"How did I end up like this?" Victor Black muttered to himself in despair as he ducked between the trees fleeing for his life. A sharp turn to the right saved him as moments after his head turned an arrow was embedded deep within the tree next to his face. He might've gone pale at the sight if he wasn't already burning from the intense physical exertion it took to constantly zig-zag through the forest. He didn't know how long he has been running ever since he woke up in this fucked up place, didn't have the time nor energy for such idle thoughts as every fiber of his being was focused on one thing and one thing only. Survival.

His eyes were wild as they took in every single thing in his surroundings, channeling every smidgen of his strength to putting even a little bit more distance between him and the things chasing him. A certain blue hedgehog would've been proud of his dedication to its theme song.

He ducked under a low hanging branch, leaped over a fallen log, and slid down a small hill. His eyes rolled around constantly within his skull to find the fastest path, tracing out invisible lines to mark possible routes and playing out quick simulations. He ignored all the thorns and branches scratching at his body. 

Suddenly his ears picked up a faint sound to his right. He had almost missed it completely from the sound of the beasts following close behind him, but there was definitely the sound of flowing water. His eyes brightened up for the first time since this game of Cat and Mouse started as he finally found a ray of hope. Unfortunately, the brief moment he took to confirm the location of the source was all it took for an arrow to find its mark and pierce through his left thigh. He did everything in his power to hold back the scream of pain and by some miracle, he had managed.

Victor learned the hard way that such showing would only further his torment's enjoyment and he refused to give them the sick satisfaction.

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A quick glance confirmed his fear. While the arrow itself was only a foot long or so, the arrowhead and end of the thing had been designed in such a way that if one attempted to pull it out, it would gorge out a hole the size of a half dollar. He couldn't afford to properly remove it, and leaving it would leave him unable to walk. Stuck between a rock and a hard place Victor made a snap-decision and grabbed the ends of the arrow and snapped it while it was still within his leg. The pain was sheer agony and he had no double his haphazard emergency removal had torn more than a few things, but at least now he could sort of limp his way through the forest.

After half an hour of struggling for his life through what would've normally taken him 10 minutes he finally saw the tree begin to grow sparse. His body was now covered with even more wounds and he was missing the tip of his right ear, but it was not luck or divine intervention that saved him, rather the bad habits of these creatures to play with their food. It has been silent for the past 5 minutes and he knew he didn't lose them. They were watching him now, waiting for him to get closer to the finish line. He knew how these bastards think. They enjoyed dangling a false sense of hope and freedom in their preys before taking it away.

He was at the home stretch and he could feel their eyes burning a hole at his nape. He was five feet away from a small river, its flow intense and quick. He only had one shot at this, take a deep breath he thought of Sarah's face before he took a leap in the water and kicked off the ground. His body twisted sharply in the air as he stared back at his pursuers. Had crossed his left arm over his chest and just as he predicted an arrow aimed directly for his heart flew through the air. It pierced through his arm, but thankfully lost enough of its momentum that it only dug an inch into his chest. 

With a bloody grin and eyes full of ridicule he crashed into the water. His right arm raised high with a one finger salute was the last thing to sink beneath the current while back on the shore a gang of small green creatures snarled in displeasure at their toy getting away.

Goblins Lv. 3

Was the last thing Victor saw before he blacked out, his body dragged away by the flowing water.