The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 41

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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 41
Akt ducked under my fist and widened the distance of his own accord.
I rubbed my ear furiously where his breath had touched it.
Goosebumps kept prickling across my skin, and heat flushed through me.
I shouted while trembling.
“What were you thinking?”
“I’m sorry.”
Akt apologized out of habit.
“Want some water?”
“You don’t look sorry at all!”
“No, I really do feel bad for startling you.”
Akt pressed a cup into my hand.
I huffed irritably and drained the cold water in one go.
“If you pull something like that even one more time, I’m going to bite you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it.”
I still huffed as I asked, “What happened while I was asleep? I can’t remember anything.”
“Nothing much.”
Akt dragged a chair over beside the bed and sat down as he continued.
“Nothing except that you went back and forth between Michael and me and enjoyed us quite thoroughly.”
“Don’t phrase it like that!”
“But that’s what happened.”
“You’re talking about blood!”
Akt smiled with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Of course. Were you thinking about something else?”
“I…”
“I get jealous easily, you know. My girlfriend going back and forth with another man, and all that…”
Bonk!
Akt’s forehead reddened from the sharp flick, and he pouted dramatically.
“Ow.”
“Stop joking around and explain properly.”
“You kept sleeping while alternating between drinking from Michael and me.”
Akt answered logically and plainly.
He should have said it that way from the start!
‘That’s why I can tolerate Akt’s scent now. I’ve built up a tolerance.’
I set the empty cup on the nightstand and stretched.
My body felt lighter than ever before.
I hadn’t felt this weightless, this buoyant, in a long time.
A Demon God’s body is always energetic, but mental exhaustion lingers.
‘Michael and Akt’s blood brings rest and happiness—I must have blacked out from the synergistic effect.’
I added an explanation, worried it might raise suspicion.
“It’s been a while since I drank blood. Even a Demon God accumulates old fatigue.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
Akt smiled beautifully.
His face glowed with genuine joy at my recovery, and warmth crept into my own cheeks.
“You look so much better now.”
“…”
“Michael cooperated willingly. Thank him later, okay?”
That had been the biggest surprise of all.
I asked carefully, watching his expression.
“Did I force myself on him…?”
“No. Michael isn’t the type to just sit back quietly either.”
Akt shook his head.
“Don’t worry.”
“Really…?”
Even so, it was hard to believe.
I’d seen such ugly things happen.
The memory of a Player screaming in horror—calling me a monster—made my face contort.
‘How am I supposed to face Michael after this?’

An urge to flee entirely swept over me.
But I couldn’t do that.
If I’d made a mistake, I had to apologize for it.
‘All right. Let me go meet them directly and see what’s what.’
First, I pulled the Ruby—blood-red as its name suggested—from my Inventory.
Akt’s expression grew complex at the sight of it.
“I’ve never seen an item appear just from drinking blood before….”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
Akt shook his head and accepted the Ruby from my hands.
“I was just thinking the Demon God is quite capable.”
“Of course.”
“Thanks.”
Akt offered his thanks without forgetting the moment, placed the Ruby in his Inventory, and stood from his seat.
He climbed the stairs to the upper floor and stopped before the door to Room 305.
“Michael. Let’s head out. Rowan’s awake.”
I tensed immediately, my hands clenching into fists.
‘What will Michael say?’
Would he call me out for sneaking around drinking from players?
Worse, I’d been caught in the act.
At the worst possible moment, no less.
‘If he’d only seen me, maybe I could hide it. But he felt me feed directly from him.’
I’d resigned myself to keeping my mouth shut and taking whatever rebuke he gave.
But the Michael who stepped through the door was….
‘Completely fine?’
Even the contempt I’d grown used to seeing on his face was nowhere to be found.
Hatred and wariness had vanished without a trace.
Only a gentleness remained—an impression as virtuous and tender as an angel from myth.
Without thinking, I checked the Affability Graph hovering above Michael’s head and blinked hard.
[Michael Iruber’s Affability: 60.
20 points remaining until Quest completion.]
‘It jumped up 40 just now, and now it’s gone up another 20? What did I even do?’
Michael looked down at me with eyes of translucent blue, so clear they seemed to show his very soul.
“Is there something you wish to ask?”
“Huh? Oh?”
“You’ve been staring at me.”
“No. Nothing at all.”
‘But why? Why has he suddenly become so lenient with me?’
The Affability system was intuitive in its logic.
Negative numbers meant hatred; closer to zero was indifference.
A score of 60 was by no means a small number.
If Michael had a friend, that bond would register somewhere between 60 and 70.
Anything above 80 would mean childhood companion, and 100 would approach love.
‘But 60….’
I wanted to ask what change of heart had brought this about, but I couldn’t.
‘In the end, it’s a good development for me, but it feels unsettling.’
I watched Akt and Michael, who were in heated debate about which Information Guild to visit, and pressed my fingertips to my temples.
Not knowing what had happened left me oddly uneasy.
Unaware of my troubled thoughts, Michael spoke calmly, reciting information.
“There’s a decent Information Guild in this city. Since it’s a town where Players are actively operating, quite a few famous guilds have established branches here.”
“Is it close?”
“Reasonably so. I doubt there’s one closer than this location.”
[Your Party member ‘Michael Iruber’ has shared a location. Navigation has begun.]
I watched the small arrow indicating direction and pressed my lips together.
‘It really does have every feature imaginable.’
The Quest was as good as complete now.
‘I thought this single Party Quest wouldn’t be enough.’
With Affability already at 60, it seemed I could reach 80 using the Party Points earned once I completed the connected Quest.
Now that the time to glimpse the hidden story was drawing near, my mouth had gone dry.
Six years of wandering in the dark were pulling tension tight through my chest.
It was the fear of failure.
‘What if I can’t logout this time either?’
I shook my head, trying to suppress the reflexive worry, when I felt a persistent gaze boring into my back.
‘What is it?’
I furrowed my brow and turned around.
The street bustled with its usual cheerful chaos.
I watched for any reaction from Akt and Michael.
Neither of them seemed to notice anything.
‘Someone’s targeting me.’
I’d better check this out separately.
If I brought them along and ran into some unexpected problem, it could turn into a real disaster.
“Hey, why don’t you two go ahead? Something just came to mind. I’ll catch up later, so don’t worry.”
Akt tilted his head.
“Once we get the information, meeting up with Eritman will be quick anyway. Wouldn’t it be easier to go together rather than meet up separately?”
I waved my hand dismissively.
“It won’t take long.”
It truly would be over in a flash.
‘Not Akt or Michael—someone’s actually following me.’
Whatever their aim, they were spectacularly unlucky.
I left Akt and Michael behind and bolted quickly into an alley.
I felt the presence behind me scramble in surprise, struggling to keep up.
‘So I really am the target.’
I leisurely drove them into a dead-end alley.
From their movements, they didn’t seem to be particularly high-leveled.
‘No point wasting more time.’
I grabbed the back of the neck of the figure lurking in the shadows and hurled them into the alley.
“Agh!”
A man in an elegant beige uniform—hardly the outfit of someone who usually stalked people—tumbled across the alley floor.
I narrowed my eyes and examined him carefully.
The man was frantically rubbing the back of his head where it had struck stone.
“Ow, ow, ow.”
Once I recognized who it was, I widened my eyes in shock.
“Roman?”
It was Baron Roman.
***
“This request involves Baron Roman, then.”
Michael and Akt, who had sought out the Information Guild, frowned.
Making contact with the Information Guild hadn’t been difficult.
Michael was high-leveled enough that the guild had smoothed the way without being asked.
But the moment they heard their request, the guild tried to back out, as if troubled.
Michael asked sharply.
“We never mentioned Roman.”
“If you’re looking for the undertaker Eritman, then it’s naturally connected to Baron Roman. We’re not so incompetent as that, Player.”
The Information Guild’s receptionist sighed.
“We were trying to avoid getting tangled up with Baron Roman, but it seems we can’t escape it. For our branch to take root in this town, we have to be rather careful about stepping on toes….”
“What are you talking about?”
“You truly don’t know?”
The receptionist spoke.
“Baron Roman is not an NPC.”
While Michael twisted his mouth as if asking what that meant, Akt appeared indifferent—this was something he already knew.
The Information Guild’s receptionist sighed with an impressed air and pushed up his glasses with interest.
“It seems you already knew?”
“Yes.”
Akt rolled his eyes irritably.
“Baron Roman. He’s a Player.”
“Precisely. A Player who murdered the Baron and his wife along with their son, and now impersonates an NPC.”
Michael’s chest heaved with shock.
“That cannot be! The information records clearly state….”
“There are occasionally Players capable of deceiving information systems.”

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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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