Chapter 15: A Day at School
Ash sat in his physics class, staring blankly at the teacher. He had gone through high school and college in his previous life, but science was never his strength. Now, with the teacher droning on about something that sounded like gibberish, Ash sighed and glanced around the room.
Beside him, Peter Parker was furiously taking notes, absorbing the information like a sponge. Ash watched Peter, a bit envious. "Man, if I had that kind of IQ," he thought to himself, shaking his head. But then he chuckled, thinking, "I sound like one of those main characters in fanfics who gets an overpowered system but still whines about it."
Refocusing on the class, Ash tried his best to pick up on something useful from the lesson. He pushed himself to follow along until finally, the lunch bell rang. He let out a relieved sigh, happy the torture was over.
As the class began to empty, Peter turned to him with a friendly smile. "Hey, Ash, want to join me and my friend Ned for lunch?"
Ash shrugged, grinning. "Sure, sounds good!"
In the cafeteria, they spotted Ned already seated, his lunch tray piled high. Peter and Ash grabbed their own trays and joined him. Ned looked up, his eyes widening as he saw Ash.
"You're Ash, right?" Ned asked, sounding excited.
"Yeah, that's me," Ash replied, amused at Ned's reaction.
Ned's eyes sparkled as he held up his phone, showing both Ash and Peter a video. "Guys, have you seen this? The new superhero! He's amazing! Do you think he's an alien or, like, a secret government experiment? Look at his suit—so cool! Imagine if I had a suit like that!" Ned's words came out in a rapid stream, his enthusiasm bubbling over. "Do you think he has, like, a secret 'guy in the chair' helping him?"
Ash chuckled, glancing at Peter, who seemed just as overwhelmed. Peter raised a hand to calm Ned down. "Yeah, we've seen him, Ned. He's pretty awesome."
They continued chatting and joking, and Ash felt a pleasant warmth at the easy banter. Suddenly, though, the world seemed to slow down around him, like everything had paused mid-motion. Startled, he realized Zoe was speaking to him through the suit.
"Ash, there's a projectile heading right for Peter ."
Confused but alert, Ash scanned the room and spotted a football frozen in midair, hurtling straight towards Peter's face. He looked to the side and saw Flash Thompson grinning as he finished the throw.
Ash sighed and told Zoe, "Resume time." He raised his hand just as the ball reached Peter, catching it before it could do any damage.
Peter and Ned stared at Ash, wide-eyed. "Whoa! Nice reflexes, Ash!" Peter said, surprised.
On the other side of the room, Flash scowled, clearly unimpressed but trying to play it cool. "Oh, sorry, new guy," Flash said in a mocking tone. "Didn't mean for the ball to slip. Could you toss it back?"
Ash narrowed his eyes, considering his options. Then, with a mischievous smile, he stood up, holding the ball in one hand. "Sure, Flash. No problem."
He tossed the ball back—but aimed it so it sailed right past Flash, landing perfectly in the trash can behind him. Putting on a mock expression of surprise, Ash smirked. "Oops, looks like my hand slipped too."
Flash's face reddened as he gritted his teeth. "Not cool, man! Get it out of there, or else."
Ash's smile faded, and he met Flash's gaze head-on. "Or else what? You gonna hit me?"
Angered by the challenge, Flash clenched his fists and stomped toward Ash, his hand raised for a punch. But Ash was ready. He tapped into the suit's abilities, speeding up his perception of time. Flash's swing seemed to come in slow motion, making it easy for Ash to step out of its path.
Flash blinked, surprised his punch missed. He threw another, and Ash dodged again, moving backward with smooth ease. Flash, growing angrier, kept swinging wildly, but Ash slipped around each punch like it was a simple dance.
A plan formed in Ash's mind. He maneuvered himself near a trash can, then subtly used his suit to alter time, causing Flash's balance to shift as he lifted one foot off the ground. Before Flash realized what was happening, he was tilting forward. Ash returned time to normal and stepped aside, just as Flash lost his balance and fell face-first into the trash can.
Laughter erupted from the students around them. Ash put on a concerned face, pretending to look apologetic. "Hey, Flash, if you're looking for your football, it's in the other trash can."
The cafeteria filled with laughter, and Flash pushed himself up, his face red with embarrassment. His friends helped him out of the trash, and he muttered angrily, "I'll remember this, Miller." He stalked off with his goons, fuming.
Watching Flash leave, Ash returned to his seat with a grin. Peter gave him a grateful look. "Thanks for that, Ash. Flash has been picking on me for years. It's nice to see someone stand up to him."
Ned, meanwhile, was practically bouncing in his seat. "Dude, that was awesome! Finally, someone gave Flash a taste of his own medicine!"
Ash smiled. "Glad I could help."
As they chatted, Peter glanced over at Ash. "Hey, after school, Ned and I were going to work on this new LEGO set I got. Want to come over and join us?"
Ash thought about it, then shook his head with a small smile. "Thanks, Peter, but I have something to take care of tonight. Maybe another time."
"Sure thing!" Peter said, nodding understandingly.
The rest of lunch passed quickly, and soon enough, the bell rang. They all headed back to class, and before long, the school day came to an end. Ash said goodbye to Peter and Ned, then started walking home.
As he made his way back to his apartment, Ash's thoughts drifted to his struggles with the day's lessons. He knew he needed to keep up with his studies to avoid suspicion. But the thought of diving into physics again made him groan.
After a moment, though, an idea sparked. He remembered a gadget from the Doraemon show that might just make studying a whole lot easier. The thought gave him a burst of energy, and he quickened his pace, eager to test his theory.
Once home, he set his bag down and Ash sat down at his desk, staring at the hefty physics textbook in front of him. Just the sight of its 400 pages made him feel tired. He had a whole life's worth of school knowledge to catch up on, but, fortunately, he had a little gadget to help him out.
Reaching into his pocket, Ash pulled out a slice of memory bread. He grinned at the simple-looking slice, knowing that this bread had a magical property: anything written on it would transfer directly into his memory the moment he ate it. The entire physics textbook would be locked into his mind in no time.
"Alright," he said, rolling up his sleeves. He set the bread on the textbook, pressing it down firmly until the words started to appear, inked right into the bread's surface. Each slice held only so much text, though, so he had to repeat the process over and over, pulling slice after slice from his 4D pocket. Slowly but steadily, the stack of memory bread grew.
After about an hour, Ash had a massive stack of memory bread in front of him, each slice filled with page after page of physics knowledge. He eyed the pile, realizing with a sigh that eating 400 slices of bread wasn't exactly an option. That's where his next gadget came in.
"Small Light, let's do this," he said, pulling out a flashlight-like device. This gadget could shrink anything it pointed at, living or non-living. He held it up, aiming at the stack of bread, and clicked the button. The stack of bread rapidly shrunk down, each slice becoming as small as a crumb, until the whole pile was no larger than a handful.
"Perfect," Ash muttered, grabbing the tiny pile and swallowing it in one gulp.
Almost instantly, a flood of knowledge washed over him. Every formula, theory, and diagram from the physics textbook flowed through his mind as if he had known it all along. Surprisingly, it wasn't overwhelming or uncomfortable; it felt as natural as if he'd studied for years.
He let out a long breath, marveling at the feeling. "Wow… that was easy." He looked at the physics book again, now fully stored in his brain. He could've continued with other subjects, but he decided to take it slow. "One subject a day sounds good. No need to overload myself."
With his study session done, Ash took a break, glancing around his apartment. For the first time since arriving here, he started to feel the sting of his situation—he was pretty much broke. He didn't need much money at the moment, but he knew it would come in handy soon.
"Time to brainstorm," he mumbled, pacing the room as he tossed ideas around. Creating gadgets to sell? He immediately scrapped that thought. That would mean manufacturing, setting up a supply chain, and dealing with factories—not something he had the resources for. Plus, the idea of selling his inventions to big companies didn't sit well with him.
He thought about other options. Writing a book seemed plausible; he had read plenty of novels in his past life. But could he really recreate them from memory? And would anyone even want to read something he could recall? He frowned, trying to think outside the box.
Then, a light bulb went off in his head. Back in his old life, he'd heard about AI-assisted writing. It had been gaining traction, though it was still in the early stages. But here… he grinned. Here, he had the world's best AI at his side.
"Zoe," he called out, his excitement bubbling over, "can you write a book if I give you a plot to work with?"
"Of course, Ash," Zoe replied smoothly. "Just provide me with the details, and I can turn it into a book."
Ash nearly jumped with joy. "You're amazing, Zoe!"
Without wasting a second, he rushed over to the hidden door in his apartment that led to his lab. He hurried inside and sat at the main computer screen, eager to get started.
"Alright, Zoe," he said, leaning forward with a grin. "I want you to write a book based on what I'm about to tell you. I'll narrate the plot, and you turn it into a full novel."
"Understood," Zoe replied, ready to begin.
Ash paused for a moment, a mischievous smile on his face. "The name of the book is going to be…"