"This is so amazing... " Rian muttered before finally sighing. "...No wonder why Gojo Satoru can be so arrogant then," he muttered.
With steady steps, Rian soon walked along the forest path.
Until a few moments later, Rian finally arrived at the estimated destination where the entire Main Mission began.
The same cold and damp air as the previous trip in the forest greeted Rian. A thin mist hung in the air, carrying the scent of wet soil, rotting wood, and the faint odor of fishy and rotten meat that was not fresh.
Rian stood still, Six Eyes, hidden behind the dark lenses of his sunglasses, sweeping the scene of the village in front of him.
Old stone and wooden houses stood in a row, looking like they had been forgotten by time.
The dull tiled roofs were partially slanted, the windows broken or tightly closed with wood, as if to deny the view of the outside world.
From where he stood, Rian could very clearly see the gloomy village square, where a man's corpse appeared charred by fire, his body tied tightly to a wooden pole like a victim of an ancient ritual that had been forgotten.
Several crows were perched on the surrounding poles, staring at him with a cold, blank gaze, without fear, as if the presence of humans was no threat.
In the distance, the old bell hangs silently on the church tower that rises gloomily, casting a shadow over the village with the dark shades that envelop the gray sky.
There was no human sound.
Only the whisper of the wind and the rustling of leaves filled the oppressive silence.
"This place is... really charming," Rian muttered softly, squinting at a house with partially charred walls.
"If I didn't know better, I would have thought this was a horror-season-dead fashion shoot."
Rian stepped slowly, his shoes stepping on the damp gravel that made a faint sound. The atmosphere of this village was like a vivid gothic painting: silent, gloomy, and as if it held dark secrets in every corner.
Smiling faintly, Rian adjusted his collar in his signature style. "Well, it seems that this handsome man will shine... even in the middle of a cursed village."
Suddenly, his steps stopped. In an instant, Rian accelerated towards a large wooden box on the side of a nearby house. Without a sound, Rian dropped his body into a squatting position behind the box.
With calm hands, Rian opened his fanny pack and took out a bayonet knife.
The metal tip glinted faintly, reflecting the seriousness that now flashed behind his easy smile.
From what was most likely the village hall, figures began to arrive.
Their steps were slow, pale skin punctuated with purplish veins, and vacant eyes, as if they were no longer themselves.
Some of them walked into their homes, continuing their activities like ordinary villagers.
A woman milked a cow in the backyard, quite close to Rian, an old man cut a tree trunk with a blunt axe, and several others seemed to be busy with the typical work of normal villagers in general.
But Rian knew they were not ordinary villagers.
They were Ganado, humans who had lost their humanity after being infected with Las Plagas.
Notes: Las Plagas, used by the Los Iluminados sect to enslave the body and mind.
By attaching to the nervous system, the plagas can influence the actions of its host, causing increased aggression in the human host (known as Ganados).
In addition, they form social groups with other infected hosts.
Unless the host's brain is destroyed or impaired, the plaga's influence is not absolute, allowing them to continue with their daily routine.
Plagas also have the ability to alter their hosts under certain circumstances, resulting in increased strength, gigantic proportions and the ability to regenerate body parts quickly.
With a heavy sigh, Rian took out a pocket mirror from inside his shirt and examined his face.
"What's wrong, Rian?" he asked his reflection, his tone heavy yet gentle.
Rian closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm his heartbeat. "Honestly, this handsome man... hates knowing that his first mission involves killing humans..." he whispered, softly but clearly.
Then, Rian's face changed. The eyes that had been wavering now sharpened, and his lips curved into a firm line.
"Be strong, Rian," Rian said in a heavier voice. "This is the world of your first mission. If you want to survive, then don't hesitate."
Rian furrowed his brow, staring at his reflection with conviction. "Remember... even if hope collapses, your good looks will still shine through."
With a final sigh that included a confident smile, Rian said to his reflection: "Thank you, you were right."
Rian put the small mirror back into his shirt pocket. His gaze was now calm, yet sharp. Wordlessly, he began to move.
Light, almost silent steps, Rian slipping between the shadows of the house and the haystacks.
His first target was obvious; a woman milking a cow in the backyard.
Rian approached slowly from behind.
No hurry, no hesitation.
In one smooth yet firm motion, his left arm curled around the woman's body. The right hand moved quickly, the knife in his grip slashing the woman's neck in one clean line.
Sreeet.
Warm blood spurted out, soaking the shabby apron and the damp ground beneath it. The woman's body rebelled for a moment before finally relaxing.
Ding!
[Killed Ganado +100 System Points!]
"Oh?" said Rian upon receiving the notification. "So this handsome man can get points from killing Ganado?"
Then, Rian calmly laid him down on the ground and prevented any falling sounds that could attract attention.
But unintentionally, the cow's foot kicked a nearby metal bucket.
Klang!
The metallic sound echoed loudly in the still air. Instantly, the few villagers who were nearby turned their heads: their eyes were blank, yet held a burning aggression.
Slowly but surely, they began to move towards Rian. Makeshift weapons were clutched tightly in their hands: rusty axes, kitchen knives, butcher knives, hoes, and straw forks.
Their steps were slow but sure, like a mob that had lost its conscience.
"Arrest him... " said one villager wielding a butcher knife.
"Sacrifice him." continued a villager with an axe in his hand.
Rian sighed heavily, then shrugged. "I knew... this would happen eventually," he muttered.
Rian touched his temple then looked forward with a small smile, "This handsome man's charm is indeed... very difficult to hide."
Quietly, Rian took off his thick black lensed glasses and tied them to his shirt.
As soon as the lenses dropped from his eyes, there was a pair of bright blue eyes, like a frozen lake in the middle of winter.
In an instant, a stream of information from Six Eyes flooded his mind.
The sound of footsteps, heart rate, air pressure, wind direction, enemy positions, attack gaps, weak points... all blended together like a relentless rain of data.
His brain was throbbing from overload, but time seemed to slow down instead, as if the world had stopped moving.
Rian took a deep breath, then whispered, "Come on... show them the luster of a handsome man on the battlefield."
Rian gripped the knife tightly in his right hand.
In an instant, Rian ran forward.
With quick movements and deadly precision, the knife danced through the air: stabbing the neck, digging into the temple, piercing the heart, and tearing through vital veins without hesitation.
Each strike was so clean, it was as if Rian had memorized the points of death in the blink of an eye.
Without letting the momentum slow down, Rian grabbed the Ganado's makeshift weapons: rusty axes, garden forks, even old hoes.
These weapons became an extension of his deadly arm.
With ruthless efficiency and an almost dance-like rhythm of death, Rian took out one after another, leaving a trail of blood on the ground and light footsteps.
Another reason Rian could react so quickly was not only because of the Six Eyes ability and the previous distribution of 5 attribute points, but also because of his past.
In the past, Rian had studied martial arts and had earned a yellow belt. But because he had stopped practicing for a long time, Rian's skills now felt rusty.
Some basic movements were still clearly recorded in his memory, especially the patterns of hand movements and body position.
That alone was enough to help him in this fight.
Ding!
[Killing Ganado +100 System Points!]
Ding!
[Killing Ganado +100 System points!]
System notifications kept popping up as Rian took down the Ganado one by one.
In total, more than twenty Ganado had died at his hands, and the system recorded more than 2,000 system points earned.
However, their numbers didn't seem to decrease. Instead, they kept coming, as if the village held a bottomless pit that spewed out enemies endlessly.
Until finally...
Rian was seen running frantically, shuffling between old houses with his dark-lensed glasses back on.
Behind Rian, dozens of Ganado chased with makeshift weapons. The most prominent: a man in a burlap mask with a viciously spinning chainsaw in his hand.
However, even though his head was still throbbing violently from the flood of information, Rian's shuffling movements allowed him to keep running.
Some Ganado began throwing makeshift weapons: axes, butcher knives, even hay forks. Metal and iron shot through the air, threatening in silence.
Thanks with his Six Eyes, Rian didn't need to turn his head, all the trajectories of the weapons were clearly drawn in his mind. His body moved in sync, dodging one by one with great fluidity.
"For the sake of the skincare I haven't had time to use yet!" Rian shouted while dodging the axe that was thrown at him. "Why aren't they finished?!"