When Clouds Rain Red

Rolling his shoulders till he heard a pop, Harper picked himself up. Feeling the stiff yellow grass below his feet, he started to move.

Harper didn't want to look up; he would see them. All those weird fucking rabbit things. He didn't notice them the first time he looked up since they had been camouflaged damn well. Knowing they were there now was quite nerve-wracking. It would send a shiver through his spine if he met eyes with all those shitlings.

The runt of the colony would appear to the—He didn't know the polar direction right now, but that direction.

Setting a walking pace, his feet carried him away from the trap, just waiting to happen. Being a vicious killer didn't mean he was a one-track-minded oaf who ran at a problem head-on till it solved itself.

That was fucking idiotic.

He needed to ensure he wouldn't be in a time loop with murderous six-legged rabbits. Besides, it is quite embarrassing to get killed by these things twice.

Snap

Keep moving. Keep moving. Don't look back. I can kill all these fucks when I'm more equipped.

Thump

Thump

Thump

"Damit."

Ducking to the side and falling into a roll, Harper felt the runt impact with his leg. A scream erupted from his core, his eyes looking down at his leg turned twizzler. The leg was twisted a minimum of four times, blood pooling to his side and pieces of bone sticking out in shards and splinters.

Seething, his lungs coming close to rupturing as they crashed against his ribs, Harper ripped off his shirt, its fabric thin and color light orange.

Tearing the shirt and using it as a tourniquet, his mind raced.

Why hadn't the runt finished him off yet? Was it watching him struggle? Was it enjoying his pain? He understood the feeling, and having it reversed on him gave him an odd, gleeful, yet frustrating sensation.

Harper grits his teeth, smiling as he scans the area. To his surprise, the rabbit creature had impaled itself with its tail.

As painful as it was, Laughter erupted as he gazed over the runt. It likely killed itself when striking, his 'dodge' throwing the little fucker just enough off course to stab itself at the base of its skull, likely severing the spine in the process.

"Little fucking prick," he sneered, a crooked smile running across his face.

THUMP

Of course, after the runt's death, one of the large, odd rabbits would kill him. Why did he even consider tying a tourniquet on his bleeding leg? It was a waste of energy.

Harper let out a sigh and closed his eyes. The pain was quick, and once again, he didn't have a chance for it to register.

Harper sat up, coughing. He had accidentally been caught between trying to take a deep breath and his apparent gasp when he came back to life. His eyes watered a bit, a few more coughs running their course as his lungs recalibrated.

Finally settling, Harper heard that annoying snapping sound.

"Stupid fucking rabbits. Which egocentric scientist decided these disturbing little critters were a good idea?" Spinning to face the runt, he glared. It wasn't very often on Earth that he had gotten angry at something he was trying to kill or something trying to kill him. The rabbit creatures, though, he could admit, were mildly irritating.

"If everything on this planet is as annoying as these, I'm going to be giving that stupid fucking walking grave skill or whatever it's called a run for its money."

Thump

Thump

Thump

The rabbit lunged, its tail speared out towards Harper. As the bladed tail stabbed into his palm, Harper clamped the rest of his hand around it.

With a feral grin, Harper sidestepped the rabbit, using its long tail like a flail as he swung.

The creature seemed to squeal in panic as its body was redirected, its momentum allowing Harper to whip it into a tree. A weak, high-pitched croak was the last audible noise from its throat at the contact.

"Ha... Come back from that."

THUMP

One of the larger odd rabbit fucks came down to play.

Turning towards the creature, a weak growl escaped its maw. Ignoring the pain, Harper ripped the blade out of his hand, glaring hard at the odd rabbit as blood trickled down his fingers.

Gripping the tail of the dead runt, he stepped near the base and pulled. Tearing the tail of the dead creature, Harper wrapped it around the base of the blade.

A makeshift weapon was better than no weapon.

His reaction time was far slower than that of the odd rabbits, but they moved in a straight line while in the air and seemed only to be able to strike once with their tails while suspended. He could work with this.

Harper's eyes just barely caught the tensing in its legs, and hell, was he under-prepared for this creature.

He was dead before he knew it.

Harper gasped, sitting up. "I hate these fucking rabbits."

Standing quickly, he began a brisk walk away from his current area. He didn't want to be in this loop any longer.

The farther he moved from his starting point, the faster he strode. Harper eventually reached a jog and then evolved into a run.

Thump

Thump

They were already on the hunt against him. These little fucks were persistent.

The hard, needle-like yellow grass below his feet made running quite difficult. Small, sharp pangs of pain followed each step.

Despite the pain, Harper kept moving forward. He could see the edge of the woods and glimpses of structures farther past it.

"Home free, you fucking-"

Fwoo-

Crack

BOOM

Harper's face drained of blood, and the tree just ahead to his right exploded, expelling wood fragments at high speeds.

Ducking down, falling into a half-assed roll, Harper desperately picked himself up. He was on the run again, his roll costing him speed and distance.

He didn't want what blasted that tree to bits to strike him. He didn't want to restart again. He had barely been running for ten minutes. Restarting at the end of his escape would be a hell of a nuisance for him.

Wait, I might still be able to get out of here. Think, bastard, think.

System, Skills.

Harper grinned, it worked as expected.

[Quixroth System: Skills Page]

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%), Physical Damage Resistance (Passive- Physical damage is reduced by 1%).

Harper's eyebrow rose at the new skill, but now wasn't really the time to think about it. Dismissing the system screen, he tried out the skill.

Killer's Wrath

...

Nothing happened.

"Fuck, how do I get this shit to work! Activate Killer's Wrath!"

Still nothing.

"System, Activate Killer's Wrath!"

That did the trick.

[Quixroth System Notification]

Skill "Killer's Wrath" has been activated. Time Remaining: 2:59

Strength- 132.24% (9.25)

Speed- 110% (7.7)

Though the boost didn't look like much, it was far more than he had expected. His next step nearly threw him off his feet—apparently, the additional ten percent strength increase also appeared to increase his body's resistance.

The sharp, hard yellow grass below his feet didn't hurt as much as it had before. His speed increase allowed him to just barely keep his lead ahead of the murderous rabbits as they grew closer.

As the forest edge finally came into view, Harper nearly shouted in victory. He had killed too many people with the same outlook, though, reaching the outside where they would believe they would be safe.

The moment he left the forest, he bolted straight forward. The thumping slowly drowned out as he left the odd rabbits maneuvering through the trees.

He didn't stop until the skill wore off, with what looked like a medieval town still a good bit away.

[Quixroth System Notification]

Skill "Killer's Wrath" has been deactivated. Unavailability Timer: 9:59

A ten-minute timer till the skill can be used isn't as bad as I would have thought. It still leaves much to be desired, but it's livable.

Quite content, he continued in a slow jog towards the town. He could hunker down for a bit. Attacking people as he entered the first town wouldn't be practical.

It was finally time to get some information about this new world.