Chapter Text
Day 1, time: morning, Dream
The first thing he noticed was the pounding headache. The second was the mask that sat over his face. Dream sat up and scratched his head, he appeared to be in some sort of desert, although he couldn’t quite figure out how he had gotten there. Dream felt his pockets for his phone, but found nothing but a piece of paper. Dream pulled out the paper and unrolled it, it was clearly a note of some kind but he had no clue what he was in for.
‘ Hello Dream,
Welcome to the most important challenge of your life. You have been transported into a video game, but not the one you’re familiar with. Welcome to Ark: Scorched earth. You may be wondering how to escape this deadly prison, and the answer is rather simple. Just like in Minecraft, there is a boss you must vanquish. Find the Manticore, and slay it. You have three months, after that the potential of going home will no longer exist for you. You may have noticed a camera following you, that camera is streaming live to your youtube and twitch accounts. I have been nice enough to gift you a mask to retain your anonymity. Good luck and try not to get yourself killed.
~I’
Dream looked around, taking in his situation. He was trapped in a video game and as if that weren’t bad enough, if he died he was gone. As Dream continued to look around he noticed something in his arm, a small diamond shaped rock. As he pulled up his arm to examine it, a screen appeared out of it, showing an inventory, a crafting tab, and a bunch of other buttons Dream didn’t know the meaning behind. Dream sighed and looked through the crafting tab, he noted that there were only two recipes, a pickaxe and a torch. Dream put down his inventory and did what he always did in Minecraft, found the nearest tree and began punching it.
Day 1, time: afternoon, Dream
It took him some time, but Dream was finally able to make himself a pickaxe, as soon as he made the it, he noticed a level up available in his inventory, once he applied it he quickly learned how to acquire new recipes. Dream wandered through the desert landscape, looking for a good place to hunker down for a short time when he heard a familiar scream.
“AHHHHHH” A very familiar British voice said.
“George?” Dream said.
Dream took off running, holding nothing but his pickaxe in his hand he ran toward the screaming voice. The sight he found was George being chased by three small dinosaurs with very sharp teeth. Not wasting any time Dream ran in with his pickaxe and started to try and kill the pack of small dinosaurs. Dream quickly found himself the new target of the three dinosaurs, allowing George to escape the pack. With the small dinosaurs quickly closing in, Dream jumped onto the nearest rock.
“Dream!” A familiar voice called.
“Sapnap?!” Dream yelled.
“Dream!? Sapnap!?” George yelled.
“Could one of you deal with these things please?” Dream called.
“Oh right!” Sapnap said.
Sapnap drew from his back a spear and began attacking the dinosaurs, which were attempting to jump onto the rock. With Sapnap and Dream both assaulting the dinosaurs, the three were easily dispatched. Dream took a moment to breath and noticed that, while Sapnap looked normal, George appeared to be wearing some kind of glasses. Dream shook his head and got off the rock.
“Are you alright?” Sapnap asked.
“I’m fine.” Dream said, “Just a little banged up. What about you guys?”
“I’m a bit shaken.” George said, “But I’m alright.”
“Any idea where we are?” Sapnap asked.
“A video game.” Dream said, “If this note is to be believed.”
“I received a similar note.” George said.
Sapnap simply nodded.
“We should probably find shelter.” Dream said.
The other two boys nodded and Dream began leading the group. They traveled for what felt like hours until they wandered into a canyon, in the middle of which was a lake. Directly next to the lake was a small thatch structure. Outside of the structure was a campfire, being manned by none other than Sylvee.
“Oh good,” She said, “More help.”
“More?” George asked, “How many others are there.”
“You three make six.” She said, “Now someone want to help me with this fire?”