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?"

her head and opened her mouth, but then closed it

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

crossed his

comfortably for the rest of your life. All you need is to sell a Memory once every couple of years. Maybe make some money off the younger, less fortunate adventurers,

laughed and looked at Sunny with

to the real world and become

thought about it for

I don't really have 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

glanced at the charming

thing you really want to

turned away with a

I don't know. I

suddenly said in a shy

"...Avatar Singer."

Sunny blinked.

"A what?"

a while, and

show. Popular singers compete with each other, but the twist is that they are all using the stock VR avatars to perform. So the judges can only evaluate their voices and skill. They only learn

Effie giggled.

want to hide your pretty face,

few moments, and

to be judged based on my skill and talent alone, with nothing else getting in the way. Also, that would be such a

his head. It seemed that Kai was really a celebrity. Talking about things like fan reactions and media storms with a straight face… did he even hear

was a nice dream, at least.

Effie, he

would you do in

The huntress grinned.

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