The Hunter Amongst Villains

Chapter 2: The Birth of Fear

Wandering around the streets, well fed and recovered in that kid's home, Garou read the index of heroes the boy offered as a token of his appreciation, along with some money and a backpack the way. The silver-haired boy, whose name was Ghin Shinjitsu, was generous, thankful even, despite witnessing the mass homicide Garou committed in front of him.

Reading through the contents, Garou devoured page by page, absorbing as much knowledge of the heroes here as he could. He knew he might never return home, forever stranded on foreign soil, but even so, The Hero Hunter will carry out his crusade regardless of place. The existence of heroes here was cause enough for him to enact violence against the upholders of heroic oppression.

Walking across the sidewalk, many curious eyes of some passersby wandered to his presence, each glancing at his menacing appearance or, more specifically, his pitch-black right eye. To his unaware, some of them hypothesized Garou to be one of those villains, the kind that terrorizes the populace daily, while others categorized him to be one of those mutant-type Quirk users.

As Garou continued walking on the streets of Hosu, he closed his book, contemplating his plan of action according to what he learned so far.

In his mindscape, Garou sifted through his potential targets, pondering who to hunt and how he should present his debut. But there was a problem...

How powerful are Quirks, average-wise? Garou drew a prototype scope of levels between the Quirks, though there were no rankings for Quirk levels as far as he knew. The kid even denied the existence of a ranking chart for Quirks since their range of utility was too vast and unpredictable to translate into pure numbers.

The best references for comparisons were the unique abilities of monsters and heroes, or the enigmatic power of Espers. However, hearing and experiencing were two different things, the latter more capable of teaching through direct encounters, risk and all.

'Though, how should I know that they were all people?'

Garou mentally groused. He didn't know that they weren't monsters, despite looking so similar to monsters. How could he tell the difference in the first place since he grew up in a world of freaks and abominations that craved the death of humanity?

Regardless, what was done was done, an experience to exercise further caution with his might. Besides, no one even liked the villains-turned-mangled-corpses nor sympathized with their deaths.

Moving past his consolidated mistakes, he decided to wander in his hunt. He hoped to encounter a strong hero for a good reference on how to deal with Quirks, a viable benchmark for comparison. From what he learned, the number of Quirks was so diverse, Garou couldn't formulate even one concise countermeasure against them. From how the silver-haired kid described it, yet a Quirk that kills with a single glance could exist, more reason to add fuel for caution.

Garou knew he should further invest in caution, but knowing that if a man with superhuman might could stand atop of the hero world in this country, then someone around Garou's level should be able to manage as well.

Though according to what he learned about the heroes in his book, some of them... look quite queer in comparison like a monster trying to play Hero. He even saw an alligator man dressed in a hero costume. For anyone used to seeing monsters assaulting helpless humans, the sight was beyond alien even to him.

Shrugging his stray thoughts, Garou returned his focus on his travel, already having a location in mind to start his hunt. However, to his unaware, he headed closer and closer to a cordoned zone, the number of pedestrians began to decrease the further he trekked, an area cut off by heroes in their search for villains.

In his wandering stroll, a presence caught his radar, followed by another, alerting his attention to the alleyway next to him. Seeing what seemed to be a shadow shuffling through the darkness, a suspicious figure veiled in the absence of light, Garou could make out a large figure sneaking in the dark.