Darkness pressed against his eyelids like cold, wet cloth.
For a moment, he thought he was floating in nothing. No sound. No floor. No recollection of what happened except the blinding image of a geometric circle.
Then the darkness broke.
A violent jolt shot through his spine. Air slammed back into his lungs, as if someone had shoved his soul into a body too fast.
He gasped and crashed onto solid earth.
"Ugh!"
Dirt scraped his palms. Grass brushed his neck. Cool air bit at his skin.
His senses came back one at a time. Sound first, then smell, then pain.
He blinked.
A forest stretched around him.
A surroundings filled with gigantic trees that covered him in its canopies.
Reiji pushed himself upright, heart racing.
"What… the hell?"
He stared blankly for a moment before glancing down at himself.
"Where are my clothes?" he muttered, furrowing his brow in confusion.
His head buzzed with many questions piling up fast like an avalanche.
He tried to call out and listened.
A faint voice rang in his head.
The ground built up a tremble.
*THUD. THUD. THUD.
Heavy hooves pounded against the dirt, waking the forest.
Dazed and disconnected, he pushed himself upright and stumbled toward the noise, drawn forward by something that doesn't make sense.
The closer he moved, the more sounds filled the air.
Metal clashing, wood creaking, rough voices barking orders.
He parted a line of bushes, and dropped to his knees.
"What in the…" he whispered, eyes wide.
A caravan stretched across the dirt path.
Horses.
Wagons.
Armored riders.
Scaled beasts.
A scene ripped straight out of a fantasy.
One wagon tipped over.
A woman shouted, "Quid fecisti, homo?!"
He froze.
Not just at the surreal sight, but at the shock of familiarity.
That was Latin.
His last memory struck him like a hammer.
"The modified Vitruvian Man diagram… I was analyzing…"
Words echoed through his skull.
His breathing hitched.
The world blurred, but then he snapped back.
Everything felt off and It was quiet.
The marching conroi of knights, the sound of their armor and horses' hooves... gone.
Vanished in an instant.
Only hoofprints and wheel ruts remained on the rough, unpaved road.
"What just happened?" he whispered, turning in circles.
The oppressive silence pressed on him, drowning out his thoughts.
His gaze lowered to his trembling hands.
"This is just a dream, right?"
But the overturned wagon was still there, unmoved, untouched by whatever had erased the rest.
He twitched his toe. Hoping to wake up.
But nothing.
It was still the same forest, and he's alone.
"Wsuu… haaa…" He inhaled deeply, then exhaled, steadying his nerves.
He pushed himself to his feet and approached the wrecked wagon.
A torn cloth caught his eye. He wrapped it around his waist for some semblance of decency.
"Those things pulling the wagon looked like something from a myth… I've definitely been reading too many historical fantasy books again."
He knelt beside the broken wagon, inspecting the crushed wood, the scattered supplies, anything that made sense.
But nothing did.
With a sigh, he sat down at the edge of the dirt road, clutching the cloth around his waist, still completely unsure of what to do next.
He had imagined fictional worlds before, but this felt too vivid.
Too real.
And time? It moved strangely slow.
The sun barely crawled across the sky.
"How long have I been waiting?" he grumbled.
He clicked his tongue in irritation and tapped the side of his head as the mantra continued looping.
Il corpo è misura del tutto. Il cerchio non vincola rivela. Dove il tratto è vero, Dio si riflette.
The suffocating chant echoed endlessly in his skull, refusing to fade.
Minutes—hours?—passed, his frustration rising.
His emotions began to boil over.
"Why is this dream so long?!"
Out of frustration, he clenched his fist.
"WAKE UP!"
And he slammed it straight into his own face.
*THUD!
His vision blurred. A loud ringing filled his ears.
He let out a low, humorless laugh. "I'm still here…"
He punched himself again.
*SMASH!
"HAHAHAHA!" His laughter cracked with desperation as he slammed his forehead against the ground.
Blood dripped down, darkening the dirt.
"This isn't a dream…"
He lifted his head.
Hi senses slowly returned.
He froze.
Petrified by a towering creature looming over him, staring right down on his face.
A white humanoid rabbit.
Its blood-red eyes glowed like embers as it shadows covered him.
His entire body trembled.
His fingers dug helplessly into the grass.
His mind, usually sharp and unfazed, had been nothing more than shattered glass since he woke.
Even more so under the pure dread of the creature.
For the first time in his life, he was truly afraid.
He had no weapon.
No footing.
No plan.
"Back! Stay back!"
The rabbit was calm.
Instinct kicked in and he grabbed a broken branch near his foot and swung.
It cracked uselessly against the creature's skull.
It picked him up.
He though of punching it with his hands but in that same instant, the giant rabbit raised a massive paw.
Time slowed.
"I'm dea–"
*WHAM!
The blow slammed into his left shoulder, launching him through the air before he could even finish his sentence.
He flew straight into the trees, crashing into the trunks one after another.
Until his body finally hit the ground.
The pain was immediate and merciless.
Blood flooded his mouth.
He pushed himself onto his knees, trembling violently.
"I… lived?" he choked.
Coughing out blood.
The rabbit didn't give him time to breathe.
It lunged, grabbed him, and squeezed him.
His ribs felt like its was crashing in its massive paws.
"You… damned rat!" he spat through clenched teeth.
A small voice rang out across the clearing.
With one hand on her forehead, a little girl muttered, "Hoya, Bobbin! Kema'no ka-tapusin'a Tani."(Hey, Bobbin! You're not supposed to end him.)
He strained to look toward the voice, forcing himself to stay conscious.
He wondered.
"What did she just say?"
It left a lingering question.
Was she a friend?
Or was she asking to finish the job herself?