Time passed. People gathered as if the place were a bar—warm air, laughter echoing off the walls, the smell of iron and oil lingering beneath it all. Despite the heat, it was lively… almost too alive.
The man in the bunny mask sat at the counter, grabbing a bottle of beer. He tilted his head back slightly, pulling his mask just enough to drink it all down in one breath."Hahh… can you believe it?" he said, grinning beneath the mask. "Showing something I've never even seen before." His smile stayed there, like it was glued to his face.
A soft tune floated nearby—guitar strings and piano keys blending. A tall figure with tentacles sprouting from his back played a large, cracked piano, its sound deep and tired. Beside him, a boy with yellow hair and round glasses strummed a guitar and smiled quietly to himself.They were playing for no one, and everyone.
The bunny man set his drink aside. "That was a legendary item," he said. "Came out from the bowels of the circus. And there are only two ways to enter it… either by getting out of this world, or by meeting two people."He leaned forward, eyes gleaming through the mask's holes. "Guess which one I did?"
Adam crossed his arms on the table, unimpressed. "Yeah?" His voice was tired. He stared at the half-empty glass in front of him, wondering how old the bunny man even was. Time had slipped away—days, maybe months—since he arrived. He couldn't even remember where it all began.
"Oh, you know…" the bunny man said. "Getting into that circus isn't that hard. But you know what—you should really join me."
"Sorry," Adam stood, brushing off his coat. "I need to find someone."
The bunny man followed him up immediately. "Wait—wait, what about a proposition?" He walked beside Adam now, his tone oddly cheerful. "I'm literally the greatest person you'll ever meet. You'll experience the most hardcore, most challenging adventures. No jokes, no funny business—just serious. I'll prove it."
He pulled out a small pouch from his bag—then a lit stick of dynamite, three short swords, and two bubbling vials of acid—and began juggling them in the air.The crowd froze.Then chaos broke loose—monsters, humans, everyone scattered for cover.
The acid slipped. It shattered on the ground, hissing, eating through the floorboards."Whoops." He grabbed Adam's arm and ran.Bug-like soldiers with blades, drills, and arrows burst through the walls, swarming the building. The air filled with shrieks and the crack of arrows slicing through the dust.
Adam barely reacted. He'd stopped caring long ago. How could you care when you couldn't die—at least, not here?Hundreds of arrows rained down, their tips flaming.The bunny man—moved like a blur, spinning his weapon, cutting and deflecting the barrage before any could hit them.
"Well that was—hah—that was my first time, alright!" The bunny mask man shouted over the noise, voice shaking. "I'm really… really the best person alive!"He exhaled sharply, panic flickering in his eyes, as if his own words needed to convince him.
A formation of stone golems rose ahead, stacking like walls. Piercebox darted between their limbs, rolling under the crashing stone fists... And dropping dynamite in them"Yeah, yeah," Adam muttered. The guy was atleast good.
They ran through collapsing buildings, dodging fireballs and flying swords. Each step felt like the end of something. Piercebox lobbed dynamite behind them—one explosion after another ripping through the town.The sky turned orange.
"I'm Piercebox," he yelled, grinning through the smoke. "The best person in this place—or any place. The fastest. The strongest!" His voice wasn't joking anymore; it was conviction. "You're looking for three people, right? Well, the best way to find them—make the totalitarian government do it for you. And the best way to do that? Get the king involved."
Adam floated in the air beside him, effortless.Piercebox blinked tiredly... With running and jumping dashing through the roof. "How the duck are you doing that?!"
"I just do," Adam said, smirking.
Piercebox grinned back, half exasperated, half amused. "Well, there's someone in this town right now—a big one."
Adam's expression shifted as he remembered the princess he met on the road. "What are you going to do?"
"You'll see," Piercebox said simply.
Adam looked at him flatly. "So… the plan is foolproof?"
"Definitely," Piercebox said.
Adam raised a brow. "…Definitely?"
Piercebox hesitated, then repeated, quieter—"Definitely."