Chapter 1 - Chapter 1

The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 1The Boss Wants to DieChapter 1

Chapter 1

The Boss Wants to Die

[An intruder has appeared!]

I snapped awake from a dead sleep.

Ding, ding.

[An intruder! It is time to teach a lesson to the lowly human who dares challenge the Evil God's authority!]

“Here we go again.”

I sighed heavily and dismissed the frantically blinking system window.

The days when the word “intruder” made me tense up to face players were long gone.

Now, my dominant feeling was utter apathy, wondering what kind of gnat it would be this time.

I knew all too well that I was far too powerful to be startled by every single intruder.

To make matters worse, this month had been exceptionally boring, with only weaklings showing up.

“Dealing with greenhorns gets old fast.”

I was bored out of my mind.

It was almost impossible to believe this place was inside a game made for entertainment.

“What kind of game is this? I'm dying of boredom! If it's going to be like this, just let me log out!”

That was right.

I was trapped inside a game.

And not even as a player—I was stuck in the body of the ‘final boss monster.’

‘Crazy bastard...’

It was a fact that depressed me every time, but it felt agonizing all over again.

I was sick of dwelling on how things had turned out this way.

Digging my own grave with self-pity was a waste of time; what mattered was the simple fact that I had to die to log out.

And thanks to these incompetent players, I had been rotting away inside this game for six whole years.

All because the players failed to defeat the boss every single time.

‘Seriously, how do you fail a raid for six years straight?’

It was absurd.

A balance patch was desperately needed, but what was the point of whining about game balance when I couldn't even log out?

Besides, perhaps because I hadn't logged in normally but was anomalously plugged into a boss monster, my real-world memories were almost completely gone, barely surfacing no matter how hard I tried.

The only thing I could recall about the real world was that virtual reality games had become an absolute craze with the advent of cutting-edge hardware.

At first, I didn't even realize I was the final boss of the game.

‘I only found out because every player who came to see me grumbled that the final boss was way too overpowered.’

The problem was that despite my strange circumstances, I had no trouble functioning as a boss monster.

If six years had passed since logging into the game, my physical body in the real world should naturally have died.

How could a human survive for six years without drinking water or using the bathroom?

Because of that, I hadn't worried much in the beginning.

Seeing that my real body was somehow still alive, I firmly believed that the game company was handling the situation, or that research was underway at the national level—that someone was working on it.

But as one month turned into one year, the terrifying reality sank in: I couldn't just sit around twiddling my thumbs.

I couldn't rely on an incompetent game company.

I had to get out of here on my own.

So, after scraping together every clue, I finally figured out the way to log out—yet there wasn't a single soul strong enough to kill me.

I had even tried killing myself, but the game system prevented it.

‘Just you wait until I wake up. I'm going to tear everything apart.’

Fueled once again by my futile urge to sue everyone responsible, I pulled myself up.

“Evil God! Evil God! An intruder!”

My bat familiar, Heart, flew over, blinking its single eye in rapid succession.

“How many?”

“Just one person!”

‘Alone?’

That was rare. I tilted my head.

“Class?”

“A priest! Probably!”

“Probably?”

The bat's heart-shaped cyclopean eye rolled with uncertainty.

“He's wearing priest robes, but I'm not entirely sure!”

“If he's wearing priest robes, he's a priest. Don't you know player attire is locked to their class?”

“Well, yes, but...”

‘Has he lost his mind?’

Landing on the sofa, the bat rolled left and right, shaking its body unconvincingly.

Class gear could only be equipped by that specific class, so there was no reason to be confused, yet he was hesitating strangely.

‘I'll need to re-summon him soon.’

Deciding he was malfunctioning, I shook my head and stepped out of the room.

“Polymorph.”

Since a player had arrived, I had to greet them in the terrifying form of the Evil God.

As I muttered the incantation, the pajamas I was wearing vanished as if consumed by black flames, and the Evil God's dress materialized, dyeing upward from my toes like seeping ink.

The voluminous train of the evening gown, crafted from countless layers of pitch-black chiffon, draped behind my hips like a creeping shadow.

A pointed, cage-like silver tiara sat atop thick, wavy black locks.

Blood-red ruby earrings dangled menacingly, looking as though they had been carved from congealed blood.

Smoky makeup in shades of ash and black deepened the sinister aura, finished with crimson lipstick vivid enough to make me look like I had just devoured live prey.

With this, the Evil God was complete.

“Heart. Come here. Check my appearance.”

A final check was essential before stepping into the Grand Hall to greet the player.

Only by cultivating a truly terrifying reputation would large-scale player raid parties occasionally come to slay me.

To someone desperate for death, maintaining an authentic Evil God appearance was of utmost importance.

As I twirled in the corridor, the one-eyed bat with the heart-shaped eye fluttered around me and chattered away.

“You are beautiful!”

“I shouldn't look beautiful. I need to look terrifying.”

“I can feel your majesty as the Evil God!”

“Should I add a scar to my face?”

“Wouldn't that be difficult right now? The player is waiting for you in the Grand Hall!”

Ignoring Heart's words, I muttered under my breath.

“Change Polymorph.”

[Do you wish to change your registered Polymorph appearance? Once changed, a Polymorph appearance cannot be reverted.]

“Change.”

[Failed to change Polymorph appearance.

Required Materials:

- 20 sheets of Formless Slime Paper.

- 1 bottle of Magic-imbued Ink.]

“Phew...”

Sighing, I dismissed the system window.

Slimes only spawned in hunting grounds meant for novice players, so I couldn't obtain the materials myself.

Where could an Evil God, the final boss, possibly go?

My entire range of movement was confined to this gloomy dungeon of a Demon Castle.

“Heart. Go hide. You look too cute; you're undermining my majesty.”

“Yes!”

Seemingly pleased by the compliment, Heart let out a cheerful giggle and concealed himself in a corner of the ceiling.

Clearing my throat, I forced my voice into a lower register and straightened my posture.

It was time to meet the player.

[Evil God Hellroad, who slumbered beneath the veil of darkness, has awakened.]

A majestic score announced the Evil God's entrance, sending tremors through the Grand Hall.

The moment my black high heels clicked against the marble floor, the bombastic music cut off sharply.

An extreme stillness, broken only by the breathing of boss and player, pulled the air taut.

Relishing the tension, I revealed myself fully.

Even in my own eyes, it was an impeccable entrance.

Casting my long eyelashes downward with practiced elegance, I scanned the area beneath the dais.

A male character standing upright was staring directly up at me without so much as blinking.

“What little rat has wandered in?”

As I delivered the Evil God's bloodcurdling line while looking him up and down, a sudden wave of dissonance struck me, and my eyes flew wide open.

‘Huh?’

My eyelashes fluttered like black butterfly wings.

No matter how many times I looked, the man's attire made zero sense.

‘That's it?’

I was the final boss of this game.

Naturally, players arrived at the Demon Castle's Grand Hall armed to the teeth.

In this game, higher-level equipment was inevitably flashier.

Consequently, players who had farmed their hearts out usually glowed like fireflies.

Weapons imbued with all manner of sparkling effects.

Exorbitantly expensive plate armor forged from mithril ingots.

Robes dripping with gems so costly they made your jaw drop.

Fully geared players decked out in their class-specific flamboyance bordered on looking comical.

Yet this man wore nothing but a tattered black priest robe.

Without a single weapon.

And what was more...

‘His vibe is a bit much for a priest...’

Now I understood why Heart had hesitated.

Rather than a priest, he looked closer to some demon-type demi-human clad in black.

If I hadn't looked closely to verify that his outfit belonged to a holy class, I might have mistaken him for a vampire.

Faint shadows hung beneath his dark eyes, half-shielded by white eyelashes that gave him a decadent air.

His slightly chapped lips looked less fatigued and more sensually bruised, as if roughened by deep, wanton kisses.

‘I've never seen anyone look so downright erotic.’

Even his waist-length white hair fell in disarray like hazy cigarette smoke, heightening the decadent aura.

He looked like the sort who would seduce women with his looks just to rip out their livers or drain their blood.

‘Still, strangely enough, he doesn't give off gigolo vibes. Is it because he's built like a brick wall?’

Judging by his physique alone, he belonged in the berserker or warrior class.

He was a massive giant of a man, easily clearing 190 centimeters.

No matter how I looked at him, he didn't resemble a priest in the slightest.

I almost rubbed my eyes, completely forgetting my dignity as the Evil God, before barely catching myself.

Instead, I shifted my gaze to check the level floating above the man's head.

Lv. 10

“...”

Did I see that right?

Narrowing my eyes, I checked the level again.

Lv. 10

10?

10...?

Hold on.

‘Not 100, but 10?!’

That made no sense.

‘I must be seeing things. A bug must be displaying his level wrong.’

I pulled up the man's equipment window.

While I couldn't see a player's skills, achievements, or experience points, I could inspect their equipment and level.

[Lv. 10]

[Novice's Priest Robe.

A robe worn by an acolyte. It is frayed and worn out in several places.]

I finally gave in and rubbed my eyes. The equipment window remained unchanged.

The man was wearing the basic starter robe provided upon class advancement.

Which meant he had braved the Demonic Boundary and reached the Demon God's Great Hall wearing just that.

A level 10 novice priest—and all by himself.