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

that terrifying. Yeah. I’m not creeped out at

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

not to think about

around his body and wrapped it into a set of

was light, understated and did not restrain his movements at all. It also made

He knew that this armor would be tough to pierce for any Creature below the Awakened rank, which gave him a great advantage in dealing with all dormant monsters. He also felt

worm of doubt… does it

he was

less

that the Puppeteer’s Shroud was obviously not meant to be worn on top of a full set of clothes. Quite satisfied, Sunny dismissed it

thought, recalling all the rewards he had received during and after

as lavish as the dormitory. Sunny’s wish to taste real meat finally came true: not only was it freely available to Sleepers, there wasn’t even a limit to

steering

plate, he found an empty seat 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. He had

lived like

infect me

in no time. Satiated and more than a little gorged, Sunny longingly looked back and thought about getting another serving. But it was

stood up and left

office, sitting across from an administrative worker. The worker was very friendly,

psychological counseling again. Remembering her advice, he refused, and the interview smoothly

to put Sleepers at ease. As such, most of them started with nice and polite preambles like “would you like to tell me” or “if you’re willing to share”, which gave Sunny an opportunity to give

you mind telling me about the type of Aspect Ability

mind, but

I haven’t had

alright. Are you able to directly

I wasn’t even

In the end, Sunny shared just enough information to create an impression that

that, he returned to his