The atmosphere grew suffocating and dark. The stone chamber that Shun's group had entered moments ago now trembled violently as that thing appeared. The monstrous rabbit—if it could even still be called a "rabbit"—stood as tall as two grown men. Its matted gray fur was stained with dried blood, and its eyes burned like twin embers in a furnace.
-"It's coming!" Reina shouted.
-BOOM!!!!!!!!-
The stone wall to the left exploded into rubble as the creature charged forward at a speed beyond comprehension. The pressure it released was so immense that the entire room seemed to distort under its weight.
-"Scatter!" Shun yelled, drawing the sword passed down from his grandfather, Thomas—the last thing that still gave him some sense of safety.
He raised it just in time to block the incoming claw—
CRACK!!!!!!!-
The blade snapped in two, the break clean and sharp as if crushed by something stronger than steel. Shun was thrown backward, slamming into a stone pillar. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
-"Shun!!" Reina cried out. She clapped her hands together, summoning a bow made of natural energy. Without hesitation, she nocked an arrow and fired it straight into the monster's back.
-Whizz!!!!-
-Thud!!-
The arrow hit its mark—but the beast didn't even flinch. It didn't look back. It was as if it didn't feel pain at all.
-"No way…" Reina backed away, face pale.
-"Move!!" Shun shouted, ignoring the pain as he lunged forward, grabbing Reina and yanking her aside just as the beast's claw slashed through the air where she'd stood.
BOOM!!!-
A chunk of wall behind Reina was torn apart. Dust and debris rained down around them. Reina trembled, eyes wide.
-"I... I almost died…"
Now the entire group huddled in the corner of the room, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down their faces. Each roar from the monstrous rabbit echoed like a death bell in the suffocating silence. No one dared move.
Reina glanced at the blood on Shun's shoulder, tears brimming in her eyes.
-"Shun… that sword… it was your grandfather's, wasn't it…?"
Shun nodded, eyes never leaving the beast as it turned toward them again.
-"It's alright… He didn't need that sword to be proud of me… As long as I'm still alive, that's enough."
Reina bit her lip, then suddenly blurted out, her voice trembling:
-"But… but… where are the heroes...? Where are they? Why hasn't anyone come to help? Why is it just us?! We're not even official heroes yet…"
The harsh truth echoed in the shadowed chamber.
Shun didn't respond right away. He stared at the creature, which was now slowly stepping toward them again, and clenched his fist.
-"Maybe... no one's coming..But that's why… we have to survive. Because if no one else shows up—then we'll be the first ones truly worthy of being called heroes."
Silence.
Reina looked up. Shun's eyes—though bruised, though weary—still burned with the same fire she saw in him the day they first met. She nodded. And for the first time in this battle… they no longer trembled.
Haru stood frozen, his eyes locked in horror on the monstrous creature before him. His breath came in shallow gasps, and then—
-"NO! NO! I CAN'T DIE HERE!"
Suddenly, Haru turned and bolted down the corridor, panic overruling all logic. Shun reached out to stop him:
-"Haru! Get back! Don't—!"
But it was too late.
WHOOSH!!-
The monster lunged like a storm. Its massive hand—thick as a tree trunk—clamped down on Haru's arm—CRACK!!
-"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the darkness. Haru's arm was torn off like a dry twig, blood spraying in arcs.
-"Please... please spare me... I don't want to die... I'm begging you...!"
Haru sobbed, voice cracking in sheer desperation, crawling on the ground, his remaining arm trembling as he pleaded like a pitiful, broken child.
The monster didn't answer.
It simply opened its grotesque, gaping mouth—lined with dagger-like teeth—and swallowed Haru whole, right before Shun and Reina's eyes.
-"NOOOO!!!" Reina screamed, falling to her knees, hands over her mouth.
Shun clenched his teeth, fury burning in his bloodshot eyes. Gripping the broken half of his sword, he roared:
-"YOU MONSTER!!"
Without thinking, he lunged forward and drove the shattered blade into the creature's remaining eye.
GRAAAAAAAAAH!!!-
A deafening roar filled the chamber. The beast staggered backward, black blood spurting from its mutilated eye.
-"RUN!!" – Shun shouted.
They scrambled out of the cavern, slipping and climbing up the moss-covered rocks. But as soon as they reached the dim light outside—
They froze.
The forest before them had become a slaughterhouse.
Bodies of other test candidates lay scattered, some ripped to shreds, others being eaten alive by smaller, equally grotesque and bloodthirsty rabbit-like monsters.
Each one had blood-red eyes, jagged teeth, and mouths drenched in human blood.
Reina vomited on the spot, her body convulsing from shock. Her eyes stretched wide in disbelief and horror.
Shun stood stiff, grimacing as he tried to cover Reina's eyes, but he couldn't unsee what had already been burned into their memories.
-"What happened to this exam…? This isn't a test. This is a massacre."
The thought struck Shun like ice water, heart pounding violently in his chest.
-"Where are the Heroes…?!"
He screamed in his mind—asking the same question again, with no one to answer.
Suddenly—the sound of grinding metal came from behind.
From beneath the tree, the monstrous rabbit rose once more, its remaining eye burning with rage. Its hooked claw dug into the tree trunk, dragging its massive body upward.
Shun broke into a cold sweat, frozen.
Reina's breath was short and frantic, as she began to panic:
-"It's climbing! IT'S CLIMBING!!"
Shun tried to pull Reina back, but the creature's massive hand was almost at his foot—and then—
-WHOOSH!!!!!-
An arrow pierced straight through the monster's skull.
It let out one final, ear-splitting shriek—before collapsing to the ground below like a broken statue.
Silence.
The forest itself seemed to hold its breath.
Shun looked down—and there stood Willin.
He stood amid a group of battle-worn heroes, their bodies bloodied and torn. One limped on a shattered leg, another had his eyes bandaged, while others leaned on one another for support. But Willin—he remained upright, bow still raised, eyes cold as steel.
-"Good. At least some of you survived." – he said calmly, as if just finishing off prey.
Reina collapsed, gasping as though she'd just escaped a nightmare.
Shun said nothing—his eyes drifting from the fallen monster to Willin, and finally back to the endless forest beyond.
Something within him shifted.
A door inside had been opened—and there would be no closing it.
Shun sat down, eyes scanning the four wounded heroes lying around him. Their injuries were severe and far from healing. Blood soaked through their garments, pooling into the damp earth. The air was heavy—metallic with the stench of blood, tinged with gunpowder and the crushed scent of trampled wild grass.
He turned to Willin—his second older brother—and asked anxiously:
-"What happened here, Willin?"
Willin stood a few steps away, his cold gaze fixed on the trembling bushes in the distance. His hand remained on his bowstring, ready to fire at any moment. Without turning, he replied:
-"Probably... because humans have hunted rabbits too much."
Shun frowned in confusion.
-"Rabbits...? You mean those small, harmless ones?"
Willin gave a slight nod, then calmly drew back his bow. In the blink of an eye—whoosh! whoosh! whoosh!
Three arrows tore through the air, piercing three separate bushes. Sharp squeals echoed as three white rabbits with blood-red eyes fell to the ground—each struck squarely in the forehead.
-"These aren't normal rabbits," Willin continued. "They've been possessed. The spirits of the weak—slaughtered and forgotten—have gathered, forming a vengeful entity. Now... they're hunting us."
Reina was still trembling, one hand clutching her bloodied arm. Shun gently stepped beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder.
-"It's alright now. We're here."
She nodded faintly, eyes wide and haunted.
Shun turned to the group of injured heroes scattered around. They were once revered as strong, almost untouchable—and now they lay broken and helpless. His voice was heavy as he asked:
-"If even you couldn't defeat them… then who possibly can?"
A silence hung for a moment.
Then Break slowly raised his hand and pointed at Willin—who remained alert, bow in hand.
Bruno followed, then another, and another. All four eventually pointed toward Willin.
-"Him." one said. "Without a ranged fighter, we couldn't maintain distance. Those rabbits moved so fast and attacked so suddenly… before we could react, it was too late."
-"Our team had no archers," said Miliana. "We specialized in close combat. That was our mistake."
-"If he hadn't happened to be passing through and picked them off from afar…" said the last, exhaling weakly, "we'd have bled to death right here."
Shun turned to Willin, his eyes wide, mouth agape.
Bathed in the golden light of sunset, Willin stood there—silent and resolute. The bow in his hand seemed to draw not just arrows, but the weight of a hardened soul.
In that moment, Shun realized something.
While he had been running around trying to protect civilians…
His brother—the quiet one always standing behind—
Had once again saved not just lives…
But the hope of the entire test.