By the afternoon, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were attending a magic potion class together. Seeing Professor Shearer walk into the classroom didn't surprise Peter at all. After all, according to Professor Charles, this was Doctor Schiller's dream, so it was only normal for him to be there.
Peter greeted Shearer casually, then eagerly went to his seat and began to fiddle with the pile of magic potion ingredients.
Rubbing his hands, he didn't touch anything right away but silently recited the experiment rules in his mind. He look around carefully, but couldn't find any protective clothing or gloves.
Only after Shearer had finished introducing the theory did Peter raise his hand and ask, "Professor, do we just start like this? Don't we need to go over the safety rules for the experiment?"
Then he turned slightly to the side and asked, "Aren't we going to the prep room? Where do we change into protective clothing?"
Shearer shook his head and said, "Peter, this is magic..."
"But magic should also be safe! What if there is an explosion due to improper potion brewing, where are the emergency exits?"
A bit helpless, Schiller said: "In a sense, you are right, but I'm here, I will protect your safety."
"Really?" Peter blinked and asked, "Is magic really that amazing?"
Having said that, he didn't wait for Schiller's response and began to work smoothly.
The content of the first lesson was very simple, it was actually sorting herbs, cutting, handling snot bugs, learning to control the crucible temperature and stirring.
But evidently, Peter, who had spent a long time in the chemistry laboratory and biological laboratory, was not willing to stop there. First of all, he began to dissect the snot bugs.
Peter had a special aura about him when conducting experiments, which made people reluctant to approach, especially when he was dealing with a snot bug in accordance with the standard dissection procedures.
Finally, he understood the physiological structure of the snails. While sorting and chopping herbs, he began to fiddle with the brass balance used for weighing, and fully questioned its accuracy.
When pouring and stirring the potion in the crucible, he raised a lot of questions, such as the corrosion resistance of the crucible, the accuracy of the liquid extraction tools, the sealability of the storage containers, etc.
What Peter couldn't understand the most was the last step of waving his wand at the potion.
Peter looked at the wand in his hand and said, "Can I think of this as a kind of prayer ceremony? Waving this little stick can cause some chemical reactions?"
Shiller standing next to his table said, "Peter, don't you have any wonderful fantasies about magic? Haven't you ever thought about skipping some tedious steps and succeeding directly when doing experiments?"
Peter shook his head and said, "In any chemistry and biology experiment, every step has its meaning. If the scientists who once invented formulas and theorems skipped certain steps because they felt it was too troublesome, there wouldn't be a scientific community today."
"I don't know why, but I've been interested in these steps that other people find complicated and troublesome since I was a child." Peter laughed and said, "I don't find them boring. On the contrary, things like magic rituals feel quite unreliable to me."
"But it gave me some new ideas. If the magic world also has classes like chemistry experiments, isn't magic a kind of special catalyst? Could it react with certain materials and result in some new drugs?"
Peter was immersed in his own world, he said, "Is magic energy the kind of ether energy that people have always fantasized about, that can react with any molecule?"
"If this is the case, applying it to the development of medical drugs could possibly cure many diseases that the current level of human medicine cannot cure...."
Just as Peter was overflowing with inspiration, suddenly, a pop-up appeared in his view: "The playtime for minors today is over, thank you for your experience."
In an instant, a white light engulfed Peter's vision, and when he opened his eyes, he was back in the hallway of the Thought Palace.
Similarly, kicked out suddenly were Strange, who was visiting the school and envisioning the structure of the magical school, Stark, who was learning and practicing magic curses, and Steve, who was having a blast during flight classes.
When they were kicked out, all of them were a bit startled. Stark held his forehead and asked, "What's happened? System error? How did I see a pop-up and then get kicked out?"
Steve recalled and said, "It seemed to say something about... trial period being over?"
Strange rolled his eyes and said, "You missed the most important line, 'To experience the full version, please go to the Hall of the Thought Palace to top-up and purchase'."
After saying that, he yelled, "Shearer! Come out! I know you're about to start pushing your sales, you damn swindler and profiteer!"
"As you wish." Shearer appeared in the middle of the corridor. He opened his arms and said, "How do you feel?"
Looking at Shearer's smiling face, Stark widened his eyes and said, "Wait, you locked us in here, let us find the key from your Thought Palace to get out..."
"And now you're telling me, the rooms used to find the keys have a trial period, we need to pay for the playtime ourselves, to find the key to get out?"
All eyes were on Shearer, including Stark, Strange, and Steve. No matter how you heard this, it sounded ridiculous, but Schiller defended it with gusto.
"So, the question is, who found this place?"
Stark slapped his forehead, saying, "Damn! It's a trap! He just wants to lure us in, then sell us something!"
"Don't be like that, guys. Look at the pop-up window in front of you. A fully 3D virtual immersive adventure game, doesn't interfere with your daytime hours, only takes place in your dreams, high realism, educational and fun, your top choice for inspiration..."
"The billing system is scientific and reasonable, supporting point cards, monthly cards, and quarterly cards. Depending on your consumption level, we offer generous rebates and a 120-level membership system. As a member, you can adjust the game difficulty, unlock new maps and new outfits..."
"We also support the separate purchase of appearance packs. Now, if you purchase the Magic Academy Enrollment Selection Pack, you also get a Diagon Alley Commercial Street map for free that allows up to four people to enter; there's no time limit on play."
Accompanying Shiller's explanation, a densely packed page of krypton gold offers appeared before them. Peter covered his forehead and said, "Oh my God, I'm reminded of those damn spam mails in my inbox..."
"Of course." The narrative tone of Shiller changed, "Even though you've barged into my Thought Palace quite rudely and claimed to treat me, I'm a forgiving person. If you really don't want to spend money here, I offer an alternative."
"As long as each of you buys a Dream Coin, you can leave. I won't hold it against you for chasing me halfway across New York, or for breaking into my Thought Palace."
"We'll choose that," Steve said without hesitation, "How much is a Dream Coin?"
"1 million dollars, but it also supports other means of payment. For instance..." Shiller glanced at Strange, "It accepts Magic Energy as payment."
"Furthermore, people under 20 and above 80 get to play for free, but minors have a playtime limit of an hour each day. If you don't want that restriction, you must open an account as a guardian, which necessitates the purchase of playtime..."
"I'll pay, let's go! I will never let you win, you swindler!" Stark turned and stormed off.
Shiller snapped his fingers; a few coins landed on their heads, and they turned to leave.
Just then, Shiller's devilish voice whispers again in their ears, "Forgot to mention, the price for the newbie package is also a Dream Coin, which includes entry sets for the Magic Academy, Lego World, and Game World..."
"The Magic Academy starter pack contains a new set of academy badges and a customized scarf, a brand-new magic wand, as well as a Diagon Alley map for one person..."
Everyone froze on the spot.
"At the same time, there are top-up benefits. With your first top-up amounting to a Dream Coin, you can unlock a Free Travel Pass, which allows unlimited travel to and from the playable worlds. If your first top-up reaches 6 Dream Coins, you can unlock a Premium Travel Pass. After completing a series of pass tasks, you can get exclusive seasonal appearances and rewards..."
Peter turned to Stark and said in a low voice, "Mr. Stark, since we're going to spend a million dollars anyway, why not buy the gift packs? We can come and go as we please and continue playing the game we were just playing, and we get a bunch of other stuff."
"Can't you see it, Peter? This is a consumption trap!"
"I want to top-up," Strange turned around and said decisively, "I can pay with Magic Energy, right? I want to top-up 6 Dream Coins. Give me the Diagon Alley map. They've got a wand shop there..."
Stark's eyes widened in disbelief, "You traitor!"
"Peter's right. Only a fool would pay the same amount just for an entry ticket. Let's pay up!"
Stark sighed. He turned his head, only to meet Peter's hopeful gaze. He raised his hands and said, "Fine, fine, Peter, you silly boy, I'll pay for you, okay?"
Peter cheered enthusiastically and ran to Shiller's side to pay. Stark shook his head, planning to leave, but then he heard Shiller say, "Peter, do you remember the story I told you about the planet Cybertron?"
"Yeah, I remember. When I was staying in the clinic, you told me a story about a planet full of robots. They came to Earth looking for some sort of spark, and they could transform into cars... It was pretty interesting."
"Yes, it's a magnificent planet filled with mechanical life. No one knows how they came to be, or what those sparks are. But of course, it doesn't compare to the Death Star and Cloning Technology. Sounds like high-tech stuff, right?"
Stark's ears perked up at the mention."
Then he heard Shiller continue, "Of course, that's not everything. War simulation games are also quite interesting, aren't they? Have you heard of a legend? The one where the NAZI turn into zombies, and the polluted German Army Headquarters..."
Steve's ears perked up in response too. After a few seconds, the two glanced at each other and sighed deeply.
Charles, who had been observing the whole time, laughed helplessly. Then he heard Shiller say, "Of course, we also provide a free training target range with unique ecosystems and enemies for practice. It's not just for ordinary humans, for superhumans who are afraid of causing damage to reality with their special abilities, it's an excellent choice."
In the end, the dream adventure concluded with the unsurprising outcome of everyone spending money.
The Avengers gained new inspiration and experience, Shiller made a fortune, and perhaps the human race will take another step on the path of the unknown.
The next morning, Stark woke up and mumbled to himself in confusion, "Wait, what were we looking for Shiller for? Right, Hydra! Where's that Hydra personality?"
The Hydra personality was currently being chased by a figure in white, running their 1300th lap in the Thought Palace...