I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius

I Became an Academy Overpowered Growth Genius – 65

EP.65 Quantum Jump (3)

Fungus.

Also known as slime, this organism is one of nature’s cleaners, feeding on decaying organic matter.

───────《Trait》───────

▶Mana Fungus

A symbiotic organism that takes root inside a host’s body, receiving nutrients in exchange for producing mana.

This creature is currently in the [Infant] stage.

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The ‘Mana Fungus’ that Kang Seo-jun has implanted in his body is a symbiotic organism, but its essence is ‘Fungus’.

There was nothing better than decayed organic matter for a special meal to grow this Fungus.

──────《Item》──────

▶Mega Ant Cordyceps

◆Grade

[Rare]

◆Description

A parasitic mushroom that exclusively infects giant ants living on the outskirts of the galaxy. It is difficult to cultivate artificially and the specimens are very rare, but once it reproduces, it can engulf an entire ant colony, ensuring a steady supply in the market. It is a valuable material used in various fields such as alchemy, cooking, medicine, and offerings.

※Store Notification: Currently, there is a buy-one-get-one-free promotion!

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Kang Seo-jun chose the most cost-effective product, the ‘Mega Ant Cordyceps’.

‘There’s even a buy-one-get-one-free promotion going on.’

He was in luck.

‘Alright. Let’s get started right away.’

What Kang Seo-jun had to do now.

It was food fighting and mana cultivation.

‘Let’s start with growing the Mana Fungus.’

Kang Seo-jun’s fingers moved quickly as he purchased 100 Mega Ant Cordyceps.

– Thwock! –

– Thud! –

– Boom! –

– Thump! –

Four hefty leather boxes dropped from the store message window with heavy sounds.

Upon opening the elegant lid, large, bright red mushrooms were neatly packed inside.

The amount was staggering at first glance.

Thanks to the buy-one-get-one-free promotion, there were a total of 200 pieces.

The quantity was so vast that it seemed like he might need to bring in about seven mukbang YouTubers to finish it all in one day.

‘No matter how strong my willpower is, eating this much at once is impossible. There’s a physical limit to what my body can take.’

No matter how beneficial it might be, if he ends up vomiting everything, it would all be for naught.

However, to evolve the Mana Fungus to its growth stage within the day, it was necessary to deal with this large quantity at once.

As always, Kang Seo-jun found the answer in the dimensional shop.

───────《Item》───────

▶Metabolic Enhancer

◆Grade

[Advanced+]

◆Description

A digestive aid created through the wonders of nanomachines and chemistry. With this medicine, you can even digest steel as iron and limestone as calcium!

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‘I’ll buy one for now, and purchase more one by one as needed.’

With this, the preparations for the food fight were complete.

What remained was the repetition of chewing and swallowing.

‘Real men don’t cook.’

It didn’t look particularly appetizing to eat as is, but there was no time to cook anyway.

Kang Seo-jun tore off a bunch of the bright red cordyceps and chewed them as they were.

– Crunch! Crunch! –

– Chomp…. –

‘…Ugh…’

What kind of taste could this be described as?

‘Isn’t this… like rubber clay?’

The texture when bitten was soft and chewy like a mushroom, but the more he chewed, the more it became dry like mud and emitted a fishy smell like rubber.

‘Ugh…’

Truly a taste that could induce nausea!

‘Don’t underestimate me! I can’t be defeated by mere food!’

It was truly a battle with food.

– Chomp! Chomp! –

Kang Seo-jun mechanically moved, excluding his sense of taste and emotions.

Putting it in his mouth, chewing, swallowing, and then repeating…

The taste was so bad it brought tears to his eyes, and his stomach felt bloated after just a few bites, but he didn’t stop until all the cordyceps were gone, drinking the Metabolic Enhancer intermittently.

After about 2 hours and 30 minutes,

That was how long it took Kang Seo-jun to consume not only the initial 100 cordyceps but an additional 100 as well.

“My whole body feels tingly…”

By now, his blood vessels would be filled with the nutrients from the cordyceps, broken down to their molecular components.

“My skin… My whole body feels like it’s going to burst…”

He truly felt the fullness throughout his body.

“Phew… But I definitely got the reward.”

Kang Seo-jun looked at the message window that appeared before him with a sense of pride.

[Effective nutrient supply is causing the trait 《Mana Fungus Lv. Rare》 to grow.]

[Effective nutrient supply is causing the trait 《Mana Fungus Lv. Rare》 to grow.]

…

– Bam! Pah-ram-bam! –

[The trait 《Mana Fungus Lv. Rare》 evolves from 《Infant Stage》 to 《Growth Stage》.]

[The trait 《Mana Fungus Lv. Rare》 has been enhanced to 《Mana Fungus Lv. Rare+》.]

“This is great~ My belly is full~”

Kang Seo-jun patted his swollen belly and closed the message window with satisfaction.

With this, the mana produced by the Mana Fungus would have at least doubled.

Naturally, the efficiency of his mana cultivation would have increased just as much.

‘If I combine this with the crystal orb I found in the secret warehouse and start cultivating…’

───────《Item》───────

▶Grand Magician’s Mana Cultivation Aid Artifact

◆Grade

[Epic+]

◆Description

A crystal ball artifact created by a legendary grand magician for his beloved disciple. Holding this artifact while cultivating mana increases cultivation efficiency by 150%.

If the user’s Resistance and Mana stats are each below 16, cultivation efficiency increases by 300%.

If the user’s Resistance and Mana stats are each above 31, this item cannot be used.

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Kang Seo-jun’s mana stat is currently only ‘8’, so he qualifies for the 300% experience buff.

Thus, combining the effects of the Mana Fungus and this crystal orb, he’s looking at an efficiency increase of at least sixfold!

‘It’s like I’m the only one getting an experience event.’

This is what you call a cheat, this is the map of the game master.

The dopamine from that sense of superiority was like a waterfall.

‘I can’t wait to start cultivating mana.’

Kang Seo-jun forced his tingling body into a full lotus position.

Previously, when his body was twisted, he couldn’t sit in this position, making it difficult to control the flow of mana.

Now that his skeleton was almost normal thanks to all sorts of elixirs and training, he could sit in a full lotus position, and the flow of mana became much easier to manage.

‘It feels like the whole universe is helping me.’

Kang Seo-jun closed his eyes and quietly observed the mana being emitted by the Mana Fungus.

He didn’t forget to hold the Grand Magician’s Mana Cultivation Aid Artifact in his hand.

Thus, Kang Seo-jun immersed himself in mana cultivation, forgetting the passage of time.

====

***

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– Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! –

The alarm he had set on his smartwatch went off loudly.

“Hoooo…”

Kang Seo-jun took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.

Numerous message windows were waiting for his attention.

[The effect of the item 《Grand Magician’s Mana Cultivation Aid Artifact》 increases the efficiency of mana cultivation.]

[Since the user’s mana stat is below ’16’, the efficiency of mana cultivation increases by 300%.]

…

[Basic mana cultivation increases mana experience points.]

[Basic mana cultivation increases mana experience points.]

[Lucky bonus! A stroke of great fortune inspires your training! Mana experience points surge!]

…

[Proper diligence in cultivation bears fruit in mana growth! Mana stat increases by +3!]

[Mana solidifies strongly, bearing fruit in Resistance growth! Resistance stat increases by +4!]

…

[As the mana stat increases, the debuff of the trait 《Mana Insensitivity Lv. Low》 is alleviated.]

…

“I really got absorbed in it.”

After the first hour, he truly lost track of time and immersed himself in mana cultivation.

As a result,

◆Stats

[Resistance: 5 → 9]

[Mana: 8 → 11]

“I’ve managed to raise my stats by a total of 7 points in just 8 hours.”

Of course, the stats themselves are low, so less experience is needed, but even taking that into account, the speed is incredible.

“Maybe I can completely heal Mana Insensitivity soon?”

The trait 《Mana Insensitivity Lv. Low》 will disappear automatically once both mana and Resistance stats reach 11.

“Mana Insensitivity can also be healed with the Life Support Device of Galactic Emperor, but it’s better to heal what I can easily heal myself since it consumes the power source.”

At least two weeks must pass before the installation of 《Life Support Device of Galactic Emperor》 is complete.

In the meantime, Kang Seo-jun intends to train his body and mana as much as possible to remove all removable debuffs.

“I wasn’t in a hurry, but I ended up staying up all night again.”

It was already 6 AM.

It was time to return to the academy dormitory.

– Wooong!!! –

– Weeeeng!!! –

“Oh, wow!”

As soon as Kang Seo-jun opened the portal and entered the dormitory, his smartwatch vibrated as if it was about to explode.

[Jin Se-rin: 1 missed call, unread messages!]

[Seo Eun-ha: 65 missed calls, unread messages!]

[Kim Ju-hee: 3 missed calls, unread messages!]

A mountain of messages and missed calls.

“Why are there so many messages?”

…Surely nothing happened overnight.

With his luck stat and the timing not being right for a major event, he assumed it wasn’t anything serious…

But the barrage of messages seemed unusual.

Hoping it was nothing serious, Kang Seo-jun started by checking the messages from Jin Se-rin first.