We freaking went back!

Why can’t I see?

My hands twitch and I feel dirt underneath my fingertips. The rushing sound of water permeates all.

No…GODDAMIT NO!

I’m back on the river’s edge. My collarbone is still broken. And my eyes are still empty.

A message from the System glows red, the only light in my endless night.

[System Notification: You Have Entered Regionwide Dungeon The Underworld!]

“WAIT RIGHT THERE, RAT! YOU’RE DEAD!”

#

Dread eats me alive as I realize what I’ve come back to. In mere moments, my already-fast heartbeat triples and the spiky heat running through my body turns to red hot panic. It feels like ants are eating me alive as every vein swells with blood. There’s no time to think, I just know that I need to move again. But where?

Where do I go?

Damn Damn Damn

My eyes…I’m actually going to be blind forever?

All I can think about is my upcoming eternity as a blind man. The reset has brought me back to the very moment I crawled out of the water. The pain from a thousand agonizing collisions on the trip down to the underworld is still racking my body. By the time I manage to get my unwilling limbs to work it’s too late.

“Gotcha!” The man seems to come from nowhere. Something cracks my head from behind, and darkness is absolute as the sheer force turns me off like a broken television.

*Splish*

#

“Ha…AH!” I involuntarily gasp as I respawn a few minutes before. The pain shatters my thoughts, but I know this time that I need to move…fast!

Whatever he did to me must have destroyed me completely because I don’t have to suffer the indignity of being killed as a zombie.

It’s small comfort. I have only moments before he comes again. I don’t bother reading the System Notification, instead leaving it blinking as I force myself to get up.

Go…go…go!

Where?

The same freaking questions which I never have time to answer come to mind. Already, as I stumble forwards, I know the gleeful shout which will come from behind.

“WAIT RIGHT THERE, RAT! YOU’RE DEAD!”

Arm’s aching, bones breaking, I do my best to just run away from the voice. Several steps later, the strange feeling of warm sunlight spills onto my face again. It’s like someone has put the light of the sky down here in the underworld. Once again, I can’t see it though. I wish I could.

A man should be able to die in the light.

I suppose a butcher might not deserve to.

Damn.

Running. Running. Running.

Pain…Pain…more Pain.

That’s all I know.

The sound of rushing water approaches from in front of me and I know I’m getting close to that bizarre giant root. I’m careless though. My mind is too occupied with avoiding the Hunter behind me. When my foot snags on the gnarly bark, I tip forwards. What my hands find is not solid tree, but instead empty air.

CRAP!

I twist, I struggle, I lunge for anything no matter how painful as I go over the side. It’s useless. Within seconds I’m back into the rushing river. My pounding heart can’t take it. An unexpected rock smacks into my head and knocks all the air out of me just in time for the falls to throw me into the abyss.

No No No!

I hate it.

I hate falling.

Is this my existence now?

Three thoughts. That’s how much hang time I have before the water knocks anything remotely resembling conscious thought out of me. Then my air-starved body is plunged below the surface of the cavernous basin below. Floating under the falls, I’m not really sure if I die from lack of oxygen, or the beast’s dark maw first.

Everything’s so…hazy.

*Shua*

*Rip*

#

“Haa-AHHHHH!”

I awaken again, the painful scream knocking me senseless. It’s all so real, so vivid. You can’t understand it. No one can, but me. Being chopped up, feeling the life leaves your body, like how the world goes dark when the dentist slowly injects you full of anaesthetics. Numbness taking over, and then…just nothing. It’s a release, and yet also the most terrifying thing in the world. The sound of the falls nearby is like white noise. It just washes over everything and makes it impossible to think.

This is hell…right?

I’m really stuck in this loop.

Dying…to this goddamn bastard like a rat, over and over.

Or drowning and becoming fish food!

GODDAMIT!

Roaring, I channel my rage into propelling myself off the ground.

I don’t care if I’m blind.

I don’t care if I have to die a hundred times.

I refuse to give up just because it hurts a little!

The spirit of the Black Butcher who once fought for days on end without conceding defeat, is strong. Adrenaline, some form of willpower, the extra something, which made me the first to hit Lvl. 100, it won’t let me lose without a fight.

“WAIT RIGHT THERE, RAT! YOU’RE DEAD!”

He’s behind me.

This time, I master my emotions.

If I can’t go straight, maybe I can cut to the right.

Switching directions, I hunch over low to the ground, trying to feel with my hands and run at the same time. The broken collarbone hurts so much that I gag. But I shove it back down. This time, I can just barely hear the Hunter’s faint footsteps growing closer, over the sound of the rushing river. My pulse spikes-

Have to go faster!

Something snags my foot, and I go sprawling forwards.

No! Not again!

I’m so afraid that I’ll fall off into nothingness that I don’t even try to put my hands out to catch my fall. Instead, I bend at the knees, and try to grab onto whatever I can hold onto. That’s when the ground slams into my face.

Owwwww!

White light sparks through me. When I come to, I listen for footsteps.

Where are you…bastard?

“Finally, up? I’m not much of a sadist, but you’ve really been running for a while. Just remember…you brought this upon yourself!” The voice comes from directly above me. As does the boot crunching into my back.

“AHHHHH!!! AHHHH!!” Even I have to scream, no matter how it hurts to do so.

My spine…he snapped my spine!

I can’t feel my legs anymore. Which is a blessing. It means I only feel half of what’s coming.

“Now you can’t run no more. Alright, I’m gone spend some time with you. Goddamn, where the hell did you bring us, Rat? The Underworld…if I can’t get out of here, I’m going to regret killing you early. Nah…nah…you gotta suffer!”

*Crunch*

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

*SNAP*

“AAAAAHHHHH!”

“You like that? Don’t worry, I’m in no rush!”

#

“E-End…AHHHHHHH! Kill…me…” I whisper. Moan. Say anything to get him to put me out of my misery. But he knows how to keep someone alive while hurting them. It’s not his first time at this rodeo by a long shot. By the time he finishes with me, I’m not even half the man I once was. That kind of pain…it’s indescribable. No…that’s not right. Unspeakable. Some part of me has been ripped away. This wasn’t just dying…it was torture. It’s almost a mercy when he finishes me off.

“Alright…fun’s over, Rat. I gotta get going. But don’t you worry, I’ll put you of your suffering. Shouldn’t let the animals suffer so much.” He snorts with a little giggle and I feel the shadow of his boot over my head. He pauses for a moment, perhaps indulging in the moment or giving me a chance to say some last words.

“Finally…”

*Splat*

Darkness…Darkness…Darkness…

#

Running…it only leads to one place.

*Crunch*

#

Breathing…it only leads to pain.

*Riiip*

#

Living…it only leads to dying.

*Tear*

#

“Ha…” I breathe shallowly when I wake up. Who knows how many times I’ve gotten up screaming my lungs out? Or, how many times I’ve explored this hell only to fall into some hole and find that bastard waiting for me.

I tried everything and everything.

Straight leads to the suspended roots. I can climb all I want, but eventually I always make a mistake and fall off.

Left…just leads back to the river. I’m too weak to jump to the other side.

Right…that one’s the worst. It’s just flat ground. No matter how far I run, he always catches me in the open. And then…then…don’t think about it.

I just lay there, helpless in the darkness.

I’m alone.

This is worse than the void prism.

Being killed by this bastard over and over.

I…can’t…keep…going…

My mind blanks out. Something short-circuits and I can’t muster the willpower to get up again. Instead, I wait for my death to appear.

At least that’s one thing.

Death is always on time.

“WAIT RIGHT THERE, RAT! YOU’RE DEAD!”

As he approaches, I don’t move. It’s not because I expect him to show mercy. Although hopefully he won’t torture me.

I just…can’t.

“Damn…that fall got you good, huh Rat?” The voice dripping with sardonic sarcasm chuckles at its own wit. “Hehe, I should write a book. Can’t move? Let me put you out of your misery…nightie NIGHT!”

*Splat*

#

“Ha…”

I can’t do this.

Why won’t it ever end?

“Let me put you out of your misery…”

*Splat*

#

“Ha…”

I don’t want this power anymore!

Whoever gave it to me, please take it back!

“Nightie NIGHT!”

*Splat*

#

“NIGHTIE NIGHT!”

Everything fades out. Just live…breathe…die…repeat.

Over and over. Eventually I don’t even hear what he’s saying even though the words are engraved into my soul at this point. I just remember the sound my head makes as his boot crunches through my brain.

*Splat*

#

*Splat*

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*Splat*

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*Splat*

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*Splat*

#

*Splat*

#

*Splat*

#

*Splat*

#

*Splat*

#

I…I should get up.

How many times has it been?

But what’s the point?

There is no escape.

“Nighty NIGHT!”

*Splat*

#