The Boss Wants to Die

Chapter 6

The Boss Wants to Die

Chrrr-clink!

When Akt mimed grasping at empty air, the invisible chain of the collar wrapped around his hand.

The skill I had been casting was swallowed back inward, unraveling in an instant.

As soon as my skill was canceled, I drew my weapon immediately.

[The Evil God Hellroad has stolen the Reaper’s Scythe!

The Black Obsidian Blade, the scythe that walks with death, begins to reap the surrounding life energy!]

[The Reaper’s Scythe debuff has taken effect.

Continuously drains the health of all players except the Evil God.]

I wanted to pierce Akt’s heart with the scythe and kill him right then, but that would only tighten the collar’s suppression.

So instead, I aimed to sever the chain.

Whoosh!

A single sweep of the scythe whipped up a gale that knocked over all the knickknacks in the room.

The small desk lamp toppled, and Akt’s white hair fluttered against the dark chestnut wood floor.

I bent low, bringing my forehead almost flush against his.

My black hair mingled between his white strands.

Relying solely on casting skills was foolish.

I saw a glimmer of hope.

Hurriedly, I moved to slice through the chain with the scythe.

Yet Akt’s firm grip, until now completely docile, suddenly lunged into my space.

He caught the scythe’s blade with his bare hand.

Against the pitch-black scythe, his pale white hands stood out all the more starkly.

With a solemn expression, as if he had never acted playful in his life, he spoke.

“Stop it. It doesn’t matter if I get hurt, but you’re going to hurt yourself at this rate.”

[You are wearing the Collar of the Beginning. All abilities revert to the beginning and become nothingness.]

The scythe and its debuff effect vanished in an instant.

No, no…

When I strained with all my might to break free with my bare hands, the pink tattoo emitted a faint glow.

[The Collar of the Beginning absorbs all of the target’s stamina.]

[Warning!]

[You have entered a near-death state. Please drink a potion or rest.]

I can’t let this happen…

I forced myself to hold on, putting all my strength into keeping my heavy eyelids open.

Even with zero stamina, the body of an Evil God stubbornly clung to consciousness.

“Are you… trying to play house with me…?”

I choked back tears as I spoke.

“I have no intention… of dancing to your tune…”

“Can’t you try thinking a little more positively about this?”

The man asked with sorrowful eyes.

The large hands holding me were trembling faintly.

Desperately, like a drowning man clutching at straws.

Anxious to coax me, his eyes gazed up at me pleadingly.

I knew that look.

It was the eyes of a dog terrified of being abandoned.

“If you stay with me, it’ll be better than being stuck in the Demon Castle… Ugh.”

With all the strength I had left, I throttled his neck.

A sharp crackle of sparks erupted from the collar.

“Does this look like a joke to you? Do you think this is all fun and games?”

I’ve waited six years.

Bloodshot veins webbed across my tear-soaked eyes.

Just to die, just to return to my real life! I waited six whole years!

Even with his life on the line, Akt stayed still, no longer forcing me down.

Thanks to that, the restraint of the collar loosened.

Now was my chance.

While this bastard was losing his mind like this.

“You’re making a mistake.”

Full of malice, I crushed his windpipe.

“You’ll regret treating me with this kind of mercy. Killing you is easier than crushing an ant. You know that, don’t you?”

Akt spoke through his choked, reddened face.

“So if you kill me, what gets better?”

His offhand question made my mind go blank.

Gritting my teeth, I fought to ignore the heat stinging my eyes.

Akt’s dark gaze, refusing to pull away from me, was driving me insane.

“You’re the Evil God, so you know best. There’s nothing to gain from killing me.”

“…”

“Do you really want to go back to the Demon Castle?”

To that cold, lonely place.

To wait all alone once again for an indefinite, endless span of time?

My whole body began to shiver as if seized by convulsions.

Panting unsteadily, I rose off his body.

A tempest of emotions raged inside me.

“Why are you doing this to me? Why the hell are you pulling this dog shit on me?!”

“Cough, cough!”

Akt clutched his throat, coughing raggedly.

I raked my fingers through my hair in frustration.

The tiara resting somewhere near the crown of my head shifted, tugging sharply at my hair, but I couldn’t even feel that much pain.

“What’s so great about playing these pathetic mind games with a monster?!”

“You’re not just a simple monster. You talk to me, you feel emotions.”

“…”

“You’re no different from a human.”

And those words thoroughly grated on my last nerve.

“What a load of pretty bullshit!”

When you’re a player yourself!

Knowing full well that monsters are artificial intelligence.

Knowing better than anyone that NPCs are nothing more than well-crafted AI!

Coming from a player like you, isn’t that pure deception?

Just because the Evil God looks beautiful, you just want to possess me.

Like a pet.

Biting down hard on my lower lip, it split, filling my mouth with the metallic tang of blood.

“Just spill what you really want. I’ll cooperate. Is there something you want to achieve using my power? Want me to help you?”

Akt chose silence, as if feeling no need to answer.

I hadn’t realized it because he was usually smiling, but standing there blank-faced and brooding, Akt looked genuinely frightening.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“I guess there’s no getting through to you without death.”

His voice was drenched in gloom and sorrow.

“Since we keep going in circles back to square one. At this rate, we won’t be able to stay together.”

“…”

“Do you want to die that badly?”

Akt asked with completely emotionless, pitch-black eyes.

I should have snapped back that yes, I did, and asked if he finally understood how I felt, but my tongue was frozen.

My stuck lips merely twitched, trembling.

“Do you want me to kill you that much? With these hands… you…”

Akt murmured, staring blankly down at his own hands.

Even though he wasn’t looking at me, the atmosphere felt strangely dangerous.

I forced myself to swallow dryly.

Akt’s eyes, once soft and gentle, held no warmth whatsoever.

“Yeah. Better to die than be dragged around by a novice priest like you.”

Then I can log out, too.

Swallowing the rest of my words, I glared at him.

“All right.”

Still expressionless, Akt gave a single nod.

“Then let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“If you meet my condition, I’ll kill you.”

“What’s the condition?”

“My happiness.”

Akt looked at me and murmured softly.

“Make me happy. Then I’ll give you the death you desire so much.”

When I failed to answer readily and only parted my lips, Akt continued in a dry tone.

“I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll fetch whatever you need, obey whatever you command, and crawl between your legs if you tell me to.”

“You’ll do anything?”

“Yes. Anything.”

He smiled, a hint of resignation touching his face.

I couldn’t fathom what was so amusing.

“Only, the condition applies solely to killing you. Fair enough, right?”

“…”

“The condition is simple. All I need is to be happy.”

“Even for a moment?”

“Even for just a single second.”

Akt answered.

“Even if it’s just a fleeting instant, if you bring me joy, I will kill you. Painlessly, and tenderly.”

Akt’s eyes, deep and black as an abyss, locked onto me as if peering straight into my soul.

“Because I’ll give you the death you want so badly.”

“…”

“…So make me happy.”

What do you even have to be so unhappy about?

Clenching my fists tight, I glared back at him.

Even for just a single second, he says.

Could he really be more miserable than me, trapped inside a game, stripped of my memories, and confined to the Demon Castle?

It felt pathetic.

Weighing misery like this in my head felt so utterly wretched.

“Is that really all it takes? One second of happiness?”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“That’s way too easy.”

“You think so?”

Akt righted the overturned chairs as he spoke.

“You won’t be able to make me happy. That’s why I set this condition.”

“…”

“That way, I can keep you by my side.”

“There’s something you don’t understand—happiness isn’t that grand of a concept.”

I couldn’t understand him at all.

“You can feel happy just eating a sweet pastry, falling into a deep sleep, or looking at a lovely flower. If one second of happiness is the condition, you might have to kill me this very day, you know.”

Akt’s flat gaze flicked toward me briefly before dropping to the knickknacks strewn across the floor.

“Even if that happiness blooms atop someone else’s death?”

“…”

“Do you think a human could still feel happy then?”

“…”

“People are far more complicated than that. There are too many things to care about. It’s almost a nuisance…”

Akt let his words trail off as he lifted the desk lamp with its shattered bulb.

Shards of glass rained down with a sharp clatter.

Even if that happiness blooms atop someone else’s death?

It was strange.

It felt as though the death he spoke of was unmistakably mine.

Besides, this was a condition set for my death in the first place.

If Akt hated nothing more than my death, I would never be able to make him happy.

Because the more I struggled to die, the more miserable he would become.

Unless I abandon the desire to die and break the contract, there’s no way Akt can ever be happy.

Then I snapped back to reality and shook my head.

That’s an absurd thought.

Akt and I only met yesterday for the first time.

Delusions of grandeur were a disease at this point.

“I get your condition. But how am I supposed to trust you and make a deal?”

“We just need to share a Token of Contract.”

“Did you forget I’m a boss? Trades are only possible between players…”