Chapter 597: The World in Dreams

Before Donald lay a very strange ancient tomb site. There were few man-made structures here, not even ruins; only some scattered stone carvings and murals with abstract patterns that hinted at mysterious entities hidden in the shadows. From this, Donald deduced that the true god of this tomb was likely not one of the intelligent beings from the main world, such as humans or elves. If it were, even if the god had perished, there would surely be altars, temples, and other structures within the tomb. It seemed only natural deities from beyond the material plane or ancient gods could have such a situation.

Yet before entering the core of the tomb, Donald never imagined it would be such a rare ancient tomb site! As soon as he reached its core, he suddenly lost control of his consciousness. At the same time, he woke up again in a bedroom less than ten square meters wide. Looking at the familiar modern decorations and items like the computer desk and monitor, Earthling Donald felt as if it had been just another day.

“What a strange and long dream! I even dreamed that I traveled through time. Must be because I’ve read too many novels lately, causing these dreams at night.” Donald shook his head, got up from bed, went to the bathroom to wash up, and then started getting dressed—he had to go to work at the store today. As he got ready, he complained, “This mortal body is so awkward. I really miss my true divine form, even if it’s just at the legendary level! At least with that, I could use a mere thought to cast a cleansing spell and clean myself without the hassle of brushing my teeth or washing my face!”

Next, he quickly ate some leftover food from the night before for breakfast. “These junk foods on Earth can’t compare to the delicious meals prepared by Dobbi himself! Those were just dreams, fake…” Holding back the urge to vomit, Donald forced himself to swallow the food and then went out to work. Though he said he was going to work, it was actually just a short walk to his family’s supermarket downstairs. After graduating from college and failing to find a suitable job, Donald returned to take over his parents’ business, managing the supermarket in their neighborhood. Officially called a manager, it was actually just a small neighborhood supermarket with only a few employees—completely nowhere near the scale of chain supermarkets or large shopping malls!

But as a proud neet, Tang De was already quite satisfied. At least his parents had left him an inheritance. Many of his classmates in the same city still lived in tiny rented rooms, struggling to make ends meet with meager salaries, unsure when they’d ever be able to afford a house! Those who fared better managed to buy a house with their parents’ help through loans, spending each month struggling to pay off the debt, weighed down by it. In such an environment, it was hard enough to find a partner, let alone get married with all the complications that came with it! Now, this once-unwanted homebody had become a popular choice for neighbors to set him up with dates. He almost had to attend one or two blind dates every month! Yet Tang De hadn’t met anyone he really liked. The materialistic girls who were after his family’s wealth weren’t suitable as wives, while the few who didn’t care about money dismissed his lazy, homebody attitude. Nowadays, girls were more open and wanted some excitement! Oh! For them, that wasn’t excitement—it was romance! But in Tang De’s eyes, that wasn’t romance; it was just excitement! What was wrong with a peaceful life? Tang De didn’t mind creating a bit of romance occasionally, but romance couldn’t replace food. In fact, too much romance could turn into danger! Life had to go on step by step; the exciting plots in movies were fictional. They were hard to happen in reality, and if they did, it would be a disaster, not a perfect ending like in the movies! Did people have to wait until they were old to find the true meaning of life? This puzzled Tang De, who had always taken things as they came. That night, his parents argued again about his marriage. Donald closed the door, hid in his room, pretending not to hear, and turned on his computer to read updated novels. Somehow, he always felt that his current life was like a dream, as if it might end at any moment and he’d return to the real world. With this mindset, Tang De continued living this way for a month, until the aunt next door introduced him to another potential partner. That’s when his world underwent a dramatic change! He actually knew this girl—indeed, he was quite familiar with her background. She was his elementary and middle school classmate, from a wealthy family, and had always held a superior attitude at school, looking down on people like Tang De due to his personality and background!

So they didn’t have much interaction back when they were in school. I heard that this girl was admitted to a university in another city after high school and left the town. Later, she got a pretty wealthy boyfriend, but nothing more happened—probably because she bragged about it to him! It’s unclear whether this has anything to do with her family’s business failure; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been introduced to me. Although Donald wasn’t interested in this old classmate, he felt obliged to go to the arranged blind date out of respect for his neighbor’s aunt. “Hello! Long time no see!” The day after hearing about it, Donald arrived early at the agreed restaurant and waited for half an hour before the girl showed up late. After several years apart, she had become much more mature and carried a more flirtatious air, losing some of her youthful innocence. Her makeup and outfit made her look like a socialite from a movie—elegant on the surface but cheap inside! “Hello! Donald, it’s been years. I heard you took over your family’s business after graduating from college?” “Yeah! With the poor economy and so many college graduates, it’s hard to find a suitable job, so I had to go back home. It’s not as good as you, who tried your luck in a big city!” The girl didn’t realize the implication in Donald’s words and thought he was complimenting her. She smiled lightly and said, “What’s that? It was just going out to see some new things. For outsiders like us without a solid foundation, it’s very difficult to make a name for ourselves in big cities. I’m still okay—at least I became a sales manager in my company. Most of my classmates couldn’t hold on and went back to their hometowns. It’s better than staying at home like you!” Her arrogant attitude made Donald uncomfortable, so after chatting for a while longer, he politely suggested leaving. But the girl seemed interested and insisted on getting Donald’s phone number and other contact information. Out of courtesy, Donald didn’t refuse. He escorted his blind date out of the restaurant to a taxi, paid for the ride, and then planned to walk home. Just a few steps later, he received a text message from his old classmate. When he checked his phone, it was a teasing message—seemingly, this old classmate was interested in his wealth! Donald didn’t think someone like her would be interested in an ordinary guy like him, who had nothing to do with rich heirs or fashionable guys!

Just as Tang De smiled self-mockingly, ready to send a polite refusal message to his old classmate, a car suddenly lost control and sped wildly toward the sidewalk where Tang De was standing. Outside Tang De, there were two children who looked like elementary school students, panicking and not knowing how to avoid the collision. At that critical moment, Tang De mustered some unknown courage, suddenly lunging forward to push the two children behind him, taking the impact of the car head-on himself! In the instant he was thrown aside, Tang De felt neither pain nor fear, but rather a mild sadness and relief, along with a profound realization of returning to reality and nostalgia for that period of his life! “It was just a dream!”