In the span of three seconds I debated between two choices available.
One was to run like hell and pray there were no undead in my way; the other, to summon my Demonic Lead Broadsword and swing before either of us knew what hit 'em.
'Well, no one is going to fight this thing for me,' I thought mirthlessly as I whipped the blade horizontally in a spinning arc.
My blade met resistance. Cold liquid splashed across my face as the zombie was flung sideways. But before it could even finish falling, it was already struggling upright. It continued closing the distance to bite and claw chunks out of me. I struck faster. With an upward diagonal slash I tore a deep gash into the chest of the zombie before me, sending it a couple of steps away from me.
At first, I didn't recognize that this wasn't a cookie-cutter zombie from the game. It was certainly a moth-eaten undead, ragged and worn by the wind. Said undead previously in life was a blonde woman, but with her hair being considerably dirtier and more piecemeal than a full head.
'Well, I don't really want to think about the implications of that,' I thought as I readied myself for the approach of a George Romero-style creation.
It crept too close, but despite me being a kid barely to its hips and having the reach advantage, it lacked what all zombies lacked: dexterity.
With the attitude of a badger, I struck before it could reach me, landing another solid blow. This time, it's unusual, but the steady walking cadence faltered more before it tried to bodily rush with all its mustered strength.
'Second verse, same as the first,' I thought as I sidestepped out of its way, slashing at the thigh in the same movement.
In a fashion comically, the offending zombie released a wet choking sound before exploding into a mess of offal and limbs, following the weak momentum of its reckless charge.
I chuckled at the game's accuracy before the sound died in my throat. First because that was once a living person before they died, and second I could see three more zombies heading my way to do the exact same thing as before.
"So long, you poor souls!" I announced, as I summoned my recall potion in my left hand, taking a swig of the tasteless concoction before instantly being transported in the same clearing in the forest I made back at spawn.
The first thing I noticed was that the sun was setting. The deep pink glow beyond the treetops was more haunting than beautiful. Next was Andrew's staring at me with a worried expression, poised as if to turn and bolt as fast and as far as possible.
I didn't even need to say anything to understand what to do as I began to place stone blocks into a square platform.
"Remember, the house needs to be at least ten meters long and five meters tall," Andrew coached from the sidelines, "If you mess up, wood that thin won't hold back even demon eyes!"
I nodded along, reshaping the square into a rectangle as I began to build the wood walls up as well.
"Also don't forget to place a table and chair along with lighting as well."
I scoffed at the advice.
"I know what's needed to build reliable housing, my question is," I said, pointing a plank of wood at The Guide, "can you help?"
Andrew gained a sheepish look before he slowly shook his head.
"Unless you want it to take a couple of hours, I have to use nails and saws in order to match you."
I shrugged at the answer, afterall it did occur to me once again that these are people now, not lines of code that can only do a few things. Within the next ten minutes, I finished building my first house—complete with a wooden door, furniture, and torchlight. I blocked the door on the outside with piles of dirt before closing it, exhausted but satisfied with the work I've done.
"Good job, partner," Andrew proudly announced, slapping my shoulders like a sports dad, "I knew we could do it."
With all the vitriol I could muster in my prepubescent body, I stared up at the lazy brunette—which only seemed to delight him more.
"... Hah, ha ha. For a kid, you don't have any chill!"
I glanced back at the recently buried door, then back at The Guide, never losing face.
"I blocked our only door because I'm intimately familiar with your door-opening shenanigans," I said coldly, earning him a dramatically wounded look.
"I'm not that dumb to do that," he said, before whispering, "I mean, not anymore."
"Wait, what?" I asked in disbelief.
"Nothing," Andrew replied too quickly, confirming what I'd heard."
However, before I could press him further on the details of that story, a multitude of groans and wet knocks against the walls and ceiling interrupted my thought process.
A creeping instinctual fear of a zombie potentially breaking through the 2x3 wood plank wall and swarming us made every sound I was aware my body could make rival a mouse under a vow of silence. After several minutes of hearing the horde of groaning, clawing, and thuds akin to someone throwing a sodden towel at the walls continue, I began to sit in front of the new furnace, anvil, and work bench I made during my contemplation.
I wanted to try the new unique crafting in the power menus, but I couldn't come up with any good ideas, so I began to peruse my items obtained through my spelunking.
"Stone bombs? Nah, dirt bombs exist and I'm not exactly hurting for more stone."
Stone… arrows? I mean," I mused, pulling up the information on a regular arrow.
___
Arrow (161)
White – 10
5 thrusting damage
3 velocity
2 knockback
Material
___
I hummed to myself in contemplation on what to do with my remaining time. Until a hopeful idea emerges into my mind. If blocks like wood and stone attempt to keep their cube shape when I place them, then…
I quickly crafted a couple of wood platforms. First I placed two wood platforms against a wall with the least amount of outside noise before standing on it. Jumping and kneeling on the platform did little but cause it to wobble with the applied force, until I imagined myself falling through the platform that I began to phase through the object like it wasn't even there.
Andrew, with an amused look on his face, watched as I began to experiment with the wood platform's potential. Which I quickly noted a few things:
One: Once I really mean to phase through the wood platform, either falling though, or jumping into, I'm committed. Two: that staying partially phased into a platform doesn't hurt at all and the entire platform will remain without a "hitbox" until I fully exit that platform. And finally three…
I placed a singular wood plank in the middle of the room, and hammered it until it was precariously balanced on one edge of the slope. Then I block swapped it with a regular wood platform, resulting in a regular-looking wood platform. However when I tried to walk into it, from the side, from behind, or even falling onto it, it repulsed me in one direction all the same.
"THE HOIK IS REAL!" I yelled, unable to restrain my excitement. This caused Andrew to guffaw loudly and the zombies outside to increase their flailing against the wood walks more from the sudden sound of life within.
'This changes the playing field in its entirety," I thought, pacing around the room in restrained excitement, "I wonder what I could hoik outside of this Sub-World."
My mind wandered from incomplete idea to idea, autopiloting back in front of the work bench and furnace in front of me. I sat there until the first idea with stone and arrows returned to my gray matter with proverbial force.
Like a marionette being puppeteered by a novice, I began to assemble three unplaced stone blocks in one hand and a bundle of arrows in the other. Then opening [Unique Crafting], I deliberated on how easy it was to craft. With a slight bit of grinding teeth, I decided against asking my sassy sherpa in turn wanting to get into the thick of things.
The first five attempts were unsuccessful as expected from past information, but every subsequent attempt thinned my patience like the last scrapes of butter on toast. On my last 20 arrows left in my inventory, I felt Andrew's hand gently rest on my shoulder, returning my spatial awareness back in full force.
"Would you want help before you waste your last few arrows?" He asked, face relaxed with patience.
I ruminated on the question, letting the groans and clawing from outside fill the noticed silence. I looked up from my seated position at The Guide before giving a curt nod in acceptance. With a smile, Andrew sat across from me, with the work bench between us.
"I know you think it is a chance to create something unique," Andrew said, aimlessly gesturing with his hands, "But it is a bit misleading because of that."
"You gotta know what you want to make specifically, you normally can't just throw items together and expect to craft something useful."
"What is it you're wanting to craft?"
Adopting a thinking pose at the clarification, I began to think of any long lasting impact I could have back in the real world.
'I don't know if I'd be a Vigilante or a Pro Hero,' I pondered, 'but I wouldn't want to kill anyone.'
'This would also include weapons like the star-cannon or even shurikens.'
"I think I know what I want to craft," I said, determination rising in my chest.
"Well, then maybe you'll get lucky this time then." Was Andrew's only response.
With little wait, I reopened the unique crafting menu, and began to place [Arrow (10)] and [Stone (10)] into it. Before I crafted them however, I reinforced the idea of crafting a non-lethal arrow to not needlessly kill.
With a keen mental silence, I completed the recipe allowing me to behold my first final product!
I summoned the newly created arrow in my left hand, inspecting it slowly. It appeared like a regular arrow. Complete with isosceles triangular arrowhead, shaved wooden shaft, and fletchings from an unknown bird.
___
Non-lethal Arrow (10)
White – 10
5 thrusting damage
3 velocity
2 knockback
Cannot kill any thing
"It hurts, but also tickles?"
Material
___
'Well isn't that interesting? It created its own flavor text for something I just made,' I thought, as I crafted the last ten arrows into these non-lethals.
With nothing more to do I checked the time I had left before I woke up.
___
[Sub-World Time Menu]
Time Differential: 1:1 scale
Sub-World Time: 24 hour days
Force Wake-Up Timer: 7 hours
Time Remaining: 00:03:14:45
___
'Basically three hours left? Whelp, might as well wait it out.'
With no more to do. I decided to close my eyes in the mock attempt to sleep in a dream.
'Wouldn't that be something?' I internally asked, "Inception through Terraria?'