Shadow Slave

In the end, Kai agreed to his deal. In exchange for the Blood Arrow, he gave Sunny three Memories: the two weaker arrows he had and a small charm capable of producing fire.

Sunny fed all three to the Stone Saint, bringing her amount of shadow fragments to thirty-one. That was four more than she had in the past, which meant that he received the same amount of fragments that he would have gotten by feeding her the Blood Arrow itself.

He didn't really gain anything, but also didn't lose anything. Kai was the one who really profited from their exchange.

So Sunny didn't lie when he said that it was an incredible deal.

After breakfast, which transpired in somewhat awkward silence, Sunny sprawled on the ground and smiled happily.

"You know, guys. These past few weeks made me realize something. Actually, it was all thanks to Kai, who introduced me... introduced me... uh... to Stev."

Effie stretched, making Sunny stutter and lose the train of thought for a second, then smiled with satisfaction and glanced at him.

"Really? And what is that?"

Sunny hesitated for a few moments and said:

"When I was a little kid, I loved reading webtoons about the Awakened. You know, the ones where they always explore ancient ruins, battle Nightmare Creatures, and grow more powerful with each victory."

He chuckled.

"The hero and his cohort decide on an adventure, vanquish evil, gain mighty Memories, then return to the real world and sell their spoils at the adventurer shop. They spend their money to upgrade their equipment, and immediately set out on a more epic and dangerous adventure."

Cassie smiled.

"I loved to read those too."

Sunny glanced at her and sighed.

"Yeah. But when I got older, I couldn't help but think — what are they thinking about? Exploring ancient ruins is not a wise thing to do. In fact, only crazy people would do it. No matter how good you are, sooner or later, you will meet something more terrifying than any human can handle and die. If this was real life, why would all those adventurers go into the ruins over and over again?"

head and opened her mouth,

Sunny smiled.

it hit me! They were not doing it to vanquish evil. They were doing it to collect a wide variety of powerful Memories. You see, the real dream is not to be the hero, one of their companions, or even the love interest. The real dream is to be the owner of the shop where

his arms and

retire, open a shop, and leave comfortably for the rest of your life. All you need is to

and looked at Sunny with

that we somehow manage to return to the real world and become true Awakened. Is this what

for a

a lot to do in the real world, apart from compiling all the things I've learned about the Forgotten Shore into a report and giving it to a teacher who was kind to me back at the Academy. So… maybe? I don't have enough Memories yet to open a

at the charming

you? What is the thing you really want to do if you return to

with a look of embarrassment on

I haven't really

he suddenly said in a shy

"...Avatar Singer."

Sunny blinked.

"A what?"

for a while, and

other, but the twist is that they are all using the stock VR avatars to

Effie giggled.

want to hide your pretty face, Night? It's

was silent for a few moments, and

based on my skill and talent alone, with nothing else getting in the way. Also, that would be such a great way to announce my return to the fans! Just imagine… they would

head. It seemed that Kai was really a celebrity. Talking about things like fan reactions and media storms with a

nice dream, at least.

to Effie,

you do in the

The huntress grinned.

chicken wings… the real ones. And then