"Watch where the hell you're going, you dumb deer!" Max's yelling snapped me out of my thoughts.
A deer stood right in front of our car, staring at us with blank, glassy eyes.
I groaned, got out, and waved my arms to scare it off. It flinched, hesitated, then bolted into the trees.
I was about to get back in the car when—
The ground lurched.
I staggered, barely managing to stay on my feet before it shook again.
What the hell was that? An earthquake?
I glanced at Max. He was gripping the steering wheel tightly, his face pale.
"Mish, what the fuck is going on?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but then—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A low rumble echoed in the distance, growing louder with each passing second.
Footsteps. No—hooves.
I turned toward the sound.
A wave of dark shapes emerged from the treeline.
Dozens. No—hundreds of deer.
They were charging straight toward us.
Max let out a strangled noise. "Oh, shit—"
"Drive! Now!" I shouted.
Max twisted the key in the ignition. The engine sputtered.
And died.
He tried again.
Nothing.
His voice was tight. "Misha, the car won't start."
I clenched my fists. The deer were closing in fast.
An old news story popped into my head.
A deer trampled a man to death in a freak accident.
Right.
We were so dead.
I let out a shaky breath.
"Uh... Max? I think your Volkswagen's fucked."
And then—
Everything stopped.
Not just the deer.
The entire world froze.
The ground felt unnaturally still, as if reality itself had hit the pause button.
Then, a voice—cold and mechanical—echoed inside my head.
[FREE SERVICE FOR PLANETARY SYSTEM 8612 HAS BEEN TERMINATED.][MONETIZATION WILL NOW COMMENCE.][MAIN SCENARIO ACTIVATED.]
A jolt shot through my body.
Flashbacks hit me like a truck.
This—this was exactly like in that web novel.
My breath came in short gasps. I was so overwhelmed I barely registered Max yelling something at me.
The radio inside the car suddenly crackled to life.
The dashboard lights flickered erratically.
The entire vehicle groaned, as if it were about to collapse in on itself.
The sheer absurdity of the moment brought a twisted thought to my mind.
Hah. Honestly? I'd rather get isekai'd.
"Misha, for fuck's sake, ANSWER ME!" Max's voice cracked in panic. "WHAT WAS IN THAT PIZZA?!"
His eyes were locked onto something behind me.
Shit.
I couldn't move.
Something was watching me.
I could feel its gaze burning into my back, sending icy tendrils of fear through my body.
A low, distorted voice buzzed through the radio.
I didn't recognize the language. Arabic? No… Something else.
Then, clear as day, the words shifted into Russian.
[Well, well, well… Russians, huh? You were this close to crossing into another zone. That would've been very unfortunate for you.]
My blood ran cold.
What the actual fuck?
Before I could react, something smacked me on the back of the head.
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
[Hey, buddy, is he always this slow? Seems like he's having trouble adapting. Ah well, not much we can do for him now…]
There was a sigh behind me.
Oh, hell no.
I really didn't like the sound of that.
"What—wait, no, I'm fine! Everything's fine, mister, uh…" I finally forced myself to turn around.
[Tokkebi,] the creature answered smoothly.
Tokkebi…?
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
This was real.
I knew exactly what this thing was.
Hovering in the air before me was a small, horned creature with pale skin and tiny, fluttering wings.
But its form flickered, glitching in and out like a broken hologram.