Rabbit//Rabbat

He remembered a loud click before the dark gray. Whatever he was now curled in on itself, folded into infinite geometric patterns, which were then consumed by blooms of fractals. If he could have understood pain, this form would have been excruciating. What was painful and disturbing was that who he had been still remained. He could remember his death and explore this after, an infinite plane of gray... except it wasn't the same anymore. There was a growing brightness and impending sensation of lightning. That intense static charge.

It felt like an implosion, a body seized, but his mind was isolated in a strange echo chamber that began cracking as the seizures continued in the body. Flashes hurt his mind's eye, images of a darkened room dimly lit by a gap in the vertical blinds in the room's one window.

A feminine sigh, one of exhaustion and continuing effort, was attached to these images. Then he saw the body lying on a horrible little mattress that was on the floor. Beside it was a figure; they wore a cloak with its hood up, hiding their face in dark shadows. A long waterfall of straight, silver hair dropped out from under the hood and hung in front of them. Not silver like aged hair but shiny like the precious metal.

His consciousness slammed into the body. Everything was still and quiet, so suddenly, he knew he had been knocked out by the impact with the body. He vaguely wondered if that meant he was now in the body.

This question was answered when he woke up and felt the soreness of his muscles and the repetitive thunder that ricocheted around inside his new skull—a migraine. He either didn't want to or couldn't move; it was impossible to tell the difference until the bladder of his body alerted him to a need that drove him to his feet. He stumbled to the bathroom and collapsed onto the toilet, sitting because he couldn't stand.

The space he'd woken up in was a studio apartment, and the bathroom was tiny and filthy. He noted a lack of soap of any kind. His new body shivered and shook. He leaned back to rest against the wall, closing his eyes and focusing on a single question—who was he now?

When he opened his eyes, a semi-translucent panel floated before him. It showed him his stats like a video game, except this was real. The name on the panel was Rabbit.

Hunger gnawed at him. Foreign memories showed him the location of a nearby vending machine, just down a set of stairs from the apartment door. Pain and desperation made a fist in his abdomen that propelled him as he looked for clothing so he could get food. The first pair of pants held a wallet with an I.D. and eight credits, but they were too small, so he couldn't wear them. A pair of sweatpants barely fit. There were no shirts he could wear. The I.D. confirmed he was someone called ‘Rabbit’ now.

This body was physically larger than it had once been. Thankfully, 'Rabbit' didn't see anyone when he slowly made his way down to the vending machine. It was a highly advanced piece of equipment, but it looked old and worn. He bought a large water bottle and a hot, ready-noodle dish that looked surprisingly good on the screen.

It had a lid, so he was able to limp back upstairs without the risk of splashing scalding water on himself, thankfully his only neighbor on the top floor didn’t open her door- Ayami was Rabbit’s landlord. As he set it down on the table, he saw a folding metal fork attached to the lid. That was a nice touch. He popped the lid off so the noodles would cool down a little. He drank from his water bottle while he sat and stared at the closed window, under which the table he sat at had been placed. While slowly drinking his water, he sifted through the alien memories that shared a space with his own.

Before the apparent modification, the original owner of this body was a man who went by the moniker 'Rabbit.' It was an unfortunate nickname from his youth due to his weak heart and some crude child comparing him to a rabbit, as they could both be literally frightened to death.

He had died in his sleep due to a combination of the aforementioned heart condition and malnutrition due to lack of financial stability.

He sighed; at least he wasn't the cause. Perhaps whatever brought him here had taken advantage of this sad passing.

Searching 'Rabbit's' memories, he began to learn the truth about this world. At some point, its history diverged from that of his own world. This happened when a cataclysm poured new energy into the world. It killed millions, formed strange Gateways, and altered what it was to be human. Ninety percent of the remaining population now had Systems and abilities that helped them fight and kill the creatures and demons beyond the Gateways.

'Rabbit' had what was considered a Low-Tier Ability: he could create soap or other cleansing agents. If he hadn't been physically weakened by his condition, he could have made quite a good living, but as it had been, he could only clean himself. Anything more would have been too much of a strain on his body.

To add to his financial and emotional problems, there was a young man who had been extorting money from 'Rabbit' with threats of violence he was obviously willing to enforce. Not only had 'Rabbit' deeply feared this guy, but he knew he didn't need the money he was stealing from him. The prick called himself ‘Royal’, for god sake. The extortion happened simply because Royal wanted to, and 'Rabbit' couldn't stop him. This told him a great deal about who Royal was at his core. He was cruel, and this was a problem that must be avoided until it can be dealt with.

The new Rabbit closed his eyes and focused on his growing to-do list. To start with, he needed clothes that fit. After that, he had to deep clean this apartment. A new mattress was a must, too. All of this required money, of which he had three bucks left. 'Rabbit' had hunted just through the Gateway located in this town. Hunting was a big industry in this new world. Hunter Agencies and a Guild governed what Hunters could and couldn't do beyond the Gateways.

Hopefully, he could find some success under the radar and make a little money to improve his living situation. According to Rabbit's memories, he hunted in an area too low-tier for Royal to bother with. That made avoiding him simpler.

Opening his eyes, he brought up his Stat Chart again.

Level 0; 0/100 Experience

Strength: 12

Agility: 12

Endurance: 11

Charm: 20

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 15

Luck: 15

*Stealth: 13

3 Artifact Slots(0/3 Used)

System: <Ever Evolve>

Main System Ability: Absolute Presence( You are entirely present- you see all that is around you.

Interesting stats; he assumed ten was average, like in many systems used for TTRPGs. He focused again, this time on the System Menu, to see if he had one.

When he opened his eyes, she saw a new menu:

Character Stats and Abilities

Inventory and Equipment

Maps

Logs and Journal

Shop

He'd look at the shop later. He didn't have any money right now anyway. Selecting the Inventory, he was delighted to find clothing that fit and some basic melee weapons. He pulled the clean clothing on in between bites of noodles. He took in the kind feeling of being comfortably dressed. Sitting down, he quickly finished his noodles and relaxed for a moment. When he looked closer at his weapons, his System pulled up a Quick Access Bar with eight slots. He looked over what he had and put his extendable baton in the first slot, the 'ninja' steel machete in the second one, and a combo of those two and the blunt-tipped steel machete in the following two slots for dual wielding.

With that done, he stood up and practiced switching. It seemed that he could get quicker with more experience, which was good to know. Items on the Q.A.B. didn't show up on his person either, which was his preference anyway.

Stealth in all things.

'Rabbit' had done night hunting, so he figured he would do the same. It also kept up appearances for his new neighbors. More memories came to the forefront. His only neighbor on the top floor was the building owner and manager- Ayami.

If 'Rabbit' was going to hunt at night, he'd need to sleep through the day; before he did that, he threw the sheets into the wash twice before tossing them into the dryer. While waiting, he meditated on the original Rabbit's hunting memories. There were three things near the Gateway, two Creatures, and one lesser Demon. Rabbit could only do one-on-one fights, which helped explain why he had a low income; his health issues really hurt his ability to live his life. Poor man. Hopefully, he was at peace now.

The Malum Exemplum and its 'older brother,' the Smart Malum, were there. They were vaguely humanoid in form but quite squishy; that was good. They tended to group up and swarm, which was not good. The Lesser Demon was a Hunger, an emaciated man-shaped thing with distended guts and elongated jaws that showed off their insatiable appetites. They also grouped up, never more than three. At least not for long. Rabbit had a very distinct memory of three Hungers turning on their fourth and devouring them. It was something he had thought about a lot, it caused an understandable fear in him.

The new Rabbit hoped his limited swordplay experience gave him some advantage. In high school he’d joined a group that did sword fighting in the park.

He pulled the sheets out of the dryer, put them on the mattress before crawling onto it, and passed out.

When he woke up, it was dark. It was time to go hunting. He got dressed and felt hunger pains. With no money, he needed to hunt first before he could afford to eat something. He'd have to look for a kiosk near the Gateway. That would save him some time.

Rabbit's memories guided him to the Gateway; the Guards were friendly and pointed him toward the kiosks when they logged him in as 'Rabbat.' Now he had his own name, odd how that just happened. He thought about how they hadn't recognized him at all; the mirror in the bathroom was so dirty he couldn't see himself. Rabbit had enjoyed not having a functional mirror, so he never tried to clean it. Rabbat had no idea what he looked like; he assumed he looked like Rabbit, but apparently not.

He started slowly and took his time getting into the flow of it. He wasn't doing all that bad. When he had enough money for food, he headed to the kiosks. He looked through the available menus to see what the most efficient meal was. An older man stepped up beside him. He wore what looked to be a dark leather cowboy outfit that looked worn and battle-tested.

"You're new here." It wasn't a question.

"I am indeed," Rabbat observed him. "Any good advice?"

"Take your time. Too many fools rush out to make a name for themselves only to end up dead, " the older man said, his voice rough but not unpleasant.

"Wise words." Rabbat selected a breakfast burrito and two electrolyte waters.

"Why are you a hunter?" the man asked Rabbat. Rabbat thought about that for a moment.

"It's a living that also increases the safety of the town. That's enough. Making a name for myself isn't even on my radar, it's an empty goal." He answered, the old man snorted and used his own card to pay for Rabbat's meal.

"Too many youngsters start hunting for fame nowadays; they sully the memory of those who died to keep the Gateways contained. Then, the Agencies came and stripped the honor out of it entirely. You're different; enjoy your meal." The Old man turned on his heel and walked away. Rabbat watched him leave, dumbfounded. What did he know?

He ate quickly and downed one of the waters before heading back to the Gateway.

For the rest of the night, he wondered what the old man meant by his statement- 'You're different.'

Shortly after sunrise Rabbat swung down off the roof and into the alcove between his door and Ayame’s he winced at how loud at was and hurried through his own door and shut it behind him. He stripped down and through all of his clothing into the wash before turning the shower on and slamming a meal replacement drink while he waited for the water to heat up. He didn’t have any soap yet so he settled for a long rinse and soak. He’d gotten a little over three hundred credits and some things he needed to sell but he wanted to not be covered in blood when he did all that.

After his shower he threw his clothes into the drier and laid on his bed to rest a little, his stomach growled.

“Shit.” He needed to get a move on. As soon as the dryer beeped he pulled his clothes on and headed for the Merchant Kiosk, he sold what he didn’t want and was pleasantly surprised but how much he had. He bought soap and cleaning supplies, a couple towels and a new mattress. All of which were stored in his Personal Inventory. He headed home, stopping at the food kiosk to grab a three cheese pizza and a large bottle of cranberry juice on his way.
He replaced the old mattress and set the everything else in the bathroom for now. He needed to eat.
After scarfing down his food he cleaned as much as he could before he had no energy left and had to sleep.

That night he showered with soap for the first time and it felt wonderful. He’d started his cleaning in the shower and worked back toward the doorway. He had gotten more done than he’d thought too. He wiped the fog off the mirror and looked at himself of the first time. He had short, black hair that was a little unruly and dark, gray eyes in what he felt was a decent but average face with a little stubble on it. He made a note to get a razor.
Time for another hunt.

This time he made did much better and made a lot more money. On his way home he three new sets of sheets and dinner. Again he showered and ate, but as he was going to lay down there was a knock at the door so he threw on his pants and opened it to see Ayame.

“Who are you and where is my tenant?” She asked, he could see her ability forming intricate webs around them both.

“I am Rabbat, Rabbit’s…. Rabbit passed away and I inherited a retrofitted version of his body.” He was taking a leap of faith.

“Fucking what now?” She stared at him in surprise.

“Rabbit passed away a few nights ago. Somehow I was given a second life and whatever did that remade his body for me to inhabit.” He worded it differently.

“The fact that you’re telling the truth is terrifying.” She somehow knew he was telling the truth, perhaps one of the functions of her Webs was to measure a persons vitals for signs of lying.

“You have my condolences?” He wasn’t sure what else to say.

“So, you’re plan is to just take over his life?” She asked him, there was a little sadness hidden behind her eyes.

“I can easily pay rent if that is the issue. I made about six hundred all told last night and I’m pretty sure I can keep that trend going in an upward trajectory.” He offered. “I know it’ll cost for you to keep this situation between you and me too.” He didn’t resent this fact.

“Two thousand a month sound fair to you?” She asked, he did some quick mental math before nodding.

“Done, I’ll have it to you as soon as I can. I do need to buy a few things though, like a vacuum and stuff.” He wanted everything to be upfront and comfortable between them.

“Fair enough, end of the month is in just about two weeks so you’ve got time. If you have any questions let me know… I’m going to go process this all of this.” She stepped backward to her door before letting most of her Webs fall away.

“I’m opening to answering any questions you have too, if I can.” He offered back. She nodded before returning to her own apartment. From the brief glance inside it looked a lot nicer and bigger than his.