Rumor didn't immediately approach the group of storyline characters. Instead, he let them go through the whole 'stolen sacred stone' spiel with the village chief.
Right now, his priority wasn't creating connections with Indiana Jones or the others, but securing his spot as a guide for their group.
Maybe because he had been inserted into this world already with a role, instead of just getting dropped into it like his last incursion, but Rumor already had a Liked relationship with the village chief and a Familiar reputation in the village.
He made use of that by going around and asking questions about The Sankara Stones, Pankot Palace, and the Thuggee Cult - the later of the three was met with fearful denial and even a small drop in reputation when he pressed the matter.
Thankfully nobody seemed to question the fact that a Caucasian young man was apparently a member of an Indian village, and so all he had to do to recover his reputation, and even net a few more points, was help around a bit.
It was in one such interaction that Rumor saw a young woman rushing back into the village like she had ten devils on her heels.
That hadn't happened in the movie. So, either this was a filler scene that didn't matter...
Or it was something set up by The Mind, like those two thugs attacking him in his first incursion.
The woman kept babbling incomprehensibly in Hindi. Even the system's translation feature didn't make a difference, because she wasn't making any sense.
"...back... devour... run..."
He only caught snippets of words. Rumor was pondering whether to get closer to try to understand better when her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted.
[ Side Mission triggered: Night Terrors ]
[ Side Mission description: For weeks, something has been stalking the surroundings of Mayapore Village, attacking cattle and terrifying the villagers. Now, it has taken someone. Find out what happened to villager Bhram and eliminate the cause of Mayapore's village night terrors. ]
[ Side Mission time limit: 8 hours ]
Well, that got rid of any indecision he had. With a Side Mission instigating him to investigate, there was no way he would do nothing.
It also worked out nicely with his goal of becoming a guide. If he accomplished something like this, the village chief wouldn't object.
His first thought was that maybe the Thuggee Cult was behind it. They had already stolen the Sankara Stone and kidnapped the children, so it was only a skip, a hop, and a jump to blame them for taking someone else.
But when he thought more deeply about it, it didn't make sense. The mission description said that whatever was terrorizing the village had been going after cattle. That sounded like something an animal would do, not cultists.
Glancing at the center of the village, he saw the three main storyline characters still engrossed in conversation. Clearly, they wouldn't get involved. This was a task for a tester.
In a way, it wasn't surprising a side mission would be triggered so easily, almost dropped on his lap. The Mind had only given him a 3 days deadline to complete the main mission, and most of that time would be spent guiding the storyline characters.
The Mind had to give him other challenges. Maybe, if he went around the village more, there would be other tasks he could complete to earn rewards.
But this one would do. Giving one last glance to the terrified young woman, Rumor was sure she wouldn't wake up anytime soon. So, instead of wasting any more time, he vanished into the jungle.
With his [ Hunter Sense ] skill at level 3, it was a simple matter to separate the frantic footsteps of the young villager from the others around the edge of the village, and to follow them deeper into the jungle.
After a certain point, the mess of traces became clearer to see. There were two pairs of footsteps snaking their way through the trees, away from the village. But only one set returned, deeper and farther apart than before, signaling their owner had been running quite fast.
Relying on his improved dexterity and vitality, even without using skills it only took Rumor about 20 minutes to traverse what must have taken the other two 40.
As soon as he appeared in the clearing, watching the murky pool with a small waterfall, Rumor understood what the young woman and Bhram had been doing so far away from the village. The clothes scattered around were a pretty good clue.
While the woman had evidently grabbed some of her garments on the way out, there were enough male clothing articles to tell Rumor that Bhram was as bare as he came into the world when he was taken.
More than that, even. From the tracks, it looked like the couple had been frolicking in the pond. When they were done, the woman stepped out first, and started putting on her clothes.
Bhram, meanwhile, laid on the shore to rest. There was a depression in the mud in the shape of a body.
That's when things got confusing. From where Bhram had been standing, there were clear marks of struggle, followed by a small trench that must have been carved by his body when something dragged him away.
But there was nothing that revealed what that something might be. No animal tracks - recent enough at least - no paw prints, nothing.
It was like Bhram had vanished into thin air. No wonder the woman had been so terrified.
No, wait. There. His [ Hunter Sense ] highlighted a small yellow patch of ground. Rumor walked over to it and crouched.
It was a small indent on the ground. Barely a blip. But it happened to be right next to where Bhram's head had been.
Something had snuck up on the poor villager while his girlfriend put on her clothes not 10 meters away. It had managed to grab him, probably by the neck or head, and pull him away without him making a sound.
From how small the drag line was, as well as how little signs of struggle there were, Rumor gathered Bhram's life hadn't lasted much longer. There was no blood, so probably his neck was snapped.
So the mysterious night terror - which apparently attacked during the day too - was something big enough to carry a grown man and break his neck without him being able to put any resistance - but also careful enough of a hunter that it could leave almost no traces and make no sound.
Now, Rumor may not be any kind of animal specialist, much less Indian animals, but he could only think of a handful of predators which inhabited this region that might be able to do that.
Rather, he could only think of one: Bengal Tigers. And not just any individual either, but a man-eater. Smart, bloodthirsty. Probably enhanced by the system in some way.
Now, Rumor was by no means a normal person, and it took a lot to scare him. But when he thought about a Bengal Tiger, which was already an apex predator in the real world, being further strengthened by The Mind - and that it might be stalking him right now? Well, he felt a certain amount of paranoia settle in.
Raising his head, he turned a full 360 degrees and scanned his surroundings.
Tigers weren't made to hunt humans. Oftentimes, people wondered how they ever caught anything with their bright orange fur coat and the cute black stripes.
Biologically, a tiger's usual prey were cervids - stags and antelopes and the kind. And those animals couldn't see the color orange. In their eyes, it looked like green and brown. So, from an evolutionary standpoint, their color scheme actually made a lot of sense.
It also meant it was a lot easier for a human to spot a tiger than their prey could. So, Rumor was fairly certain he was alone. For now, at least.
Narrowing his eyes, he started walking in the direction he was fairly certain to Bhram had been dragged off to. He also unsheathed his [ Standard Ottegan Army Blade ]. It would do him more good than the bulky [ E-206 Renegade Blaster Rifle ] in the dense jungle.
If there was one thing Indian jungles weren't, it was quiet. Insects chirping, birds singing, the wind rustling through the leaves, fruits and branches falling, even the occasional small animal. There was noise and life everywhere.
Were it not for his skills, Rumor would have been lost within the first 20 meters after he abandoned the man-made trail. As it was, he was still struggling to make sure he was on the right path.
It were the little signs that told him. An unnaturally broken branch over there, scraps of skin where whatever was carrying Bhram scratched his body against a tree.
After a certain point, it became clear that the predator had left the so-called hunting mode. It wasn't acting to conceal its tracks so much anymore, although there were still few - it was just a cautious creature by nature.
The first paw print Rumor came across gave him pause. It was huge, easily bigger than his head. The claws were out, leaving deep holes beneath the marks of the pads.
Yup, it was a tiger no doubt. And one that could probably bite half of Rumor's body with a single snap of its jaws.
That didn't deter the tester, although he was certainly more cautious in his approach. He could feel the metallic tang of blood in the air.
It wasn't much later that he found the place where the man-eater had chosen to feast. Dried blood stained the ground, and scraps or flesh and broken bones littered the area.
It was impossible to say if it was really Bhram, mostly because there weren't enough intact body parts to fill a shoebox, but the remains were definitely human.
Even for someone like him, it was a particularly gruesome sight. He had killed people in a lot of ways - shot them, stabbed them, even pummeled them to death. But never before had he seen anyone so throughly dismantled as Bhram had been.
Where are you?
Tightening the grip on his blade, Rumor tore his eyes away from the carnage and scanned the surroundings. The blood still hadn't completely dried, so the tiger must be close by.
But, no matter how long he waited, nothing happened. No fearsome beast burst from the foliage. Only flies and other scavengers dared venture closer.
Eventually, Rumor shook his head. He had taken too long to get here, and his best shot at completing this mission quickly had passed.
No matter. He would simply have to find an alternative.
Returning to the pond where he first started following the trail, Rumor found some rocks and sat down to wait.
The scent of the tiger must have lingered strongly, because the only living creature he saw for hours was a colorful bird which swooped down to drink before flying away again.
But his patience eventually paid off. The shadows were already growing when an animal that looked a little like an overgrown guinea pig cautiously approached the clearing to drink.
Muttering a quick apologize for what he was about to do, Rumor took out his blaster, aimed, and fired.
The laser caught the animal in the flank, and it dropped to the ground squealing. Even Rumor winced as he watched the creature churn in the mud, fruitlessly trying to get up.
"Sorry."
Getting up, he approached the animal and apologized again. Then he stabbed it in the neck and let it bleed out.
Back to the waiting game now. The smell of blood was strong in the air as it pooled on the ground beneath the creature. With no wind, it spread in all directions. Any jungle creature in ten kilometers must have sensed it.
This was Rumor's plan. Instead of aimlessly scouring the jungle on the off chance he found the tiger, it was better to lure it towards him.
But either the predator was fully satisfied, or it didn't have an interest in earing anything it hadn't killed itself, because hours passed, day turned into night, and there was still no sign of it.
Just as Rumor was considering giving up on the quest since there was less than an hour on the timer, he felt every hair on his body stand on end.
He turned around, and was met with a pair of bright green eyes and a flash of sharp fangs.
Right. This was a man-eater after all.