The Boss Wants to Die

Chapter 7

My eyes went wide.

[Akt Hevgenia has requested a trade. Would you like to accept?]

“There’s no way this is possible…”

Completely baffled, I stared at the system window.

“How did you do that?”

“I just sent a trade request.”

“Have you ever seen a player trade with a monster? It shouldn't even work.”

“Who knows. Maybe you’re not a monster after all.”

A brief silence hung in the air.

Akt asked,

“Aren’t you going to take it?”

“Ah, no! Accept!”

[You have accepted the trade requested by Akt Hevgenia.]

[You have acquired the item ‘Token of Contract’.]

I opened my inventory to inspect the item.

[Token of Contract.

With this token, you can easily forge a trustworthy contract anytime, anywhere!

Be warned, however! Once traded, the deal cannot be undone!

― First Party: Evil God Hellroad

― Second Party: Akt Hevgenia

※ This is a hierarchical contract. It loses all validity if the First Party chooses to cancel it.

※ If a player who has traded the Token of Contract fails to fulfill the contract’s terms, all of their player data will be completely deleted.

※ A player who has been deleted cannot be resurrected.

※ Bound item. Cannot be discarded or destroyed.]

“Completely deleted?”

If Akt got deleted, he could simply roll a new character, but the legendary items in his possession were another story.

Players dropped their gear upon death.

So making this contract didn't feel like a bad deal on my end at all.

Even so, the whole thing felt uncomfortable.

“Are you serious about this?”

“I am.”

Akt remained unbothered.

I looked up at him with deep suspicion.

Given everything he’d already pulled on me, trusting him was nearly impossible.

“Looking at the item, there aren't any actual terms written on it. How do you even know if someone fulfilled the contract or not?”

“The Token of Contract comes with audio and video recording functions.”

Back in his usual demeanor, Akt explained in a soft, gentle voice,

“It monitors everything on its own, and the penalty takes effect immediately if the terms aren’t met. So you don’t need to worry. It’s a pretty expensive piece of gear.”

“How expensive?”

“Enough that you’d need to be a guild master or a mercenary captain to carry one around?”

Then how on earth is a Level 10 like you carrying one?

“I’ve been wondering ever since I first saw you… where do you even get items like this?”

The legendary gear remained the biggest mystery of all.

Akt glanced down at me and replied offhandedly,

“I’m loaded.”

I couldn't believe him.

Feeling my stare, Akt tilted his head and asked,

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Don’t tell me you’re up to your eyeballs in debt?”

“I’m not.”

“What about the legendary items?”

“Farmed them myself.”

At Level 10?

My doubts only grew.

“Just asking to be sure… what about that tab from yesterday’s drinks…?”

“I paid for it. What kind of person do you take me for?”

I scrunched my brows in irritation.

“Think about what you did to me first. You treat me like this, and you expect me to speak nicely to you?”

“Do you really hate the collar that much?”

“Of course I do.”

Akt looked at the tattoo etched onto my neck with a bitter gaze.

“If I hadn’t done at least this much, you wouldn’t have listened to a single word I said.”

“…”

“That’s why I got it. I didn’t have a choice either. …I’m sorry.”

Akt apologized yet again.

I had heard him say sorry so many times my ears were practically calloused.

I waved a dismissive hand.

“Forget it.”

“Thank you.”

Akt beamed with genuine delight.

He held out his hand and said,

“Since we’ve officially entered into a contract, let me introduce myself again. I’m Akt Hevgenia. And you?”

Grudgingly, I took his hand.

“Hellroad.”

His hand was absurdly large.

Having my hand completely engulfed by his grip felt strange.

Just as I tried to pull away, Akt tightened his fingers, firmly holding on.

“That’s your alias. Tell me your real name.”

“…What?”

“Your ‘real’ name. Tell me that one.”

It took me a long moment to understand what he was asking.

I parted my lips, dazed.

“My real name?”

I had to think for a long time to remember what it was.

Anyone who wasn’t the Evil God Hellroad didn’t exist in this game world.

Left uncalled for six whole years, the memory had been crumpled away in the far corners of my mind. I had to dust it off just to pull it out.

Rolling that ancient, precious thing over my tongue, I pronounced it with immense care.

“Lee Rowoon. It’s Rowoon.”

It felt like an eternity since I had last spoken the name aloud.

Because of that, the voice saying my own name sounded like someone else’s entirely.

It felt awkward and bizarre.

“Which is the family name, and which is the given name? In my case, Hevgenia is the family name and Akt is the given name. You can call me Akt.”

“Mine is…”

For some reason, a tight ache pulled at the back of my throat.

Straining against the heat pooling behind my eyes, I managed to answer,

“Lee is the family name, and Rowoon is the given name.”

“Then should I call you Rowoon?”

“…”

“Rowoon-ah.”

Rowoon-ah.

The voices of countless people who had once called my name flashed through my mind.

They blurred together until I couldn't even tell if they were men or women, but the affection carried in their voices remained crystal clear.

Right. There was a time when I was called Rowoon, a time when I was loved.

Yet now, I couldn’t even remember their names.

Not even their faces.

“Rowoon-ah, can I call you that?”

“Yeah.”

A wave of nausea churned in my stomach.

Feeling as though tears would burst out at any moment, I shoved his chest hard toward the door and gestured outside with my chin.

“Get out now. We’re done here.”

Am I really alive? Do I even exist in the real world?

My breath grew increasingly ragged.

The name Rowoon, the voices that called out to me… they’re all so faint.

Faces, names—I couldn’t remember anything clearly.

My vision blurred into a hazy white.

My limbs turned cold as ice, and cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

Looking worried, Akt reached out a hand.

“Are you okay?”

“Get out! Right now!”

Akt didn’t even blink at my hysterical shout.

Panicking, I gasped for air.

My body refused to obey me.

Brushing aside the strands of hair damp with cold sweat from my face, Akt met my gaze.

Seeing his calm, quiet expression brought a strange sense of relief.

“You’re hyperventilating. Breathe slowly. You’re all right.”

“Ugh, ah…”

“Yes. Just like that.”

The moment my breathing leveled out, tears spilled over all at once. Akt offered a handkerchief.

What is this, crocodile tears?

He clamped a leash on me so I couldn’t even die, and now he offers a handkerchief?

I swatted the cloth from his hand.

The white handkerchief fluttered through the air and tumbled onto the floor.

Grief and fury that couldn't form into words swirled deep within my gut.

What am I even doing here?

Akt checked several times to ensure my breathing had truly stabilized before finally stepping outside.

I knew right away it was an act of consideration.

Because the second he left, a burst of sobs ripped from my throat.

***

After leaving Rowoon’s room, Akt didn’t return to his own. Instead, he leaned his back against the hallway wall.

From inside, the faint sound of weeping drifted out.

“Hoo…”

Wincing in anguish, he pressed a hand to his forehead.

He had always done everything in his power to keep Rowoon from crying, but he could never prevent it the moment they exchanged names.

She wept every single time.

Whenever Akt called her name for the first time.

Her tender, scarred heart must have hurt too much to bear.

Knowing this made the moment pure torment for him, every single time.

Do you get better at this the more you repeat it?

At least this time, she hadn’t fainted.

Rowoon had stubbornly stayed on her feet until Akt left the room.

While it was agonizing not being able to hold and comfort her as she cried, he decided to consider this progress.

With a bitter smile, he swept the white hair falling over his face backward.

The stubborn set of his mouth shifted Akt’s entire impression.

With the nonchalant air of an idler, he rummaged through his clothes.

Then, remembering he hadn’t smoked a single cigarette in this life, he clicked his tongue.

Right. I can’t smoke when I’m meeting Rowoon.

Because he had to see Rowoon.

Then at the very least, his body needed to be pure.

He felt like he had died with that exact resolution.

His previous life had been a bit too vulgar, after all…

Instead of a cigarette, he bit down on his lower lip and wiped a hand down his face.

A worn wooden ceiling came into view.

Unlike Rowoon, who was like a distant sky that seemed unreachable no matter how hard he tried, the low ceiling looked close enough to touch if he just stretched out a hand.

“Don’t cry, Rowoon-ah.”

He muttered to himself like a man reciting a weary lament.

“Don’t cry.”

Yet the weeping from within the room continued until the break of dawn.

Akt stood guard in the empty hallway until the very end.

Just so he could stay by her side, even if only like this.

***

“A party? With me?”

Late the following afternoon.

I doubted my own ears as I looked at the crazy novice priest proposing a party with a monster.

Unfortunately, I had heard him correctly.

“Yeah. Let’s party up.”

“Is this collar an all-purpose cheat? Dragging an Evil God out of the Demon Castle wasn't enough, then sending a trade request, and now you want to form a party?”

No matter how legendary it was, wasn’t this ridiculously broken?

Akt shrugged.

“There’s quite an uproar over the boss monster disappearing from the Evil God’s Grand Hall. Because of traces left behind by the legendary item, it seems everyone is going frantic trying to track it down.”

I could easily picture it.

I let out a dry smirk.

“They probably think taking down the boss and getting a legendary item is killing two birds with one stone.”

“That’s why we should form a party.”

Akt proposed, his expression practically glowing with anticipation.

“We’ll be much safer in a party.”

“And what exactly does that change?”