When Clouds Rain Red

The blows to his body ceased.

It wasn't like he minded them much. Harper knew he was in the wrong, but he couldn't have cared less. His eyes, which had been previously bruised closed, felt... He wasn't quite sure how to put the sensation: Free? Weightless? It wasn't something he needed to question at the moment.

His body feeling rejuvenated was the least of his questions now: Why look a gift horse in the mouth?

The real question pestering him was focused on what was under him. Previously, he could feel the hard, smooth concrete of the prison floor beneath him. It was something similar to grass—no, that wasn't right. It was too sharp and stiff to be grass—regular grass, at least.

Harper's eyes cracked open, his hands pressing against whatever was below him. The sky above him, visible partially through unique cyan floral, was a mesmerizing blend of purples, dark blues, and greys. He was certain it was supposed to be the night of wherever he was now.

Getting hit too many times wouldn't include this level of hallucination. Any brain damage would have been more crippling, and I still have five fingers dropping the foremost outlook of this being a dream or comatose state.

Eyes trailing to the ground, below him, what appeared to be yellow grass. It was hard as steel, and laying atop it was similar to laying atop a bed of nails. Standing was a bit odd, the yellow grass not bending at all beneath his weight.

Gazing around the forest, he decided that overreacting was the worst thing he could do in his current situation. In a new environment came with new threats.

He needed to gather information.

Taking this step by step. It's certainly not Earth. The Aurora Borealis wasn't visible within the region the prison was in or around. It wouldn't cover the entire sky as it does now, either, especially with these colors.

Additionally, the vibrant, bright yellow grass is further proof. If it were slightly prickly, dry, and duller in color, it would make sense. I could pass it off for dry, dead grass, but it is too fresh.

Lastly, augmented reality is nowhere near this level of realism. It wouldn't allow me to feel what I'm feeling now, smell what I'm smelling, taste the oddities in the air compared to what was standard on Earth.

The amount of oxygen is nearly suffocating, yet my body feels soothed just breathing in. There's something else in the air; it doesn't appear to be any in the likeness of drugs; marijuana or shrooms would cause hallucinations, but not of this caliber. They wouldn't cause healing of this speed either.

My best bet is that this is another world. Questioning it at this point is akin to asking why I was saved from death. Though is getting used to a new situation like this, in a new world, better or worse than death?

Snap

Harper's eyes shot toward the noise, honing in on the creature. It resembled a large pure white rabbit, with two sets of back legs and a long tail with a small blade on its end.

His eyes widened; the odd rabbit was making his heart race. His fists clenched as he stared at the creature, its pure golden eyes looking back in curiosity and another feeling he understood well.

Hunger.

It was the rabbit that sprung first. Its speed was thrice that of a rabbit on Earth, and its mobility was on another plane.

Then again, he supposed it wasn't every day that he saw a rabbit bound off walls with its tail coiled in, ready to strike like a snake.

It spanned the space of ten meters in less than a second before it entered his blind spot. Harper barely had the time to raise his arms, allowing his body to spin and fall as the rabbit pounced. The tail struck forward, spearing the air and snipping away some of his hair.

The rabbit was suspended mid-air, about to fall, but it was too late. Harper's fist rose, a hook that crashed past the soft fur and into the flesh. The impact rocketed the large rabbit into a nearby tree, an audible snap as it struck.

As it fell, its hind legs lay immobile on the ground as its front pawed at the area in front of it, its head shaking wildly as it cried out in pain and anger. Its lower half was paralyzed entirely as death slowly started to take the creature at a slow and painful death.

Harper looked down at the creature as it clung to life, its deadly tail and powerful legs immobilized. A grin crossed his face, a predatory glint in his eyes as his feet brought him to his prey.

Hand reaching down, it gripped the rabbit's throat. Lifted from the ground, losing more strength every moment, the rabbit's eyes pleaded for a quick death.

Harper wouldn't oblige.

Grip tightening slowly, he watched the creature's upper body squirm weakly in his grasp. Pressure increased slowly, and the visage of the rabbit's life slowly left its eyes imprinted in his brain as his first kill on this new planet.

Harper looked disinterested as the rabbit drew its last breath and dropped the creature. Though happy that he obtained his first kill, the speed at which he killed it annoyed him. It died far too fast.

Clicking his tongue, he kicked the creature into a tree.

It appears that the creatures are relatively fragile here. I shouldn't have too hard of a time killing the creatures that live on this-

His thoughts ceased, and his head unwillingly looked at his body, the night sky, and finally, the ground. It was out of his eye that Harper saw the creature. The last few neurons in his brain sent information as if a massive rabbit the size of his body landed with a humph on the hard yellow grass below.

The pain finally began to register, burning hot for a split moment. It was then that everything went black.

With a gasp, Harper shot upwards. His hands went to his neck, eyes shifting around wildly.

He was sure he had just died. That was no illusion; the pain, though far too quick, was worse than when the guards had beat him. His hand reached towards his neck, feeling for a scar. It could be possible that this world had a far more advanced healing-

No, if he had been resuscitated, he would be in a hospital now. Furthermore, he felt no scar.

Harper looked down, and the scene was the same as when he had woken up. The same yellow grass, the same trees, the same sky, the same scents, the same feelings.

Snap

Harper's head shot to the side. In front of him was the white golden-eyed rabbit. His thoughts raced to grasp what was happening.

Gaze narrowing, he looked around. He hadn't noticed the first time, never really focusing on what was above. They blended into the trees, their light sky bark and bright cyan leaves managing to camouflage them above him.

As his body froze, his gaze matched the hundreds of pairs of golden eyes that bore down on him.

They varied in size. The odd rabbit on the ground near him appeared smaller than the rest of the colony in the trees.

They send out the runt, meant to be seen as easy prey. There is no doubt I died earlier; how and why I returned can be studied later. I don't know how many times this will occur. This might have been my only chance. I need to go forward as if I won't be revived again.

Surviving a colony of cognitive, deadly, and systematic white rage rabbits takes precedence.

An eyebrow rose as a screen appeared before him.

[Quixroth System]

Name: UnNamed

Titles: Killer (Increased mental fortitude against taking lives, increases overall physical strength by 15%.), Transmigrator (Grants the other worlder a unique skill. Skill granted: Walking Tomb.), Ruthless (Every kill increases physical strength by 2.5% within a short time frame.), Poacher (Killing animal-like creatures satiates hunger equivalent to the creature's size.).

Skills: Walking Tomb (Passive- The other worlder is cursed never to remain dead. With each death, the other worlder will return 5 minutes prior to their death.), Killer's Wrath (Active- 10% physical strength increase, 10% physical speed increase. Time- 3 minutes), Man Hunter (Passive- Physical damage to human and demon creatures is increased by 5%).

Magic: (Select a magic attribute to wield.)

Abilities:

Health- 100% (10/10)

Strength- 115% (8.05)

Speed- 100% (7)

Mana- 100% (15/15)

It's too big; it's interfering with my view. I'll die again at this rate. It can react to my thoughts, so what was it that motivated this system screen to appear?

To his surprise, the screen disappeared. His mind ran over the words, settling on 'system.'

The mere thought of the word brought it up again and sent it away once more. Quite the peculiar-

Pain.

To his lower right abdomen, two pairs of legs slammed into his body, rupturing organs on contact. Blood flowed up Harper's throat and out his mouth, excruciating pain erupting from his stomach. His head was fuzzy, eyes unfocused as the rabbit creature opened its mouth in a hiss.

It lunged, Harper far too injured to react. A bloody grin met the creature as its bladed tail struck.

Harper sat up with a gasp.

"Fuck."