Shadow Slaves
Chapter 20: Getting Wasted Again

The Sleeper section of the complex was relatively small and was located in the southern part of the Academy, surrounded on all sides by a practice field and garden.

It was a low and modern building built with reinforced materials. Like most buildings in the Academy, most of them were hidden underground, leaving only a few floors above them. With pure white alloy walls and wide windows, it definitely looks beautiful in summer, contrasting with all the greenery around it.

Inside, the building was spacious and well-lit. Sunny and the silver-haired girl were taken to a large hall where about a hundred young men and women were asleep at such an unfortunate time as they were huddled waiting for the start of the inauguration ceremony. Most of them were nervous, tense and excited.

The logistics of the Academy had always been dizzying for administrators because the infection rate of the Spells had always been chaotic. There is no way to set up a Sleepers group structure to undergo any kind of standard education on a shared schedule: some of them have a full year to prepare for the Dream Realm, some just a few months, or so, some even just a few days.

That is why this inauguration ceremony is held every month at the beginning of the year and then every week after the winter solstice begins to approach. Some Sleepers in the hall had to wait days to be sworn in, while Sunny was lucky and sent to the Academy just hours before the scheduled event.

Once inside the hall, he understood two things.

First, everyone is well dressed and has a suitcase, backpack, or at least a backpack carrying his personal belongings. They obviously came with preparations, most likely from home, sent by their families. So Sunny and the silver-haired girl, who came empty-handed and dressed in the simple clothes the police took out, were not the norm as she had expected, but were actually attention-grabbing anomalies.

‘True. That makes sense.’

Second, Master Jet was not very humble when he called himself below average by the Resurrection standard. Although these young people had only started their path as Resurrection, their appearance was dazzling. Everyone was handsome, beautiful and radiated his health.

He swallowed.

‘Stay, I feel like nothing compares. He may not be perfectly shaped, but I don't know he has a presence. It's like the shadow gets deeper and the temperature drops a few degrees while he's in a room.’

Is this the difference between a Sleeper and a Master?

But all these thoughts were only him trying to delay the inevitable. Sunny already knew that he was going on a wild trip.

Because he could not lie, and all of these excited young men, regardless of their clothes, gender, and appearance, wanted to do one thing.

Speakin.

Every one of them wants to talk to their fellow sleepers. They wanted to discuss their Nightmares, their future journey to the Dream Realm, and everything in between. They want to ask. They want to be asked questions. They want to talk about something important or just talk about stupid things.

Everyone wants to share.

‘It's a nightmare!’ Sunny groaned, agitated and frightened. ‘I'm destined!’

Then, with a hint of grim determination, he gritted his teeth and slowly exhaled.

‘Take that as a continuation of your experiment. You survived the black mountain, so you too can survive this.’

He had faced heroes, villains, monsters, and even gods. Will he be afraid of a group of teenagers?

He probably underestimated how scary teenagers were.

In half an hour, almost everyone in the room hated his courage.

After a series of brief conversations, Sunny gains a reputation as an obnoxious pervert and foul-mouthed. This reputation was quickly solidified. He was slapped several times and even hit once. He also discovered some new things about his true self namely, deep down he looked rude, arrogant, and more than a little lustful.

The conversation went on like this:

“Look at all these young people. How many do you think will return from the Dream Realm? How many will perish? What do you think our chances of survival are?”

“I don't know, but I'm sure a arrogant fool like you will die first!”

Or:

“I even received an armor-type Memory in my Nightmare. It was a magic robe. Do you want to see it?”

“Actually, I'd rather see you without a cape..”.

Or:

“Then those lowly people started robbing corpses. It's disgusting! They even took their shoes! What kind of lecherous person would take the shoes of the dead?”

“I once killed a man and took his boots. Those are good boots.”

“Of course not! There's another reason. I also took his cape.”

Once again an outcast, Sunny is finally left alone. People seem to avoid it. Undaunted, he found a quiet corner and stood there, happy that no one else would talk to him. His face hurt, and there was blood dripping from his nose. Being excluded from a group is not new, but it still hurts.

However, he smiled.

Because in the process of going against herself, Sunny had found something important.

He learned how to control his disability.

When he asked a question, he could not be silent. He can't lie either. However, after many experiments, Sunny discovers that with a little practice, she can influence the right way to reveal the truth.

It was like this: after receiving the question, his mind automatically produced the correct answer. After that, the flaw would force him to say that answer out loud. Refusal to speak will result in a buildup of pressure, then a stabbing pain. The longer he stayed, the worse the pain. Finally, he had to give up and reveal the truth.

However, in the moments between receiving the question and giving in to this pain, the actual words of the answer can be changed. The more deviated from the initial thought, the more resistance he will encounter – once again in the form of pressure, then pain. It still has to be honest, but it doesn't have to be too flashy.

For example, if Master Jet caught him staring again and asked what he was looking at, instead of embarrassing himself, Sunny would be able to endure a bit of pain and just say “Kamu”.

That would still be the truth, however, the results would be very different.

Hidden in the corner, Sunny grinned as she observed the Sleepers.

‘It's good. Lfs nice. This is something I can work on!’

After all, one need not lie to deceive someone. Sometimes, truth is the best material for creating lies.

***

If used with a certain type of cunning intelligence, the truth can be as misleading as a lie. For example, in one of his previous conversations, Sunny claimed to have stolen boots from the dead. Others were horrified and asked if he had actually killed someone just for a pair of boots. The answer that the Disability forced him to give was that there was another reason and that he had also taken the man's robe.

The real reason for killing the veteran slave was because he had whipped Sunny a few hours earlier. Besides, he's already dying. The robe had nothing to do with the murder itself. However, the words from that answer gave off such an impression.

So, two honest statements, if put together, create an effect similar to a lie.

This is just a simple example. With a lot of effort and intense thinking, Sunny can create another type of manipulative truth. It will be very difficult and risky, but it can be done.

He just needs a little luck.

It is time to put his theory into practice.

Sunny did not forget what his main purpose was to make sure no one knew his Real Name. To achieve that, he had to create the impression that he was the most miserable and weak person in this entire building. A person who would never receive a positive assessment, let alone the Godly Aspect and True Name.

However, since this was a lie, he could not just leave and say it.

So how did he convince everyone that he definitely did not have a strong Aspect and an impressive record with Spells?

His eyes were fixed on a certain group of Sleepers. There were five or six of them, gathered around a tall and confident young man.

The young man had brown hair and a gentle and handsome face. His eyes were green, with a hint of friendly humor. His posture, figure, and attentive gaze betrayed someone who underwent extensive training. Everything about the young man shouted about nobility and strength.

Just at that moment, one of his friends said in a tone of amazement:

“Acruciating? You have received the Ascended Aspect? What is your Assessment?!”

The young man smiled humbly.

“Oh. The “excellent.”

Sunny stopped in front of the group, as if by accident. After hearing the young man's reply, he frowned and looked at him with disdain.

Then, in a confused voice, Sunny said:

“Good, incredible? That all? What's the problem?”