Aiden groaned, stretching his limbs with a satisfying pop as he felt the remnants of sleep dissolve from his bones. The air around him was cool, fresh even, and the sensation made him pause. Something didn't feel… right.
His back, yeah, that was it. The surface beneath him was way too firm. Not the familiar springy softness of his mattress, but something solid, almost unnaturally so. It felt strong. Too strong.
'That's weird…' he thought, brows twitching. He remained still for a moment, trying to dismiss the sensation. Maybe his body was just playing tricks on him after gaming and binge-watching anime all day yesterday. It wouldn't be the first time he'd fallen asleep in a weird position and woken up confused.
But the sensation didn't fade. If anything, it became more vivid.
Aiden debated whether to open his eyes or just roll over and pretend it didn't matter. Maybe he could slip back into sleep and reset whatever dream logic was going on.
Eventually, curiosity won.
He cracked his eyes open slowly.
And immediately wished he hadn't.
"…Shit," he muttered under his breath.
Gone was the familiar ceiling of his bedroom, the posters of anime characters, or even the faint hum of his fan. Instead, towering trees swayed above him, leaves rustling gently in the wind. Shafts of light pierced through the dense canopy, speckling the mossy ground with a natural pattern that felt surreal.
He wasn't in his room. He wasn't even indoors.
He was in a forest.
A proper forest.
The ground beneath him was layered with leaves, dirt, and a strange pixelated texture that tickled the edge of familiarity.
'Where the hell am I?' he thought, lifting a hand to rub his temples as if he could massage the confusion out of his brain. A dull throb echoed in his head, not quite painful, but just enough to add to the chaos.
Trying to piece together what had happened, Aiden traced his steps, or memories, rather. He'd been in his room, eating chips, watching One Piece like always. Then he fired up Minecraft, planning to build a hidden base under a mountain. And somewhere between stacking blocks and humming anime intros, sleep had crept in.
Now… this?
'Did I die? Is this heaven?'
But no, heaven wasn't supposed to be a forest filled with nothing but trees and the haunting chirps of birds. Heaven wasn't supposed to feel this… blocky?
He shook his head quickly, dismissing the thought with a frustrated sigh.
Everything was off.
Especially his clothes.
His fingers brushed across unfamiliar fabric, heavy, coarse, and layered. It wasn't the cotton shirt and shorts he remembered wearing. He looked down, and froze.
His eyes widened.
"What the hell…?" he whispered, voice shaky.
Gone was his simple sleepwear. In its place was a deep green haramaki wrapped around his waist, black pants tucked into boots, a white sash tied neatly across his side. His hands trembled slightly as they touched the bandana tied around his left arm.
It wasn't just similar. It was exact.
The same outfit Roronoa Zoro wore in One Piece.
Aiden's mouth went dry. His heart thumped harder in his chest.
There was no way he'd mistake this. He'd been watching the show since he was thirteen. Zoro was his favorite character, always had been, the stoic swordsman with no sense of direction but the coolest sword style in anime history.
But.
'When did I become a cosplayer in my dreams?' he thought, sitting up slowly. His fingers brushed against his waist, and there they were. Three swords. One sheathed on each side, the third tucked at his hip.
He swallowed hard.
Okay, dream or not, this was really getting out of hand.
His eyes scanned the forest again. Tall trees stretched endlessly in all directions, their leaves forming a canopy so thick that only patches of sky peeked through. The grass under him was oddly flat in places, almost too perfect.
A sudden realization bloomed in his chest like a jolt of lightning.
'Wait… this terrain... the pattern… no way…'
He scrambled to his feet, boots pressing into the square-ish blocks of ground. He turned a full circle, eyes darting across the environment. The trees, the skybox-like feel, the faint clicking of an insect nearby.
It wasn't just a forest.
It was Minecraft.
His eyes widened further.
"I'm in Minecraft…" he muttered. He glanced down at himself once more, voice barely above a breath. "As Zoro."