Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine

by Mark Cheverton

  Chapter 1: Crafter’s village/Gameknight’s castle

  Chapter 2: Spider queen’s cave

  Chapter 7: Oak forest - 58869504534188799870

  Chapter 8: Mega Taiga - 3485268997993920662

  Chapter 10: Extreme hills - 6553332085389533818

  Chapter 15: The Nether

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  When I started thinking about the outline of this book, I was playing Minecraft with my son and the many kids using Gameknight999’s public Minecraft server. (The IP address of the server can be found on at www.gameknight999.com) I’ve watched everyone playing together, building some fantastic cities, creating their own mini games, and going on zombie-hunting adventures. These Minecrafters did a lot of different things, but the one thing that I consistently saw them do was work together really well. In fact, this seems to have emerged as a requirement for playing on this server, enforced by the users themselves; you have to be willing to help other people. This made me think about working together and what Herobrine would think of this, and it ultimately led to the underlying idea for the book you’re holding in your hands: You can do more working together than you can working apart.

  For those kids out there sending me emails—I love them. Please keep sending them. I try to respond to every message I get on my YouTube channel or on Twitter (@MinecraftAuthor) or through email. If you do send me an email through my website, www.markcheverton.com, please make sure you type your email address correctly. Sometimes I cannot reply simply because your email address was typed wrong, so please type carefully.

  For those of you starting to write your own Minecraft story, I say, HURRAY! Writing is awesome, but it can be a terrifying adventure to start. There are a lot of resources on the Internet to help you, but it’s important to remember that if you don’t start writing, then you’ve guaranteed a negative outcome. If you try writing a story, you might just find it as exciting and exhilarating as I do. But let me tell you the two hardest things about writing:

  1. Starting to write is hard. It can be really difficult to start your story because you may not be sure how to begin. The secret is to just write . . . something, anything! You can always change it later. Writing will make you think of ideas whether you like it or not, so just get started and the story will emerge in your mind. If you need help thinking of an idea, go to my website (markcheverton.com) and look at the stories other kids have sent me . . . maybe they will help reveal your story idea to your mind.

  2. Continuing to write is hard. A lot of people get stuck when they are writing and just stop. Sometimes you might feel like the story doesn’t feel right, or the character doesn’t feel right . . . or maybe even the whole thing doesn’t feel right. The secret is to just keep writing and finish your story, then go back and fix it later. Don’t get stuck on some detail and stop, because starting again is difficult. So keep writing, and don’t stop! Maybe, together, we can get a million kids writing. Imagine what fantastic stories we’d discover together!

  Keep reading (and keep writing!) and, as always, watch out for creepers.

  Mark (Aka Monkeypants271)

  AVAILABLE NOW FROM MARK CHEVERTON AND SKY PONY PRESS

  THE GAMEKNIGHT999 SERIES

  The world of Minecraft comes to life in this thrilling adventure!

  Gameknight999 loved Minecraft, and above all else, he loved to grief—to intentionally ruin the gaming experience for other users.

  But when one of his father’s inventions teleports him into the game, Gameknight is forced to live out a real-life adventure inside a digital world. What will happen if he’s killed? Will he respawn? Die in real life? Stuck in the game, Gameknight discovers Minecraft’s best-kept secret, something not even the game’s programmers realize: the creatures within the game are alive! He will have to stay one step ahead of the sharp claws of zombies and pointed fangs of spiders, but he’ll also have to learn to make friends and work as a team if he has any chance of surviving the Minecraft war his arrival has started.

  With deadly endermen, ghasts, and dragons, this action-packed trilogy introduces the heroic Gameknight999 and has proven to be a runaway publishing smash, showing that the Gameknight999 series is the perfect companion for Minecraft fans of all ages.

  Invasion of the Overworld (Book One):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63220-711-1

  Battle for the Nether (Book Two):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63220-712-8

  Confronting the Dragon (Book Three):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-046-3

  THE MYSTERY OF HEROBRINE SERIES

  Gameknight999 must save his friends from an evil virus intent on destroying all of Minecraft!

  Gameknight999 was sucked into the world of Minecraft when one of his father’s inventions went haywire. Trapped inside the game, the former griefer learned the error of his ways, transforming into a heroic warrior and defeating powerful endermen, ghasts, and dragons to save the world of Minecraft and his NPC friends who live in it.

  Gameknight swore he’d never go inside Minecraft again. But that was before Herobrine, a malicious virus infecting the very fabric of the game, threatened to destroy the entire Overworld and escape into the real world. To outsmart an enemy much more powerful than any he’s ever faced, the User-that-is-not-a-user will need to go back into the game, where real danger lies around every corner. From zombie villages and jungle temples to a secret hidden at the bottom of a deep ocean, the action-packed adventures of Gameknight999 and his friends (and, now, family) continue in this thrilling follow-up series for Minecraft fans of all ages.

  Trouble in Zombie-town (Book One):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-094-4

  The Jungle Temple Oracle (Book Two):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-096-8

  Last Stand on the Ocean Shore (Book Three):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-098-2

  SAVING CRAFTER

  Herobrine Reborn: Book One: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Gameknight999’s best friend in Minecraft is dying, and only the User-that-is-not-a-user can save him!

  Herobrine, the artificially intelligent virus intent on escaping Minecraft and infecting the Internet with his evil, was captured after an epic showdown on the shores of Minecraft. Gameknight999, having trapped the virus in an unlikely prison, saved the lives of his friends in the game and was finally able to return to the physical world.

  Everyone thought the Last Battle was over and Minecraft was safe . . . but they were wrong. The powerful evil held within Herobrine’s prison is leaking out into the fabric of Minecraft and attacking Crafter, the most sensitive NPC on the server and Gameknight999’s best friend. With Crafter’s life in jeopardy, Gameknight999 and his father, a Minecraft noob, have no choice but to return to the game again. As they journey to The End to destroy Herobrine, Gameknight and his friends will face two of Herobrine’s most hated creations: the zombie-king, Xa-Tul, and the king of the endermen, Feyd. With Crafter’s life hanging by a thread, Gameknight999 must find a way to thwart Herobrine’s plans before the virus’s poison kills his best friend.

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-5107-0014-7

  DESTRUCTION OF THE OVERWORLD

  Herobrine Reborn: Book Two: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  The Ender Dragon, infected by the Herobrine virus, has escaped into the Overworld!

  Gameknight999 and his father, Monkeypants271, traveled all the way to The End and banished the evil virus Herobrine to the only place they knew nothing could survive: the Void. They thought they had finally destroyed the enemy . . .

  But through the Void, Herobrine’s viral lines of code were able to spread all throughout The End, infecting the horrible Ender Dragon. After gaining the teleportation powers of the endermen, the dragon escaped out into the Overworld! Terrorizing Minecraft, the dragon’s evil presence is now transforming the lush and beautiful land into the dark and desolate world of The End. It will be up to Gameknight999, his dad, and their NPC friends to defeat
the dragon without releasing Herobrine, while at the same time battling a massive army led by Feyd, the king of the endermen, and Xa-Tul, the zombie king. With everything on the line, Gameknight must use every bit of skill and bravery to save the entire Overworld from destruction.

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-5107-0015-4

  AVAILABLE NOW FROM NANCY OSA AND SKY PONY PRESS

  The Battle of Zombie Hill

  Battalion Banished

  Spawn Point Zero

  Available wherever books are sold!

  AVAILABLE NOW FROM WINTER MORGAN AND SKY PONY PRESS

  The Quest for the Diamond Sword

  The Mystery of the Griefer’s Mark

  The Endermen Invasion

  Treasure Hunters in Trouble

  The Skeletons Strike Back

  Clash of the Creepers

  The Secret Treasure

  Hidden in the Overworld

  The Griefer’s Revenge

  The Return of the Rainbow Griefers

  The Nether Attack

  The Hardcore War

  Available wherever books are sold!

  EXCERPT FROM THE PHANTOM VIRUS

  A BRAND NEW GAMEKNIGHT999 ADVENTURE!

  They left the village with the sun at its zenith, the noonday light streaming through the high overhead tree branches, creating islands of bright illumination within the sea of shadows that covered the forest floor. With the bright patches of light, it was unlikely they would run into any zombies or skeletons, but even so, they kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. Herder’s wolves formed a protective ring around the companions and made them all feel a bit safer.

  Digger led them to the northeast, toward the nearest village that sat far in the distance. According to the last village’s crafter, they could make it there just before dusk, but they had to hurry.

  “You feel it?” Gameknight asked Hunter.

  She turned and looked at him, her enchanted bow casting an iridescent purple glow on the nearby trees.

  “Yeah . . . like we’re being watched,” Hunter whispered.

  Gameknight nodded, then glanced up at the treetops. He scanned the dark green leaves and saw nothing, but the branches were so high, it would be easy for something to hide up there and remain unseen.

  “Let’s move faster,” Gameknight said in a low voice.

  They shifted from walking to running, trying to move as quietly as the wolves . . . which was impossible.

  Soon, then reached the edge of the forest. Gameknight stopped and sat down, catching his breath. Before him stretched a strange landscape filled with bands of brown, tan, beige and mustard yellow all stratified into layers that stretched out across the plateaus. Narrow valleys carved their way through the flattop features, showing the layers of colors within their steep sides. It reminded Gameknight of the sand sculpture he’d done one year at summer camp. They’d poured different colored sand into a vase, laying one color atop the previous, creating layers of color within the glass container. That was how this land looked, like some gigantic child had deposited each layer of color, then punched and gouged the landscape to form the valleys and mountains.

  Just beyond the mesas were a collection of tall, narrow mountains, each layered with colored clay. They weren’t very tall, but incredibly steep. Around their bases ran a complex network of shallow chasms only ten to twelve blocks deep, but with walls that were nearly sheer and impossible to scale. Gameknight knew this biome to be the Bryce biome, named after Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

  It was beautiful.

  “The NPCs said the next village will be on the other side of this biome,” Crafter said. “It must be past all those brown spires.”

  “That’s the Bryce biome,” Gameknight said.

  “I’ve never seen that before,” Crafter said.

  “It’s fantastic,” Digger added, the big NPC’s blue-green eyes wide with amazement.

  “We should get moving,” Stitcher said.

  “Yeah, let’s get the sight-seeing over with,” Hunter added. “I don’t want to be out there in all those chasms after dark. We’ll never be able to see the monster coming until it’s too late.”

  “Agreed,” Gameknight said. “Let’s go.”

  Gameknight sprinted forward, splashing through a narrow stream that separated the mega taiga from the brown mesa. Darting past him were Herder’s wolves. The furry creatures shot through the water at incredible speed, then sprinted out across the mesa. Gameknight was always amazed at their speed. Turning, he looked back at Herder and found the lanky boy smiling, pride showing on his square face.

  “Let’s get up on top of the mesa and find an easy path through this land,” Crafter suggested.

  Gameknight nodded and climbed the gradual incline that led to the top of a plateau. The land was completely flat across the summit, the ground underfoot a chocolate brown. In fact, all of the land around him was the same color. The brown landscape stretched out in all directions with the occasional valley carved through the seemingly endless plane.

  “Northeast is this way,” Digger said as he started walking.

  “We run!” Hunter said as she sprinted by him.

  The rest of the party turned to a sprint, following Hunter’s example. As he ran, Gameknight turned his head, scanning their surroundings and looking for threats. He didn’t like being atop this flat terrain; there was no way to hide their presence. Monsters would be able to see them from far away, and with the dark landscape, the creatures of the night would be difficult to spot.

  “Gameknight,” Crafter said, moving up next to him.

  “What?”

  “Spiders.”

  “Where?” he asked.

  Crafter gestured over his right shoulder.

  The User-that-is-not-a-user looked in that direction, trying not to be conspicuous. Far to the right, he could see a cluster of spiders that were probably twenty strong if not more.

  “Yeah, I saw them too, just a few moments ago,” Stitcher said. “They just popped up over the ridge on the left.”

  “On the left . . . what are you talking about?” Gameknight asked.

  Looking to the left, he gasped.

  “They’re on both sides of us,” Digger said as he pulled out his pickaxe.

  Gameknight glanced to the left and right and sighed. There were far too many for them to fight. Even with Herder’s wolves, they would be outnumbered and overrun. They could not stand and confront the dark monsters . . . they only hope lay in one idea.

  “What do we do?” Crafter asked.

  “We run,” Gameknight said.

  “We can’t run from spiders,” Herder said. “They’re faster than us. My wolves might be able to slow them down for a bit, but not for long.”

  “Gameknight, what do we do?” Crafter asked, his blue eyes filled with fear.

  He glanced about at his surroundings. Everything was flat . . . completely flat with no place to hide. But then he looked where they were running. Ahead was the Bryce biome. A labyrinth of narrow chasms wove their way around tall spires of multicolored clay. They could lose them in the maze.

  “Follow me,” Gameknight said. “We’ll lose the spiders in all the twisting passages and chasms.”

  “I hope you know what you are doing,” Digger said.

  “Since when did that ever stop him before?” Hunter added with a smile.

  The companions ran into the winding passages that cut through the landscape. Tall spires of brown and tan and pale yellow clay loomed high into the air around them, the earthy spikes casting long shadows across the chasm as the sun raced to the horizon.

  “If we get stuck out here after dark, we’ll get lost,” Crafter said. “We have to keep heading norteast whenever possible.”

  “Just keep your eye on the sun,” Gameknight said as he led the company into a narrow passage. The sandy walls hugged them close, at times the passage only a single block wide.

  “Herder, have the wolves take up a rear guard position,” Gameknight sai
d.

  The lanky boy nodded, then whistled, calling the animals to his side. In seconds, he had a dozen wolves running at his side.

  “Protect behind,” Herder said to the largest animal in the pack.

  Somehow, the creature understood and slowed, allowing the rest of the group to pull away.

  Their path now started to wind back and forth, carving wide circuitous paths through the lifeless multihued clay. Winding back and forth, it was difficult to tell where they were heading, but Crafter seemed confident they were still going in the right direction.

  Suddenly, they could hear clicking high overhead.

  “Everyone hide,” Gameknight said in a whisper.

  Quickly, he dug a hole in the ground two blocks deep and jumped in it, the others doing the same. Herder’s wolves caught up with the group and all surrounded the boy, their white fur standing out against the rusty sand.

  If the spiders see the wolves, they’re done for, Gameknight thought.

  “Herder, send the wolves away,” the User-that-is-not-a-user whispered. “They’re too easy to see.”

  The young NPC gave his friend a sad look, then nodded his head. Whispering into the ear of the alpha male, he sent the wolves back toward the mega taiga.

  “Hopefully, they will lead some of the spiders away,” Herder whispered. “They’ll find us later.”