I Became a Raid Boss

“I don’t like it.”

Doo-woong.

“Do you really hate it that much?”

Nod, nod.

The girl with pink hair was sulking and nodding her head.

The man scratched his cheek awkwardly as he looked down at her.

“I think it’s a pretty name. It’s cute and your voice is pretty, so it suits you perfectly, don’t you think?”

“…I still don’t like it.”

“Hmm… then how about this? We’ll call you something else for now, and when you feel okay about it later, we can go back to your original name.”

“…Okay.”

“What should it be… oh, I know!”

Grrin.

The man grinned widely, revealing his teeth.

“From now on, your name will be Kana!”

“…It’s simple.”

Cough.

“Still, thanks.”

As she said that, the girl showed an unusual smile.

*

What a foolish girl.

In other words, a clueless girl.

How dare she enter a mountain rumored to be home to a killer and then get scared just because she couldn’t kill a mere cockatrice?

She’d come all this way, bringing food for over a week, just to thank me for saving her.

Watching Joanie struggle up a mountain without even knowing how to wield a sword, it made me think.

She didn’t even consider the possibility of encountering monsters again.

She was the dumbest person I had ever seen.

“…”

Now that I think about it, there was Garid.

Correction.

The second dumbest person I had ever seen.

The biggest fool I knew was Garid, after all.

Anyway, who in the world would climb a mountain daily just to thank someone for saving their life?

It didn’t make sense whether she was an apostle or not.

Even if she wasn’t an apostle, it made no sense to throw away a life that had just been spared, and if she were an apostle, did she really need to feel this grateful to the point of breaking a sweat?

Of course, she might have some ulterior motives other than pure goodwill.

But I didn’t suspect her.

To put it more accurately, I didn’t see the need to suspect her.

Perhaps because I had rolled around so much, I was highly sensitive to any malice directed at me, but I felt none from Joanie.

Even if she did harbor any ill will, I was confident I could win.

Even a crazed snake from the Empire couldn’t easily harm me, so how could I, a fool and weak girl, take me down?

If she were someone who could deceive my senses, that would mean she was stronger than me, so keeping a lookout would be pointless.

And if she were someone stronger than me, then whether deceived or not, she would die anyway, so it wouldn’t matter.

From the beginning, if she were that kind of person, she wouldn’t need to pretend to be weak.

Um, let’s stop thinking about Joanie for now and change the topic for a moment.

Subjectively speaking, I didn’t have much patience.

‘Hmm, no. It’s more accurate to say I lack it.’

Saying that my patience wasn’t good might sound like a compliment, but stating I lacked it leaves no room for misinterpretation.

If someone offered me a marshmallow and said, “If you don’t eat this by tomorrow, I’ll give you two more,” I’d gobble it up before they could finish their sentence; that’s me.

It’s probably due to my experiences right after my previous life… but does the cause really matter?

I don’t particularly regret lacking patience, so what difference does it make?

It’s often said that a person who cannot endure injustice becomes a hero, while an immoral person who cannot control their desires becomes a villain.

But I couldn’t possess either justice or wickedness, so I was just a mediocre human.

And lacking patience is somewhat akin to being impulsive.

After the last thread that held me was severed, I, the mediocre human, decided, like a leaf falling from a tree, to turn over a new leaf.

I wouldn’t get involved with anyone again.

‘Wait!’

Even with that resolution, I couldn’t help but think about what Granic said when he saved me.

I realized once again how impulsive and lacking in patience I really was.

I saved Joanie; even after saving her, she continued to come and bother me every day; I even taught her about swords and told her my name.

There wasn’t anything that wasn’t impulsive.

Sigh, ha.

Although quite some time had passed, I still felt the lingering taste of spiciness clinging to the tip of my tongue.

Why does this food even exist? Before that, can it even be called food?

What Joanie brought today was something that could only be read as the malice of humanity, labeled as fried rice.

Can you really survive eating this?

The throbbing sensation as if my head was being hit hard as if asking that question.

“Phew…”

It was so ridiculous that a silly laugh escaped me.

A spicy taste filled with artificial flavors abundant with stimuli that I had never experienced in Silia before.

Why did it evoke nostalgia from memories floated behind me?

“Joanie, Apostle, Edel…”

Tap.

Tap.

I lightly tapped the sheathed sword at my waist with my fingers, lost in thought.

The Blacksmith had said that Edel had brought people from across the eastern sea to bless them.

Suddenly summoning apostles and bestowing powers upon them.

The flavors of food I had never felt before. A strong flavor that stirred faint nostalgia.

Tap, tap.

“What the heck is going on?”

Edel.

I looked up at the sky, as I had done before, and asked.

The sky was still clear, and the god remained silent.

“The Sedeth Kingdom.”

The place of the Edel religion’s Mecca, where Edel had descended. The place that held the strongest holy power in all of Ardina Continent.

Would I find out the truth if I went there?

Even so, at the moment, I had no intention of leaving the mountain.

I still hadn’t freed Garid, and the crazed snake would be lurking nearby.

Maybe in a little while, when the country of Grasis became a faded memory, it would be okay.

No matter what Edel was up to, what would it have to do with me at this point?

Besides, I wasn’t without means to obtain information, so there’s no need to rush.

I have a wonderful shuttle… no, an informant, who brings me food every day.

Even if she’s a clueless and foolish girl, an apostle is still an apostle, so she might know something.

Considering that my existence has been spreading and unwelcome guests might come looking for me, there seems to be some network of information among the apostles.

One thing that worried me was that I revealed my name impulsively due to nostalgia.

“I told her not to tell anyone.”

Though it was a promise easily broken, not better than a pinky swear.

Regardless of others, it should be alright since it was a girl who continued to bring food to express her gratitude for her life being saved.

Since she had been dropping hints about wanting to become friends, finding out my name might excite her.

“Phew…”

I started living in the mountains to live quietly, yet things just won’t calm down.

Why does everything keep happening?

Is a quiet life just not in my fate…?

*

“Kana.”

The Gravekeeper.

Kana and the Gravekeeper. The Gravekeeper and Kana.

How can two words have such different vibes?

Now cautiously tasting the two characters of the name I had just discovered, Joanie thought.

Just a moment ago, I was merely hoping that the favor I built wouldn’t falter, but now I found myself bewildered by an unexpected windfall.

Is it really true that the spicy fried rice I prepared with great effort, even risking my life, was accepted?

…Why?

It was as if I had accidentally caught a mouse while minding my own business.

No clue why, but whatever, a good thing is a good thing, right?

Once the initial surprise faded, a brief joy followed, only for concern to emerge afterward.

“I said it was a secret…”

At that moment, I had been dumbfounded by the shocking revelation that ‘Phoenix Fried Rice’ was the key point of the quest and the sudden escalation of the favor.

I hadn’t understood Kana… the Gravekeeper’s words.

It wasn’t a term Joanie was familiar with.

While descending the mountain, recalling what Kana had said, it turned out to be her saying that it was a secret and not to tell anyone.

From what Joanie’s not short life experience had shown her, once you tell someone your secret, it’s only a moment before it’s not a secret anymore.

‘This is a secret… don’t tell anyone.’

If A tells B, B runs to tell C, resulting in…

“A told me, I’ll only tell you.”

And then C tells D…

“A said…”

And so it goes.

Like that.

Joanie, knowing how it felt to be betrayed by someone she trusted, didn’t want to spill anyone’s secrets, be it her own or another’s.

She had intended to maintain that this time too, but her occupation was the problem.

—The Gravekeeper was actually Korean?!

—Hey, it’s not the Gravekeeper, it’s Kana-chan!

—Kana! Kana! Kana!

‘…I might be in trouble?’

Had I known earlier, I could’ve at least muted myself, but it was all too sudden, causing me to broadcast the name Kana as is.

That’s not just the name, but the secret too.

Just the viewers who witnessed it would already exceed a hundred thousand.

Thinking about how that would leak into every broadcast and community as clips, I couldn’t guess how many people would find out.

Did I really expect that many people to keep it a secret?

“Haha. Yeah, right.”

Unless they had some sort of extraterrestrial connection through their nervous system, sharing thoughts as one, it was impossible.

Just looking at the chat now, aren’t they wildly chanting Kana’s name?

I just hope no one has bad intentions.

“Alright, everyone. How about we calm down a bit?”

Why are you so obsessed with a mere NPC in a game? It’s just a slightly higher-level AI than other games, after all.

Joanie had heard that line so many times while struggling to win Kana’s favor.

But she didn’t see the inhabitants of this Silia world as mere NPCs.

They thought like humans, acted like humans, and spoke like humans; how could they possibly be just NPCs?

And even if they were simply NPCs, what’s the big deal?

Isn’t it bad to immerse oneself?

RPG stands for ‘Role-Playing Game’—directly translated, it’s a game where you role-play, after all.

‘If immersing oneself in a role is criticized as overindulgence, isn’t that denying the very genre of RPG?’

The very term overindulgence is wrong.

That was her belief.

So, I will do my best to keep Kana’s words safe.

‘Though I think it’s already too late….’

I don’t want to betray Kana, who trusted me enough to share her name with me.

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