Escape

When a man finds himself trapped in an unfavorable position, he comes up with the most bizarre of ideas. This was how inventors are born, their ingeniousness derived from either needs or curiosity. Some are natural-born problem solvers, some spend years expanding their knowledge while others are just normal people who happen to chance upon a silly idea.

Our heroes find themselves in a checkmate from the enemy evoker's spell. A revival spell that drains the life of its foes and converts the remains into an undead puppet.

Just before the zombies take a bite at Ricardo's flesh, the evoker gestured an open palm to command his underlings to cease for the time being.

"Well, I see that you two have potential. As for the grandmaster... I daresay how you have fallen... you should've left the naive one to die alone. Your men wouldn't have suffered this fate."

"Join us... Carl... Ricardo..."

Inside Ricardo's mind, he ran through multiple scenarios and how each one would play out. After all, if he agrees with the pillagers, he would be safe for the time being. However, seeing as they deal with unknown magic, he surmised that he and Carl would be slowly brainwashed into mindless slaves.

To choose between guaranteed survival at the cost of freedom.

"Gimme a moment to decide" Ricardo spoke.

"Tick tick Rick... You must be mistaken. It wasn't an offer rather an order. Your friends will suffer according to your answer" the nearby shade added.

The entire battlefield was silent once again. Every soldier motionless and with every drifting second, Ricardo's life and his friends' come closer to an end.

"You have nothing to fear... Players have a natural immunity to certain magics. I assure" *gets interrupted

"I, Ricardo of the Leonardo bloodline, refuse"

"I, Leonardo Ricardo have a dream of many dreams. One of them. Saying no to people who think they have the upper hand."

Ending his phrase, Ricardo immediately broke free from the enemy zombies. Afterward, the undead army began collapsing inwards, covering a large radius. Realizing that he had nowhere else to flee, he jumped into the air to avoid taking any more damage.

The rush of being in danger surged through his thoughts. Adrenaline decelerated his surroundings, a feeling similar to when he was against the archers.

He looked below only to find piles of undead villagers crawling towards their falling meal. There was no escape, a safe landing would be impossible, and his other comrades won't make it in time to save him.

This is one of those times where normal logic must be thrown out of the window and the gamer logic must seep in.

Thinking about it, the Minecraft world was quite blocky and symmetrical, with its inhabitants as an exception. Does that mean the blocks arrange themselves in a way that would perfectly balance themselves?

3...

2..

1.

When his feet just barely touch the face of a zombie, Ricardo pulled a block of wood out of his inventory to drop it directly on top of the undead. The small wooden cube expanded to its original size, smashing the heads of any undead that were too close.

Ricardo's fall was cushioned by the solid block, he lost a bit of health but his lifespan was lengthened in the process. Not wasting any time, he started stacking block after block until a tall one block wide pillar towered over the entire forest.

He had finally run out of blocks and could only wait for the inevitable. His low health pool and his empty drumstick bar made him feel nauseous. His vision grayed out until his eyelids were sealed shut.

*Life flashing starts

"BTCH we didn't learn anything so don't expect me to help" his subconscious spoke.

"brUh, I knocked my gay ass out for this??????" he replied.

"oH! sO It'S mY fAuLT NOw iS iT???"

*one stupid argument later

"Jump"

"Y?"

"believe"

"in?"

"Your friends"

"which one?"

"BOTH YOU ARSE!! JESUS CHRIST! why do I have to tell you that? Aren't you like the main character or something? Didn't most anime taught you to believe in friendship?"

"ye but that was becuz the antagonist had an IQ of 3. I don't think I live thru this." Ricardo shrugged.

"Just do it"

"what do you mean????"

"what do you mean 'what do you mean?'? I already jumped"

"wut?" both Ricardo and his subconscious spoke.

*snapback to reality

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! SOMEBODY SAVE MEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

Ricardo suddenly felt a tug on his leather collar. It was Ryan's fish hook. He flew across the entire horde and landing straight on the back of Ryan's ravager mount with Carl already on it. Ryan then stabbed his sword into his own thigh and channeled experience orbs into his mount.

The pain drove the beast into a frenzy and it charged forward, destroying any trees in its path. The charge continued until a good distance was put between them and the evoker. Ryan signaled to his comrades to jump off and tail him.

The three players managed to escape death but were now surrounded by stray mobs.

"wHaAT nOwW????" Ricardo shouted.

"My flare was supposed to attract these guys to us during the battle but I think I messed up here. My plan backfired" Ryan answered.

*At the campsite

The evoker and the shade halted their men from pursuing their ambushers. They had to focus on their main goal which was to seize control over Nigel's village. What secrets does the crippled old priest hold?

*Back to our protagonists

"Ricardo. Can you run?" Carl.

"nein... my hunger null" German Rick spoke.

Carl then gave his friend a piggyback ride and continued to chase after Ryan fearing that they might be left behind. With each tree they passed through, the density of mobs declined gradually till they had reached a checkpoint.

It was the entrance to a cave. Seeing his fatigued comrades, Ryan decided to seek temporary shelter and blocked the entrance with spare cobblestone blocks that he happened to be carrying. He lit a torch and hung it on top of the cave's ceiling.

The bright light illuminated the cave and Ricardo's face. After settling down for a bit, Ryan glared at Ricardo and held him by his shirt.

"WHY WOULD YOU START AN UNWINNABLE FIGHT? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY LIVES WERE LOST?" he angrily shouted.

"I dunno man. I didn't count." Rick answered.

Ryan formed a fist and threw it straight at Ricardo's face but it connected with Carl's instead.

"please..... I know it won't amount to much.... but we apologize"

"MY MEN DIED BECAUSE OF YOUR FRIEND'S ACTIONS! YOU THINK AN APOLOGY IS WHAT I WANTED?!" Ryan yelled even louder than before.

After Ryan's sentence echoed around the cave for a bit, the three sat down to have a conversation and truly introduce one another instead.