GDYARVE ## Chapter 85: Death Truly Brings Growth
## Chapter 85: Death Truly Brings Growth
The Cleric Beast, an early boss that can be avoided.
The grand cathedral behind it beckoned, and the game’s sound effects added to the realism and horror with beastly roars.
Hairy ones are weak to fire, and large ones are weak to doors. These are the cunning techniques players gradually master in the game.
Hairy monsters can be cunningly defeated with Molotov cocktails, while large ones can be handled by blocking doors.
The massive Cleric Beast was covered in dense, dirty fur. If not for the health bar displaying its name, it would be hard to believe this terrifying, towering monster was once a human.
After countless deaths, Yinzi finally defeated the Cleric Beast, only to find that the bridge leading to the cathedral was blocked.
He returned to the lamp in Central Yharnam, where an NPC in the window, also an outsider, told him he could reach the cathedral through the sewers.
Yinzi: …
Chat: …
‘Sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh.’
‘The dev: Another day of not being human.’
‘It’s okay, boss. At least you grew, right? At least you learned hairy ones are weak to fire. Sorry, let me laugh a bit more…’
‘The dev’s malice is too heavy this time.’
…
From the start, Tuanzi avoided the bridge because she knew her skills might not match those of normal experts, so she focused on leveling up.
While other streamers were struggling with the Cleric Beast, she had already found the sewer route.
There, Tuanzi encountered another NPC, a little girl behind iron bars.
In this world controlled by the Great Ones, the Moon Presence loved strife and found entertainment in it. Here, no one met a good end.
This little girl was no exception.
Yharnam was famous for ‘blood healing,’ where diseases were cured by injecting blood. Those who underwent blood healing gradually turned into beasts due to the synchronization of their minds with the Great Ones’ dream.
Initially, Yharnam’s residents believed the beast plague was caused by outsiders, so they fiercely rejected them.
At first, even Yharnamites turned into hunters to hunt the beastly monsters.
But later, they realized the beasts were actually their fellow citizens. They then refused to hunt because they couldn’t know if the next beast would be a relative.
When the locals no longer wanted to hunt, we, the chosen outsider hunters, took their place.
Behind the iron bars, the little girl told us her father was an excellent hunter who participated in a hunt one night.
But after that hunt, he never returned, and her mother, worried sick, went out to find him and also never came back.
“I’m very lonely and scared.” The little girl paused for a long time behind the iron bars.
Worried, she asked us to find her mother.
If we agreed, she would give us a music box that played her father’s favorite song.
“If Daddy forgets us, we’ll play the song, and he’ll remember.” The girl handed us the music box.
“Mommy was in such a hurry she forgot the music box.” The girl told us her mother wore a ruby brooch. If we saw her, we should tell her to come home soon.
“When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.” Most people think of this quote when facing the Father.
He is the game’s first main storyline boss, unlike the optional Cleric Beast.
When Tuanzi first saw Father Gascoigne, he was madly chopping up beastly corpses, seeming like a crazed hunter, muttering incoherently.
【There are monsters everywhere. You’ll become one of them eventually.】
The Father gasped heavily, hinting that those who join the hunt will be devoured, becoming one of the crazed in the eternal night.
Later item descriptions reveal that Father Gascoigne, like us, was an outsider who came to Yharnam, married an old hunter’s daughter, and had two lovely girls.
Due to tireless battles with monsters, he too became one of them.
That day, he succumbed to the blood’s corruption, went mad, and killed his wife.
Perhaps he showed signs of beastly madness earlier, so the girl mentioned her mother forgot to bring the music box to help him regain sanity.
When first encountered, he was madly chopping corpses, venting his regret.
He was also the little girl’s father.
After the cutscene, a thick but thin white fog gate enveloped the path.
This fog gate only appears in boss fights, blocking the escape route.
Tuanzi was shocked, “Didn’t I avoid the Cleric Beast?”
She had deliberately avoided the boss to grow stronger, only to encounter another one.
Memories of playing Hollow Knight flooded back, recalling the early map with two bosses, Gruz Mother and False Knight.
Maybe once you master the game, these bosses seem simple, but early on, it’s hard to defeat them without dying dozens of times.
In Yharnam, from small enemies to bosses, everything is deadly, hence the saying “In Yharnam, even the dogs know the taste of my flesh.”
Many in the chat, having watched other streamers, knew the Father was the main boss of the first chapter and marveled at her luck.
‘Good news: avoided the Cleric Beast’s suffering. Bad news: can’t escape anyway.’
‘Death isn’t scary; stopping practice is.’
‘In this game, no death is wasted. Death truly brings growth.’
…
Players died repeatedly, lost souls, and stood up again at the lamp.
As their cloaks became soaked in blood, as they learned enemy moves, dodged, and counterattacked…
Yes, from finding it difficult at first, to fighting with reddened eyes, feeling like they too were turning beastly, their heavy Saw Cleaver became lighter to swing, parrying with the gun more fluid, and transforming slashes more proficient…
Playing the music box left by his wife during the fight would stun him briefly, awakening his lingering memories.
Finally, the Father transformed into a werewolf, his humanity eroded by blood, leaving nothing but a beast.
(End of this chapter)