The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 63

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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 63
Conflict between NPC and Player.
It existed within the Demon God Worshippers as well.
Aerial pressed his palm to his forehead, wincing at the headache.
The NPC ranted on, spittle flying.
“You think we don’t know your tricks? You were trying to kill all of us at once, weren’t you? I nearly died because of your Hellfire!”
Aerial let out a bitter laugh.
“So what? Isn’t that what you signed up for when you became a worshipper? I gave you the chance to be an NPC, and you don’t even show gratitude……”
The NPC’s face flushed crimson.
Tears welled in the corners of his eyes, the whites shot through with blood—a fearsome sight.
“Till the very end……!”
Strength came from nowhere. The NPC suddenly lurched to his feet and threw himself at Aerial.
Like all mages, Aerial was weak in close combat.
He stumbled backward in panic.
The NPCs, who had followed meekly with their spirits broken, now found courage at the sight of the Demon God and fought with desperate ferocity.
The NPC seized the moment and tore something from around Aerial’s neck without mercy.
“We’ve served you faithfully for so long! Did you think we wouldn’t notice what you treasure?”
“No!”
Aerial’s face had gone ashen, and he screamed.
In the NPC’s grip was a tightly sealed Conch-shaped Pendant.
“Give it back!”
“You need to lose something precious too! Only then are we equal! Players should suffer the same pain as NPCs!”
“Give it back, I’m telling you!!”
Aerial raised his Staff and drove its pointed end into the NPC’s side.
The NPC shrieked as his flank opened, and he crashed to the ground, writhing.
“Aaaahhh!”
“I won’t let you off! I’ll kill you!”
Reason shattered.
Aerial pressed the Red Crystal embedded in his Staff down upon the NPC’s belly.
Sizzle—
“Aaaahhh!”
The NPC lost consciousness as his skin burned away in agony.
Even that was not enough.
Aerial raised his Staff to finish him off.
But Aktr stepped between them.
A man who, until now, had barely made his presence felt.
“Get out of my way!”
“Will you kill a man over a mere pendant?”
Aerial wanted nothing more than to kill this thorn in his side, this man before him, all at once.
“A mere pendant?”
You don’t even know what that is.
You know nothing of what it means to me!
Aerial’s voice cracked like lightning.
“How dare you compare an NPC—creatures whose only use is to hand out Quests—to my pendant?”
“Are we worth less than a piece of jewelry, then?”
The NPC clinging to the Demon God laughed, then slid downward in a heap.
“That’s right. That’s the truth. We’re worthless—worth less than any item a Player possesses. That’s what an NPC is!”
A sinister foreboding crept up Aerial’s spine.
He lunged forward desperately.
But it was too late.
The NPC brought the Conch-shaped Pendant down hard against the ground.
Crack—
The shell shattered like an eggshell, unable to withstand the force.
At the same moment, a mysterious blue radiance that had been sealed within rose up like smoke, scattering into wisps.
“No!!”
Aerial thrashed frantically, trying to seize the blue essence, but it was useless.
The pendant that had glowed faintly until moments before had become an ordinary shell.
The blue radiance was gone.
Aerial sank to his knees.
Her ears rang with the phantom voice of her dead lover.
‘Ah, Aerial… your eyes… the color…’
As the spell dissolved, Aerial’s crimson hair began to shift back to blue.
Strand by strand.
Deep azure, rising from the roots like seawater flooding in.
‘They turned red. Your eyes. They became red, Aerial.’
And then Aerial’s hair began to darken once more.
This time, it was no magic.
A crimson aura crept upward from the roots, drowning his blue hair in blood-red.
Sensing the change, Aerial’s hands flew to his head in shock.
“No… surely not…”
He seized the reddened strands and tore at them.
Beautiful hair crumpled like straw between his fingers, ripped away in his fists.
“Not yet… not yet…!”
He examined the hair he’d torn free.
Bright blood-red.
“Ahhhhh…!”
Aerial collapsed, muttering words without meaning, despair consuming him.
The NPC who’d completed his revenge watched him fall, closing his eyes.
He’d known how to smile with the satisfaction of it all.
Yet Aerial’s hollow gaze troubled him; his lips twisted in pain.
“Hey, friend.”
The NPC addressed Aktr nearby.
“Thank you for saving us from the flames. Whether it was the Quest or not, I saw genuine heart in how you did everything to keep us from burning.”
“…”
Aktr grasped the NPC’s hand, his eyes distant and deep.
The NPC continued.
His gaze remained fixed on Aerial.
“Make that wretched Player into someone kind like you. As one human to another—teach him to see people as people, not tools.”
He glanced sidelong at the Demon God.
“If I can watch that Player change, I think I’ll no longer need to rely on the Demon God.”
“…”
“That would mean there’s still hope for this world.”
As the NPC finished speaking, a notification chimed.
Ding!
[You have cleared the Dungeon and completed the Demon God Worshippers’ brothel occupational Quest!]
[Excellent!
You have successfully dismantled the Demon God Worshippers’ brothel!
True to your nature as a Primordial Priest who maintains the world’s balance, Aktr Hevgenia has cleanly purified the byproduct born from the side effects of creation.
It is not yet complete, but it should remain stable for some time.
— Byproduct (Bug): Those who came to worship the Demon God.
— Bug Code: The will of ‘—‘
Debugging complete.]
[As a reward for completing the occupational Quest, you have unlocked one Primordial Priest Exclusive Skill.]
A dizzy cascade of windows flooded the screen at once.
Aerial sat numb, staring only at the ground.
Whatever the system was announcing meant nothing to him.
He could only dimly recognize that the messages were somehow connected to Aktr, his party leader.
Ding!
[A new Quest has arrived!]
[The Endless Nightmare of a Worshipper.
The NPC Bru’nian has requested that you enlighten one Demon God Worshipper.
He declared that when this worshipper learns to see people as people,
When he reflects on his dark nature and achieves Enlightenment,
He himself will no longer need to rely on the Demon God.
Cooperate so that the NPC’s resolve does not waver.
Furthermore, shatter the endless nightmare that binds this worshipper, and help him awaken.
— Completion Condition: Reform the Demon God Worshipper Aerial Atlantis.
— Reward: Your level increases by 20.]
Blink. Blink. Aerial’s eyes opened and closed with sluggish slowness.
Heat was rising from within him.
A burning that cooked him from the inside out, that severed his muscles until he couldn’t move.
He stared at the fragments of the shattered Conch-shaped Pendant, scattered like pieces of broken shell.
And then consciousness slipped away entirely.
“Aerial!”
The Demon God’s voice faded into a distant blur.
***
I sat beside Aerial where he lay on the bed, turning a glass vial over in my hands.
It contained fragments of the shattered Conch-shaped Pendant.
Aktr had shouldered the unconscious Aerial, swept up every last shard, and carefully collected them into this vial.
‘It seems he doesn’t hold Aerial in high regard…….’
Though he’d been careful enough about it — shocked into collecting every fragment.
Looking at Aerial’s unconscious face, my chest tightened.
I pulled up the Quest window in front of me.
[Reverence for the Demon God (2)
As the Demon God, you must increase those who worship you. Gather allies and reveal the truth of the Demon God.
― Current Target: Aerial Atlantis
― Completion Condition: 80 Favorability Points with Aerial Atlantis
― Reward: One hidden story will be unlocked.
― Time Remaining: 59 days 20 hours 45 minutes.
※ Warning! This Quest carries a Penalty.]
So they acknowledge he’s a difficult target, at least.
The time limit had doubled compared to last time.
Fifty-nine days.
Nearly two months—and yet it still felt suffocating.
‘Has Aerial ever truly opened his heart to anyone?’
One small mercy: Aktr had received a related Quest as well.
The Enlightenment of Aerial Atlantis.
Which meant we could at least stay together for the foreseeable future.
Of course, whether he’d willingly remain with us was another matter entirely.
‘But Aktr’s Quest is about enlightening Aerial, and mine is about turning him into a worshipper—can we even achieve both at once?’
The truth was, the Quest that had appeared for Aktr this time was vague in many ways.
The Demon God Worshippers’ brothel Quest had a clear objective: Dungeon Clear.
But this one did not.
The word “enlightenment” was too subjective.
Consider the possibilities.
Aerial’s declaration that he would abandon being a Demon God Worshipper could count as evidence of enlightenment.
But kindness shown to an NPC could also serve as evidence of enlightenment.
Even an apology to those he’d wronged could be a sign of it.
Among so many possibilities, which would actually complete the Quest?
The condition to enlighten Aerial was far too ambiguous.
“Mmm…….”
Aerial curled into himself like a shrimp, swallowing his screams behind clenched teeth.
His eyes moved frantically beneath his eyelids, wild with terror—caught in nightmare’s grip.
I pressed the back of my hand against his bluish skin.
‘His fever is burning hot.’
Healing magic, potions—nothing worked.
It was as if the red light that had consumed him was now burning him from the inside, feeding on him slowly.
Then Aerial’s eyes opened slowly.

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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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