Chapter Eight: The Confessor

“Bloodstained Broken Wooden Wheel”: The confessor priest Cadis’s former weapon. When reinforcements failed to arrive, he wielded it to fend off numerous twisted creatures that tried to invade the church.

“So, his name was Cadis...” Colin silently committed the name to memory.

Yet... Colin distinctly remembered that, when he killed the priest, he hadn’t seen any weapon on him...

“No, wait. The first time we met, he did attack once. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but thinking back, it must have been that thing...”

If he hadn’t reacted quickly then, he would probably be dead by now.

“So even if the enemy throws their weapon, as long as you kill them, you can just retrieve it from the corpse?”

Colin stroked his chin, feeling he understood a little more about this “game.”

“Number One, you use this weapon for now. Stay alert—don’t get ambushed.”

Colin handed the bloodstained wheel to Servant Number One.

He wasn’t worried Number One couldn’t lift it, since the requirements were strength, endurance, and stamina all at 1.

After their “Extreme Hunger” status faded and the “Exhilaration” effect kicked in, both servants’ stats had reached 1.

However, the wheel was heavy. Carrying it would reduce movement speed by about 0.5.

So, if they had to make a run for it, it would need to be stowed away.

Witnessing this, Servant Number Two suddenly lost his appetite for his porridge. He could feel that as soon as Number One got the wheel, his body immediately became sturdier.

It was as if a single slap from Number One could end him.

Just moments ago, it had been Number One envying him; now the roles were reversed.

But Number Two understood this was the best choice. After all, his hand was injured—wielding the wheel would be inconvenient.

And inconvenience meant a higher risk for their lord, which was something he absolutely could not accept.

The lord’s will and safety came before all else!

“Don’t worry. There will be better things in the future, and they’ll be yours,” Colin said with a smile, then continued searching his pack. “Now, for the last item...”

“Twisted Soul”: A wisp of blue gas flickering like fire, within which small, warped figures writhe in torment.

Use it, listen to it, and you may receive an additional quest.

Time remaining: 2 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes.

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Note: The lower your Inspiration, the less likely you are to receive a quest. With Inspiration below 1, the failure rate is 95%. Above 3, you will always receive a quest.

“A quest trigger item. How much Inspiration do I have?”

Colin searched but... couldn’t find any option for a personal status panel.

He fell into thought:

You realize you have no “personal panel,” but you need to know your Inspiration value to judge if you can safely accept the quest. As you ponder, you vaguely sense your Inspiration is above 2.

“You can actually check it that way? That’s such a cheat! Absolutely cheating!” Colin sighed, yet reached into his pack and took out the pale blue soul flame, cradling it in his hand.

After warning the two servants to remain vigilant, he clenched his right fist around the flame, which instantly flared to life.

A wave of “chaos” seemed to crash over him, plunging his mind into a trance.

“...the children, the children need food...”

“...must return to the church before nightfall... it’s coming...”

“It...”

“...cough, cough, cough...”

“...Mother of Suffering and Thorns... may you, cough, cough, bless...”

“Cough, cough, cough—”

Incoherent murmurs drifted by his ears. In his haze, Colin glimpsed a dreamlike scene.

An old, hunched figure, coughing, leaning on a massive wheel, staggered to his feet atop the corpse of a giant beast.

With a swift motion, he tore a chunk of flesh from the beast and prepared to leave.

But the old man seemed to have reached the very end of his life; even walking was a struggle.

He collapsed.

The whispering ceased abruptly.

The next moment, Colin was seized by a powerful jolt of panic, as if he’d dreamed of falling and suddenly awoke.

Before he could process what had happened, he saw the task list on the parchment flickering.

“New task.”

Impatient, Colin opened it.

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Quest Triggered: Bring Peace to the Children.

Quest Requirements: Go to the Church of Suffering at the foot of Raven Hill and kill all “Aberrant—Children of Suffering—Wailers” inside.

Quest Time Limit: None.

Quest Description: Father Cadis’s dying wish was to protect the children in the church, but now, they long for peace and eternal rest. (Note: Other survivors may also complete this quest.)

Quest Rewards: 10 Mist Points, 100ml Ordinary Tainted Blood, 10 pieces of Hardened Black Bread, 1 Attribute Title.

“Ten Mist Points—not bad. Ordinary Tainted Blood lasts three hours per 100ml, so that’s average. Black bread? Uh...”

“An attribute title? Now that’s a treasure...”

Colin’s eyes lit up. Anyone with gaming experience knew how valuable titles could be.

This was not an opportunity to miss.

Still, Colin didn’t rush. After all, he didn’t know how far Raven Hill was from here, or how tough the monsters in the church might be.

“If I’m not mistaken, the monsters should all be those children... Well, time to get to work.”

Colin glanced around and soon received a prompt:

You believe the church at the foot of Raven Hill lies along this road; under ideal conditions, you could reach it in under ten minutes. But beware of dangers along the way.

“Ten minutes is only possible if the road is clear and nothing happens. To be cautious, I’ll estimate twenty minutes. It’s worth a try. If we encounter a few more aberrants on the way, we can fight and resupply as we go.”

Colin stroked his chin. He’d already confirmed that aberrants dropped tainted blood. If he could handle them, each kill would keep him going for another ten or twenty minutes. He could even become a perpetual motion machine out here.

Of course, that was unrealistic—human strength had its limits. Pushing too far was a shortcut to death.

But then again, for such huge monsters, that little blood wasn’t much. Maybe someone else had already drained them...

Shaking off these stray thoughts, Colin packed up his gear and stowed everything in his backpack, then set out at once.

Current lantern fuel: 1 hour, 23 minutes.

Colin set his time limit for this action at around fifty minutes.

However, before long, they reached a sparse, withered forest.

They had barely entered when they encountered another “aberrant”—and a new battle began.

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