The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 38

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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.
38
If I were night, this scent would have roiled the air like midday sun, burning with yang energy.
Until this moment, I hadn’t realized that my reason had completely shattered.
Intoxicated by the scent of blood, my focus had gone hazy, and my limbs moved like jellyfish drifting with the current.
I didn’t notice the tavern patrons stealing sidelong glances at me as I lurched forward.
I simply followed the scent of silver until I found its source.
And finally.
“Ro-un?”
Only when I’d found him did my focus return to my eyes.
I stared up at Akt’s face, my eyes barely slits.
That’s when it struck me—I’d tracked the scent of his bedding from his room all the way here.
“What are you doing here?”
He took one look at my delirious face, excused himself from the person beside him, and rose from his seat.
Then he took my hand and carefully led me out of the tavern.
I still couldn’t get my head straight.
‘Something’s wrong. I think something’s wrong with me.’
The Passive Skill’s power couldn’t possibly be this strong.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
I tried to regain my senses, but it was useless.
Buried beneath the tangle of silver threads pouring from Akt, my consciousness slipped away as if I were drowning in sleep.
I thrashed within it, my breath coming in short gasps.
“Ro-un.”
He bent down to examine my face directly.
As his breath drew near, even the scent of blood mingled in his warm exhale became hauntingly beautiful, and my eyes grew wet.
Mm.
The moment I bit my lower lip and flinched back, a fanfare blared.
[Congratulations! You have discovered Fate-Bound Blood!]
‘What blood?’
I forced my hazy eyes to focus, struggling to read the text.
The world spun differently than before.
Ting!
[A new quest has arrived.]
To make matters worse, another quest appeared—one that made my meeting with Akt feel even heavier.
As if the system itself didn’t want me to part with him.
I squinted and read the contents.
[The Song of Fate Called by Blood.
Did you know that all blood carries a grade?
There are eight grades in total, from SSS down to E!
But you can forget all that now. You’ve discovered Fate-Bound Blood!
If you’ve found a player bearing this blood, you must not let them slip away. Remember—there is only one soul with blood of fate.
How fortunate you are, Evil God, to have met such a person.
But can one truly call it fortune?
Fate-Bound Blood is the one and only narcotic in this world—it renders an Evil God helpless and intoxicated.
If you wish to avoid falling defenseless into its snare, be careful!
― Completion condition: Drink one drop of Fate-Bound Blood (0/1)
― Reward: Slight increase in immunity to Fate-Bound Blood]
‘Making me intoxicated, it says…?’
My head felt numb; it couldn’t think straight.
Honestly, I couldn’t even remember how I’d gotten here.
Had I flown?
Had I walked?
What if I’d unfurled the wings of an Evil God?
With that worry gnawing at me, when I closed and opened my eyes, I found myself sitting on a bench in a desolate, empty field.
Still, the dense, suffocating tangle of silver threads wrapped around my entire body like a chrysalis.
The instinct of a beast driven to its knees by thirst made my breath come ragged.
With my eyes half-closed, breathing in shallow, wet gasps as the scent consumed me, I heard a low voice from somewhere.
“Ro-un. Open your mouth.”
“Mm?”
“Your mouth. Ah, go ahead. That’s right.”
Without a thought, I opened my mouth as instructed.
Something slender parted my lips and pressed firmly inside.
“Mmph!”
Startled, I bit down on it slightly.
My eyes burning red, I squinted to make out what it was.
‘Akt’s finger……?’
At the fingertip, a bead of blood had pooled as if pricked by a needle.
In that instant, my entire body seized with a shudder.
I seized Akt’s hand and began sucking frantically.
The last thread of reason I’d barely maintained evaporated in an instant.
My face flushed crimson, and the corners of my eyes drooped.
Akt’s blood didn’t so much taste good as grant me an extraordinary experience.
Like pouring warm sunlight into the desolate, cold emptiness inside me.
For some reason, I felt tears threatening.
‘This feels good…….’
Even as no more blood came, I continued sucking his finger.
A whimper of longing escaped my lips.
[You have completed The Song of Fate Called by Blood quest!]
[Your Fate-Bound Blood immunity has increased slightly.]
Thanks to the quest reward, my mind cleared.
I blinked several times, bringing the world into focus.
The wavering landscape gradually sharpened.
[By consuming Fate-Bound Blood, you have gained the ‘Euphoria’ buff. Duration: 1 second.
※ Buff duration increases in proportion to consumption amount.]
With a soft smacking sound, I released the finger I’d been sucking and Akt bent down again, lowering his face toward mine.
He seemed to be checking whether I’d regained my senses.
“Ah…….”
“Are you alright? How do you feel? Any dizziness?”
The happiness switched off in an instant, leaving the raw taste of blood lingering in my mouth.
Such a cruel reality.
I wanted to feel that warmth again.
Would it feel like this to embrace family I’d missed for so long?
Tears came at the loss of that cozy bliss.
I resented Akt for taking it away so mercilessly.
If I could only drink blood again, I felt I could do anything.
I wanted to seize that trembling warmth, that first touch of heat, that light, and lock it inside me forever…….
I reached out blindly.
Not knowing that drinking blood would make me lose myself and forget it all again.
“More.”
I murmured, hollow-eyed.
“More. I want to drink. Yes?”
“Settle down, Ro-un. Come to your senses.”
Akt pushed me away with unusual firmness, trying to steady me.
I let out a snarling sound, full of fury at having my sustenance torn away.
My fangs throbbed.
“If you refuse, I’ll take it by force.”
I shoved his shoulders, toppling him onto the bench.
His white hair swept through the air, reflecting the sunlight in a blinding flash.
I flinched, my face contorting.
“Ro-un.”
Akt brushed my black hair, which had tumbled forward, back behind my shoulders.
Warm sunlight touched the space where the curtain of hair had been swept away.
My face flushed like someone burning with fever as I caressed the curve of Akt’s neck.
I could feel the drumbeat of his heart tapping through his skin, blood sliding appetizingly through his capillaries.
“Get hold of yourself.”
“I am. I’ve never been more lucid than this.”
I whispered with a trembling voice.
“I want you. More than anything.”
Akt answered quietly.
“If you move like you’re being manipulated that way, you’ll regret it later.”
I stared at him with wide eyes.
Akt held my gaze as if locking me into an abyss, utterly unmoved.
His refusal—gentle and unyielding—was quintessentially Akt.
I hated how serious his face became in moments like this, and I bit my lip.
“Is this the only way we can want each other?”
A crimson hologram glowed and flickered, disrupting Akt’s persuasion.
[A target of Fate-Bound Blood is nearby! Do not miss this opportunity!]
“Not the blood—couldn’t you just want me? Just me? Akt…….”
Akt hung onto me pitiably.
I turned my attention back to him.
The quiet resentment woven through his voice was pitch-black, its depths unknowable.
It didn’t seem to point only to this moment.
It felt like the accumulated sorrow of ages, and so I sat up.
Akt’s eyes drooped at the corners, his white lashes trembling faintly.
“It won’t last. Even if you drink my blood, it will only be for that moment. When you understand that, you’ll be even more wretched and miserable.”
“I…….”
“You’ll come to crave my blood more and more. That’s how you’re made.”
I crumpled the fabric of Akt’s clothes in my grip.
I was furious. I had only wanted to crave what felt like a long-forgotten sensation.
I had only wanted to be held for a moment because it was warm.
How could he look at me with eyes so cold and speak such cruel words?
……Even denying me the release of taking what I wanted by force.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know at least that my blood makes you lose your mind.”
Akt touched my cheek gently.
“Chasing momentary pleasure before plunging into the abyss—that’s something I’m genuinely good at. Take an expert’s word for it.”
“I can control myself.”
“Most addicts start with the same excuse. How about you come down from on top of me first?”
Akt kneaded my overtense body while drawing away the oppressive heat.
I couldn’t tell if my overexcitement had surged or if he had grown cold—the temperature difference slowly drew reason back.
I blinked several times.
Only when I saw tears falling on Akt’s cheek did I realize I was crying.
“I understand why you do this. Monsters crave human flesh most of all.”
“…….”
“But you can’t. You have to resist. Unless you truly want to become a monster, soul and all.”
I bit my lower lip hard and glared at Akt.
Yet no sound came from my mouth.
When Akt spoke of monsters in this way, there was always a particular reason.
Even knowing it was a harsh command to regain my senses, waves of emotion crashed through me.
Not because I hated him, but because I was terrified of myself—of losing my mind like a true monster.

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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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