Chapter 4: The hunt has begun.
*Death*
...
*Hunter's dream*
Crowley opened his eyes and tried to stand up. However, the realization of what had happened rolled over the mind of the failed hunter in waves.
Death in an alley, contract, blood transfusion, monsters, death again.
He was gripped by primal fear, it seemed as if his heart would jump out of his chest, large drops of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing became difficult. It was felt that at that moment the nightmare would pour in with a new, hitherto unprecedented force.
- *Sigh* Wha-What am I even doing here *Sigh*, - he said breathlessly.
{Wait. Where is it, here?}
Raising his gaze from the ground, Crowley saw a place surrounded by fog. Everywhere you looked you could see tombstones, the stone-paved paths on the sides were decorated with flowers and trees. At the highest point there was a building that vaguely resembled a small church.
{Cemetery?}
Concentrating on his surroundings, the young hunter did not notice how the feeling of an imminent crisis had receded. It was replaced by a feeling of calm in the atmosphere.
{For some reason I want to stay here..}
Getting up, he walked along the path. Suddenly, those same pale babies crawled out in front of his feet, but this time they did not cause fear with their actions. At this point, many would call them "cute." Each of them, like a happy child, handed the hunter a piece of paper.
After hesitating for a moment, Crowley carefully took the parchment. Opening it, he realized that despite the unfamiliar language, the meaning of the message was reflected in the depths of his mind.
"The messages of the messengers bring the wisdom and advice of hunters from other worlds"
{Other worlds? Considering I'm here, it's not that surprising.}
A little further away another group of babies appeared with a message in their hands.
*10 minutes later*
Having completed his walk and read all the messages from the messengers, Crowley had questions.
{Getting quicksilver bullets at the cost of his own life? Tricky weapon? Regeneration due to the blood of enemies? Help from other hunters? What a strange and cruel world...}
Realizing that there was nothing to do, the hunter went to the entrance to the "church," but when he approached the base of the stairs, he froze.
To his left, a path led to a bowl with messengers; they seemed to be asking for something, but for our hero their desires remained a mystery.
However, this was not what caused the hunter to stop; on the left, leaning against the wall, lay a human-sized doll.
She had an almost perfect face; a feeling of strangeness was caused by dark circles around her eyes, blue pupils and neck-length blonde hair.
She was dressed in thick clothes of red and black colors, sometimes decorated with patterns of flowers of a species unknown to the hero. She wore a cap on her head, the sleeves of a white shirt peeked out from under the cape, reaching to the wooden arms of the doll, and her legs were covered with a black dress right down to her boots.
But the strangest thing was her eyes; they were clearly moving.
(Here I think it's worth explaining that due to his closeness with Cheshire, the main character has a small share of Insight, and therefore is able to see things inaccessible to ordinary eyes).
Deciding to leave this question for later, Crowley began to climb the stairs. Suddenly, messengers appeared before his feet again, this time two groups were holding weapons, the third and last group was carrying a tattered looking notebook.
- A cane, an axe and a saw... A trick weapon? Considering my physique there is not much choice.
/Threaded cane/
- Next, two firearms. I think I'll prefer accuracy over area of effect.
/Hunter pistol/
-Notebook? What's the point?
/Notebook/
After waiting for the last of the messengers to disappear from sight, Crowley approached the door of the building and tried to open it. Even so, the door was tightly closed.
- Is anybody here?! - there was no answer.
Okay, then I have only one way. Having descended back to the base of the stairs, Crowley headed to one of the awakening stones, a little earlier the messengers had explained to him their function.
Having touched one of the tombstones, the only option for moving appeared in the hunter's mind, the envoys named this place Iosefka's clinic.
...
For a second, closing his eyes, the young hunter found himself in a place familiar to him. The stairs to the left led to an unknown room with a closed door. The passage to the right opened up a view of the place where he first woke up and died in this world.
Having no desire to meet again with the monster who took his life, Crowley went to the closed door.
*Knock-Knock*
Through the cracks in the glass part of the door, a female silhouette in white clothes could be seen.
- Are you... out on the hunt? Then I'm very sorry, but... I cannot open this door. I am Iosefka. The patients here in my clinic must not be exposed to infection. I know that you hunt for us, for our town, but I'm sorry. Please. This is all that I can do.
A small bottle of yellow liquid rolled out from under the door.
- What is this?
- My blood, it will help you in difficult times. Now, go. And good hunting.
- Wait, I still have so many questions.
The woman behind the door didn't seem to want to continue the conversation.
- Are you still in need of something? But I have nothing more to offer.
Deciding not to insist on continuing the discussion, Crowley moved in the opposite direction to the place of his awakening.
Having reached the entrance, a familiar beast appeared at the other end of the room.
{Okay, I can handle it.}
Moving towards the monster, taking the cane in both hands with an awkward grip, Crowley tried to hit the monster's head with the sharp edge of the blade.
*Miss* At the last moment, the monster pulled back with a deft movement. Due to a lack of experience, Crowley broke his stance and, having lost his support, fell forward. Without wasting an opportunity, the beast rushed forward and grabbed the neck of the unlucky hunter with its teeth.
Pain... Then death.
Waking up again, Crowley experienced another attack of panic even stronger than the previous one, this time he had enough time to feel the pain and even smell the scent of a wolf-like monster.
After sitting motionless for 10 minutes, the hunter was able to regain control of his body.
- You can handle it. It's just a stupid dog.
Remembering his mistake, this time the cane was in one hand. Deciding to attack, Crowley rushed towards the monster. The clumsy but quick strike managed to catch the approaching beast, but only left a small wound on its shoulder, which did nothing to stop it.
Hands torn by claws. Pain. Death.
After lying on the floor of the clinic for 20 minutes, a realization came to the hunter's head.
{What to do, it feels like this weapon is not designed to fight these monsters. Wait a minute, a weapon... }
Jumping up, Crowley with a sharp movement grabbed the cane lying next to him. Shaking it in the air, the blade divided into several parts, standing in two rows, and a steel wire could be seen between them. Swinging the transformed weapon, the hunter watched as a deadly arc opened in front of his face. After which the weapon returned to its folded form
{Exactly what is needed... }
Another collision. After a couple of blows that did not reach its target, the whip bent towards the hunter and, in an attempt to collect itself, crippled Crowley's right hand.
Releasing the cane from his hand, a terrifying maw flashed in front of his face.
A quick death.
Another attempt, this time holding the cane-whip with a reverse grip.
A completely vertical blow, the whip entangled and crippled one of the animal's forelimbs, but it was not possible to return the weapon back. The monster, weakened by its wound, was unable to effectively finish off the hunter.
A slow and painful death.
Having hit the metal part of the couch, the whip bounced off and hit the hunter's face.
Death.
A couple of tries with a blade-shaped cane. The thrust is too long.
Torn leg. Death.
Tripped on the couch.
Death.
Using the messengers' lantern, Crowley returned to rest in the hunter's dream.
Lying in the flowerbed, he soon realized that he could not sleep at all.
{So I was deprived of this pleasure too}
After an unknown period of time, attempts continued.
Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death.
He dealt with the beast, but lost his arm.
Death from blood loss.
Death. Again and again.
Until this moment. Having received a couple of large but non-fatal wounds in the process, the hunter was able to defeat the beast.
Moving to the next room, on the floor one could see another group of pale babies with a message.
"You can use blood vials to heal yourself"
Looking around, Crowley discovered the corpse of a hunter, on whose chest lay a couple of vessels with blood, with a needle at the end of each of them.
So I have to put them into my body? Well, let's try. Having pierced his right thigh with a needle, the young hunter felt an unprecedented surge of strength, the wounds on his body began to heal, and his body, trembling from overload, found peace.
- You can get used to this.
Discarding unnecessary thoughts, the hunter, putting the empty bottle in one of his breast pockets, went up the stairs to the next door. This time leading to the street.
Opening it, Crowley saw something amazing.
- So this is Yharnam?
.....
Death count - 35.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone