Chapter 7

Rising Hysteria

Beads of sweat formed on Steve's forehead as his dirty hands fumbled through his double chest frantically. He repeated only one sentence over and over in his mind as he went through his chest: only take what you need.

He was not safe out in the open like this. He needed to go somewhere safe, somewhere hidden from sight. Now that Steve has encountered Herobrine on this World, there is absolutely NO WAY he can have a house out in the open like this for Herobrine to screw up and peep around in whenever he pleased.

Steve quickly broke his bed, work bench, and furnace, as well taking all of his important items out of his double chest. His violet eyes swerved around insanely across the grassland biome, searching for any type of Herobrine crap. Once he concluded that it was safe, he bolted from his door, sprinting as fast as his legs could towards the thick, oak forest in front of his house. He would be more safe traveling in the forest because the trees would help hide him. If he stayed out in the open grassland, he was unquestionably Herobrine prey, and that was the last thing he wanted. Steve dreaded the thought of Herobrine finding and harassing him again. Steve wanted to be the one to find Herobrine, not the opposite.

The sweat on Steve's forehead started to roll down the sides of his face as he seemingly sprinted for years. The miner was fortunate to be very healthy and in great shape. This made sprinting for long periods of time easier for him to do without becoming exhausted or feeling starved.

As he ran, Steve thought about Herobrine's health. Would he even be able to sprint as fast and as long as Steve? He seemed to be very pale and almost emaciated. That was not normal for Herobrine.

Steve still couldn't believe how different Herobrine looked than how he remembered. When he had that strange dream a night ago, the Herobrine in his dream looked exactly like the Herobrine Steve remembered. But...the Herobrine he met in real life looked nothing like him...

Strange.

Steve shook his head a bit, clearing his interruptive thoughts. He needed to focus on what was happing right NOW, not what happened then. His legs were starting to ache and his back was killing him, signaling to Steve that he wouldn't be able to run much further without some rest.

As Steve looked around the dark forest, suddenly a deep ravine came into his view, only a hundred or so blocks in front of him. Steve sighed in relief and smiled. A ravine is the perfect place to hide and rest in. Steve needed to get somewhere deep underground. Only then would he feel safe from Herobrine.

His strides slowly came to a halt as approached the ravine, looking over the ledge cautiously to see how deep it was. It was indeed deep, Steve could spot lava and multiple cave systems branching off of the ravine at the very bottom of it. This is perfect. Herobrine will never be able to find me down there!

The dark ravine had multiple, long vines that spiraled down into its depths, making it easy for Steve to get to the very bottom of it. He took note that a jungle biome was near, for many trees were covered in vines around this ravine. Steve never liked living in jungle biomes because of how hard it was to journey through them, but he liked to admire their beauty from afar. Luckily for him, ravines are nothing like jungles. They are much safer and easier to move around in.

Steve grabbed a vine and slowly slid down into the depths of the ravine. The air became much colder and damp as he plunged into the darkness of the cavern. The smell of cave water and old stone rushed into his nose, bringing nostalgia to the young miner. He suddenly realized how much he missed mining and wandering around in cave systems. It was something he used to quite frequently, mining used to be the only thing he really enjoyed doing. Nowadays, his interests are a bit different. Presently, player Steve enjoys to adventure, explore, and fight. He has been mining less and less, not paying much attention to the Underworld at all.

After many ticks, the human reached the rock bottom of the ravine. It was eerily quiet, the air cold and mysterious. The only sound Steve could hear was the sound of a small waterfall pouring out from the side of one of the towering cave walls. It was also extremely dark, the only light source being a small pool of lava and the Overworld's sky, which was now at least 80 blocks away from the bottom of the ravine where Steve stood. A sense of thrill and excitement took over Steve's mind and body as he thought about where to start exploring...and also where to start hiding from Herobrine.

The curiosity-filled Overworld player quickly set up his work bench, chest, and furnace in one of the dark corners of the ravine, crafting a few torches and going into one of the dark cave systems to dig a small tunnel in the side of the cave wall. He made a small living space in the stone walls and placed his bed down, putting his door up near the entrance to his little tunnel. He would have to sleep without any torches near him tonight because just a single torch could completely blow his cover. Steve didn't mind sleeping with "the lights off," but he most certainly prefers having many light sources around him while he sleeps so monsters don't disturb him...or even scary Herobrine monsters, for that matter. Steve snickered under his breath.

The human twirled his stone pickaxe around in his hand. Should I mine to kill time? It's going to be night soon. He'll have an even harder time finding me when it's dark. Plus, the farther I go into the caves around here, the less likely he'll be able to find me.

Steve made up his mind and ventured off into a dark cave, exploring the secrets of the Underworld without placing down a single torch throughout the entire duration of his journey.

...

When Steve arrived back at his crafting table and camp out place, he was exhausted and filthy. Even so, his chapped lips formed a satisfied smile. In short explanation, he had a blast. He held over two stacks of coal and iron, a stack of red stone, and five diamonds. The joys of mining got the best of him and he went a little mining-happy in the caves, collecting everything he saw.

His mining trip did indeed kill time, for now the sun was gone and infinite darkness took over the sky. Steve could only barely see the Overworld's sky, but he knew that it wasn't day because no more light was coming through the ravine's opening. This relieved Steve because now Herobrine would have a difficult time navigating himself around the Overworld's biomes to find Steve.

"Lol. Get screwed Herobrine," Steve muttered under his breath childishly.

The young miner ate some pork chop and walked over to the small waterfall that flowed out of one of the ravine's walls. He really needed to wash his face and hands, his skin was covered in sweat and dark, coal smudges.

Before the Overworld player could dive his hands into the cave water, a sudden, powerful wind rocked throughout the entire ravine, knocking Steve over and pushing him down on the chilly cave floor. The human gritted his teeth and grunted in discomfort, the cold wind chilling him to the bone. He quickly brought his hands up to embrace himself, trying to protect his lowering body temperature from the cold wind.

Steve fought the urge to shout, but the cold wind was merciless, originating from seemingly nowhere. What is going on? What is this?!

And just within a few seconds, it was gone. The wind seemed to disappear just as fast as it appeared. Steve freaked out and furiously splashed water on his face and raced back into the cave in which he placed his bed down in. He darted down his small tunnel and opened the door leading to his bedroom, closing it behind him and placing cobblestone down in front of it. Steve then placed a torch down next to his bed and scurried under his red blankets, his breathing erratic. What is going on? I thought Notch said that Herobrine couldn't do that wind thing! I thought Notch said that only hackers and corrupted entities can produce winds like that! Did he lie to me? Did Notch lie? No, no, he's not like that... Then what was that? How did that wind get here?

Steve slammed his face into his white pillow, whimpering in desperation for answers to his burning questions. Things keep on getting weirder and weirder on this World. How weird could things possibly get? In truth, Steve didn't want to know. The exhausted miner didn't even want to think about it. He just wanted to relax for once. He just wanted to feel safe.

Is that too much to ask for?