Chapter 1668: Chapter 1666: Ideals and Reality (Gradually Getting Used to It)

"Mr. Fang Zheng, Mel hasn’t gone out for several days, do you know what’s going on?"

Meiyin found Fang Zheng and uneasily raised her question. It’s no wonder, since returning from this adventure, Mel and the others have locked themselves in their room, not responding when called. If it weren’t for Meiyin occasionally bringing meals, one would think they were all dead...

"It’s simple, just realizing the gap between ideals and reality."

Fang Zheng put down the pen in his hand, glanced at Meiyin, and spoke with a smile.

"Ideals and... reality?"

"Exactly."

Fang Zheng nodded, and then another thought occurred to him.

"Meiyin, what do you think the life of adventure is like?"

"Hmm..."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s question, Meiyin was taken aback and then furrowed her brows.

"Heroes adventuring in dungeons, exploring, defeating creatures, rescuing princesses, and obtaining treasure?"

"Romantic, isn’t it?"

"Of course!"

Meiyin nodded vigorously, as her favorite adventure novels are filled with fantasy stories like this. The protagonists and their friends adventure in dungeons, defeat evil dragons, rescue princesses, and then marry them. This is the basis of romantic fantasy!

"But reality is not so romantic."

Watching the starry-eyed Meiyin, Fang Zheng laughed softly.

"I just need to mention a few points, and you’ll understand."

"Hmm?"

"First, convenience; people need to relieve themselves, but dungeons don’t have restrooms. How do you think those adventurers manage?"

"Ugh..."

At this point, Meiyin’s complexion instantly changed.

"And hygiene; a party of heroes adventuring in the dungeon for ten days or half a month might be unlucky enough not even to find a water source, so forget washing clothes and bathing. Add the fact they fight all the way, and their clothes are likely stained with blood everywhere. Imagine after living like this for a while, what kind of smell would linger around these heroes."

"Ugh..."

Again Meiyin’s complexion changed.

"Also, what does the evil dragon take the princess for? Traditionally, if an evil dragon takes the princess, it’s either to marry her or eat her. So why would it foolishly wait for heroes to rescue her? And since she’s already taken, would you still expect the evil dragon to treat the princess with politeness? By the time the heroes get to the dragon, the princess might have already turned into a pile of bones being used by the dragon to pick its teeth, or be pregnant and about to give birth..."

"Ahhhh, I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen!!"

Meiyin immediately covered her ears, desperately shaking her head to interrupt Fang Zheng’s speech.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, you’re too cruel, don’t destroy a maiden’s dreams like this!"

"Indeed."

At this point, Fang Zheng’s expression became serious. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Just dreams, no matter how romantic, don’t matter, but reality and dreams are different. If you don’t go on adventures, you can enjoy adventure stories for thrill, but Mel and the others are different. If they take dreams as reality, they’ll eventually lose their lives."

"..."

"The same goes for you; are the novels you’ve read the same as the reality you’re experiencing now?"

"..."

Faced with Fang Zheng’s question, Meiyin remained silent. It’s normal, just like teenagers who read too much online literature, thinking they’d surely dominate the world if they time travel to the Middle Ages, surrounded by noble beauties, forming a large harem.

But the reality?

Not to mention whether you could achieve your ambitions, even if you gather an elite army and become a lord, you’d find — cities of that era didn’t even have sewage systems; waste was simply dumped out the windows.

Young ladies, the personification of nobility, wouldn’t bathe once a year, just doused themselves with perfume.

The so-called noble castles are long-year dark, poor lighting with windows smaller than fists, cold in winter, hot in summer, lacking heating. As simple as unfinished buildings, without any decoration, a table and chairs suffice. Don’t even think about Baroque style or pastoral.

This is reality.

By that time, you’d be surprised how many people would miss living in modern society, blowing air-conditioning, playing with computers, sipping happiness sodas.

Fang Zheng’s current castle lifestyle, like a five-star hotel, exceeds that of the kings in this world.

Even orphans and maids live much better than the advanced nobility.

"Knock-knock-knock."

Right then, the sound of knocking came as Mel’s voice echoed from the door.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, it’s Mel..."

"Come in."

Fang Zheng cast a look at Meiyin as if saying "See, I was right," then spoke. Afterward, the door opened, and Mel came in. However, she now lacked the usual vitality, her face pale, looking as if she’d been locked up for days by a dozen Great Hans in a predicament. Exhausted.

"Miss Mel, are you okay!"

Meiyin was immediately taken aback upon seeing this.

"Should we call a doctor..."

"I’m fine, just haven’t slept well these days."

Faced with Meiyin’s concern, Mel showed a wry smile — seeing her companion here somewhat eased her mind.

"Alright, sit down and have a cup of tea."

Fang Zheng made a gesture, and Meiyin quickly brewed a cup of tea and brought it over, placing it in front of Mel.

"So, how do you feel? Have you experienced the life of a regular adventurer yet?"

"........"

Hearing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Mel lowered her head, clutching the teacup in her hand. After a moment, she finally spoke.

"Well... Mr. Fang Zheng, I still don’t understand."

"What don’t you understand?"

"Goblins... they’re very weak creatures, right? Why are they... so..."

At this point, Mel seemed unsure of how to describe them.

"...so... evil?"

"Weakness and evil aren’t necessarily connected. In fact, sometimes being weak can make one even more evil."

"Is... is that so?"

"That’s right."

Fang Zheng took a sip of tea and looked at Mel.

"For example, say a mage reaches my level... never mind, let’s talk about Megumin. If a mage like Megumin wanted to destroy a town, how do you think they’d do it? One Burst Magic, or summoning a meteor of fire, or a similar spell, could easily blow the entire town to ashes, leaving no trace of the people inside — men, women, old folks, children, all gone without a trace, right?"

"Ah... yeah..."

Hearing this, Meiyin’s complexion turned somewhat unnatural, while Mel nodded.

"So what about goblins? Let’s say goblins wanted to destroy a town, how do you think they’d do it?"

"........."

Mel didn’t reply. In fact, just recalling the scenes inside the Goblin Nest was enough to make her unwilling to think further.

"They would kill the men and children, cutting off their heads to use as balls, play with the women, and then use them as breeding mothers to produce more goblins... Which do you think is more evil?"

"...I think the latter seems more excessive..."

Mel remained silent while Meiyin timidly raised her hand to express her opinion. Indeed, if both end in death, being killed instantly seems a bit better. Just listening to Fang Zheng’s description was enough to make Meiyin’s skin crawl.

"...Is that really the fate of an ordinary adventurer?"

Hearing this, Mel recalled the adventure team they had rescued, who were physically and mentally devastated, spiritually almost completely crushed. By the time they were saved, they reacted like lifeless dolls. Berlin’s spell could heal their physical injuries, but nothing could heal the trauma inflicted on their spirits.

Moreover, after this, Mel also listened to Berlin and Rena recounting their experiences. After rushing in self-righteously, they were surrounded and attacked by goblins, almost defeated. If not for the timely intervention of the Priestess of the Goddess, her companions might have suffered the same fate.

Because of this, Mel hadn’t been able to sleep well for several days. Every night she dreamt of the situation, but each ending was different. In some dreams, Mel successfully killed the chief goblin, only to return and find her companions violated, dismembered, and brutally killed by others.

In other dreams, Mel failed to save her companions and was captured, violated, and killed alongside them by the goblins.

Terrifying.

No matter the scenario, Mel found them terrifying. She had woken up screaming from her dreams more than once, yet she couldn’t shake those nightmares from her mind.

"Pretty much."

Compared to the ailing-faced Mel, Fang Zheng remained calm and collected.

"Goblins really are weak, and they tend to attack poorer villages. Because the reward is low, advanced adventurers won’t take on quests to eliminate goblin nests, except for some oddballs. Therefore, those who do dare to fight goblin nests are mostly rookie adventurers, just like you. They encounter goblins in the wild, think goblins are nothing special, take on the quest to enter their habitat — and then it’s a matter of luck and skill. If lucky and cautious enough, you might come back alive. If unlucky... you’ve seen the outcome."

"........"

With each word Fang Zheng spoke, Mel trembled. If not for joining the Priestess of the Goddess, they might have taken down a goblin nest themselves with the same mindset — what would have been their fate then, had they never seen these things?

"There’s a misconception amongst rookie adventurers, namely that the reason advanced adventurers refuse to tackle goblins isn’t because goblins are easy targets and too low-brow, but because even an adventurer capable of slaying dragons could die in a goblin nest."

At this point, Fang Zheng chuckled.

"This makes Megumin’s presence very important."

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Meiyin hadn’t reacted yet, but Mel’s expression changed dramatically.

"Do they do it often?"

"When dealing with goblins, it’s safer. Why do you think they bring Megumin along otherwise?"

Indeed, on that day, when surrounded by goblins, the Priestess of the Goddess and her group used a move Mel couldn’t even imagine.

They frantically buffed their defenses and then let Megumin cast Burst Magic right above them.

This could basically be considered a ’struggle to the end’ move. Although Megumin couldn’t use other spells, Burst Magic was her true Golden Grade.

But it was indeed a good thing.

Because the goblins’ nests were mostly in tunnels or mountains, when Megumin released that spell, it had two effects.

First, inside the Burst Magic area, everything would be obliterated; second, the goblins surrounding them would also be killed.

In this way, if their defenses were strong enough, they could crawl out from the rubble — an experience gained from exploring the deepest dungeons; aside from being buried by Megumin’s Burst Magic not once but multiple times.

If their defenses couldn’t withstand the blast and they were killed instantly, that was still better than falling into goblin hands.

That’s why every time the Priestess of the Goddess and Ais descended into a goblin nest, they brought Megumin along.

For them, Megumin was their ’last resort’.

"So now you understand."

Fang Zheng chuckled, looking at Mel.

"Then, do you still want to be an ordinary adventurer now?"