but she had access to the real deal! Why'd she even bother buying it?
Thinking about it now, she kinda felt ripped off.
Jasper looked away and said, "I didn't tell you to buy it."
Michelle pouted and walked off.
Lunchtime
Jasper was eating in the cafeteria, and when he looked around, he realized—he was completely surrounded by girls. All of them were sneakily eyeing him.
Peter Parker leaned in and whispered, "Is it just me, or is the vibe super weird today?"
Jasper nodded solemnly.
Ned nodded too. "Yeah, the girls are acting really strange."
The three of them were chatting, Jasper throwing in a comment here and there, when Michelle Jones, Mary Jane, and Gwen Stacy walked up to them.
"Wanna head back to class together?" Michelle asked.
"Sure!" Ned answered quickly—he was the only one who hadn't finished eating.
Plop! Michelle plunked down beside Jasper with a heavy sigh. She still felt like she got scammed.
Gwen avoided looking at Jasper. Lately, she couldn't stop thinking about that night he kissed her. It was messing with her head. Also… who the hell took those photos of him?
Mary Jane, on the other hand, was calmly chatting with Jasper.
A few minutes later, Ned finished his meal.
The six of them strolled back to class together, chatting as they went.
Suddenly—"Come with me!" Mari Kobayashi popped out of nowhere, grabbed Jasper by the arm, and dragged him away. "It's urgent!"
Jasper, confused, let her pull him off.
Gwen Stacy: "…"
Just how close were those two?
"Let's follow them and see," Michelle said, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
"Huh? Isn't that kinda rude?" Peter said hesitantly.
Ned nodded in agreement.
"Then you two carry our books back!" Michelle dumped all their books onto Peter and Ned.
"Let's go!" The three girls hurried after them.
"What's going on?" Jasper asked, tilting his head. Mari looked kinda frantic—did something serious happen? Maybe her mom got into an accident?
She dragged him to a quiet corner, then suddenly burst with excitement. "You won't believe this—I made ten thousand dollars just selling your photos! Oh my god! I've never had that much money in my life! You're worth so much! Hey, how about the next shoot you go completely naked? I bet we'd make even more!"
Mari looked like she'd lost her damn mind. That ten grand was nearly two months of her mom's salary. Even though she was already doing this "rent-a-girlfriend" side gig, she'd never made this kind of cash in one day. She was practically drooling over Jasper at this point.
"That's just creepy," Jasper muttered. This girl had clearly lost her mind to money.
Mari looked him dead in the eyes and said seriously, "If it makes money, who cares if it's creepy? Let's ditch our shame and chase that cash together!"
"Jasper! Jasper! My money-making machine!" she squealed, hugging his arm and making some seriously disturbing noises.
Jasper winced. "Mari… you're being super gross right now."
Mari just giggled like an idiot.
At that moment, the three eavesdropping girls popped out from their hiding spot, all yelling at Jasper for selling his body to make money.
Jasper didn't care at all.
"Later!" Mari said, waving and walking off.
That Afternoon
When Jasper got home, he found another note—his parents were out working again. They were always so damn busy.
He didn't think much of it. It was still early, so he decided to play some games.
While he was gaming, Shadow-Spider silently appeared, sitting on his bed reading a book. She wasn't into video games, but she was interested in why Jasper was so obsessed with them. She just couldn't get it—these games were weak and had zero challenge.
Was this what they meant by "toys ruining the mind"? She looked over at Jasper, totally immersed in the game, and then noticed the notebook by his side—pages filled with detailed game strategies. He didn't even take his school notes this seriously.
She remembered how he always zoned out during class. He really didn't act like a student at all.
A few minutes later, without even glancing her way, Jasper said, "Shadow-Spider, grab me a Coke."
She nodded and instantly vanished into the kitchen downstairs using her shadow teleport.
She opened the fridge, pulled out a Coke, and headed back to Jasper's room.
After handing it to him, she went back to her book—but every now and then, she'd sneak glances at him.
"....."