Gameknight slowly woke. His mind felt foggy, as if reality had merged itself with his fading dream. Opening one eye and then the other, he was greeted by a bright sun and a brilliant blue sky, strange clouds drifting across it.
But how could that be?
He was in his basement, or thought he was. Maybe his parents had found him and had taken him to the hospital. Was he looking through the window of his hospital room, seeing the sky outside? Closing his eyes, he moved his hands to his face and rubbed his head, a lingering echo of a headache bouncing around inside his skull. His hands felt funny on his face, blocky and rough.
What was going on?
Slowly opening his eyes again, he surveyed his surroundings. The earth around him was green, with fields of grass slowly waving in the breeze. The aroma was rich with life, the fresh soil under him and the strong smell of flourishing plants, flowers, and grass, growing wild, strange blocky trees in the distance.
A cow walked up behind him and mooed.
Standing quickly, Gameknight spun and faced the animal. Its blocky head was the height of his chest, and it nuzzled against him, mooing again. Pushing the cow away, he looked around again. There was a forest nearby, with blocky trees that he knew all too well. Behind him was a tall waterfall that flowed from a high overhang that looked oddly familiar. A deep hole sat at its base into which the water spilled. Nearby was a tall grassy hill with square blocks of stone exposed here and there.
It can’t be, he thought.
Quickly, Gameknight climbed the hill to get a better look around. He could see a forest in the distance to the east, the square foliage spaced far apart at first, the green grass showing through the canopy. But then the forest grew denser until the branches and leafy blocks nearly touched, crowding together as if for protection from some giant predator.
It’s not possible.
To the south he could see a snow biome spreading out to cover the plains behind the waterfall and tall outcropping. The white snow was bright and in contrast to the lush green of the grassy plains, the snow looking like the white frosting on his recent birthday cake.
Is it? he thought, panic starting to gnaw at the edges of his mind.
Northward, Gameknight could see another strange, tall mountain, a horizontal outcropping sticking out from the top and hanging out over open air, long columns of stone hanging down from the roof. They reminded him of monstrous teeth, the mountain looking like the gaping maw of some gigantic prehistoric beast. But the most interesting feature was past this terrifying mountain; it was a village, its sloped roofs just barely visible in the distance.
How is this possible?
Looking to the west, Gameknight could see a square yellow sun making its way inevitably toward the horizon; its motion almost imperceptible, yet he knew it was moving. Looking up, he could see the clouds slowly flowing across the sky, all of the blocky puffs of moisture moving at the same speed, all in the same direction, east to west.
It is true?
He was inside Minecraft. But how was this possible? He remembered playing the team PvP and then going to that new server he’d heard so much about. He’d spawned near a waterfall . . . Turning, he stared at the strange waterfall cascading from the tall rocky cliff. It can’t be. He’d then shot those noobs and then griefed the village. Turning back, he stared at the village, just where it had been on the server. How is this possible? And then a memory blasted into his mind, the electrical buzzing of machinery and then a blast of bright white light . . . his father’s digitizer. He’d heard it before, that buzzing sound when his father did his experiments and the dark glasses he always wore to protect his eyes—the digitizer. Somehow, he’d triggered the digitizer and it had pulled him into the software that was running on his computer: Minecraft. He was inside Minecraft!
Is this a dream? Is it real? He touched his face with his blocky hands; it felt solid. He stomped the ground with his stubby feet; that too felt real.
Running down the hill, he stood at the base of the tall cliff, the water splashing nearby filling the air with mist, painting him with a fine coat of moisture.
Wet . . . I can feel my skin getting wet! This is amazing; it feels real.
Just then, Gameknight heard a familiar clicking noise, like castanets mixed with the groaning sounds of wood cracking under strain. Spinning around, he found himself staring at an approaching giant spider, its black furry legs moving in staccato fashion as it walked across the grassy knoll, multiple red eyes staring at him hungrily. Fear shot through him like a jolt of electricity but it was quickly snuffed out by his curiosity. He’d never seen such detail on the spiders before; all of the individual black hairs on its body moving as if under their own volition, its burning eyes looking in all directions at once as its blocky abdomen swayed back and forth with every step. His 1080p monitor was apparently not good enough to render the real thing. At the end of each leg, he could see a tiny multiedged claw, the cutting edge curved and sharp, looking like some kind of barbarian’s weapon from World of Warcraft. Leaning forward, Gameknight tried to get a closer look at those eyes, each one glowing as if lit with fire from within.
Slash, bang.
One of the furry legs shot out and hit Gameknight, the claw scraping across his chest and cutting his shirt, the sharp tip finding skin underneath. Pain radiated through his body.
Bang . . . click, click, click.
The spider stuck again, this time at his leg, throwing him backwards—more pain.
Gameknight could feel his health level diminish.
This was real, not just a game. He had to get out of here.
Jumping forward, the spider tried to leap onto its prey, clawed legs slashing in all directions. Gameknight could feel one of them streak past his head, the breeze from the sharp claw painting his face. Panic and fear shot through his body as he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the large blocky monster. He couldn’t stay here; he had to do something or he was dead.
Standing up, Gameknight turned and ran. The spider stuck out again, but narrowly missed, the vicious claw just slicing into the back of his shirt, missing his flesh. Experience told him that spiders were fast, but he was faster when he sprinted. And so he sprinted, the gigantic, multi-eyed, fuzzy black monster on his tail. Terrifying clicking sounds filled the air as the spider followed. He had no weapons, nothing to fight back with, only his experience and his wits.
What was he going to do?
The spider started to close the distance; he’d stopped sprinting and was only running. Sprinting again, he ran up a nearby hill, timing his jumps with practiced efficiency so as to not miss a step and get stuck on a block or be faced with a two-block vertical jump, something that wasn’t possible in Minecraft. Reaching the top of the hill, Gameknight could see the spider looking up at him, its multiple red eyes filled with hunger and rage. Why did this thing want to kill him so badly? It was as if Gameknight had something that the spider needed, desperately.
Jumping up the blocky hill, the spider started to ascend, burning eyes focused on its prey. He couldn’t stay here, he had to move. Running down the backside of the hill, Gameknight took a couple of two-block jumps, knowing he wouldn’t take any damage, and then he saw the nearby waterfall and had an idea. Fighting this beast hand-to-hand was suicide; he knew this for a fact. He needed a weapon, and the waterfall was all he had. Spiders were tough and strong and fast, but they were also stupid. Sprinting down the hill, Gameknight lengthened his lead, the timing of his jumps impeccable. All that parkour training was finally paying off. Running around the opening in the ground into which the waterfall flowed, Gameknight waited a brief instant to make sure the spider still saw him. Then he ran around the column of falling water and just stood there, waiting. Pain and terror filled his mind with a desire to run, but his experience in Minecraft forced his feet to stay still. This was his only chance for survival.
“Hey, come and get me, you furry freak!” Gameknight yelled.
The spider heard these words and charged straight toward him, the black furry legs moving in a flurry of motion. The clicking sounds of the spider became louder as the monster closed on its prey, its eyes now burning bright as if lit from behind by little angry lasers. It leapt the last few blocks, hoping to land on Gameknight, but to its dismay it fell into the waterfall. The spider was quickly trapped in its turbulence. As it struggled to keep its head above water, Gameknight struck at it with his bare fists, landing blow after blow on the spider, seeing the beast flash red when he struck home. If he hit it enough times, he could kill it, but he had to be fast before it found purchase on the rocky ledge and climbed out of the pool of flowing water. Fortunately, the spider lost the battle against the strong current and was pushed down into the huge cavern below. Falling with the flowing water, it fell into the underground chamber, becoming trapped in the pool below, the force of the waterfall keeping its head submerged. As the beast starved for air, its body flashed red again and again and again until all of its HP was gone, the creature disappearing noiselessly, leaving behind a small curly piece of web and three glowing balls of XP (experience points).
Shaking with fear, Gameknight looked down at the floating balls of XP. He wanted those glowing spheres, knowing that XP from fallen combatants could increase a player’s strength and let him enchant weapons to higher levels, but it would be too dangerous to go down into the cavern. Not now, he thought, but maybe later when he was prepared.
Still shaking he surveyed his surroundings. Are there any more monsters about; am I going to be attacked again?
Quickly scanning the area, he saw that he was alone, for now. Looking down at his arms for wounds, he saw that he was OK, his HP slowly increasing again. So this was real . . . for him, anyway, the terror real and the pain certainly real. He needed to think and not act like a noob. What did he need? Food, weapons, and shelter, the latter first. Studying the terrain with an experienced eye, Gameknight looked for a good place to build a hidey-hole, and he found it right away. At the base of the nearby cliff, he could see a narrow opening. Running quickly up the blocks of soil and stone, he found a shadowy fissure that led to a small cave only three blocks deep and two high. He could close this up easily enough and hide here. This would be his new home.
Now he needed wood. Running back down to the basin at the base of the cliff, he sprinted to the nearby trees and started pounding with his bare fists, breaking block after block. He shredded one tree, then moved to the next, getting four blocks from each. That was good enough for now. Looking to the west, Gameknight could see the square face of the sun starting to kiss the horizon, the sky changing from a deep blue to a warm red. It was almost sundown, and everyone knew you didn’t want to be out after dark; being out in the open at night meant death.
Sprinting back to his hidey-hole, he quickly dug up two blocks of dirt, ready to use them to seal himself in for the night. But as he waited for darkness to come, he pulled his blocks of wood from his inventory and crafted them into wooden planks. Gameknight wasn’t really sure how he was doing this; he was just imagining the screen on his computer and doing what he’d done a million times before. Pulling the planks into his inventory, he then created a crafting bench with four pieces and then it was done. Placing the crafting bench in the corner, Gameknight quickly crafted wooden sticks, then a wooden sword, a shovel, and two wooden picks. OK, now he was ready.
The terrain outside his hideout quickly changed from a green, nature-filled slice of beauty to a dangerous, shadowy terrain as the sun finished setting; it was night. The sounds of zombies could be heard in the distance, their moaning wails filling the air with dread. Moving quickly to the opening, Gameknight placed the two blocks of dirt, shutting out the monsters and plunging himself into darkness, but now at least he had some weapons and tools, though they were a poor excuse for what he was used to. Lifting the sword, he swung it through the darkness, feeling the keen edge cut through the air and accidently hit the nearby wall. Having a weapon in his hand felt good, felt natural, but his mind was still filled with fear as the sounds of spiders, zombies, and skeletons trickled into his hidey-hole, echoing throughout his mind. He had to remember: this was real, pain was real . . . was death real? Turning to the nearby wall, Gameknight999 pulled out his pick and started to dig.