Chapter Eighteen: A Surprising Reward

With Princess Peach in tow, Wang Ling approached the outskirts of Koopa’s Castle, and from a distance he saw Mario anxiously waiting at the entrance. The Mushroom Chancellor was there as well, and besides the Toad coachman, there stood a man who looked almost exactly like Mario—a large nose, straight mustache, wide eyes. The difference was that this man was tall and thin, almost like a bamboo pole, and on his head he wore a green cap with an “L” insignia, making him even more distinctive than Mario’s red hat.

Wang Ling knew this must be Mario’s twin brother, Luigi.

As Wang Ling and Princess Peach drew near, they were spotted at once. The Mushroom Chancellor ran over, trembling, while Mario and Luigi gaped, faces frozen with disbelief.

“P-Princess?!”

The Mushroom Chancellor, a natural scatterbrain, tripped over his own feet as he ran, tumbling head over heels until he landed at Princess Peach’s feet, clutching her ankles and sobbing, “Thank heavens, Your Highness, you’re safe!”

Mario turned to Wang Ling, his words stammering with shock. “Wh-why is Princess Peach here? Did you… did you defeat King Koopa?”

Upon learning what Wang Ling had experienced, Mario was struck by a sense of incredulity. Given Wang Ling’s strength, even with all of Mario’s skills, defeating a Koopa clone would have been impressive enough. But to charge into the final fortress, defeat the real King Koopa using the mechanisms, and rescue the princess… That was beyond belief!

Of course, Wang Ling left some details out—such as knowing the location of the secret pipe beforehand. He simply said he’d stumbled upon the secret passage by luck, and proceeded smoothly to the final castle.

“Thank you so much! I can’t believe you actually rescued the princess. I…” Mario was so grateful he could hardly speak.

“There’s no need to thank me. I’ve stolen away the Princess Peach who would have otherwise fallen for you…” Of course, that was something Wang Ling kept to himself.

Earlier, after Wang Ling left, Mario had limped back to the Mushroom Kingdom and found the Mushroom Chancellor. The Chancellor quickly fetched Luigi, and together they came by carriage, waiting here for Wang Ling to rescue the first Toad and obtain the map to the second castle and information about the princess. Then, Luigi would be sent to continue rescuing the remaining Toads and the princess.

“I only had time to rescue the princess. The seven Toads will have to rely on you for rescue.”

Luigi waved dismissively. “Leave it to me. As long as I don’t have to face King Koopa, I’m not afraid. Just trust me with those seven Toads!”

Wang Ling checked the Dream Badge’s notification and found only five minutes remaining. He said to Mario, “I have something important to do, so I must leave the Mushroom Kingdom. I’m afraid I won’t be able to work as your chef any longer.”

“You’re leaving? When will you come back?” Mario asked, surprised.

“I don’t know. But if I can return, I’ll come see you all. Take care, everyone! Also, I defeated King Koopa using the mechanisms—he’ll be furious. You must protect the princess at all costs. Don’t let her be kidnapped again!”

Thinking of Princess Peach’s future misfortunes, Wang Ling felt a headache coming on. This gentle and delicate princess was truly unlucky! She was kidnapped even within the palace of the Mushroom Kingdom, kidnapped while vacationing on Yoshi’s Island, kidnapped again on Dolphin Island, and even while playing at the amusement park, celebrating her birthday, or going on treasure hunts… It didn’t matter where—she would always be kidnapped. Once, she and her entire castle were abducted together…

After so many kidnappings, the Mushroom Chancellor found a woman who looked just like the princess to serve as a decoy… But in the GBA game “Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga,” even the decoy was kidnapped, and then the real princess was taken as well…

This woman was not only the first princess in gaming history, but also unquestionably the unluckiest!

“Never let her leave the palace for vacations or outings! Also, increase the number of palace guards. By the way, isn’t there a shadow bodyguard named Catherine who looks just like the princess? Bring her here as a stand-in for the princess… In fact, it’s best to prepare several decoys. Remember, don’t make a fuss over the princess’s birthday, and don’t let her go off on adventures…”

Wang Ling rattled off a long list of instructions to the Mushroom Chancellor. Seeing only three minutes left on the Dream Badge, he turned to Princess Peach and said quietly, “I have to go now. Please take care of yourself.”

At these words, Princess Peach shuddered. Suddenly, she took off the necklace around her neck, pressed it into Wang Ling’s hand, and then, weeping, threw herself into his arms. “You must come back for me!”

With a clatter, the Mushroom Chancellor dropped his staff, while Mario and Luigi gaped so wide it seemed they could fit an entire apple in their mouths.

As the three watched in astonishment, Princess Peach clung to Wang Ling as his figure gradually faded, eventually vanishing as if he’d turned to air… Leaving only the princess, who slumped to the ground, covering her face as she sobbed helplessly.

Wang Ling’s departure was strange, but no one found it odd—what truly surprised them was the princess’s feelings for Wang Ling. After all, Mario’s world was a place of wonders. There were even time machines—Princess Peach once acquired one and traveled to the past for fun… Only to be kidnapped yet again in the past.

Even as Wang Ling left Mario’s world, he was still thinking of the adorable, pink-clad princess. Yet in the next moment, bathed in light, he returned to the Dream Space.

This was a small, ten-square-meter room with snow-white walls. In the center floated an oval light sphere, about the size of a soccer ball—apart from that, the room was completely empty.

The Dream Badge prompted: “This is your personal room in Dream Space. You can enter and exit this room using the Dream Badge; no one else may enter without your permission. You may store unused equipment and items here.”

“The sphere in the room is your personalized mini-brain, a sub-unit of the Dream Space main brain. Its basic functions include:

1. For a payment in currency points, it can heal any injury.
2. When you return from a mission world, it will evaluate your performance and grant rewards.
3. It sells all kinds of furniture, facilities, household goods, and even luxury and entertainment items to decorate your room. You can also pay to expand your house and increase the number of rooms.
4. It sells various foods, water, drinks, and basic portable medicines.
5. You can pay to create an artificial human, limited to one, who cannot leave your exclusive house or accompany you into mission worlds.
6. It sells skill books for eight basic abilities: Basic Melee, Basic Ranged, Basic Footwork, Basic Evasion, Basic Parry, Basic Endurance, Basic Control, and Basic Resistance.
7. You can use currency and skill points to upgrade skills and equipment, repair weapons and gear, synthesize and forge equipment with materials, identify unknown items, and perform soul binding or unbinding on certain items.
8. You may pay to expand your Dream Badge’s bag capacity.
9. It can teleport you into mission worlds.

Other extra functions will unlock as you fulfill certain conditions.”

Before Wang Ling could marvel at the brain’s many features, the Dream Badge prompted again: “You have completed the novice mission. The mini-brain will now evaluate your mission performance.”

World: Super Mario

Scenario: NES Super Mario Bros. 1

Difficulty: Grade D (originally Grade E)

Completion Rating: S (lowest: E, highest: X)

Note: Novice mission, rewards increased

Mission Rewards:

One D-grade completion chest: Black Iron Shining Chest (shines for S and X ratings)
Currency points: 9,600 (base reward: 2,000; two stage skips: +2,000; defeating King Koopa: +1,000; rescuing Princess Peach: +1,000; total novice mission reward increased by 1/5)
Attribute points: 19 (base: 3; S rating: +5; difficulty upgrade: doubled; novice mission bonus: +1/5, rounded down)
Skill points: 14 (base: 1; S rating: +5; difficulty upgrade: doubled; novice mission bonus: +1/5, rounded down)
Dream skill points: 2 (awarded for S rating in D-grade mission world or S/X rating in other missions; D-grade S rating gives 2 points, novice mission bonus: +1/5, less than one point not counted)
Talent skill upgrades, S/X skill upgrades, and regular skills from level 9 to 10 require Dream skill points. For skill levels 1–9, Dream skill points can be used to instantly raise the level without payment.

Additional reward: For S or X rating in D-grade or other mission worlds, you receive a rare item lottery chance. Based on your D-grade difficulty, your lottery wheel is:

Crystal Wheel!

After all evaluations, the Dream Badge prompted: “Rewards granted. The Black Iron Completion Chest and Crystal Lottery Wheel have appeared in your private room. In addition, you have achieved extra feats in the Mario world: You have unlocked Princess Peach’s affection system, currently at ‘love’; and Mario’s affection system, currently at ‘trust’.”

“Because both major story characters’ affection for you has reached ‘trust’ or above, your next entry into a Super Mario scenario will automatically place you in this same world you experienced.”

(Hmm, this week I’m ranked 18th on the newcomer list. Next week, I hope to break into the front page—the top 12. I hope everyone will click and vote for me! If I make the front page, I’ll add 10,000 bonus words on Sunday, on top of the regular two daily chapters of 3,000 words each. In other words, Sunday’s update will be 16,000 words. Please vote and support me!)