I Don't Want to Become a Boss, Damn It

Chapter 21: I Don't Want to Be a Boss, Hey!

"Master Wendell was a traitor?"

On the way back to the village, Iris murmured as Linton recounted the background story of the Secret Realm to her. "No wonder there's so little information about him. Logically, someone like him should be in every magic academy's textbook, not just have his name survive. So that's why."

Then she thought of something else. "Why do you know so many unrecorded secrets? Have you been alive since that era?"

"Why do you think that?" Linton tilted his head slightly, looking at the girl. "Although the records are scarce, it's not difficult to piece together a partial history from fragments if one deliberately searches for clues."

"Tch, if you don't want to say it, fine." Iris pouted and then asked curiously, "Even though I've only known you for a short time, I always feel like... you know everything. Whether it's hidden Secret Realms or unrecorded stories, you're like an omniscient Divine Lord, knowing everything."

"I remember you said the organization behind you is called... the Truth Society? Did the 'True Lord' they speak of guide you?"

Seeing Iris turn into a curious child asking a million questions, Linton couldn't help but chuckle. "If the True Lord could guide me, the house we're living in wouldn't be a shabby thatched hut, but a luxurious palace with floors paved in gold and jewels embedded in the walls."

"Why are you suddenly so full of money? Can you maintain that cool demeanor you had while casting for a few more seconds!"

Before her words even fully registered, Iris realized she had accidentally spoken her thoughts aloud. She quickly changed the subject. "Right, did you get Wendell's relics?"

Such a straightforward girl, she doesn't even call him Master anymore. Linton opened his hand, and a tattered, ancient book appeared in his palm. "The Manuscript of Deathly Silence - Fragment. This is the taboo that Wendell touched."

"It contains some information about undead creatures. Wendell extracted the knowledge from it and applied it to his summoned beings."

"But he ultimately belonged to the Mortal Realm and couldn't truly grasp the power of the Abyss. Even with his vast knowledge and lifelong accumulation of magic, he could temporarily suppress the backlash, but eventually, when he let his guard down, he would still be consumed."

"Can you control it? Will you turn me into a half-human, half-ghost like those knights one day?"

"It's not a big problem," Linton said. "When it comes to death, Necromancers are the most qualified professionals to speak on the subject. So, in my hands, it's still very obedient."

"I'm starting to suspect you crawled out from under the Abyss."

Iris sighed with a worried frown. "I hope when you get caught and arrested for your crimes, they don't roast me over a fire. And if they do, please don't add cilantro."

"What's wrong with cilantro!" Linton roared.

"Is cilantro the point!!"

"Yes!!"

Seeing Linton's serious expression, Iris couldn't help but put her hand to her forehead. "Alright, alright, you win. Cilantro is the best in the world."

"That's more like it," Linton nodded with satisfaction. "Don't worry too much. Even if we get caught, you won't be burned as a heretic. For a rare subject like researching necromancy, they're more likely to study every single one of your hairs with microscopic magic."

"You really don't know how to comfort people!!"

"In this day and age, the truth is just something nobody wants to hear."

"Shut up!!"

For the rest of the time, Iris didn't want to talk to Linton anymore. She was afraid that if they spoke a few more words, her temper would flare up uncontrollably.

It wasn't just her temper, though. The problem was... she might not be able to beat Linton.

She wasn't afraid of a real fight, but due to the Soul Dominator, she couldn't lay a hand on the Necromancer.

This is infuriating! Infuriating!

Why am I constrained by this scoundrel?

Is it because I'm not strong enough?

—Indeed, it is.

So it's my fault!

And so, the young girl's thoughts wandered, becoming increasingly strange, and she ended up taking her anger out on herself.

Linton quietly observed Iris's expression, which was as dramatic as an unpredictable soap opera, and decided not to provoke her for the moment.

During a brief period of leisure, Linton opened the player forum.

He had already noticed players following him—there was no way to hide the huge player IDs floating above their heads.

But he didn't expose them. Instead, he chose to let them record his actions.

The reason was that Linton needed to expand his fame beyond the usual circles.

He was an NPC without a storyline, not the protagonist of the game. He couldn't possibly find a place in the history and main quests that players unearthed. To gain more benefits from players, he had to make his presence known.

If he blended in with the crowd, players would quickly get lost in the complexity of the Kingdom of Heavenly Principles and forget about the NPC in the black hooded robe they had once seen.

Just like popular celebrities, he needed to periodically boost his presence to better harvest his fans.

This was why Linton tacitly allowed the Tyrannosaurus Warrior to spy on him.

Of course, Linton didn't want to be a mere celebrity. He preferred to be a treasure actor with representative works, someone who could linger in the depths of players' consciousness. They might not mention him often, but everyone would know him.

Did he not know his actions would cause controversy among players?

Of course, he did.

But controversy breeds discussion. Just like the saying, even negative fame is fame. Moreover, his actions, being consistent with the analysis from the Kaleidoscope, were not negative at all.

However, among those who surf the internet, there are many binary thinkers. They believe that if a person doesn't do good deeds, they must be utterly evil, with no room for neutral or chaotic alignments.

But precisely because it's a game, even villainous characters can achieve immense popularity if they possess enough captivating elements.

Linton's portrayal in the video as omniscient and his abilities as taboo were intended to steer his identity towards the mysterious, thereby piquing players' curiosity.

After all, most people aren't resistant to the idea of eating forbidden fruit in their hearts.

From this point alone, he had indeed succeeded.

In today's real world, "Little Black" had successfully dominated all the trending topics on social networks, and uncovering Little Black's secrets was treated as a main quest by almost all players.

Of course, since Linton was preparing to leave the Truth Society, he didn't actually want to become a villain. His goal was to establish an image in the players' minds as someone a bit wicked but ultimately good, a "scum of the earth" persona, because such character archetypes were quite popular recently in both novels and games.

That's why he explained to Iris that he wouldn't harm players, and that's why, in his final conversation with Master Wendell, he pointed out that Master Wendell wasn't a good person. It was all to plant a seed in the players' minds that "he doesn't seem like a bad guy."

However, Linton seemed to have underestimated the binary nature of netizens. They completely ignored the goodwill he displayed, desperately trying to portray him as a mastermind with grand ambitions, or a villainous hero walking in darkness due to deep-seated grudges.

It wasn't their fault for thinking that way, because in all fields of literature and artistic creation, characters with such archetypes were very popular.

In short, players wouldn't think he was an utterly evil villain, nor did they see him as a kind soul who went around helping people for no reason—joke's on them, would Little Black ever pursue something as base as satisfying such desires?

His goal was either to sink the continent out of world-weariness, or to save the world through destruction!

He was just a perfectly ordinary ultimate boss!

That's all~

From "Is Little Black Really a Bad Guy?" to "Little Black is Definitely a Villain," and then to "What is Little Black's Ultimate Goal, Will He Turn Everyone into Undead Creatures?" and so on, each post was a bit different from what Linton had imagined, like "This NPC is so amazing, how does he know everything?"

Not only that, but some villain enthusiasts, who particularly enjoyed going against the grain of heroic narratives, had even created a series of "scriptures" for him.

"At his birth, Little Black said he hated light, and the sky instantly shattered, leaving only darkness in the world; Little Black said he hated water, and lava erupted from the earth's core, melting the oceans into obsidian; Little Black said he hated the living, and thus all people were freed from the constraints of their bodies, floating freely upon the land."

"The Kingdom of Heavenly Principles can exist without Heavenly Principles, but it cannot exist without Little Black, just as the West can exist without Jerusalem, but Xia Kingdom cannot exist without Neon Province. Black Gate (clasping hands.emoji)"

"Why Little Black is a God: Firstly..."

Linton was silent for a long time.

Things seemed to be developing in a strange direction.

"So my goal was to destroy the world, so my desires were actually that high-level, so my ass! What the hell!"

"Why aren't you guys focusing on my super cool skill effects and the rich knowledge I've displayed? Why don't you want to explore my background? Why are you guys so good at creating content?!"

"Stop your imagination, I don't want to be a boss, hey!!"

Four chapters, approximately 10,000 words, which is roughly equivalent to an additional chapter, so Sha Bu proudly puffed out his chest and shouted: Please vote for me, please continue reading (flip one more page)! Please!orz!!