As he kept accelerating downward, Ezren screamed into the wind:
"HELL YEAH! Finally—it's my time to shine!"
His voice cracked from excitement.
"This time, I'll make the most of it! No more sulking around!"
But then the realization hit.
"Wait—why am I not slowing down?!"
Panic overtook his joy.
"COME ON! It just started—I can't die now!"
The wind roared in his ears as the ground rushed up to meet him. He clenched his eyes shut, bracing for impact. But just inches from crashing, a black portal opened beneath him.
With a sudden whoosh, he vanished—only to reappear, hurtling across the surface of a lake. His body skipped once, twice, three times like a stone before the impact finally caught up with him.
Then—darkness.
Hours Later
Ezren's eyes slowly opened, groggy and aching. The sky above was too blue, too still. The only thing he could hear was the faint echo of a bell—still ringing somewhere deep in his mind.
Soaked, sore, and half-buried in sand, he crawled onto the shore. His lips were cracked, his stomach gnawed with hunger, his throat bone-dry.
"This sucks," he muttered, staggering to his feet. "Why did I get teleported to a forest and not a city? Where's my damn tutorial?"
No signs. No pop-ups. Just a forest and the buzzing of insects.
Grumbling, Ezren wandered into the woods, searching for food. His stomach twisted tighter with each passing minute.
Then—movement. Small rabbits darting between the underbrush.
Desperation overtook him. He gave chase, stumbling through mud and branches, scraping his arms and legs raw. For hours, he hunted until, by sheer luck (or pity from the universe), he caught one.
Panting, holding the trembling creature in his hands, Ezren muttered, "Finally... real protein."
But before he could strike, the forest fell silent.
The air turned heavy.
The ground shook.
From behind a tree, a massive figure emerged—towering, humanoid, and unmistakably a rabbit. Bulging muscles twitched under thick gray fur. Red eyes burned into him.
Ezren froze.
"…Hey, man. You know what? I'm actually vegan," he said, slowly holding out the rabbit. "You can have it."
The rabbit monster didn't hesitate. It lunged.
Ezren barely had time to scream before the first punch landed. Then another. And another. The creature pounded him into the ground like a nail, each hit leaving him dazed and more broken.
Finally, the beast gave a low grunt, snorted, and delivered one last shove, flipping Ezren face-down in the dirt—ass up, motionless.
Then it walked away.
Its footsteps faded into the trees. Silence returned. The dead rabbit lay nearby, untouched.
Ezren didn't move. He couldn't.
Blood filled his mouth. His arms refused to lift. His whole body trembled with the dull ache of fresh trauma.
But weirdly, he wasn't scared.
He wasn't even angry.
Pain wasn't new.
He'd grown up with yelling. With fists. With broken glass, broken bones, broken promises.
This wasn't his first beating. It was just... another one.
The numbness that followed felt familiar—like slipping back into an old coat he never wanted but couldn't quite get rid of.