The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 28

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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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The boss wants to die.
Chapter 28
I checked the information for Heart, who had emerged from the shadows.
Because I’d just created a new Familiar, there was an explanation above Heart’s head that I hadn’t seen before.
[A 2-Star Rank Familiar.
― The manifested Divine Evil Power is affected by the Familiar’s Level. Even if the Divine Evil Power you can borrow is vast, a low Level means you cannot wield it properly.
― ‘Heart’s’ Level: 30]
‘So I’ll be able to summon Michael whenever I want from now on too?’
Thinking things were getting interesting, I asked what had been on my mind.
“Akt hasn’t had any problems?”
“No! He was sleeping soundly just a moment ago!”
Yet when I returned to the Inn, Akt was wide awake, sitting at the desk.
His struggle with insomnia was laid bare through the window for all to see.
“Sleeping soundly, you said, Heart.”
“Eek, eek, eek!”
I squeezed Heart’s round body between both fists as if wringing it out, spinning him in circles.
His single eye grew watery with indignation.
“But it’s really true! He was lying down without moving a muscle!”
“If he’s not moving, does that count as sleeping? Then if I hold still like this, I’m sleeping too, right? Hmm?”
“I’ll reform! Save me, please!”
Heart squeaked and squealed, saying his body might burst if I kept going.
I sighed and released Heart, then glanced out the window.
Akt remained motionless, like a picture trapped in a frame.
Since he was just sitting there doing nothing, it didn’t seem like he’d noticed I’d left.
He appeared to have something else on his mind.
“What’s he doing like that?”
I started to ignore it and head to my room, but I couldn’t help feeling concerned, so I changed direction.
‘If I go to him now, he’ll suspect something.’
I hesitated, but leaving him as he was seemed like I’d keep worrying anyway.
After deliberating, I finally knocked on Akt’s door.
‘He doesn’t seem the type to lock me up at this point, so I can make up an excuse if needed.’
I waited until he responded from inside, and after some time, the door opened.
…….
Akt appeared with an expressionless face, lacking his usual smile.
His lips, drawn sharp and straight as a line, stood out prominently.
His hair was tied back in a single knot, perhaps because it was bothering him.
Though even that was done carelessly—strands hung half-loose over his pale face.
Disheveled hair and a slackened appearance.
Such laxness from Akt was rare, so my gaze lingered on him for a long while.
He opened his eyelids in a drowsy manner, his hand slipping into his pocket.
Leaning his body to one side, he rested his shoulder against the doorframe in a rather undisciplined posture.
Feeling tension from this atmosphere so unlike his usual self, I swallowed dryly.
Akt examined me closely.
The dark gleam of his gaze swept from my head to my feet with such clarity that it felt like fingernails dragging across skin.
“Roown?”
He suddenly came to his senses, his white lashes fluttering gently.
The hand that had rested carelessly in his pocket withdrew, and his slouched posture straightened.
He furrowed his brow and looked at me again.
It was as if he were confirming whether I was real.
“You really are Roown?”
“Who else would it be? Are there two Divine Evil Ones?”
I pushed his body aside boldly and stepped in.
Akt’s heavy scent washed over me thickly.
“You haven’t slept until this hour, so you’re losing your senses.”
“It’s five in the morning.”
Akt checked the time.
“It’s the middle of sleep hours. What’s wrong with my room?”
“That’s what I should be asking you. What are you doing, not sleeping at all?”
I spun my body around to face Akt.
Now that he’d seen me, he seemed fully awakened, and he began retying his hair neatly.
He gripped his white hair with his left hand while his right spun a rope in lazy circles, both arms raised so that his latissimus and chest muscles pressed visibly against the thin shirt.
Each breath he drew made his ribcage swell like the lungs of some great beast.
If you pressed your palm against his chest, you felt certain you’d sense a rumbling growl beneath it.
‘With a frame that size, he really does look like a wild animal.’
Even bowed in the act of tying his hair, I felt the weight of his gaze—persistent, unwavering.
His eyes, half-lidded as they were, held a savageness unlike their usual cast.
I caught sight of his chapped lips and the muscles that threatened to burst through his shirt, then quietly looked away.
Gulp.
As I swallowed hard, my heart—which had been thudding—began to echo like a drum inside my skull.
‘Why am I so nervous?’
I bit my lower lip awkwardly and let out a cough.
The air between us had grown uncomfortable.
“Look at yourself.”
On impulse, I grabbed a Mirror from the table and thrust it into his face.
“Check out the dark circles. And your lips.”
“Mm.”
Akt looked into the Mirror and touched his lips, wincing at the pain.
“They’re pretty split.”
“That’s what happens when you don’t sleep properly.”
“I ran out of Healing Salve, so I haven’t been applying any.”
Akt rubbed his eyes with obvious exhaustion.
“I need to earn some Gold.”
He looked ready to collapse backward even in the middle of drinking water, let alone attempting a Quest, yet all he talked about was Gold.
“You’re not Divine Evil.”
I kindly reminded him of his proper station.
“I can stay awake all night without issue, but humans cough up blood. Why don’t you just get some proper sleep? What have you even been doing all this time, anyway?”
“I’m curious too. What have you been doing?”
Akt, his face drawn, reached into his Inventory and produced Strong Liquor and a Crystal Glass.
With one hand buried in his pocket and amber liquid pouring into the glass, the motion was so practiced it appeared effortless.
“Until this hour. Without sleep.”
“I was outside getting some air. Felt cooped up.”
I took his glass away.
The liquor was so potent that the woody scent stung my nose the moment I lifted it.
‘No wonder he’s morose, drinking like this. His body’s exhausted.’
Akt merely watched the Crystal Glass I’d stolen from him.
Whatever I did, he accepted it in silence—that was Akt through and through.
He stood holding his head briefly, then his face took on an expression of endurance.
He seemed to be fighting a migraine, and the symptoms looked severe.
‘He doesn’t have any active Debuff or Abnormal Status attached.’
Puzzled, I seized the Strong Liquor entirely and stashed it in my Inventory.
Akt exhaled a long, weary sigh from deep in his chest and sank onto the bed.
I pressed on with brazen ease.
“I was planning to enjoy the moonlight in peace, but then I caught sight through the window of some pitiful-looking human sitting there in pathetic fashion. And you know how deep my compassion runs? I graciously paid a visit to offer comfort.”
“Thank you, Roown.”
Akt reached out and gently grasped the hem of my skirt.
“Thank you.”
……
“Stay a little longer.”
I looked down at him for a moment, wordlessly.
Akt sat there timidly, clutching only the fabric of my skirt, his head bowed, his frame sapped of vigor.
‘I’d only meant to check on him briefly and leave…….’
The memory of his weeping and retching this afternoon softened something in me.
‘Ah, really.’
I shook off his hand from my skirt.
Thinking I was leaving, Akt lifted his head.
With graceful movement, I settled onto the bed beside him.
Creak.
The mattress groaned under the weight.
Realizing I wasn’t going anywhere, Akt looked at me and smiled.
It was a softer smile than usual.
“Is something wrong?”
I asked as though I didn’t care.
“You’ve been off lately. No energy at all.”
“Have I?”
Akt turned my words over in his mind, his gaze sliding toward the bed.
My black hair lay scattered across the pristine white sheets in a tangled mess.
He traced each curve with his eyes, and then suddenly his red tongue emerged, licking his parched lips.
Fine lines tightened around his eyes as if the split in his lip was causing him pain.
It was nothing, and yet it looked almost sinfully intimate.
“I had a plan originally, but it went a bit sideways.”
“Is that so?”
I answered slowly, taking in the creases that had drawn across his brow.
“Nothing’s happened yet, but something might come up soon.”
“What kind of something?”
“You wouldn’t find it interesting.”
Akt shook his head.
“It’s tedious. The kind of thing that repeats itself like administrative work.”
……
“And repeating it forever is draining.”
“Then just don’t do it.”
“That’s what I’m planning to do this time.”
Akt exhaled a long, heavy breath into the air as though smoking a cigarette.
“I’m going to be selfish about it.”
“Do as you please. Act how you want. No one will think it strange.”
……
“You sometimes don’t take care of yourself at all. You need to look after yourself. That’s how you’ll get your energy back.”
I spoke with unexpected gentleness.
“Sometimes you just have to act on your own desires. How else would you survive? You’re only human.”
“It sounds like a dream. You’re just telling me what I want to hear.”
I watched Akt from the corner of my eye.
He was smiling silently, eyes wide.
“Should I be mean to you instead?”
I drew out my hesitation, thinking it over before shrugging.
“Well, if that’s what you need.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Akt answered like a dutiful student.
At least he looked far better than before.
‘Thank goodness.’
I knew misfortune and suffering well.
Perhaps that’s why I couldn’t pretend not to see.
When I needed help, there was no one. But at least I—
When I found someone suffering, I didn’t want to turn away without reason.
It made those six solitary, agonizing years feel less wasted.
This was what loneliness and solitude meant.
This was how painful they were.
I could endure it if I thought of it as something I’d learned through all those long years.
Akt, watching me lost in thought, gently changed the subject.
“I need to level up faster. That way I can take on the Job Quest.”

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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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