So you seriously think that your works of confession and penance will earn you salvation?
Nothing can earn salvation.
Call it merit or whatever, it’s all the same concept.
You have to do some act or work to receive God’s forgiveness, at which point, it is no longer forgiveness. It is payment rendered for deeds performed.
Forgiveness by its very nature comes with no strings attached. It is a gift, freely given by the giver. Nobody ever pays for a gift. Nobody earns a gift or it ceases being a gift.
To offer to pay someone for a gift is an insult to the person giving it.