“Is it true that you’re a genetically non-viable individual, Julian Winters!? You’re not allowed to procreate because you have a mental illness!?”

  And just like that, The vibrant chaos of the red carpet fell silent.

  First, everyone turned their heads to the one who asked the question, wondering if they were crazy. Even in the cutthroat world of paparazzi and journalism, where outrageous questions were often asked for a reaction, there were still unspoken lines.

  And this man had just crossed one.

  Most of the journalists who were already aware of Julian also knew his condition. Yes, he was blind, and yes, he was mentally challenged. The blindness perhaps could have been talked about, but the mental illness? That was a sure way to kill your career as a journalist as people have always been sensitive to such topics.

  There is really only one type of paparazzi that would ask such a question, someone who’s in the pockets of those who want Julian Winters down.

  And for someone who had just been in the limelight for what could be considered a blink of an eye, the way Julian would react to this would decide his fate as a celebrity. Fortunately for him, it would seem he had a MEGAN to answer all of the questions for him.

  But to everyone’s surprise, however… Julian opened his mouth to answer.

  “I am.” And as soon as the words came out of his mouth, a small grin escaped Kitty’s lips—truly, Julian Winters is just a boy who knew nothing of showbusiness. He wasn’t trained at all… well, that was what she thought.

  What no one realized was that Julian knew exactly what to say. Years of therapy had trained him for moments like this

  How to act in public, how to use his disability as an advantage, how to blend in, what to say, etc. Of course, he had no chance to actually use any of that training at all. He kept to himself on Earth, and when he went to Artemia, it became useless as the people and culture there were completely different.

  But right now, with a single smile from him, the silence that persisted became even more prevalent.

  “I am registered as a GNVI,” Julian said, turning his shoulder toward the man who had asked the question. His movement allowed the cameras to capture every angle of his striking face. “That is why I will forever be thankful to all of you who tolerate and accommodate me.”

  He paused, turning to Ellie. His expression softened as he gently took her hand. “And, of course, to my beautiful partner, who has stood by me my entire life, supporting me despite my condition.”

  With effortless grace, Julian placed his cane behind his back and bowed, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Ellie’s hand, making them look even more like a royal couple.

  “And…” Julian continued, raising his head to tilt it toward his shoulder, “...to MEGAN.”

  The holographic figure of MEGAN stretched her tiny arms wide and hugged his face, her bright smile only adding to the moment.

  The crowd erupted in flashes, each journalist and paparazzi trying to capture the scene from every angle. Some even attempted to find a flaw in the image, but it was impossible. Julian and Ellie, in their unique attire, were undeniably the most elegant couple on the red carpet.

  But the man who had asked the inflammatory question wasn’t finished. Pushing through the crowd again, he raised his voice once more—he had a mission, after all.

  “Speaking of Ms. Ellie—there are rumors that she was in trouble with some loan sharks from the Below. Was she involved in drugs?”

  Julian tilted his head slightly at the question, his calm demeanor unwavering. “Are you asking if Ellie is a drug addict?”

  And the directness caught the man off guard. “...Yes?”

  “Then why didn’t you ask that in the first place?” And as Julian chuckled softly, everyone else seemed to do the same, smirking at their colleague and relishing the fact that he was being outplayed in his own game,

  “Still, the answer would be no. Where did you even get information?”

  Julian’s tone was incredibly lighthearted, with no trace of any malice or anger to it at all, which was truly catching the paparazzi off-guard.

  “I… well, I heard some rumors.” The paparazzi stammered.

  “Rumors?” Julian clicked his tongue playfully, shaking his head. “Tch, tch, tch. And here I thought I was the GNVI.”

  “Pft.”

  The subtle jab sent ripples of laughter through the crowd, leaving the man visibly embarrassed as he sank into the crowd, disappearing in shame.

  [Nice going, Julian,] MEGAN whispered in his mind. [Good to see all those years in therapy didn’t go to waste. Now, leave the talking to me—just smile and look pretty.]

  The paparazzi still had tons of questions, but unfortunately for them, Julian was no longer indulging any questions. But fortunately for them, MEGAN seemed eager to talk to them. But once again, unfortunately, there was no use trying to get something from an AI, and they would more than likely only be used for free promotion… like they already did with their attire for the night.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  As for Kitty, well, she had to stay and smile as it was tradition to meet the artist behind her—but out of all the people, why would it be Julian Winters?

  She had no choice, however, as she approached the couple with a smile on her face, “It’s nice to finally meet you, Julian Winters. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “And I have also heard so much about you.” Julian took the initiative to stretch out his hand. And as soon as he did so, Ellie took a step back to give the two some space—with MEGAN also transferring to her shoulder.

  “I hope not too much,” Kitty softly chuckled as she shook Julian’s hand, and then held it while carefully placing her hand on Julian’s back, guiding him for a photo before whispering into his ear, “I like to keep a lot of things secret, after all.”

  “Hm.”

  “And you have to be very careful of that Cyrus, he might seem friendly now… but he has ulterior motives,” Kitty said, the tone of her words in complete contrast to the tone of her voice, “Trust me.”

  “Hm.” Julian hummed again in response, and this time, he was the one who leaned closer to Kitty, “Why would I trust you when you sent that man to ask me some interesting questions?”

  “What!?” Kitty’s eyes widened for a moment but quickly returned with a smile as she finally removed her hand from Julian’s back. She looked at Julian for a bit, focusing on his eyes as she thought he could actually see, but no.

  Now that they were close, it was obvious that Julian’s eyes weren’t real at all. She remained still for a moment, before letting out a soft chuckle and just moving away from him.

  As for Julian, he just once again stretched his hand, and Ellie returned to his side. He doesn’t know why, but even though his senses were being overly stimulated by all the things happening at the same time, a sense of excitement was also somewhat growing inside him.

  He should be preparing to go to Artemia by now to craft some weapons, he also promised Juliet they would be working on the armor she designed. But… this night might just prove to be fun for him too.

  ***

  Perhaps he spoke too soon. After the initial entry to the red carpet, it was as if everything had just been repeated.

  As soon as he got inside the venue, there were once again reporters there who took photos of them and asked questions. But unlike the people around the red carpet, the questions the people asked inside were much more sophisticated and professional.

  …But sophisticated and professional were boring.

  They asked about how long he and Ellie had been together, whether they were planning to get married, what was his relationship with Humanity Engineering, etc. And then they had to pose and smile, and then pose and smile again.

  It was… even more exhausting than fighting the monsters of Artemia. Fortunately for him, MEGAN and Ellie were keen to answer the questions for him. It wasn’t until they were seated at their table that they were finally able to rest and relax.

  Those at their circular table, however, couldn’t even watch the awarding that was going on and were missing everything.

  The reason?

  Kitty.

  There was obvious tension between the two, mostly coming from Kitty as she was staring and glaring at Julian enough to bore a hole in him. Figuratively, of course. And… it also didn’t help that Julian actually confronted her.

  “I can feel you staring at me,” he said as he turned his shoulder slightly in her direction, “Is there still something you wanted to say to me?”

  Ellie, who was sitting beside Julian, slightly leaned away as she didn’t also appreciate the way Kitty was looking at him. She did not say anything, however, as she didn’t want to create anything that could be used as an issue by the media.

  And now that they were somewhat far away from the eyes of the paparazzi, Kitty dropped all the pretense, her tone quite… aggressive as she leaned on the table and said,

  “First of all, I want to tell you that I am not usually like this. I try to be as hospitable and friendly as possible to people—but there’s a dynamic here that I can’t ignore.”

  “Hm?”

  “Vijya Thacker.” Kitty muttered, “He is part of my party, and the last time I heard of him was that he was with you and some other people at Humanity Engineering—a secret mission for players with unique classes, he said.”

  “I believe that’s supposed to be a secret.” Julian sighed.

  “And he also contacted me while he was on the asteroid, and he told me that you and he got into some sort of altercation,” Kitty leaned even closer, “That was the last time I spoke to him. I know how… bigoted the man can be. Did… you do something to him?”

  “No.” Julian hummed, “But he did attack me while we were on Artemia, and Humanity Engineering saw it.”

  “Fuck…” Kitty closed her eyes, “...That was fucking stupid. Look, I’m sorry.”

  “Hm?”

  “I just thought you did something, that’s why I’m a little agitated at you,” Kitty let out a long and deep sigh, “And you’re creepy. You just appeared out of nowhere and became famous all of a sudden. Honestly, I still think you’re some sort of industry plant or something… how could you have been undetected this entire time? Like… where did you even come from?”

  “Do believe me when I say that I also don’t know why I’m famous.” Julian smiled, “I just merely wanted to know what it felt like to be able to see—nothing more.”

  “Huh…” Kitty once again sighed as she finally leaned away, “...Let’s party sometime in Artemia. Although… I’m actually in Gnarfolk territory right now, and you’d probably die if you came with us. Never mind. You’re… a Blacksmith, right?”

  “Yes.” Julian’s face slightly lit up as she asked that.

  “We… might actually need you,” Kitty’s tone turned serious, “Let’s talk about this some other time. You’re about to go up.”

  “Go up?” Julian muttered, “What do you mean?”

  “They are announcing the nominees for the Newcomer award,” Kitty scoffed before chuckling, “But honestly, everyone here knows it’s you—I mean, they haven’t announced the names yet, but everyone’s already looking at you.”

  And true enough, almost unceremoniously—

  [...And I think we all knew this was going to happen! The winner of the Newcomer’s Award is Mr. Julian Winters!]

  “We love you, Sword Junkie!”

  “Giga Chad!”

  Julian tilted his head to the side with the sudden roars and cheers that were directed at him—it was… too much. All the voices, however, instantly faded away as he felt the warmth of Ellie’s hands embracing his arm.

  “So…” Ellie whispered to her as she helped him up the seat, “...Shall we go, Mr. Bigshot? You did prepare a speech, right?”

  “MEGAN prepared it for—Hm?”

  And before he and Ellie could even take a step away from their table, the hairs on the back of Julian’s head all stood up.

  He quickly tapped his cane on the floor, letting him feel everything around him as the vibration rippled across. He felt the people, the chairs, the entire large hall… but there was something else.

  Something growing, something emerging.

  “What’s wrong, Julian Winters?” Kitty stopped clapping as she saw Julian’s expression turning serious, his hand gripping the cane tighter. She was going to jeer and ask if he was getting nervous, but this wasn’t the expression of someone who was getting nervous—Kitty was very familiar with this kind of sudden tense.

  He was getting ready to fight.

  But what?

  “MEGAN…” Julian whispered, “...Take Ellie to safety.”

  “Hmn?” Ellie blinked a couple of times as she heard Julian whispering. But before she could ask what was going on, everyone’s attention suddenly went to the ceiling.

  “What’s… that?”

  It was a crack.

  A crack in space, opening slowly.

  A Portal, and from it, something fell.

  A nightmare.

  Daemons.

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