The Reader's Request Book [REQUESTS CLOSED]

Luck of the Irish - Full Story

Groaning in discomfort, one of the green-clad men shook his right leg, flexing the knee as he reached to his behind. "I swear to Christ, this thing is going to saw me in half if it keeps..."

"Kevin, if you complain about the harness one more time, I'm eliminating you myself," Dan warned, tired of hearing the same complaint, gripping the sword in his hand tighter as he peered over the fallen log that the group were hiding behind.

"Easy for you to say! You're not the one dealing with a...!"

"A harness one size too small, yes, we know Kevin," the younger man sighed. "It's your own damn fault, they asked us all for our measurements before this, and you just half-assed it!"

"An educated guess isn't half-assing it!" Kevin argued back, causing Dan to roll his eyes.

"Guys, this is not how hiding quietly works," Jack whisper-yelled, his attempt to keep a hushed voice just as loud as Dan and Kevin's standard talking.

"Sorry, sorry," Kevin mumbled, his in-game avatar blindly grabbing at his waist as he attempted to readjust the uncomfortable harness that was adamant about chaffing him at every movement in real life. Crouching down certainly wasn't making things any more comfortable, as the group of three remained hidden behind foliage atop a grassy hill that overlooked the centre of the world, which was likely to soon be overrun by the final survivors of the tournament in an all-out brawl for the victory. "Have you seen anyone yet?" Kevin asked, scanning the perimeter of the world's centre.

"No, nothing yet," Jack shook his head. "I feel like any moment, someone's just gonna sneak up behind us and push us off the damn hill."

"Don't worry, I've been watching our backs," Dan reassured, earning a short laugh from Kevin.

"No, you haven't, you've been checking your Twitch chat," the younger man grinned.

With a look of fake insult, the youngest man questioned, "What, you don't think I can multitask?"

"Nope," the other two Irishmen simultaneously chorused.

With both eyebrows raising in surprise at how perfectly time their responses were, Dan crossed his arms. "Well, f*ck you too, then," he grumbled sarcastically, eliciting amused chuckles from his two friends. A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye immediately drew his attention away from the fake argument at hand. "Hey, down there!" he whispered, pointing to someone in a predominantly red uniform.

"Is that Tommy?" Jack asked, squinting his eyes to try and determine both the person spotted as well as their equipment. He cupped his hands over his eyes to block out the rays of the quickly setting sun that unfortunately shone directly towards their lookout spot.

"Is he alone?" Kevin added, watching as the blonde-haired figure darted between the trees in an attempt to keep hidden, unaware of the fact he had already been spotted. "I can't remember if other members of the red team have been eliminated or not..."

Scanning the forest, Dan searched for more red-clad warriors or any other contestants within the first-ever augmented reality Minecraft tournament.

Hosted by Mojang, the creators of the game, partnered with Virtuix, a company that specialised in designing equipment to advance video gaming experience, the tournament consisted of thirty YouTubers, split into groups of three named by colours, in a battle royal style competition. Both companies were sponsoring a charity fundraising event, which many of the partaking players were live streaming to further publicise the cause. A custom-made map had been created, circular and encased by an invisible dome that progressively shrunk to force players closer together. Unlike standard battle royal games such as Fortnite, Player Unknown's Battle Grounds, or H1Z1, in which loot would be hidden around the map for the players to find, the teams would have to mine resources and craft equipment just like in a standard game of survival Minecraft.