"Oy! You alright?" Velvet frowned, arms crossed as she stared at Rover. "You've been sitting like that for thirty minutes now."
She couldn't understand it. It was just a rabbit. A tiny, fluffy, low-level creature. And yet he couldn't kill it.
Now he was just sitting there, unmoving for half an hour, completely lost in thought.
'What the hell is wrong with this human?' she thought to herself in frustration.
Rover let out a deep sigh.
After checking his status screen more than a hundred times, he'd finally come to accept one absolute, infuriating truth:
He really couldn't deal damage to regular monsters.
Face in hands, despair creeping across his features, he muttered internally:
'In my past life, even a B-rank class gave me something decent. At least it was normal.'
'But this… what the hell is this? I thought Abyss Arbiter would be some kind of overpowered hidden class… but…'
A short distance away, the same horned rabbit he'd tried (and failed) to punch earlier was still there—just standing, head tilted, watching him with a look of unshakable curiosity.
Rover glanced back at his status screen, comparing it to what he remembered from his previous life.
'Stats are the same. No HP or stamina bar—just basic attributes: STR, AGI, INT.'
'But I don't know the rank of this class… and that affects my attribute growth.'
In his past life, he had learned that class rank mattered greatly—higher-ranked classes received more attribute points per level-up.
It was one of the key factors that created such massive gaps in power between players.
'This isn't some special blessing. It's more like a damn curse.'
Rover dragged his hands down his face and groaned. Beside him, Velvet remained silent, watching with narrowed eyes and growing irritation.
Her gaze sharpened, a flicker of killing intent flashing in her pupils.
'If he's not the one from the prophecy…'
She clenched her fists. The air around her seemed to thicken—heavier, colder.
"Velvet."
"Heh?!" Velvet flinched as Rover suddenly spoke.
"Take me to the Rabbit King," he said, standing up with a firm, unwavering tone.
"The Rabbit King?" Velvet snorted, voice thick with sarcasm. "Pff—You can't even kill a regular rabbit. And you want to take on that?"
Rover didn't flinch. He simply smiled—calm, even cheerful.
"Let's just try. If I fail, it's no big deal."
Velvet blinked.
For a moment, she was frozen in place—staring at that smile.
It looked stupid… maybe even foolish.
But somehow, within that naive grin, she saw something more.
Despair. Pain.
And underneath it all—hope. Relentless, burning hope.
"This human… is really weird…" Velvet muttered under her breath.
Still, she shook her head and looked back at Rover. "Fine. But if you're in danger, don't expect me to save you."
She turned and walked ahead, clearly intending to lead the way.
Rover scratched his head, still wearing that same clueless smile. "Hahaha… I won't trouble you."
He followed behind her, but his eyes weren't on her—they were on the only thing that gave him hope, glowing quietly in his system window.
[Blessing of the Abyss: Damage to Bosses is multiplied by x100]
One hundred times… against Bosses, Rover repeated in his heart. This is my last chance. If this effect actually works—then maybe…
Resolve welled up in his chest. There was no room to retreat.
He could only move forward.
Even if the path ahead was paved in endless fire, he would walk through it.
"Rover… remember… never give up."
"The world may be dark, but if you surrender—
you'll never see the light."
A voice echoed in his mind—a woman's voice, warm and steady.
Rover inhaled deeply and whispered, "Yeah… I'll never give up."
...
"That's the Rabbit King's den," Velvet said, pointing toward a large cave in the distance.
Rover narrowed his eyes. The entrance was hidden behind towering trees, at least a thousand meters away.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Velvet added coldly, arms crossed, gaze never once landing on him. "The Rabbit King is extremely fast. Even a level 10 adventurer would struggle to defeat it."
"If you fail… you'll be its next meal."
"Ah, thanks," Rover replied with a smile, completely unfazed by the threat.
He stepped forward into the forest.
But then, her voice rang out again behind him. "Did you even hear what I just said?"
Rover paused, turned his head, and blinked at her with a confused look. "Heh? Ah, of course. I heard you loud and clear."
"Then why are you still going?" Velvet frowned, clearly growing impatient. "Aren't you afraid of dying?"
"Hahaha…" Rover laughed softly.
But just for a moment, his eyes lost their smile. Something passed through them—grief, raw and burning—as if he were remembering the faces of those he once failed to protect.
"Rover, run! I'm old—death is only natural. But you… you must live."
"Rover, you have to find the light in this dark world."
"Rover… this journey, it's been enough for me."
The voices of the people he loved most echoed clearly in his mind.
The goofy smile faded from Rover's face—replaced by a terrifying sharpness. His gaze hardened with grim resolve and a bloodlust so intense, it made Velvet instinctively step back.
'What… the hell?' Velvet's heart skipped a beat. 'That killing intent… it's not normal. For a human to exude something that dense… he'd have to have killed at least a thousand people. But… he couldn't even kill a rabbit.'
'Then why…?'
There was no answer.
Rover, calm and unwavering, simply said, "Do I… look like I have a way back?"
"Heh?! What do you mean?" Velvet asked, confused.
But he didn't respond.
Instead, he turned and walked—one step after another—toward the Rabbit King's den.
"You…" Velvet started to speak, but stopped. She sighed and shook her head. "Fine by me. At least I won't have to dirty my hands to kill you."
She turned to leave, heading back toward Abisa Village. But after just three steps, she clicked her tongue.
"Tsk. Humans are so damn troublesome."
"…Let's see how you die."
With those final words, her body shimmered and scattered into sparks—vanishing from the forest.
...
"So this is the Rabbit King's den?" Rover muttered as he stepped in front of the cave.
There was no fear in his voice.
He had lived through battles where his life was a candle in a hurricane. Compared to that, this moment was almost peaceful.
If anything, he felt anticipation.
The cave was massive—about four meters high and just as wide. Even a large truck could have driven straight in.
Rover narrowed his eyes. He didn't charge in recklessly—instead, he scanned the surroundings and peered cautiously into the gloom.
"It's… dark," he murmured. "This must go deep. That's why the light doesn't reach the back."
He bent down, picked up a stone, and tossed it into the cave.
Whoosh.
Bang.
A faint impact echoed back—like the stone had landed in a patch of soft sand.
Rover didn't move. He stood still, every muscle on edge, senses sharpened to the extreme.
One second…
Two seconds…
Three…
Still nothing.
No movement, no growl, not even a whisper from within the cave.
'Is the Rabbit King… not inside?' Rover thought.
Just as he was about to take a step forward—
his instincts screamed.
A deep, primal warning surged through every nerve.
Reflexes forged from two years of surviving hell-on-earth activated without hesitation. Something… terrifying had just appeared.
Rover didn't think. His body acted on instinct—he dove forward.
BAM!!!
A massive explosion erupted behind him, followed by a whirlwind of force that sent dust and debris scattering in all directions.
Rover rolled forward, took a few quick strides, and stopped. He spun around, eyes locked on the epicenter of the blast.
"There it is…" he muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Where he had stood just moments ago now crouched a creature about a meter tall. Its body was covered in thick, snowy fur. Its hind legs were disproportionately large—built for sudden bursts of speed. But the most striking feature was the crimson crystal horn protruding from its forehead.
At that moment, a system window popped up above the beast.
…
Name: Rabbit King
HP: 8,000 | Armor: 150
Buff – "King's Fur": Reduces all incoming damage by 30%.
Description: Possesses high speed and attack power with exceptional reflexes. However, its stamina is relatively low.
…
Rover didn't flinch.
Instead, he calmly opened his own status screen again.
'No HP bar… just like past live.'
In his past life, even though he never logged into Abyss Online, once the game synchronized with reality, he—like everyone—had a system.
And back then too, no one had an HP stat.
Because in Abyss Online, your real life was your HP.
There was no floating red bar. If you got stabbed, you bled. If you lost an arm, it was gone. If you died—you died.
Chit! Chit!
The Rabbit King twitched its nose and ears. Its blood-red eyes locked onto Rover.
Up above, Velvet sat on the branch of a tall tree, watching the scene unfold. Her arms crossed, eyes full of scorn.
"Let's see how you plan to beat that thing," she muttered coldly. "You couldn't even kill a regular rabbit, and now you think—huh?"
Her voice stopped abruptly.
Because she just saw something that froze her blood.
Rover… was smiling.
He was smiling.
That smile wasn't cocky or confident.
It was manic—wild and unhinged. A smile born from bloodlust and a kind of euphoric insanity.
"That smile…" Velvet murmured, stunned.
Yes—Rover was smiling.
His eyes gleamed, his breath sharpened.
And then, softly, like whispering to himself, he said:
"Yeah… this is it. This is the feeling… Like I'm back in the arena."