The Sinful Saint

The next morning, Si Sheng woke up and found it was raining outside, which kinda bummed him out. He had been so excited about leveling up only for him to get rained in.

Si Sheng decided to start his day like normal. Wash his face, drink some water, and eat breakfast, which was just whatever dead creature he happened to grab at the time.

Si Sheng ate his meal and was full. Since it was raining outside, he decided to take off his clothes. No one was around, so what did he care. He was going to hunt even in the rain. He didn't really care about catching a cold since he had fire magic to warm and dry himself at any time. He was determined to level up and couldn't wait anymore.

Exiting the cave, Si Sheng looked around through the rain, but couldn't see much. He wandered the mountainside for around half an hour before he spotted something up ahead.

"Weird, it looks like a... pig? Well if it gets me to Level 2, then I don't care. Plus, bacon and pork sounds pretty good," Si Sheng muttered to himself n.a.k.e.d looking at the 'pig' up ahead.

He was cautious in his approach. Si Sheng made sure not to startle it and used his [Sneak (Basic)] skill to get close to the pig.

Wielding the knapped knife right next to the 'pig', Si Sheng drove the knife into its neck right behind the base of its skull.

When he stabbed the 'pig' he felt a satisfying pop and cut through the flesh and bone. The feeling was great, it was like a euphoric release as he thought this would be his Level 2 kill.

As he was reveling in the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of stabbing the 'pig', it slowly turned its head robotically, obviously struggling with the knife in its neck. It turned to face Si Sheng who was crouched next to the 'pig'. It looked straight into Si Sheng's p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e filled face. It just started at him, not making a sound, not expressing anything with its neck c.o.c.ked at a 90° angle to its body.

The horrifying thing was what Si Sheng saw. Starring up at him was a pinkish human face that was completely void of emotion. It's eyes we're soulless as if you were looking into the void of space. Its face was handsome despite it being part of a pig. It was a man's face with a strong jaw line, nicely proportioned nose and evenly maintained eyebrows.

One would say that this face is beautiful, but to Si Sheng it was like the devil starring at him and condemning him for his misdeeds. The soulless eyes continued to pierce right though Si Sheng. He felt the same feeling from this 'pig' as he did from the roar a week ago.

Just when Si Sheng thought things couldn't get any weirder, the 'pig' spoke.

"Sinner, you will face death and misfortune wherever you travel. You will be the bringer of plagues and harbinger of decay. You will turn this world to rot and spread death. Be warned, for Vin- *cough*" the 'pig' coughed up blood and died before he could finish.

This whole speech sent chills down Si Sheng's body and he broke out in a cold sweat. It felt like he had just jumped into a frozen river and had just gotten out. The scariest part was the 'pig's voice. It was as if it was close but far at the same time. It was solemn and domineering, commanding authority. The things the pig spoke of were truly terrifying and mystical to Si Sheng. He had no idea what the 'pig' was taking about, but he knew it was nothing good.

Yes, the 'pig' was weird, but Si Sheng had no reason to believe some random 'pig' would predict his future and that he'd basically be Pestilence incarnate. He was spooked for sure, mainly because of the incredibly weird appearance, but he wouldn't believe some 'pig' that he had killed so easily and was in the middle of nowhere to boot. He just thought it was some crackpot spiel that this 'pig' concocted in order to scare him for some reason.

['Pig of Pestilence' killed: 1500 experience gained.]

"Eh...?"

Si Sheng was dumbfounded and his mind went blank. The sheer amount of experience gained was off the charts. Even the [Giant River Stalker] didn't give that much experience, but this [Pig of Pestilence] had given him an incredible amount for killing it so easily.

He felt dizzy. He felt like he had just won the lottery after buying hundreds of tickets. This was a crazy amount for the Level 1 Si Sheng.

In the next second:

[You Leveled Up!]

[You Leveled Up!]

An angelic voice rang in his head telling him he'd leveled up. He had leveled up twice from a pig!

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough, cough* AHAHAHA..." Si Sheng couldn't contain his joy any longer and burst out laughing like a madman. He had leveled up twice after being here for a week and all of it was because of this pig! He had killed countless animals and hadn't gotten anywhere far, but had jumped two steps forward in an instant. He was so happy he even thought of throwing himself a party, but decided against it since it would just be him and some dead animals in a cave.

"Status!"

Driring!

[Name: Si Sheng | Age:18 | Race: Human]

[Status: Healthy (Ecstatic)]

[Level 3/10 | Experience 493/1000]

[Titles: The Sin of Gluttony, Supreme Healer]

[Stats]

[HP: 100/100 | MP: 110/150]

[Strength: 10 | Intelligence: 15 | Defense: 5 | Agility: 10 | Vitality: 10 | Luck: 15]

[Skills]

[Awareness (Basic), Evil Eye (Eye of Understanding), Evolutionary Body, Fire Magic (Basic), Gluttony, Healing Magic (Supreme), Precense Concealment (Intermediate), Repair (Advanced), Sneak (Basic), Sprint (Basic), Swordsmanship (Basic), Water Magic (Basic)]

"100 attribute points, not bad. For now I think increasing [Strength] and [Agility] would be best. I don't have a need for [Intelligence] right now, since my main attack method is stabbing. And [Defense] is also not needed since I wont be in a head-to-head fight. [Vitality] might be good though, as well as [Luck], but I can wait for those once I'm able to level up quicker."

With these thoughts Si Sheng put half of the points into [Strength] and the other half into [Agility]. From these two level ups he had gained a great amount of strength and would be able to level up faster in the future, maxing out his level.

***

Now that that was over Si Sheng grabbed the pig and brought it back to the cave. He dried himself off, putting his clothes back on, and prepared the pig for a feast, gutting and cleaning it.

Now that he had a goal of maxing his level out Si Sheng was motivated for the first time in a long while. It was starting to get fun for him.

Si Sheng cut off the head of the pig because he thought it would be unnerving to eat a human-like head.

He set up the fire and prepared the pig to be spit roasted over the fire. As the pig was cooking, a marvelous smell wafted from the cooking body. Si Sheng's mouth began to water, it was an unimaginable smell that he had forgotten, the smell of bacon and pork. The smell came off the pig and filled the cave like a thick fog, drenching Si Sheng in a blissful aroma. This heavenly smell almost made him tear up.

Seeing the pig was done, he couldn't wait any longer and dug in. He cut away at the stomach area first, this was fattiest area. When he took a bite Si Sheng felt as if his soul was going to leave his body, it was almost o.r.g.a.s.mic. The savory and salty flavor of bacon flowed out of the meat and onto his tongue. The memories of barbecue flooded his mind, bringing back gentle memories of his childhood. At this moment he shed a tear because it was so good.

With that emotional first bite, Si Sheng devoured all he could eat from the fleshy pig's body, enjoying every last morsel that entered his mouth. As he was eating, he received a notification:

[Pig of Pestilence Consumed: "Skill: Pestilence" Acquired]

"...What?"

Si Sheng was in awe. In retrospect, he should've guessed that a creature called [Pig of Pestilence] would give him the skill [Pestilence], but he never would've thought that would happen given the skill is a [Cursed Skill]. Those kinds of skills are incredibly rare and some powerful. For that reason Si Sheng never thought this pig would give it to him so easily, despite the name.

"Identify!"

[Pestilence: Able to cause and call plagues and disasters. Depending on one's [Luck]. WARNING: Plagues and disasters can harm the user as well, be careful how you use it.]

"...This is pretty shit isn't it. Like, I can die from my own ability as well. Isn't this a suicidal ability unless I'm not in the area of influence? Eh, whatever, it's cool anyway."

Si Sheng review what the skill did. To his disappointment, it wasn't as amazing as he had hoped. In all fairness, the skill could become Si Sheng's trump card one day, saving him from a tight situation. Or, it might be his downfall one day, causing him to be put into a worse situation.

Now that he'd eaten his fill, Si Sheng decided to rest. It was still raining out, so he didn't want to hunt that day. He decided to make new tools with some materials he'd gathered over the week in hopes that they'd be better than his current gear.

Eventually, he'd take this gear and focus on leveling up to max and see what was over that hill. He was finally getting excited about what was to come.