Itsgonnahurt.com - Aiden From Boston.mp4 -

The final puck was the "money shot." In the video file that would eventually be titled Aiden From Boston.mp4 , this is the part where the comments always exploded. The machine misfired slightly, the puck rising higher than the others. It clipped the bottom of Aiden’s jaw and slammed into his collarbone. The sound was like a dry branch snapping.

"I'm... I'm still here," he wheezed, pointing a defiant finger at the machine. ItsGonnaHurt.com - Aiden From Boston.mp4

"ItsGonnaHurt.com," he whispered, a crimson stain spreading across his teeth. "Upload that." The final puck was the "money shot

Aiden reached out and clicked the remote. The machine hummed to life, a high-pitched whine that vibrated in his teeth. He braced his feet, hands clamped onto his knees. Thwack. The sound was like a dry branch snapping

The goal wasn't to dodge. The goal, according to the site’s twisted points system, was to take the hit and stay standing.

Aiden wasn’t a "stuntman" in the professional sense. He was twenty-two, worked a dead-end job at a pier, and possessed a terrifying lack of a self-preservation instinct. He leaned into the lens, his thick Boston accent cutting through the silence of the room.