Chapter 37: The Nether

Eric's heart thumped hard in his chest as he stared at the glowing letters etched into the game-like interface:

[Respawn only available within claimed territory]

He'd suspected as much, ever since he first realized the hearts in his health bar were bright red, the normal kind. Not the grayed-out "hardcore mode" ones. Still, it had remained a theory. After all, it wasn't something he could exactly test. It's not like he could jump off a cliff just to find out.

Now, though, his nerves started to settle.

["Bed" functionality only works within claimed Territory]

Right. His domain. His rules. Only within the boundaries of his personal stronghold could he be brought back to life.

No wonder he'd never gotten a respawn prompt after sleeping in beds outside his claimed area. The system had just been waiting to spring the bad news on him like a prank.

Honestly, it almost felt like an insult if he didn't expand his territory to cover the entire world.

Maybe it was time to admit it, his current land was starting to feel a bit small.

Still…

"Doesn't matter. Respawn or not, the plan is not to die either way."

Eric gave his head a shake and filed the information away. The truth was, the mechanics of this world were still a bit... murky. There was no telling what might happen after death.

And honestly? The whole concept of dying left a sour taste in his mouth. It wasn't just about fear. It was something deeper, existential discomfort. If he did die, and came back, would he still be him?

Better not to test it.

Still, he wasn't stupid. He placed a few chests beside the bed and stocked them with spare gear, weapons, and supplies just in case.

That night, for the first time in a long while, Eric slept soundly.

By sunrise, he woke up refreshed. No strange dreams. No unsettling glitches. If anything, he felt... content.

It really had just been a nap.

Another day, another dose of hope.

"Time to fish," he muttered, stretching. "No better way to start a morning."

And so he did, fished from sunup till sundown.

Plop.

Finally, something decent caught his hook: an enchanted book.

"Mending," he read aloud, eyebrows lifting. "That'll do nicely."

He immediately applied it to the Elven longsword, the ancient one forged in the First Age, crafted by smiths whose names were probably written in runes no one could pronounce.

Not that the sword really needed mending. Its durability was already absurd, and he'd barely even seen the bar twitch. Eric wasn't even sure how one would go about breaking it. Maybe hurling it into a volcano and running it over with a herd of trolls?

Maybe Sauron in his prime. Maybe.

After a quick snack, though his hunger bar hadn't really dipped much, Eric sat by the water, staring at the ripples, brow furrowed.

Something was bothering him. What was he forgetting?

Let's see… He'd set up the smeltery. Built the forge. Enchanting station was in place…

Ah.

The Nether portal.

Eric reeled in his line, packed up, and headed down into the underground workshop.

It was time.

He began pouring lava into casts, slowly creating obsidian one bucket at a time. As he worked, his palms began to sweat. The Nether wasn't just another biome. It was… somewhere else.

If he really opened a gate, someone or something would notice.

Eric wasn't sure how that "someone" might respond. He didn't even understand what sort of being it was.

But the ingredients were all there.

And if he didn't try… it would haunt him forever.

He returned to the surface, ten blocks of obsidian in hand. Carefully, he picked a flat patch of grass beside the fence, constructed the frame, and stood back.

Click.

The final block locked into place.

Eric pulled out his flint and steel.

Fssshk.

The moment the portal flared to life, the air froze around him.

Water trickled nearby, wind rustled the leaves, horses neighed in the pasture. A cow bellowed lazily in the distance. Stars blinked overhead in an unbothered sky.

But for Eric, it felt like the entire sky had collapsed onto his shoulders.

An overwhelming presence surged downward, centering on the newly-formed portal and on him.

It stretched from the Nether portal to Eric himself, invisible but undeniable. It wasn't hostile. Not even aggressive. If anything, it felt... gentle.

But the sheer scale of it crushed him. The kind of pressure you felt when standing beneath a mountain or looking into a storm, you just knew, deep in your bones, that you were small.

Then, from beyond the portal, came a low, ambient humming. Like background music from a game, the haunting tune of the Nether, seeping into this world.

And then… a sigh?

In a blink, the presence vanished.

Eric stood there, panting, as if something had just let go of him.

Information bloomed in his mind like a vision:

[Nether creatures cannot pass into the Overworld through this gate]

[Likewise, native Overworld beings cannot enter]

[The portal can only be built within territory]

That last part felt like standard system mechanics rather than the work of that presence.

But it made sense. Unlimited Nether expansion would break the world in half. You let pigmen flood the overworld unchecked, and pretty soon it's not "The Song of Creation"—it's "The Oinking of Apocalypse."

Still, the way was open.

Eric suited up, packed supplies, and stepped through the gate.

Whoosh—

[Achievement Unlocked: Into the Madness]

Weightlessness hit him, then heat.

Blazing crimson filled his vision as he landed on soft Nether rock. A gust of dry, scorching air rushed past.

"I'm here," he muttered.

"The Nether."

He took his first step, boots crunching over the strangely spongey surface. It felt... oddly familiar.

Woooooo…

A ghostly wail echoed from the distance. A fireball hurtled toward him from the horizon.

Eric didn't even flinch. Combat instincts honed through ambushes and skirmishes kicked in. He turned smoothly, drew the Elven sword, and sliced.

The fireball pinged off the blade and sailed back toward its sender.

[Achievement Unlocked: Return to Sender

+50 XP]

Ghast.

Big, floaty, whiny—honestly, compared to all the sneaky archers and elite mobs he'd fought back in the overworld, these floating jellyfish were laughably slow. Their fireballs felt like tossing back oversized beach balls.

Still, he wasn't taking chances.

He built a cobblestone shell around the portal. If it got blown up, he'd be stuck in here and that was a recipe for disaster.

Thwip!

An arrow zipped past his ear.

He turned.

A skeletal archer had spawned on the soul sand ridge behind him. The thing loosed another shot.

Too slow.

Eric raised his blade, deflecting the next shot with ease.

"Seriously? That's your best shot?"

Two quick slashes later, the skeleton was bone dust.

He glanced around.

The Nether looked like Minecraft on nightmare difficulty. Still blocky, sure, but the mobs had a slightly more realistic polish to them, like someone had tried to upscale their horror settings.

Didn't matter. They still couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Eric was just about to head back when something caught his eye: a deep brown fortress, half-sunken in a lava pool, looming on the edge of the ridge.

A Nether Fortress.

Now that was lucky.

He pulled out his cobblestone and started bridging across the lava lake.

Soon, he stepped onto its burning-hot bricks.

[Achievement Unlocked: A Terrible Fortress]

And so began the plunder.

No chest was spared. By the time he was done, his inventory was bulging with loot: nine diamonds, twenty-three gold ingots, assorted iron gear, flint, gold tools, iron horse armor, and a rare diamond horse barding.

"Not bad at all."

Of course, it wasn't just loot he was here for.

He also needed Nether Wart and most importantly Blaze Spawners.