Belobog, the Underworld.
Clang…
A sharp noise echoed from a metal trash can deep within an alley.
A small, thin figure, looking no older than five or six, was nearly falling headfirst into the filthy iron bin. Grime and refuse were scattered all over the ground around him.
His stomach was painfully empty, twisting in knots.
It had been three days. For three whole days, Jiang Mo hadn't eaten a single proper meal. He was so hungry he felt dizzy, his vision blurring. His last hope was the trash cans lining the street. But recently, a new wave of vagrants had appeared in the town, making even these meager resources scarce. It seemed the trash cans had already been picked clean.
Just as he was about to fall into despair, his fingertips brushed against something hard.
A jolt of energy shot through Jiang Mo. He hurriedly dug it out—it was a small, blackened, and hardened crust of bread, still smeared with a sticky, unknown substance.
But to the starving Jiang Mo, this thing could save his life.
Heedless of the filth, he immediately shoved the bread crust into his mouth, not even willing to waste the sour-smelling crumbs clinging to his fingers.
It was dry, coarse, and had a strange taste…
Unfortunately, this tiny morsel was like a pebble tossed into the ocean. It did nothing to alleviate the emptiness in his stomach. If anything, the stimulation from the food only made his hunger rage more fiercely.
His vision suddenly went black. Jiang Mo swayed, nearly collapsing, and could only slide down the wall behind him, panting weakly.
"Damn it… This world is so unfair!"
He leaned weakly against the wall, clutching his stomach and cursing under his breath.
"Getting hit by a dump truck and transmigrating was one thing… but why did I get a hell-mode start in the Underworld of the Star Rail world? Do you want me dead that badly?!"
Jiang Mo shifted his aching body. The bruises from the earlier beating still throbbed with a fiery pain. He had tried to use a few skills he'd learned in his past life to earn some food this morning, but his hands were clumsy and out of practice. The owner of a food stall caught him and beat him half to death.
Sigh, when your luck is bad, even drinking water can choke you.
Just as he was lost in thought, the light above him suddenly dimmed.
"Yo, isn't this the kid from the Overworld who begs everywhere? What, not digging through the trash today?"
Three figures, not quite adults but no longer children, blocked the alley's entrance. The leader was a full head taller and broader than Jiang Mo, a well-known local troublemaker named "Huzi."
He was tossing a black and green object in his hand. A closer look revealed it was a moldy piece of bread. Huzi wore a malicious grin, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. He was in a bad mood; he'd been wandering the area all day and hadn't managed to scrounge up anything decent.
And then there was this kid. He looked soft and clean, like he was from the Overworld, yet here he was, competing with them for trash every day. What an eyesore.
Perfect. I'll take my frustration out on him.
"Starved stupid, huh? Just look at you," Huzi thought, deliberately waving the bread under Jiang Mo's nose before quickly pulling it back. "What do you think? Want a bite?"
The pungent smell of mold and sourness assaulted his senses. But all of Jiang Mo's attention was fixed on that object.
It's food. If I eat it, I can live.
A few chaotic thoughts flashed through the mind of Jiang Mo, who knew some basic brawling moves from his past life: Huzi is strong but has poor balance; his weakness is his lower body. The one on the left is as thin as a bamboo pole—fast, but a coward. The fat one on the right is slow to react…
But it was all useless now. He barely had the strength to stand.
"Give it to me," Jiang Mo squeezed out two words.
"Hahaha! Give it to you? Who the hell do you think you are?" Huzi roared with laughter, doubling over. "Look at your sickly appearance. Still dreaming of leaving this place? Maybe in your next life!"
"Once you become trash in the Underworld, you should learn to stay in the trash heap!" the skinny one shrieked.
"Yeah, when you drop dead on the street one day, you'll be a nice meal for the sewer rats!" the other fat one snorted with laughter.
Their vicious words stabbed at him like needles.
Jiang Mo clenched his fists, his nails digging into his bluish, frostbitten skin. He felt a damp, cold sensation; he had likely broken the skin. A suffocating mix of anger and frustration burned in his chest.
He didn't hate these little thugs; their lives were no better than those of cockroaches. What he hated was his own powerlessness—lying here like a dead dog, unable to do a thing.
"Hmph! You want to eat, right?" Huzi casually tossed the bread onto the ground in disgust. Then, he lifted his foot to stomp towards Jiang Mo. "You mutt, eat the mud off my boots first!"
The mud-caked, torn boot grew larger and larger in his vision.
No… After living two lives, am I really going to die so pathetically, crushed like a worm?
Jiang Mo snapped his head up, using his last ounce of strength to push off the wall, trying to stand.
The boot descended!
[Ding! Villain Simulator has been successfully bound!]
[Newbie package issued: You have received the initial Trait — [Berserk (Blue)]!]
[Trait Effect: Consume mental energy to gain strength and speed beyond your limits for a short time, and greatly increase pain resistance!]
The subsequent system prompts became a blur as an overwhelming heat exploded from his heart, instantly surging through his entire body. It felt like molten iron was rampaging through his veins.
Jiang Mo's vision flashed white, and his muscles spasmed violently, beyond his control.
In the next instant, all the pain, cold, and weakness vanished. In their place was a wild, manic power that felt like it would tear him apart from the inside.
He didn't even realize how he moved; his body had already reacted.
"GRAAH—!"
A low, bestial growl he couldn't suppress escaped his throat.
Huzi, who was about to bring his foot down, only saw a blur. The little brat huddled in the corner had suddenly lunged at him.
He was unnaturally fast!
"What the hell?!"
Huzi had no time to react. He just felt a savage force slam into the softest part of his stomach.
Oof—!
He felt like his internal organs had been rearranged. The air was knocked out of his lungs, and his vision went black. He collapsed like a sack of mud without even a grunt.
The recoil from the impact sent Jiang Mo stumbling back. He was still adapting to this new power, his movements clumsy.
"Huzi? W-what happened to you?!"
The skinny one and the fat one beside him were scared out of their wits.
Jiang Mo's head snapped towards them. His movements were stiff, but terrifyingly fast.
"You dare hit our boss?! I-I'll kill you!" the skinny one yelled, swinging his fists wildly in a panic.
Jiang Mo dodged to the side and swung his own arm with ferocious speed.
CRACK!
A sickening crunch of breaking bone filled the air. The skinny one's arm dangled backward at a completely unnatural angle. He froze for a second, then let out a blood-curdling scream.
"AHHHH—! My arm! My arm!"
The fat one was utterly terrified. He scrambled to his feet and tried to flee the alley.
Jiang Mo took a single step, pushed off the ground with his heel, and shot forward like a bullet, instantly catching up to the lump of fat. He didn't use his hands. Instead, he lifted his leg and, with the heel of his tattered shoe, viciously kicked the back of the fat one's knee.
The fat one screamed and fell to his knees with a thud.
Before he could struggle, Jiang Mo had already lifted his other foot and, with all his might, stomped down hard on the back of his head.
THUD!
It was a dull sound, like a watermelon being smashed.
The fat one's body pitched forward heavily, his face planting into the cold ground. He twitched twice, then went still.
Blood quickly seeped out from under his head, staining the dirty ice red.
The alley fell deathly silent. All that remained was the skinny one, clutching his broken arm, his sobs of pain and terror choked and intermittent.
Jiang Mo stood there, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath. The violent heatwave receded as quickly as it came, replaced by a crushing wave of exhaustion that instantly overwhelmed him.
He looked down at his own hands. They were trembling, not from cold or fear, but as an involuntary physiological reaction to the exertion.
He lifted his head and glanced dispassionately at the three figures on the ground. One unconscious, one howling with a broken arm, and one… most likely dead.
…So this is what it feels like to kill someone? It wasn't as terrifying as he'd imagined.
Jiang Mo licked his chapped lips. As the power faded, the life-threatening hunger returned, even stronger than before.
He staggered to the wall, bent down, and picked up the moldy piece of bread covered in ice and dust. He wiped it clumsily on his tattered sleeve, tore off a piece, and shoved it into his mouth with a blank expression.
It tasted horrible, like chewing sawdust, with a nauseating sourness. But he needed to eat.
[Berserk effect has ended. Mental energy is moderately depleted.]
[First villainous act判定: Successfully used violence to counter violence! Villain Points +30!]
The cold, mechanical voice in his head sounded again, much clearer this time.
Jiang Mo chewed and swallowed, focusing his mind.
A semi-transparent interface suddenly appeared in his field of vision. At the very top were several large words:
[Villain Simulator]
[Host: Jiang Mo]
[Villain Points: 30]
[Available Traits: Berserk (Blue) (Cooldown: 23 hours, 59 minutes)]
[Current Status: Extreme Hunger, Minor External Injuries, Moderate Mental Energy Depletion.]
The text on the screen was long. As he stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth, Jiang Mo struggled to process the information.
"A month, it's been a whole damn month!"
"This damn system finally showed up! Any later and I would have actually starved to death in this godforsaken place!"
"Let's see, a Villain Simulation System?"
"Villain Points +30? Looks like beating up those three animals was the right thing to do."
Jiang Mo rubbed his temples. The Berserk skill was powerful, but the mental depletion felt awful. His head was still throbbing.
Just then, the interface flashed and a new notification popped up.
[Host has completed their first villainous act. Villain Simulator unlocked!]
[Does the Host wish to begin a simulation?]