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It was supposed to be a way to relax. Just a dumb kids game. A game where you place blocks and have fun.
Not... this.
Not a world haunted by some... thing. A thing I still don't understand and never will. Not now. Not after how it ended.
It's been a year now. A year since it all ended. Since I lost someone I never truly knew.
It started as a game. I broke down trees, killed sheep, built a home, started a mine. It was fun, even if the mechanics were simple. But one day when I opened the game, something was... different.
In my mine, there was a book in my chest. A book I didn't write. Inside was messy. Words of warning told me not to turn left, not to continue down some crossroad. At the end was just a bunch of nonsense I didn't understand. So I did the next best thing.
I posted a video about it to ask for help.
At first, it seemed like a dead end. Others were just as confused as me, some thought I was just lying. I almost just forgot about it. Nearly deleted the world and thought about starting fresh.
Then I got sent a link.
It was foolish of me to trust it without asking questions, but I still opened it. It was just some video drive. Curiosity always wins over for me. If only I knew what watching would do for me.
I learned about Derlorde, the world hidden in the mines, how he was followed and set traps. I learned that he saw... something. That's when he ran all the way back just to write a warning for me.
But why me? How did he even know me? What the hell was behind that door? I knew I had to do something. I at least had to find him. I owed him that.
Sitting in my room alone on New Year's Eve, I opened that game and started up the world. I was going to find him one way or another.
I spent hours traveling through this world for someone I didn't know. Someone I never met. Merely just words on a page.
And I found him. God, I found him.
And he was everything to me.
He taught me about how this world worked, the monster that lay hidden beneath the code. A god that was meant to rot brought back by pure chance. A curse.
He was everything to me. Everything.
And I lost him. I lost him as soon as I found him.
I don't remember how it happened, maybe my game glitched, but while we were chatting, I couldn't move. Derlorde had killed me in the game, possibly to save me from something he knew and I didn't.
I was back at the beginning.
All that progress finding him was just gone. But I wasn't done. Hell, I wasted most of New Year's finding him, I'm not going to stop here.
So I retraced my steps. I went through every gold door. Every mini world. Every bridge.
Then he sent another message. He eas close and saw me. Derlorde— well, Derek, as he told me to call him— was at the final door. Waiting.
He told me to go back through a certain door and go to the top of the tree. That there was piles and piles of gold up there we needed to close off all the gates.
I believed him. With all my heart. But when I got to the very top of the tree...
There was... nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
The top of the tree had no gold. Not random blocks in general. It was all leaves.
As quick as I could, I ran all the way back through each world, each gate, each bridge. All until I got to that final gate, rushing through until I got... there.
It was this dark abyss, some platform suspended up in the sky. Yellow eyes surrounded the space. Staring. Watching.
In the middle of it all was Derek, standing at the other end, staring right at one of the eyes.
I called out to him, getting his attention. He was quick to tell me to leave, that this was too dangerous for me. I argued, called out his lie, told him I wouldn't leave.
God, we argued so much in such a short time. I fought and bickered. I begged and pleaded. All just to stay by his side.
I almost believed him when he seemed to accept my reluctance and allow me to stay.
I should've known why he backed me up to the edge.
I shouldn't have opened my inventory.
He hit me off the ledge. I didn't have time to get back. I tried to send a desperate message, only to barely get a word in.
Only to get booted back to the beginning in my world as I heard fireworks outside my window. It was midnight. It was a new year.
I felt so empty. I didn't know why right away. Not until I found Derek's video and the last message he ever wrote. A goodbye.
A goodbye addressed to me.
Not his family. Not any friends wherever he was. Not a roommate.
Just me. Only me. A goodbye to someone who hardly knew him, making sure that I wouldn't blame myself and that I knew I was special.
But if I'm so special, why couldn't I save you?
I didn't realize it then, but I loved you. I still love you.
Did you know that I would fall for you and love you? Did you know that there was no possible way for us to be happy? Did you know that no matter what you'd have to die saving me?
It's not fair. You had to be so damn selfless. I wanted to know you.
Maybe in another life we can meet under better circumstances. We can be friends. We can fall in love. We can live a normal life together.
Maybe you knew that we would in another life, and that's why it didn't hurt you to say goodbye.
Maybe you knew that there is no life where we are happy, and you didn't let yourself get attached.
Either way, it wasn't fair. But I still love you. So much.
Goodbye, Derek.
I'm glad I found you.
I'm glad I got to love you.
And I always will love you. No matter what. Forever and always.