Chapter 1638 Heading to Death Without any Distraction (1)_1

In the apartment room, Gwen Spiderman sat lethargically in front of the desk, looking at the headache-inducing dissertation on her tablet. Shiller stood to her left behind her, and Natasha stood to her right behind her. Gwen Spiderman sighed heavily and said.

"Are you kidding me! You two are dead but still won't let me be?! Besides, I told you, I used spell check, it's just the software I'm using isn't that smart, I'm not a native of your universe, I don't understand your advanced artificial intelligence error detection, can't you understand that?"

"So what's going on with those missing spaces between words, missing full stops and section breaks within words? And what's with all these soft returns messing up the format?"

"Probably because I hit the wrong keys when I was writing late at night, half asleep." Gwen Spiderman tried to think of an excuse, she let out a wail, and flattened herself on the table like mud, saying, "Give me a break, I'm not good at studying! If it comes to it, why don't you go torment Gwen from your universe? She'd be very happy to have academic discussions with you."

Shiller moved to the window of the apartment and sat down in the chair, looking at Gwen Spiderman and saying, "You have to produce at least one proper paper; otherwise, what should I use to appease Professor X? Only when he believes that you've been learning well under my tutelage will he temporarily put aside his thoughts of wanting you to transfer to his institution."

Gwen Spiderman sighed deeply, resigned to the task of modifying her dissertation. After correcting the first draft, Shiller, while checking the details of her work on the tablet, asked, "I hear that you are interested in punk culture?"

"A bit, yeah." Gwen Spiderman handed the two newly fetched cans of soda to Natasha and Shiller, saying, "It's hard to avoid while you're into rock."

"Which band do you like the most?"

"Sex Pistols, as you always hear." Gwen Spiderman sat on the edge of the bed, legs sprawled, propping her hands along the bedrails, sipping her soda as she spoke, "I consider them to be revolutionary and hugely influential."

"Indeed they were, within the world of rock music. What about death punk?"

Gwen Spiderman thought for a second before saying, "I rarely get to discuss this, because once people hear the term, they think it describes a bunch of loafing punks smearing black lipstick all over the street, full of piercings. People don't want to stoop down to this, so they usually avoid discussing it."

"I heard that you have some studies on nihilism."

"Punk itself has a certain nihilistic quality, but I want to correct a misconception. Although I'm also interested in mysticism, they're in fact opposites; mysticism emphasizes existence but unknowability, while nihilism underscores meaninglessness and nonexistence."

"You said you don't often talk about this with people, but when you have opportunities, did somebody actually discuss it with you?"

Gwen Spiderman took a sip of soda and nodded, "I have a few friends. I often discuss this stuff with the bassist in our band. Instead of the prevalent nihilistic view that truth doesn't exist, my view more resembles 'truth is unreachable, therefore all pursuits are futile.'"

"You could replace the word 'truth' with any other word, and it would still be the same. Humans can own so few things, even in this abundant universe. Tragedy appears on and off in an individual's life, might as well give up and accept this destiny."

When saying this, Gwen Spiderman didn't come off as decadent or sad; it seemed more like academic reasoning about her point of view. Shiller didn't argue or try to persuade her. he simply said, "Interesting perspective. Have you heard of any famous people who uphold similar viewpoints?"

"There are too many, of course, the most famous among them is Nietzsche and the like with European nihilism, but I'm not really interested in politics and philosophy. I still favor rock."

"Do you think nihilistic trends are naturally formed?"

Facing this question, Gwen Spiderman was a bit stupefied. She furrowed her brows, and just as she was about to say something, Shiller shook his head, explaining, "I'm not saying it's some heresy. Do you believe, without any exterior influence, humans can acknowledge nihilism?"

After reflecting for a while, Gwen Spiderman said, "I can't confirm whether we have recognized nihilism now. The human understanding of the cosmos is very superficial in the first place. We interpret it as nonexistence - maybe this is because our understanding can only reach this far."

"Do you think you understand it better than others?"

"Uh... I..." Gwen was a bit confused by Shiller's series of inquiries. She tousled her hair and then, sitting crisscross on the bed, gazed at Shiller, asking, "Why have your interests suddenly shifted to this? Dean Shiller, you sure don't seem the type to be interested in punk."

"I think you should answer my question, especially since your paper is still in my hands, Miss."

Gwen Spiderman sighed, waving her hand in front of her face, "I wouldn't say I understand it thoroughly. This isn't me being humble, just that I told you I don't have much understanding when it comes to philosophy. At most, I just know some musical styles."

"Then how about writing a paper on this as a starting point?"

"Huh???"

Gwen Spiderman stared at Shiller, her face seemed to say "Your map of Yan country seems quite short, doesn't it?"

Shiller looked through the contents on the tablet and said, "I only mentioned spelling errors and format problems in the paper previously; I didn't mention content. If you're pushing me for an opinion, this paper would deal a rather severe blow to my educational career. I don't recommend letting anyone else see this paper."

"Ah, is it really that bad?" Gwen Spiderman whimpered a false sob. Shiller put the tablet aside on the table and shook his head, saying, "I don't want to force you to learn what you can't. That's why I tried to find a more interesting topic for you. You do need to finish a paper."

Gwen Spiderman hesitated and said, "I can certainly write about it, but I've never dealt with this kind of subject. I might end up writing it even worse, right?"

"Punk culture and nihilism are relatively niche topics. As long as you have your own perspectives, and can argue your points substantively, you won't do poorly. It's much better than trying to carve a new track for yourself in mature disciplines like sociology and international relations, right?"

Left without a choice, Gwen Spiderman agreed. She didn't really want to switch colleges to where Professor X was teaching. Charles was a quite experienced teacher who was strict in his study supervision. If she were to transfer, Gwen Spiderman would not be able to maintain her current flexible study schedule, yet still earn enough credit points.

Just as Gwen Spiderman was considering how to start her paper, Shiller spoke again: "Have you considered the relationship between nihilism, and the studies of religion and theology?"

Gwen Spiderman slightly widened her eyes but shook her head and said: "I don't really have much understanding of these two areas, am I supposed to write about similar topics?"

"I think you could analyze from these perspectives. You mentioned previously that nihilism and mysticism are entirely opposite, yet mysticism is inseparable from religious and theological studies. So, starting from this angle might be a good idea."

As she pondered and nodded her head, Gwen Spiderman thought that Shiller had a point. At this moment, Shiller stood up, picked up a tablet computer from the table and handed it to Gwen Spiderman. Then he said: "We have other matters to attend to now and will take our leave first. When I come here next time, I hope to see your masterpiece, Miss Gwen."

"Oh, when would that be?"

"Three days from now. How about that?"

"Oh my god! That's too soon!"

"This is payback for wasting time in the past. Do it."

Ignoring Gwen Spiderman's protest, Shiller, and Natasha left Gwen's rented apartment. They returned to the Arkham Sanatorium, retrieved a car from the underground parking lot, and then headed towards Manhattan.

On the way to their next destination, Natasha curiously asked: "Punk, nihilism and Gwen Spiderman, also the paper that I can't understand at all. What are you planning, Shiller?"

"I'm also curious about what you're doing, Doctor Shiller."

A voice came from the backseat. Shiller turned his eyes slightly and saw Hela who appeared in the rearview mirror's reflection.

Hela still dressed as if she just stepped off a runway. She adjusted the hem of her thick fur coat and revealed a subtly inscrutable smile towards Shiller before speaking.

"People who just died usually carry the scent of death, and I recently got the job of guiding souls in the Nine Major Kingdoms. You are within my jurisdiction. Would you like to come to the Netherworld for a visit? Your friends probably wouldn't think of looking for you there."

"I'd be delighted if it was another time," Shiller revealed an apologetic smile through the rearview mirror before adding: "But I'm a bit busy now, ma'am."

As Shiller spoke, he couldn't help studying Hela's reflection in the rearview mirror. Her face appeared even paler, resembling Odin more than Frigga in both appearance and temperament.

This wasn't to say she wasn't beautiful, but her sharp, aggressive character was much more noticeable than her appearance. Yet, closer inspection of her facial features also revealed a unique charm.

Hela had a similar character to those of pure Nordic women: a full forehead, even facial features, prominent jawbones, and distinguishable cheekbones that shaped her concaved cheeks. This was generally seen as a sign of allure.

Perhaps due to spending years in the death-filled Netherworld, her hair and eyebrows were of a thick black color. Her eyebrows were raised high on her forehead; her eyes were deep-set, made up with shimmering, dark green, smoky eyeshadow. Her lips were also of a greenish-black color.

Such features might appear odd among humans, against conventional beauty standards, but are very fitting for a divine woman warrior approaching 190cm in height.

Shiller gradually brought the car to a halt, circled an apartment building once, and went back to the junction he originally took, before he swerved in another direction. Natasha, sitting in the passenger seat, raised her brows and asked: "What's wrong? Why did you change route?"

"I just thought of a better idea. Prince Hela, since you didn't inform my friends the moment you found me, I assume we're on the same side here. If so, could I ask a favor?"

Hela, seemingly interested, locked eyes with Shiller in the rearview mirror and flicked her fingers, asking, "'If I helped you, how would you compensate me?"

Natasha gasped instantly, looking through the gap between the car seats at Hela before warning: "You'd better drop those daring thoughts. Can you guess why I'm here?"

"I saw the scene of your passionate exchange earlier, it was quite interesting. Are you always this intrigued by someone's guts?" Hela asked, looking into Shiller's eyes in the rearview mirror.

"I'm only interested in the guts of fish," Shiller shook his head slightly and moved the steering wheel. In a rejecting manner, he added: "It's not very elegant to beat others with a fishing rod when unable to fish."

Hela chuckled deeply: she understood Shiller's rejection but just found his description amusing. She sighed lightly.

"Fine then, what help do you need?"

Would you mind being a star for a while, ma'am?"