The Boss Wants to Die

Chapter 20

The Boss Wants to Die

Akt had lost his mind and was babbling nonsense.

“I’ll do my best so you won’t ever be lonely again. So let’s die together.”

I felt it every single time, but Akt Hevgenia really was completely out of his mind.

“The Evil God is powerless. Pierce both our hearts with that sword.”

Akt smiled toward Michael.

“Isn’t that what you came here for?”

Michael was truly the kind of bastard who wouldn’t hesitate to kill us both.

Sure enough, he drew his Holy Sword.

We were well within range—all it would take was thrusting that longsword forward to kill us.

My throat burned dry.

‘Even Akt dying… I…!’

This wasn’t what I wanted.

If I died, couldn’t Akt just brush it off and move on?

This was just a game.

He had an unusual experience with a boss monster.

Couldn’t it just be remembered as that and nothing more?

It wasn’t supposed to be like this….

Yet I couldn’t bring myself to scream at Michael not to kill us.

‘I can’t stop him. I… I….’

I have to die.

My eyes grew hot with tears.

In any case, Akt was a player, so even if he died, he would just respawn at the Sanctuary.

So why was my heart breaking like this?

“Kill us! Michael Louvre!”

The moment Akt roared in fury, Michael—who had been poised to lunge at us—froze in his tracks.

His vivid blue eyes rested on Akt and me for a long time.

In an instant, he was drenched in cold sweat, his expression a mask of confusion.

It was a face I had seen often.

‘Why is he suddenly acting like that?’

The moment I wondered in bewilderment, the Holy Sword slipped from his grasp.

Clang!

The high-grade sword hit the floor, ringing out like shattering glass.

That Michael—a level 230 player—dropped his weapon and stumbled backward.

He clamped one hand over his mouth with all his might, desperately holding back a scream.

His face was deathly pale, as though he had seen a ghost.

Pressing his back flat against the wall, he shook his head.

It was a reaction of sheer disbelief.

‘What’s going on?’

I wasn’t the only one who found Michael’s reaction strange.

When I turned my head to look back, Akt was frowning as well.

“You….”

“Th-this, this is….”

At Akt’s questioning, Michael gasped for breath.

‘Things are going wrong.’

A strange anxiety seized me, and as I licked my dry lips, Akt suddenly burst into laughter.

I can say with absolute certainty that whenever he laughed like that, nothing good ever happened to me.

“You can’t kill us, can you?”

“Why? Why are you suddenly doing this? This is your chance. Kill me! Just me, please? Even if it’s only my heart! Michael!”

Tears threatened to spill from my eyes.

I was finally about to die.

Things had gone slightly off track from the plan, but still.

Still, I was finally going to die.

Finally.

After six long years, at last….

“Please? Kill me, Michael. Michael!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Michael looked at me.

His eyes scanned my face carefully, as if confirming something, and tears spilled in torrents down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I… I can’t kill you.”

“…What?”

With that, he fled through the window.

Leaving the Holy Sword behind.

A cold wind howled through the silence.

Akt and I remained frozen in the same posture, staring at the window.

Before long, I felt the strength binding me gently loosen.

Unable to contain my agitation, I pulled away from him.

As Akt’s warmth vanished from my back, a chill raced across my skin.

“A pity your plan went awry.”

“This makes no sense.”

Clutching my head, I paced around the room in circles.

“What did you do to Michael?”

“Nothing.”

After answering, Akt rolled his eyes toward the ceiling for a moment before adding,

“Or should I say I did?”

“Are you playing word games with me right now? I’m not in the mood for this!”

“Neither am I.”

The amusement vanished from Akt’s face.

“Neither am I. I’m in no mood to play around either.”

“….”

“You just reminded me of my place.”

Walking closer to me, Akt bent down.

His sinister, low voice buzzed right beside my ear.

A growl rose in his throat, like an abandoned, wounded dog on the verge of biting its master.

Yet Akt did not bite me.

He merely murmured, clinging to me once again.

“You kindly showed me that you have zero interest in my happiness, that you just found me insolent and wanted to make a fool of me. How could I crack jokes without a care after that?”

“Glad you understand.”

I slapped away his hand as he tried to touch my hair.

I intended to use this chance to completely sever the strange attachment Akt harbored for me.

Things couldn’t go on like this; it was dangerous.

Our relationship had deepened far beyond what I had ever imagined.

If this continued, it would hold me back when the time came to die.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“Isn’t it only natural for me to screw you over however I can?”

“….”

“Did you expect the Evil God to do you a good turn?”

It was easy to channel those emotions.

All I had to do was recall what the player kind had done to me all this time.

Akt Hevgenia had already admitted himself that, aside from not killing me, he was no different from any other player.

“I know having to deal with someone like me is the tragedy of a boss monster.”

Yes, he was right.

That was my sorrow.

Waking up confused in the Demon Castle, only to be showered with attacks.

Enduring players spewing curses at me for being an unkillable final boss.

Dealing with players who came back stronger just to beat me down even harder.

Doing that agonizing routine for six years.

Six whole years.

Even when I desperately tried to pull myself together and initiate a conversation, what came of it?

Didn’t they just torture me with fascination, like a child crushing ants?

No, did they even give me a chance to ask?

Before I knew it, I had grown completely accustomed to acting like the Evil God.

Because that was the norm.

Because everyone believed that was how it should be.

So asking me to show a different attitude now—wasn’t that utterly shameless?

“What on earth do you expect from me?”

“A person.”

Biting my lower lip, I looked up at him.

Akt’s voice was calm.

“Not a boss monster. I just want you to be a person.”

Laughter burst from me out of nowhere.

I waved my hands dismissively, laughing so hard that the sound rang sharply through the air.

“Akt. No matter how peculiarly kind you are to me, I’m a monster. That’s an unchangeable fact.”

“….”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at this collar? You put it on me yourself.”

I dangled the silver chain in front of his eyes for him to see.

“What human puts something like this on another person?”

“I needed it to bring you out of the Demon Castle.”

“That’s exactly my point. No matter how much I pretend to be human, a monster is still a monster. One that can’t even leave the Demon Castle without a leash.”

“….”

“This collar reminds me of my place. Always.”

I brushed my hair back.

I felt drained, devoid of all energy.

A familiar, long-held resignation washed over me.

“We’re in a relationship where we have no choice but to resent each other. You’re a player, and I’m a monster. What else can we do? What can I do about my lot in life?”

“….”

“So don’t expect me to be human.”

“Then what about a girlfriend?”

The sudden question made me stammer.

“What? What did you say?”

“A girlfriend. You can date a monster, can’t you?”

“No? What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“It’s possible.”

Akt took a long breath to compose himself.

Caught between anger and shock, I couldn’t sort out my feelings and merely babbled incoherently.

With his dark eyes reflecting my flustered face completely, Akt whispered,

“…We could become… lovers.”

“Do you seriously think that’s possible?”

“My love doesn’t discriminate between species.”

Even after all I’d said, was he still not in his right mind?

Interrogations like Do you feel like joking right now? hovered on the tip of my tongue, blocked by the gloomy, heavy silence.

Akt said nothing more.

He simply looked down at the floor, despondent.

The breath I had inhaled to scream felt like it was stabbing me from the inside.

My brow furrowed, and the corners of my mouth contorted awkwardly.

Only after rummaging through my mind for what felt like ages could I finally part my lips.

“You don’t truly love me anyway.”

This was inside a game.

That was always the problem.

Akt’s dark eyes fixed on me.

“Even assuming real romance is possible… have you even known me for a month?”

“….”

“You players are all the same.”

Akt neither denied nor confirmed it.

I wanted to grab him by the collar and shake him, demanding he say something, but I held back because I already knew:

No matter what he said, I wouldn’t believe him.

“Then is this the end? The lover thing, all of it?”

Akt Hevgenia pulled up a chair in my room as if it were his own and sat down, pulling a bottle of liquor from his inventory as he asked.

As he uncorked the bottle, an uncommon grimace twisted his brow.

He seemed to be suffering from a severe migraine.

“I hope it’s not the end.”

Despite the pain, Akt stubbornly forced out the words.

“Being lovers, the contract, the happiness. I want to keep going. Can’t we?”

“….”

“Give me just a little more of a chance. I’ll do better.”

To the very end.

To the bitter end, Akt clung to me. Tirelessly.

How could he be like this?

Did Akt have no pride at all?

No matter what, he was still human, so how could he…?

Shaking my head, I spoke.

“Even after hearing all that from me, you still want to play at romance? Where is your pride?”