The weather was perfect—a warm breeze blew, birds were chirping, and the sun pleasantly warmed the body. But suddenly, a woman screamed! Though really, it sounded more like a shriek. A moment later, an emotional male voice followed, then another woman, and within seconds, the voices turned into a hum, dozens—if not more—people speaking all at once.
"Shut up and let me sleep…" a guy mumbled irritably in his sleep, but the shouting didn't stop—in fact, it only got louder. He had no choice but to wake up.
He sat up and tried to rub his eyes, but his arms weren't cooperating very well, as if they had fallen asleep… Though he could move them, and his condition was quickly improving.
Peeling his eyes open, he lazily looked around and noticed he was sitting on a metal platform, surrounded by people ranging in age from…
"Hell if I know. This one looks sixteen, but judging by the distinct scar on her stomach, she's already given birth, so she's probably much older. And that guy's gotta be at least fifty," the sleepy guy thought as he examined the crowd. "But why is everyone naked? And I am too…"
Looking around more closely, he saw a tall obelisk ahead. Looked like the kind from Heroes III, though this one seemed to be metal—just like the platform they were all on.
Turning his head, he saw wooden houses in an old-fashioned style. They looked poor, with maybe a stone chimney for the stove, and the roofs weren't thatched, but made of wood. The road was dirt, with patches of grass growing through. At the end of the street stood a palisade, surrounding…
"A village? Definitely not a city. What the hell is going on? Everyone's shouting, arguing, and… reading something… Guess I'll go read too."
The guy stood up and squeezed through the crowd of naked people, making his way to the obelisk. It had metal plates with strange symbols on them.
"I don't know these symbols, but I understand them… weird," flashed through his mind. And the content? It blew his mind.
**'Survive for a month, and the truth will be revealed to you.
After two weeks in this world, your novice protection will wear off, and death will become irreversible.'**
"Death? World? Novice?" the guy yawned, feeling like his brain was already overheating and demanding sleep again. "No, I just woke up… And I really don't like any of this. Where the hell am I, anyway?"
He looked around again. People were panicking, women were crying, and some had already started throwing punches. Not everyone was handling the situation well.
"There's about a hundred of us... I wonder if the other sides of the obelisk say the same thing?"
He walked around the obelisk, checking each side, but found nothing new. Deciding to explore the village, he quickly realized it was completely lifeless… Rows of identical houses lined rectangular streets. Small plots of land with wells and benches. And walls—a palisade, to be precise.
"What a weird village. No gardens, no yards. The houses are practically built on top of each other. Wooden windows, wooden doors, everything's wooden…"
Returning to the square, the guy noticed that fewer people were crowding it now, so he managed to spot small shop stalls set up around the square. People lingered near them but quickly lost interest and wandered off.
"Interesting."
He stepped into one of the stalls and saw a counter with a man behind it. The man looked lifeless. He didn't even seem to be breathing. Dressed like a medieval peasant, though not a poor one. A shirt, some kind of jerkin, and dyed black pants. A rope served as a belt, with a pouch tied to it—though it looked empty.
The store had no goods. Just some furniture, shelves, crates, and barrels. All empty. The counter too.
"Excuse me, where am I?" the guy asked, but the vendor didn't even twitch. "Do you understand me? Or maybe I need to say… trade? Like in a game? Oh…"
A moment later, a virtual window appeared in front of him, like something out of Windows. It was blue, with white text and icons—and a little [X] in the upper right corner.
Trade Window with NPC "Nerk"
Stale Bread — 4 coins
Fresh Bread — 6 coins
Meat Sandwich — 10 coins…
"All right... How many coins do I have? Inventory? Bag? Account? Balance? Character window?"
Character Window
Name: NikolaiLevel: 1Development Points: 0/10
Attributes:Str — 1Dex — 1Con — 1End — 1Mag — 1Wis — 1
Additional Attributes:Deaths — 0 (fresh meat)Kills — 0 (innocent)Reputation — 0 (unknown)
"So my name is Nikolai. Kolya… Kolyan… How could I forget that?"
Nikolai froze, trying to understand who he even was. But he couldn't remember anything! Absolutely nothing. Just his name—no age, no last name, no family, nothing else. Still, he remembered everyday stuff. He could tell wood from stone, and he knew that hands were hands and legs were legs.
"So I know my name, but I don't know who I am or where I am? And I've got no clothes, no money, no food… That sucks."
Leaving the shop, the guy visited the other stalls and carefully studied their inventories. They sold furniture, weapons, armor, medicine, alcohol, and even real estate. Any house in the village could be bought—and there were many. Five hundred vacant houses, but the prices…
"I have no idea whether four hundred coins is a lot or not. But you can rent a house too—only eight coins a day. The cost of two portions of bread. I just need to figure out how and where to get some money…"
While wandering around the village looking for work, Nikolai suddenly heard a woman scream. Rushing toward the sound, he saw a crowd gathered near the gates. Pushing through the people, he saw a man around thirty years old, covered in blood.
The man was injured—or more accurately, dying—with chunks of flesh missing all over his body, like a giant cat had mauled him. There were over thirty wounds, two of them on his neck.
"It was the rabbits! I saw them!" one guy said, pale as a ghost. If his stomach hadn't been empty, he'd have already thrown up. "He walked out the gate and headed into the forest, but the rabbits attacked him right away! He barely fought them off and collapsed after making it back!"
"Attacked? But didn't chase him? Rabbits?"
The guy walked up to the open wooden gates and peeked out. Beyond them lay a wide clearing, and a little farther on, the forest began. Rabbits roamed the clearing—hundreds of them—and some were feasting on freshly killed meat. Their gray fur was stained with blood.
"Man-eating rabbits… delightful," Nikolai muttered.
At that moment, the wounded man died—and began to decompose right before their eyes! Within thirty seconds, there was nothing left of his body.
The scene was so horrifying that many people panicked. Women in particular—some even fainted...
"Hm, that obelisk mentioned death and novice protection," Nikolai thought and ran back to it.
Turns out, he wasn't the only one with that idea. Soon, about fifty people gathered at the obelisk. But the dead man was gone… Still, people kept waiting, and five minutes after his death, he finally reappeared, accompanied by a flash of light. He lay on the ground—whole and unharmed.
"I'm alive!" he shouted joyfully and began inspecting himself, while others bombarded him with questions.
"Interesting. So we really do revive if we die… But in two weeks, death becomes permanent… And after a month, we'll learn the truth about this place and probably get further instructions... We just need to survive until then…"
Nikolai looked around the village again, but this time, he walked the entire perimeter—it took him over an hour. He didn't regret it though, because he found an altar. Small and inconspicuous, but its description claimed that offering gifts could grant the ability to resurrect after death!
However, since he was still under novice protection, he couldn't perform the ritual, so he didn't learn what or how much was required to resurrect.
"But the fact that it's possible at all says a lot! I need to get stronger, earn money, and buy myself a second life! And to do that…" — the guy glanced at the rabbits in the distance. He was standing at the gates now, while people watched him with interest.
"That's the seventh one already."
"People sure love dying."
"Nah, he probably thinks he's smarter or faster."
The crowd was discussing Nikolai and pointing at him. That's why they were here—to be entertained. Watching others die distracted them from their own fear and despair. Six people had already tried to fight a rabbit, and all of them had died horrible deaths...
"I really don't want to die... It hurts… But surely whoever brought us here has some kind of plan, right? Or did they think we'd all charge out together and tear the rabbits apart?"
Sighing heavily, the guy picked up a small rock and tried throwing it at the rabbits. But… it bounced off an invisible wall and nearly hit him instead.
"Figures. Because of that thing, the rabbits can't get into the village. And it'd be so easy if we could just throw rocks or shoot arrows at them… The kidnappers—or whoever they are—really thought of everything. Maybe not everything, but close enough. Which means… there's still hope!"
Nikolai stepped outside the village and stopped just beyond the gate, observing the rabbits' reaction. The creatures themselves were fairly large—about five kilograms, the size of a big cat. Gray fur, black eyes like buttons, cute faces… and terrifying claws on their paws.
Taking another step forward, the guy immediately jumped back—three rabbits had lunged at him the moment he moved. But as soon as he returned inside the village, they lost interest and walked away.
He started trying to lure a rabbit one-on-one, but nothing worked. All the while, people laughed behind his back.
"Others tried luring them too. One guy actually managed it. But then the rabbit straight up ate him!" a "helpful" bystander informed him, doing absolutely nothing to boost his motivation.
"Yeah, great…" Nikolai muttered, but he didn't give up. After about an hour, he finally succeeded! One rabbit broke away from its group and charged him. He met it with a thrown rock—but the rabbit dodged effortlessly and quickly closed the distance.
Nikolai prepared to kick the beast like a soccer ball, but again, it dodged with ease and in a flash was behind him.
He tried to turn, but it was too late… The rabbit leapt and sank its teeth into his leg, tearing into the tendon.
A moment later, Nikolai screamed in pain and fell. And almost immediately, he realized that was a mistake—turns out, loud noises and the scent of blood attract more rabbits… Just before he was torn to pieces, he saw over a dozen of them racing toward him.
For a long thirty seconds, Nikolai was in what could only be described as hell. He was being eaten alive—and the rabbits were slurping. Their teeth were unbelievably sharp, and human flesh yielded to them like jelly to a spoon. Bones crunched like stale crackers.
Five minutes later.
In a flash of light, Nikolai reappeared in the "Resurrection Square," as he'd come to call it, and began breathing heavily. His heart felt like it would break through his ribs, it was pounding so hard.
"I don't want to die again… I hate rabbits… It hurts…" he muttered, hugging his knees. He hadn't expected it to be that horrible and painful.
The chewing sounds, the ripping flesh—his flesh—and the blood-covered snouts still flashed in his mind. But little by little, the phantom pain began to fade, and the trauma started to dull. After a few minutes, he managed to pull himself together.
"I underestimated the rabbits… and seriously overestimated myself…" he shook his head violently, trying to snap out of it—but it didn't really help. Still, it didn't stop him from deciding on his next suicide mission. "No time to wallow—I need to figure out how to hunt. I know there has to be a way!"
He returned to the gates, where even more people had gathered now. The reason? Three men had decided to team up.
They managed—barely—to lure a rabbit and even nearly brought it down. But the moment one of them got wounded, no fewer than twenty bloodthirsty fuzzballs swarmed them. And they didn't spare the injured guy, either.
"He's not decomposing?" Nikolai noted. The rabbits took their time with him, not even leaving bones. They even ate the skin. "So… these rabbits are edible? Got it… hmm…"
The guy stepped away from the gates and approached what looked like a kiosk nearby. There was an NPC behind the counter, completely unresponsive to any interaction. Nikolai had already watched people's failed attempts to communicate with him. But he had an idea.
"Do you accept rabbits?"
Exchange Window with NPC "Georges"
Whole carcass — "Gray Rabbit" — 3 coins…
"A rabbit carcass costs less than stale bread? Seriously? What the hell is wrong with these prices⁈" Nikolai cursed to himself and stepped away from the NPC. "Whatever… at least I found a way to make money. Now I just need to learn how to kill those things…"
Two hours later. Resurrection Square.
Nikolai reappeared once again and hugged his knees.
"I hate rabbits…" he muttered. "I hate dying…"
"Look, it's his fourth time already," said one guy aimlessly wandering the village.
"Totally insane. And every time he shakes and mumbles the same crap."
"Back at it again. Must be a masochist."
"Or just an idiot."
The guys laughed and pointed at him, while Nikolai sat there hugging his legs and mumbling. But his mind was recovering faster this time.
"The rabbits have a movement pattern… If I can figure it out…"
Nikolai jumped to his feet and rushed back to the gates.
On his way, he noticed people trying to break into stores and houses. Some had climbed onto rooftops and were trying to shove a skinny girl down a chimney… with no success. Others were throwing small rocks at locks or shutters. Again, no success.
While the men were busy doing things, most of the women just wandered around or chatted.
"Strange… I'm looking at these beautiful girls, and I don't feel the slightest sexual attraction…" he noted, passing by three pretty women chatting among themselves. One of them was explaining how to open the character window and find your name, while the others listened attentively and occasionally gasped. "Wait… am I one of those?.. Nah… Could it be that the creators of this place did it on purpose? Probably… otherwise this place would've turned into a nightmare real fast…"
Nikolai kept observing the girls, wondering if maybe he just had a weird taste. But no—none of them stirred anything in him. And seemingly not in the other guys either. At least, he didn't notice anyone walking around with a boner.
Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't even realize he'd made it to the gates. Though, calling them "gates" was a bit of a stretch—they were just a wooden frame with hinges for heavy doors… which were missing.
"What a slaughter that was! A whole dozen went out there, and forty rabbits swarmed them—brutal!" came the voice of a man walking away with two others.
"Awful… I think I've developed a rabbit phobia," said another. "Let's try climbing over the palisade—maybe there's a safe way out of the village?"
"Fine, but I'm riding on your shoulders!" the first man laughed, joined by the third.
Nikolai approached the gates and saw that the grass outside was soaked in blood. Everything was crimson. But the rabbits had already returned to their positions.
"Wait… why do we keep fighting them right at the gates?" he muttered, stepping outside and surveying the area. "If you stay within half a meter of the gate, they don't attack… Maybe the same goes for the palisade? And maybe there are fewer rabbits on the other side of the village?"
The guy decided to follow the palisade, and… the rabbits didn't attack! So he kept going. As it turned out, the entire clearing around the village was completely surrounded by rabbits. And beyond that—dense, impenetrable forest, just like what he'd seen on the opposite side.
As he walked along the palisade, he found neither branches nor rocks. Nothing that could be used as a weapon. But after a while, Nikolai spotted a lone rabbit. The rest were far behind it.
"This is my chance. I won't let myself die so easily this time!"
Baring his teeth, Nikolai recalled all the pain he'd endured and stepped toward the rabbit. Then a second step, then a third.
"F-f-f?" the creature snorted, twitching its ears. It turned its head toward the human and, after a moment of staring, suddenly dashed forward in an attack.
"You attack from behind after dodging my kick…" the guy muttered. A moment later, he lashed out with his foot—but just as Nikolai predicted, the rabbit nimbly twisted away and ended up behind him.
The rabbit was about to bite through the tendons in his leg again—but this time, Nikolai jumped and fell straight back, slamming down on the creature with his back!
A pained squeal rang out—but a second later, the guy screamed as well. The rabbit had sunk its teeth into his back!
Nikolai rolled to the side and, gritting his teeth through the pain, leapt to his feet. The rabbit couldn't stand!
"Die!" the guy hissed through clenched teeth and stomped down on the carnivorous beast. The rabbit still managed to bite his foot—but he held on, crushing its ribs. The second stomp snapped its neck.
You have killed an enemy and received 2 Development Points (DP).
Attention!You are the first human player to kill an enemy alone and earn DP.As a reward for this achievement, you are granted the title: "First Hunter."
Title: First HunterYou showed creativity and took down an enemy alone, displaying the traits of a true hunter.From now on, you are less noticeable to monsters, and their aggro range is reduced for you.
"…So that's how it works…"
It was hard for Nikolai to read the messages—his head was spinning. Blood streamed from his back like a river, and it seemed the rabbit had damaged something serious. His arms and legs were starting to go numb.
"Coins…" he muttered, noticing two small copper coins lying beside the rabbit. He reached out to pick them up and… collapsed, losing consciousness.
Five minutes later.
"No!" Nikolai shouted, springing up from the cold metal plate. His heart was racing wildly, and once again he was overwhelmed by the horror of having died. This time, though, he hadn't seen his own death, so the panic faded fairly quickly.
"Oh, that guy died again."
"Persistent, isn't he."
Two men lounging near a shop wall commented lazily. They looked like they were resting, and there were a lot of people around. The sky had grown dark.
"Was I dead for that long?" Nikolai wondered, scanning the area. People were starting to settle in for the night. Most grouped up with those they'd met during the day. Girls tended to cluster with girls, guys with guys. There weren't many loners left.
"I'm so hungry…" one girl complained, surrounded by four others.
"Shut up! We're all hungry! Don't remind us!" barked a man nearby.
"How can you even think about food after everything? After seeing those rabbits eat people alive, I want to puke just thinking about eating!" said a chubby long-haired guy loudly.
"Easy for you to say, lardass! You've got fat reserves. What about the rest of us…"
Nikolai tuned out the arguing, deciding to return to hunting. But as he neared the gate, he suddenly realized:
"I'm not even hungry. Or tired… How? Maybe because of the deaths—I revive fully restored? So for now, I don't need food or sleep!" he growled, casting a vengeful look at the rabbits and stepping out of the village.