I Mistook the Horror Game Boss for My Bestie - Chapter 3

His black clothes, made from some material I couldn’t identify, clung perfectly to every muscle on his body.

His broad chest pressed against the fabric, and the clean lines of his firm abs showed beneath it. His hands and face were the only skin he had exposed, giving him an austere, untouchable air.

Good lord. Look at the way my bestie was dressed.

Every last detail hit me right in the sweet spot.

The only strange thing was the distance in his eyes when he looked at me. He hadn’t said a single word, either.

That wasn’t like my chatterbox of a best friend at all.

She must have been traumatized by seeing those people shove me out as a human shield the moment she appeared.

To save me, she’d driven her tentacles straight through their thighs. My bestie normally couldn’t even bring herself to kill a chicken! A scene that bloody must have scared her senseless.

And after those people escaped, I’d gotten so wrapped up in the live chat’s gossip that I hadn’t even comforted her properly.

God, I was awful!

I hadn’t spared a thought for her feelings.

The more I considered it, the worse I felt. I pulled the Boss into my arms and stroked his hair soothingly.

“Babe, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking about your feelings just now.”

The Boss’s entire body stiffened. Even the tentacle wound tightly around my thigh went unnaturally still.

I assumed she simply wasn’t used to physical contact in a brand-new body, so I thought nothing of the dramatic reaction.

Empty promises were free, so I poured them on.

“Those people were horrible! They bullied me, kept me from sleeping, took advantage of me nonstop, and stole all my points.”

“I didn’t comfort you right away because I wanted to learn more about them, so we won’t let them escape next time. It definitely wasn’t because I don’t care about you!”

He said nothing. Long lashes hid the emotion in his eyes, leaving me unable to tell what he was thinking.

I gazed at him pitifully.

“Babe, why are you ignoring me? Are you still mad?”

He remained unmoved, so I redoubled my efforts and rubbed my cheek against his chest.

“You really can’t forgive me, Babe?”

[What is this newbie doing???]

[Does she think a few sweet words will save her? This is a horror game. How can anyone be that naive?]

[Oh my god, does she think she’s playing a dating sim?]

[So the Boss is handsome and she’s kind of pretty. Does that mean she can treat him like a romance target? Wake up!]

[Does she understand what a hell-difficulty scenario is? No one has ever cleared this one!]

[Sure, this Boss is devastatingly handsome. He’s even more devastating when he’s killing people!]

[Just saying, the Boss really does seem to treat her differently. He protected her as soon as he appeared.]

[Even God X, the guild’s strongest player, only lasted five minutes against this Boss, and that was while throwing divine-tier items around like they were free. The newbie has been alive for more than ten minutes now…]

[What are you imagining? She openly exposed herself as a player. Have you ever met a monster that doesn’t kill players? Maybe the Boss is keeping her alive so he can torture her slowly.]

The comments argued back and forth until my eyes blurred.

Then the Boss awkwardly raised one cold, pale hand and laid it gently over my eyes.

His voice was hoarse.

“Sleep.”

I pried his fingers apart just enough to peek through, checking repeatedly that he truly wasn’t angry.

When my gaze met his pitch-black eyes, he spoke with the unnatural cadence of someone who hadn’t used his voice in a very long time.

It sounded as though he were trying to reassure me.

“No… fear.”

So I obediently closed my eyes and went to sleep.

Outside my field of vision, the live chat filled with expletives.

[Holy crap??? The Boss can talk!]

[The newbie still hasn’t been killed!]

[Could she be some secret big shot?]

[Now this is interesting. I’m subscribing to her stream!]

[Ha. I just want to see how this clueless newbie finally dies.]

[Help, why do I kind of ship them?]

[Same.]

The Boss lifted me with his tentacles.

Every one of them carefully restrained its strength, as if terrified of hurting me.

He carried me back to his home, where I slept soundly through the night.

The next morning, I opened my eyes to find the Boss already there.

He had even thoughtfully prepared breakfast. I flung myself at him and nuzzled him with abandon.

“Babe, you’re way too good to me!”

My bestie clearly still wasn’t used to being affectionate with me in this body. He immediately thrust a piece of bread into my hands.

His message was succinct.

“Eat.”

The live chat gawked as though it had never seen anything stranger.

[??? The world makes less sense every minute.]

[Did I hallucinate all this because I stayed up watching the newbie’s stream?]

[Nope. No hallucination. I’ve been watching all night too. The Boss guarded her while she slept and never tried to kill her. He only went out once, right before dawn, and came back with bread.]