I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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#22
Floating weightlessly in empty space as I had once observed my sleeping body, I was startled nearly to the point of losing consciousness.
‘Wow, damn it—can he see me? I have no weight, no temperature, no tactile sensation, nothing but consciousness itself. How did he know I was eavesdropping?’
Drifting through the void, I cautiously approached him. Spirits and ghosts from books probably moved like this, I imagined.
‘Ah… I’m dead, so I suppose I am a spirit after all.’
I accepted my condition without resistance and waved my hand before Perenustus’s face.
‘What? He can’t see me, apparently.’
The moment I chuckled at that thought, Perenustus’s eyes snapped directly toward me—or more precisely, toward where I was.
“I can’t see you. But I can sense you.”
‘Huh? How is that possible?’
“Your thoughts are overwhelmingly strong. Your presence is excessively pronounced. I’m responding to you with unusual sensitivity. Pick whichever explanation pleases you.”
‘…No matter which one I choose, it feels like the wrong answer.’
Whether he had read my thoughts or my very essence, Perenustus chuckled and pointed toward a corner of empty space. There, the Training Stages he had crumpled and discarded moments before lay stacked like a mountain. When he snapped his fingers, a 【PENDING】 label affixed itself across the wrinkled blueprints.
“Let’s call this a sort of… hostage.”
‘A hostage…?’
“Aurelia made a promise to me, yet she’s completely forgotten it and is trying to slip into eternal slumber of her own accord. I thought I’d vent my frustration a little.”
‘What kind of venting…?’
“If Aurelia doesn’t wake up and come to me by today.”
Perenustus lowered his voice as if sharing a secret. The calm, crystalline tone dropped so sharply that goosebumps erupted across my ethereal form.
As I remained silent, stroking my insubstantial arms, his finger pointed toward the pile of blueprints marked with the PENDING label.
“I will merge the world containing Aurelia’s Village with these pending worlds.”
‘What did you just say?’
“Do you understand?”
‘No, that’s not fair! You said you’d restore our villagers!’
“That comes after I’ve dealt with what needs dealing with.”
‘Wow… you’re resorting to world-scale blackmail?’
“It’s venting, I told you.”
Perenustus answered matter-of-factly and tilted his head. Angling it slightly, he gestured toward a clock with his eyes.
‘This lunatic. If you’d just asked nicely, I would’ve listened. But this? I’m practically dying here!’
“That’s precisely what irritates me. You dared make a promise with me, then carelessly allow yourself to slip toward death.”
‘Oh, come on! What promise are you even talking about?’
“Oh. The fact that you’ve forgotten it so completely only makes me more irritated.”
I glared at Perenustus, then realized what ‘promise’ he meant and let out a rueful laugh.
‘No, I didn’t forget. The one about restoring our villagers if I eliminate someone—I didn’t forget! It just sounded so grand when you said ‘promise’ that I got confused!’
“It’s an extraordinarily grand, weighty, and important matter.”
I started to retort but simply closed my mouth instead. Then I looked down at my weightless, drifting form.
‘How am I supposed to wake up by today?’
Perenustus didn’t even acknowledge the question.
‘Hey, don’t just threaten me—tell me how to get back into my body! You know I don’t know much about this!’
Just as Silpi had done before, I shrieked directly into his ear, but Perenustus remained utterly unmoved.
‘That stubborn fool.’
I sighed and turned away. He seemed to glare at me indignantly, but I paid no mind, directing myself toward where my body lay.
Strangely enough, the moment I thought of ‘where my body is,’ I moved of my own accord. The sensation of passing through walls and doors like seeping water felt unfamiliar yet exhilarating.
‘Wow, I actually found it?’
I gazed down at my body sprawled across the sofa like a corpse and let out a soft whistle.
‘Thank goodness. The moment I regained consciousness, I saw Silpi and Perenustus fighting, and I was certain I’d died.’
Beside my body stood Bilateia, staring intently at Leonas’s notebook, and Leonas, staring at Bilateia.
‘They’re suffering because of me too.’
I approached my body with a twinge of guilt. That was all. I had no idea how to actually enter it.
‘Should I just throw myself at it?’
The thought and the action were one—I hurled myself toward my body. With a dull thud, I bounced back with considerable force.
‘Ow, that hurts….’
I tried several more times, but to no avail.
‘This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to do this?!’
I circled my body, recalling every book I’d ever read. Yet among all those volumes, not a single one had explained how a soul returns to its body.
‘Since the agony was severe enough to eject my soul like this, wouldn’t ramming myself with lethal force work?’
It seemed like a plausible hypothesis. I congratulated myself and backed away until my back touched the wall. Then, pushing off with my feet, I accelerated and charged toward my body.
‘Ahhh!’
The impact wasn’t merely painful—it felt as though my skull would shatter, piercing through my entire being. Before I could even cry out, my fluttering soul was sucked into my body. The sofa beneath my back, the blanket covering me, the warmth from the mana stones—the temperature and sensation surrounding me slowly sharpened into focus.
‘Did it work…?’
My entire body felt heavy and throbbing, as though a giant were sitting on me and crushing me flat. Every limb felt limp and sluggish, but my eyelids were the heaviest. Still, I forced them open with all my strength.
I must have kept my eyes closed for quite some time, because even the soft light filtering in made them sting, threatening to bring tears. So I gritted my teeth and pushed myself upright with every ounce of strength I had.
“Ugh! Ouch! I’m awake!”
With an exclamation brimming with irritation and stubbornness, I sprang from the sofa and stretched languidly. Bilateia and Leonas, who had been absorbed in their respective tasks, jumped in surprise and turned to look at me.
“Aurelia?!”
“Already…, no, you’re waking up this suddenly…?”
“That’s what happened!”
I waved my hand dismissively at the two, who seemed full of questions, but winced at the sharp pain in my wrist and clenched it tightly.
“Ugh. Every joint aches. Anyway, I’m completely fine now, so don’t worry and get back to what you were doing!”
“Where are you going?!”
“To Perenustus!”
“What? Hey! Do you even know where he is?”
As Bilateia reached out to grab me, Leonas stepped in front of me. But these inexperienced youngsters couldn’t match the speed of a former hero.
I nimbly dodged them both, kicked open the door, and bolted out. I heard them calling after me, but I had no time to look back.
‘Seriously. Holding my village and the Worlds hostage—isn’t that going too far? I really got tangled up with a strange man and suffered all sorts of indignities!’
Gritting my teeth, I ran down the corridor, retracing the path I’d taken moments before.
‘Hmm… that looks like the door? Whether it’s right or wrong, opening it first is the best move.’
The moment I thought it, I roughly threw open the door packed with intricate carvings. In a plain office utterly unlike the empty Infinite Space I’d seen moments ago, Perenustus turned to face me.
“My goodness. You really did wake up?”
“Of course I did!”
The way he raised only one eyebrow was devastatingly beautiful and composed, igniting a surge of indignation within me.
“If you could wake up this quickly, why did you have to startle me so?”
“Was your mind so rattled by the shock that you resorted to such pathetic threats? There’s no other explanation for such despicable coercion.”
He and I exchanged words without restraint, facing each other directly. Perenustus smiled with unhurried ease, showing no inclination to deny anything. That smile was far too gentle, only fueling my anger further.
“You said I’m your mission, didn’t you? Then shouldn’t you treat me with greater care?”
“More than you’ve already sacrificed the hopes of every world you created?”
….
“At this moment, I cannot fathom a way to cherish you more than I already do.”
Before I could formulate a response, Perenustus closed the distance between us by a single step. At a distance where our noses nearly touched, his eyes fixed upon me with unwavering intensity.
“Aurelia.”
His voice remained gentle. Yet beneath that feigned tenderness, I sensed something unsettling rippling beneath the surface, and I instinctively recoiled.
“Where else do you intend to go, leaving me behind?”
Perenustus drew far closer than the distance I had retreated and leaned forward. An overwhelming, indescribable pressure seized my ankles.
“I have staked all my hopes upon you—my Aurelia.”
….
I stood before him like a helpless child facing a colossal beast, lifting only my gaze to look up at him. The man who enveloped me entirely in shadowed darkness smiled tenderly and drew me into his embrace.
“So you must live up to my expectations. Should you dare attempt eternal sleep without my permission, it will not end well.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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