In the Game

CHAPTER 1 PART 1: INTRO

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[LOADING TERRAIN]

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Let the show begin...

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  I could feel the soft and lush grass under my palms as I tried to move my body. Whatever the person injected into me was strong, and I felt like I was being trapped under the weight of the sky once again.

  After what felt like years of waiting and looking at the empty, vast sky, the tranquiliser (at least I think it is one) started wearing off and I could finally move without being exhausted.

  The first thing I noticed was the gray rectangle with 9 squares in it, the one closest to my left framed with white, and on top of the rectangle, 10 red hearts and 10 food bars, effectively blocking the bottom of my vision though I could still see my hands. I sat up immediately, scanning my surroundings, brushing a few specks of dirt from my lap, reaching inside my pocket instinctively and breathing out a sigh of relief when I felt that my trusty pen/sword, Riptide, was still there.

  The rest of the seven were still asleep/tranquilised/paralyzed/whatever you want to call it and we were on a grass field with basically nothing but a few trees and tall grass and the occasional cow, pig, sheep or chicken. The weirdest thing was that everything was blocky and even the grass and animals were made out of pixels.

  What. The. Living. Fuck.

  A dull 'thump' came from behind me and I swiveled my head to find 7 walkie-talkies with a keyboard attached to each of them and a thick, leather bound book with faded words imprinted in big, bold and gold letters on the cover, about 2 meters behind me. I peered at the book cover, barely making out the words 'Guide to Minecraft survival: 1.19'.

  I frowned, what the Hades was 'Minecraft' and what did the book mean by '1.19'? My head was spinning with questions as I stood up shakily, trying to reach the items but tripping on thin air and landing face first on the grass.

  Oof.

"And that's how Seaweed Brain got his nickname." Leo announced dramatically as I picked myself up from the ground and shot daggers at him (not literally though). The others had already woken up and looked equally confused as me. Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Leo, "Care to explain this?" She gestured to our surroundings while Hazel petted a chicken and cooed at it.

  Leo shrugged, "I have no idea how we got here but these seem cool!" He tried to pick up a walkie-talkie but instead it disappeared as soon as his hand made contact with it. The confusion was practically rolling off him in waves as he rubbed his eyes, unsure if what just happened was real and after confirming that, he slowly backed away from it and started contemplating his existence.

  "There's a rectangle at the bottom of my sight...I'm have to be going insane."

  Frank raised an eyebrow and picked up another walkie talkie and had the same reaction."