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"Run Avery."
Was the last thing in the book Avery did not write.
To think a journal filled with scribbled and messy writing giving you a warning to run for your life would instantly make someone turn around and never cross this path again.
Avery was different.
Well, oblivious to the unknown consequences he was about to step into.
He saw the footage D3rlord3 posted—the hour-long clips of him exploring the unknown cave intrigued Avery to keep watching. He never knew the cave he often visited had secret rooms and puzzles; it was weird news for him.
And what did he decide to do when he got the journal from D3rlord3? He started vlogging.
You see, Avery is a content creator. He posts a lot of videos of his adventures, Bedwars, food binge, etc. His main accounts he regularly posts on are Minetube and Instablock. Someday he wishes to be recognizable like the other famous celebrities he admires. If only.
When Avery first saw the journal, he was puzzled. The underground he often visited was usually to mine for some coal or something useful to craft. But the chest popping out of nowhere along with the book alone was unsettling. He didn't think much and just left it there for a while.
After returning home, he scrolled on the media to find something. How did the random book have his name on it? He asked his friends if they pulled some kind of prank on him, but they genuinely sounded like they hadn't done any trickery on Avery. As he scrolled, he found something.
It was a video.
Now at the current moment, Avery was back in the cave again, prepared. He saw what happened in the video D3rlord3 posted. Sitting there and watching the man go through so much hell of escaping the underground tunnels didn't make the slime boy feel satisfaction after seeing the ending.
He wanted to help—find the man and find the answers he needed to solve. Avery wasn't entirely idiotic to consider inviting his friends to go along in his adventure; he was willing to proceed. Sadly, all of them were either busy or didn't want to. It was odd; they were always down to do activities with Avery for fun or the videos.
Every person he knows declined his offer. Maybe the story he brought up to them made him look crazy—it was true though! No matter, it's not like Avery was going to beg forever for one of them to come along. He wanted to do this for the love of his heart.
Avery stared at the words one last time before closing it shut with one hand. He put the journal back in the chest and adjusted his equipment hanging from his sides, such as his pickaxe and sword. As the belt tightened, he made sure the harness wrapped around his chest stayed in place.
In the middle was his vlog camera, which he kept on when he traveled places like these. The battery was fully charged and ready to go! He summoned a hologram in front of him, revealing his inventory with various items and tools he would need. Oh, and there was plenty of bread he baked for this.
He was ready. The male unclipped the camera and turned the device to his face before clicking. "Hey guys! So... today I will be going through this mysterious cave after seeing a video about it. A person named 'D3rlord3' found it, and... he knows my name?"
"Clearly, me and this guy never met. But he left a journal for me to leave and never come back. As you guys know, your boy Avery isn't going to stop until I get those answers!" He beamed a smile at the camera and set it back in place in his chest.
"Now—onwards we go!"
And so he goes. The trip was rather interesting—Avery got lost a few times and had to look back at the video to find the correct path. He never saw an underground so gigantic; it was like an endless maze sending him from one room to another. And strange enough? There weren't any monsters around.
Now to think a cave would hold the undead everywhere due to how some places are dark—mobs would definitely spawn here. None has shown up. It was very sketchy, well the whole thing was. Some rooms were tight, some were open. Seriously, has no one besides D3rlord3 and Avery found this cave yet?
It made the slime boy wonder if he would go viral for traveling in the unknown area no one had discovered. It's definitely a long video, he needs to cut out some of it to make it a little shorter. Maybe this alone shows how independent Avery can be without his friends. He couldn't wait to see their faces once he showed them the footage of what he experienced by himself.
He was considering bringing his dog, Apple, but it would be too much walking. Plus, he doesn't like bringing him along when something dangerous happens. When visiting towns or villages, Apple is always eager to go where Avery goes. God, he misses Apple so much right now.
Swimming, mining, inspecting, he finally made it to the crossroads. Avery didn't know how long it took him to get there at the destination, it felt like hours though. He stares at the middle, to the right, then to the left. It was quiet, way too quiet than the other places he visited. Something about this was different.
It's dark, the light behind him casts a shadow in his front view. Still no monsters, it slightly raises more concern for Avery. But he didn't focus on that—after hours of searching, he finally can check out the gates he saw from the video. The exhaustion soon replaced with exhilaration instead.
"Here we are! Man, that took a while... yall have no idea how much walking it requires to be here."
Avery talked to himself while making it here, half of it was for the viewer audience, half of it was just to calm his nerves and cure his boredom. It's one to keep his sanity at bay. Avery looks both sides as if he was thinking about something. Then, he starts walking to the right side of the crossroads. Doing the complete opposite of what he was planning.
He then came to a halt and started laughing to himself. His voice echoed in the dead, small pathway.
"Haha! Just kidding, just kidding." Avery spun around and went left. The small joke should have caused some laughs or anxiety to the viewers if they thought he was actually going to the opposite side instead. Though he did wonder what could possibly be in the right direction. Maybe it leads him into a deeper cave? He didn't want to find out due to his tiredness.
The male went deeper in the direction. Unaware that the more he continued walking, it was getting darker. Avery didn't really notice until the cave had some black spots, soon covering the rest in black. He couldn't help but get small goosebumps tingling in his lime skin. It could be just paranoia... yeah, it has to be.
"I can't see anything... torches can do the trick." Avery had placed one torch down to hopefully get the room to brighten up. But it didn't. It only remained dark and dead silent. This alarmed Avery— he had never seen a cave so ominous. He signed up for this, yes, but the uneasy sensation couldn't slip off.
Still, he kept going. After picking the torch back up, he made his way around the corners. For a little while, he finally saw it: the golden gates.
It was larger than he had imagined—the texture was pure gold, smooth and untouched. No signs of dirt or scratches on the material, which was odd since he didn't know how long the gates had been here. Discoverers would go crazy to find this piece of work. One question popped into his head: is the gate glowing?
The reason why he questioned himself was because it was pitch black in the area, not a single light peeking anywhere. And yet the gate was visible to see clearly, this theory is going to keep Avery up at night.
"Woah... it's pretty cool actually." Avery breathed. He looms closer to the gate; suddenly, the memories flood into his head. Right... there was something behind it. Something or someone. He wasn't sure, but the thought of seeing it in person sent Avery on edge. He wasn't necessarily scared, no, more like curious. The warnings weren't enough to stop him from taking steps closer.
Whatever was waiting for him, it was for D3rlord3. He couldn't ignore the apprehension secretly lurking in him. He shouldn't be scared of some door—if anything, it's just going to be a quick peek. Backing out was a bold and cowardly move. He isn't a coward. He will see what caused D3rlord3 to go insane from just a single look.
Once Avery was an inch away from the gate, he put his hand on the material. Smooth as he expected. Sucking in a breath, he gently opened the gate on the left. And there he finds—
"What the—?"
A single piece of gold block. Huh, to think there would be something more dramatic. There goes his unanswered questions.
Avery blinked. Staring at the block before him. He averts his gaze away from the piece and looks around. Hoping to at least find anything other than just the random block sitting alone. Nothing as well, only pitch black just like the current room.
"Are we for real? I traveled ALL this way here—just to find a single block of gold!?" Avery yelled to himself in the darkness. Was this block seriously the only thing that changed D3rlord? He didn't want to be mean when he said this, but D3rlord3 is very dramatic for causing a big scene. Wait, what if this was a prank after all?
Coming into that conclusion causes his blood to boil. There's no way in hell that this wasn't a skit from his friends, and that D3rlord3 guy was just setting him up as an actor. Yeah, that has to be it. All of this was for a video—a Minetube prank. Well, if it's like that, then Avery WILL get them back. He doesn't know how they specifically found this cave, but he knew this was a set-up.
"I knew it! All of this is just some dumb prank!" He walks forward into the darkness, ignoring the gold. "I should have figured this out sooner, ugh! I traveled all this way for nothing! I thought I was going to help some random guy in danger, but I—I just thought—ah, whatever!"
The slime boy threw his hands up in the air in frustration. A big waste of time; his poor baby Apple has been waiting for him at home without his owner. Avery was fuming in the darkness before letting out a deep sigh. At least he can post his adventure here, so that's a small plus for him.
"I guess I'll just head out now. Man, I won't lie that they got me good."
He turns back around and heads towards the exit. He pauses and looks down at the single gold.
"Might as well take it on the way," with his pickaxe, he obtained the gold and shoveled it into his inventory. He continued to the gate, still upset that the whole situation was fake. When he sees D3rlord3, he will give him a piece of his mind.
As he looked up, he didn't expect to see light peaking from the gaps. Weird. Has that always been there? Obviously not, but it could be his mind playing tricks on him. He hasn't eaten in a while, so it makes sense why his head was a little fuzzy. Avery places his hand on the gate and pushes it out of his way.
This isn't where he was.
Light blasted his face as he stepped out of the gate. He was in a different place. Did the room shift? Is this another prank his friends were pulling? If so, who put their whole budget into this?
It can't be that. It's far too obvious to assume this was still a prank. The atmosphere feels out of place, stiff even if you can say so. In front of him were the same golden gates he saw, but more further away, along with stone bridges leading to both of the gates on each side.
"W-where... where am I?"
Literally what the hell is going on? This didn't happen in the video. He wasn't supposed to end up here. Avery catches every glimpse of his surroundings —the entire place was huge that it almost made Avery anxious. Confusion was the main emotion at the moment. This has to be a dream.
"Yall I.. I don't know where I am. I went in the gate and turned around just to see this. I swear this wasn't edited out, I'm literally stuck here!" Avery spoke as he inspected the place. A loud yelp escaped from him when he heard a heavy bang behind him. He turned back around at the gate he came from, just to see it was now closed.
Avery went pale at the sight. The gate was closed.
"Crap— NO!" He scurried to the closed gate and put both hands to push it. The gate didn't budge, it was stuck like this. After a minute of pushing, he took his pickaxe from his side and with full force the diamond material clashed into the gold texture. The pickaxe had no effect. No crack didn't even appear.
Not wanting to break the tool, Avery stepped back in disbelief. A diamond pickaxe not being able to break the gold was impossible to witness—never in his life had he heard once that gold can't be mined. Left speechless, he didn't know what to say or do. The gate just magically closed, and now he's trapped here.
It took some time for Avery to regain his consciousness after what he had done. Something kept him here, and he didn't know that he was being watched.
"Y-yall.. I'm not sure what to do here. I'm.. actually stuck here." He breathed. His eyes then trailed off to the left to see the other gate open for him. "Unless I.. go in there. But I'm not sure what is even inside."
It was risky. He could either be stuck here forever or go inside the gate and find out.
He didn't want to rot here.
Gathering enough encouragement, he went to the left. Again.
Avery inspects the doors in front of him. He peeks through the crack, and it was just plain black. He pushes the side and takes a step in, familiar with the darkness surrounding the unknown void. He took a small, deep breath and went forward. His hand gripped the handle of the sword to ease his worries. In case something tried to approach him.
Walking like he did before, he turned around again and went back. For some reason, he could feel the atmosphere change again. A little more fresh this time. Staggered, he continued and moved the gate out of the way. His eyes couldn't explain what he was seeing— he was outside! But it wasn't a normal, regular day outside he was seeing no.
Instead, it was just bridges in the middle of the sky. Around him were hills and trees above him, the sun shining down at the smaller male. Thankfully, the small wind gave him a slight breeze he'd been craving for some fresh air. He wasn't afraid of heights due to his hours spent in Bedwars, but one slip could lead to his death.
He wondered where he would respawn? If anything, he should respawn back to his home base. Sure, his items would be gone, and it's going to suck, but he'd prefer leaving this place than being trapped. He couldn't go back now; it's not like he was going to in the first place. Deep down, he still believed D3rlord3 was in trouble. If this is where destiny takes him, then he has to be here somewhere.
Avery promises himself he will find him.
"Alright... here we go."