The screen cut to black. Within an hour of the upload, the video had a hundred thousand hits. Aiden was a star, at least until the bruises healed and he had to find something even more painful to do for the next one.
The setup was simple and insane. He’d rigged a heavy-duty pitching machine normally used for baseballs, but he’d modified the feeder to hold taped-up hockey pucks. He was standing twenty feet away, wearing nothing but a vintage Bruins jersey, cargo shorts, and a pair of plastic safety goggles he’d found in his dad's garage. ItsGonnaHurt.com - Aiden From Boston.mp4
The goal wasn't to dodge. The goal, according to the site’s twisted points system, was to take the hit and stay standing. The screen cut to black
Aiden didn't scream. He just dropped. The camera kept rolling for three minutes—the silence of the basement only broken by the mechanical whir of the empty pitching machine. Just as the video was about to time out, Aiden’s hand appeared at the bottom of the frame, reaching for the tripod. The setup was simple and insane
He pulled his face into view. His jaw was swelling fast, and he couldn't quite open his left eye, but he held up a shaky thumbs-up.
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.