In a room in apartment 608 of Shenanigan Street, dimly lit by light coming from none other than the one projected from a PC layer, sat a boy. He is Irish, perhaps. Or even Finnish. Nobody knows for sure, since nobody really cared.
In this story, his real name is unknown, but in the internet he is known as the HX00r-MCR. Unlike any other player we encountered, Mr. HX00r here is a great hacker by nature, and he likes Minecraft. Minecraft is all there is for him. He knew and remembered all of the crafting recipes. He knew Mojang's plans early and quickly distributed it in his account to inform other players of the newfound discovery. He types very quickly - quicker than most players I know of - and he is well-known. One is for his ability to gather so much information, and the other is none other than the starter of the rumors of Herobrine.
He saw the ghost of Minecraft some years ago when he was a newbie, playing and minding no business to others when somehow he saw another player in the distance, eyes blank. We readers do not need to know the rest of the story now, do we? For short, he was mocked and teased for the cheesy hacks that he made. Most people coming to his blog is just to either call him names or a famous-wannabe Minecraft fan. He endured it constantly, but for today, Fourth of May, as people say 'May the Fourth be with you', he decided to pray for the Force to truly be with him.
Because today he is going to make a change for the world to see.
Today, he will breach into Mojang's data.
Today, he will prove to the world.
"Mojang hides something." He typed down, eyes locked on the bright blue screen as his hands move at incredible speed, assessing the binaries moving across the screen pouring down like a green waterfall.
"I will show them. I will show them Herobrine exists."
Herobrine
Chapter 20
Bewilderment
Steve made his way to the barn, carrying 7 buckets at his disposal. Today, Joe is going to come over to the village to get a woman he likes some treats, of course, to woo her, and that does not exclude cakes. He placed the buckets on his hand and use the other to see a list of things he should get for an express baking.
"Let's see... 5 buckets of milk, a hay bale, and all the eggs in the barn." he nodded to himself, somewhat proud, and went to the cow pen to collect himself some milk, then comes the eggs, and the hay.
When he returned to the small home, Joe is already there, heating up the furnace with coal and kneaded some dough in a bowl. There are already some sets of meals such as bread and cooked potatoes and fresh cooked fish in there, along with wooden bowls and a large cloth where they will sit on eventually. Steve set three buckets on the counter, and some eggs in another wooden bowl beside it.
"What do I do with the remaining two buckets?"
"Hmm... I can't drink milk, of course. Matilda will be angry if I get full in our picnic. You know. Disrespecting women in dating or stuff like that." Joe said, adding the milk to the dough and cracked an egg open. "Churn them for butter, I guess? It's tastier to fry things with butter instead of animal oil."
"I can admit, butter makes most things tasty." Steve chuckled. "Other than sea water, I think."
"I can see that." Joe poured the dough into a bucket and placed it into the furnace. "Anyway, did you feed Thomas?"
"Yes, I fed your horse." Steve plopped himself on the dining chair, wiping his forehead with a napkin. "I would get myself a steed if I happen to have another saddle."
"I'll get one for you when I get back from the village. I got enough emeralds to spend on another, and I don't mind."
"Geez, sorry for trying to keep taking care of me, Joe."
"No, the apologies are mine for leaving you." Joe raised the furnace cover open and use some leather gloves to take the bucket out, before flipping it upside down on a plate and form a bucket-shaped, brown cake. "and sorry for the work I gave you, just for this date to go on..."
"Nonono it's fine, I am used to do household chores now, remember? I even asked for your help to mine, which is uh... quite dangerous at some seasons."
"I don't mind that. Never ran into a really great trouble, anyway." Joe took the cream he prepared earlier with sugar, milk, butter and eggs, and neatly smear it all over the cake, before adding the toppings and sliced them to pieces. He gently placed a bigger custom bucket on the cake and wrapped it with cloth, before placing it neatly in he basket. "Mister Steve, I got to go now."
"Yeah. Take care."
"I'll be back before sunset, so don't worry." the villager smiled.
"Oh no, I won't. You've grown up, Joe. You need a lady soon."
The younger male chuckled. "Yeah, and my parents kept sending me letters through the nearest village. Told me the same thing, which is what I'll do now. Gotta get them a nice, perfect young daughter-in-la-"
"Joe. Date."
"...Right!"
Steve watched as the villager quickly paced out, grabbed a leash from a hanger and waved a goodbye before disappearing behind the oak wood door. He could also hear a horse neighing, before galloping away, indicating his leave.
He sighed and gets up, before sitting on the couch and whistled. A puppy appeared from the other room, running towards him and barking happily before jumped to his lap to settle there and lick on its master's face. Steve chuckled.
"Hey there, Apples. Want to accompany me for a while?"
The dog does not respond with anything but loud panting, and Steve gently scratches his pup's ear as it lay down on his lap.
His mind is actually in great turmoil. He just does not want to show it to his friend. What if Joe moved away back to the village? What if he will be all alone here, and has to go back to mining for a living? What if the mobs overcome him?
What if he-
No.
Nononono don't think about it.
Don't even try.
He shook his head and gasped, his breath slightly labored. His hand slowly moved to where the scar from the arrow was; the wound Herobrine abused so. Apples is looking at him, wondering. He tried to calm down.
Think about farming.
Think about fishing.
Think about daylight.
He calmed down.
And fell asleep.
Much to Herobrine's dismay, he was on his bed, yet again.
Based on the report of an Endermen guard nearby, he fell asleep somewhere near the gate, so they took him back. Or at least that's what he heard; the headache is too strong for him to handle currently. He nodded and apologized anyway. The enderman looks shocked. He wondered why. It was just an apology. After some time frozen on the spot, the enderman bowed, before teleporting away, leaving Herobrine groaning alone at particularly nobody.
That scene is quite embarrassing, he thought, as he lie on his bed, eyes fixed on the ornamented ceiling. Somehow, he did not feel any anger or desire to kill any witnesses about it. He just felt nothing at all.
You are the same as them, Steven.
He turned his gaze and closed his eyes. Those words struck him deep, even when his conscience told him so. Even when he knew.
It was him. It was his fault all along.
He wondered why he did not realize this sooner. Wondered why he was so blinded by fury of things he had so long forgotten?
He is the same as 'them'.
And he had failed himself. That is why the ghost exists, right? To remind him, but he did not listen.
It's gone now. Or so, he thought. It never came out after that day, as he went back to the mansion, bloodstained and filthy. The bath before answering Notch's call cleaned him up, but he felt even filthier, and he was disgusted by that it all came back to him, he felt nothing. He was not sure if he should feel pity for himself, for having lost his way somewhere. He was not sure if he should be angry for failing himself. He is not sure if he should be happy he has a conscience to tell him that he had done wrong, and he is also not sure if he should blame someone for all of this to happen.
Although he realized that all these times he had been around that he clearly knows who he is, it is still a chore for him to let himself remember about the past he had tried to forget so long ago. No matter how hard he tried to face it, he can't, and maybe that is what makes him the Herobrine now; the weak one, and the one who had forgotten himself. The one who lost his goals, his promises.
The thought of seeing the Steve came back to his mind, and he sighed. What now? What is he supposed to do now? It's like the situation itself had damned him to have nothing else for fun other than seeing that certain human. Even the mobs say they never really saw him in the mines anymore, and it's just the villager that accompanies him, getting only coal and iron and perhaps luckily found an emerald. No idea. The zombies are the only one after him, while the rest stayed put anyway. They reported the miner had build fences around the house, so they are not sure if he is still frightened with them, or he decided to be a hermit forever secluded in the little house.
And what do everyone expect? Him to come personally and ask for forgiveness? Forget that. The new Steve will not even do so. Even if he is kindhearted enough, he would run before he could even say anything. Even if he disguised himself, he will not let him in like he used to. He has not broken his trust to him, but to everyone aside that certain villager, in particular.
He has slowly turned the miner into himself.
As mush as the thoughts are appealing to him in the past, this time it made him feel like a sick, dirty human being.
If he still has the privilege to be called so.
Got down from the bed and stumbled to the throne room. He has no idea what he is supposed to achieve by doing so. Nevertheless, he was looking for something fun, and something that does not include 'outdoors' in his list.
A boy spent days and nights to breach into the encrypted codes.
He tried, and tried, and tried, and it never worked. Mojang does know about how to shield their organization properly. Well, duh, it's a professional organization. He should not have succeed.
He would not if it was not from the 'Heartbleed'.
'We launched it.' An anonymous message popped up on the screen. 'We launched the Heartbleed.'
He typed back.
'No way, Bro.'
'We finished it, and we just did.' The reply was quick. 'Hurry, it will be some time before the internet knew and made an AV to counter it. Go. Do what you can. I'm sure the things you hacked into will be proven worthy.'
'Thanks bro. It's already a great opportunity. I can manage this.'
'No worries. Just do what you like with this coming up, hacker friend.'
And he did.
Just Mojang, and the secrets lie within.
"I will find you, Herobrine."
-Recent Security Issues-
There has recently been a security incident that affected Minecraft (and two thirds of the internet). It is strongly advised that you change your Miencraft/Mojang password. Please see here for further information.
Yeaah, sorry for the sudden change in the story without warning in previous chapter. I just want to make it a surprise, and sorry, again, if you don't like where this is going. I did hint from the beginning that both reality and the game will fuse together, so yeah. Wish you all like this chapter. Sorry again or the long update, I had projects and writer's block.
AUTHOR'S NOTES : I APOLOGIZE FOR ANYONE WHO HAS HX00r-doZ AS A USERNAME. AND EVERYTHING HERE IS FICTION, ALTHOUGH HEARTBLEED IS REAL. I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA WHO STARTED IT. I JUST USE THAT IDEA.
I am also sorry for anyone whose information are stolen when Heartbleed infected internet. Please beware of the Heartbleed.
Answers:
1. SkyBornWriterGal : yes. Yes he did.
2. Nightshade 1712 : I see. Sorry about your computer, hope you can play again now! And thanks for the compliment.
3. spark n' Jetz : Ah, sorry about that. Stay-in-character and all. And yeah, Apples will appear more, so don't worry!
4. Dragstream : ...-holds your shoulders- Buddy, thank you for the input. First of all, I want to say thank you for the critiques you gave me and I am 100 percent not mad. In fact, thanks a lot! I knew I've been losing some parts somewhere along the story but I can't pinpoint where, and now I exactly know why. 1) Thanks for that input. Yeah, I have this bad thing about balancing character sna dbetween main characters, but well, the story will focus mainly on these two, so although the title is 'Herobrine' it explains both of them, because Stephanus is also the part of the story. 2) Thanks about that, too. I admit it is kinda my fault, I was rushing most of the time in those parts. I am quite impatient, and I will try my best to try making it exciting. 3) Yeah, that's fine too. It's hard not to spoil a lot of the incoming chapters, but now that the main adventure will start, I will try my best to not spoil anything. (BUT YOU JUST DID, NP. DAG NABBIT.) And no, it does not make me down, it actually makes me happy. Now I can (slightly) improve! So thanks a lot for your help and I will try fixing the future chapters and well, make it exciting.
5. WolfyTheMCPlayer : Thanks, and yeah, it's really fine. Rest is important, you know! And for the daily questions...
a. I... don't remember. My memory is starting fo fail me in such a yougn age... I think dengue fever. IVs are not nice. They are not friend.
b. OVER NINE THOUSAANDDD (Jk, hmm, maybe 40/50. I don't plan it to be a hundred or so, but we will see. No sequels, though.
c. No. Not really. Seeing people in the fanfiction likes SkyDoesMinecraft and youtuber and stuff is kinda making me feel small and um, well, even though Steve is the only character and Herobrine is not even official, I thought people won't really care about this one. But seeing that there are people liking this and following makes me happy, although even without followers I will still update it, if my future self wants to read it ahahahha. I don't have a better place to store my stories than here. ^ ^
6. xEnderAwesomex : No, silly! I posted at 7 PM or so, because I'm not a Western. I'm an Asian, and I live somewhere around it (now not at Indonesia due to college), heheh. Anyway, (wow, 4 reposts?) Ok first, the mobs will return in a future time, because the story is not fitting just yet for them to appear once more, but they are going to be back! And yes, BD41 is kind of my friend (SENPAI), we talk sometimes and she's a cool person! I am honored to be followed/reviewed by her. And thanks for sharing my story! Oh and, Joe was the kid Steve saved before, so he pretty much went through something similar, except he is not hurt and others are.
7. BlackDragon41 : Keep calm and wait for updates. -Sips tea as you slam the desk- XD well, yeah. 2 years. HUEHUE. Two years is kind of enough for someone to recover. Sometimes, it's not enough. Steve can't be almost normal under 3 months or so. At least based on my own opinions. Anyway, yeah, that's fine for being busy. Good thing you see that detail, that will be important. And nooo, he did not go to the server because he passed outtt XXD However, Herobrine is yeah... maybe being kind of alcoholic. It's just he's bored and whenever he sits down he will order wine and think and sip and it happens a lot, so it's being a um... accidental alcoholic..? you know what nevermind. I'm having brain farts.
Thank you for reading!