"Peter… Peter!"
A familiar voice calls out near my left ear. I try to open my eyes, but the light blinds me.
"Oh god! Peter, you're awake!"
I struggle to look over and immediately recognize the person.
"Uncle Ben."
"Peter, are you in any pain?"
"I…"
I sit up, realizing I'm in a hospital.
"…Uncle Ben, don't you remember how useless hospital insurance is in America? We're going to end up homeless!"
"Your life is more important than money," Uncle Ben says bluntly.
"…"
"Come on, let me call your Aunt May."
Uncle Ben steps out, leaving me alone. Well, not entirely alone.
"Kid, your two guardians have been coming here, worried sick and checking on your condition. You should feel lucky."
I turn to see a middle-aged man lying in a hospital bed like mine.
"Who are you?"
"No need to know. Worry about your own future, kid."
"Oh… thanks for telling me."
That man… he looks familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before.
Soon, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, and the doctor finally arrive.
"His condition is stable. No injuries or anything, just a nosebleed when he was brought in. You folks won't have to pay much. Lucky break."
"Oh, thank you, doctor!"
"No problem at all."
"Doctor, what happened to me?" I ask.
"You had an information overload. Honestly, though, a nosebleed from overload is unusual. It's usually tied to prolonged stress or overwork. Have you been pushing yourself too hard?"
"No."
"Hmm… well, I recommend letting your brain rest."
"That's right, Peter. When you're discharged, take a few days off from school. Your health comes first," Aunt May says in her nurturing tone.
"Yes, ma'am."
The two of them talk to me for a while, promising to bring me something to eat. Eventually, it's just the doctor, me, and the middle-aged man.
"You'll stay here a few more days for observation."
"Thank you, doctor."
"Heh, good kid. Not like that broke drunkard over there."
"Hey, I can hear you, you jerk!" the middle-aged man snaps.
"That's right, Eddie! I said it loud on purpose!"
"You asshole! You think I won't complain to your boss?!"
"I doubt he'd listen to a penniless guy like you!"
I watch the doctor and the man named Eddie bicker. But something's strange… why does the name Eddie sound so familiar?
I lie back on the hospital bed, thinking about everything, including that weird entity I encountered.
*[Talking about me?]*
"?!"
I jolt upright, causing the doctor and Eddie to glance at me.
"What's wrong?"
"Huh?! Oh, nothing!"
I lie back down, scanning the room.
*[Looking for me?]*
"?!!"
I still don't see anyone talking to me, but it feels like the voice is coming from inside my head.
*[You guessed it. I'm talking to you through your mind.]*
This thing can read my thoughts?!
"Who are you?!"
"What? Asking for my name?" The doctor and Eddie look at me again.
"Oh, no… sorry."
*[GAHAHAHAHA!! Watching you yell like that is hilarious! Hold on, let me jot this down and post it on Webnovel so other readers can laugh at your stupidity!]*
'Who are you?! I don't understand what the hell you're talking about!'
*[Oh, my innocent Spider-Man, if you keep up that stupidity, bad luck and misery will follow you for life~]*
'Spider-Man? What Spider-Man?'
*[Oh, right, you're still just plain Peter Parker. Would spoiling things for you count as a spoiler?]*
'You've been confusing the heck out of me. Who are you?'
*[Who am I? Hehe… my name is Nya.]*
…umm, what?
'Nya? Like a nickname?'
*[Are you mocking me? Go read Lovecraft, you jerk. Or do I need to dump all my info into your brain until it explodes?]*
'Lovecraft? …Wait, you're—?!'
*[That's right, Peter. My name is Nya—]*
'Just kidding, I haven't read Lovecraft, though I've heard of it.'
*[You damn human! My name is Nyarlathotep!]*
'Oh, you mean the one who causes chaos by making us humans destroy each other?'
*[You jerk! So you do know!]*
'Wait, you didn't know? I thought an Outer God like you could see my entire life and everything about me.'
*[Hmph, peering into the life of someone like you is unnecessary, especially since you're not even Spider-Man yet.]*
'Fine, I'm done listening. Let me rest.'
*[Then make sure to contact me! Ignore me, and you'll regret it!]*
*[I mean it! If you ghost me, I won't talk to you anymore!]*
*[Don't forget, okay?!]*
And just like that, the voice in my head vanishes.
…An Outer God acting like a tsundere?
"Alright, kid, you want my name?" The doctor approaches me.
"Oh, no, I wasn't asking."
"My name's Dr. Doctor. Please remember it!"
"…Huh?"
***
One day later, I was allowed to leave the hospital and go home. Surprisingly, the insurance company actually covered the costs. Should I consider this the luckiest day of my life?
"Get to the table, Peter. I cooked something delicious for you," Aunt May says cheerfully.
"Thanks, Aunt May. Uncle Ben, how did you find me in that dark alley?"
"Oh, someone found you lying on the ground and called an ambulance," Uncle Ben replies, watching TV.
"Really? Do you know who it was? I want to thank them."
"Honestly, they were gone before I could ask."
"I see…"
After a while, Aunt May brings a feast to the table.
"…"
I'll never stop being grateful for these two. They've given me everything they have. If I could, I'd earn money to ease their burdens. After all, they're getting old…
After dinner, I head to my room and flop onto my bed. Since Uncle Ben got me excused from school for a few days, I've got some free time.
More importantly… there's a voice in my head.
*[You jerk! I told you to talk to me, and this is how you treat me?!]*
"I was eating with my family."
*[Don't give me excuses! You could've talked to me through your thoughts!]*
"Yeah, because I didn't want to talk to you."
*[You jerk!!! You're so cruel! You believe I could give you a painful death, don't you?!]*
"Fine, I've got questions for you. Why are you haunting my head?"
*[Because you were the closest.]*
"…Alright, what's this Spider-Man thing? Why do you keep calling me that?"
*[Because you're Peter Parker.]*
"That doesn't explain anything!"
*[What do you want then? Should I tell you your life story—how Uncle Ben dies and says that iconic line that turns you into Spider-Man?]*
My eyes widen, and my hands tremble slightly.
"…What did you say?"
*[Pfft, that's the reaction I like.]*
For some reason, the voice feels like it's right beside my ear.
*[Your fate is pretty tragic, you know that? Your destiny always forces you to be Spider-Man. But when you take off that suit, you've got nothing. Uncle Ben? Dead. Aunt May? Dead. Best friend? Dead. Girlfriend? If you're lucky, she lives—but belongs to someone else.]*
*[Even funnier, when someone else wears the Spider-Man suit, they might have bad luck, but it's not even a fraction of what you go through. Sometimes, you even have to die!]*
*[It's like a saying I love: Everyone wants to be Spider-Man, but no one wants to be Peter Parker.]*
"You've been rambling enough! What do you mean?!"
*[You should've known the moment I entered your body, Peter. After all, I gave you all the knowledge from another world.]*
A smile appears from nowhere.
*[In return, you must create fear and chaos in the human world for me to enjoy. If you satisfy me, who knows? Maybe your life will be a bit better. Who can say?]*
"…Why me?"
Peter's in bad shape because this eldritch entity's words align perfectly with the information his brain just absorbed. He's seen his entire future and fate, but he still believes it's fake, unreal.
But when this being speaks, he's forced to accept the truth.
So, he can only ask one final question.
In response, Nyarlathotep speaks to me in a seductive, alluring tone.
*[Because… you were the closest.]*
"…Alright, I hate you."
*[GAHAHAHHA!!]*
This guy seems to enjoy my frustration too.