In between- Spoke x oc!Fem

XVII

The excitement was impossible to ignore. The chat on my stream was absolutely buzzing, and my hands hovered over the keyboard, ready to dive in. Today wasn't just any day. It was the start of Lifesteal SMP Season 6—a fresh start, a new challenge, and a shot at proving myself. I had spent the past few weeks preparing mentally for this moment, but nothing could calm the nerves that hit when the countdown began.

"Okay, okay, chat, this is it! Season 6 is here!" I said, my voice a mix of hype and panic. My Twitch chat exploded with emotes and messages.

EpicGamer123: You've got this!

PixelPanda: 500K LET'S GOOOOO!

"Yeah, 500k followers—thanks so much, guys! But no time to celebrate now—we're jumping into the madness," I added with a grin, my eyes glued to the screen.

The server launched, and suddenly I was standing among a huge crowd of players. Familiar faces mixed with new ones, but I didn't have time to check who was who. Minuet, one of the server's admins, took charge.

"Everyone, welcome to Lifesteal Season 6," Minuet's voice boomed across the server. "You've all been chosen to carry the essence of the Second Mouse within you. Each of you has the power to take, steal, and hoard hearts. Now run, survive, and lifesteal officially begins!"

And with that, chaos erupted. No one waited for more instructions. We were off.

"Alright, time to go!" I muttered to myself, sprinting through the crowd of players toward a distant forest. "Let's get wood and not die in the first five minutes."

The chat was hyped as ever, throwing out encouragement and advice, but I was too focused to respond. My character sprinted through the terrain, the landscape a blur of green and brown. As I started punching trees, gathering wood for tools, I heard a familiar voice in my Discord.

"Avery! You there?" It was RoshamboGames, his voice crackling in my ear.

"Ro! Let's team up!" I replied instantly, relieved to hear from someone I knew.

"Sounds good! Where are you?"

"I'm heading to the west, near the forest by spawn," I said, still chopping away at trees. I quickly crafted a wooden pickaxe and went to work gathering stone.

Ro joined me a few minutes later, and the two of us wasted no time gathering resources. The early game grind was always the same—wood, stone, coal, iron—but this time it felt more intense. Every second that passed was a second closer to someone deciding to attack.

"I heard Spoke's already making traps," Ro said, glancing over at me as we mined for iron.

I groaned. "Of course he is."

The first day on Lifesteal was always wild. There were no predetermined alliances, and with no Netherite and limited gear allowed, everyone was on edge, trying to figure out who they could trust and who was just waiting to backstab them. It was an anything-goes server, after all.

"Hey, Avery, Ro!" Another voice popped up on Discord. Jumper.

"Jumper, what's up?" I asked, glancing around to make sure no one else was nearby.

"Can I join you guys? I don't wanna get wrecked in the first hour," she said with a nervous laugh.

Ro gave a quick nod. "Yeah, let's stick together. Better to have numbers."

We gathered more resources—enough to craft some iron armor and weapons—and started discussing where we should head next. I glanced over at the chat.