Awakening: Starting With The Villain System

My plan was simple.

At least, simple in my head.

Take this stick I'd made, throw it far to the other side, and make sure the guards and cameras caught it.

The goal was to make it look like someone had just darted past, some shadowy figure breaking through their lines.

A distraction. Nothing more.

And I was confident it would work.

The guards outside weren't the top brass, not the real monsters. Those were inside, guarding the actual prize.

Still, I wasn't dumb enough to underestimate these guys.

Even the "regular" guards here could probably crush me without breaking a sweat if I got careless.

But they didn't need to know I was here.

They just needed to believe someone else was.

I took a breath, the stick firm in my hand, the fabric tied at the end fluttering faintly in the night breeze.

I adjusted my aim, picking a spot across the gate where I knew the guards' vision would track.

Then I threw.

The sharpened stick tore through the air, so fast it almost whistled.

If you blinked, you'd miss it. But the guards? No chance. Their eyes were trained for things like this.

The fabric snapped and flared as the stick flew, a perfect illusion of motion.

And right on cue, nearly every guard's head whipped toward the sound.

"Did you see that?" one of them barked.

No one answered, not with words. Their response came in steel and energy.

Weapons drawn, powers summoned, all of them turning sharp and ready as they advanced toward the distraction.

I couldn't help the grin that tugged at my lips.

It worked. Just as planned.

I crouched low, sliding open the box I'd brought with me.

My fingers closed around the grenades, five in total.

I pulled three free and tucked the other two into my inventory.

My heart thudded as I twisted the pins loose.

No going back after this.

With one in hand, I pitched it high, arcing straight toward the compound.

The second, I hurled to the far corner, keeping it close to the structure but wide enough to spread the chaos.

And the third, my hand tightened around it, i threw with every ounce of strength I had, right past the gates, straight to the building itself.

Each throw was quick, precise, and merciless.

One of the soldiers caught sight of the glint in the air.

His eyes widened, and his voice split through the night.

"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire branch erupted.

Sirens wailed, alarms screamed, and red lights flared across the building like blood pulsing through veins.

Guards scrambled, shouts overlapping as boots thundered against the ground.

Chaos.

Exactly what I wanted.

And that's when I moved.

The alarms were still howling behind me, guards scrambling in confusion, but I didn't run toward them.

I wasn't suicidal. No, my target wasn't the armed death squad behind the gates.

It was the truck.

The truck was still a distance away, its headlights cutting through the dark.

I sprinted, legs pumping as fast as they could go.

Trees blurred past me, reduced to streaks of color and shadow.

Every breath came sharp, the pounding of my heart louder than the sirens in the distance.

The closer I got, the clearer I saw it. A man stood at the back of the truck, alone, glancing around with confusion.

He must've heard the alarm and was trying to figure out what was happening.

Perfect.

My plan was simple. Brutal. Necessary.

Kill him.

No hesitation. No warning. Just action.

I dashed forward, my grip tight on the katana at my side.

The man barely had time to register the blur rushing toward him before I leaped.

My blade flashed once in the dark.

The sound was muted, a wet slice followed by silence.

He dropped instantly, not even managing a scream.

His body crumpled at the back of the truck, his eyes wide with shock that never left.

I landed as lightly as I could, knees bent, blade steady.

My chest heaved, my breath ragged and heavy from the sprint.

I forced myself to inhale, slow, quiet, controlled.

Then I looked at him.

My first kill.

A human being. Dead because of me.

I expected guilt, maybe panic, nausea, shaking hands, something. But… nothing came.

My chest didn't tighten. My stomach didn't twist. I didn't feel bad. I didn't even hesitate.

Why? Why didn't I feel anything?

Before I could sink too deep into that thought, the familiar chime echoed in my head.

Ding!

[You have killed your first ever human!]

[You have exercised your Villain trait!]

[As a reward, you have gained +2 Levels!]

[You have gained +1 Intelligence!]

[Your Magic Power increased by +1!]

A system window unfolded before me, numbers and words glowing faintly in the dark like they were mocking me.

==========

Status

[Name: Ryan Nether]

[Level: 8]

[Race: Human]

[Profession: Villain]

→ [Villain Rank: — (Too Low To Be Displayed)]

[Titles: Villain, Mystery, Weird]

Stats

[Strength: 9]

[Vitality: 9]

[Dexterity: 9]

[Perception: 2.2]

[Magic Power: 4]

[Stamina: 8.5]

[Luck: 2.1]

[Intelligence: 5]

[Charm: 1.3]

Abilities

[None]

Techniques

[None]

Inventory

[Wooden Katana], [Katana]

==========

I stared at the panel, my blade still dripping faintly in the dim light.

I suddenly noticed something.

A new title had been added.

Weird. Mystery.

Seriously? Out of everything, that was the new title I had been given somehow?

I almost laughed at the absurdity, but the corpse at my feet silenced the urge.

My lips pressed into a thin line.

Titles didn't matter right now. Survival did.

I brought out a fabric from my inventory, and I wiped the blade clean, slid it back into its sheath, and set my eyes forward.

It was time to proceed to the next phase of the plan.

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