Chapter 1: My World  

Yang Tao slowly regained consciousness, unsure how much time had passed. Warm sunlight shone on his body, and a gentle breeze brushed against his face. He slowly opened his eyes. 

"Where is this? Didn't I already die?" 

He pushed himself up and sat upright, looking around in confusion. His body felt full of energy, completely different from the weak, frail state he remembered. 

He was on a grassy field. Not far away, trees swayed gently in the wind—but something about them felt off. 

"Where am I? This doesn't look like hell. No one who came back from the dead ever described a place like this!" 

Yang Tao was even more confused. Then, out of the corner of his vision, he noticed a row of strange icons—familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. A row of drumsticks and a row of red hearts followed his gaze as he looked around. 

"What is this? Why does it feel so familiar?" 

"Hmm… hmm… hmm…" 

A sudden realization struck him. He had seen this before. 

"Wait… isn't this the health and hunger bar from *Minecraft*? No wonder those trees looked so weird! What kind of real tree grows in perfect blocks with square leaves?" 

He hadn't paid much attention at first since he wasn't standing too close to the trees. But now that he looked carefully, he noticed that the entire tree—trunk and all—was made of blocks. 

*Minecraft* had been Yang Tao's favorite game. It was a sandbox game with complete freedom, where everything was made of blocks that could be broken and placed. It also had adventure elements—monsters like zombies and skeleton archers lurking at night and in caves, explosive creepers, teleporting endermen, dungeons, ruins… 

And of course, bosses. The Wither in the Nether. And the Ender Dragon in the End? Please. That thing wasn't even a real boss. Any player with hands could beat it. What a joke! 

"Did I just… get isekai'd? And this is how it happens? Just like that?" 

Realizing where he was, Yang Tao immediately stood up. 

"If I have a status bar, there should be an inventory too, right?" 

"Inventory!" he called out hesitantly. 

As soon as he spoke, a screen popped up in front of him. A 3x9 grid appeared, with a row of nine quick-access slots at the bottom. At the top, there were equipment slots and a 2x2 crafting grid—exactly like in the game. 

Then, a message appeared in the lower-left corner of his vision: 

**Achievement Unlocked: [Open Your Inventory]** (Granted the first time a player opens their inventory) 

"So achievements are the same too… I really have turned into Steve." 

Yang Tao looked down at his clothes. The hospital gown with blue and white stripes was gone. Instead, he was wearing a green T-shirt, blue jeans, and gray shoes—Steve's classic outfit. 

 He still felt like himself, but his sickly, frail state was completely gone. 

At least he hadn't turned into a blocky character! 

"If you want to survive, punch a tree first!" 

Now that he was sure he was in *Minecraft*, Yang Tao sprinted toward the nearest tree. He had seen this scene countless times in the game, but now, seeing the square trunk and cube-shaped leaves in real life felt surreal. 

"I've already died once and come back to life in a game world… Nothing surprises me anymore." 

His mindset had changed. After everything that had happened, he was surprisingly calm. 

Raising his arm, he clenched his fist and lightly punched the tree trunk. 

As his fist made contact, he felt a soft resistance—like he was wearing boxing gloves. There was no pain at all. Cracks spread across the trunk, and after seven or eight punches, with a soft *pop*, a tiny log block broke off and dropped to the ground.