The twelve walked together.
Not in a neat, brave line — but in a hesitant cluster, drifting unevenly across the grass as if none of them wanted to be more than five blocks from the next person.
The world looked normal again. Too normal.
The trees rustled softly. Flowers shook in the breeze. A wandering cow mooed nearby with its usual dopey innocence.
But every few steps, someone glanced at the sky, or the ground, or their hand, just to confirm the world was still… there.
Cyrus led at the front, though "led" might've been too strong a word. He moved with the tentative caution of someone afraid the ground might vanish under him again.
Griffin walked just behind him, close enough to step in if Cyrus froze. He kept his voice steady, warm.
"You doing okay up there?"
Cyrus didn't turn around. "…I don't know."
"That's okay," Griffin said. "You don't have to know. We're right behind you."
Ren drifted beside them, dramatically sweeping grass with his stick.
"If the Realms tremble, then surely the prophesied Chosen Twelve must divine the—"
"Ren," Faye groaned, "I swear on every oak plank in existence—"
"FINE. I'll be quiet."
A beat.
"But the lore is literally writing itself."
"Ren."
"Muting myself now."
He did not mute himself.
---
The World Feels… Just a Bit Too Still
As they approached a low hill, Tessa glanced around suspiciously.
"Does anybody else think the shadows look weird?"
Flint spun in a circle. "They look like shadows."
"No," Tessa said, squinting. "They're—late."
Hopper blinked. "What do you mean late? Like they overslept their shift?"
Tessa pointed. "Look. Move your arm."
Everyone moved an arm.
Their avatars shifted properly. The shadows followed half a second later, like children running after a parent in a rush.
Sterling froze entirely.
"Oh."
Griffin whispered, "That… that's not good."
Sterling crouched, inspecting a shadow closely. "Lighting engine delay. Could be tick lag."
Faye crossed her arms. "Sterling. We have no log-out button."
"…Right," he murmured. "Right."
Melina quietly drifted closer to the center of the group. "I hate this."
Oliver, trying for humor, said, "On the bright side, delayed shadows mean we'll always be half a second ahead of our problems!"
Dead silence.
"Too soon?" he asked weakly.
"Too soon," Faye confirmed.
---
Cyrus Stops Walking
They reached the top of the hill when Cyrus abruptly halted.
He didn't announce anything. Didn't give a speech. He simply raised one hand slightly, palm out, like a traffic officer stopping twelve virtual cars.
Everyone behind him followed suit, freezing mid-step or mid-sentence.
Griffin moved to his side. "What do you see?"
Cyrus pointed down the slope.
At first glance, nothing seemed unusual.
Just a small clearing with flowers, some sugarcane near a river bend, a scattering of birch trees.
But then—
A flicker.
So subtle that half of them missed it.
Flint squinted hard. "Did the grass just… blink?"
"Yes," Cyrus whispered. "That's it. That's the place."
Hadrian crouched down dramatically, as if the terrain were sacred evidence. "Tell me EVERYTHING. What did you see earlier?"
"When I spawned," Cyrus said slowly, "this whole area… didn't load. I saw the outline of the land, but the textures weren't there. It was like… the wireframe under a model. Then it filled in. Then disappeared again."
Hopper made a face. "Bro. BRO. That's nightmare fuel."
Melina whispered, "Guys… look."
Everyone followed her gaze.
A birch tree at the edge of the clearing flickered.
Its leaves vanished for a split second, then reappeared.
Then—nothing.
Sterling inhaled sharply. "That's… that's impossible. Even for chunk errors."
"Oh good," Tessa said dryly. "Love when Sterling says impossible."
Ren pointed his stick dramatically.
"The birch tree has ascended to the Realm Between Realms!"
"Where does your imagination come from..," Faye said.
"To be Lore, You must accept the Lore…"
"Sure…. Buddy…" Faye said.
---
They Move Down the Hill
Nobody rushed.
Even Hopper walked carefully now, placing each step like the world might pull a trapdoor.
Faye drew her VR sword — the basic wooden kind — holding it loosely but ready.
"Just for peace of mind," she said, avoiding eye contact.
"Yeah," Melina murmured, summoning her own sword. "Peace of mind."
Flint picked up a dirt block and said, "This is my emotional support dirt."
Hopper ruffled his hair affectionately. "Love that for you."
---
At the Base of the Hill
Sterling knelt to examine the ground directly.
"It's not just the tree," he said quietly. "Look at this."
He tapped a patch of grass with his hand. The grass flickered for a split moment, glitching into a different block texture — coarse dirt — then snapping back.
Griffin winced. "Okay. That's… that's bad."
Oliver knelt down beside Sterling. "Want me to do some redstone tests? Maybe it reacts to block updates?"
Sterling frowned deeply, thinking.
"…Yes. Actually, that might show us something."
Oliver brightened instantly and pulled out a stack of random components. "Okay! Time for a Redstone Contraption That Isn't Useful But Will Look Cool!"
Tessa raised an eyebrow. "Can it look cool and not explode?"
"Debatable!"
Oliver placed a redstone dust line.
Everything looked normal.
Then he placed a lever.
The lever flickered — once — so fast it looked like a blink.
Oliver's voice cracked. "Did everyone see that??"
Hadrian nodded slowly. "Lever did the blinky-blink. I concur."
Sterling touched his chin. "It's responding to block updates… but incorrectly."
Cyrus whispered, "So the world really is… degrading."
Melina stepped back instinctively. "Degrading?"
Ren declared with gentle drama, "The fabric of the Fifth Realm loosens."
"It will soon consume us all…"
"Ren, don't scare us…" Faye said.
---
Something Moves in the Distance
Griffin's avatar stiffened.
"Guys… something just moved over there."
Faye immediately turned toward the sound, sword raised.
At the far edge of the clearing, near the river, a sheep wandered out from behind a birch tree.
But its movement was wrong — jittery, stuttering, as if it teleported a half-block left and right while walking.
Its head rotated too far when it looked at them, snapping back into place a moment later.
Marlow whispered, voice tiny:
"…That sheep's haunted."
"No," Sterling said, dread settling into his voice. "It's corrupted."
Faye took one slow step forward. "Don't touch it."
"I really wasn't planning on it," Marlow said.
The sheep bleated.
The bleat echoed weirdly — like it had reverb where it shouldn't.
Flint whispered, "Okay. I'd like to go home now."
Tessa answered quietly, "Same."
Oliver added, "Yup. I'd like to exit the ride."
Hadrian rubbed his face. "Okay. Okay. We've seen enough."
Cyrus nodded shakily. "Yeah. This is the spot. This is where it happened."
Griffin placed a hand on Cyrus's shoulder. "You did good bringing us here."
Cyrus looked at him, startled. "…Really?"
"Yeah," Griffin said warmly. "Really."
Cyrus looked down, embarrassed, but a tiny smile twitched at the corner of his mouth.
---
Faye Makes the Call
"Everyone," she said, voice firm, "we're heading back to spawn."
Hopper blinked. "Already?"
"Yes," Faye said. "We've confirmed the world is bugging. This area is unstable. We don't know what happens if we stay too long."
Sterling agreed quietly. "She's right."
Melina exhaled shakily. "…Okay."
Ren lifted his stick again. "Back to the Circle of the Beginning!"
"Ren."
"Sorry."
---
The twelve slowly turned and began walking back up the hill together.
Behind them, the corrupted sheep jittered, froze, flickered between animation frames…
…then vanished.
No particle effect.
No sound.
Just gone.
No one saw it disappear.
But if they had, none of them would've slept tonight.
---