In the sky, a perfectly square luminary hung high.
A standard one-cubic-meter block, colored yellow and green, stood firmly in an endless void.
On top of this block, Kiyan lay motionless, like a corpse.
Kiyan stared at the block beneath him and let out a long, silent sigh.
Ever since seeing 'Luo Luo's Adventure' and its protagonist crossing over while gaming during a thunderstorm, Kiyan had made it a ritual to play games during every thunderstorm until the rain stopped.
Before arriving here, it had been just such a stormy night, and he was playing a Minecraft Skyblock survival map.
Looking at the world generation screen, Kiyan decided that this time, he would absolutely complete the skyblock through pure survival.
Some time later...
"This cobblestone... I can just weigh down my mouse with a figure and grind it AFK. I'll get a full backpack sooner or later. I might as well just switch to creative and grab it directly. It'll save time for building a mob farm."
The thought had barely formed before his hands started moving on their own, completely forgetting his earlier vow of a pure survival run.
The instant he hit the Enter key, a blinding white flash of lightning split his vision.
When he regained consciousness, he was here.
The good news: he had crossed over and become a Steve. He had an MC system panel, and judging by the health bar, it wasn't hardcore mode.
The bad news: it was a skyblock start. He had only a single grass block beneath his feet, no other resources, and nowhere to type /gamemode creative again.
Looking at his inventory, which was as empty as his bank account, Kiyan sighed.
If he had another chance, he would definitely have chosen to play an eroge instead of a Minecraft Skyblock.
Moreover, this wasn't the skyblock version he was used to. The starting oak tree, lava bucket, and water bucket... none of them were here.
Kiyan could only say this was worse than prison.
At least in prison, you had space to move. He was confined to this tiny one-square-meter area.
What could he even do here? Watch the moon ten times?
The square sun in the sky slowly set, and a square moon gradually rose.
Kiyan watched his saturation drop to zero, the hunger status in his panel glowing brightly. He kept a close eye on his health bar.
His health ticked down bit by bit, but Kiyan felt no pain. Right now, he was just a Steve with Kiyan's skin.
When his health dropped to only two hearts, Kiyan leaped into the void.
If the rules of this world were the same as Minecraft, then as a skyblock player, Kiyan had the ability to create his own world from this single grass block.
Falling, Kiyan quickly took void damage. He'd let his health drop below two hearts to ensure that after dying, his "corpse" (death point) would be less than 128 blocks from the mob spawning distance.
Using this mechanic, he could spawn monsters on the grass block.
And based on Kiyan's observations, the grass block was in a cold biome; snow was constantly forming on it.
If he could just get a zombie with a shovel to spawn, Kiyan would have a chance to get that shovel, clear the snow, and craft snow blocks to expand his living space.
Mobs spawning on the grass block had a 25% chance of being a zombie. A zombie had a 5% chance of holding an item, and that item had a 2/3 chance of being an iron shovel.
This was not his first leap into the void.
Revived, Kiyan looked at the grass block, which was empty save for himself, and began to wonder if this world was in peaceful mode.
Realism in games was great, but when it became too real in certain aspects, it was pure torture.
Kiyan now agreed with that statement wholeheartedly.
But Kiyan didn't pause. He continued to jump on the grass block, rapidly depleting his fully restored hunger bar.
Watching his health drop, Kiyan took another leap of faith into the void.
Good news: this world really did spawn mobs. It wasn't in peaceful mode.
Bad news: a Creeper had spawned on the grass block. It was now face-to-face with Kiyan, hissing and about to explode.
Kiyan threw a quick series of punches, knocking it into the void.
If he let the Creeper explode on the grass block... he would be trapped in an endless cycle of death.
The square sun had risen and set who knows how many times. Kiyan had no idea how many times he had died.
Already numb, Kiyan mechanically managed his stats, then jumped into the void again.
He revived again. Staring at the green-bodied zombie before him, which held a glittering silver iron shovel, Kiyan's numb heart felt like it had been struck by a meteor.
The once-ugly zombie suddenly seemed beautiful in his eyes. Even its hoarse groan sounded melodic to his ears.
Kiyan let the zombie attack him repeatedly. He didn't, and couldn'T, fight back, terrified that any move he made would knock the zombie into the void.
Kiyan used the game mechanics to slowly inch his body into a corner. This way, due to the game's properties, the zombie would be unable to attack him again.
Watching the sun slowly rise, Kiyan felt an excitement for the dawn that he had never experienced before.
Even if this sun looked a bit strange.
As the sun rose, the zombie quickly burst into flames. The red flash of damage pulsed rhythmically from its body.
Kiyan silently calculated the zombie's health. When it had only a sliver of health left, Kiyan quickly threw a punch.
"Drop it!"
Kiyan successfully landed the killing blow. But after the puff of smoke cleared, only a piece of rotten flesh was left on the grass block.
Rotten flesh.
Only rotten flesh.
Kiyan's emotions, which had just been on a rollercoaster, crashed. He slowly lay back on the grass block, silently bringing a spicy snack stick to his mouth.
This miracle was born from hundreds of suicides. Why couldn't it have lasted just a little longer?
Disheartened, Kiyan lay on the grass block, giving up the struggle completely.
Sisyphus might have been happy, but Kiyan knew he definitely wasn't.
Besides, skyblock always ended up as a retirement game (AFK grinding) anyway. Why not just start retiring from the beginning?
Kiyan hereby announced his early graduation from skyblock.
And so, Kiyan completely gave up. He wouldn't die here anyway. He could just go to sleep.
He always used to complain about not getting enough sleep at work. Now, he could sleep until he couldn't sleep anymore.
That alone was enough to make countless office workers burn with envy.
Kiyan kept comforting himself, but the phantoms of smartphones and computers flashed relentlessly through his mind.
I want to die. How can I live in a world without a smartphone!
Kiyan lay on the grass block, staring lifelessly at the empty sky, motionless, like a corpse.
Into the silent space, the sound of a portal suddenly echoed.
Kiyan jolt awake, whipping his head toward the source of the sound. A strange door had appeared in front of him.