How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game Chapter 757: Anomaly’s gift Interlude

"Where...?"

When Garan opened his eyes, confusion was the first thing he felt.

Then came fear.

Only moments ago, he had been kneeling inside the temple alongside the other worshippers, quietly praying to the Great Anomaly.

Now...

He was somewhere else.

Garan immediately pushed himself up from the ground.

"W-Where am I?"

His voice echoed into the distance.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was no answer.

Garan slowly turned around.

Nothing.

Wherever he looked, there was only darkness.

It wasn’t the ordinary darkness of a cave or a room with the lights turned off. This darkness seemed endless, stretching farther than his eyes could see.

Yet strangely, it didn’t blind him.

He could still see the ground beneath his feet.

And that was when Garan noticed the lights.

Thin strands of strange-colored light traveled across the dark surface.

Red.

Blue.

Gold.

They moved slowly like threads floating through water, occasionally crossing over one another before disappearing into the distance.

Garan stared at them in confusion.

"What... is this place?"

He took a cautious step forward.

His body suddenly felt strange.

His senses seemed to weaken.

His limbs felt lighter, yet at the same time, his entire body felt strangely distant from him, as if he were slowly losing his connection to the physical world.

Garan began trembling.

He had never experienced anything like this before.

Yet strangely...

He wasn’t completely panicking.

Something was calming him.

It was subtle.

Almost impossible to notice.

A strange feeling of reassurance seemed to settle over his heart despite the fear gripping him.

As if some unseen presence was telling him that he was safe.

Garan couldn’t understand it.

He continued looking around for several moments before eventually closing his eyes.

He tried to think.

Why had he been brought here?

What had happened?

What was he supposed to do?

The answer wasn’t difficult to find.

He hadn’t done anything except pray.

He had simply followed the others and prayed to the being they worshipped.

So if there was someone who could answer him...

There was only one possibility.

Garan slowly opened his eyes.

His throat felt dry.

He hesitated before speaking.

"G-Great Anomaly...?"

His voice was barely a whisper.

Nothing happened.

One second passed.

Then another.

Then another.

Garan waited.

Still nothing.

His expression slowly changed.

"W-Was I mistaken—?"

He couldn’t finish.

Something appeared behind him.

The instant Garan sensed its presence, his body stopped moving.

He turned around.

And his heart nearly stopped.

"H-Hieek!"

A scream escaped his throat.

He stumbled backward and collapsed onto the ground.

His hands shook violently as he stared at the being standing before him.

It had no clear form.

At least, not one that Garan could understand.

It was darkness given shape.

A figure that seemed to exist somewhere between reality and nothingness.

Its body appeared almost human, but the edges of its form constantly shifted and scattered, as though the darkness surrounding it couldn’t decide what shape it was supposed to take.

It was blacker than the void itself.

And its presence...

Garan couldn’t even describe it.

It was heavy.

Oppressive.

Ancient.

A dreadful pressure filled the space around him, making every instinct in his body scream at him to run.

But he couldn’t.

His body refused to move.

The only thing that gave the being a recognizable form was its vaguely human shape.

And its eyes.

Two enormous white circles rested beneath the darkness of its head.

They were far too large.

Far too unnatural.

They stared directly at Garan.

He couldn’t look away.

His breathing became shallow.

His entire body trembled.

The Great Anomaly...

The thought barely formed in his mind.

But somehow, he knew.

There was no mistaking it.

The being standing before him was the same entity represented by the enormous statue in the temple.

The god they worshipped.

The god he had just prayed to.

Garan’s lips trembled.

"G-Great..."

His voice broke.

He lowered his head as much as he could.

"Great Anomaly..."

The terrifying being said nothing.

It simply stared at him.

And somehow, that silence frightened Garan even more than any words could have.

This was an ancient evil god.

At least, that was the only explanation Garan could come up with.

He had never studied ancient gods or learned much about the beings that existed before the current age, but even someone as ordinary as him knew enough from common knowledge and old stories to understand one thing.

Standing before a god was not something a human being could simply do.

Especially not a god whose very presence made the world around him feel wrong.

Tears slowly welled up in Garan’s eyes as he stared at the horrifying figure standing before him. His entire body trembled uncontrollably, and his heart pounded so hard that he could barely think.

He had come here because he wanted change.

He wanted a better life.

He wanted to escape the miserable existence he had been trapped in for years.

But now...

Was this the price?

Had he unknowingly offered himself as a sacrifice to this god?

The dark being slowly moved.

Garan’s body immediately stiffened.

He wanted to run.

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to throw himself onto the ground and beg for his life.

But none of his thoughts reached his body.

It was completely paralyzed.

His knees refused to move, his arms remained frozen at his sides, and even his trembling seemed to stop for a brief moment as the terrifying being approached him.

"O-Oh, great being..."

His voice came out weak and broken.

"P-Please... grant this accursed being a chance..."

Garan swallowed hard, tears running down his cheeks.

"I-I shall offer you everything I have... so please... please don’t take me..."

His voice cracked.

"M-My family needs me..."

He knew begging might be useless.

What could a mortal possibly offer to a god?

Even if he gave everything he possessed, what value could his insignificant life have in front of such an existence?

Yet Garan still begged.

Because there was nothing else he could do.

He didn’t know why he had been brought here. He didn’t know whether this was some kind of divine punishment, a test, or if he had truly become a sacrifice.

But even if certain death was waiting for him, he still needed to try.

He still had a family waiting for him.

Slowly, Garan forced himself to raise his head.

His vision blurred through his tears as he looked directly at the dark being.

For a moment, nothing happened.

The being simply stared at him.

Then...

It tilted its head.

Garan froze.

There was something almost curious about the movement.

As if the being itself was trying to understand him.

Then the dark figure’s enormous white eyes shifted away from Garan.

It looked toward something beside them.

Garan followed its gaze.

There, floating in the endless darkness, was a tiny golden light.

It was incredibly small, barely more than a sparkling dot, yet it stood out against the darkness surrounding them.

Garan didn’t understand what he was seeing.

The dark being seemed to be communicating with it.

Not with words.

Not with gestures.

Yet somehow, Garan could tell that some kind of conversation was taking place between the two.

His instincts screamed at him not to listen.

He immediately covered his ears.

"Don’t..."

The moment he did, a strange pressure suddenly struck his body.

Pain exploded through his head.

Blood began to trickle from his nose and the corners of his eyes.

Garan desperately squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn’t understand what was happening.

He didn’t want to understand.

He simply wanted it to stop.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun...

Everything became quiet.

Garan slowly opened his eyes.

The dark being was no longer standing before him.

It had lowered itself.

The horrifying creature that had seemed so distant and untouchable only moments ago was now kneeling directly in front of him.

Garan’s entire body began trembling again.

"O-Oh..."

His lips shook.

"G-Great A-Anomaly...?"

The dark being extended one of its fingers.

Garan couldn’t move.

The dark finger slowly approached his forehead.

Then it touched him.

The sensation was unlike anything Garan had ever experienced.

It felt like cold, wet mud had been pressed against his skin.

Except it wasn’t merely touching his forehead.

Something was entering him.

Something far beyond his understanding.

Garan’s eyes widened.

Then a voice echoed inside his head.

It wasn’t loud.

It wasn’t even clear.

Yet it felt as though the words had been carved directly into his soul.

[...Apostle...]

Garan’s breath caught.

[Spread... My... Influence...]

"...Huh?"

That single word nearly broke his mind.

Apostle?

Influence?

What did that mean?

Garan tried to understand the message, but before he could even form another thought, his vision suddenly went black.

Everything disappeared.

The darkness.

The strange golden light.

The horrifying god.

All of it vanished as though it had never existed.

Then—

Garan opened his eyes.

"T-The saint has awakened!"

A voice suddenly rang out beside him.

Garan’s eyes widened.

He stared upward.

"W-Where....?"

A ceiling.

There was an unfamiliar ceiling directly above him.

For several seconds, he simply stared at it without understanding what he was seeing.

Where was he again?

Wasn’t he just...

The memories suddenly came rushing back.

The darkness.

The terrifying being.

The golden light.

The voice.

Apostle.

Garan immediately tried to sit up.

"Ugh..."

His body felt strangely heavy, but he managed to raise himself from the bed.

The movement caused several people nearby to gasp.

Within moments, the door opened.

The High Priest entered the room, followed by several other believers.

The moment they saw Garan sitting upright, their expressions changed.

Reverence.

Awe.

Almost disbelief.

The High Priest stepped forward, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Oh, Saint..."

He lowered his head.

"You have awakened."

Garan stared at him in confusion.

"Saint...?"

Before he could ask what the man meant, the other believers dropped to their knees.

"Bless the Great Anomaly!"

Their voices echoed throughout the room.

"Bless the Great Anomaly!"

Garan’s expression became even more confused.

He looked down at himself.

Then at the High Priest.

Then at the kneeling believers surrounding him.

What had happened?

Why were they calling him a saint?

And more importantly...

What had that terrifying being done to him?

Garan slowly raised a trembling hand to his forehead.

He could still remember the sensation of that dark finger touching his skin.

And those words...

Apostle...

His heart began pounding again.

He had come here hoping for a change in his life.

But somehow, in a single moment, his entire life had already changed.

He just wasn’t sure whether that was a blessing...

Or something far more frightening.

...

"That was really good Riley fufu~"

"I almost killed him...."

"That’s why I told you to manifest in a restrained form for example a spark of light like me, fufu young as you are, you’re still essentially a god"

"I don’t know how to do that; you never taught me...."

"..... Congratulations you have a saint now!"

"Don’t change the subject"