Welcome to Yharnam!
Yanan, a cold and austere city.
On this Hunter's Night, its ruthless nature was even more evident.
Hordes of Beastification Citizen roamed the streets, all armed, making it impossible to tell whether they were hunting wild beasts or had simply transformed into them.
One of the Beastification Citizen slowed down a little and accidentally fell out of the group.
The next moment, a pair of large hands reached out from the shadows on the street and tightly covered his mouth. With a "crack," his neck was snapped before he could even scream, and his powerless body was dragged into the shadows.
Then came the sound of flesh being cut.
"Well"
The Beastification Citizen in the front line looked back strangely, and the cutting sound immediately stopped.
He looked around for a while, but didn't seem to find anything strange, so he turned his head and continued walking forward.
Unbeknownst to them, thick blood was slowly flowing out of the shadows, and the head of the Beastification Citizen rolled out, its jaw still Ghrū and closing unconsciously.
The person who orchestrated all of this was a hunter whose skills were still developing.
Fan En.
He shook the blood off the Saw Cleaver, took a deep breath of the foul air, and his face showed the unique fatigue of someone who had been under constant tension for a long time.
The headless body of the Beastification Citizen was still twitching slightly. Fan En instinctively stomped his foot, piercing through the citizen's chest, and the beast stopped moving completely.
"What are the origins of these monsters? Their vitality is so tenacious."
You can't let your guard down for a moment when facing the monsters in the dungeon. Who knows when these guys will be able to get up again? Just now, he was bitten by a Beastification Citizen who only had his upper body left.
After that, he learned how to finish off enemies.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, but ended up smearing blood and other substances all over his face, making him look even dirtier.
His experience in the dungeon today was more terrifying than all the nightmares he had ever had in his life.
After leaving the Yharnam Clinic, Fan En entered the city called "Yarnan".
Like any hunter would do, he joined the Hunter's Night, though he didn't understand what the Hunter's Night was all about.
The first enemy he encountered after leaving the clinic was the beast-like citizens of Yharnam.
This monster has an appearance that is very similar to that of humans, but its body sways like that of Living Dead. Its body surface has faint beast-like features, and it seems to have some intelligence, able to utter a few simple words, but most of the time it will only attack people randomly when it sees them.
When Fan En first met the Beastification Citizen, he even tried to greet him, since the other party looked so much like a human.
But just a second after he greeted them, the next second the enemy rushed up and started hacking at him with a large cleaver. Although he was prepared, the enemy's reckless Furious Rajang still startled him.
It might be a little embarrassing to admit, but Fan En did have some hesitation when facing the Beastification Citizen.
The other party's appearance, which was almost indistinguishable from that of a human, always reminded him of the Reids outside who were controlled by parasites, and then naturally made him recall the bits and pieces of his hometown in the past. The faces of the Beastification Citizen seemed to have become familiar faces.
However, when he smelled the alluring aroma of the blood from the Beastification Citizen, the Saw Cleaver in his hand reacted before his brain could.
With a swift stroke, the blade fell, and a head rolled to the ground.
Looking at the head of the Beastification Citizen rolling on the ground, Fan En was truly stunned for a moment. According to the plot development of the storybook he had read, should he feel that he had killed someone, and then, unable to bear the psychological pressure, lean against the wall and vomit for a while?
But the fact that such a thought can even pop into his head means he can't actually vomit it.
On the contrary, savoring the feeling of killing enemies, he did something that even he himself found incredibly perverted:
He licked his lips.
"Something's wrong with this underground city, something's wrong with this city, and something's wrong with me too."
Having reached this conclusion, he continued to delve deeper into the city of Yharnam.
He couldn't understand the architectural style of this city at all. He had never seen similar buildings anywhere else. But any city built by people must have similarities, such as main roads and intricate alleyways.
Fan En naturally slipped into the alleyway. Only this cramped space could give him a sense of security, as if as long as he stayed here, he could rest easy and avoid the sight of all the monsters.
This method of action did indeed bring him benefits, namely, that he avoided the Beastification Citizen moving in groups on the main road.
When he first saw nearly ten Beastification Citizen acting together, he was so shocked he could hardly describe it.
His feelings, translated into modern terms, are:
Holy crap, a monster pack?!
Faced with an overwhelming numerical advantage from the Beastification Citizen, even with his Saw Cleaver thirsting for blood, Fan En dared not make a rash move and could only stealthily assassinate one enemy, just as he had done before.
Watching the Beastification Citizen's retreating figures, he breathed a sigh of relief and stealthily explored in the opposite direction, still sticking close to the walls whenever possible, and preferably disappearing into alleyways.
At the slightest sound, he would immediately hide in a nearby place where he could take cover, making sure the monsters never found him.
Using this method, he managed to evade many wandering Beastification Citizen without incident, and even managed to assassinate a few occasionally.
However, someone couldn't possibly let Fan En continue to be such a coward.
Every road you can take after leaving the Yharnam Clinic eventually leads to the same place—
"Crackling and popping!"
The sound of a campfire burning came from ahead, accompanied by the crackling of grease, the charring and even explosions of flesh and blood, creating an unpleasant symphony.
Fan En stopped in his tracks. He looked up, as if he had seen something incredible, and muttered to himself, his eyes wide:
"A bonfire party?"
What appeared before him was Broad Avenue with absolutely no place to hide.
A huge torch stood on the street. Upon closer inspection, the torch itself was actually a hideous and twisted monster. Although it had been dead for a long time under the scorching flames, just looking at its massive body, one could tell how terrifying this thing must have been in life.
But now, this terrifying monster has become a decoration at a bonfire party?
At a glance, the streets were filled with wandering Beastification Citizen, holding torches aloft and their weapons dripping with blood. They lingered on this only road, just like the people participating in the witch hunt in the stories and legends.
There were more enemies crammed into this bonfire party Fan En had seen all day!
Anyone would back down if they saw this scene.
He was no exception; the atmosphere of this bonfire party was really ominous. He felt that if he just barged in, he would be roasted over the fire like Bruno!
Just as he began to back away, Beastification Citizen standing on the carriage, holding a hunting rifle and keeping watch, suddenly turned his head in his direction, as if guided by something.
Then he raised his hand and fired a shot.
"Bang!"
A thunderous sound erupted here, plunging the entire bonfire party into a few seconds of stillness, as if the Time Stop Uncle had activated his ability to pause time.
Fan En stared at the bullet that had struck his feet. His mouth, eyelids, fingers—basically every part of his body that could twitch—twitched. He slowly raised his head, his neck stiff.
Dozens of pairs of eyes from the Beastification Citizen were also watching him.
The two exchanged a glance.
The man who stopped time revoked his ability, and time began to flow again.
"Awooooo!"
The strongest-looking Beastification Citizen pointed at him and made a muffled shout.
The next moment, a dense, earthquake-like chorus of footsteps echoed through the street as they pounced on Fan En like a madman!
What else could Fan En do? He could only turn around and run!
"Something's not right. That monster shouldn't be able to see me!"
He tested it on his way here. The eyesight of the Beastification Citizen should be pretty bad. They might not even be able to spot him from several meters away. So why was the Beastification Citizen who was dozens or even hundreds of meters away able to spot him?
Don't tell him it's because he has good eyesight when handling guns!
Hordes of Beastification Citizen chased after Fan En relentlessly, displaying an air of hospitality and eagerness to invite this outsider to the bonfire party.
Fan En wanted to find a place to hide. He had scouted the area before he arrived and found a few decent-looking secluded spots that should be enough to conceal himself.
"Awooooo!"
As soon as he turned into the alley he had designated as his first hideout, a large machete came crashing down on his head, narrowly missing him.
In a panic, he looked up and saw that four or five Beastification Citizen had somehow ended up crammed into the No. 1 hideout!
Fan En cursed under his breath, "Damn it," and turned and ran towards the second hiding place.
However.
"There are some here too!?"
He refused to believe it and ran towards hideout number three.
"How did you get in!"
The places he had marked—numbers four, five, and six—are now filled with Beastification Citizen!
It's like they're deliberately targeting him!
"That, that one."
Seeing that even the last hideout, number seven, had fallen, he sighed, turned to face the hundreds of Beastification Citizen behind him, and forced a smile:
"How about we make up? Actually, I'm pretty good at grilling meat at bonfire parties."
His answer was the familiar shouts of the Beastification Citizen:
"Awooooo!"
"I knew reconciliation was impossible!"
Years later, when Fan En reminisced about the past, this memory often came to mind.
When recounting this experience to others, he habitually refers to the campfire party as:
"The most enthusiastic welcome ceremony by the people of Yharnam."