Shadow Slave

Everything having to do with Sleepers was situated in the same building. Sunny followed the instructions sent to his communicator and quickly found the dormitories, which were situated on one of the lowest levels. To his surprise, he actually got a whole room to himself.

It had a bed with a soft mattress, a table, a dresser, and even a separate bathroom! The materials were new and aesthetically pleasing, the air crisp and sterile. It was warm inside, and the outer wall was equipped with a hidden screen that seamlessly imitated a wide window, opening to a picturesque vista of a snowy park.

There were even several sets of clothes with the Academy emblem provided to him for free.

'How extravagant,' Sunny thought, a little stunned.

Rationally, he understood that such an arrangement was not really luxurious. However, to him, who grew up wandering the outskirts, this room was like a palace. He scratched his head.

'Looks like… I've made it?'

Sunny glanced around, then winked at his shadow and smiled.

"I guess we're moving up in the world, huh?"

The shadow didn't respond, apparently not very impressed. Perhaps it didn't care about such things.

'Right, what would a stupid shadow know?'

Sunny changed into new clothes and studied himself in the mirror. Then, remembering something, he summoned the runes.

He finally had time to study the Puppeteer's Shroud.

Memory: [Puppeteer's Shroud].

Memory Rank: Awakened.

Memory Type: Armor.

Memory Description: [A worm of doubt once found its way into a righteous king's heart. With time, the king was devoured from inside and became its puppet. A lifetime later, the Puppeteer Worm escaped from the king's dead body, leaving behind a cacoon of black silk. No one knows where it went; however, once people dared to approach the silent castle, they found the silk among the mountains of gnawed bones and fashioned it into an armor.]

a

terrifying. Yeah. I'm not creeped out

to assume that Mountain King was a mature Puppeteer Worm — and already a tyrant… then what the hell would it transform into after becoming a

it's better not to

wrapped it into a set of armor. It was made of dark-gray, soft fabric with several elements, such as bracers and

understated and did not restrain his movements at all. It also made no sound when he moved. Perfect equipment for someone who likes to lurk

any Creature below the Awakened rank, which gave him a great advantage in dealing with all dormant monsters. He also felt a sort of strange, faint calmness

worm of doubt… does it have enhanced protection against

he was

great trophy! He wouldn't expect anything less from the Memory of a powerful

problem was that the Puppeteer's Shroud was obviously not meant to be worn on top of a full

all the rewards

true: not only was it freely available to Sleepers, there wasn't even a limit to the amount each of them could eat! More than that, there were rice, bread, various side dishes, sauces, fresh vegetables, fruits, and

steering

and, for a while, forgot about the world's existence. As juicy, textured, perfectly seasoned meat filled his mouth, Sunny's vision suddenly was full of stars.

lived like that for a whole

you infect me a few

concentrated on the food, decimating the whole plate in no time. Satiated and more than a little gorged, Sunny longingly looked back and thought

he stood up and

from an administrative worker.

like Master Jet had warned him, Sunny was offered psychological counseling again. Remembering her advice, he refused, and the interview smoothly switched

worker something. Luckily, the questions were worded in a way to put Sleepers at ease. As such, most of them started with nice and polite preambles

you mind telling me about the type of Aspect Ability you received,

but had to be

haven't had

able to

guess not? Earlier, I wasn't even able to harm

to create an impression that his Aspect was weak, harmless

that, he returned to his room, undressed, and went to

surprisingly easy. Lying on a soft mattress, with his skin against clean bedsheets and a fluffy pillow under