Legendary Shadow Blacksmith

[We’re near.]

“Okay…” Julian stood outside a café, tapping his cane lightly against the sidewalk. The warm breeze of the evening brushed against his face, but he didn’t care about the weather—everything just felt cold to him.

[We’re here, Julian. I made sure to pick the nearest café from the hospital.] MEGAN’s voice echoed in his mind, steady and calm.

Julian stepped into the café, the soft chatter of people filling the air. As soon as he entered, however, the room grew quieter—he could feel the stares. People were curious. After all, it wasn’t often they saw someone with a disability, especially in Sky Net, where most people had some sort of enhancement in them.

[I see him, Julian. That’s him, Cyrus Simmons.] MEGAN’s tone shifted slightly, signaling she had found their man.

MEGAN was right, it was Cyrus who had been the one calling her all day, hoping to set up this meeting. Now, they were finally face to face—or about to be.

“Sword… Junkie?” As Julian approached, Cyrus spotted him. The man quickly stood up from his seat, his eyes locking on Julian as he quickly realized that Julian… was actually blind. But still, that didn’t prevent him from looking just as imposing as his clone in Artemia.

“You…” Cyrus seemed to want to say something, but he just smiled and gestured toward the table even though he knew Julian couldn’t see. “Please… take a seat.”

“Thank you.” Julian felt the chair’s edge with his hand and sat down.

“My name is Cyrus, it’s very nice to meet you in person, Sword—I mean, Mr. Julian,” Cyrus continued, sounding more formal now. “I… can’t believe that you look as imposing as you do in the real world. It’s… kind of unreal.”

“Julian Winters, it’s…” Julian replied, extending his hand toward Cyrus, “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Cyrus.”

“Oh. There’s… no need to be so formal,” Cyrus blinked in surprise before quickly reaching out and shaking Julian’s hand. And almost immediately, Cyrus noticed that Julian’s hand was large, rough, and powerful—exactly like the hand of a blacksmith.

“You’re… also a blacksmith in real life?” Cyrus asked, still in awe.

“Yes.”

“Huh…” Cyrus couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. He’d expected this meeting to go differently, but he hadn’t anticipated the imposing presence Julian carried with him, nor the fact that he was blind.

“Where’s… the lady I was talking to? She said she was your manager… Megan?” Cyrus looked around the café, as if expecting her to show up any second.

“She’s here.” Julian simply smiled and pointed at his own eyes.

“That’s—” Cyrus blinked, slightly confused. But before he could finish his sentence, his phone buzzed. It was a call from ‘Sword Junkie’—Julian’s screen name in Otherworld.

“Huh…?” Cyrus looked back and forth between his phone and Julian.

“Please answer it. It’s her,” Julian said.

Cyrus, still confused, answered the phone and put it on speaker… and MEGAN’s voice immediately filled the space between them.

[Ahem, ahem. Now that everyone is present, we can start talking about business immediately.]

“Uh…” Cyrus blinked in confusion for a couple of breaths, but he cleared his throat and slipped into his business persona.

“Very well. I think Mr. Julian here has the potential to be the next big star of Otherworld—no…” Cyrus said, leaning forward slightly in excitement. He was practically glowing with enthusiasm, “...Now that I’ve seen him in person, I think we can actually turn him into a star, a real one. Not just in the Otherworld.”

[Uh-huh. Talk more,] MEGAN’s voice was flat.

“Okay, here’s the thing—Otherworld streamers are popular, but there’s a limit to it,” Cyrus cleared his throat again, “People are curious about Otherworld, yes, but it’s not like traditional games. Once that initial curiosity fades, well, the audience gets bored. After all, they’re only watching the player’s point of view. They are watching from your eyes, Mr. Julian.”

“Hm...” Julian hummed, “...I suppose so.”

“Yes. And people want to see everything!” Cyrus continued, warming up to his pitch. “They want to feel like they’re part of the adventure, not just watching from someone’s eyes. That’s why, out of all the Otherworld streamers, only one has managed to break into mainstream fame—and that’s Kitty, a streamer I used to work with. The key to her success was offering a third-person perspective, showing more of what was happening around her.”

[Slow down.]

“What I’m trying to say…” Cyrus cleared his throat again, “...Is that that was me—I started that. She became famous because everyone could see her, all of her.”

Julian tilted his head, still processing what Cyrus was saying.

[You’re making sense,] MEGAN cut in, her tone more businesslike now. [But if we’re the ones doing the actual work, and you’re just tagging along as a camera, what’s in it for us?]

“Well…” Cyrus chuckled nervously, clearing his throat again. “50%. You get 50% of all the profits.”

[50%?] MEGAN’s voice rose sharply, [Are you trying to scam us? Julian is the one doing all the work, and you want 50%!?]

“N-no, wait! Listen—”

[And why do you keep clearing your throat? You sick? Going to infect Julian?]

Julian sighed, “MEGAN… let’s hear him out.”

“I’m…” Cyrus laughed awkwardly, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. “...I’m not just an Otherworld streamer. I have over 21 million followers across all platforms. I can bring in a massive audience that would otherwise never find out about you, Mr. Julian. I’m an influencer.”

Julian blinked. “What’s… an influencer?”

[They’ve been around for thousands of years…] MEGAN sighed. [...They never really died out. They are basically famous people on social media who do mostly useless things but earn a lot of money. I suppose you could say they sell entertainment.]

“Exactly!” Cyrus clapped his hands, regaining his enthusiasm. “You don’t know it yet, but you’re already famous in the Otherworld community. You just haven’t capitalized on it.”

“I’m… not really famous.”

“You are,” Cyrus countered, “Just check the forums—people are talking about you non-stop. Don’t… you check the forums?”

[That’s my role,] MEGAN added. [He doesn’t care about any of that.]

“That’s… fine, I guess?” Cyrus awkwardly smiled. “Look, once this gets going, you’ll see—you’ll… hear. That… doesn’t matter. What I’m trying to say is that I’m offering you a massive opportunity here. You are going to be very, very, very rich.”

[70%]

“Huh…?”

[We get 70%.]

“70!? That’s insane! Maybe we could dial down a bit and—”

[I am a machine, Cyrus. I do not negotiate.]

“...But you just did.”

[Take it or leave it, Cyrus.] MEGAN’s voice turned adamant, [If we’re really that famous already, you need us more than we need you. There’s only one Julian Winters right now—I reckon there are more of you.]

“You… Mr. Julian?” Cyrus glanced at Julian, who simply shrugged in response. Just… how much autonomy did he actually grant MEGAN? Was she… even legal?

“Ugh…” After a moment of hesitation, Cyrus sighed in defeat. “Fine. 70%. But on one condition.”

“What condition?” Julian tilted his head.

“I get to interview you, right now, right here—live.” Cyrus started tapping the table, “I’ve already hinted at this meeting to my followers, and if I announce that I’m going live with the Sword Junkie in a few minutes, people will go nuts.”

“Now…?” Julian breathed out.

[Can you give us a moment? Go get Julian some water or something.] MEGAN’s voice cut the conversation short as she suddenly ended the call.

“Uh… okay?” Cyrus blinked as he instinctively got up and walked away. Wait… why does it feel like MEGAN was the one controlling the entire situation now?

And while Cyrus was getting some water, Julian sat back as MEGAN’s voice filled his head.

[Julian, I need you to think this through. If you agree to this live interview and this entire thing, a lot of things will change. 1. You’ll lose any privacy you have left. 2. Those loan sharks might notice you and make things worse. 3. You’re dumb. People will take advantage of you. You know that, right?]

“Well…” Julian let out a sigh, his hand lightly tapping the edge of the table. “That’s what I have you for, isn’t it? To manage all that.”

[You…] MEGAN was quiet for a moment. [...You really trust me that much?]

“Of course.”

[Alright…] MEGAN’s voice softened slightly, [Remember, Julian. We’re doing this for Ellie.]

“Always,” Julian breathed out, “Let’s… get this over with, then.”

Moments later, Cyrus returned to the table, his phone now resting on the surface; there were different holographic displays projecting from it—a screen showing Cyrus, a screen showing the chat, and a screen for the analytics of the stream. "Alright, I’ve set everything up. We’re about to go live in just a few minutes. Get ready."

[Remember, Julian. No extremely personal questions. If he asks anything you don’t want to answer, I’ll cut it off. We’re signing a digital contract for this, so he can’t exploit you.]

"Got it," Julian replied.

And very soon, Cyrus’s holographic screen flickered with activity. A series of chats began pouring in as viewers started flooding the stream. For some reason, Julian could feel the subtle excitement in the air, though he couldn’t see any of it…well, perhaps MEGAN whispering to him added to that.

"Hello, chat!" Cyrus’s voice boomed as his face appeared on one of the holograms. "I bet you all were shocked by my announcement! But, I mean, can you blame me? This is going to be huge!"

"Alright, alright, calm down,” Cyrus tried his best to contain his excitement. He knew there were going to be a lot of people—but this surpassed all of his expectations, “How about let’s not let them wait anymore? Sword Junkie…

…why don’t you come say hi?"

“Uhm…” Julian took a deep breath as he showed himself on the screen and sat beside Cyrus. And as soon as his figure appeared on the screen… the chat just exploded.

"Hello," Julian just slightly tilted his head as he heard MEGAN reading all the messages, "My name is Julian, and I’m part of the Otherworld Project. It’s nice to meet all of you."

<...>

"Oh… uh… yes. I’m blind," Julian smiled as he pointed at his eyes again. "MEGAN is reading all your comments for me. She’s my… older sister, in a way."

"Wait a second…” Cyrus could not help but disrupt the chat as he noticed something in the analytics, “...the female viewer count is suddenly higher than the male viewers!? What’s going on here?"

<13thOfSpades: brooo. Chat is thirsty.>

“Uuhh…” Julian slightly adjusted himself as MEGAN continued to read the chat to him.

"Alright, alright…” Cyrus quickly sensed Julian’s discomfort, “We don’t have much time before we’re kicked out of the cafe. So… let’s focus on some questions.”

Cyrus’s eyes turned into a hawk’s as he read the chat; his experience, almost automatically filtering the interesting ones.

“Oh, here we go. We have one from… iLuvUnicorns,” Cyrus slightly turned to Julian, “iLuvUnicorns is asking if you have experience in smithing in real life since the NPCs of Artemia seem pretty impressed with you.”

Julian frowned slightly. "NPCs…?" he asked.

Cyrus chuckled awkwardly. "Ah, right. For those who don’t know, Mr. Julian here is a complete newbie to all of this. He hasn’t played any games in his life—his first exposure to RPG elements is in Artemia, which is ironic since Artemia isn’t even a game!"

The chat flooded with reactions, some groaning at Cyrus’s poor joke, while others continued asking about Julian’s blacksmithing.

"So, do you have a background in smithing?" Cyrus pressed since he already knew the answer.

"Yes," Julian nodded slowly, "I’ve been crafting weapons my entire life. But no one ever bought them."

The chat instantly reacted with curiosity, while Cyrus leaned in. "Wait, why?"

"They weren’t effective against the daemons." Julian’s expression turned somber, remembering all the times his work went to waste.

The chat flooded with encouragement, with some viewers even offering to buy Julian’s weapons.

"Hold on, hold on!" Cyrus laughed nervously. "Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You can send those requests directly to Mr. Julian later. For now, let’s talk about what’s coming next!"

"Ladies and gentlemen…” Cyrus’s grin widened as he gestured toward the camera, “I’m excited to announce that from now on, whenever possible…

…I will be following the Sword Junkie around Artemia as his official videographer!"

"And for our very first stream together…” Cyrus smirked, “Mr. Julian Winters, aka Sword Junkie, will be taking on… a Dungeon!"

“Relax, relax…” Cyrus sighed. “...I’ll be there. If I think Sword Junkie can’t do it, I’ll intervene.”

“A dungeon…?” Julian, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly frowned.

“D… don’t worry, Mr. Julian,” Cyrus heard Julian’s slightly cold breath, “It’s just going to be a showcase of your skills!”

“Uhm…” He tilted his head toward Cyrus, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What’s… a dungeon?"

“...Oh.”

“Ellie…” A few hours later after his meeting with Cyrus, Julian was now once again sitting beside Ellie; the soft beeping of the machines caused his breath to slightly stutter.

"I promise you, Ellie…” He held Ellie’s hand, “...I’m going to help you this time around."

Julian stared at Ellie’s face for a few seconds before leaning back on his seat, and in his hands was the LinkGear.

“I’ll leave for a bit,” Julian then whispered as he placed the device on his head… and soon, his consciousness began to slip away.

But before his mind fully drifted into the Between, he made sure to keep his eyes slightly open, allowing MEGAN to still watch over Ellie.

Creepy? Perhaps. But it was the only way he could be sure she was safe while he was gone.

[Please wait while your consciousness is being transferred to Artemia.]

"MEGAN," And as soon as Julian saw MEGAN’s form materialize in the Between, he quickly approached her and held her hand, "I’m counting on you. Make sure Ellie is safe."

“Leave everything to me!” MEGAN nodded, “I’ll watch over Ellie. But you do remember what we talked about, right?”

“Yes.”

“Your live chat will now be turned on. My username is PrettyOneeChan,

but since you can’t read the texts anyway, I will filter the message you see to be only from me—remember the words we memorized?”

“Yes. No. Log out,” Julian breathed out, “I memorized what they look like, MEGAN.”

“Okay. Good.” MEGAN also breathed out, "You need to grow stronger, much stronger than you are now. Now that you have chosen this path. Those thugs who came... I am sure they are not done with you."

"I know... But MEGAN," Julian whispered as he looked around the dark expanse of the Between, "Do you remember what I told you during the Mana Evaluation? About the penalty?"

“Yes. You mentioned the Master of Shadows,” MEGAN nodded, ”I’ve been scouring the internet for any information, but nothing comes up. But I believe you, though. There's something fishy going on here.”

“It’s just… this place…” Julian continued to look around, "The Between...It reminds me of where I fought the shadow crawler."

“W…what?” MEGAN’s eye slightly twitched, “What… do you mean?”

“It feels the same as…” But alas, before Julian could finish his words, his consciousness fully transferred to Artemia, leaving MEGAN alone in the dark, eerie void.

“Uhmm…” MEGAN actually planned to stay a bit in the Between to try and investigate some things, but after what Julian just said,

“...I’m out.” She wasn't going to stay in this place for a second longer.

“Sword Junkie! You’re here!”

Julian winced slightly at the loud voice, he just stepped out of his room and was still feeling a little groggy and weak… but Cyrus’s loud voice surely helped wake up his clone from how loud his voice was.

“Morning there.” Cyrus stood near the inn’s entrance, waving his hand enthusiastically, “Did you make sure your real body’s well-fed before you jumped?”

“Yes…” Julian nodded; the tone of his voice slightly awkward, “...And good morning.”

“Pft… there’s no need to be so stiff,” Cyrus chuckled, “There’s not a lot of people yet in the chat since it’s not the official start of the stream yet. Just relax, start stretching your body, and get something to eat. We’re still waiting for our party, they’ll be here in an hour or so.”

“Okay… I was thinking of getting a weapon first,” Julian breathed out, “I’ll visit Juliet, maybe I could borrow one of the weapons we made together if she still hasn’t sold them.”

“Well… that’s perfect!” Cyrus shrugged with a carefree grin. “Let’s go!”

“...You’re coming with me?” Julian tilted his head, “It’s fine. You can just stay here and—”

“Nonsense!” Cyrus shook his head as he already started walking away. “This is great content for those who are already tuning in—look, people are already starting to comment.”

As they stepped out of the inn and made their way toward the smithy plaza, Cyrus continued to talk to the chat. Wasn’t… he afraid of attracting the attention of the hyums? What if someone from the Order of Artemia hears him?

“I… thought our technology didn’t work here in Artemia?” Julian asked, “I remember the scientists from Humanity Engineering mentioning it… and yet we can stream and you can even see the live chat?”

“Hm…” Cyrus squinted his eyes, “I’ve…never really thought about it. Maybe because it’s just radio and signal? Who knows, it works.”

“Huh…”

“And…” Cyrus leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper, “Don’t talk about Humanity Engineering while we’re streaming. They… don’t really like it.”

“Oh… Okay,” Julian hummed.

"By the way, does your live chat work now? Can you see Megan's messages?"

"Uhm..." Julian started looking around for any floating words, "...MEGAN, are you-"

"Yes," Julian blinked as he finally saw the message. It wasn't exactly the same as the [Guidance of Artemis], which usually takes up his entire vision, "I can see it now."

"Is that...?"

A few minutes later, they arrived at the smithy plaza. Julian, however, slightly gasped as they neared Juliet’s outdoor smithy.

It… was in shambles—tools were scattered across the ground, and several pieces of equipment looked damaged or broken. Even the tent wasn’t standing up straight anymore.

“Juliet!?” Julian rushed toward the smithy. “What… what happened!? Who… who did this!?”

“J…Julian…?” Juliet emerged from the ground, her face pale and streaked with tears. “I… I did it.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ve… I’ve…” She stammered, her voice trembling. “I’ve…been trying to find our [Epic] sword. I think… I think someone stole it!”

“What…?” Julian looked around. But after a few seconds, a thought suddenly came into his mind as he remembered the shop owner back in Archon town. The scene, it felt extremely… familiar.

Julian then very slowly backed away as he very quietly whispered, “Guidance… show me the Master of Shadow’s progress.”

[Master of Shadows Quest]

Craft 10 [Epic] Grade weapons and offer them to the shadows. (1/10).

“...Oooh.”