In Search of Herobrine: A Famous Novel About Minecraft (4 page)

              “Herobrine’s more than just a person,” he whispered. “He used to be a player like you. He built and mined and everything. He would even come down and trade with us sometimes. But then he went on a mining trip to go as deep below the earth as he possibly could and something happened. When he came to the village, he didn’t talk to any of us; he just built a five by five pyramid and left.”

              Another villager chipped in. “That’s when he started taking the leaves off trees. Something down there must have drove him mad.”

              “Does he dig two by two tunnels as well?” asked Steve.

              The villager nodded. “He’s not human anymore. His eyes glow.”

              “Some people have seen him teleport like an enderman,” said another.

              “The grass burns up wherever he walks.”

              Steve was getting worried. He looked outside and saw Pigphelas rolling around on the grass. He looked back at the librarian. “Is there a way I can stop him?”

              The librarian looked around at his fellow villagers. “You might be able to defeat him, but you’ll need the very best weapons and armor. It’ll have to be diamond and enchanted for you to stand

a chance. I can do the enchanting here, but you’ll have to find the diamonds. Herobrine will tear this world apart if someone doesn’t stop him, and you’re our best shot.”

              Steve looked around and nodded. “I have to try, at least.” The villagers began filing out the door, some of them patting Steve on the shoulder as they went by.

              “One last thing,” said the librarian. “If you give me an emerald, I’ll give you three pieces of paper.”

              “Uh… maybe later,” said Steve. The librarian looked a bit disappointed as Steve headed outside and whistled for Pigphelas.

              “Let’s go, Pigphelas,” he said. “We need to find some diamonds.” Steve and Pigphelas headed off towards the nearest mountain to start mining. It was going to be dark soon, but Steve decided that spending the night in the village would be a waste of time. After all, it’s always dark underground.

              Steve had his iron pickaxe in hand and a bundle of torches at the ready as he started mining. Pigphelas stood guard at the foot of the mountain as Steve carved into the rock and made his way diagonally down, leaving steps behind him so that he could easily make his way back up again. He put a torch on the wall every seven blocks or so.

              The light at the entrance of the mineshaft died away as Steve cut deeper into the roots of the mountain. He knew that diamonds were found only at the deepest levels, and even then only rarely. Steve had never found a diamond before, and now he needed

enough to make a sword and a full suit of armor. “I might be down here a while,” said Steve to the darkness.

              Steve kept going deeper, leaving mountains of discarded cobblestone in his wake. He past veins of coal and iron ore without stopping; he was after only one thing. Redstone glowed on the walls as Steve got closer to bedrock.

              Steve was getting ready to turn back and try mining another way when he mined right through the wall of a natural cave. Looking around, he jumped down into the cave and placed a torch so he would remember where he came from. With his sword in one

hand and a torch in the other, Steve set off through the winding cave.

              There was a growl up ahead and Steve held up his sword as a zombie stumbled towards him. As it came closer, he swung and swung again. The zombie tripped and fell over.

              Steve dashed past and headed deeper into the cave. He had never liked fighting quite as much as building, but sometimes it had to be done. Herobrine was probably going to be a lot harder to beat than a zombie.

              There was a bubbling noise up ahead and Steve turned a corner to see a lake of lava sizzling in front of him. The cave had

opened up and lava stretched out in channels that disappeared into different areas of the cave. Steve looked around, and then he saw it: on the far edge of the lava sat a cluster of diamond ore. There must have been at least five blocks of diamonds.

              Steve’s heart started pumping. This was his big break, but with the diamonds so close to the lava, he had to be extra careful. If anything fell into the lava, it would be burned up— even diamonds are consumed by lava. Steve sat on the edge of the lake and planned out his route to the diamonds.

              After some careful thinking, he began edging his way around the lake, mining out just enough room to keep himself from

touching the lava. As Steve got closer to the cluster of diamonds, he realized that there were even more than he had seen at first. He had hit a jackpot. Very carefully, Steve began to chip at the diamonds with his pickaxe.

              Steve collected one diamond after another, examining each carefully and storing them safely in his inventory. There was one moment when he slipped and almost dropped a diamond in the lava, but he managed to recover just in time. He had gotten almost all the diamonds he needed.

              Steve was reaching across a block to get the last diamond when there was a short hiss behind him. He spun around, but it was

too late. A creeper was standing there flashing white and ready to explode. Steve threw himself at the wall as the huge blast sent blocks flying everywhere.

              The iron armor saved Steve from being blown up, but it still hurt as he was flung upwards into a nook where the ceiling and wall met. He just had a little bit of health left, and he jumped again as an arrow thudded into the stone beside him. A skeleton had followed the creeper and was shooting at Steve.

              With his health so low, Steve knew his only option was to mine up and out. Another arrow barely missed Steve’s feet as he broke some blocks beside him and jumped up. Mining an upward

staircase this time, Steve ran from the skeleton. He sealed the passage behind himself with two blocks of cobblestone.

              Luckily, Steve still had a lot of torches, but it was still a slow and dark journey up through the rock. When he thought he was reasonably safe, he took a rest break and counted his diamonds. He had just enough for a sword and a set of armor. Now all he needed to do was get it enchanted.

              Steve hoped that he was mining up in the direction of the village, but the creeper explosion and the confusion afterwards had made him lose his sense of direction. All that he really knew is that he was going up.

              It seemed like a while later when the stone gave way to dirt and Steve finally broke the surface. It was raining outside— the drops rattled on Steve’s iron armor as he looked around. He certainly wasn’t in the village. Vine-covered trees sat around expanses of marshy water. Steve was in some kind of swamp.