The sacrifice begins

Chen Lun had once had a happy family. They had not been wealthy, but they had never lacked food or clothing.

Later, however, his father had died young from a hereditary disease. Neither Chen Lun nor his younger sister had been spared; both had inherited it.

Unable to withstand the pressures of life, their mother had abandoned the siblings and left home.

With only each other to rely on, the siblings had survived on social welfare, but there had been no money left over for treatment.

Their hereditary disease was extremely complicated.

Even with the medical technology available at the time, keeping it under control had required enormous sums of money. There had been no cure.

Later, his sister had passed away too.

Chen Lun had been devastated.

He had never really had any grand ambitions. He had only wanted to see more of the world during what little remained of his short life.

Fortunately, the full-dive game Age of Mysteries had let him experience an exciting life while lying in an old, secondhand sleep pod...

"We were orphans. Our parents left us when we were very young...

My sister and I had only each other. Those days were hard, but we were happy too. Sadly, I'll never see her again."

Chen Lun lowered his head, speaking slowly and calmly.

As he recalled the little moments he had shared with his sister, genuine emotion welled up inside him.

His tears might have been partly intended to tug at her heartstrings, but his grief was real.

Froy could clearly sense the sorrow emanating from the young man.

That emotion grew stronger, involuntarily reminding her of her own older brother. It also made her overlook the fleeting glimmer from the necklace around Chen Lun's neck.

"Brother..."

Froy tightened her fingers. She seemed to have made a decision.

She bent slightly, leaning closer to Chen Lun.

"Eat the flatbread, but don't eat the apple. Remember..."

After whispering those words, Froy resumed her expressionless demeanor, turned, and left.

[Froy's affinity increased. Bond with Froy established.]

[A-rank hidden quest chain unlocked: Silent Nun]

Chen Lun froze for a moment, then felt a surge of delight.

He had merely seized the opportunity to put on an act, yet he had triggered an exceedingly rare hidden quest-and an A-rank quest chain at that!

He endured the splitting headache from losing another point of sanity after using [Siren's Song], took a deep breath, and quickly pulled himself together to check the quest description.

[Stage one: Rescue Froy from the Red Apple Church's Jadeite Town branch while ensuring her survival. Froy's death will result in quest failure.]

[Quest rewards: 2,000 EXP, 40 Silver Crowns, Froy's affinity, and [low-sequence flesh-faction mysterious substance] ×1]

[Warning: This quest will attract the Red Apple Church's attention and hostility. Consider your decision carefully.]

"Accept!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Lun accepted the quest.

Whatever the hidden quest's final rewards might be, the rewards for its first stage alone were resources he desperately needed.

Besides, how could he stand by and watch this poor girl suffer in this hellhole...?

"My biggest flaw is that I can't stop meddling... Sigh, being too righteous isn't always a good thing. Once the Red Apple Church has its eye on me, I'll definitely be in for a world of hurt."

He wiped the remaining tears from his face, nearly moved to tears again by his own sense of justice.

True, he had played the victim to win sympathy, even resorting to the necklace's hypnotic power, but that had only been to grow closer to Froy and improve his chances of escaping.

Receiving the hidden quest was a pleasant surprise. He had already intended to save Froy.

In his previous life, learning about this major villain boss's tragic past had left him lamenting her fate more than once.

Now that he had the chance, he would not let it slip away easily.

As Chen Lun considered his next move, he began tearing into the unleavened flatbread in his hands.

The flatbread did not taste good, but Chen Lun was so hungry that he wolfed it down in no time.

Heeding Froy's warning, he did not eat the apple. Instead, he secretly stuffed it into a rat hole in the corner.

Before long, Chen Lun noticed something was wrong.

The young men and women who had finished their "communion" began rising to their feet.

Their eyes were vacant and their mouths hung wide open, their faces wearing imbecilic smiles.

Chen Lun was stunned.

Realizing that staying seated would make him stand out, he hurriedly got up.

Just then, footsteps came from the corridor outside the cell, and the shadows cast on the opposite wall drew closer.

Chen Lun cursed inwardly and immediately copied the others' idiotic smiles.

His eyes went vacant, his mouth hung open, and even drool trickled out.

He blended perfectly into the group.

Chapter 5: The sacrifice begins

The footsteps soon stopped outside the cell.

Chen Lun saw a tall, middle-aged man flanked by two torch-bearing guards, blocking the barred doorway.

Froy stood beside him, her head slightly lowered.

The man wore a dark red monk's robe. His elbow-length shoulder cape and the rectangular panel running from his chest to his crotch were black with white trim. He also held a hefty book.

"Just these few?"

The brown-haired, middle-aged man frowned as he surveyed the cell, then turned to question the guard with the thin mustache.

His delivery carried a deliberately affected arrogance, while impatience and anxiety colored his tone.

"Y-yes, Monk Will."

"Those useless bastards in Stuarton bring fewer sacrifices every time!

If that damned fat pig put half as much thought into carrying out the Church's will as he does into eating, drinking, and lining his pockets, I'd have left this godforsaken town long ago!"

Monk Will was visibly furious. Chen Lun could even see the spray of spittle flying toward the mustached guard's face.

The corners of the guard's eyes twitched, but he remained meek and dared not say a word.

"He should repent! Repent on his knees in Lady Rose's garden!"

Monk Will grew increasingly agitated. It seemed he had been bottling this up for a long time, and now it all erupted.

"Hurry up! Take them to secret chamber seven!"

"Yes, Lord Will."

The mustached guard immediately entered the cell with his torch, raised a hand in front of the sacrifices, and whistled.

Chen Lun noticed a simple red apple tattoo on the back of his hand. Perhaps it identified him as a Church guard.

Tweet-!

The whistle seemed to possess some magical power. The witless young men and women lined up with foolish grins and filed out of the cell.

Watching this, Chen Lun could not help feeling grateful that Froy had warned him and he had not eaten the apple.

Otherwise, with his pitiful three points of willpower, he would never have passed the check.

He would have ended up a puppet with no mind of his own, obediently lining up to die.

Thud!!

Chen Lun suddenly felt a tremendous force and a burst of pain, then pitched forward and landed face-first.

His face struck the hard stone floor, nearly knocking out his front teeth.

Fuck! Playing dirty, are you!?

Though he did not reach up to check, Chen Lun was certain his teeth had come loose, and he cursed inwardly.

The searing pain was bad enough, but what he found most unbearable was that those damned Church guards never cleaned their boots.

The floor was covered in cow dung and dog shit tracked in on their soles. It had even built up into a thick layer!

He fought back the urge to retch and kept up his act, maintaining his vacant stare and foolish grin.

"Move faster, you damned bastard!"

Monk Will had taken out his anger on Chen Lun, who was bringing up the rear.

Still unsatisfied, he kicked Chen Lun twice more in the stomach, nearly making him vomit bile.

Just you wait...

Chen Lun gritted his teeth inwardly.

Enduring the agonizing pain, he climbed to his feet and continued following the line.

Along the way, Chen Lun noticed that the underground prison was enormous, with more than a dozen cells.

Yet there did not seem to be many prisoners inside. Several cells were even empty.

That did not mean the Church had harmed few people. Quite the opposite: it had claimed so many victims that "supply" now fell short of "demand."

After a series of twists and turns, Chen Lun's group of sacrifices arrived at the entrance to a vast basement chamber.

A bloodstained wooden sign hung to one side, with the number "7" faintly visible on it.

Once they entered, the chamber seemed strikingly empty.

Aside from the torches mounted along the walls, there was only a huge square altar in the center.

An old leather-bound notebook lay on the altar.

Three or four guards in leather coats and brimmed hats held torches and bowed to Monk Will. Then Monk Will raised a hand and gestured: