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?"

and opened her mouth, but then

Sunny smiled.

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 the hero sells his trophies and buys new equipment! That way you can live a pretty life without risking

crossed his arms

the rest of your life. All you need is to sell a Memory once every

laughed and looked at Sunny

that we somehow manage to return to the real world and become true

it for a few moments

the Forgotten Shore into a report and giving it to a teacher who was kind to me back

glanced at the

want to do if you return to the real

with a look of embarrassment on

know. I haven't

he suddenly

"...Avatar Singer."

Sunny blinked.

"A what?"

a while, and then

music competition show. Popular singers compete with each other, but the twist is that they are all using the stock VR avatars to perform. So the

Effie giggled.

hide your pretty face,

silent for a few moments,

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

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

it was a nice dream, at least. Better than his own stupid desires, by

to Effie, he

What would you

The huntress grinned.

I would go eat chicken wings… the real ones. And then start preparing myself for the Second Nightmare.