Chapter 1: The Art of living

Everything’s black, what on earth is going on? Wait, my eyes are closed. ‘opens eyes’ “Better,” wait? it’s all white now; I guess I just can't win - a great start. Anyway, I should get my bearings “hmmm” looking around I see, well absolutely nothing I would say it was pitch black if it was not clearly the opposite.

Let’s start with grounding, that’s what you’re supposed to do in these situations right? Well, I assume so; it’s as close an idea I’ll come to in such an odd situation. Alrighty, grounding first, ‘lightly jumps’ it’s in the name you see. Lightly giggling to myself at my bad sense of humor. So after having jumped; I’m instantly very confused I felt the ground under me, the ground I should clarify; I can’t see, but is of course there; Since I’m literally standing on it. Feeling the floor, I find no words can describe it, with its oddly hollow texture less feeling. weirdly, it made no noise as any reasonable material should upon a lightweight such as my self jumping. Another bad pun to chase away the little bit of fear creeping up my spine. Something is very unnerving when you can’t hear your own footsteps; trying to make noise didn’t help, just made me more nervous. So did the realization that I hear no sound other than my breathing and a slight pulse I can only assume is my own heartbeat, at least I’m alive, I guess.

I am alive, right? “How did I get here anyway” speaking softly.

“I brought you here” I hear from behind me.

Running with true fear, not just jump scare fear; true terror. In my defense, such complete silence really sets you up for fearing any form of noise.

Having run for a short while I quickly realize that what I heard was a relatively normal voice, why was I so scared? Pushing my fear down I turn ‘gazing behind me,’ I find what at first appears as a rather unimpressive young man. Dirty blond hair and a 5 o clock shadow. Taking a second glance I quickly realize that he is in fact an impressive 10 foot tall.

Curiously pondering how on earth I missed such a large man within this barren landscape. Pushing my confusion to the side; I speak as clearly as I can.

“Who the hell are you?” managing to suppress a stutter at the last moment.

“Heaven” He corrects me with a smirk.

“wait, heaven? Am I in heaven?” taken back in surprise and confusion.

He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath he speaks as if it’s a great burden. “No, you are within my personal Heaven” Safely concluding this strange man is messing with me.

Suppressing the frown creeping up my face, speaking far more easily now I realize he's not ‘God.’ “Fine, fine; now can you tell why I am in your domain? How did I get here?”

Without missing a beat, as if he didn’t hear me. “As much as it was great fun watching you panic then run around, we must move on.” His tone is almost robotic.

In that same, forced, mechanical tone. Like a person pretending to be a robot. “Onto the main event” Stopping suddenly, he just looks at me.

Pretty annoyed by this point, I reiterate my question in a far more curt tone. “Who are you? Why am I here? What is going on? I know you can speak normally.”

He freezes before cocking his head at me, letting go of a breath he was holding he speaks. “Alright, ‘brings his hands up defensively’ I’ll stop messing with you. Let me give you a short story to save time.” He says in a far more human tone. Can’t place his accent though.

“Here, in my realm; it's bloody boring” Taken aback by his dramatic shift in tone, he continues. “After I ascended, I did what most Gods do, I made a world; not yours mind you, that old monster is above my belt by many millennia, oops getting off-topic. I found your world coincidentally, not being a very creative entity myself, I used you, humans, as inspiration.”

“I found your game ‘Minecraft’ interesting, the versatility, the limitless world. I recreated it, yet I found it lacking. So, I added all the mods I could find, it made it far more interesting.”

“Now this is where you come in, I want to add something, in this case, ‘someone’ to mix things up, you know the game and so you are going to go into my little sandbox and alleviate my boredom.”

“I even drew up a reward scheme to incentivize you to play by my rules.” Speaking in a tone as if everything is already decided.

Overwhelmed by what he's just said, and the many small tidbits of information littered throughout like diamonds in the sand; I say the first thing that comes to mind.

“What?”

He audibly ‘sighs’ in disappointment. “Must I repeat myself; I am sending you to my world, it's even based after a game you love”

I couldn’t help but ask “And why should I?”

“You see, you either play ball or I send you back to the void, indulging in non-existence”

I didn’t have to think long and hard about how to respond to that very direct threat. “Deal” I ant dealing with an angry deity. Afterward, I quickly start pondering what he said ‘void?’ Why was I in the void?

“Great,” he says in a chipper tone. “Now it helps mortals to acclimate if I answer some questions for them, you don’t get many though; it's annoying answering every damn question,” He says in clear frustration to whatever past mortals he has dealt with.

Thoughts running wild, I get to ask this godly entity questions. What should I do; I didn’t plan for this. Overwhelmed with the pressure I just stare at him.

Under the pressure and the weight of his impatience I just blurt out “Are you, God?”

His face drops ever so slightly, “We went over this, I am not your God. I am a God though, I ascended from my mortality a millennia ago; I think? Time tends to fly away a bit in the void.” He takes on a slightly older tone halfway through. Like one of your old family members reminiscing.

Having had a moment to collect my thoughts. I ask a very pressing question. “You said you would send me back to the void, what happened to me”

He looks at me almost remorsefully before replying. “You got unlucky, both in the fact you died to from what I can gather, a truck. And the fact you got knocked out of the river of souls.” His tone quickly changes to a more jovial tone “I guess this is an isekai then” He chuckles to himself.

With hope in my heart, I ask a heavy question. “Can’t you send me back into the river of souls so I can move on to the afterlife?”

He looks at me boredom creeping onto his face. ‘sigh’ “Seen that coming a mile off” ‘he facepalms himself’ “Look technically it's possible, but it would be a monumental effort. I would have to follow the stream of souls, which is a pain in the ass, I would also have to try my best to not get lost in the vast void. It's not my fault you got hit by some weird energy blast and got thrown into the black infinity.” He helpfully adds “Not my fault; not my responsibility”.

“Why me?” Asking a very simple question

“I would like to say lucky dip, but you were also in a relatively small pool of souls with sufficient information about the game I based my world on.”

“You see, I didn’t want someone who knew ‘everything’ but you struck the goldilocks zone of information for the game and your personality fits what I am looking for. So let's call it lucky 1000.” Realizing lost souls are not common, and then he wants one with very specific specs. I can see why I was chosen. I was lucky to still for meeting his requirements exactly.

Pausing for a moment; digesting what he's told me so far. “So like, all mods?”

“All of them” dramatics fireworks “Don’t be too confused I added every mod I could find then tuned out all the glitches, mishaps, and oddities, smoothed the whole thing over with some good old laws of physics. So yes, the best damn modpack in reality” I appreciate his sense of humor but that’s crazy I’m going to be living in modded Minecraft I’m either really in luck or really screwed.

Realizing I lack manners “What do I even call you? Aside from crazy.” Which I must be if I am telling a God they are crazy.

“Rude” He clutches his chest comically as if his hands couldn’t crush me into a paste.

He ponders the question for a moment “Felix; yes, Felix is fine, haven’t used that one for a while got bored of a few names here and there tend to forget them” I’m talking to a god called Felix who has a slightly maddening sense of humor and I’m positive is the god of insanity - lovely.

“Okay Felix I guess nice to meet you, would hold out my hand but well” Miming their massive size.

Feeling my emotions calm down slightly. “My name is Aeternum, probably a bit late on the pleasantries” For obvious reasons.

“Haha, yes Aeternum; a good name. since you shall forever be a source of entertainment in this dreary eternity” I just mentally tune out that terrifying sentence. And my emotions had only just settled.

Having a burning question, I must satiate, I ask “So I've got to ask, how did you sort out the mods that were designed to cheat or break the game. For example, mods that give you everything like chicken chest?” Not so subtly fishing for information.

He looks at me with a curious gaze. “Ah yes, those troublesome mods, I either nerfed them, changed them completely or did not add them, for clarification some I did not even consider mods but rather short cuts and cheats unfit for any form of my reality” He replies curtly.

“Makes sense” struggling to hide my disappointment, if he noticed he did not show it.

He finally breaks his pleasant façade and speaks in a sharp tone. “Is that all?” He asks with an exaggerated tap of his foot.

Hurriedly saying “Wait can I talk to you again after you know” ‘throwing motion’ I don’t really know how to emphasize whatever he will do to put me inside that world.

He pauses for a moment before speaking softly. “Yeah, but I'm not really going to talk to you at your beck and call; I am the god here after all.”

He doesn’t let me respond before continuing. “Okay moving along, enough questions! for now,” he helpfully adds. “I will smite you if you continue” I hope that’s a joke or a tease.

He continues “Some basic info, I have some capabilities I plan to give you in the future but you will not gain them until I see fit, the one ability you will start with is Not Enough Item” Sweet I quietly murmur.

He looks at me as if daring me to speak out. “As far as I'm concerned that already an unfathomable advantage above the current populace of the many dimensions of this world and reality” He's not wrong.

He sits me down on a bench that wasn’t there before. In a quiet but clear tone. “Before you go running to your death, it's permanent you die and you back here and under my permission may you return, so the life is yours to control but you play by my rules completely after death I might choose to not reincarnate you or I might, are you a gambling man? Don’t answer that death is both fun and boring try not to die though; I find it annoying”

Well as far as I'm aware in modded Minecraft a lot of methods exist for life extension, death mitigation, and immortality; god I love magic or should I say Felix I love magic. “chuckles”

Wondering about how broad death is in his mind. “What about dying from old age?”

He looks at me like I'm an idiot “I’ll be more lenient, but still same stick; my rules” “Prick” I mentally add.

A look of frustration passes through his eyes. “The world… I tried to keep to the square design, yet reality doesn’t like that so consider it more like a theme rather than a law compared to your previous reality’s game”

Standing up, he cracks his back. Does he even need to do that? “Yes, you are the first soul I've dragged from the reality that invented Minecraft, you will not be the last but for now you are alone don’t go looking it’s a waste of time” Am I happy or sad about that, it’s going to be lonely without people from my world I guess.

Did his smile just increase or am I imagining it

“Ah yes and crafting tables work, a little bit more intensive than before but none the less the hard work is done for you, now crafting your ‘crafting table’; yeah, have fun with that your 2x2 doesn’t exist get creative”

A smirk brightening his face “Punching trees is still a thing” Not liking the evil villain vibe he's showing.

“I think that should be all, I swear something else I was meant to say, eh it will come to me now have fun”

That doesn’t sound good.

I quickly add “Will it hurt”

The widest smirk I have ever seen blooms across his face. “Of course”

Oh boy, it really hurt; I could hear his laughter as I was ripped and thrown around like the soul equivalent of a ragdoll. I am pretty sure this is the non-pg13 version of the transporter from star trek.

And before I know it. “Bang” the floor hurts, I've learned this through a very advanced scientific process called falling. When I materialized in the sky? I do not know. I do recall falling for more than a second but I’m intact so clearly it was not that high. I shiver from the memory of that awful experience. Never again I will avoid that like the plague.

Now, where am I? ‘casting my gaze around’ a large forest, the sun barely visible. “Shit” nearly night, don’t fancy my chances in a modded night-time, that god is definitely going to make my life a nightmare. No time to figure out ‘not enough items’ I have to run, trying to find some form of shelter otherwise I'm in for a world of hurt. With a quick look around, I am in a dense forest mostly oak, birch, and whatever the hell that purple tree is. Anyway, back on topic, probably a standard forest but I can tell it's nearly night and it’s a little misty, a bit cold and I can’t see safety anywhere.

Alright, my options are: climb a tree? Possible but risky, falling hurts after all. Dig a hole? Not without a tool Minecraft or not. Try and find a cave? Yeah, genius! walks into an even more dangerous location. The tree it is. I quickly start running I'm looking for ideally an oak tree, tall, wide with a solid chance for shelter.

I quickly realize stamina is a thing, should have guessed, a little closer to real-life than the game hmm. Nearly toppling over in utter exhaustion. I try and keep a fast-walking pace, I keep looking around, death looming over me. Perfect, big old oak wide easy to climb and a spot in the middle to wait out the night. I won't sleep well but hopefully, I’ll live.

Now just to… “Rawr” And a sound on par with a gunshot, my ears ringing ever so slightly. Yeah, not even going to turn around and so I run. I am scared, ‘shaking in fear,’ never have I ever had to run for my life like this. Not even when that kid had the knife… Maybe 1 other time. Mentally getting myself back on track, I'm very bloody scared I don’t want to die, not again. I run with the vigor I have never run with before. I positively scale the tree only to feel a massive shake nearly knocking me loose. I turn around to see an ugly beast 8 foot and nasty looking with sharp teeth feathery arms and a scaled body. It’s a dinosaur. Can't seem to climb but I don’t fancy my chances in this hell hole if this is the first beasty trying to eat my rump. I curl up into the smallest possible ball and hope whatever monsters are out there won't spot me.

I managed to fit into a small nook featured between 2 very large branches I cover myself with twigs and leaves the best I can.

Didn’t get much sleep that night. I heard every sound on a Halloween sound bored. Moans, groans, crackling, growling the whole Monty. Thankfully nothing arboreal at the moment but step 1, shelter; after the sun rises of course. “Rumbles” Scratch that; I need food, water, and shelter. Tomorrow is going to be rough.

And with the first rays of sunlight; I survived.