Chapter 22 Part 1:  Religious Ritual 

“UGH! AH, ah, uhh….. Kuh-!”

Blood spattered and the child flinched as if she had been electrocuted.

What had just happened? The scene was so terrible. I didn’t know how to react.

After completely amputating her finger, they glued the cross-section together… And poured water from an old-fashioned goblet over it.

To my surprise, the severed finger interlocked back together. However, the pain was still there, and the child was breathing heavily.

I felt my stomach turn. If I vomited here, would it make this disgusting feeling go away?

The torture continued. The cycle repeated itself. But their faces were reverent, as if they were going through an important ceremony, while their clothes were stained with blood.

Notice: Objective Reached.」

 Hidden Gate: Natarossa Seminary

Objective ClassC 

Escape with fewer than 5 fatalities. 

Description

This seminary is doing terrible things for religious purposes. Take the students within the seminary and escape! If more than 5 deaths (students only) occur during the escape, it is considered a failure.

Failure penalty

All stats halved for one month, and the title “The one who could not save” is obtained.

As always, it was this damned gate. If I run out of here right now and save that kid… All hell will break lose. This kind of gate should be cleared with thorough preparation and information gathering among peers. That’s the only way to do it, and it’s the most efficient way.

The characters inside this gate are all virtual beings except for us, the 「Awakeners」. Once cleared, they will all disappear like dust. I know that, but even though I know…

“Ahhhh, Hah, Grahhh, KUHHH!”

That child screaming in pain, felt so real, and I have no choice but to watch while feeling devastated by this scene. And then another figure entered my field of vision. A person dressed in the same clothes as the other priests, but he was subtly standing a few step away from the child. His brow was furrowed slightly in displeasure. He was trying to keep his expression under control. It was a dark-haired priest, Kim Ki-taek.

He was instantly recognizable because his appearance didn’t change even with the changes on the surroundings.

So Kim Ki-taek was the priest, instead of Jeon Chung-woon.

He too seemed shocked by the horrific reality that he was seeing for the first time.

Once I identified him, the day’s snooping around was over. Now that I knew Jeon Chung-woon wasn’t with us, I had to think of a way to find him.

I pretended not to notice my trembling hands while descending the stairs. Once I was in bed and tucked in amongst the peacefully sleeping children, I couldn’t get over the shock and stayed awake for the rest of the night.

The next day, when Dahlia greeted me and saying that I was up early again today, I gave her a curt reply.

“Yeah… I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh, that’s a problem. It’s hard to attend classes if you don’t have enough sleep.”

Dahlia said worriedly in a gentle tone. Now that I knew the truth about this place, I was still unable to believe it.

How many children were taken there? Were the children in this room like them? And if so, why were they all not talking about it? Was it because they want to become a vessel? To become a saint?

I felt frustrated. I walked over to the window and opened it. I was hoping I’d felt better after getting some fresh air.

Clunk. The window wouldn’t open.

“Ritch, Are you sure you’re not sick?”

Dahlia sounded worried and upset. As if she didn’t know why I was doing this.

“We’re cut off from the outside world.”

A large padlock hung from the seams of the window. The chinking chains expressed their unwillingness to let me out of it.

Haha…

Was this what they meant with, ‘to be cut off from the outside world’?

“Come on. Let’s go do our morning prayers.”

The words whispered in my ear no longer sounded pleasant.

“God will look out for us.”

This is definitely hell disguised as peace. Waking up at dawn to pray, and studying during the day. It may seem like the life of a happy theology student, but it’s not.

Over the course of several days, children were being taken away every two or three days. The kids are different every time. A little more time and observation, will reveal a regularity. I made contact with Kim Ki-Taek and exchanged information with him a couple of times, but so far we haven’t found the others.

What happens on the top floor is not just torture. It’s a religious ritual.

What the hell is going on inside this seminary? 

I had to dig through it, find the others, and help get the children out of here.

Since the number of deaths should be less than 5, it is best to thoroughly collect information and set up a strategy.

We can’t afford to fail. Luckily, the penalty for failing is not death, but just having most of our power stat reduced to half. Which is not much compared to what I expected.

“Sister is a little late… She hasn’t been feeling well lately and has been missing classes, what’s wrong?”

Dahlia muttered to herself.

Come to think of it, it was already class time, but the nun in charge hadn’t arrive yet. What’s going on?

The children were a bit restless, when suddenly, the door swung open.

“Sorry, I’m a little late,” said by a playful voice that sounded different from the other nuns. I immediately realized who it was.

Hyewon-Unnie!

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