Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva-Chapter 1667 - 100: A Distant Future

"Many fairy tales begin with, 'In the distant, distant past.'

"But the fairy tale I want to tell today is set in the distant, distant future."

In the shaded grass under the trees, the young teacher gently adjusted his glasses and narrated to the children in front of him. He had short black hair and wore simple yet elegant glasses, giving him a scholarly appearance.

Hearing the teacher talk about interesting things, the children sitting on the stumps and stones became interested and focused their curious eyes on him.

"For a long time, people always reminisced about the past, as it held the beauty of childhood innocence, carefree times, and a version of oneself with infinite possibilities."

"During the process of growing up, one gains much, but many possibilities slowly disappear until there's no room to maneuver."

"Having no choice and the inability to change can be distressing, and the side effects of aging will gradually lead to a decline in willpower, leaving no trace of the vigor of the past."

"Nature set a lifespan of roughly 30 years for humans, after which it's a stone rolling downhill, step by step towards death, which is a sad thing."

"It's always been this way, but that doesn't mean it's correct. Early aging in humans or mammals occurred because during the ancient Earth period, they lost the competition with the dominant Dragon Species and had to opt for a path of rapid birth and death with quick reproduction and iteration, while also avoiding daytime activities of the Dragon Species. Most mammals of that era chose nocturnal and underground activities, which led many mammals to devolve in color vision."

"Humans and primates quickly rose in the last hundreds of thousands of years on Earth by leveraging intelligence advantages brought by brain upgrades, allowing our ancestors to become intelligent beings surpassing previous Earth life forms, and thus began human civilization."

"Using the advantages of technology, we changed the environment, traversed the Star River, and shaped all things, yet the confinement of the physical body remained a shackle, limiting possibilities."

"For this reason, humans of the Transcender Era abandoned their physical bodies and became pure higher-dimensional beings."

"It was a glorious era, but also a fleeting one, as the overly singular and pure form of life brought about the inability to adapt to changes."

"Then the Divine Wings of the Sun returned to the origin place of humanity, Earth, to once again pioneer life. During this period, Beastmen, Elves, Mermaids, Fairies, and many sub-species were born successively."

"However, this still couldn't satisfy humanity's yearning for the future. We needed to adapt to the societal and environmental forms of the Interstellar Era, so from the end of the Fourth Era to the Fifth Epoch, numerous Newborn Races emerged."

"The civilization of humans during that era was rather radical and frenzied, and they discarded much in pursuit of power, eventually leading down a narrow path."

"Fortunately, this situation was eventually reversed, and humanity returned to a more conservative state, which is what you learned about in textbooks as the Sixth Era." The teacher paused here, allowing everyone to slowly understand and digest it.

"The Sixth Era, I heard people of that time loved idolizing stars and adored people who sang well." A child raised their hand.

"That's right. I even saw some video records in a museum; those scenes of millions gathering to celebrate were truly astounding."

"Indeed, nowadays, if a singer has thousands of fans, it's considered extraordinary."

"Ahem, okay, let's not discuss that now. Let me continue." The young teacher reluctantly pushed his glasses, as a breeze blew past, waking up the children present.

"What I've narrated so far are periods of challenges humanity once experienced. In such eras, due to various real-world constraints, people always enjoyed reminiscing about the past, which is why fairy tales often begin in the distant past."

"So, what turned fairy tales into stories set in the distant future?" The teacher walked lightly under the tree.

"Because the long and ever-revolving spiral trajectory of life gives us enough confidence to face the distant unknown future, believing we can create the life we envision with our own hands."

"Since the onset of the Seventh Era, our way of living has undergone several massive changes, something that might be hard for you to understand now."

"I know, my dad told me about it." A child raised their hand.

"After we are born, we spend 20 years in the Tree Ring World, undergoing learning, working, and living to perfect our various abilities before we can leave the Tree Ring World." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"That's right. Do you know what abilities you need to perfect?" The teacher smiled as he encouraged him to continue.

"Well, let me count." He counted on his fingers, recalling.

"Ability in learning, such as how to build a knowledge system, review, correct errors, improve methods, and become an expert in a field."

"Ability in collaboration and social interaction, such as how to meet strangers, ask for help, make requests, accept or refuse, allocate responsibilities, energy, time, and how to communicate and negotiate."

"Ability in self-communication, such as finding what I like and am passionate about, discerning my psychological needs, pondering the reasons and solutions for forming thoughts, how to make regret-free major choices, alleviate worries, face loneliness, and understand my life's goals and meaning."

"Ability to treat oneself well, including the basic ability to protect oneself, using weapons, survival skills, facing threats, engaging in strategy and resistance, satisfying personal survival anxiety, managing desires, finding entertainment, staying happy and comfortable, and maintaining a good lifestyle."

"It seems like that's all four." The boy finished counting.

"Correct. You'll likely spend 20 years gradually learning these abilities in various scenarios, and after that, you'll enter different historical worlds for further study."

"There, you'll gradually comprehend the formation of various cultures, understand the origins of a nation's character, and the principles behind social rules' formation, a process that may take hundreds of years. You'll become merchants, officials, generals, emperors, post-industrial era leaders in historical worlds, experiencing and learning how to start from scratch to manage an organization and govern nations with tens of millions, hundreds of millions of people."

"During this process, you'll face many challenges and difficulties. These experiences will profoundly help you understand how our civilization progressed step by step."

"After going through the historical world's training, by then you'll be around 300-500 years old, and upon completing the assessment, you'll become a true adult, earning citizenship."

"But this is far from the end, or rather it's just a beginning, for after adulthood, you'll start to face career choices where different professions come with different responsibilities and powers."

"You can become a Paradise Pioneer, heading to the distant Star Sea borders to expand new star systems for the Pan-human Union, managing and building that world."

"You can become a Recorder of Truth, turning into an invisible entity, documenting the development experiences of various Alien Races and extracting inspiration and essence to contribute to the Pan-human Union's Great Library."

"You can become a Dimension Visitor, altering yourself to adapt to the rules of different universes before visiting multi-dimensional universes, bringing back fresh things unlike our present world."

"You can become a Time-Space Maintainer, after deeply understanding the principles of time and space, serving as a Guard for the Pan-human Union, mending rifts in time-space, and stabilizing the fractured Star Sea universe."

"You can become a Creature Trader, understanding the needs of countless life forms and civilizations among the Star Sea, using your vast knowledge and resources to connect these lives and civilizations for trade, and expanding yourself simultaneously."

"You can become a Life Flourisher, seeking out and cultivating those rare life forms and civilizations. Efforts to infuse the world's future with more possibilities and reserve these life forms and civilizations as resources for the Pan-human Union to cope with an endlessly changing universe."

…

"These are the more well-known future choices; in fact, it's never stipulated that you can only engage in one profession; you can change careers after thousands of years if you tire of one life, even experiencing life anew."

"As humans of an entirely new era, we no longer have survival worries, so there's no need to yearn for the past."

"The future still holds infinite possibilities, and fairy tales lie in the distant future, waiting for us to realize."

"Mhm mhm." The children eagerly fantasized about their future with anticipation.

…

Years later, when he remembers the scene of the teacher lecturing under the tree that day, he still feels some nostalgia, as if the summer breeze of yesterday were rustling the curtains, with the clothes hanger and wind chime gently swaying, the sound still so clear.

"Lais went to the Hydra Star System, Messia entered the Different-colored Universe, and I'm a trader in our Star System cluster. We all have fairy-tale bright futures."

(The end of the book)