Chapter Nine: Charging Into the Final Stage

Wang Ling, his entire body shimmering with golden light, let out a despondent sigh. “The mushrooms can be stored, but the invincibility stars cannot. I had planned to use that invincibility against Bowser, but it seems the Dreamspace truly forbids blatant exploits…” The thirty seconds of invincibility were now utterly useless, a complete waste, but there was nothing he could do. Fortunately, using the floating brick that concealed copper coins as a stepping stone, he reached a higher platform and uncovered a Fire Flower, which somewhat eased his disappointment.

“Fire Flower: Upon use, you gain the ability to launch fireballs. You may fire up to two fireballs at once, each inflicting your current intelligence plus ten points of fire elemental damage. The fireballs bounce along the ground until they strike an object, at which point they disappear. The Fire Flower’s effect only activates while in the enlarged state. This is a specialty of the Mushroom Kingdom and cannot be taken out of the Super Mario World.”

Since this power was linked to the growth mushroom, and Wang Ling was currently in that state, he used the Fire Flower immediately. As expected, he could now launch fireballs forward. Each shot involved a distinctive arm-swinging motion, as if tossing something from his hand, which looked rather amusing.

When a fireball struck the ground, it bounced ahead, hopping until it hit a Goomba and vanished. The Goomba was set ablaze, its red health bar instantly emptied, and it died on the spot.

Launching fireballs consumed no mental energy, and killing monsters from a distance was far safer than stomping them up close.

After obtaining the Fire Flower, there were no more unique treasures in the first area. Wang Ling flung fireballs as he proceeded to the end—the spot with the platform and the flagpole.

He dared not dash onto the platform and attempt a super jump to grab the flag; he could only manage balance from a drop of just over five meters. If he missed the flag, he would likely twist an ankle just as Mario did.

Standing beneath the flag, he placed his hand on the pole, and the banner slid down by itself. The Dream Badge promptly prompted, “You have taken down a Bowser Demon Battle Flag. For your performance in capturing the flag, you are awarded 100 Dreamspace universal currency points.”

After the prompt, the flag vanished, and Wang Ling wore a sheepish expression. He understood that, just like in the game, the reward depended on how high you reached on the pole. Sadly, as he hadn’t jumped at all, he received only 100 points.

He entered the first area’s transfer fortress, which was nothing more than an empty tower. Beyond it lay something more intriguing—a two-way green pipe, one end facing the fortress, the other the sky. Wang Ling stepped into the pipe, slid down its smooth wall, and emerged on the ground—this was the second area of the first castle, or World 1-2 from the game.

He moved forward and found another growth mushroom. He had worried that, as in the game, only Fire Flowers would appear, but this eased his mind. Continuing on, he acquired another Fire Flower, confirming his suspicion that the two treasures would likely alternate.

This region wasn’t particularly difficult; the main challenge lay in frequent gaps in the path and the introduction of new enemies: Piranha Plants rooted in green pipes and Red Shell Speedy Koopas. The power of fireballs incinerated the Piranha Plants from a distance, reducing them to ashes. As for the Red Shell Speedy Koopas, Wang Ling dealt with one using his cleaver and discovered a new type of item:

“Tracking Koopa Shell: Single-use item. When used, the shell slides along the ground, automatically homing in on the first enemy in its path. It deals 5–10 damage and stuns the target for three seconds. The distance it travels depends on terrain and cannot be retrieved.”

“Huh, it’s the Red Shell from Mario Kart…”

The Tracking Koopa Shell was much more useful than the regular sliding shell. Wang Ling stored it in his Dream Badge’s inventory, filling the last available slot. The shells could be stacked, but there were few Red Shell Speedy Koopas in this area—most were ordinary ones.

Having collected three Tracking Koopa Shells and dispatched several ordinary Speedy Koopas, he now had nine sliding shells. Any more would require another slot, meaning his eight inventory spaces were nearly full. Yet, there was one treasure in this region he absolutely had to obtain: the extra life mushroom.

High above—nearly twenty meters in the air—a broad road of floating bricks stretched out. Wang Ling, standing on the lower platforms, smashed through twenty-six bricks in a row, becoming coated in stone dust until he looked like a gray statue, but finally, he knocked the coveted mushroom loose.

His pocket could carry only three unique items, and while the spatial pouch could also store things, items inside couldn’t be brought out of this world. Wang Ling then took out two gold coins, one silver coin, a health potion, and a mental potion, placing them in his clothing pockets. The three coins took up almost no space, and the small potion vials—though they made his pockets bulge a little—were barely noticeable.

This freed up four slots in his badge’s inventory. He placed the growth mushroom and Fire Flower in two slots and tucked the extra life mushroom into his pocket.

He had resolved to obtain and smuggle out three of these precious life-giving mushrooms from this world. As anti-erasure artifacts, they were far more valuable than mere growth mushrooms or Fire Flowers, whether for his own use or to sell.

After obtaining another growth mushroom in the latter part of 1-2, Wang Ling used a running start and a super jump to reach the high floating-brick path, arriving at three pipe entrances.

He took a deep breath. The real danger was about to begin.

He leapt into the pipe leading to the fourth Bowser castle and slid along its interior for quite some distance before dropping into a four-story transfer fortress. As expected, the Dream Badge promptly notified him:

“You have entered Bowser Castle Four. The difficulty of this world increases, and the main mission changes: Defeat Bowser Replica No. 04 alone, rescue a Mushroom Kid, and learn the whereabouts of Princess Peach, princess of the Mushroom Kingdom.

“As the difficulty increases, upon completing the main mission, you may select two skills to retain, which will be set to Level 1.”

At this, Wang Ling mused, “So by skipping straight from World 1 to World 4, the difficulty has risen, but Dreamspace compensates by letting me keep two skills instead of one. Still, two is not enough. I wonder how many I could keep if I reach the final stage…”

Exiting the fortress, Wang Ling soon spotted a strange white cloud drifting his way. Upon it sat a creature with a green head and two large eyes. Wang Ling’s expression hardened. “Just as I expected.”

This creature was known as a Happy Cloud. It hurled red spiny creatures down from above—spikes about the size of Goombas, bristling with quills, which would injure on contact and could not be defeated by Mario’s stomp.

Luckily, Wang Ling still had the Fire Flower. As the green-skinned monster began tossing red spines, he dashed forward, burned a spine blocking his path, and knocked another Fire Flower from a floating brick, storing it in his badge inventory.

He now possessed two sets each of growth mushrooms and Fire Flowers—a reserve for venturing into the eighth castle and facing Bowser. After all, even in fireball form, a single hit would revert him to normal, so spares were essential.

With his inventory once more full, Wang Ling dodged the relentless onslaught of spiny projectiles as he ran forward.

The Happy Cloud was cunning, tailing him and lobbing spines directly at him, several times nearly striking him—a nerve-wracking ordeal. In frustration, Wang Ling leapt onto a high floating brick and halted abruptly. The green-headed creature, grinning atop its cloud, followed but had to adjust its speed suddenly.

At that moment, Wang Ling performed a super jump and hurled two fireballs, striking the Happy Cloud squarely. The grinning monster and its cloud were instantly engulfed in flames, consumed by fire and screams until nothing remained but ashes.

“That’s what you get for chasing me! And for throwing spines at me! Serves you right!”

Wang Ling watched the drifting ashes with satisfaction. Dodging the endless barrage of red spines had been exhausting, and a single scratch would have cost him his power-up and his enlarged state.

He pressed on and, upon reaching a region with floating bricks, stopped—not to hit the bricks, but to stand atop them and strike at empty air. With a dull thud, a blue-spotted mushroom bounced out.

Another extra life mushroom!

Delighted, Wang Ling stowed this anti-erasure artifact in his mushroom pouch. Though it technically couldn’t be taken out of this world, it was, besides skills, his greatest prize here.

With all the treasures he desired in hand, Wang Ling could finally proceed with peace of mind.

Crossing this area, he reached the second section of the fourth castle (World 4-2). Entering via the third pipe, he found himself in a secret passage filled with towering mushroom umbrellas. At the passage’s end stood three green pipes, just like in 1-2—shortcuts to later stages.

These led respectively to the sixth, seventh, and eighth castles.

Wang Ling’s gaze swept over the three pipes. Without hesitation, he jumped into the one leading to the final castle. After another long slide, he landed in a transfer fortress, where the Dream Badge immediately announced:

“Warning! Dreamer #10521, you have entered the final stage of the Newbie World. The difficulty of this scenario rises from E to D! D-level difficulty is extremely dangerous for novice dreamers! For your protection, you may choose to end this adventure and return to Dreamspace immediately. Any currency and items already acquired will be kept, but all skills will be lost. Please choose carefully whether to return!”