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Welcome back everybody, to the 
Minecraft Short Stories podcast.

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In this episode, which is 
episode 72, I'll be telling the 

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next installment of The Player 
is Not Alone. 

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This is the third part and if 
you have not listened to the 

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first two parts, you of course 
need to go listen to those. 

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I will have a summary right 
before the story begins. 

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I cannot guarantee the summary 
will be any good because I don't

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write out the summaries, I just 
summarize them on the spot. 

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Anyway, if you want to learn 
more about the story, I just 

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finished recording the Micro 
Short Stories prologue episode 

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about part three. 
I've already made them for part 

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one and Part 2 of the story. 
So you can find that on the 

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Patreon and that's inside the 
link, inside the description. 

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Or if the link inside the 
description doesn't work, it is 

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patreon.com/minecraft short 
stories. 

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And also about the Patreon, 
there's not only paid content on

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there, there is also free 
content. 

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For example, I release a state 
of the podcast every other 

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month. 
I believe I'm releasing one this

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month. 
This month is June 2024. 

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So those are completely free. 
And then you'll also get some 

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other stuff, so go check that 
out while you're inside the 

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description. 
There's also the websites. 

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I know I tell you this every 
episode, but I am working on 

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revamping the websites from its 
original state. 

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So you can go check that out. 
It's probably going to be 

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different from the last time you
saw it. 

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And then also there's a YouTube 
channel in case you just want to

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listen to this on YouTube. 
So I hope you enjoy this episode

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and let's get right into it. 
So here's a short little 

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summary. 
A player spawns into a new world

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and quickly discovers that 
there's something else living 

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inside of it, and he has no clue
what to do about it. 

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He eventually sees it after a 
few days of playing, and upon a 

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closer inspection, it is wearing
his skin. 

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The player's not alone. 
Part three The discovery of my 

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doppelganger changed both 
everything and nothing. 

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On one hand, I had the sure 
knowledge that all I had seen 

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was indeed the work of a strange
entity. 

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On the other hand, this creature
was still inside my world and I 

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didn't know any way to stop it. 
Not only was this world 

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unstable, it was also haunted. 
This is crazy, I thought. 

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This wasn't some run-of-the-mill
creature that had stumbled or 

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broken into my world. 
This is a creature that could 

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think, interact with the 
environment, and apparently 

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donned the skin of the player it
chose to terrorize. 

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And all of my experiences in 
Minecraft and reading other 

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player's tales, I never heard of
anything so strange, so smart, 

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so uncanny. 
Leaning close to my monitor, I 

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studied the motionless face, 
inspected it pixel by pixel. 

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There is no doubt about it. 
This figure wore the same skin 

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I'd created almost five years 
ago. 

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I'd created the skin when I was 
eight, and there's no way anyone

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else could have a copy of it. 
I didn't know anything about 

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coding games, but I guess that 
maybe this entity had gone. 

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The skin fell from Minecraft's 
folder, which meant it could 

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access my folders, which meant 
it could access my computer. 

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Was that the reason for the lag?
The entity was playing around 

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with me, or perhaps running 
malicious code? 

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I was almost paralysed with 
indecision. 

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Should I delete Minecraft from 
my computer? 

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Or even that not stop it? 
Doing nothing wasn't an option. 

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What if this creature decides to
delete all my files? 

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This horrible thought stopped me
in my tracks. 

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This is getting serious. 
My mind raced, trying to find a 

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way to keep both this chance for
discovery and my safety out of 

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harm's way. 
Wait, never mind, I'm safe. 

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I realised. 
I was using Windows on my 

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computer, and this entity 
couldn't change anything without

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the administrator's permission. 
I hadn't given Minecraft 

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administrative power, so it 
could only access files within 

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itself. 
That would explain how the 

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entity had got my skin. 
With that pressure off my mind, 

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I switched to the next train of 
thought, and that was that. 

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I didn't know what to call this 
thing. 

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I was attempting to categorize 
it now that I knew it existed to

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try and bring some understanding
to the situation. 

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This thing then appeared to be 
another player. 

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I had no definite proof, but it 
didn't seem very likely, and 

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just calling it thing or 
creature didn't sound right. 

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It was odd, but I felt a kind of
respect towards this creature. 

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Perhaps there's only fear of the
unknown. 

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The only explanation I couldn't 
rule out for this creature's 

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existence was that this was some
kind of ghost haunting my 

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Minecraft game. 
On the assumption that this was 

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a ghost, I decided to call it 
ghost. 

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After that satisfactory answer, 
I opened up Minecraft and 

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rejoined my world. 
I'd want to be all studious and 

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prepared, which involved 
composing a plan before jumping 

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back into the world, but it all 
seemed too pressing to wait. 

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I was also quite excited. 
Just as Minecraft loaded in, my 

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mom tapped me on the shoulder. 
My time for video games was 

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over. 
It was hard to believe it had 

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only been two hours. 
After waking up in the morning, 

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going through a long school day,
and returning home, Minecraft 

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was once more inside my grasp. 
My excitement about the world 

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had somewhat mellowed after 
sleeping on it. 

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The situation seemed a little 
out of my control. 

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I was still excited to get back 
to playing, but not as much as I

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had been. 
I'd reasoned out any danger 

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Ghost posed. 
The world loaded normally and 

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I'll soon sprinting through the 
Minecraft woods. 

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Since yesterday, nothing 
appeared to have changed, so I 

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left the rune forest. 
I looked down at my list on my 

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desk with the pressure of ghosts
now being able to interact with 

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me now that I was in his domain,
previously known as my world, I 

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realized I'd forgotten the most 
obvious addition to the second 

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point. 
Don't die. 

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This was pretty 
self-explanatory. 

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If I died, ghosts would probably
delete my world. 

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I had heard of it happening many
times before. 

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The time had come for me to 
gather resources. 

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I probably should have started a
long time ago. 

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I didn't have a house, armour, 
my leather captain count, or any

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weapons but stone. 
This went against all my 

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Minecraft instincts and I needed
a house anyway for my plan. 

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I didn't have a plan when I came
into this world, but I was 

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slowly composing one as I went 
along. 

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Before building the house, I 
would need at least iron to feel

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safe, both from zombies and from
whatever ghost was going to 

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throw at me. 
I pivoted my player's Sprint and

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started the search for a cave 
opening. 

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Thankfully, Minecraft always 
seemed to have one nearby. 

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It was a small dark hole in the 
side of a hill. 

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Looking down into it, I could 
tell it would reach the deep 

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slate layer. 
An experienced Minecraft player 

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like myself could just sense 
these sort of things. 

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I crafted 1/2 stack of torches 
and jumped into the darkness. 

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I landed on the stone and 
immediately set a torch in front

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of me. 
The yellow light lit up the 

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narrow cavern. 
It sloped harshly downwards and 

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I walked quickly down the 
incline. 

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Zombies and skeleton sound had 
time to spawn yet, so I was safe

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momentarily. 
I need to make the most of my 

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window of opportunity. 
I still had some chicken and a 

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lot of wood, so hunger and 
darkness wouldn't find me for a 

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while. 
Giving was all about resource 

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management. 
I continued along the passage, 

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placing torches regularly until 
I came upon a cavern. 

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It was small, with the notable 
features of two medium sized 

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cave openings branching off into
the depths. 

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Waiting for me in the cavern was
a zombie. 

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I quickly placed a torch down 
and then went on the offensive. 

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I didn't have a shield, so 
defensive wasn't an option. 

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The zombie walked up to me 
slowly, arms spread wide, and I 

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greeted him with a whack, 
courtesy of my stone sword. 

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The zombie grunted and was 
knocked backwards, flashing red.

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I decided to flex my Minecraft 
skills and exchanged the sword 

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for an axe. 
I waited for the zombie to 

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traipse into the right spots and
then jumped. 

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The zombie looked up at me in 
the air and I could see fear in 

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its eyes. 
Pulling off a spin, I furnished 

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the zombie with a critical blow 
to its rotting head. 

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I still got it, I thought while 
triumphantly finishing the 

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undead with one more hit. 
I took the left most tunnel. 

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Offshoot LED me to two dead 
ends, one being the end of the 

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tunnel and the other being a 
skeleton. 

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Dealing with skeletons was 
remarkably similar to zombies, 

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though their mode of dealing 
damage was more aggravating but 

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less aggressive. 
All I had to do was move fast 

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and occasionally avoid the 
arrows. 

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The fight was soon over. 
Backtracking to the cavern, I 

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took the right most opening this
time, and it led me to greater 

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depths. 
Tunnel went on for way and I had

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to meet the challenge of a few 
more zombies, but eventually I 

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reached the lights at the end of
the tunnel. 

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In my case, it was glow berries.
I'd found a lush cave with its 

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high ceiling and signature Moss 
sprawled through our multiple 

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caverns. 
It's certainly differentiated 

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itself from the rest of the 
underground. 

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The Moss carpeted both the 
ceiling and the floor and from 

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it hung long vines with golden 
glowing berries growing on them.

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Making up the floor of the lush 
caves were either pools of water

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surrounded by clay or Moss. 
I maneuvered towards the clump 

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of these pools with one thought.
I need an axolotl. 

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With their scaleless lizard like
appearance and adorableness, 

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they were my preferred 
companion. 

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Dog may be man's best friend, 
but in Minecraft it was the 

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axolotl. 
Once I reached the pools, I 

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found to my delight that they 
were teeming with axolotls of 

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all colors. 
I picked out a nice blue one and

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prepared to capture it. 
Then I remembered I didn't yet 

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have a bucket. 
Quickly scanning the cavern, I 

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located a patch of iron and 
hurried over to it. 

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I obtained 4 pieces of raw iron 
and set up my furnaces and 

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crafting table to begin the 
smelting. 4 iron ingots will get

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me a shield and a bucket. 
After a quick wait, the furnace 

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finished its refining. 
I took the ingots out into the 

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crafting table. 
I crafted a bucket lag spike. 

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Then I crafted a shield lag 
spike. 

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Then I equipped the shield with 
a larger lag spike. 

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I guess they're not gone. 
I sighed. 

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It had been a vain hope. 
Now sufficiently equipped with a

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bucket in one hand and a shield 
in the other, I began my daring 

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mission. 
Step one, fill the bucket with 

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water. 
Step 2. 

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Find a suitable axolotl without 
falling into the ponds. 

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I found a blue axolotl like I 
wanted, but it was impossible to

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tell whether it was the same one
as before. 

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As it swam, I quickly captured 
it inside my bucket. 

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Step 4 Success With my mission 
now fulfilled, I went back to 

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finding iron. 
The lush cave provided me with 

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all the resources I could ever 
need. 

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It was almost too easy. 
The glow Barry's illumination 

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was sufficient to stop mobs from
spawning, so I was practically 

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in peaceful mode. 
Iron, Redstone and gold were 

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visible buried in the stone of 
the cave's floors and walls, and

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I soon had a full set of iron 
armor and tools, along with the 

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lag spikes that occurred after 
every piece. 

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Whenever I upgraded from stone 
tools to iron ones in Minecraft,

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it always surprised me how easy 
everything became. 

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Trees, logs no longer took 30 
seconds to mine, and mops seemed

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to no longer be able to threaten
me. 

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A couple of spiders had been 
hiding in a dark corner, and I 

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was able to test my new iron 
sword on them. 

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With the spider string and some 
sticks, I crafted a bow. 

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I weighed out the resulting 
frame drop and know that it took

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slightly longer than usual to 
subside. 

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I was still attempting to find 
an explanation for Minecraft's 

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sudden yet pointed lagging. 
Now that I was progressing 

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quickly in Minecraft, the 
slowdowns were getting so 

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frequent I almost didn't notice 
them. 

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Almost. 
I crafted errors from some Flint

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00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,480
I'd scavenged and started to 
hone my archery skills. 

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In most video games I was a 
melee heavy player, so using a 

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ranged mode of damage took some 
getting used to. 

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I had enough Flint for three 
forces, stack of arrows around 

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45, so I had some room to 
practice. 

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I pinpointed a gold ore block on
the caverns opposite wall and 

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began trying to sink one of my 
arrows into it. 

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Oh no, I probably should have 
realized that something as 

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important as shooting wooden 
projectiles at high speed would 

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provoke Ghost. 
In a handful of seconds the 

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light disappeared like it never 
occurred, and I returned to 

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firing out the gold ore. 
I practiced for a few minutes 

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till my supply of arrows 
dwindled. 

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I'd seen another section of The 
Cave I hadn't explored yet, so I

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picked up my crafting stations 
and went to rectify that. 

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At first glance, the section 
only held some more mobs in 

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iron, but I soon found a crevice
with a lava at the bottom. 

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The lush cave was already near 
the bottom of the world, so this

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lava pool would be close to 
scratching the bedrock layer. 

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That man could have diamonds. 
I dropped down and had a look 

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around. 
Sure enough, on the other side 

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of the lava and bordering it was
a diamond. 

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A quick dirt bridge of the 
liquid flames later and I was on

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the other side. 
Soon I was the proud owner of 

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three light blue and exquisite 
diamonds. 

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Crafting the three diamonds into
a pickaxe, I was now the sub 

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proclaimed and undisputed mining
champion. 

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I returned to the lush cave to 
put my new title to the test. 

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With the enhanced mining speed 
of my new pickaxe, ores 

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practically flowed into my 
inventory. 

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I was working on a huge ore vein
when an arrow's twang and 

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00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,120
subsequent funk broke through 
the monotony of breaking blocks.

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That's strange, I thought. 
I lit all of this cavern up with

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torches, and it should be 
impossible for Mouse to spawn. 

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00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:06,400
I finished the OR vein and 
strode out of my mind. 

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At least the skeleton would show
me where to place torches. 

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Fortunately, it wasn't skeleton.
Ghost had come to say hello. 

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Ghost stood on a ledge in the 
cavern, holding a bow in his 

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hands. 
I already knew there weren't any

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skeletons nearby. 
Ghost was the one who shot the 

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arrow. 
The entity named Ghost wore a 

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pair of iron boots, and it has 
shield in his left hand. 

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Ghost had granted the 
confrontation I'd been wanting. 

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Fortunately, it was coming at a 
time when I had vastly superior 

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armor and at least equal 
weapons. 

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Ghost shouldn't stand a chance. 
I moved closer to the skin 

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stealing Spectre, but he didn't 
even turn his head towards me. 

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It took me brazenly walking 
towards his ledge before I even 

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acknowledged my challenge. 
Ghost, without warning, shot an 

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air in my direction. 
He seemed to pull back the 

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00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:57,240
string almost impossibly fast. 
Even more uncannily, he hadn't 

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turned towards me to shoot it. 
He appeared to have teleported 

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00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,040
to face my direction while still
staying on the same block. 

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The arrow sailed through the 
cavern and stuck into a wall. 

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00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:08,720
It was amiss by dozens of 
blocks. 

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Definitely hostile. 
I said matter of factly. 

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00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,120
Before Ghost could even begin 
pulling back his bowstring, I 

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00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,120
burst into motion. 
Ghost kept a blank face point to

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00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,800
where I'd been, seemingly 
unaware of my desperate rush 

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00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,640
towards him. 
This would be a tricky fight. 

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00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:26,720
That is, if Ghost would even 
fight back. 

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00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:29,960
I didn't know what he was 
capable of, so I had to avoid 

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00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:33,120
getting hit at all costs. 
I pulled some cobblestone out of

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00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,720
my inventory and towered up 
beside Ghost's vantage point. 

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00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,160
The ledge had a tunnel leading 
upwards at its back, and only 

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00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,160
reached around five blocks at 
its widest. 

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00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,480
It was a great vantage point, 
but whether Ghost came to out of

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00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,000
the tunnel or chose it 
specifically for firing at me 

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00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,840
was a mystery. 
I walked up beside Ghost 

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00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,480
cautiously, but he stood as if 
struck dumb, seemingly unwilling

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00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,000
to make eye contact. 
I thought grimly. 

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00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:57,960
Let's see if my sword's edge can
wake him. 

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00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:00,640
I debated for a while 
beforehand. 

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00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,880
The process of mining oars left 
much time for thoughts whether 

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00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,000
to provoke Ghost. 
I saw two options. 

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00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,240
I could find Ghost before he 
found me and observe him, or I 

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00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:12,160
could face him head on and see 
what happens. 

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00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:14,680
Ghost forced me to choose the 
latter option. 

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00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,640
Right as I landed on Ghost with 
my signature spin move, he 

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00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,720
teleported to face me. 
He got a face full of sword and 

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00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,920
I got a screen full of lag. 
I was stuck in mid air with my 

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00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:27,640
sword outstretched. 
Ghost was also experiencing a 

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00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:29,120
slowdown and was stuck in the 
air. 

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00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,000
He was still flashing bright red
for my attack. 

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00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,760
Suddenly detached from the game,
I thought, this is quite 

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00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,440
educational. 
Not only was Ghost able to take 

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00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:42,040
damage, but he was also affected
by the lag that mean it wasn't 

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00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,520
his doing. 
Slowly, as the frames ticked by,

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00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,080
I was inching closer to the 
floor under gravity's 

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00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,880
inescapable hold. 
Ghost was as well. 

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00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,520
Just before the lag ceased, 
Ghost did the scariest and most 

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00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:56,440
anxiety inducing action he could
have done. 

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00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,880
He switched from his bow to his 
iron sword. 

317
00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,640
Oh no, I thought, And then the 
game unfroze. 

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00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,600
Before I could even think of 
moving, Ghost was there. 

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00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:07,840
Almost instantaneously, without 
mercy. 

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00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,000
He hacked away at my character 
with his iron blade. 

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00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,560
I panicked. 
The fate of imminent death and 

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00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,520
deletion was now before me. 
My health was down to two 

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00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,680
hearts. 
The only action left to me was 

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00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,400
to flee. 
Ghost struck me harshly with his

325
00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,200
sword, and I was knocked away 
from him dangerously close to 

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00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,600
the ledge. 
Seeing my opportunity, I 

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00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,360
attempted my escape. 
Fortunately, I realized what was

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00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,800
about to do before I did it. 
I'd create a tower rather than a

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00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,640
staircase, so my fall to the 
floor below would have certainly

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00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,160
taken away my remaining hearts. 
Ghost punished my indecision 

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00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,600
with another whack of his blade.
I threw caution to the wind and 

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00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,320
sprinted as fast as I could into
the tunnel at the ledge's rear. 

333
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,240
I'd never gone down this one 
before, so I didn't know if it 

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00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,120
led to the outside or another 
cave. 

335
00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,120
Whichever it was, it was better 
than dying at the hands of a 

336
00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,880
strange entity. 
I sprinted up The Cave, but 

337
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,800
didn't even get a dozen steps 
before Ghost was with me again. 

338
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:02,200
I had 1 1/2 Hertz remaining. 
Desperately, I twirled around 

339
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,880
mid stride. 
Ghost was only a block away from

340
00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,319
me, sword ready to strike. 
I swung my sword instinctively 

341
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:11,079
managed to connect. 
Ghost flashed red and was 

342
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:14,200
knocked backwards. 
He stood still after my sword's 

343
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,200
impact. 
I braced myself for his counter 

344
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,280
attack and my subsequent death. 
I had only spent five end game 

345
00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,520
days in this world so far, and 
it was ending so soon. 

346
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,960
Ghost was still standing in the 
tunnel, staring at a wall. 

347
00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:29,960
The question of whether to run 
or attack paralyzed me with 

348
00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,160
indecision for a second, and 
that second Ghost turned around 

349
00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:41,560
and ran away. 
Thank you all for listening. 

350
00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:44,600
This has been part three of the 
Players Not Alone. 

351
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,440
This is maybe the longest story 
I've ever written and then read 

352
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,880
on the podcast The Endless 
Journey, which is, I forget 

353
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:54,200
which episode. 
You have to go find that. 

354
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:55,240
It's just called The Endless 
Journey. 

355
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,240
It was 3000 words. 
This may be more than 3000 

356
00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,280
words. 
So this has been a long one. 

357
00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,640
The current time, the recording 
says 25, but obviously I'm gonna

358
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:06,920
have to edit it out all the 
time. 

359
00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,840
So I made a mistake. 
So it's probably gonna be more 

360
00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,040
like, I don't know, 15-17 
minutes. 

361
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,280
Anyway, that's really long. 
I have to take a break in 

362
00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,800
between 'cause I was reading so 
much. 

363
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:23,000
So anyway, hope you enjoyed this
episode. 

364
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:28,280
I hope to see you at the 
prologue episode and I'll see 

365
00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,320
you guys inside the next 
episode.