Chapter 31: The Wisdom Potato Works Wonders

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"W-we eat it...?"

Lee Dae-kyung felt a flicker of dread at his mother's words. He hurried through his shower and took his seat at the dinner table. His father, who had emerged from the master bedroom while he was washing up, was already sitting there too.

Han Jung-hee set a small basket on the table. It held three potatoes in a charming little arrangement, along with a tiny dish of sugar.

"That boy said one for each of us."

"...A fine way to whet the appetite before dinner," Dae-kyung's father murmured, peeling one and handing it to his son before starting on his own. Han Jung-hee, too, carefully peeled her potato and dipped it into the prepared sugar. Steam was rising from the fluffy, perfectly cooked potato.

"Careful, now. Don't burn the roof of your mouth."

Nodding at his father's advice, Dae-kyung took a bite. His mother and father did the same.

"Ahhm—"

And a moment later—

"...!"

All three pairs of eyes went wide. The warm potato crumbled on their tongues like a wave breaking on the shore, and with the billowing steam, something sweet and mellow slid down their throats. It was a deluge. They were drowning in it.

"This can't be..."

An enlightenment like a raging storm swept through their minds, and something profound rose up from deep within. It felt as if they had finally grasped something they'd been missing all along.

With trembling hands, Han Jung-hee shoved the potato into her mouth in a frenzy. She had to eat all of it right now. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠humble, nutty, gently sweet potato dusted with sugar melted across her tongue, and as it dissolved, a torrent of memories flooded her mind—every word she'd hurled at her son over the years, every careless glance, every time she'd coldly shut her ears to him.

Wh-what have I been doing to this child all this time!

Tears spilled down Han Jung-hee's cheeks in a sudden downpour. Startled, Dae-kyung reached out to her.

"Mother, what's wrong all of a sudden?"

His hand stroked her back gently, and she wiped away her tears, drowning in regret. Her obsessive fixation on her son. Her stubborn insistence that nothing had happened, that everything could simply be fixed. That stubbornness had been tormenting her pure, kind-hearted boy this whole time.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Dae-kyung."

Her apology came out in a pathetically trembling voice. She knew words alone couldn't change anything—but she had to say them anyway.

Dae-kyung pulled his weeping mother into his arms.

He, too, had felt something shift in him after eating the potato—as if he could see a little more than before. His mother's heart, her inner emptiness, the behaviors that had grown out of them. She was human too, and she had made mistakes—against him and against others. He had been hurt countless times, but now he could finally step back and see the whole picture. And there was a certain compassion that came simply from the fact that she was his mother.

Mother was struggling too. Now he understood.

"Mother, I'm okay now. Really."

Hearing this, Dae-kyung's father, still savoring the potato's aftertaste, sprang up and threw his arms around them both. If anyone here was guilty, it was him. Using his long hours away from home as an excuse, he had merely watched the conflict between his wife and son unfold. His son's condition had worsened by the day, and his wife had grown increasingly obsessed in much the same way.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I promise—I will never stand by and watch again."

No more cowardly bystander. He would be the head of the family who protected them.

"Good. Then let's promise not to run away anymore."

"That's right, Dae-kyung. We'll do whatever you want."

"...Now I understand. That you two couldn't have done anything else."

Dae-kyung's voice was calm—filled not with resentment, but with understanding. His father gazed at him, eyes brimming, and then, as if realizing something, stared at his son more intently.

"D-Dae-kyung."

Soon Han Jung-hee cried out in shock as well.

"Good heavens, Dae-kyung!!"

"What? What is it?"

"You're—you're not st-stuttering!"

He wasn't. There was none of that familiar sight of his son stammering through his words, burdened with guilt.

"Huh? I'm... not stuttering?"

"Thank the heavens!"

"To think we could see you speak like this again...!"

They fell into each other's arms once more. But soon a quiet stillness settled over the room, and Dae-kyung's father began clearing his throat.

"Ahem, ahem. Well then—shall we have our real dinner now?"

"Whoa, the smell is insane."

I headed to my room with the boiled potatoes, marveling at their aroma. I'd set aside three for the family, left them on the table with a note saying one each, and slipped out.

I set the plate of four remaining potatoes on the floor of my room and sat down beside it. I'd laid everything out neatly—salt, sugar, kimchi, and even honey. I was going to dip them in whatever I pleased and try it all.

There was only one thing I hoped to gain from eating this potato: magical achievement. It wasn't exactly clear what "becoming wiser" concretely meant. But one thing was certain—it meant I'd be wiser than I was now.

Magic was the act of converting the mana I carried within me into a special force made manifest in reality. In other words, the better I understood the mana in my body—its connection to the actual world—the more magic I could wield. And stronger magic, too.

Gulp—

My throat swallowed on its own. Could this potato really give me that kind of opportunity? Could it let me understand more than I do now?

Ahh, I can't wait to eat it.

Seo Bong-gu, who hadn't yet left for his nightly patrol, caught the scent and rose from the bed where he'd been lounging.

"What that? Smell good."

"Boiled potato. It's kind of like the sweet potatoes you love, but you've never had it boiled, have you?"

"That right."

"Hmm. Want to try some?"

"!"

Nod nod nod.

Bong-gu bobbed his head with tremendous enthusiasm.

"You share with me?"

I picked up one of the four potatoes piled in the dish. I can spare him this much.

"Hold on a sec."

I peeled the potato, broke it into small pieces, and handed them over.

"Dip these pieces in whatever you like. You love honey, so honey would probably go great."

"HONEY!!"

Bong-gu's eyes began to sparkle. He carefully popped a honey-dipped piece into his mouth.

"Nom!"

The moment he took that single bite, Bong-gu froze. Then, a beat later, he threw his head back and shouted:

"...SWEET!"

He began bouncing around the room, hopping and skipping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in sheer gratitude.

"Delicious! Best thing ever!!"

And then, in that instant, his body began glowing bright.

A singularity?

I grabbed the bouncing clueless creature and set him on my lap. System windows kept popping up before my eyes.

"Wow."

To put it kindly, he'd become "strategic." To put it another way, he'd gotten crafty. As long as he didn't cause pure chaos... no, as long as he kept his disasters within the range I could clean up, I'd be fine.

And "Heart of the Beast," huh. I felt like I'd heard that phrase somewhere before. Well, whatever—it meant he'd gotten braver. Which, frankly, did not seem like good news.

I climbed onto the windowsill and stared at Bong-gu, who was going "WHAHAHAHA—!" as he pranced around. ...What am I supposed to do if he gets even more fearless than that?

Shake, shake.

I gestured at him with my hand.

"Once you're done eating, hurry up and go patrol the fields."

"Tch..."

Gathering up every last crumb of potato that had fallen on the floor, he slipped out through the window.

"Now then, I guess it's my turn to take a bite."

Twisting the potato this way and that so I wouldn't burn my fingers, I peeled off the skin. First, a light dip in salt.

"Mmh—"

...This is insane. It's delicious! The salty tang of the salt and the potato melded together in my mouth into a mellow sweetness. The well-cooked potato practically melted away on my tongue.

"Hngh, THIS is the stuff!!"

Suddenly I desperately needed something to drink alongside it. I darted to the fridge, grabbed some juice, and hurried back to my room. Now I can eat in earnest.

One bite dipped in sugar, another bite topped with kimchi. Before I knew it, I was mindlessly working my way through the plate, and suddenly the last potato was in my hand.

"Tsk..."

No use mourning it. We'd plant more next week. For now, there was somewhere else I needed to focus.

I closed my eyes and crossed my legs. If the effect kicked in immediately, this was a golden opportunity to leap my magical ability forward in one bound.

"Hoo—"

I could feel the mana drifting around me. I inhaled it, breathed out, and condensed my power into my circles. And then things I had never perceived before came into view—felt, touched.

Strands of mana spread out like gossamer threads, tangling inside my body, knotting together, then loosening again. Gathering and unraveling along their natural flow, compressing and expanding in turn. Before, I had simply assumed mana flowed along vaguely. Now I could vividly feel exactly what path it took, in what direction, in what form.

Thump— thump—

The sound of my heartbeat felt as though it were ringing right beside my ear. My body seemed to expand while I sank down into its depths. Deeper, deeper still...

Past the firmly anchored ring of my 1st Circle, I could see the cracked 2nd Circle.

So this is where that feeling of being blocked came from.

Reaching the 3rd Circle required a complete 2nd Circle. But what wrapped around my heart right now was a circle cobbled together through sloppy, improper methods. Of course it couldn't hold together.

What if I replenish the mana and repair it like this?

I reached my hand toward the cracked section, and mana flowed smoothly out through my fingertips. The fractured part filled in, and a flawless 2nd Circle was born—shaped by mana that moved exactly as I understood it, exactly as I willed it.

"...Incredible."

It had become a true 2nd Circle, without a single defect. And that wasn't all.

When I opened my eyes, the scenery of my room came into view. Everything was exactly the same as before, yet somehow felt strange and new. The flutter of a moth's wings outside the window, the beads of condensation clinging to the juice bottle on the floor, even the faint sounds of movement beyond my door.

Everything was coming into sharper focus—more detailed, more vivid. I could understand a little more than before. Things that had been invisible now appeared.

I clenched my fist.

"I've found the key to the 3rd Circle."

There had been a fatal mistake my past self made when ascending to the 3rd Circle. Because of it, I was doomed to remain a half-baked 4th Circle mage for the rest of that life. But this time, I was confident I wouldn't repeat the same error.

Maintain circles of exactly the same density and the same strength. Once I accomplished that, the next stage would come naturally.

"The 3rd Circle..."

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Right now, my 1st Circle and 2nd Circle were perfectly even. All I had to do was make a space for the 3rd Circle to settle, then condense my mana to the same strength and density. In my past life, I'd just greedily gulped down mana without thinking—and of course, that didn't work.

"Haha!"

Back then, I'd been alone in an isolated environment with no one to help me, awakening later than anyone and growing later than anyone. So this was what reaping those rewards felt like—being able to gauge my own growth on my own.

"Either way, growth is always a welcome thing."

For me right now, personal growth was synonymous with my family's growth. A more comfortable, happier life with them. That was what I was moving forward for.

The 3rd Circle. One way or another, I'd achieve it within this month...!