[Scarecrow (D-class)]: The host can temporarily transform their flesh into straw, nullifying fatal damage and manipulating straw strands as weapons.
Ethan Cross stared at the glowing system panel, a grin splitting his face.
"Finally. The legendary cheat code for isekai protagonists."
After weeks in this nightmare world, he'd assumed no golden finger would come. Yet slaying the Eight-Foot Lady had triggered it—the Supernatural Hunter System.
The black energy that healed his wounds now thrummed under his skin. A quick scan revealed the system's brutal simplicity:
Kill horrors → Gain their powers or "Aberration Points" (AP).
AP → Upgrade abilities.
"System, status window."
[Host: Ethan Cross]
[Strength: 3]
[Speed: 3]
[Constitution: 3]
[Mind: 5]
[Aberration Ability: Scarecrow (D-class)]
[Rating: D-class]
(Baseline human stats: 1 across the board)
His lifetime of martial arts had sculpted him into a peak human—but now, with Scarecrow, he'd breached supernatural territory.
Straw and Blood
Ethan flexed his wrist. Flesh unraveled into coiling straw tendrils.
Whoosh!
The strands lashed out like vipers, punching through brick walls with bullet-force.
"Guns can't touch me now," he mused. "But fire's a problem."
His grin faded. The Eight-Foot Lady had been a low-tier threat. Against ghosts like Sadako or the Braid Girl, fists—or straw—were useless.
A gust of wind stirred the alley. The corpse was gone, leaving only a bloodstained white dress and hat.
"System recycles kills into abilities?" He torched the remnants with his Zippo.
Dawn of the Broke
Ethan's stomach growled. His groceries—and last ¥1,000—were confetti thanks to the Eight-Foot Lady.
Time to visit Lucian Cross's "Exorcism Consultancy."
His eccentric father's office occupied prime real estate in downtown Beihai. The gilded sign alone screamed "I overcharge rich paranoids."
[Scene Break: Investigation Bureau]
Black tactical gear gleamed under streetlights as a squad surveyed the battleground.
"Captain, readings confirm the Eight-Foot Lady's demise," a tech reported. "Likely a rogue Awakened."
Sophia Laurent adjusted her gloves. The French-Chinese investigator's frosty gaze scanned the straw-impaled walls.
"No recruitment attempt," she decided. "Whoever did this covered their tracks."
Her team exchanged glances. A bald enigma named "Bear" rumbled: "D-class Awakened are rare. We could use—"
"Move out." Sophia cut him off. "We have a haunting in the South District."