Rose stared around my third floor with delight. She removed her robe, revealing a musket over her shoulder. There were sticks of dynamite on her belt.

"So many chests," she said eagerly. "Here, have a gift." And she hung up a raincoat zombie banner on the wall, right above my workbench. It was very ugly. Still, a gift was a gift, right?

Climbing up onto the top roof, Rose squinted up at my floating island. The rope was just above my bonfire, I suddenly realized. "You really shouldn't leave rope so close to a fire," she chided. "Use chains, silly."

Like magic, Rose drew a long coil of chains from an unseen pocket and began to climb the rope, replacing it with chains as she went.

I barely had time to gather my thoughts when she came sliding down the rope ladder, dropping to the first floor. "Wait, what are you doing?" I protested as she began rummaging through my living wood chests.

"Dyes, I need dyes," replied Rose, as if only half hearing me. Then, she frowned and looked up. "Ah, but... you don't have a dye vat, do you? What a shame."

No, I didn't. I didn't see much use for one, no matter what sort of pitch Ahirom tried to use on me. But minutes later, I had a new dye vat set up on top of the condos.

As I stared at the dye vat, Rose went to work at building a gallows on top of Ahirom's house. Or rather, she built it on top of the bricks that were going to be the house above Ahirom's.

I heard knocks at the front door. Alarmed, I drew my sword and headed for the tower's entrance. "Cut that out, it's just my friends," said Rose, shaking her head. "Morthal, Dante, come in!"

The door opened, and two men entered. One was a dwarf with a shaggy red beard and a mining helmet. "I'm Morthal, a demolitionist," he said to me gruffly. "I sell explosives for all your mining needs."

The other man was a pale gray, both his hair and his skin, as if he hadn't showered in years. "The name's Dante; I'm an arms dealer," he said smoothly, eyes prowling the room. "You shoot the monsters, I provide the bullets."

Both Morthal and Dante smelled strongly of gunpowder. Overhead, Alfred and Kyle were still eyeing Rose suspiciously; Marco had joined them. I looked at Rose. "Who are they?" I demanded.

She held up her hands. "No need to get violent! They've just been wandering around ever since their homes got corrupted, and I figure you might appreciate some newcomers."

Rose moved around the village like a playful kid, adding little fences and ropes here and there. I suppose it looked nice to her.

Whistling, Rose closed the chests and stretched. "Now, let's go explore," she said eagerly.

We passed through the grass-cave and entered the tunnels under the west hill. I stopped to mine out a stone vein; I didn't want to run out of stone, after all.

"Hey, come on!" called Rose. Sighing, I hurried down the tunnel after her, hanging torches as I went.

We passed the cave where I found my first heat crystal and hurried further on. This was far deeper than I had ever gone. How much was I skipping over? How much would I miss?

Don't get me wrong! Rose taught me a lot of useful skills. We ended up at the flooded tunnels, where I almost drowned when getting my first heart crystal. "Watch and see," she told me.

Glowsticks in hand, she dove into the water. Sighing, I leapt in after her.

At the bottom of the tunnel, Rose swung her pickaxe at the top of the tunnel, disloding several rocks and dirt; I didn't understand. Then, she yanked me up into the hole in the tunnel's ceiling- into the air pocket she'd created. I gasped for breath as my head broke the surface.

Terraria defied normal physics. The floating islands were proof of that. Add another thing to that list: Displaced rocks would leave air pockets, even if they were underwater.

And so, we continued tunneling, continued exploring the caves. The walls were mostly stone now, with only a few veins of dirt here and there; no wonder Rose didn't want me to waste time mining stone earlier.

Dropping down into a cave, we slashed our way through the slimes and bats swarming us, exploring the tunnel. And then... I thought I saw a mysterious blue light from a distant cave.

No, it wasn't my imagination! As we tumbled down into a shallow pool, I saw an underground lake with vivid, electric-blue banks. As we drew closer, I caught my first glimpse of glowing mushrooms, tall white stalks like underground trees, masses of glowing blue grass.

Amazed, I approached the lake's edge and plunged my hand into the water, pulling out a fistful of mud. Mud? I was dumbfounded. I had never found such soft soil on Terraria before. Dirt was dirt, right?

Apparently not.

I felt something under my foot click, and my eyes widened. Almost immediately, I felt several slender darts fly out from the darkness, landing in the tiny gaps between my chainmail links, sending a sudden, writhing pain down my left arm.

"Oh, watch out for traps, by the way," called Rose, who was already halfway across the lake. There were a number of ledges above the lake, all covered with slippery mushroom grass.

Grimacing with pain, I stared at the ground, trying to find the pressure plate I'd stepped on. Ah, there. Tucking my left arm in, I swung my pickaxe one-handedly at the pressure plate, dislodging it. There.

I managed to make it halfway across before I accidentally fell into the water. I struggled to reach the surface; I could hear creaking bones around me. What on earth?

Climbing up onto the glowing banks, I struck a torch and spun around to see several skeletons bounding across the muddy ledges toward me. How were they finding me so easily?

I slashed at them as they came, but they were stronger than the zombies of night; I felt my blade bounce off the hardened calcite. I heard a shuttering, shifting sound.

More of them behind me, dropping down from the wall. Grimacing, I fought my way to higher ground, slashing at them as I went.

Then, without warning, a giant worm burst out of the wall and struck me at full force in the chest, knocking me straight back into the water.

I didn't make it out this time.

Cool grass on my back, a voice in my ears. Blinking awake, I saw a tiny green light floating near my head, like a little crystal or a firefly. "Scheil? You all right?"

It was Rose's voice. Slowly sitting up, I stared at the green light. "Yeah," I said weakly. I was in the grass cave once again, up on the surface. "How did I get here?"

She snickered. "I carried you back up, you dork. You died, again."

I froze. "What do you mean, 'again'?"

"Do you really think all those tombstones lying around are just for show?" she laughed. "Look, I've just literally tunneled into hell and don't have time to explain. Go ask Kyle, okay? See ya."

The green light disappeared. I felt my entire body grow cold. I died? But that couldn't be right. if I had actually died, then why was I still here? Jack didn't come back, after all. What was going on?

Heading inside, I took off my helmet and collapsed into a chair. "You look like you've seen a ghost," remarked Marco, who was standing in the back doorway. I ignored him,

I decided to stay up on the surface and work on my town for a bit. It never occured to me, back then, that the village might be a little cramped.

I assembled a heavy workbench and set it up next to the wooden workbench. This would allow me to cut larger stone slabs, which was far more efficient than refining stone into gray bricks. But to my disappointment, the large stone slabs didn't look half as good as the bricks. No matter how I tried to place the slabs, there was always a small gap between the slabs and anything else: dirt, wood, unrefined stone, or brick. So I removed the slabs.

Night was falling as I dismantled the workbench. I noticed Alfred leaning against the wall, looking at me grimly. "Scheil, I think we need to talk," said Kyle, who was seated on my anvil. "We have a problem."

I felt a curious sensation in the air, something cold prickling at my skin, but tried to ignore it. "You mean Rose?"

Alfred nodded. "Her and those two characters she brought along."

"Listen, you can't be so lax with who you let in and out of Corundia," said Kyle sternly, leaning in toward me. "There's all sorts of people out there. Most are just trying to get by on their own. And if they see an opportunity, they'll take it."

I shifted uncomfortably. "I think she's just trying to help," I said after a moment, glancing to the raincoat zombie banner. "I mean... she hasn't robbed anything, has she?"

Kyle sighed and massaged his forehead. "How do I say this?" muttered the guide, looking down at his shoes. "Alfred, help me out here."

"He's your job," replied the merchant a bit snappishly. "You're the one who's supposed to make sure he understands."

I stared at Kyle, then Alfred. What were they talking about?

"Okay, here's the thing." Kyle put his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eye. "Terraria is more than just endless dirt and stone. It isn't just a circus of hungry monsters. There's secrets hidden everywhere. In every crevice, behind every corner."

"Like the Life Crystals?"

"Exactly." He let go of me and put his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. "Now listen. These are the prizes for braving the underground, your reward for being an adventurer. Some were left by forgotten civilizations; others by past adventurers. Wonders in every chest."

"What sort of wonders?"

"Why..." He spread his arms. "Potions to reverse earth and sky. Winged shoes and magic armbands, arrows that burst into stars. Sometimes just gold or silver, perhaps extra torches. But it doesn't matter what you find. The joy is in unearthing them."

I could feel the power of his words, stirring that old, romantic drive for adventure, for excitement. And yes, it resonated with me; but of course it did! Why else would I venture into the tunnels, again and again?

Kyle gave Alfred a look, as if asking for help. "Fine! Fine, I'll say it," sighed Alfred. "Look, kid, here's what Kyle's trying to say. You like exploring caves, right? You like finding treasure? Well, if you don't step in soon, you won't be finding any. You won't be treading any new ground."

I didn't know what to say. There was a chill in the air.

"Right now, Fuwaa is down in your tunnels, in your caves, claiming your treasure, reaping your spoils. She's robbing you of experiences! Do you really want to be left with a scarred, empty world? To have nothing left to search for but empty chests?"

Rose was my friend, right? She was trying to help me. Was it really so wrong that she might claim some treasure? Especially if she was the one to find it. Finders keepers, right?

Without warning, terror sprung from within me, unbidden, and I lurched forward. Both Alfred and Kyle leapt to their feet, alarmed, helping me back up. "Scheil! Scheil! What's wrong?"

I felt the hairs on my skin rise; every sense became alert. There was a sinister prescence nearby, looming over me; I was like a deer trapped in the hunter's gaze.

The feeling faded, but my heart was still racing. Where was Rose? I needed to talk to her, now.

As if summoned by thought, the green light reappeared nearby- the one that had let me communicate with Rose earlier. "Rose? Can you hear me? What did you do?" I gasped to the light. Overhead, the last rays of sunlight had vanished.

"You mean that cold feeling, just now?" she replied, unusually cheerful. "Oh, don't look at me; I didn't do a thing. It's just a thing that happens. I'm surprised it hasn't happened to you before!"

"What do you mean?!"

"Oh, you know; it's some deadly evil that terrorizes Terraria, something you have to take care of," Rose told me. "Go get 'em, eh?"

I was so focused on Rose's words that I didn't notice the commotion outside. "What's coming? Rose! Rose!"

I heard a scream. Breaking contact, I rushed out to find Alfred and Kyle, standing transfixed beneath a great shadow descending from the sky.

Above, I saw a giant floating eyeball, the largest that I'd yet seen. "The Eye," croaked Alfred, his face gone pale, raisng a shaking arm. "The Eye! The Eye of Cthulhu! Elysia save us all!"

With no visible mouth, the Eye gave a terrible snarl that reverberated through the village, and a swarm of floating eyeballs suddenly burst from its pupil, flying at us.

"Get inside! Get inside!" I shouted, pushing Alfred and Kyle into the patio, down the ladder. Down on the third floor, Marco and Morthal stared at us, as if a serious conversation of their own had been interrupted.

Another snarl shook the village. Boarding up the third-story doors, I checked my weapon chest for my pouch of shurikens, but it was gone. No time to search. Snatching up a boomerang instead, I hurried back up to the patio workshop as the Eye emerged from the darkness above Ahirom's house.

Standing on his front porch, Ahirom stared up at the Eye, then fled inside and shut the door. Another swarm of eyeballs burst from the Eye's pupil as I raced down the roof bridges, slashing, bloody tendrils and eyeball bits flying into my eyes.

The great Eye rushed upon me and collided with me at full force, knocking me flat on my back. Before I could react, it crashed into me again, and a third time before moving back. My senses were jarred, my ears ringing; if not for my armor, my ribs would have been crushed.

Struggling to one knee, I hurled my boomerang straight at the Eye, landing a glancing blow on its iris. The boomerang had barely returned to my fingertips when the swarming eyeballs surrounded me, darting in and out of reach, striking me one after another.

Slashing, I managed to dispel the swarm, but the Eye of Cthulhu was no longer above Ahirom's house. Where was it? Where did it go?

I heard screams from inside the tower. Alarmed, I limped back up to the patio to find the Eye hovering just above the rooftop bonfire, eyeballs streaming down the ladders. I'd forgotten to board up the ladder chutes!

Dropping down to the third floor with my pickaxe, I hacked down the boarded-up doors, and the four villagers inside- Alfred, Kyle, Morthal, and Marco- rushed out past me, one after another.

Breathing hard, I apologized to them profusely. "Doesn't matter if you boarded up the ladders," Kyle told me. "The smaller eyeballs- the Servants of Cthulhu- can phase through walls."

"They can?" I uttered. I glanced back to the top of the tower, but once again, the Eye had moved. "I don't understand-"

"Scheil! Behind you!" shouted Marco.

I spun around right just in time to see the Eye of Cthulhu burst from the shadows before it crashed into me- and this time, I blacked out.

Rose was nearby when I awoke in the grass-cave. "Tsk, tsk! Dying before I got back up here," she chided me with mock disapproval. "What a shame. At least you revived quickly this time."

Death and revival. Not unconsciousness and consciousness. Not a miraculous rescue. It really bothered me, that she kept saying that I died. "You didn't bring me here?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed. "By the time I reached the surface, it was all over. You were lying on the ground in a bloody mess, and the Eye was gone."

"Why do you keep saying I died?"

She laughed in my face. "Because it's the truth! I saw your ghost float out of your body and drift over here, where your body reformed itself. You really shouldn't die so much, you know."

Frustrated, I tried to sit up, but immediately I felt dizzy, the air on my hot skin tingling with cold as if I had a fever. "Take it easy, man," sighed Rose, shaking her head. "Your body's still recovering, even if it's in one piece again."

There was a faint clinking sound as Rose trotted off, and I stared after her. What sort of hideous monster did she think I was? Humans didn't simply regenerate like that! There must be more to what she was saying. And... that pouch on her belt, weren't those my shurikens?