Invasion of the Overworld

by Mark Cheverton

  Backtracking a few times to find a jumpable path, Gameknight eventually made it to the top. The view was spectacular. The natural landscape of Minecraft now lay before him like a complex quilt of different biomes, their blocky nature evident up close but appearing as smooth features in the distance. Looking up, he could feel the sun traveling on its relentless course toward the horizon. Night would come sooner than he wanted; he had to hurry. Using the dirt blocks that were collected when he’d excavated his hidey-hole, Gameknight999 started to build a tower—not an elaborate structure, just one block on top of another going straight up into the sky. After about ten blocks, he started placing torches on the side of the blocks, leaning out far enough to see the vertical faces. Building another five blocks, he did the same, placing torches on all four sides of the dirt tower. Lastly, he jumped up and placed a torch on the very top of the structure. He’d learned long ago that it was easy to get lost in Minecraft, and a lit tower was always helpful in finding your way back home. Who knows if he’d actually be coming back?

  Satisfied that the tower would be visible from a distance, Gameknight jumped off. If he were to fall straight onto the ground, he’d likely take damage, but the tower had been placed strategically next to the source of the waterfall; a bubbling pool of water that flowed over the edge of the outcropping, falling some twenty or thirty blocks to the ground below. With careful aim, Gameknight landed in that bubbling pool, taking no damage.

  Being in a hurry, he chose to ride the waterfall down to the ground rather than retracing his steps up to the top of the mountain. Leaping into the flow of water, he slowly floated to the base of the cliff, the watery flow momentarily robbing him of air. As he fell, Gameknight watched the ground slowly rise up to meet him, the watery ride gentle and smooth. Pushing his way out of the water flow so as to avoid being pulled into the underground cavern below, he gracefully landed next to the pool and hit the ground running. Moving to the north, Gameknight sprinted for the break in the hills that led out of the small basin at the foot of the mighty waterfall. Turning, he looked up. The pillar of dirt shone bright at the top of the mountain, hopefully visible from a great distance. It might attract griefers, but they’d never find his hidey-hole unless they had an X-ray mod, and besides, he had all the important things with him: food, weapons, and tools, the rest they could have if it came to that.

  Turning back to the north, Gameknight999 faced his destination: the distant village. Ahead of him stood the strange monster-like mountain, its spiky outcropping looking like the ravenous mouth of some great beast. He had to run past this earthy brute to get to the village. It made him shudder. That giant fanged opening seemed to be waiting for him to come near and make a mistake, an error that would cost him pain and death. An icy hand of fear settled its clammy grip on his spine, making him shudder again. He could see a few spiders in the distance and the occasional creeper. Speed and stealth were critical now, or he’d get to the village too late. Worse yet, he might never make it at all. He wished he had Shawny, his Minecraft friend, with him; Shawny was maybe his only friend. They’d gone on many adventures before, fought many battles side-by-side. It wasn’t very common for Gameknight to say that he needed someone. He was a lone wolf by nature, but today, right now, he desperately needed someone, needed his friend, but wishes didn’t get you anything, just false hope. Stuffing his fear deep within his soul, he started to sprint toward the village, anxiety and dread tickling the edges of his mind.

  “Monsters, beware,” he said holding his sword up high, his body wrapped in life-preserving iron, “Gameknight999 is here.”

  And onward he ran toward the village, toward his fate.

  CHAPTER 5

  BATTLE

  T

  he trek to the village was terrifying. It seemed like the mobs were everywhere, spiders hiding amongst the trees and skeletons huddled together where shadows from the overhead canopy offered some protection from the incendiary sun. Dim-witted zombies milled about in the occasional cavern or crevasse, their moaning filling the air. There must have been at least double the number of monsters normally on a server. Somehow, the monsters seemed to feel his presence even from a distance, his flesh drawing them to him like sharks to blood.

  Moving quickly across the plain, he ran from hill to hill, sneaking peeks over the summits to look for threats. As he peered over one hill, the clicking sounds of spiders reached his ears. Turning and drawing his sword in one fluid motion, Gameknight faced three of the gigantic beasts, the prickly hair on their bodies moving in all directions at once, their red eyes burning with hatred and a lust for destruction. The center spider leapt up at him, hoping to land on his iron-clad body. Moving to the left, he slashed at the soft under-belly, landing a strong blow that made the creature flash red. Then the next two jumped into the fray, their black claws slashing at him violently. One of their blows landed true, carving a deep gash into his chest plate. Moving back, Gameknight hacked at the spider, driving it back, while the other two tried to circle behind him. These creatures were smart and knew how to fight together, one of them attacking while the others moved to get a better angle on their prey. Spinning, he slashed at the spider to his right, then turned and attacked the beast on the left, all the time backing away from the one directly in front of him.

  Slash . . . bang.

  Another clawed attack landed home.

  Spinning and attacking, Gameknight tried to beat the three monsters down, but they were landing too many blows, slowly wearing down his armor; this wasn’t going to work. Sprinting forward, he sped through the trio, slashing at the lead one as he passed. Surprised by this tactic, the monsters just stood there, not sure what to do. Taking advantage of his momentary lead, Gameknight pulled out his shovel and dug straight down three blocks—luckily only hitting dirt, then sealed himself in with one of the blocks overhead. Wrapped in complete darkness, Gameknight listened to the approaching clicking sounds, the spiders sounding angry about letting their prey escape. They seemed to know where he was. The monsters milled around directly above him, wanting to dig him up but they were unable to. It wasn’t in their programming to dig. The sound from the hunters was still terrible, their hatred and hunger for his death somehow sounding clear in their clicking voices. Fear pulsed through his veins; the terrible spiders were just a single block overhead. Crouching down to get a little farther away, Gameknight waited in the darkness, hoping a plan would come to mind, but surprisingly, as he crouched, the monsters seemed to lose track of him, their angry voices dispersing and moving away. This was interesting.

  Waiting in the darkness, Gameknight considered his options. He couldn’t hear the beasts anymore, but they could still be above him, quietly waiting for the mouse to leave its hole. Shaking with fear, Gameknight decided he couldn’t stay here all night. Pulling out his shovel, he dug himself out of the hole and cautiously climbed out. Using his head like a submarine’s periscope, he peeked out just above ground level and scanned the area, looking for the fuzzy nightmares; they’d gone, probably losing interest while he crouched. Breathing a sigh of relief, he ran his fingers over the new gash in his chest plate, the jagged gouge reminding him of the reality of this place, then climbed all the way out of his hole and continued on his journey.

  Many times he had to sprint away from the giant black insects and angry creepers, using his crouching hole to hide when their numbers became too great. The creepers were the worst, though, because their only weapon was to explode when close enough to do damage to their prey. A few creepers tried to give him a loud surprise, detonating when they were near. He was able to kill two of them before they popped—a third had exploded, adding a little more damage to his armor. Fortunately, his iron coat had kept the damage from his flesh, the stabbing pain he’d come to expect from these monsters gratefully absent. And so he crossed the open terrain in a pattern of run, dig, and crouch . . . run, dig, and crouch, as he headed toward the village.

  Finally, he could see the torches of the village in the dist
ance as the last vestiges of the sun’s bright face sank below the horizon, shading the distant sky with warm shades of red and orange, sparkling stars emerging overhead. Gameknight was surprised that even though it was so dark there were no monsters nearby. He expected to be running for his life as darkness enveloped the landscape, but as he crossed the terrain, it seemed that there were fewer mobs in the area, as if they had been attracted somewhere else. And now that he could see the village, he understood. Massive numbers of creatures encompassed the village, likely all of the monsters in the vicinity, each one hungry to devour the lives of those that hid within.

  He needed answers, and he couldn’t afford to let these beasts destroy the place. Sprinting as fast as he could, Gameknight999 streaked to the village. As he neared, he could hear the screams of the villagers who were being attacked by zombies and spiders, their shouts of pain as a skeleton’s arrows pierced them, the occasional flash of a creeper explosion in the distance. The sounds of agony and torment were overwhelming—the cries of the wounded and the wails of those about to die; this village was in the process of being wiped out from Minecraft, forever. It felt real and terrible, almost as if Gameknight himself could feel the villager’s terror and pain.

  Stab . . . a pain in his side. Gameknight heard a villager scream as a zombie slashed at her side with its blunt green arms; her pain was somehow resonating within him.

  Stab . . . a jolt of pain in his back. A villager fell as an arrow stabbed into his back, the sharp, barbed point feeling as if it had actually pierced his own flesh.

  The bolts of pain were nearly overwhelming. Why was he feeling this? He could tell that he wasn’t taking any damage, but the pain was still nearly unbearable. Somehow, he was linked to these villagers—no, he was linked to Minecraft, and he had to stop this.

  Diving into the battle, Gameknight sought out targets. He knew he had to get the zombies first. The green creatures would be at the doors, pounding on the wooden barriers with their clawed hands, trying to gain access to the helpless victims within. Jumping and sprinting between spiders and creepers, Gameknight launched himself at a cluster of zombies, striking at them with his iron sword and then backing away, hoping they would follow; they did. As they attacked, he picked them off one at a time. Slash to the head. Slice to the body. Stab to the back. The three green monsters fell, leaving behind small balls of glowing XP and clumps of zombie flesh. Running through the XP spheres, he chased down his next victim, the XP making him feel slightly stronger. As he ran through the crowd of monsters, he placed torches on the ground, painting the terrain with golden circles of light, making threats easier to see. And so on he ran, planting torches and slashing away at zombies as he streaked through the village.

  Bang, bang, bang . . . Gameknight could hear a zombie smashing its blunt, clawed fists on a door. Running from one structure to the next, he searched for the zombie assault. It was the stone, castle-like structure, with its soaring tower looming high above the village. Dashing to the front door, Gameknight crashed into the attacking zombie. Stabbing at it with his sword, he quickly destroyed the beast, then spun around just as a spider swiped its clawed legs at his chest. A scratchy, crackling sound could be heard as the black claw slashed across his armor, tearing into his iron coating like a wicked can opener; he’d taken damage. Backing up, he slashed at the spider’s head every time it leapt forward. With four hits, the eight-legged monster evaporated, leaving behind more XP and a coil of thread.

  Ignoring the spoils of war, Gameknight turned and looked for more zombies. A hissing sound started to fill the air; a creeper was getting ready to explode. He saw the mottled beast next to a home, the green and black monster starting to brighten and swell, getting ready to detonate. Sprinting to the walking bomb, he swung his sword at its head, stopping the detonation process and drawing its attention to him. The speckled creeper turned toward Gameknight, its coal-black eyes glaring at him with a look of unbridled, overwhelming hatred. The creeper then started to glow brighter and swell; it was trying to explode again. Striking quickly, Gameknight swung his iron blade at the monster, hitting it again and again until it disappeared with a pop, leaving behind a small pile of gunpowder and more XP.

  Streaking through the battlefield, Gameknight continued to hammer away at the zombies, cleaving heads and arms with his iron weapon. He was like a spinning whirlwind of death, his blade carving great, sweeping arcs through the mobs, slashing at the monsters like he’d done so many times before, but this time it was different. This time it was for real. The zombies now all knew he was there and they had become the hunted. Changing their tactic, the green creatures clustered together in large groups, the long claw-tipped arms all reaching out for him. Sprinting past such a cluster, Gameknight could see the tall endermen standing on the periphery, their white eyes burning in the darkness. They were watching him closely, directing the battle somehow.

  Just then, a group of zombies approached, their sorrowful, moaning voices filling his ears. Sprinting directly toward the group, he ran through the center, his blade slashing out at them as he passed. Turning, he streaked by them again, his iron sword striking at the beasts. Dashing back and forth, Gameknight slowly whittled the group down to nothing, just glowing balls of XP and piles of stinking zombie flesh. Collecting the XP, he turned back toward the village, finishing off the last of the zombies in seconds.

  Irritated chuckling could be heard from endermen as the last zombie fell, the tall monsters standing at the outskirts of the battle, but not getting directly involved. Gameknight hoped the tall, dark monsters didn’t join the fray; an enderman was a terrible opponent. With just iron weapons and armor, he wasn’t sure if he could survive a battle with one of the shadowy creatures, but he also knew that they had to be provoked in order to fight, and that was the last thing he was going to do.

  With the zombies gone, he now focused on the skeletons, their bows delivering severe damage from a distance. Moving between the buildings, he came across one home with a single block missing at head level, a nearby skeleton shooting arrows at the occupants within, their anguished cries resonating within his mind. Moving to the wall, Gameknight placed a block of stone to cover the hole, then turned and charged the skeleton, arrows ringing off his armor, iron sword swinging wildly; more XP quickly appeared.

  One building had a missing door, the NPCs within hiding in a back room. Gameknight quickly sealed the doorway with stone, and then ran on, looking for more targets. In the distance, he could see endermen teleporting from one place to another, a cloud of purple particles always following them. They looked like they were trying to get a better view of the battle. Occasionally one of the dark beasts would teleport directly into the village for an instant, before disappearing in a purple haze. Quickly looking away so as to not provoke one, Gameknight continued striking at the monsters, forgetting about the black lanky creatures for now. He’d done significant damage to the attacking horde; all of the zombies gone, and he was now focusing on the skeletons and creepers. Sprinting throughout the village, he outran the spiders but had to get close to the skeletons to do any damage.

  Remembering something he’d learned from playing one of his dad’s old PC games, “Wing Commander,” Gameknight focused on the skeletons. By running in a zigzag pattern, he bolted near the boney monsters and struck quickly with his sword, delivering only one blow before he sprinted away. Using these hit-and-run tactics, Gameknight slowly chiseled away at the skeleton’s HP, moving fast enough to make accurate bow shots difficult. Their arrows zipped past his head and grazed his back; he wasn’t getting hit, but the shots were close, too close. The endermen seemed to sense what he was doing, because the monsters started to react. Clusters of spiders started to surround the skeletons, protecting them from Gameknight’s blade.

  “So that’s the way you want to play it?” Gameknight said to no one. “Fine, let’s see how you like this.”

  Charging the creepers instead, he struck out at the green-spotted beasts, landing just one blo
w as he streaked by, hoping that they would detonate safely away from the village; no such luck. Running back to the creepers, he landed a single blow on a couple of the explosive monsters, then backed away, drawing them from the village. The single-minded creatures did as expected and pursued him, mice following the piper. With a string of creepers trailing him out onto the plain, he spun around and landed blows with his iron blade on the leader, coaxing it to detonate. Leaping away at the last instant, the monster swelled and detonated, taking its comrades with him. The smell of sulfur filled the air as dirt blocks rained down onto the ground, a gigantic crater now carved into the surface of Minecraft.

  Streaking back to the village, Gameknight999 sought out more of the hissing monsters. Another cluster of the creepers were milling about near the village well, their green and black bodies pressing against each other as they moved about apparently without purpose. Running up to them, Gameknight struck out at their leader with a single blow, making the beast glow momentarily, but then fade back to green when he backed off.

  “Come on, follow me,” Gameknight said to the monstrosity, backing away slowly.

  As expected, the creatures scuttled toward him again, their little pig-like feet moving in a flurry that was almost too fast to see. Others in the group followed the pursuit, all of the beasts wanting to explode and take the user with them. When they were far enough away from the village, Gameknight stopped and detonated them again as before, sprinting away at the last instant to avoid getting bitten by the lethal fangs of the blast.

  Repeating this strategy, he pursued all the creepers, drawing them away from the village, then killing them, one at a time, something he was very good at, until all the mottled green beasts were dead. The last real threats to the village were now gone. Turning back to the spiders and skeletons, he realized that they couldn’t breach any of the buildings and get to the innocent villagers that hid within. The endermen were the only real threats remaining, and the dark beasts seemed unwilling to get involved.