This Wasn’t an Erotic Game?

Chapter 32
The Inescapable, Chilling Prophecy
『 Translator – Divinity 』

Cold sweat drenched my entire body.

My most hidden secret…

It was obvious.

That the miracles I performed weren’t actually miracles, but just vulgar erotic game skills.

And didn’t the prophecy just say that the abilities I wield are ugly and vile?

There’s nothing else that could be considered my most hidden secret.

And it said that it would be revealed and I would die at the hands of those who love me?

—Saint! I’m healed thanks to you! Thank you!

—Saint, you are the living embodiment of grace! I can see tomorrow because of you!

—Thank you… Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I really…

The faces of those who smiled at me came to mind.

The people of the slums and the members of the Lilia Church bowing to me and expressing their respect.

They were the ones who loved me most.

I couldn’t think of anyone else.

And they…

Would kill me.

I couldn’t breathe properly.

I felt convulsions throughout my body, gripped by fear.

It felt like I was hyperventilating. My breathing was incredibly fast.

But the prophecy for me wasn’t over yet.

[But even death will not be the end. The one who bestows grace shall seize your soul after death. She shall send your soul to a place befitting your deeds, and there you shall live, suffering what you do not wish for.]

“Ugh… Ugh!!”

I collapsed on the floor.

Even death is not the end.

The one who bestows grace…

It must be Lilia.

After I die…

Lilia will seize my soul. And I will be sent to a place befitting my deeds and suffer what I do not wish for?

Where would a place befitting my deeds be?

Hell.

Hell!!

It must mean I’ll suffer eternally in hell!!

Now I understand why the Goddess’s divine punishment hasn’t struck me down, even after over half a year of pretending to be a saint.

Lilia wasn’t letting it slide because I was doing a good job!!

That was my mistake!

She was planning to punish me.

But not by striking me down with lightning!

After my secret was revealed…

After being miserably abandoned by everyone and executed at the hands of the Grace followers and the poor for impersonating a saint, she was planning to extract my soul and throw it into hell!!

The almighty Goddess herself had declared that she would personally punish me.

What good was being recognized by the Emperor?

What good were the gifts and the celebration?

If my soul was thrown into hell, it would all be over.

My hyperventilation worsened.

[You shall suffer alone, but through this, Grace shall spread her will throughout the world, and people shall see you and truly realize that the one who bestows grace lives.]

The will of Grace.

What would it be?

Those who impersonate a saint will be ruined.

No matter how many people you save, she will not forgive those who impersonate the Goddess’s apostle with filthy and vile skills, devoid of faith!

She would make an example of me, showing what happens to those who impersonate a saint!

And seeing that, people would realize that the Goddess Lilia lives!

Fuck…

I can’t…

I can’t breathe…

My vision went black.

***

“Healing Saint!”

I opened my eyes to see High Priest Zerba of the Prophecy Church looking at me with a panicked expression.

“W-What in the world did Lord Rupiel say? What kind of future did he show you?”

I didn’t answer.

My clothes were drenched in cold sweat.

Trembling with chills, I asked Zerba,

“High Priest, please summon High Priest Yodel of the Lilia Church.”

“R-Right away!”

Zerba shot out like a bullet and soon returned with Grandpa Yodel.

I looked at Yodel.

“Master Yodel.”

“Saint! No! What happened?”

“I have a question.”

I was too scared to tell them the truth.

How could I tell them that I was deceiving them, that I would be brutally murdered and then roasted for eternity in hell after I die?

“How can those who have wronged the Goddess Lilia be forgiven?”

For now, let’s ask about how to obtain the Goddess’s forgiveness.

“Why are you asking such a question all of a sudden, Saint?”

“Please answer me. I need to know.”

Yodel looked at me with concern, then explained.

“Naturally, you must not repeat the mistakes you have committed.”

That must mean I shouldn’t continue impersonating a saint.

“You must distance yourself from your wrongdoings.”

I need to escape.

I’ve been going about this the wrong way. Elixir is gushing out right now, how long am I supposed to wait for the Church to go bankrupt and leave me? Damn it. Besides, if I bankrupt the Church, Lilia, who’s already pissed as hell, might get even angrier!

You idiot!

I should have just run away!

“And engage in endless self-denial.”

I need to deny being a saint even more strongly! I have to keep denying it every chance I get!

“And accumulate good deeds to reach the Goddess.”

I’ve already done that, shouldn’t that be enough? I’ve already healed so many people!

There’s no need for me to act like a saint anymore!

But this still felt insufficient.

These were just general principles!

The mistake I made wasn’t a small one!

The Goddess of Grace herself declared that she would personally grab me and throw me into hell when I die! She’s not just slightly angry!

Something…

Something is missing.

I need additional measures in case I fail to quit being a saint.

“Is there a way for a soul stained with sin, a soul that the Goddess herself has declared she will not forgive, to avoid hell?”

“Saint, what in the world… what kind of prophecy did you hear?”

Zerba asked me in a panicked voice.

Would I tell him?

“I cannot tell you, Master Yodel. Please tell me, is there a way for a soul that the Goddess herself has declared she will punish to avoid hell?”

“If one is cleansed of their sins through the Saint’s miracle, they can avoid hell.”

That’s a method I can’t use.

I had never heard of any other saint besides me.

It meant that there were no real saints except for a fraud like me.

So, it was impossible to be saved by another saint’s miracle even if everything failed.

“What about other methods?”

“It’s a loophole, but if your soul is destroyed by a powerful curse, you can’t completely avoid going to hell, but you can delay it.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“Please explain in detail.”

“It’s literally as I said. How can a soul that’s already shattered be punished? Naturally, it cannot go to hell either. There are records of evil black mages in the past who tried to use this method to avoid suffering in the afterlife.”

Those records were perfect for me right now!!

How? How can it be avoided?

“Souls are extremely difficult to destroy, but even if they are destroyed, they don’t disappear completely. It takes time, but if there’s remaining lifespan, they eventually regenerate to their original form and disappear after their remaining lifespan is exhausted.”

“How does that avoid going to hell?”

“They intentionally destroy their own soul, which still has a remaining lifespan, with a powerful curse, and then artificially control the soul’s regeneration speed to delay it for a very long time. They did this hoping that those who remembered their evil deeds would be gone, and even the gods would forget their sins. It was a desperate attempt to avoid hell, but it ultimately failed.”

“Why?”

“Once a soul is created, it is bound to its respective dimension. The moment it’s destroyed, it returns to where it was born and slowly regenerates there. Through this, the gods could easily identify the regenerating soul. In the end, even the black mages whose souls regenerated after a long time were eventually dragged to hell and suffered.”

There it was!!

The perfect countermeasure!

If my soul is destroyed by a powerful curse, that’s it, right?

The black mages may have failed, but I won’t!

Why?

Because my soul doesn’t belong to this dimension!

If my soul is destroyed by a curse, wouldn’t it regenerate in Korea, the dimension it’s bound to?!

If I escape to another dimension, how could Lilia punish me?

If my soul is destroyed by a curse, I can skip hell!

Reborn in Korea!

I might be a nobody with a degree from a local university when I return to Korea, but it’s better than hell!

It’s a thousand times better to be alive!

“Thank you, Master Yodel. I’m tired. Could you both please leave?”

High Priest Zerba and Grandpa Yodel looked at me with concern, but they soon bowed politely and left.

Now, the plan was set.

I needed three things to escape.

First, I needed to find a way to avoid the Miracle of Tracking, so they wouldn’t chase after me even after I escaped.

Second, I needed to secretly gather enough money to live on after escaping.

Third, I needed to find a way to use Time Stop, the most crucial skill for my escape, more efficiently.

Once these three conditions were met, I would escape immediately!

And then I would change my face with Body Modification and live quietly like a mouse.

Of course, although this was a very standard method, the chances of failure were high.

The support I had from the Lilia Church and the poor people was beyond fanaticism.

No matter how careful I was, there was a high chance they would find me somehow.

Therefore, as a backup plan in case of failure, I also had to look for a powerful curse, a cheat code that could make me skip hell in one go.

The problem was that such powerful curses weren’t just lying around on the streets.

In short, the standard method had a low success rate but could be attempted at any time, while using the cheat code wasn’t always possible, but if successful, it was a 100% guaranteed way to avoid hell.

What choice did I have?

I would proceed with the standard method usually, and if I happened to find a powerful curse, I would immediately try to get cursed and avoid hell.

That would be the general plan.

As they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

First, I needed to sleep.

My whole body felt heavy after hearing that grim prophecy.

I lay down on the bed, feeling the weight pressing down on my eyelids.

And before long, I fell asleep.

***

Humans, twisted into hideous shapes that could only be seen in nightmares, were screaming.

Their grotesque forms were even contagious.

The twisted humans were hunting down the living, screaming.

To turn them into beings like themselves.

Gunfire, magic, and miracles were used to push back the twisted beings, but they didn’t stop.

The walls crumbled, the city crumbled…

And humanity crumbled.

Humans twisted into hideous shapes, whether zombies or ghouls, were devouring the corpses of living humans, and those corpses, before long, would rise from their spots, becoming equally twisted beings, and wander the earth.

And at the center of it all were two women.

One woman, brutally mutilated, lay dead on the ground, bleeding, and beside her, another woman with the same face was screaming.

Wings sprouted from the screaming woman’s back.

The wings were pitch black, and the dark, evil energy emanating from them was the source of all these twisted beings.

“No! No!!”

The woman with the black wings screamed.

“I just!… I just wanted to be loved!”

But there was no one left to love her.

She, with wings like a fallen angel, wept sorrowfully.

But there were only twisted beings around her.

No one who would love her…

Could be seen anywhere.

***

I woke up in a cold sweat, springing up from my bed.

Again!

The same experience again!

A prophecy of an unfortunate future!

But…

I wasn’t scared or terrified anymore.

The evil energy emanating from the wings of the woman I saw in the dream!

That!

That’s a curse!

If I die from that, my soul will be destroyed, I’ll skip hell…

And be reborn in Korea, right?

Alright!!

This is it!

To think the cheat code would appear so quickly!

Now all I have to do is find the woman with the black wings who was casting that curse!

And once my soul is destroyed by the curse, it’s over!

As I was rejoicing at the thought…

“Saint, are you awake?”

Grandpa Yodel’s voice came from outside.

I had woken up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, but why was Grandpa Yodel awake at this hour?

“Yes, I’m awake. What is it?”

I opened the door, and the elder standing outside had a serious expression.

What’s wrong? Why are you here?

“His Majesty the Emperor wishes to meet with you in secret.”