TLWCL 02

Chapter 2 …

When I opened my eyes, I saw something that looked like a cave wall.

‘What…?’

I was startled, but first, I lifted my body up.

I was standing—no, lying—on what could only be described as an altar.

From head to toe, I was drenched in blood. I had awakened in a place where the living and the dead coexisted, and the air was filled with a nauseating stench.

‘Why am I here? I should’ve been…’

…playing a game…

…

My thoughts started to connect, then suddenly twisted and shattered apart.

Don’tthinkthinkthinkthinkstopthinking.

When I tried to step down from the altar, I realized I didn’t have shoes.

My feet were drenched bright red. My hands, my clothes—same story. It looked like I had taken a bath in red paint.

At this point, who cares about shoes?

I stepped down. The floor was wet, so I expected it to be cold, but it wasn’t.

Wait—am I… standing?

How long had it been since I’d stood on my own two legs without holding onto something?

The shock and joy of being able to stand lasted only a moment.

Somewhere, I heard movement.

“Uhh—ghh…”

A blood-soaked… human—if it could even be called human anymore—staggered toward me.

“…!”

My mind went blank.

“Ou… r… Go… d…”

A half-mutilated figure was dragging itself toward me, one step at a time.

I froze on the spot.

A person whose skull was half-cracked open, entrails dangling out, was reaching toward me with outstretched hands.

“Sal… va… tion…”

They say if you’re too shocked, you can’t even scream. That was exactly it.

Thud!

The body collapsed right next to me with a loud crash.

“H-Huff—!”

I gasped for breath.

…Or did I?

My breathing didn’t change. It was steady and calm.

My heart, which should’ve been racing like crazy, was silent—just like my breath. My mind and body felt like they were separated.

Somehow, I calmly accepted everything happening around me.

The panic I’d felt at seeing a half-dead person was fading, and my emotions were adjusting to my body in a strange, dreamlike way.

I stared down at the butchered corpse. It didn’t feel human.

Well, people don’t sympathize with random extras dying in movies anyway.

Then suddenly—a bright blue system window filled my vision.

[Main Quest! Spread faith to people across the world.]
[Penalty for failure: Death]

I read the text.

“…What?”

Did I finally lose my mind? Would insanity feel this vivid?

[Number of followers: 0]

Followers?

As I stood there trying to understand the situation, a new, bright red window filled my vision.

[WARNING!]
[system: If number of followers remains ‘0’ after 3 hours, progressive physical collapse will begin.]

Physical collapse?
What kind of terrifying phrase was that?

[02:59]

It already started counting down? Why is this system so strict?!

Shouldn’t it at least give me a tutorial first?!

And—what—bring someone here with no explanation and tell them to become a missionary? What kind of nonsense is this?!

My foot stepped on a puddle of thick blood.

When I pulled at my clothes with my bloody hand, I realized I was dressed in a ridiculously expensive white robe—even someone clueless about fashion could tell.

I hadn’t even noticed it was white because it was soaked red. And why was my hair so long?

It was dripping with blood too, but the color underneath wasn’t black—it looked lighter. Blonde?

Did someone stick a wig on me while dragging me here?

I grabbed a candle from the altar area. The candles were placed evenly all around.

When I lowered it to the floor, the blood pooled like a mirror, reflecting a blurry image of me.

It wasn’t me.

“Hold on…”

This wasn’t my body.

But the face was familiar.

Where had I seen it?

Not in real life—god knows I never met people anyway.

“Oh.”

I remembered.

As someone who devoted my life to gaming, I remembered every detail of my favorite game—its story and main NPCs.

This face…

This was the Boss of Main Quest Chapter 1.5.

The long hair, pale eyes… and considering the dying person mumbled something about “God,” there was no doubt.

I had possessed the body of a cult leader.

Cernuan Lumière.

“…F***.”

The curse slipped out automatically.

No wonder—my paraplegic, half-crippled self was suddenly standing and walking.

When I ran a hand through my hair, the blood-reflected Cernuan Lumière did the same.

My screwed-up life had gone beyond rock bottom—I had possessed a character who was destined to die horribly in-game.

Even if I loved the game enough to devote my life to it, that didn’t mean I ever wanted to be a character inside it!

Normally, I would have panicked. But my mind was cold and rational.

Maybe the possession influenced my emotions.

Whatever—whether it makes sense or not doesn’t matter.

I was already in the body. Denial would accomplish nothing.

Let’s retrace.

If this really was the game world…

Then just before I possessed this body, something should have happened.

The Central Church’s Operation to Eradicate the Cult.

It was a dungeon-style main quest that players could participate in.

The goal was to stop the cult’s ritual and retrieve the stolen relic of the Central Church.

In that process, all the cultists were slaughtered, and the cult leader was executed—

Yet here I was, alive.

Something major had diverged from the original story.

My mind sharpened for survival.

If I, Cernuan Lumière, was alive, the plot had already changed.

I swallowed hard.

In the story, Cernuan Lumière and his followers were executed. That was the main plot.

Absolutely not. Execution ending is out. I refuse.

According to the lore, they were tortured for days before execution.

And this country had zero mercy for heretics or cultists. Worse than China about drugs.

Their default punishment was torture—sometimes wiping out a person’s entire family line. If they discovered I was the cult leader…

A clean death would be a blessing.

Worst case? They’d tie me to a horse and drag me through streets, make me walk over nails—good old medieval torture.

I stopped imagining. Nothing good came from thinking about that.

But what did “progressive physical collapse” mean?

I had no way to recruit followers right now. I wasn’t charismatic. I had no skills.

Maybe… I should just die?

Would I return to the real world?

But… return to do what?

I had no working body, no one waiting for me, and only debt.

Honestly…
If I wasn’t tortured or executed…

Maybe… living inside the game wouldn’t be so bad.

But in about 2 hours, some unknown “physical collapse” would begin.

‘First, explore this space and get out.’

I needed a weapon. I refused to die pointlessly or be tortured.

Around the altar, there weren’t just candles. There was a magic circle drawn in what could only be blood.

Probably blood.

Goat skulls lay nearby, and many corpses scattered around.

My nose must’ve gotten used to the scent, because I no longer smelled decay. If I had, I would’ve run screaming already.

I rummaged through the corpses and found a knife.

It was caked in blood and flesh, dull and disgusting.

I’d never done kendo or taekwondo or anything, so I doubted I could swing it well, but as a blunt weapon? Good enough.

I sheathed it and tied it to a corpse’s belt. Then I picked up a lit candle and continued searching.

Hot wax dripped on my hand, but it wasn’t very hot.

‘Nothing special here.’

Just some money and valuables from the corpses. Hardly a place for good loot.

As I walked deeper, I found a suspicious book soaked in blood. It was so drenched the pages tore just trying to open it.

Not like I can become a mage anyway…

Eventually, I saw light. The entrance to the cave.

At the same time, a blue window appeared—my status window.

[Sub Quest: Find the ■■ and regain po■er]
[Failure: … loading]

This system—if you’re going to give quests, do it properly!

[Error!]
[Error!]
[Error!]

[Sub Quest: Find the sacred relic and restore your power.]
[Failure: One random sense will be deleted]

What.

Delete a sense?

Why is every penalty in this game so brutal?

I didn’t even get a starter skill! How am I supposed to do anything alone?

Every game at least gives something at character creation.
Unless this is Minecraft.

Even Minecraft lets you punch logs…