The video starts with an elaborate animated cartoon sequence - a cartoon deer, wearing a red and yellow track jersey numbered 98, who is running a gauntlet of traps and hazards, barely escaping from each. He dodges arrow traps, steps gingerly across a minefield, and barely outraces an army of carnivorous silhouettes to get across a finish line. The animation fades out to the 'RUNNER98' channel logo, and then fades again to the same deer, in webcam view, sitting in an apartment.
 
 
"Hey! What's up, runscribers! Today's a special episode of the Runner98 show - we had our three year anniversary special last week, you should check that out if you haven't already - but I thought I'd do a bit of a refresh here for any new viewers who stumble across my little slice of the internet here."
 
 
"So this is gonna be a ground-up explainer episode - and I mean explained from the ground up, not that it'll be ground-up like venison burgers." He reaches across his desk and pulls a 'LAUGH TRACK' soundboard from offscreen, and jams his finger on one of the buttons. Instead of canned laughter, there's the sound of crickets, then someone awkwardly coughing. The deer's face falls exaggeratedly. "Okay, fine, that one fell a bit short. Much like the venison burgers, you gotta give me time to warm up here." He unplugs the board and carelessly throws it over his shoulder, where it lands on the apartment's bed.
 
 
"So, from the very basics. Because, and this is true, sometimes I get viewers coming in who don't know what the <fudge> is going on. People who've never seen a green zone outside of their middle school textbooks, or don't know where their food comes from, or can't point at the East Plains Wild Area on a map. And they leave confused comments, and instead of laughing at them or wondering just what's going on with education these days, I figure it's better to do some of my own education."
 
 
"So! Starting from the *very* basics. You've got people in this world who eat meat, and people who don't." He raises his eyebrow at the camera. "No, don't laugh - I for serious had someone who I guess was being raised in a herbivore-only commune who had *no idea*, and on the other side some, I guess, really isolated carnivore kid who didn't make the connection that his steak had to come from somewhere."
 
 
"So - the source of that steak that you enjoy, it comes from someone else. Modern medical advances have made things very... nonfinal. A pregame shot, or a couple of pills, or in dire cases a quick trip to the clinic where you get plugged into some machinery, and all your missing bits grow back, good as new."
 
 
"Like, for serious, I could cut off my finger right here-" he reaches over and pulls out a cutting board and knife. "And show you how it'll heal over and regrow right on my hand in a few minutes, but..."
 
He shoves the cutting board back offscreen. "I don't really go in for the whole 'self mutilation' thing and really if you want to see me get carved up I have a whole channel with three whole years' of videos, you can just go browse around."
 
 
"So some people need to eat meat - before you comment, yes, I *know* there's meat substitutes, hold back the angry keyboards there. Heck, I *reviewed* a few of them on this channel. Where was I - so, some people need to eat meat. And some people... need to get eaten."
 
 
He points his thumb at his chest. "Myself included. It's called... there's a medical term for it, but most of us call it the 'prey impulse' or the 'prey drive'. If you don't feel teeth sinking into you for long enough, you start getting... antsy. Itchy, sometimes. Like there's some unfulfilled need you can't *quite* grasp, and the only way you can really take care of it is by being food."
 
 
"Some people feel it strongly enough that that's *all* they do - I'll get to that later. Most people only feel it a little bit, sometimes they can scratch that itch vicariously or like once a year. A bunch of people just don't feel it at all, more power to them. But enough of us do that over the decades we've made this sort of set of rules on it, so that everyone gets their needs taken care of and is mostly happy. Lots of ways people can volunteer if they just need that itch scratched or are feeling charitable. Lunch lines, dinner dates, other things - i'm not getting too much into those things here, just mentioning them in passing."
 
 
"... Because we get then to the next point - it's not always *voluntary*. There are these things set up called 'Green Zones' - literally, let me show you." The video switches over to a still image of a stretch of forested city park, bordered with bright green boundary markings and bright green WARNING signs scattered throughout. "Anyone in one of these is, as they say, fair game. There's usually some logic to their positioning, where nobody's *forced* to travel through one, but going around one adds a bit more travel time. And occasionally the government puts little caches in them - luxury herbivore food, little trinkets - that make exploring them kinda enticing. Of course, while you're in one, you're at risk of ending up on someone's dinner table."
 
 
"Like here-" the still image switches to a video feed, someone's shaky cell phone video as they make their way through another green zone. "So two things to watch out for - from everywhere in here, you can see at least one of these warning signs, they try to make it so that there's no excuse of 'accidentally wandering into one'. The other thing to watch out for, in three, two, one..."
 
 
Someone unseen tackles the person holding the cell phone, from behind. The cell phone goes flying, spinning through the air and landing camera-face-up on the ground, as a struggle can be heard from offscreen.
 
 
"The other thing to watch out for being hungry predators, obviously."
 
 
There's more sounds of struggling, and then a meaty *crunch*.
 
 
"So - we done with the very basics? Carnivores and herbivores, predators and prey, regeneration, prey drive, green zones? Right?" the view switches back to the deer's apartment. "All that's fine, but like... being hunted is *really* fun, sometimes."
 
 
"I imagine some of you new viewers out there are like, 'What?', but I'm being serious. It's the ultimate thrill, you know? It's like a game of tag or hide and seek, but with higher stakes than being 'it'. The itch gets scratched a lot more than it does sitting back and volunteering for the grill - and if you get really good at it, get able to *beat* the hunters, that itch gets scratched without you even having an inch of fur get bitten or burnt."
 
 
"... Though, again, getting bitten can be pretty fun." He sticks his tongue out at the camera briefly. "So - depending on how you look at it, it's win-win. Either you get caught and eaten, or you actually win - some of the people who are really into it don't view 'winning' as a win, even, really. Like it's not a proper hunt unless the prey tries their very best and still gets caught at the end."
 
 
"Anyway - there's enough desire from both sides that what formed was called 'sport hunting'. Not just the predators chasing down someone in a green zone because they needed to get fresh meat for dinner, but arrangements between predators and prey to do it formally, with designated areas and specific rules and set start and end times. It's also called a 'run' - hence, you know, Runner98 being the name of the channel. 98 was my high school track and running number, and I just hung onto it."
 
 
"So - that's what I do. I'm a reviewer and a video blogger - I go out, find the best and worst spots to run, the experiences, the equipment... And I post all about it here, of course. And I'm not just some lazy video-maker who sits on his venison hams and 'reviews' things - I actually go out, bet my hide, take in the experiences in full."
 
 
"And there's a lot out there - lots of good and bad. You've got stores that flog mass-produced 'runner gear' that will break on you mid-hunt. There's private hunting areas that claim to have 'trained hunters on staff' that are really just seasonal teenagers that don't know what the <fudge> goes into making a good hunt, or other areas that let their grounds overgrow or don't have enough cover or all sorts of other things. Some real stinkers out there, let me tell you..."
 
 
Then he looks wistful. "On the other hand, some really *wonderful* places - Shrikefield Reserves, for example, is what I'd hold up as as like the *model* for a hunting reserve that treats its prey clientele right. There's like - it's not like you're getting pampered, and it's not going to put a hole in your wallet along with your hide, but they *get it*. I've never once regretted one of my running trips through Shrikefield, whether it's one of their hunting packages or just going out there freestyle and seeing who chases. Really recommend you check out one of my videos on there."
 
 
"- Though keep in mind that if you're a first time watcher, I do sorta go *bleh*-" He pantomimes dying, closing his eyes and sticking out his tongue with his head tilted. "And my camera crew keeps rolling, so if you're totally green then you're gonna see some *stuff*."
 
 
"I think that'll wrap things up - go catch some of my other videos, make sure to like comment and runscribe, ring that dinner bell - and whichever side of the crosshairs you're on, make sure to hunt well! Runner98, out!"
 
 
The channel outro music starts playing as the view fades to the Runner98 logo on a black screen.