The Boss Wants to Die

Chapter 4

The back of my neck throbbed.

“Then at least take this collar off! If you’re not going to kill me, what’s the point of this? Take it off and go back to a sanctuary or get the hell back to your city!”

“I’m sorry.”

The man shook his head with a gloomy look on his face.

I felt so frustrated my chest was about to burst.

I thumped my chest like a gorilla, trying to swallow my anger.

Akt tilted his head slightly, staring intently at me.

His dazzling white hair spread out smoothly over his black priest robes like freshly spun cotton thread.

With an unshakeable, calm look, he offered:

“It looks like we both have a lot to say. Why don’t we have a chat over tea? Black tea would be good to calm you down, right?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Do I look like it?”

At my fed-up question, a slow smile leaked from his chapped lips.

“……You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you?”

“Are you seriously some demonic race or something? A vampire? An incubus? Or just a demon itself?”

“No way. I’m a priest. Look.”

Wearing a genial smile, the man nonchalantly pointed to his priest robes, but I looked into his pitch-black, lightless eyes and let his words go in one ear and out the other.

“Don’t lie! What kind of priest looks like you…….”

I looked him up and down thoroughly.

That decadent gaze, those chapped lips.

“Looks like you……!”

“Like me?”

The man asked back with a subtle, smiling gaze.

Feeling my face heat up, I bit my lower lip.

“What kind of priest looks as lewd as you do!”

“Can I take that as a compliment? I’m honored.”

“It’s not a compliment!”

“Thank you. That feels nice.”

Listen to me!

He poked out his bright red tongue and licked his chapped lips once.

I jerked my head away.

His face just made people flustered for no reason.

“Stop wasting my time and kill me.”

“I’m not going to kill you. Even if you keep asking, you’ll only get the same answer.”

“If you don’t kill me, I’ll kill you!”

“My name is Akt Hevgenia.”

The man said whatever he wanted, regardless of what I babbled.

He was quite something in many ways.

“Let’s leave the Demon Castle. You’ll feel better once we do.”

“As long as I don’t die, I’ll keep feeling like—. Wait.”

I pricked up my ears.

“What did you just say?”

“Weren’t you bored?”

I looked at him blankly with wide eyes.

“The Demon Castle is boring, isn’t it? Let’s go out and look around anywhere you want.”

“Leave the Demon Castle? Here?”

I looked toward the tightly shut gates of the Demon Castle.

For six years, I had never once crossed those doors.

In this place without a single person, I had endured the tedious passage of time alone with a bat familiar, my only conversational partner.

Defeat the players who only thought of killing me, sleep, talk with Heart.

Defeat, sleep, talk with Heart…….

Six long, tedious years filled with only these three things flashed through my mind.

‘I can get out of here?’

My hands trembled faintly.

I was confident I could fill a pond with just the tears of frustration and anger I had shed in front of the Demon Castle gates.

There had been countless attempts.

Skill barrages.

Incantations.

Searches.

Physical attacks.

Yet none of them had worked.

I was nothing more than a boss monster trapped, unable to take even a single step outside the Demon Castle.

The ferocious, cruel Evil God guarding the Demon Castle.

That was me.

“The Demon Castle…….”

“Let’s leave.”

The man smiled softly, tilting his head.

“How about looking around a nearby village or something?”

“…….”

“You can forget about the collar. As long as you don’t get angry, it won’t inconvenience you in daily life at all.”

“…….”

“Just an ordinary adventure with me.”

I bit my lip bitterly.

‘That bastard is a demon.’

How could he say only the things I wanted to hear?

So sweet that I just wanted to jump at the offer.

My burning eyes contorted.

An adventure.

As I fell dead quiet, the man whispered words so soft and sweet that my tongue ached.

“There are a lot of places you want to visit, right? Let’s meet people, do some sightseeing. Let’s keep wandering around. Freely.”

People.

For six years, I hadn’t had a single human conversation.

Because there was no one to talk with me.

Nobody treated me like a person.

“So take my hand. High and mighty Evil God.”

The man smiled tenderly and reached out his hand.

It was a large, dependable hand.

A broad chest I wanted to lean against without thinking.

A tall frame that made me feel I could cling to him endlessly when looking up at him.

And his gentle way of speaking that never once faltered…….

Felt just like an adult who had vastly more experience than I did.

Because it felt that way.

So, without realizing it, I reached out my hand.

It was truly an act done entirely unawares.

Onto the hot, alluring palm of an adult man, a small hand with nails far too sharp for a human was placed.

Spotting my sharp nails painted with black polish, I flinched a beat too late and tried to pull my hand back.

However, his large hand closed like a pair of handcuffs, gripping mine tightly.

“W-Wait, just a sec…….”

Before I could even brace myself, I was dragged along by him.

There wasn’t even time to feel afraid.

Akt Hevgenia headed straight for the gates of the Demon Castle.

And in an instant, we were sucked out into the outside world.

The artificial chandelier light of the Demon Castle vanished, and sunlight so fierce it felt like it would tear through my retinas struck my forehead.

My eyes widened as I raised my head.

The vast open sky.

A high, vivid blue sky that couldn’t be reached no matter how far I stretched my hand was right above my head.

Not outside a window.

Not through a pane of glass.

Above my head, endlessly.

“Ah…….”

The back of my neck, where the Collar of the Beginning had melted in, burned hot.

I stumbled as a severe dizziness washed over me.

As if he had anticipated it, the man naturally caught my waist to support me.

“Want to take a nap?”

His low voice, murmuring right next to me, sounded as distant as an echo.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

My consciousness slowly faded.

“We’ll never be separated again, Rowoon-ah.”

So don’t worry.

I let go of all my tension and sank into the swamp of unconsciousness.

---

When my eyes snapped open, it wasn’t the familiar Demon Castle.

I just lay stiffly, staring up at the worn wooden ceiling.

It had been so long since I had opened my eyes to a different view.

I patted my cheeks and pinched my thighs to check if it was a dream.

It wasn’t a dream.

Though, of course, it wasn’t reality either.

Outside the window, I could see players clad in armor and robes.

‘In the end, I’m still inside a game…….’

I bit my lower lip, then forced myself to look on the bright side.

“At least I’m out of the Demon Castle. That’s a huge change.”

I breathed in the smell of the dust-covered bed and furniture of this worn-down inn.

And I heard the faint, constant noises that had never existed in the Demon Castle.

Voices chatting in the next room, birds chirping outside the window, players arguing in the street…….

All those colorful sounds woven together by people and life.

The Demon Castle, which had been as silent as a dead land except for the noises I made, felt like a dream.

After taking in the sounds to my heart’s content, I pressed against the window and watched the passing player characters.

From aimlessly wandering NPCs to the colorful, unique pets accompanying the players.

“It feels like a real world…….”

Even I didn’t know the exact details of how advanced this virtual reality game I was trapped in actually was.

Since I had lost my memories, I was fortunate enough just to be aware that I was inside a game.

However, there were a few things I did know.

Thanks to the highly developed AI, you could converse with NPCs about anything, and the freedom was so immense that anything a person could imagine could be realized.

That was why, looking down at the street, it truly felt like I was watching a real world.

“Why did that man bring me out?”

And how did I escape the Demon Castle in the first place?

Fiddling with the nape of my neck, I fell into thought.

‘It seems to be because of that legendary item, but…….’

“I have no idea what’s going on.”

Rubbing my face roughly, I flopped down onto the inn bed.

The majestic Evil God dress crumpled and the high heels dangled heavily, but I didn’t care.

The moment I lay haphazardly on the bed and placed the cool back of my hand over my forehead, someone knocked on the door.

“May I come in?”

It was that man.

That fair-skinned, strangely seductive man.

His timing was exquisite, as if he had guessed I’d be sprawled out exhausted right about now.

“Come in.”

When I turned my head, Akt staggered in with his eyes slightly narrowed, dressed in yesterday’s shabby priest robes.

“Sorry. I have a headache.”

Massaging his temples, he dragged over a random chair and sat down near the bed.

A deep woody scent drifted from Akt.

It was the smell of strong liquor.

When I scowled, Akt caught my expression and spoke.

“Is it too strong? I drank too much yesterday, and the smell won’t fade even after a shower.”

I wrinkled my face in disapproval.

“What kind of priest drinks so much booze?”

“Is it strange?”

He asked softly. I crossed my arms.

“Of course it’s…….”

“We live in a world where even a boss begs a player to kill them. You’ll get used to it soon enough.”

His lighthearted words, delivered with a smile, shut me right up.

I checked Akt’s face.

He was smiling casually as usual.

‘Somehow, his vibe is a bit…….’

Wasn’t it sharper before?

A brief silence fell. I shrugged my shoulders.

It’s probably just my imagination.

“Whatever. I’ll admit it.”

“What?”

“You’re an impressive player. I’ll give you a reward for surprising me. I’m quite a generous Evil God, after all.”

I elegantly crossed my legs and raised my chin.

“If you kill me now, I’ll meekly accept your blade. Now that you have the Collar of the Beginning, killing me should be a piece of cake. So do it quickly. Don’t worry about treading lightly around me.”

An adventure?

Fine.

Leaving the Demon Castle was also wonderful.

However, none of it was better than dying and logging out.

Nothing could defeat that absolute goal.