“Don’t get the wrong idea, Emma. You really mean nothing to me.”
“……”
“…Ugh, seriously annoying.”
Having crushed Emma’s feelings beyond rejection, I sighed and walked over to the desk.
Pretending to open a drawer…
‘Inventory.’
I opened my one-slot inventory where I kept my money and pulled out the $200 Emma had borrowed.
I had no intention of accepting her feelings, but Emma was a necessary presence for me.
She did a lot of work under me, after all.
Secretarial work, organizing documents, house chores, and so on.
If Emma were gone, I’d be in a lot of trouble.
So, I decided to settle her debt for now.
If she paid back the money right away, even those Rush & Gold thugs wouldn’t be able to add interest, no matter how scummy they were.
Of course, I wasn’t giving it to her for free.
‘Emma’s salary is $10… so she’ll just have to work unpaid for 20 months. Hmm… maybe I’ll cut her some slack and make it 19 months.’
It was only because it was Emma that I was lending her money in the first place.
I figured I’d get the money back from her future salary and handed her a stack of bills.
But then…
“…Here, take this and pay off the debt you got today…”
“……”
“…Emma?”
The atmosphere around Emma, who had been frozen in silence, felt off…
*Plop.*
A drop of water fell onto the office floor.
It had rolled down Emma’s chin.
“…Oh.”
Emma seemed surprised, as if she hadn’t expected herself to cry, and touched her face.
And then…
*Drip, drip.*
Tears streamed down Emma’s flustered face like a faucet had been turned on.
Emma tried to stop the tears… but it didn’t seem to work.
“…I’m sorry, Boss. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Huh? Wait, hold on…”
Emma covered her face and bolted out of the office.
“Ugh…”
I tried to stop her, but she desperately ran away, and I couldn’t catch her.
*Thud.*
I stood there, holding the $200 I was going to give her, staring blankly at the office door.
“…I made another girl cry.”
It’s been 17 years since I entered this damn western game.
In that time, I’ve made girls cry for all sorts of reasons.
Redbeard’s daughter cried because of me, and so did Josephine, Django’s lover.
I was used to women’s tears, but…
“I didn’t expect Emma to cry.”
The tears of Emma, who was usually so emotionless, were a bit unsettling.
“Ugh, being too good-looking is a sin, being too good-looking is a crime.”
I chuckled to myself, saying something that would make anyone think I had a screw loose, and lay down on the bed.
Lying down, the events of earlier came back to me.
It was surreal that Emma, who had maintained a strictly professional relationship for three years, had confessed to me.
‘Boss, please… help me.’
The sight of Emma blushing was unfamiliar and oddly stimulating.
‘Emma is definitely pretty.’
Still, I rejected her confession.
Why?
Because I’m planning to leave this world soon, and Emma is just an NPC in this world.
We were never meant to be.
Then a question popped into my head.
What if…
What if this wasn’t a game world but reality?
Would I have accepted Emma’s confession?
‘If this were reality, I would’ve…’
……
…I shook my head, realizing it was a pointless hypothetical.
No matter what, this is a game world, not reality.
What’s the point of making such useless assumptions?
‘Let’s just eat and sleep. …Oh.’
I got up from the bed, thinking about having dinner, but then stopped.
Usually, Emma would prepare my dinner before leaving work.
But now, Emma’s gone… damn.
Without Emma, I’m already facing inconveniences in my daily life.
I thought about going to the Deaf Man’s Tavern for dinner but ended up lying back down on the bed.
Even though I was hungry, as soon as I turned off the lights and closed my eyes, I fell asleep.
‘Boss…’
That night, I had a long dream.
I don’t remember exactly what it was about, but it didn’t seem like a bad dream.
**
Emma ran straight out of Noah’s office and all the way to her log cabin.
She didn’t even think about riding Bonnie and just ran on her own.
*Thud.*
As soon as she got home, Emma picked up the small hand mirror on her dresser and looked at her face.
She had cried so much on the way home that her eyes were red and swollen.
‘How embarrassing…’
The humiliation hurt more than the sadness of being rejected—no, crushed—by Noah.
She cried pathetically in front of Noah… in front of the person she liked.
After borrowing money to express her feelings, only to be harshly rejected and then running away in tears… how pathetic must she have looked to Noah?
*Sniff.*
Thinking about it made her cry again.
Emma had lost her parents at a young age, so young she couldn’t even remember.
After that, her aunt took her in and raised her like her own child… but her aunt also died of illness when Emma was 17.
When her aunt died, Emma was heartbroken, but not a single tear fell from her eyes.
So, Emma had thought she didn’t have tears at all… but…
*Sniff.*
*Sniffle.*
…She was wrong.
Emma spent the whole night wiping away her endless tears.
She kept a towel by her side, unable to sleep, wiping and wiping the tears that kept flowing.
‘…Hah, this is so ridiculous.’
‘If you want to make a request, bring money, Emma.’
‘Why? What are you to me? Did you think you were someone special to me?’
‘I played along with you a few times out of boredom, and now you’re being annoying. …I’m swamped with work, and now this nonsense.’
‘Don’t get the wrong idea, Emma. You really mean nothing to me.’
Replaying Noah’s cold words in her head made the tears flow again, and she wiped them away once more.
“…I should’ve just done nothing. I should’ve just stayed…”
“I guess I’ll just enjoy it alone.”
Regretting her foolish choices, wiping away her tears again and again.
Repeating the cycle of self-blame, hurt, and wiping tears, she suddenly realized it was already morning.
“…Ah.”
Emma lifted her head to the sunlight streaming through the window.
She hadn’t slept at all, but she wasn’t tired.
Instead… her heart was in so much pain.
“Sigh…”
Still, she had to go to work.
Honestly, Emma wanted to avoid Noah for a few days…
But the fear of never being able to stay by Noah’s side again if she disappeared after causing this mess made her anxious.
So, to fix the situation, she absolutely had to go to work.
Thus, Emma started preparing for an early departure without having slept.
Naturally, the preparation took much longer than usual.
She washed her face with cold water to reduce the puffiness.
Emma agonized over what to wear from her limited wardrobe.
‘Is this all I have…?’
For over 20 years, Emma had never cared about clothes.
But today, her outfits seemed too plain and outdated.
She sighed softly and changed into the least bad option.
Before leaving the house, she muttered to herself.
“Act as normal as possible… Don’t let the boss notice… Don’t cry…”
It was a necessary measure because she felt like she’d burst into tears the moment she saw Noah.
After mentally preparing herself, Emma stepped outside.
And then…
“……?”
As soon as she opened the door, she noticed unfamiliar shadows in front of her.
To be precise… two large men with pistols on both sides.
“…….”
Both men had gang marks resembling a ‘$’ on their jackets.
They were from the Rush and Gold Gang.
Realizing this, Emma immediately wiped the expression off her face and spoke.
“…I thought the interest wasn’t due until next week.”
“Ah, we’re not here for the interest today.”
“Then why?”
“We’d like you to come with us for a moment.”
“…….”
Emma immediately tried to recall where her gun was.
‘First drawer of the dresser.’
Snap.
And the moment Emma moved meticulously toward the dresser…
Thud.
“…Ugh.”
“Knew you’d try that.”
The gang members tightly grabbed her wrists.
“Come quietly while we’re being nice. Before we get rough, okay?”
“…….”
Why were the Rush and Gold Gang members trying to take her away?
Emma couldn’t even begin to guess…
“…Alright.”
For now, she had no choice but to follow them.
‘…Boss.’
Even in that moment, Emma thought of Noah.
—
Blink.
“Wa… water…”
Waking up thirsty as usual.
I opened my eyes and, out of habit, called for Emma while lying in bed.
“Emma… water…”
“…….”
But there was no response.
I lifted my head and looked out the window…
“…Did I wake up early because I slept early yesterday? No… Emma didn’t come to work.”
I realized Emma hadn’t come to work despite it being time.
Admittedly… it wouldn’t be easy for her to come to work as if nothing happened after storming out of the office like that yesterday.
“Damn it. This is why people say not to date coworkers.”
I was annoyed that Emma didn’t come to work just because I rejected her confession…
But I decided to let it slide and went to the kitchen to get water myself.
But…
“…Huh? Ah… no water.”
The water I had drawn earlier was all gone.
In this western town without plumbing, you had to draw water from the well to use or drink.
Originally, one of Emma’s morning tasks was to ride No Name to the well and fetch water, but without her, there was no water left.
“Ugh… so annoying…”
Too lazy to go to the well myself, I plopped down on the sofa.
Growl.
Sitting on the sofa, my stomach growled from not eating since last night.
Unless I went to the Deaf Man’s Tavern for breakfast, Emma usually prepared my morning meal.
But today, there was no Emma to make breakfast.
“Ugh… I’m so hungry…”
I stretched weakly, and my leg hit the laundry basket.
The laundry basket was full, as it was time to do the laundry.
Normally, Emma would take the laundry to the river every few days…
But today, there was no Emma to do the laundry.
“…This is a mess.”
It had only been a few hours since Emma didn’t show up.
And already, my quality of life had plummeted.
It felt like going from living comfortably at home with my mom’s cooking to suddenly having to fend for myself in a new place.
“…I really need Emma.”
I couldn’t return her feelings, but… Emma, the capable all-around secretary, was absolutely necessary for me.
So, I waited for her endlessly, but no matter how long I waited, Emma didn’t come to work.
