( warnings: blood, religious imagery, violence, yandere behavior, sin, purity, discrimination, drugs and alcohol, addiction, unhealthy coping mechanisms.
In general, warnings will be included at the start of every chapter if necessary. Please tell me if I leave anything out. The content inside might be sensitive to some so viewer discretion is advised.
Regarding the religious aspect, it is heavily based on Christianity, but it's written to be more of a cult than an actual religion. Only certain aspects are similar to Christianity, but the majority of it is made up and written to be slightly more diabolical.
Priests are called "Father [Name]", so the love interest [Anton] will be called as such, but he is only twenty six. Y/n L/n is twenty four. )
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CHAPTER TWO
"This is the Church?" Y/n looked around, his eyes widening. A beautiful, golden structure—held by four intricately designed pillars. It looked even more beautiful than the palace itself, which meant that most of the Imperial budget had been spent on the Redemption Church itself. This probably explained the reason why the church constantly clashed with the palace. Yet the people of the church were the ones blessed with the "holy" abilities, so what exactly could the Emperor do?
Nothing.
"Why, yes." Helen clapped her hands, "beautiful, isn't it? I thank God for giving us such a splendid place of worship everyday. It's wonderful..." She looked spellbound by it, her eyes entering some sort of daze.
It reminded Y/n more of a cult than an actual religion. All of them seemed too obsessed.
[ Congratulations! You have reached the place of worship!
+50 XP points. ]
His quest was to find Father Anton. Or Anton. Anton felt better suited to his tongue—father just made it more stiff and rigid. He would have been perfectly fine with addressing a proper priest with that title to show respect, but somehow Y/n didn't exactly view this whole...church as a legitimate one. First of all, it was made up from a horror game, and second, it seemed home to extreme cultists.
Like Helen. She would drool at the mention of cleansing one's soul. Basically, killing them. Wasn't everyone here just murder fanatics? It appalled Y/n that such behavior had swiftly become normalized.
"Ah, yes. Wonderful indeed..." Y/n trailed off. "They're giving us bread and drinks. For free?"
"For free. God provides all meals." Helen confirmed.
Ah. No wonder the palace hates the church.
"I see." Y/n stepped forward, "then, where are we headed now, Sister Helen?"
"Oh, to the confession room. Wouldn't you want to get all your confessions and sins off your back first? Then you can see Father Anton with a lighter heart," Helen suggested, "it's to the left. Now, don't get lost, or you'll be late. And I've already warned you, haven't I?"
Tardiness is also a crime. Right. Y/n swallowed, and nodded his head. To the left...such a simple direction? This all looked like some maze. What would happen if he was late? Would he lose favorability points? Would there be a penalty? Would his redemption points increase? In the end, Anton was the sole goal he had in mind. When he cleared all the levels, Y/n would be able to return home.
"Then I'll leave you here. Confessions must be in private!" Helen laughed, "I have plenty to do. There's the prayers to write, the people to hear...I must make haste! I'll see you later, Y/n. Do keep up the good work." She turned, walking away.
Y/n heaved a huge sigh of relief. Helen rattled his nerves. She was extremely unnerving—and was a disliked NPC precisely because it would be her reports that would make the in-game characters constantly having to respawn. She was described to be well-off and intensely loyal.
Now, the prayer room...
"Mister, do you want some bread?" A hand tugged on his sleeve. Y/n stared at a young boy, face aglow as his hand held a bread basket.
"W-Well, I..." Was it even safe to eat? The game described the bread as some staple—some sort of food to collect when the hunger bar was low. But it never really specified whether it was safe to eat. Sometimes, Y/n had picked up various food items during the game and had eaten them only to find his character respawn.
Maybe there was a drug inside.
"I'm not hungry." Y/n declined politely.
"Mister, do you want some bread?"
"Mister, do you want some bread?" Another hand tugged at him.
[ Accept the bread? N O / Y E S
Caution: you might lose favorability points ]
Seemed like they would keep repeating the sentence until he said yes. Then what was the point of the no option? This was hopeless.
"Fine." Y/n conceded, and a warm, fluffy bread was dropped into the palm of his hands. "Thank you," He added after a moment of hesitation.
"Father Anton says it's good to share!" The little boy chirped, before he scuttled away. Even children were so heavily involved in this messed up world. Were they indoctrinated? The game didn't really have children NPCs, but mentioned church schooling before. It was immensely popular with the commoners as no fees were required, but it also served as some sort of propaganda.
Y/n stared at the food in his hands. Food waste was probably considered a sin here.
It's good to share, huh...Y/n walked briskly to a elderly woman by the side, and smiled the best as he could.
"Are you hungry? Would you like some bread?"
"Oh, thank you, sweetie." She quivered under her shawl. Y/n gave a sigh of relief.
"But you know it's horrid to regift, right?"
In a flash, the elderly woman's sweet face had morphed into one of extreme anger. Her eyes seemed to narrow into slits, turning into a menacing expression.
Fuck. Oh fuck—
"Eat it, dearie." Her voice became soft and sweet once more, "you must be new to the church. We always welcome new believers." She cackled. "I joined too late. Was almost sacrificed, but at the stakes while burning, I finally saw God. Then they sent me here. Got a couple of scars, but it's just a testament to my faith, y'know."
Y/n's eyes landed on the twisted, broken skin. Shudders ran up his spine.
Almost saw God? He was nearly hysterical, but he kept his expression normal, pretty sure the pain just went to her and made her hallucinate!
"Yes. I'm new. I'm looking for the confession room, actually." Y/n admitted.
"Oh, yes. It's to the right."
"I'm sorry?"
"To the right," The elderly woman said impatiently, and she bit the bread. Okay, nothing was happening to her...
"But Sister Helen told me it was the left."
The elderly woman stared at him.
"I expect she's just tired. There's no way she'll ever tell a lie: that's a sin! But no, it's to the right...dearie me, I must fix her a pot of my medicine. Fix her memory a bit." The elderly woman rambled on and on.
"Alright." Y/n started to back away. This conversation was taking a turn he had grown uncomfortable with. But what here in this stupid game didn't make him uncomfortable? That was the real question.
Did Sister Helen lie? Could NPCs deviate from script...? But why would she lie? Whatever. It was probably a bug in the game, or that she really was experiencing memory issues.
He walked to the right, and the door that read Confession Room stared right back at him.
"Time to go in, I guess..." Y/n muttered to himself, cautiously opening the door. The room had many murals around, all depicting some sort of golden light—and citizens bowed before that very light. It was completely bare, except for a chair.
Was he supposed to sit on it? What did he do in the game, again?
[ Kneel/Sit on the chair to confess your sins ]
>> Kneel
Y/n knelt on the ground awkwardly. He copied the people's pose from the mural—his hands outstretched upwards, his body bent and his eyes closed.
Now what?
Confess his sins?
"Um," Y/n said in a low voice, "I stole my sister's makeup...?"
No response. Was he supposed to receive some sort of enlightenment from the heavens? Nothing was happening. It was a failure. In the game, there was a fast forward option where Y/n could skip this whole aspect. But unfortunately, real life didn't have such options.
"Dear God, I confess all my sins..." Y/n opened his eyes and blatantly read off the mural words, "I confess I have been impure in your holy spiritual presence. I confess my misdeeds—and I beg for a chance to repent. To show my faith, to display my worth...Amen."
Again, nothing happened. Was something even supposed to happen? Y/n felt a tinge of exasperation slowly swelling up in his gut. What if his failure here would lead to more drastic measures? What next, his death? Oh, this was terrible. This sucked. Y/n took in a sharp breath, finding his heartbeat becoming quicker and more erratic.
His stomach growled.
Perhaps he should have eaten the bread.
His knees were also starting to ache.
"You have to be sincere. You can't just read off from a mural," A low, smooth voice made Y/n jump—and he abruptly stopped, looking in despair at a tall, hooded individual. Maybe someone that will kill me, Y/n thought with desperation. The hood's white, the outfit's lined with gold, and overall, it looked majestic. One would say godly, even. Golden hair peeked out from the hood, and with a sudden, dawning, realization, Y/n found the identity of the men before him.
The words escaped his lips before he could even process them.
"Forgive me, Father Anton, for I have sinned."
Bless me, for I have sinned.
"You don't seem used to this." The man took his hood off, and Y/n recognised the little symbol on his robes from the game—a symbol to show that he was affiliated with the temple, and at a very high position at that. Seeing that the man didn't deny just what his identity was, it seemed the man standing right before him was Anton. The one Y/n had to win over.
"I'm afraid it's been long since my last confession." The lie felt heavy. Would a priest be able to detect any sins committed? Did they have a third eye, to detect evil? Y/n has no doubt Helen would have immediately declared war should she have known he had just lied.
"That's alright." Anton said calmly. "You have come now. Is there something in particular that's troubling you, perhaps? To bring you to confession?"
Y/n, upon further examination, was stunned by the beauty of Anton's face. Symmetrical features—and whole blue eyes and golden hair was seen as rather cliche, in terms of beauty—he didn't have a common kind of beauty; he was radiant. Benevolent. Ethereal. Y/n marveled at it. His skin was without a blemish, and was fair, like he hadn't gone out in the sun for a while...yet it had a healthy glow to it. His expression was serene. Anton's hair framed his face perfectly, his eyes expressive and rather captivating, with long, dark lashes that drew attention to it. His cheekbones were well-defined, his nose straight—and those only added to Anton's appeal.
[ You have met the target!
+250 XP points
Current points: 310
Points to advance: 500
Remaking points: 190 ]
I came here because of the game. I'm not sure what sins I have committed. Nothing major, but no human is perfect.
Or lying. Lying was considered a sin, and after years of lying, Y/n had become exceptional at it.
"I..."
His role. What was his role in the game, again? As the "main character" trying to clear the levels? Why was he even considered a sinner in the first place?
Wait...it was never specified, was it? His sins. It was practically just the default settings.
"You...?" Anton prompted. "You must not feel self-conscious in the eyes of God. He already knows, Y/n. He knows everything in the world. He is only waiting for you to confess."
"I did something terrible," Y/n gasped out, "something—something absolutely awful. I'm here to repent. To beg for forgiveness, Father Anton. It's so dastardly I'm afraid I don't quite recall it."
"A psychological response is quite common," Anton said assuredly, "so you do not need to worry. All that matters is that you have come into God's presence, and that you have repented for your sins."
"What do people come here for, Father Anton?" Y/n couldn't help but ask. "The ones who have sinned so awfully that they are made to be...sacrifices."
"You tell me, Y/n." Anton smiled lightly at him, "what have you done to be made a sacrifice? A lamb to a slaughter?"
"....Murder, perhaps."
"That is one. One reason. But the most is..." Anton's hands trailed the murals on the walls. "The most is their lack of faith. Rebelling against us. Spreading false rumors, feeding into the conspiracy theories. It is that perceived lack of loyalty, and their utter ignorance and disregard for God, that leads us to take drastic measures. To cleanse their souls."
"And to sacrifice, you burn them at stake." Y/n raised his head, speaking in a low tone.
"Correct."
"But that's killing," Y/n said slowly, "you're killing them. The men. The women. The children— you are letting them rot. How is that god's word?"
Anton smiled at him. A benevolent smile. The most terrifying thing about that smile of his—was that it looked completely innocent, and held no malice.
"Ah, Y/n." Anton murmured, "sometimes I forget you are a naive, new believer. God is perfect, is he not? So his messengers in turn can do no wrong. He sends his message through me. God is part of me. Killing? I am merely ridding the world of evil. Cleansing it one by one. You are new. I do not expect you to know these things." In quick, elegant strides, he towered over a kneeling Y/n.
"I understand you are making an effort. But you need to try harder to understand." The priest chuckled, shaking his head slightly.
No. No. No. Don't say I failed—
He was so foolish. Why did Y/n even have to open his mouth and oppose him in the first place?
"But that doesn't matter. You show a desire to learn, Y/n. And that is splendid. Very splendid indeed..."
Y/n heaved a sigh of relief.
"Tomorrow, you will attend service."
[ Quest: Attend Service...and make it there alive.
Penalty: stoned to death by loyal believers (ouch!)
Success: 190 XP points, advance to level two ]
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Favorability points: for each character in the game, they have a meter associated with them. Every choice made by Y/n influences this, and high favorability can lead to supply, while low favorability may lead to disdain and betrayal.
Redemption points: Y/n must earn this to prove his worthiness in the eyes of the church and avoid being sacrificed. This can be earned through various tasks, quests, and interactions with the other characters. It also serves as a progression system, allowing Y/n to advance through the levels and unlock new abilities or privileges,
Time and Resource Management: Y/n must complete tasks and quests within the game's constraints. Failure to do so will result in unfavorable outcomes. Y/n will have limited resources—energy, good, and items, and his "bar" will deplete as time goes by. If resources are not allocated properly, it will lead to a knock out.
Knockout: where the player essentially goes AFK for two days, and is unable to progress.
Psychological Elements of the game include: distorted graphics, religious imagery, human sacrifice, violence, gore.
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I hope all of you enjoy! Leave a comment if you liked it 💕💕