The Boss Wants to Die

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The Boss Wants to Die

“You told me I shouldn’t kill the Evil God.”

Michael pressed a hand against his burning forehead and whispered in a weak, raspy voice.

“And then the world…”

Deep furrows creased Michael’s brow as he struggled to remember.

“Went dark.”

“…”

“I don’t understand what happened.”

“I’m sure you don’t.”

Akt replied cynically as he uncrossed his arms.

Akt’s eyes, dark and deep as an abyss, turned to Michael.

All that vibrant life from before was gone, leaving behind only scorched darkness and gloom.

‘When did he change like that?’

While Michael silently wondered, Akt tilted his head.

“Are you going to kill the Evil God this time too?”

“…No.”

Michael Iruvre grabbed fistfuls of his hair, wracked with agony.

A pained groan slipped from his lips.

Akt simply watched him with sunken, unreadable eyes.

“I don’t understand what’s going on. Why is the Evil God alive? I definitely, definitely… killed the Evil God with my own hands.”

The sensation of cleaving bone and tearing through muscle was chillingly vivid.

It had to be a past memory, yet goosebumps prickled across his entire body as though he had slain the Evil God just moments ago.

Watching Michael tremble, Akt sneered.

“Michael. You always miss the point. You never did get good grades when studying scripture, did you?”

Color slowly rushed into Michael’s face.

Akt tossed a peanut into his mouth.

It was impossible to believe this was the same man who had wept so desperately.

“Are you completely fine? Back then, you were…”

…crying like that.

As if cursing the entire world.

“I look fine to you?”

Akt’s dark pupils slid over to lock onto Michael.

The moment their eyes met, an unexplainable shiver ran down Michael’s spine.

“Fine? Me?”

Akt suddenly burst into laughter.

The cold, twisted sound rattled Michael to the bone like jarring dissonance.

“You lost the one you love.”

Michael barely managed to withstand the eerie pressure rolling off Akt and spoke up.

“And I’m the one who made that happen.”

“…”

“Yet here you are, talking to me. To the person who killed the Evil God. Do you really think this is normal?”

“Hey, Michael.”

The laughter vanished from Akt’s face as he called out in a low, heavy voice.

“Lost the one I love? What are you talking about?”

“…”

“The Evil God is alive. Safe and sound.”

“But—”

“Michael.”

Akt grabbed the back of Michael’s neck in a chokehold and yanked his face close.

In an instant, they were close enough for the bridges of their noses to touch.

Up close, Akt’s dark eyes were pitch-black, like an infernal abyss ready to swallow everything whole.

“You see, people… they play tricks on themselves sometimes. They drive a safety pin into their brains so they don’t lose their minds completely. Do you know why?”

“…”

“Because there’s something more important. Letting go, giving up, collapsing… that would be easy. But because something matters more than that, you can’t afford to go crazy, so you trick yourself.”

Akt glared straight at Michael and continued.

“I have to keep moving, even if I have to force myself. Where would I find the time to grieve? Huh? Where do I have the luxury to wallow in those feelings?”

“…”

“Beating you down right here and torturing you wouldn’t even begin to satisfy me. But would that change anything?”

“…”

“All it would do is vent my completely useless hatred.”

Revenge is a luxury.

It’s a luxury you can only afford when you have room to breathe!

Akt shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Even while I’m being overwhelmed by my own emotions, the Evil God is in pain! Every single second I waste tightens the noose around the Evil God’s neck, so how could I…”

“…”

“How could I possibly pull that pin from my head and indulge myself? Huh?”

Michael was utterly overpowered, unable to utter a single word.

“Well? Can you still wag that tongue of yours? Still want to say the Evil God is dead?”

“…”

“Answer me. Is the Evil God dead?”

“A-Alive.”

“That’s right. Alive.”

Akt replied with an expressionless face.

“That’s what matters.”

He finally released Michael’s neck.

Akt had gripped it so tightly that as blood rushed back in, Michael’s head spun.

While Michael clutched his forehead and gasped for breath, Akt wetted his throat with beer and spoke coldly.

“Since your comprehension seems lacking, I’ll spell it out for you. You went back to the past. That’s why the Evil God is fine. Simple, right?”

“But you…”

Akt hadn’t grown any younger.

If anything, his entire aura had shifted, as if he alone had aged.

“What matters is,”

Akt cut Michael off once more.

“how you came to remember that. Did you know from the start?”

“…It wasn’t complete at first.”

Thoroughly cowed by Akt, Michael answered meekly.

“There were suspicious things. Like my unusually high Search skill…”

“And?”

“I left the Sanctuary a bit early to find out the truth. I was looking for you, but things started getting stranger.”

When he encountered the Evil God, Michael had felt a chilling warning.

An unpleasant sensation crept through his entire body, and he had no idea why he felt that way.

So he had vaguely assumed it was because the Evil God was inherently sinister.

Looking back now, it hadn’t been because of the Evil God; it was a warning sent by memories etched into his soul.

That he must not kill the Evil God.

“Most of my memories returned after I met you. When I was about to kill the Evil God, that is.”

Akt recalled Michael dropping the Holy Sword and scrambling out the window.

Even thinking about it now, the scene was slightly comical.

“They came back when you met me?”

“Yeah. Even now, my memories are getting clearer. It’s definitely because I met you again.”

As Akt chewed over Michael’s words, a sudden realization struck his mind.

“Ah…”

And the second he grasped how things were playing out, he spat out a curse.

“Ah, damn it.”

Akt cursed under his breath in a casual tone and drained his beer.

Then he badgered the owner, who was still cowering on the floor, to bring more liquor.

While waiting for the fresh drink, he chewed peanuts irritably, letting fly every curse in the book.

Michael stared at Akt with wide eyes.

For much the same reason as Rowoon.

He had never seen Akt curse like that in his entire life.

‘He was never the type to swear. When did his mouth get so foul?’

Akt muttered curses to himself, pressed his forehead as if battling a throbbing migraine, and then cursed again in an endless loop.

When the owner finally brought more alcohol, Akt downed the brain-freezing cold beer in a single gulp.

By then, Michael sensed the gravity of the situation.

“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“Listen to me, Michael.”

Akt let out a heavy sigh, reeking of strong alcohol.

His expression looked ready to flip the table at any second.

“If being influenced by me made you remember what happened ‘before’… what about the other players?”

“The other players?”

“Do you still not get it? You aren’t the only player who killed Rowoon.”

Michael fell into confusion.

“That means…”

“It means there are more players in this world who have killed the Evil God.”

Irritated by Michael’s slow uptake, Akt rubbed his face aggressively.

“If those bastards have faint memories too… Damn it. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it is.”

“…”

“And when they meet me? Their memories will become clearer.”

Damn it. Akt slammed his beer glass down roughly and ground his teeth.

Michael still couldn’t understand.

“What’s the problem with that?”

“They don’t know the full story. You’re the only one who saw me bawling like an idiot, Michael.”

Akt explained.

“Once their memories return, they’ll try to kill the Evil God the exact same way to reap the EXP and items the Evil God drops.”

“…What? But—”

“Michael. When you killed the Evil God, you must have realized something was wrong. Because I lost my mind and couldn’t control my power.”

Akt swept back his fallen hair and sighed.

“Your emotions synced with mine, so even without knowing the details, you realized killing the Evil God wasn’t the ‘correct answer.’ I’ll say it again: back then, I was inexperienced.”

“…”

“But not the other players. They might have felt something was off, but that’s it. They won’t know the Evil God’s death was a ‘failure.’”

“…”

“They’ll think they struck gold. Because in their memories, they basically have a walkthrough for conquering the Evil God.”

Michael finally understood.

“Then once they meet the conditions, they’ll immediately come for the Evil God.”

“Finally caught up, have you?”

“But isn’t killing the Evil God just as difficult? She’s the final boss. One who hasn’t fallen in six years.”

“Did you forget that final boss wants to die more than anyone else?”

Michael fell silent, at a loss for words. Akt let out a sigh.

“Things just got royally fucked.”

Having vented his fury, he seemed reasonably calm now, rubbing his tired eyelids after getting worked up for the first time in a while.

“What needs to be done is simple anyway, so we just have to adjust the plan.”

Even though he had to start all over from scratch, Akt seemed completely unfazed.

Even though all his carefully laid plans had been rendered useless.

Where had the man gone who was once overwhelmed and lost, unable to endure his first despair?

Faced with the sudden atmosphere of wrapping things up, Michael awkwardly pushed himself up from his seat.

“So you’ll have to help me, Michael. As a fellow priest from the Sanctuary.”