Chapter Six: The Disappointment That Follows Gaining and Then Losing

Wang Ling rushed to Mario’s side, quickly removed his shoe, and discovered a large, dark purple bruise swelling around his right ankle—a sight that was truly alarming.

“Damn…” Mario gritted his teeth, straightening his twisted right foot and struggling to stand. But as soon as his foot touched the ground, a sharp, searing pain shot through him, forcing him to support himself with only his left leg.

Seeing his agonized expression, Wang Ling said gloomily, “If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have eaten that healing mushroom when I got injured. If only we still had that item…”

“Even with a healing mushroom, my foot wouldn’t heal quickly,” Mario frowned, staring at his injured foot. “An injury like this will take at least two days to mend. We can’t go any further… Mushroom Soldiers aren’t enough to deal with the dangers of Bowser’s castle. It seems this quest will have to be entrusted to my brother.”

“Luigi?” (Note: The tall, green-hatted character, Player 2 in the game.)

Mario nodded. “We’ll return to the Mushroom Kingdom and find him. Perhaps in half a day, he can make it here.”

Wang Ling had already wasted an E-rank Skill Refresh Stone to create the current situation; how could he let that tall, green-hatted man come here and meddle? He immediately declared, “That’s not an option!”

“Princess Peach was kidnapped by Bowser! Remember, Bowser wants to marry her—to make her his wife! While her life may not be in danger, her… safety is! It might only take half a day while we look for Luigi—for all we know, in that time, Bowser could force himself upon her. If that happens, Bowser will become your king!”

“Do you really want to see the Mushroom Kingdom fall into the hands of a giant fire-breathing turtle?” Wang Ling pressed both hands firmly on Mario’s shoulders, locking eyes with him, and said solemnly, word by word, “Do you want to see, in the not-so-distant future, Princess Peach giving birth to a brood of little turtles for Bowser?”

At that moment, Mario still had his girlfriend Pauline (Note: the woman kidnapped in Donkey Kong, whom Mario also had to rescue). In fact, it was after this very adventure to save Peach that he and the princess first began their ambiguous relationship. So while Wang Ling’s words didn’t arouse jealousy, the image of the princess leading a brood of baby fire-breathing turtles flashed before his eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. “Th-then what should we do?”

“To keep our beloved princess from being defiled by that dreadful tyrant! To prevent the Mushroom Kingdom from becoming Bowser’s property! To stop the lovely Princess Peach from giving birth to a clutch of turtles! There is only one way.” Wang Ling’s eyes shone with resolute determination. “I’ll go!”

“Although only a mushroom child is imprisoned in this Bowser’s castle, to learn where the princess is, and to get a map of the next castle, we must rescue the mushroom child.”

“It would take half a day longer to fetch Luigi than if I went right now. I’ve already said, something terrible could happen in that time! Your foot’s injured and you can’t go on; this is the only solution left!”

The image of the elegant, golden-haired princess leading a group of little turtles still haunted Mario’s mind. Hearing Wang Ling’s words, he hesitated. “You’re not strong—you can deal with Goombas and Koopa Troopas, but if you run into a stronger Paratroopa, it’ll be dangerous. Even just rescuing the mushroom child means facing Bowser’s clone. With your strength, you’ll be killed!”

“As long as I can save Princess Peach, what do danger and death matter?!”

Wang Ling bellowed this impassioned, melodramatic line as if in a grand opera. He even tried to shed a few tears for dramatic effect, but none came, so he could only squint and pretend to be grief-stricken… At that moment, though, his heart was weeping: “Come on, boss, after a performance like that, you should be moved by now…”

Mario stared at Wang Ling in silence for a while. Just as Wang Ling began to worry that he’d overacted and was about to be found out, Mario suddenly grabbed his arm, startling him.

“Let me thank you on behalf of the princess and the people of the Mushroom Kingdom! Ling, you’re right—right now, we have no choice but to rely on you. But I can’t let you go to your death for nothing. Besides, if we’re to successfully rescue the mushroom child and obtain the map and information, you’ll need something more.”

“I’m going to teach you my special techniques. With them, you’ll not only be able to handle Paratroopas, you’ll even be able to stand against Bowser’s clone!”

In that instant, Wang Ling was nearly moved to tears with joy—his plan had succeeded at last.

The main quest in this beginner’s world was to accompany Mario to defeat Bowser’s clone and rescue the mushroom child. But the instructions also included a line: “The main quest may change in response to the adventurer’s actions.”

In other words, the Dreamspace would adapt the main quest according to the dreamer’s choices. There was no need to worry that abandoning Mario would make the quest impossible to complete.

On the road with Mario, Wang Ling had come to understand that while staying with the protagonist was safe and easy, the rewards were limited. To obtain extra benefits, he had to leave Mario and complete the main quest alone.

By doing so, all the power-up mushrooms, fire flowers, crucial invincibility stars, mysterious hidden 1-ups, and even ordinary coins could be collected through the badge space and mushroom pouch.

Wang Ling knew himself well—he was just an ordinary high school student, not physically strong. Aside from being knowledgeable about anime, games, and novels, and having a lively imagination, he had no other talents. How could he possibly face dangerous monsters?

Let alone Bowser’s clone—even if ten Goombas ganged up on him, he’d be doomed.

However, back at Mario’s house, Wang Ling had held a conversation with the plumber:

“Could I ever jump as well as you?”

“You like jumping too?”

“Yes, very much. Can you teach me?”

“That’s an important secret!”

From the introduction to Dreamspace, interacting with story characters could grant skills. Mario’s answer showed he had the ability to teach the dreamer his skills!

Wang Ling’s true goal was just that: to obtain a skill strong enough to challenge Bowser’s clone, rescue the mushroom child on his own, and pick up the treasures along the way.

But there was a crucial prerequisite—Mario had to stop halfway. Normally, this should be impossible, but when Wang Ling used his starter pack’s random draw item, he’d received what seemed a useless E-rank ability:

Troublemaker!

Combined with another item from the starter pack, the E-rank Skill Refresh Stone, two powerful sneezes had stripped Mario of his super mushroom’s protection and sprained his ankle.

Thus, the impossible had happened: the protagonist of the story was forced to stop midway, unable to proceed or fight!

Wang Ling, knowing Mario’s straightforward nature, guessed that this kind-hearted hero would never watch him go to his death—especially after such a moving speech. What’s more, the exaggerated description of Princess Peach’s plight was enough to chill anyone’s heart.

No resident of the Mushroom Kingdom would ever want to see Bowser become Princess Peach’s husband, or the beautiful golden-haired princess give birth to a clutch of little turtles.

At last, after careful planning, Wang Ling had achieved his aim.

Of course, his scheme carried risks. If, after falling over twenty meters, Mario had not sprained his ankle, then the E-rank Skill Refresh Stone and the healing mushroom he’d deliberately wasted would have been for nothing.

If Mario had died in the fall, the main quest would have failed, and with it, Wang Ling would have met erasure.

Whatever the case, Wang Ling believed these possibilities were unlikely. Risk could never be wholly avoided, but he thought it worth the gamble!

And at last, he’d won.

Worried for the princess’s safety and grateful to Wang Ling, Mario offered to teach him his special techniques. The skill transfer process had clearly been optimized by Dreamspace: a beam of light connected them both. After a long while, Mario let out a long breath and, exhausted, sat down. “It’s done.”

Wang Ling hurried to check the skills he’d received through his Dream Badge, but one glance nearly made him faint! He’d guessed the start and the process, but not the ending.

Mario had given him all his skills!

Dash

Super Jump

Iron Head

Iron Leg

Mario’s Head Stomp

Underwater Breathing!

And beyond these, four basic skills:

Basic Melee, Basic Footwork, Basic Parry, Basic Endurance!

Dizzy with excitement, Wang Ling hadn’t even had time to examine the detailed stats and levels when a flood of notifications poured in from the Dream Badge:

“You have significantly influenced the story protagonist. The main quest has changed: you must now defeat Bowser’s Clone No. 1 alone, rescue a mushroom child, and discover the whereabouts of Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom.”

“You have received the protagonist’s full set of skills. You temporarily possess all of Mario’s abilities. Once the main quest is complete, these skills will disappear. You may choose one skill to keep, which will become LV1.”

“Additional note: Basic skills are prerequisites for learning and using active and passive skills. There are eight basic skills: Basic Melee (close combat physical), Basic Ranged (long-range physical)—corresponding to strength; Basic Footwork (speed, jumping), Basic Evasion (dodging, agility)—corresponding to dexterity; Basic Parry (blocking, defense), Basic Endurance (resistance, stamina)—corresponding to constitution; Basic Spellcasting (magical offense), Basic Resistance (magical defense)—corresponding to intelligence.”

This notification sent Wang Ling’s soaring spirits crashing to earth. He stood dazed, as if he’d just won five million in the lottery, only to be told the payout was five hundred, and the rest would be reclaimed… The sudden disappointment was enough to make him want to weep.

He kept repeating to himself: Why—why can I only keep one skill?

Downgrading the skill to LV1 was acceptable—he could always level it up again. But to receive so many skills, only to lose them all at the end, was unbearable!

“No. I can’t settle for just one… There must be a way… Right, this must be Dreamspace’s check on my attempts to game the system. In that case, I need to increase the difficulty—I need to change the main quest! Only then might I keep more skills!” Wang Ling’s eyes reddened as he roared inwardly.