He landed hard, losing half his life. It was pitch-black down here – the only light came from where he'd fallen from above. He heard a growling sound – the same as a zombie.

Oh no! There's zombies down here!

He desperately put down a torch so he could see. He spotted something shooting through the air and jumped to the side just in the nick of time.

Then the object's thrower stepped into the light.

Not a zombie. It was a skeleton, wearing nothing but a faded golden chestplate. Its eyes shone red in the light, and it opened its mouth and roared.

It then made a throwing motion with its arm, and another projectile – a sharpened bone – shot forward.

William dodged again, and swiped out with his silver broadsword, dealing 7 damage to the bag of bones. Much less than what the sword was listed as dealing – 11 – he presumed the chestplate blocked some of the damage.

The skeleton's bones rattled as the sword struck it, and it yelled out again and tried to run forward, but William hit it again, stopping its charge. However, on its next charge it slammed into him.

He took 44 damage, leaving him on just 8 life. This was the lowest he'd ever been. Pain shot through his entire body, his arms and legs, reminding him that he was in mortal danger.

But he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get out of this one. The skeleton moved fast, was bulkier than him, and even if he tried to run it would just throw another bone at him to end his life.

He was doomed.

He spotted Robyn above, but he knew there was little even she could do. The skeleton had too much life remaining – 106.

"Drink a potion!" she cried.

Of course! They'd found some Lesser Healing Potions in the chest earlier!

He swigged it, surprised at how fast it was – simply holding the potion and putting it to its mouth caused it to disappear. He felt a bitter-tasting liquid fill his mouth, and his life was somewhat restored, up to 58. He'd be able to take another hit.

The skeleton didn't stop its attacks for a moment, of course, but he felt a bit more confident. He attacked again, swiping at the skeleton over and over. Arrows from Robyn above also rained down, many planting themselves into the skeleton's skull. Each blow knocked it back a few steps. It was slow going, but he quickly found a good timing in his swipes to keep the skeleton away.

That was when another mob hit him from the side. It was a black-colored slime, so dark that it was almost invisible against the grey stone.

He grit his teeth, his arms rushing with adrenaline. Somehow he knew he was going to stand no chance against both of these foes at once.

"Try the Recall Potion!" Robyn yelled from above.

That had been the other type of potion they'd found, but somehow in that moment William couldn't remember what they did. But he trusted her. He held up one of the cyan-coloured potions and drunk it.

There was a bright blue flash of light and a sound like some sort of electronic machine charging up. Next thing he knew, he found he was lying on his back in the forest. At the exact same spot where he'd first appeared.

Robyn appeared next to him in a similar blaze of blue particles. She'd also drunk a potion.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He groaned.

***

The walk back home was painful and arduous – he was only left on 25 life. He tried drinking another potion but found he couldn't for some reason. Its icon was crossed out in his inventory, but he was too mad at himself and that fact to wonder why.

He should have known that trying to mine underground would be just as dangerous, if not more, than trying to explore the surface.

He got back to the shelter just as the sun dropped below the horizon, and sat down in a chair opposite the Guide.

"Fat lot of help you were down there," he grumbled.

It was then that he noticed who was sitting next to the Guide. Another new citizen – this one was female, wearing a white shirt and a hat with a red plus over a blonde ponytail. A Nurse, obviously. He could guess what she did, but he didn't feel like using her services. He wanted to remember this pain, so he would know to never step outside the safety of their home again.

***

Next morning William didn't want to head underground again.

Robyn tried to convince him to go, but he was hearing none of it. She just nodded and went down by herself.

He paced around the outside of the shelter for most of the morning. He didn't even feel like expanding on the house, and it was because of one question on his mind.

What was the point?

There seemed to be nothing in this world except for monsters trying to kill them all.

In the real world, William was sure he'd never been as close to death as he had been yesterday. He'd never had to fight zombies or have lethal bone projectiles get thrown at him.

But that had all happened to him in the days since he and the others had woken up in this world.

And he suspected it would continue to happen.

Until they all died.

That was when someone wearing a fur coat and a helmet that looked like it had belonged to a Viking landed in front of him.

It was Sid.

"I'm back, Willy!"

He groaned. "Can you not call me Willy?"

"Sure thing, Willy."

William groaned again. "How did you jump over the wall?" he demanded.

Sid patted a bottle filled with icy snowflakes that was strapped to his waist. "This bad boy is the Armoured Blizzard in a Bottle. It lets me double-jump, just like in a video game! Watch!" He jumped up, then impossibly jumped again while still in mid-air, a spray of fine white snow shooting out from his feet. He easily soared higher than the wall that William had worked so hard to build.

"I went to those snowy mountains on the other side of the valley," he continued. "Spent the first night there freezing in an icy cave, no thanks to you. But I survived, dug deep, mined some gold, killed some Flinxes, and I made this!"

He held out a staff with a curved end that was coated with a poof of light purple fur. The fur glowed, and suddenly one – no, two – creatures appeared beside him. They looked like big balls of light purple fur with legs and noses.

"Thanks to my new fur coat," he boasted, patting his attire, "I can summon two creatures! I outnumber you now! And I say that means I'm in charge!"

William shook his head. "I built everything in this shelter. That means it's mine."

"Just because you made it doesn't mean it's always going to be yours," Sid said, his eyebrows furrowing. "Especially if someone stronger than you comes to take it away!"

He pointed his staff, and the two purple furballs charged at Sid. Each time they rammed into him he took 8 damage. He tried to hit them away, but they just kept coming back. He tried to rush for Sid, but a quick glance told him that he definitely didn't stand a chance – according to his label Sid had 200 life now. That meant he'd found five life crystals! How had he found so many when he and Robyn had only found a single one?

He grit his teeth and sliced at Sid, but to his dismay his weapon only did 5 damage. He was armoured.

In response Sid held an icy boomerang and threw it forward. It slashed across his face, dealing 17 damage.

"Do you surrender?" Sid asked as the boomerang returned to his hand.

"Guys! Stop!"

William craned his neck and spotted Robyn running towards them.

"Why are you attacking him, Sid?" she asked.

"He refused to let me into the fort when I last came," Sid said. "So I'm letting myself in by force!"

To emphasise his point Sid threw his boomerang at William again. His life dropped to 24.

"You can't kill each other over something like this!" Robyn screamed. "We're the only three real people we've seen in this world!"

"I'm sure he'll just come back to life if he dies," Sid said. "That's how videogames work."

Another boomerang strike. His life was now at 9. One more hit would kill him.

"A videogame?" Robyn asked inquisitively. "What makes you think this is one? I mean, I don't know much, but I do know there's no such thing as fully transporting yourself inside one!"

"Perhaps, but I can't think of any other reason," Sid said. He took a glance at William, seemingly sizing up how much life he had left.

"Don't do it, Sid," Robyn pleaded. There looked to be tears in her eyes, little blue pixels forming in their brownness.

"I'll prove it," Sid said, then threw the boomerang one last time.

In response William drunk another Lesser Healing Potion.

His life shot up to 59, allowing him to survive the blow that would have killed him.

"That's enough, Sid," William said. "We don't know what happens when we die in this world, yes. But at the same time, we don't know the answer to that question in the real world, either. What makes you think you have the right to take someone's life just to answer the question? The question that you could be very wrong about?"

"You don't want to be a murderer, Sid," Robyn said. "Do you want that on your conscience?"

Sid looked between them, seeming to consider.

"Fine," he sighed.

William exhaled. He looked up at the sky, which had darkened due to the setting sun.

It was at that moment that he had a chilling feeling, as though an evil presence was watching him.