by Mark Mulle
Attack on the Overworld, Book One: Finding Herobrine
Copyright 2014 Mark Mulle
Author’s Note
This short story is for your reading pleasure. The characters in this "Minecraft Adventure Series" such as Steve, Endermen or Herobrine...etc are based on the Minecraft Game coming from Minecraft ®/TM & © 2009-2013 Mojang / Notch
Other Books in Attack on the Overworld Trilogy
Book Two: Finding Steve
Book Three: The Final Mine
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Player’s Ritual
Chapter 2: A New Face
Chapter 3: Zombies and Iron Swords
Chapter 4: Tesseract97
Chapter 5: You’re Not Alone
Chapter 6: He Knows Where You Are
Chapter 7: Steve
Chapter 8: Professional Griefers
Chapter 9: The Art of Destruction
About this Author
Other books by this Author
Chapter 1: The Player's Ritual
His blank, emotionless eyes watched the player carefully. He had seen many players come and go in his existence, but there was something slightly different, something slightly special about this one. Maybe it was in the way the player moved - so confidently, so sure of his next move - that made him a little different from the others.
The figure closed his eyes. It had been a long time since he had felt like this. This mild feeling of hope, anticipation, eagerness; it was so completely different to his everyday attitude.
He disappeared from sight. He might come back later, to check on this one.
I open my eyes to a world of green.
I strike an arm out in front of me, and the leaves burst into fragments, before disappearing a moment later. I push my way through the rest of the foliage, and reach the center of the tree.
Jungle wood. Great. Jungle biomes are my least favorite.
A quick glance at the canopy and vines above tells me all I need to know. I'm in the middle of a jungle.
I pull back my arm, and begin to pummel the wood of the tree. As I punch the wood, over and over, gradually the first cracks begin to form. The cracks grow bigger, and bigger, and finally the block splinters completely, and lands with a satisfying click in my inventory. I pound the rest of the tree to the ground, and collect up all the wood. I don't have much time now.
When you first start out in a new world, you have to act fast. Admiring your surroundings comes later. A shelter before nightfall is essential; unless you fancy spending the night buried underground, in the dark, without a torch, listening to the sounds of the monsters of the night moving around above you.
I shudder at the thought. Within a few seconds, I turn the wood into planks, and set up my first crafting table.
I pause and take a look up at the sky. It's a beautiful day. The sun is moving across the sky quickly, and I know I can't hang about much longer. I feel impatient - I want to start exploring this world, but I know that the small set-up ritual that every player has to go through is unavoidable.
I make some sticks out of the wood. I place two sticks and three wood planks on my crafting table, then pick up my new, wooden pickaxe. I swing it through the air, proudly. My first big achievement of my new world!
What do I need next...? It has been a while since I started a new world. Ah, yes. Stone. Lots of stone.
Where will I find stone in a hurry? All I can see around me is dirt, grass, foliage, trees and vines. I really don't like these jungle biomes.
I sigh, inwardly. I choose a random direction, and run and jump through the undergrowth; pushing through the leaves and punching the vines out of the way. To my surprise, it doesn't take me long to find my next biggest resource.
I push through a curtain of vines, and find myself at the edge of a sparkling lake. I stop for a few moments to admire the view. It's a beautiful sight, with the sun reflecting off the water, and the shadows of squids moving through the depths. I might just build my shelter here
I step onto the sand, and start digging. I add some sand to my inventory, before digging deeper, until my hands finally find stone. Equipping my new pickaxe, I chip away at the stone; slowly, the cracks form, before it shatters completely. I collect five pieces for myself, no more and no less. It's a matter of time now.
The sky is getting darker. The sun is starting to set, and the creatures of the night will start spawning soon.
I think the shores of this lake will be a lovely place for my new home. I quickly craft my first sword, and within a matter of seconds and jungle wood planks, I've created a small shelter for myself. I get inside, and block myself in, just as the first stars begin to shine. It's pitch black - no torches, no light, no time for other comforts.
I wait out the night in the dark, thinking about my first mining expedition. Outside, the sounds of mobs seep through the walls; the moans of zombies, the distant hiss of creepers, and the occasional munch of a stray sheep eating a patch of grass.
When morning comes, my mission will start. My work so far has been methodic - but now the real adventure begins.
After waiting a while in the dark, I take a deep breath and pound my fists against the wood planks in front of me. I break myself out of my shelter by making a door-sized hole big enough for me to get through. As soon as the hole is big enough, I hurriedly equip my sword and step into the sunrise.
The orange glow spreads across the water, and I smile at the sight. Across the lake, I can see distant flickers of fire, as the zombies burn away in the sunlight. Sword in hand, I run back to my crafting table, and with the wood in my inventory, I make myself a stack of wooden signs. Before I leave for my adventure, I quickly craft myself a door, and put it in the hole I made in my small shelter. Hopefully, I'll find myself some coal for torches before the next nightfall, but in case I don't, it would be nice to have at least a trickle of moonlight come into the shelter, through the tiny panes in the door.
I stand at the edge of the forest, and stare up through the thick curtain of vines at the huge tree in front of me. A quick glance above tells me that this tree is one of the tallest in the jungle.
I go up to the base of the tree, and catch hold of the vines growing around it. I jump, and slowly shimmy my way up. It's a long way to the top.
About halfway up, I pause and take a look at the view around me. Only halfway up the vines and I can tell the tree already provides an incredible lookout point. I can see the whole lake - and the multitude of squid flailing about in the waters - as well as a wide river beyond it. I see a few zombies scattered on the outskirts of the jungle, and a few arrows and bones lying about.
I make my way to the very top of the tree, punching some leaves out of my path, and climb onto the highest branch. The view is amazing.
I can see my shelter below. It looks tiny next to the lake and jungle around it. The view over the treetops makes the jungle look never-ending, but I know this jungle ends somewhere; the worlds of Minecraft are massive, and random worlds rarely have just one biome, especially a jungle biome.
I sigh, and shake my head. It doesn't matter what biome I'm in; I've got work to do.
I jump up to the highest point of the tree, and pull out a wooden sign from my inventory. I place it on the block of leaves in front of me, and without a second thought, write my message.
I step back to behold my work, and nearly fall out of the tree. Silly Ben, I hiss at myself. Don't want to fall from here. That wouldn't end well.
I give a satisfying nod at the sign and its message, before grabbing hold of the vines and making my way back to the jungle floor. I've put in a
lot of research into what words I should use for my signs, and in the end, I believe there is only one string of code that can possibly work.
/herobrine.