The warm sunlight, carrying a slight sting, fell on his eyes, and Arav regained consciousness. He slowly lifted his eyelids, but the scene around him shook him completely.
All around him was a lush green jungle. Tall trees, whose leaves seemed to whistle with the wind, and below, thick grass that crackled underfoot. In the distance stretched a shining river, its surface sparkling like silver under the sun. The air carried a strange fragrance—of soil, of wood, and of the warm sun.
Arav looked at his hands—they were all blocky. His heart started pounding hard.
"This… what kind of world is this?" he whispered.
He turned back, but no one was there. No house, no path, no friends. Only him and this new, strange, unfamiliar blocky world.
At first, he thought maybe it was a dream. But when he placed his hand on the grass and tiny pixelated particles flew off, he realized—this wasn't a dream. This was real.
For a while, he just stood there, staring at the world. A small pig wandered past, its blocky feet tapping on the dirt. Arav took a couple of steps after it, then burst into laughter.
"Arav, have you gone mad? You're chasing a pig?" he said to himself.
But deep inside, there was also a strange excitement. As if a new adventure was beginning.
---
He looked up at the sky. The sun was still high above, but slowly dipping lower. Darkness was approaching. A strange fear rose inside him, as if an inner voice whispered: "It won't be safe here at night."
Without thinking, he saw a big tree and struck its trunk with his hand. "Thak! Thak! Thak!"
Slowly, the cubes of the tree broke apart into small wooden blocks. Arav was stunned.
"I… I can break anything?" he thought, and with excitement, he began breaking more blocks. Soon, he had collected four or five logs. As soon as he held them, they automatically went into his inventory.
A small crafting menu flashed in his mind, as if his brain itself knew what to do. He turned some logs into planks, then arranged the planks into a crafting table.
"How… how do I even know this?" he wondered in surprise. "It's like my brain is telling me what to do."
He quickly made sticks, then a wooden pickaxe. The moment he held it in his hand, he swung it with force. With a dull thud, he laughed.
"This is amazing!"
---
The sun was now dipping lower. The sky had turned red, and from afar came a faint, creepy gurgling sound. As if some monsters were awakening. Arav's heartbeat quickened.
"Shit… I need to build a house quickly," he told himself.
He cleared a small area and built a 3x3 box-like shelter out of planks. He added a roof, then crafted a small door and closed it.
Inside it was dark, but at least he felt safe. Outside, the groans of zombies began—"Uhhh…"—and the "twang" of skeleton arrows could also be heard. Every sound rattled his heart.
He sat in a corner, hugging his knees.
"What's happening to me? How did I get here? And what even is this place?"
Thousands of questions crowded his mind, but there were no answers.
---
Arav sat quietly inside the shelter. Outside, zombies thudded against the door, as if trying to break it. Skeleton arrows sometimes struck the walls with a thak! sound. A spider's hissing drew nearer.
Arav's blood froze. He shut his eyes, praying for morning to come soon. But then, a voice echoed in his ears: "You are not safe here…"
Arav opened his eyes. In the corner of the shelter, glowing dots appeared. Slowly, they formed into a shape—like blocky white eyes drawn onto the wall.
Arav's breath stopped. Those eyes were staring directly at him. And then… as soon as he blinked, they vanished.
"What… what was that?" he muttered, trembling.
---
The first rays of dawn slipped through the cracks of the shelter. Outside, the burning sounds of mobs could be heard, as if they were consumed by sunlight.
Arav opened the door and stepped out. Everything looked peaceful again. Only some ashes remained on the ground.
But his mind still remembered those eyes from the night.
"Was that just my imagination? Or… was it something else?"
He stared at a cave near the jungle. It was dark, yet faint light flickered inside, as if calling to him.
Arav gripped his pickaxe tightly. His heart still pounded with fear, but curiosity walked hand in hand with it.
"Maybe the answers are in there…"
And he stepped inside the cave.
The moment he entered, a cold wind brushed against his face. His heart thumped faster, every step pulling him closer to a new mystery.
The darkness was so dense that nothing was visible. Only a faint glow came from deeper within the cave. Arav placed the pickaxe on his shoulder and carefully walked forward. Each step echoed with the crackle of dirt and stone.
He touched the wall of the cave—his fingers shivered with cold. The surface was blocky, yet here and there, strange markings were carved.
"This… doesn't look like normal stone," he whispered.
When he thought of crafting a torch, he realized he didn't have any coal yet. Only a few leftover planks. He quickly crafted a torch from a stick and plank. As the flame lit, its glow spread across the walls.
And then he saw it.
---
On the walls were small symbols—blocky, as if carved from quartz or white stone. Some were squares, some triangles, and some entirely unrecognizable.
The strangest thing—they were glowing. A faint bluish light.
Arav brought the torch closer. As the light touched the symbols, one of them blinked. And with that blink, a faint voice echoed:
"…brine…"
Arav immediately stepped back. "Wha… what was that?"
His torch trembled in his hand. Yet his curiosity grew stronger.
He raised his pickaxe and struck the wall. The stone broke, but the symbol did not disappear. It was embedded deep within the rock.
"These… aren't normal blocks."
He lifted the torch and looked further ahead. The cave stretched deeper, and the glowing symbols seemed to guide the path.
Arav slowly ventured deeper. His heart still beat with fear, but each new symbol sharpened his curiosity.
Finally, he entered a large hall-like chamber. In the torchlight, he saw—a massive stone archway, like a hidden doorway.
Above the archway was a giant symbol—two blocky white eyes.
Seeing those eyes, Arav's body shivered. He remembered the night in his shelter, when he saw the same eyes.
"This… this is the same thing. This isn't a normal cave," he whispered to himself.
---
As he stepped closer to the archway, a cold gust blew out his torch. Darkness spread.
Panicked, he tried to relight it, but his hand shook. And then, with no source, a voice whispered. Slow, hissing:
"You have come… Arav…"
Arav froze. He dropped the torch, and in its flickering light, he barely saw a shadow stir within the archway.
He shouted, "Who's there?! How do you know my name?!"
No reply came—only a chilling laughter, echoing deeper and deeper into the cave.
---
Gathering courage, Arav picked up his torch and stepped inside the archway. Within was a small chamber. In the center stood a chest—old, wooden, banded with iron.
Arav approached, trying to calm his racing heart. "It's just a chest… maybe some loot."
He opened it. Inside were a few items—
A tattered map, marked only with broken, incomplete lines.
A strange quartz block, etched with the same glowing symbols.
And a book, bound in black, with white eyes drawn on the cover.
Arav picked up the book. The moment he touched the cover, another whisper echoed:
"…Herobrine…"
Arav immediately dropped the book. His palms were drenched in sweat.
"This… this is about Herobrine?" he stammered.
---
Looking at the chest's contents, Arav realized this was no ordinary place. This was an ancient chamber, hiding clues about Herobrine.
He quickly stored the book and the quartz block in his inventory. As he lifted the map, the chamber walls trembled.
From the ceiling, gravel and stone began to fall. A loud roar boomed: "Leave…"
Arav ran. The torchlight flickered wildly, barely showing the path. Behind him, the walls collapsed. His heart pounded so violently it felt like his ears would burst.
Finally, he reached the cave entrance and leapt outside.
The jungle air hit his face. He looked back—the entrance had collapsed, sealed shut.
Only a faint glowing crack remained, slowly fading into darkness.
---
Arav collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. In his hand was still the black book. He opened it—inside, it read:
"The Lost Code… broken into fragments… only the worthy may stop him."
And below was a single name:
Herobrine.
Arav clutched his head in both hands.
"This… this isn't just a legend. This is real."
He looked at the sky. The sun was sinking again. Another night was coming. But within Arav now burned a spark—not of fear, but of a new mission.
"Whatever happens… I must learn everything about this."
He picked up his pickaxe, packed the book, and began walking toward the village—where perhaps someone would be ready to tell him the truth about this legend.
—
To be continued…