Flat Zone

Video games, what are they? They offer a distant world, with no worries, concerns or any problems that we might deal on real life. That’s what is so great about them, or so I used to think. I'm a Minecraft fan, I played it every day non-stop. Homework? No thanks, I have to go find diamonds. I just loved Minecraft. Its fun, it’s exciting, it’s enjoyable and it eases you into your creative side. There’s nothing that would make me stop playing it, or at least, that’s why I used to think. Don’t worry, there’s no such thing as Herobrine. He’s just a myth, an urban legend. But, there is something hidden in the game. Something hidden in the code which doesn't appear, but it’s there. And there’s a reason why it’s hidden.

I started out my game as usual. Breeding my cows, chopping some wood, mining some stone, farming wheat, whatever. I was running out of resources and I wanted to find a village. I had searched nearby but there wasn't anything, so I decided to go and search for one far away from my home. I packed a bed, some food, a bow and arrows and a sword. I decided to head north, since it leaded to an open field (Some villages spawn in open fields) and decided to walk. I spent a lot of time walking but I found nothing. Just when I was about to give up and go home, I found something rather strange. In front of me, the terrain was starting to go flat. All the small hills and the plateau started to fall down, the blocks of dirt started to go flat. I was curious so I entered into the flat zone.

As I kept walking, I noticed something very weird. The further I kept going into the flat zone, the fewer things they were. Trees were starting to become less abundant, fewer animals would spawn and there were fewer clouds. At this point I felt a bit scared… I could feel a chill go up my spine as I walked further. Eventually, it all became flat and empty. I kept walking feeling there was something ahead. Suddenly, the game went pitch black. It wasn't the screen, or the computer. I tried turning on and off my screen, but the game would remain black. I tried resetting my computer. When I opened Minecraft again, there was no Mojang logo, no starting menu. Just a pitch black screen. I didn’t know what to do. I started to panic, what if I lost everything? What if I had to buy the game again? I got a bit anxious. Then the game came back. It was not what I expected.

Everything was flat; there were no clouds, no animals, and no trees. The world was just a big, flat, empty desert. I also noticed there was no moon or stars, it was just clear night. My inventory was empty, too. Was I in another part of the world? I pressed F3 to open the debug screen. This is when things started to go out of control. The memory usage was at 0%, the parameters and map coordinates were empty; there were no numbers or any characters at all. The frame rate was off the charts, but the game still played smoothly. I searched everywhere. There was nothing. It was empty. I decided to walk forward, seeing what was going on. There was no noise, I would walk on the sand and there was no walking sound. I checked my speakers, but they were working fine. Seeing no other option, I kept on walking. After roughly 10 minutes of walking, I finally found something. A pig, with no textures. It was all white, and only walked in circles. I was a bit confused, did the game crash? Was there something wrong with my texture pack? I pressed the windows button to go check, but it wouldn't respond. Nothing responded. Only W, A, S, D, I and the mouse. I kept walking and I found more animals, but just like the pig, they were all white and walked in circles. I knew this had to be some sort of glitch. As I walked on I eventually encountered a house.

It was a dirt house, with no windows, only a door. It was a 16x16 dirt house. In front of the door there was a sign. It read “Her”. As soon as I clicked the door to open, sound began to appear. There was a faint moaning on the speakers, which could be described as a little girl, crying softly. I noticed all the animals had stopped walking. They were all facing at me. Even the pig from far away was facing me. I was frightened. I turned off my speakers but the wailing could still be heard. I decided to swallow my fear, and enter the house. All there was inside the house was just a chest. As I approached it, the wailing became clearer and clearer. The volume of it was rising as well. I couldn't open the chest. My fingers were shaking; chills were crawling up my skin and I was on the verge of crying. I opened the chest. The wailing stopped. There was a note inside. As soon as I brought it to my inventory, a poor resolution picture of a girl popped up on my screen. It was a black and white picture of a little girl, roughly 6 years old, with a dress. Her body was opened, her insides were out, guts and intestines were dangling from the opening.

I jumped out of my chair in horror and turned off the computer, and went outside, crying, scared out of my mind. After I recovered, I went back into the house and into my room. I turned on the computer. Everything was normal. Windows was working fine and I took the courage to check Minecraft again. It worked perfectly. I decided to open my world again. I was inside of my house, along with the stuff I packed before leaving. I was confused. Did all of that just happen? I exited the game and decided to leave it off for a while. I still play Minecraft, but just when I have nothing to do or just out of curiosity. You may think things got back to normal. I’d say they would, but they’re not. Every night, when I go to sleep, I dream the same thing. I’m in the flat zone, with the white animals and the house. The wailing is all I can hear, and just before I wake up, the little girl pops up. Every night, every time I sleep. All I hear after getting up, is a faint voice saying “Her”.

Written by TheArmorOfLife