Chapter 25: Gugune White Sundae (1)

The second passage.

I stepped into it.

Swoosh.

A point where I should’ve been bounced out.

But this time, it was different.

It felt like passing through a thin layer of air.

The second passage revealed its inner self.

「You have entered the <Arcane Chamber (Magic Training Room)>.」

‘Arcane Chamber?’

My eyes widened.

A magic training room?

‘No way!’

Could this be a space to learn magic?

My heart began to race with excitement.

Tap tap tap!

Almost running, I quickly made my way through the remaining passage.

And then—

A vast space unfolded before my eyes.

Much larger than I had expected, stretching endlessly.

‘The mana flow is different.

Through <Dragon Blood>, I could sense the flow of mana in this room.

It was a mana flow seemingly interwoven with some magical mechanisms.

Thanks to that, the space appeared much larger than its actual size.

Despite being an enclosed area, the air swayed softly, and light shimmered here and there like a mirage.

Wooooong!

And then—

The most eye-catching thing in the room:

A crystal sphere floating in the center.

Mysterious and mesmerizing, as if it contained a miniature universe.

Tiny, faintly glowing starlights slowly rotated at its core.

Whenever they scattered, radiant trails intertwined like the spirals of a galaxy.

The surface of the sphere was perfectly smooth and transparent, like a calm body of water with a galaxy floating on it.

‘Wow.’

My mouth opened in awe at the mystical, dreamlike sight.

‘Those starlike lights are a phenomenon caused by a high concentration of magical energy converging at a single point.’

An immense density of mana.

With my awakened <Dragon Blood> vision, I could see it clearly.

‘The walls and ceiling are also inscribed with runes and magic circles.’

Ancient runes and circles believed to be left behind by dragons.

They emitted a soft blue and violet glow throughout the room.

Fwoooosh!

On one side, magic books floated in the air, slowly rotating.

On the floor lay an intricately engraved magic circle.

‘Incredible.’

I felt it immediately.

This place was designed to teach magic—dragon-style.

“How do I use it?”

I muttered as I stepped onto the large magic circle on the floor.

In that instant—

Flash!

KWHAAAAAANG!

Starlight burst forth from the central crystal sphere.

“Oh!”

A gasp followed.

My mind cleared, and the method for using the magic training room imprinted itself vividly into my consciousness.

‘I was right. I can learn magic here!’

The moment expectations became reality!

I moved at once.

My target: the floating magic books suspended in the air.

I reached out to the one at the very bottom.

「Tier 1 Magic Book」

「Fire, Ice, Wind Cutter, Spark…….」

A series of magic icons appeared.

Drawn in, I touched the ice-shaped icon.

「Would you like to acquire Tier 1 magic <Ice>?」

‘…Holy crap!!!’

I could acquire magic instantly.

No more paying 1,000 coins for every Tier 1 spell.

And that’s not all—

The second magic book.

I placed my hand on it.

「Tier 2 Magic Book」

Fireball, Frost, Thunderbolt, Storm Cannon…….

The third magic book was the same.

「Tier 3 Magic Book」

Flare Shot, Ice Spike, Thunder Clap, Stone Blast…….

‘Damn!’

Jackpot, jackpot, jackpot!

Until now, I felt like a hollow shell just leveling up.

But not anymore.

Now I could truly walk the path of a proper mage!

“Ice. Acquire.”

With my will—

Ssshhhhh!

Cold magical energy flowed out from the Tier 1 magic book and was absorbed into my hand.

「You have acquired Tier 1 magic <Ice (S)>」

“Phew.”

Another gasp of amazement escaped me.

Not just any rank—S-rank.

My eyes almost rolled back.

Now I knew what it meant to have blood boiling with thrill and excitement.

I went on to learn a few more.

Tier 1 spells like Wind Cutter and Spark.

They were all S-rank too!!

But there’s still a mountain of 1st-tier magic left to learn.

Honestly, I wanted to just sit here and master all the 1st-tier spells right away.

Growl.

“I’m using up more mana than I expected.”

Learning magic through the <Magic book> consumed more mana than anticipated.

I might need to place a few Lunadrias beside me and chew on the petals while learning spells.

“I also want to try using the Magic Training Room.”

Alright.

If I’m going to do this, I might as well do it properly.

“I should buy some gear.”

Magical tools for magic training.

I’ll need to order some from SuperNet.

***

Just as I was leaving the second passage—

「<Cherry Tomato, Lv 100> has been sold.」

“Oh.”

The cherry tomatoes I put up for auction were sold.

This time, I set the auction duration to 24 hours to make it longer.

Has it already been a whole day?

Well, I did sleep a lot, so I guess a day passing makes sense.

“Let’s see how much it went for… hmm?”

The final price:

30,300 coins.

Roughly 303 million won.

I only listed 100 cherry tomatoes as a sample, right?

‘That means they sold for 300 coins each.’

Unbelievable.

That’s 3 million won per cherry tomato.

They sold for even more than the potatoes and sweet potatoes, which went for 1 million won each.

Cherry tomatoes are much smaller in size than potatoes or sweet potatoes, so they’d usually sell for less.

‘Why did the price jump so high?’

I immediately checked SuperNet.

Found the reason.

‘Hah, the buffs stack?’

Insane!

That’s a jackpot!

And because I only released exactly 100 cherry tomatoes, the price might have gone up even more.

Seeing the limited quantity, people must’ve rushed to bid.

‘I should keep auctioning them for a while.’

I’ll keep selling through auction until something goes for less than my target price.

‘Then today too, let’s put a few more up for auction.’

Potatoes, sweet potatoes.

And cherry tomatoes.

This time, 300 of each.

Quantity? Not a problem.

Before me lay a sea of green.

Thanks to Popo and Rare, the crops were thriving in abundance.

‘Lunadria and White Sun Herb too — 5 flowers each.’

I decided to sell part of their daily harvest as well.

Because steady coin income is necessary.

‘Wonder how much I can get for White Sun Herb.’

White Sun Herb is expensive by default.

The minimum price starts at 500,000 coins.

But the ones I’m selling?

Even with the most conservative estimate, I should be able to get 1 million coins each.

Five flowers mean 5 million coins.

‘Man, I’m rich, seriously rich.’

Even just selling White Sun Herb regularly is enough to be considered wealthy.

But—

To fully utilize the <Platinum Lounge>, this still isn’t enough.

‘At the very least, I’ll need to keep selling things like Seondo or Mandragora steadily to afford access.’

I glanced at the Seondo tree.

‘Hope the next harvest produces some seeds.’

Ding!

A notification popped up at that moment.

‘Hm?’

It was from the Gold Lounge.

I accessed the Gold Lounge.

Checked the notification.

‘Gugune Baeksoondae.’

That was the nickname I suspected belonged to my friend.

I received a reply from them.

「Gugune Baeksoondae (S) has sent you a private chat request. Do you accept?」

***

Gold Lounge nickname: Gugune Baeksoondae.

Real name: Goo Donghyun.

He checked the comment left by the user nicknamed ‘Archmage Emperor’.

…..

[Archmage Emperor (?)] : Hello, Gugu. I have something I’d like to discuss with you privately, if that’s okay.

……

‘…?’

At first, I thought it was just another shady message left by someone with questionable intentions.

Because…

Even in the Gold Lounge, scammers existed.

The nickname “Archmage Emperor” was unfamiliar to me.

And their rank was hidden—marked as ‘?’.

So naturally, I was suspicious.

But then—

……

[Chadol(S)]: Whoa. Archmage Emperor left a comment.

[GlutinousSweet&Sour(S)]: Oh, did you just get chosen?

[Donut(?)]: Looks like they’re trying to help?

[NugakCracker(SS)]: Wow, Sundae. This is your chance. Go for it.

……

The comments weren’t ordinary.

Everyone was telling me to seize this opportunity.

‘What the heck?’

I searched up “Archmage Emperor.”

……

– King Lunadria, the taste of fantasy. Where did Archmage Emperor get King Lunadria from?

-Archmage Emperor’s magic: Breaking through level 80 with Hong Seolhwa. Joined the Eleven Heavens.

-Buffs for dungeon crops—double buff confirmed. Another work of Archmage Emperor.

-Guardian deity of the Northern Hemisphere, Taesan—broke through level 80. Joined the Twelve Heavens. Once again, Archmage Emperor’s magic!

-A new paradigm in dungeon crops? This time: cherry tomatoes. Supreme taste and a powerful buff.

…..

How many more spirit herbs and crops are tucked away in Archmage Emperor’s silken pouch? All eyes are on what he’ll produce next.

‘Ōhh!’

He hadn’t been in the Superhuman World long.

But every step he took left a major impression.

If you kept up with the Superhuman World’s news, you couldn’t not know the name Archmage Emperor.

But I hadn’t heard any of it.

Because I’d been focused solely on treating my broken mana circuit.

‘Why would someone like that… contact me?’

His once-dead eyes…

Were now swirling with emotion.

Confusion, doubt, mistrust… and a faint spark of hope.

But then.

He shook his head.

‘My mana circuit isn’t something a mere spirit herb can fix.’

Goo Donghyun’s level: 49.

Mid-tier Superhuman.

While running a dungeon from the Thousand Killing Society, he was poisoned by their Thousand Killing Toxin.

Normally, with immediate detox and treatment, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.

But—

Due to unavoidable circumstances, Goo Donghyun couldn’t detox in time.

As a result—

His mana circuit was damaged beyond recovery.

He even visited the <Sanctum> afterward, but it was no use.

He was told he was lucky just to have survived.

‘Is there truly no way…?’

The priest shook his head sadly in response to his desperate voice.

“You’d need at least a Half Elixir-level treatment to restore it.”

“…Ah.”

Half Elixir.

A legendary potion only found in records from the upper floors of the Abyssal Tower.

Even if you wanted one, you couldn’t get it.

But even the so-called “Half Elixir”—a top-tier potion—was occasionally discovered above the 80th floor by the Ten heavens.

Its value was astronomical.

Far beyond Goo Donghyun’s reach.

So he had no choice but to give up.

‘Unless he’s offering me a Half Elixir, there’s no point in hoping.’

He let out a bitter smile.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

‘I’ll just ignore it.’

He moved to the <Gold Lounge Channel> and ignore Archmage Emperor’s comment.

But then—

He hesitated.

‘Am I really okay with giving up the life of a Superhuman?’

For him, being a Superhuman was everything.

There was even a heart-wrenching reason he had to walk this path—one that couldn’t be told without tears.

That’s why.

In the end, Goo Donghyun had no choice but to message Archmage Emperor—driven by desperation.

…..

[GuguneWhiteSundae(S)]: Hello, Archmage Emperor. I saw your comment and reached out.

……

He didn’t know what this person would say.

Still… still. If—by some miracle—they had a way to heal his mana circuit…

No matter the cost, he would grasp that lifeline.

‘Please…’

Let this be a golden rope sent down from the heavens.

Goo Donghyun tightly shut his eyes, praying with all his heart.

***

[GuguneWhiteSundae(S)]: Hello, Archmage Emperor. I saw your comment and reached out.

A message arrived.

My eyes lit up.

“GuguneWhiteSundae.”

Could it be… him?

……

[Archmage Emperor(?)]: Hello. I just wanted to say…

……

It started with a simple greeting.

Then, I expressed sympathy for his situation.

And next—

To check if he was who I thought he was, I slipped in a casual question.

……

[Archmage Emperor (?)]: By any chance, is GuguneWhiteSundae the one from Sillim-dong…?

[GuguneWhiteSundae(S)]: Yes. That white sundae restaurant is mine.

……

‘It’s him.’

My childhood friend, Goo Donghyun.

It really was him.

‘How did you end up with a shattered mana circuit…’

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

He’d always been a bit clumsy.

Even after becoming a Superhuman, he hadn’t changed much.

“Popo.”

“Popo?”

Hop hop.

At some point, Popo had woken up and came bouncing over when I called.

“Hey, this—can it be consumed directly?”

“Popo!”

I held out a vial of <Popo’s Bodily Fluid>.

At my question, Popo gave a smiling ^_^ eye-squint and bounced again.

That was a yes.

“Alright. Let’s give this a try.”

I poured some of <Popo’s bodily fluid> into a potion bottle.

“I’m not sure if this will actually revive his mana circuits…

But my intuition tells me—

There’s a chance.

If it really does revive his mana circuits?

Then <Popo’s bodily fluid> would become a priceless treasure beyond measure.

“That would also greatly increase the possibility of Popo’s fluid being used as an ingredient for an elixir.”

So I have to test it.

On Donghyun.

“I do feel a bit bad, like I’m using him as a guinea pig.”

Still, as we confirmed with Popo, even if the mana circuits can’t be revived, it won’t be harmful to his body.

……

[Archmage Emperor(?)]: I’ll send you an item. Please try consuming it. It might revive your mana circuits.

[GuguneWhiteSundae(S)]: Really…? Is that true?

[Archmage Emperor(?)]: Yes. But please, I ask that you never reveal anything about the item I gave you to anyone.

[GuguneWhiteSundae(S)]: Understood. I swear to keep that promise. But… may I ask, why are you showing me such kindness?

[Archmage Emperor(?)]: Think of it as a reward for all the good deeds you’ve done, Mr. Gugune.

……

GuguneWhiteSundae—

Well-known for his good reputation.

He had done many charitable acts.

Especially for the “Love Orphanage.”

He’d shown great kindness to the children there too.

……

GuguneWhiteSundae(S): Thank you… truly…

[Archmage Emperor (?)]: ^^

……

I sent <Popo’s bodily fluid> through a private transaction.

Now, the outcome lies in the hands of Donghyun and the heavens.

“Alright then, I’ll…get back to my work.”

“Huh?”

What’s this?

Why are we missing one member?

“Popo!”

Popo, bouncing next to me with a smiling n_n expression.

GOOOOOO!

Dania, glowing in a majestic golden aura, was diligently absorbing mana within her egg.

“…Arkeron. Temporary energy circuit under construction.”

Arkeron was still hard at work on his self-repair.

‘Where’s Chuchu?’

I blinked, trying to figure out where Chuchu had wandered off to again.

Meanwhile…

Chuchu was speeding through space outside the lair like a streak of light.

After shifting through several locations, the surroundings finally stopped changing.

***

Chuchu arrived—

In a forest surrounded by towering ancient trees that seemed to touch the sky.

“Chu!”

The moment Chuchu called out toward the ancient trees—

GROOOAAARRR!!

The massive trees, the entire forest, began to ripple like waves.

This was the Forest of Life and Prosperity—

Elatrium.