404 Soft Life

The Sanctuary was slowly waking up. Now that the sun had risen, groups of Awakened were preparing to venture outside, while those who had stuff to do in the Citadel itself were going about their business. A few of them greeted Sunny as he walked toward the Altar Island.

By now, he should have been able to return to the real world. After everything he had discovered during the night, there was a flame burning inside his chest that demanded action. His eyes gleamed when he thought about the mysterious treasure hidden somewhere out there, in the darkness.

But although Sunny was a very rapacious person, he knew how to keep his avarice in check… well, most of the time.

'Shipwreck Island…'

Sunny had never been that far away from the Sanctuary, but he had heard about that deadly place.

The Shipwreck Island was situated almost at the center of the Chained Isles, far removed from both human CItadels. The Nightmare Creatures there were especially ferocious, and the islands themselves were far more bizarre and dangerous than those closer to the edges of the region.

If one could somehow survive the Crushing and look upon the Chained Isles from above, they would see that there was a vast empty space at the very heart of this shattered land. Some people assumed that this was where the Ivory Tower had once been chained, before all seven of its anchors were broken. After that, the islands bordering the Tear slowly fell into the Sky Below one after another, making it grow wider and wider.

The hole at the heart of the Chained Isles was slowly expanding, and one day, thousands of years from now, it was probably going to devour the whole region.

…But Sunny had no interest in that remote future.

What concerned him right now was that the Shipwreck Island was on the very edge of the Tear, and as such, presented a lot of danger for a young Awakened like him. If Sunny wanted to venture out that far, he would have to study and thoroughly prepare for a long and perilous expedition.

And in the meantime, he had to hurry to the real world.

Even though he felt the call of treasure with every fiber of his being, desperate to reduce the gap between himself and Nephis, the things he had to do back in reality were… crucial.

'Calm down. It's nothing serious, really.'

Approaching the white altar, he glanced at the obsidian dagger suspiciously, then placed his hand on the cold marble.

'There's no reason to worry, so...'

***

The lid of the steel sarcophagus silently opened, letting out beams of light and clouds of cool mist. Sunny yawned and climbed out of the sleeping pod, then stretched with a satisfied smile on his lips.

His body felt refreshed and energized, as if he just had a long, perfectly comfortable sleep — not at all like what he had to endure in the past two months while using cheaper Academy pods.

'Now that… is what I call money well spent.'

Indeed, the luxurious machine might have been the best purchase he had ever made. Not counting the Mantle of the Underworld, of course…

Leaving the compact underground fortress of his basement, Sunny walked over to the kitchen, glanced at the broken remains of his fridge with a bit of shame, and retrieved a few ingredients to cook himself breakfast from the debris.

Out here in the real world, it was currently early morning. He sent the happy shadow outside to observe the surroundings, and then turned on the stove.

Real eggs, real lettuce and tomatoes, real bread, real bacon, real coffee, real juice… it took him just a few minutes to cook himself a breakfast that would have been considered the epitome of a lavish lifestyle by any inhabitant of the outskirts.

Walking to a dining table that was too large for one person, he placed his breakfast on its synthwood surface and activated his communicator.

There were no new messages, and he didn't really know what else to do with that thing. Usually, people of his age would have an active presence on the network and feeds breaking with all kinds of news, events, and videos, but Sunny had almost no digital presence whatsoever. Nor did he want to have one, really.

He knew how to access various resources and services, of course, and many of the things on the network had once been the stuff of his dreams: the unlimited amount of games, books, shows, and entertainment of all sorts was on the tip of his finger.

But, ironically, now that Sunny had free access to all these alluring things, he had no time to dive into any of them. Right now, he had too much to do, and his dreams were filled with only clangor of steel and nightmarish abominations.

'Maybe one day…'

Slowly consuming his food, Sunny used the communicator to quickly sketch and describe the coin he had found... keeping its true secrets to himself, of course.

Outside, his neighbors were preparing to face the new day. The sun was rising above the giant city, and crowds of people were on their way to work.

The shadow found a hidden spot on the porch of his new home and observed the quiet street from its shelter. It saw a few PTVs drive by, humming slowly as they rolled or levitated toward the exit from the terrace district. Several well-dressed adults walked by, heading for the public transport terminal.

Some time later, it was time for the students in school uniforms to follow them.

Sunny sipped coffee and observed these children through the shadow, trying to imagine himself having such a life.

Waking up in a safe home. Eating the delicious food a parent had prepared for you, not having to think about where your next meal would come from. Going to a place where an unlimited amount of knowledge and mentorship was available to you, completely free. Having no real worries and no real fears.

Just… living.

What a strange existence that would be…

He stared at the students with a complicated expression. They were so… soft. Their clothes were soft, their eyes were soft, and their lives, too, were soft.

How were these children going to survive the real world? The real world was hard, cruel, and unforgiving. Just like Sunny himself was. A person like him had a much better chance of surviving in such a world.

Not to mention the hellscapes of the Dream Realm.

Finally, the stream of students grew thin.

One of the last to walk past Sunny's house was a young girl of around fourteen years. She was about as tall as him, with pale skin and black hair. The girl seemed to be a bit uncomfortable in her own body, like all teenagers tended to be, and the school uniform did no favors to her slender physique.

Her dark eyes, however, were very sharp and clear.

…Luckily, unlike her brother, Rain seemed to have taken after their mother, who was a rather attractive young woman from what Sunny remembered. Even though she was still just a child, he could already see that one day, the teenage girl walking past his home was going to become a real beauty.

Finishing his coffee, Sunny placed the empty cup on the table and sighed.

'...Found you.'