Originally in Chapter 16, Steve was killed by the zombie attack. After Punchy and Emilia showed him the 'obituary,' Steve lashed out.

This plot point was removed because it seemed like deus ex machina. Besides, after surviving the blunt of Herobrine's fury, it seemed unlikely that a single zombie could kill the protagonist.

"What? I'm dead?" I looked between their faces in disbelief. "How can I be dead if I'm standing right here?"

"Be calm, Steve," Emilia said soothingly. "You were killed in the fight earlier, not injured."

"But I'm not dead!"

"You forget that I am caretaker of souls, do you? It is in my power to bring a soul and body back together if I so wish. Unfortunately, all things must come to an end, so when my brother's tyranny fades, so will you."

"How so?" I asked, not believing my ears.

"Your soul is tied to the task of freeing the Aether. Should you fail, your soul will be unable to leave the Aether. Should you succeed, you may return to the Nether in peace."

"Why couldn't you just assign me a longer-lasting task?"

"That is out of my power. In order to tie you to a task, you must already be in progress of completing that task."

"You know what? I've been working on dying of old age for years. Can't I just complete that task?" I replied angrily. Emilia blinked at me in disbelief.

"Your anger is understandable. Your behavior is not. I am doing this for the good of humanity, but if you are unwilling to help so be it. I can banish you to the depths of the Void if I so wish." After a moment, Emilia seemed satisfied with my silence and continued. "There is another way to survive. If you kill Herobrine or he willingly passes his power to you, you will become immortal. Forever you will be known as the ruler of the Aether. But if you fail…"

"Understood," I replied with a nod, tired of hearing the consequences of failure. "I just didn't expect to die so young."