Chapter 1054: What Exactly Is the Story of Bloodborne
Old Qin looked down at the hunter’s uniform he was wearing, which had been completely stained a dark red by blood.
He walked to the spot where Father Gascoigne had died, bent down, and picked up the white light—it was the key to Oedon Chapel.
“Well, it seems the plot simply doesn’t have an option to save him. Father Gascoigne is probably fated to die.”
After dealing with the beastified Father Gascoigne, Old Qin noticed that his Insight had directly increased by 4 points.
He went up the stairs nearby and used the key to open the large iron gate leading to Oedon Chapel behind him.
At that moment, Old Qin noticed that on the roof behind him, there seemed to be a white light.
Old Qin was now standing above the graveyard where he had fought Father Gascoigne, and this corpse was lying on the eaves of a house beside the graveyard. It hadn’t been visible from below, but after climbing the stairs, he could see it.
The white light he had just spotted was on this corpse.
Old Qin bent down and picked it up, discovering it was the [Red Gem Brooch] he had been searching for. Engraved on it was a name: Viola.
Clearly, the corpse lying on the roof was the little girl’s mother, Father Gascoigne’s wife, Viola. From the gruesome wounds and the spreading bloodstains on her body, it wasn’t hard to deduce the truth of what had happened.
Viola had been attacked by a beastified Yharnamite from above the stairs, near the entrance to Oedon Chapel. She had been knocked into the railing, fallen onto the eaves below, and then brutally murdered.
And the priest, who had witnessed all of this, immediately fell into a state of madness. The Yharnamite who had just recently become beastified and whom he had been desperately trying to tear apart in the graveyard as an outlet for his rage was likely the culprit behind it all.
Old Qin looked at the ruby brooch in his hand. He could choose to give this brooch to the little girl, or he could break it into a Blood Gem to strengthen his weapon.
“This little girl is really pitiful. Forget it, I’ll go back and turn in the quest to her. Or... should I check out Oedon Chapel first?”
Old Qin wasn’t sure about the next route, and he still didn’t know what fate awaited this poor little girl.
...
...
On the Moyu live-streaming platform, there were many players like Old Qin streaming *Bloodborne*.
The streamers and viewers seemed to have returned to the days when they first encountered *Dark Souls*—cautious and trembling, exploring step by step in a completely unfamiliar world, where one misstep could lead to death at the hands of Serent’s schemes.
Players’ exploration of *Bloodborne* was steadily advancing. For many old veterans who had already completed multiple playthroughs of *Dark Souls*, although *Bloodborne* felt a bit unfamiliar at first, as long as they studied it a little, they quickly got used to this style of gameplay.
After all, although this game had made some changes to the combat system and certain details compared to *Dark Souls*, the essence of the two games was very similar.
For many veteran *Dark Souls* players, completing a single playthrough of *Bloodborne* might only take about twenty hours. If the player was particularly dedicated, they could finish it in two to three days.
Once they had adapted to the gameplay of *Bloodborne*, the players’ curiosity shifted to another aspect.
That was: What kind of story does *Bloodborne* actually tell?
One of the most unique feelings that Souls-like games give players is the sense of unfamiliarity with the world.
Just like when players first encountered *Dark Souls*, they felt there were too many incomprehensible things in that world—like the Hollows and various monsters, why the bells had to be rung, why the ancient Lords of Cinder had to be defeated, and why the fire had to be linked...
Players were extremely unfamiliar with this world and couldn’t explain it using their existing knowledge. Add to that the fact that the world was filled with ugly monsters, terrifying traps, and every minor enemy had the ability to kill you in one hit...
All these factors combined gave players a sense of “torture” and “suffering” in the game, turning it into a true adventure.
Because you never knew what you would face when you pushed open that door.
However, *Dark Souls* and *Bloodborne* didn’t turn the entire world into an inexplicable horror.
Players would indeed encounter many incomprehensible things and experience a fear born from the unknown.
But as the game’s story progressed, players would find the truth from the clues scattered throughout the world—or at least the truth they pieced together in their own minds.
Those seemingly strange and irrational things were all connected by a single storyline, influencing and linking with each other, forming a complete and reasonable story background that led to multiple different endings.
So, for *Bloodborne*, beyond its excellent combat and level design, its story and world-building were equally key factors that kept players exploring.
So, what kind of world was the world of *Bloodborne*?
As players continued to explore, the hunters they controlled died again and again, only to wake up repeatedly in the Hunter’s Dream. Fragmented pieces of information were stitched together, and the hunters began to try to uncover the buried truth of this world.
Everything started with the outsider who came to Yharnam seeking blood healing.
...
Suffering from a strange illness, this outsider traveled thousands of miles to Yharnam in search of a cure.
Yharnam was known as the land of blood healing, where it was said that blood could cure all kinds of difficult diseases. So, even though Yharnam was now extremely dangerous, this outsider still resolutely embarked on the journey to seek blood healing.
The outsider walked through the streets of Yharnam and noticed that the residents were all busy buying incense and candles. The vendors along the way kept giving the outsider eerie smiles.
The outsider didn’t understand this strange atmosphere. He only knew that today was Yharnam’s traditional festival—the “Night of the Hunt.”
The outsider underwent the blood transfusion. After the transfusion, he saw a hallucination: a wolfman covered in blood and filth reached out its claws toward him—that actually represented his own inner beastly side. If he accepted it, he would, like the other villagers, descend into beastification and eventually become a bloodthirsty wolfman.
In the end, he overcame his inner beastly side and was instead embraced by the skeletal, dwarf-like Messengers. This represented his inner choice to become a hunter, embarking on the same path of hunting as the hunters before him.
The awakened outsider had lost his memory and forgotten his identity. He only saw the bloodstained bandages and needles on his arms, and only remembered that he had been injected with blood of unknown origin, and then the nightmare began.
The only guidance was a note, left on a chair in the room by an unknown hand: “Seek paleblood to transcend the hunt.”
...
(Paleblood is also translated as “pale blood,” and in English, it’s “paleblood.” These two translations have similar meanings, both referring to a certain color.)
(The following chapters will explain the story and world-building of *Bloodborne* in detail, as can be seen from the chapter titles. Readers who aren’t interested can skip them.)
(Because *Bloodborne*, like *Dark Souls*, has no absolutely correct interpretation of the story. All interpretations are pieced together from fragmented information in the game, and Hidetaka Miyazaki doesn’t intend for players to know the truth, so many details have multiple interpretations. This represents only one hypothesis. If there are any errors, feel free to discuss.)