Day twenty began like most days in Marcus's new existence: with him screaming.
He'd respawned in his dirt hovel—again—after death number one-hundred-and-sixty-three (eaten by a sentient void entity that had somehow learned to wear a propeller beanie, which had been both terrifying and deeply ridiculous). His health bar was full. His hunger bar was not. His sanity bar, if such a thing existed, was probably in the negatives.
Marcus sat up in his demon-sheep-wool bed and looked at the walls of his dirt hovel. Four walls of dirt. A ceiling of dirt. A floor of dirt. One torch. One bed. One crafting table. One furnace. This was his life now. This was what he'd been reduced to.
Outside, he could hear the sounds of chaos. Dragons roaring. Titans walking. Reality tearing. The Nowhere dimension's entities screaming in colors that shouldn't exist. Mobs fighting each other. Something that sounded like a Shoggoth beatboxing (which was somehow worse than a Shoggoth not beatboxing).
Marcus looked at his soulbound items. The Infinity Gauntlet gleamed on his hand. The Superman suit was fully repaired and ready to go. The Sword of the Cosmos hummed with reality-ending power. His top hat sat at a perfect angle on his blocky head.
He had god-tier equipment. He had the power to fight literally anything the universe could throw at him. He had billions of viewers across multiple dimensions watching his every move, waiting to see what impossible boss he'd fight next, what new heights of absurdity his life would reach.
Marcus stood up, walked to his door, opened it, looked at the apocalyptic nightmare that was the world outside, and made a decision.
"No," he said.
ANALYSIS: HOSTILE MOBS DETECTED - 847 ENTITIES WITHIN AGGRO RANGE
RECOMMENDED ACTION: ENGAGE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE
VIEWER EXPECTATIONS: EPIC BATTLE
YOUR RESPONSE: ...NO?
"No," Marcus repeated, closing the door. "Nope. Not today. Not doing this today."
He walked back to his bed, sat down, and just... sat there.
SYSTEM QUERY: CLARIFICATION NEEDED
ARE YOU... TAKING A BREAK?
DURING AN ACTIVE APOCALYPSE?
WITH 847 HOSTILE MOBS OUTSIDE?
AND A REALITY TEAR EXPANDING AT 3 BLOCKS PER MINUTE?
AND THE NOWHERE ENTITIES CONSUMING THE LANDSCAPE?
"Yes," Marcus said calmly. "Yes, I am taking a break. A day off. A personal day. I'm calling in sick to the apocalypse."
YOU CAN'T CALL IN SICK TO THE APOCALYPSE
THAT'S NOT HOW APOCALYPSES WORK
"Watch me," Marcus said, and he laid back on his bed and closed his eyes.
Outside, something exploded. Probably a dragon fighting a Titan. Or a Lucky Block spawning something terrible. Or reality just giving up and imploding. Marcus didn't care.
For the first time since arriving in this nightmare, Marcus simply... stopped.
VIEWER COUNT: 29.4 BILLION
VIEWER STATUS: CONFUSED
EXTREMELY CONFUSED
SEVERAL VIEWER GROUPS THINK THIS IS A TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY
OTHERS THINK IT'S A STRATEGIC RETREAT
NOBODY UNDERSTANDS WHAT'S HAPPENING
HONESTLY, NEITHER DO I
MARCUS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Marcus opened his eyes and stared at the System's text floating in his vision.
"I'm taking a day off," he explained, as if talking to a particularly slow child. "I have died one hundred and sixty-three times. I have fought dragons, Titans, Shoggoths, world bosses, and literal gods. I have been chased by a grudge-holding Ant Queen. I have spawned apocalypses through my own hubris. Multiple apocalypses. I deleted a world boss from reality and then died from the backlash. I am wearing a top hat while wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. My life is insane."
AGREED
BUT THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHY YOU'RE JUST LYING IN BED
WHILE THE WORLD ENDS OUTSIDE
"I'm tired," Marcus said simply. "I'm just... tired. And I realized something. You said I have to survive one hundred days to beat the game, right? Not fight constantly for one hundred days. Not engage with every single threat. Just survive."
TECHNICALLY CORRECT
THE BEST KIND OF CORRECT
BUT—
"No buts," Marcus interrupted. "Surviving means not dying. And you know what's a great way to not die? Not going outside where everything wants to kill me. So that's what I'm doing. I'm staying inside. For the whole day. Just sitting here. Existing. Surviving."
THAT'S... ACTUALLY A VALID STRATEGY
BORING
VERY BORING
THE VIEWERS WON'T LIKE IT
BUT VALID
"The viewers can deal with it," Marcus said. "I'm sure they'll be fine watching me do absolutely nothing for twenty minutes. It'll be like meditation. Very zen."
VIEWER REACTIONS INCOMING...
DIMENSION 42-ALPHA: "IS HIS STREAM FROZEN?"
DIMENSION 7-BETA: "THIS IS THE WEIRDEST BOSS STRATEGY I'VE EVER SEEN"
DIMENSION 99-OMEGA: "I RESPECT THE HUSTLE. MENTAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT."
DIMENSION 52-PRIME: "HE'S JUST LYING THERE. MENACINGLY."
DIMENSION ∞: "FASCINATING. THE SUBJECT HAS CHOSEN INACTION AS ACTION."
OVERALL CONSENSUS: CONFUSED BUT INTRIGUED
Marcus smiled. He could hear the mobs outside getting louder, probably confused about why the flying block man with god-powers wasn't coming out to fight them. Something was scratching at his door—probably a zombie or skeleton or eldritch horror in a funny hat.
He ignored it all.
Instead, Marcus did something he hadn't done since arriving in this world: he thought about his old life. About Jeremy, the guy who'd died eating expired chips while watching fake Minecraft videos. That guy seemed so distant now, like a different person entirely. That guy had complained about content not being "genuine enough" without appreciating the effort that went into making anything at all.
That guy would have hated this. This was the most genuine survival content possible—literally life or death, no scripts, no creative mode, no safety nets except the ones his viewers donated—and it was absolute hell.
But Marcus? Marcus had adapted. He'd learned. He'd grown. He'd died 163 times and kept coming back. That was something.
SYSTEM QUERY: ARE YOU HAVING AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS?
BECAUSE THIS SEEMS LIKE AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
SHOULD I BE CONCERNED?
"No," Marcus said. "I'm having the opposite of an existential crisis. I'm having an existential... peace? Is that a thing?"
UNCLEAR
PHILOSOPHY WAS NEVER MY STRONG SUIT
I'M MORE OF A 'SPAWN BOSSES AND WATCH YOU STRUGGLE' KIND OF SYSTEM
"Well, there are no bosses to fight in here," Marcus said. "Just me and my thoughts and this very comfortable bed made from wool that gives me nightmares about geometry."
He closed his eyes again.
Outside, the sounds of chaos continued. A dragon roared. A Titan's footstep shook the ground. The reality tear was probably still expanding. The Nowhere entities were probably still consuming things. Somewhere, a Lucky Block was probably spawning something terrible.
Marcus didn't care.
He was taking a nap.
VIEWER COUNT: 31.2 BILLION
VIEWERS APPEAR TO BE... WAITING?
THEY'RE JUST WATCHING YOU SLEEP
31.2 BILLION ENTITIES ACROSS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS
WATCHING YOU NAP
THIS IS THE WEIRDEST THING THAT'S HAPPENED
AND YOU'VE FOUGHT FIFTY-THREE BOSSES WHILE WEARING A TOP HAT
Marcus slept. Actually slept. In a Minecraft world where sleep normally just skipped the night, Marcus's demon-sheep-wool bed apparently had different rules. He dreamed of geometry—impossible angles and non-Euclidean spaces and shapes that shouldn't exist. It was weird, but it was also kind of peaceful in its own way.
When he woke up, it was still day twenty. Time had passed—maybe an hour or so—but the day wasn't over. His hunger bar had depleted slightly. His health was still full. Outside, the chaos continued.
Marcus sat up, stretched (which looked weird with his blocky body), and looked around his dirt hovel.
"Okay," he said. "Okay, what do I want to do today?"
SUGGESTION: FIGHT THE ACCUMULATED MOBS OUTSIDE
SUGGESTION: EXPLORE THE NOWHERE DIMENSION
SUGGESTION: COLLECT YOUR SCATTERED LOOT FROM PREVIOUS DEATHS
SUGGESTION: LITERALLY ANYTHING EXCEPT SITTING IN A DIRT HUT
"I'm going to organize my inventory," Marcus decided.
THAT'S... THAT'S NOT...
OKAY FINE
ORGANIZE YOUR INVENTORY
THIS IS THE MOST ANTICLIMACTIC DAY TWENTY POSSIBLE
Marcus spent the next hour sorting through his soulbound items, organizing them by type and use. Weapons here, armor there, accessories in this slot, food items over here. He examined each item carefully, reading their descriptions, understanding their capabilities. He'd been so focused on surviving and fighting that he hadn't actually taken time to understand everything he had.
The Infinity Gauntlet had settings he hadn't explored. The Superman suit had features he hadn't activated. He had rings that provided bonuses he'd forgotten about. His inventory was a mess of powerful items that he'd been using haphazardly.
He organized. He planned. He strategized. All while sitting in his dirt hovel, ignoring the apocalypse outside.
VIEWER REACTIONS:
"THIS IS ODDLY SATISFYING TO WATCH"
"I'VE LEARNED MORE ABOUT INVENTORY MANAGEMENT IN TEN MINUTES THAN I HAVE IN YEARS"
"IS THIS ASMR? THIS FEELS LIKE ASMR"
"THE SUPREME BEING OF CHAOS HAS DEMANDED I INFORM YOU THAT YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS ARE IMPRESSIVE"
"MY THERAPIST SAYS I SHOULD TAKE BREAKS TOO. GOOD FOR MARCUS."
After organizing his inventory, Marcus decided to upgrade his living space. Not go outside—absolutely not—but make his dirt hovel actually livable.
He used materials from his inventory to replace the dirt walls with stone. Then stone bricks. Then he added some decoration—a painting here (it showed a blocky sunset that was actually kind of pretty), a flower pot there (with a flower he'd apparently picked up at some point without noticing). He upgraded his furnace to a modded version that smelted faster. He added more lights so it wasn't just one sad torch.
He built a proper storage system with labeled chests. Food chest. Weapons chest. Armor chest. Miscellaneous chest. Top hats chest (he'd apparently collected several more during his fights without realizing).
He was building. Actually building. In Minecraft. The thing people normally did in Minecraft before fighting dragons and gods.
VIEWER COUNT: 33.8 BILLION
VIEWERSHIP IS... INCREASING?
PEOPLE ARE TUNING IN TO WATCH YOU DECORATE
THIS SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE
YOU'RE MORE POPULAR NOW THAN DURING THE FIFTY-THREE BOSS FIGHT
HUMANS ARE WEIRD
ALSO INTERDIMENSIONAL BEINGS ARE WEIRD
EVERYONE IS WEIRD
Marcus stepped back and admired his work. His dirt hovel was now a proper small base. It wasn't fancy—it was still basically one room—but it was organized. It was functional. It was... nice.
"There," he said with satisfaction. "That's better."
Something massive walked past outside, its footsteps shaking the entire structure. Probably a Titan. Marcus didn't even look.
Instead, he sat down at his crafting table and started... crafting. Just normal Minecraft crafting. He made better tools from the materials in his inventory. He organized his excess materials. He even tried some modded crafting recipes, creating items just to see what they did.
He made a new pickaxe. A new axe. A fishing rod (when would he ever use that? Didn't matter, he made it anyway). He experimented with Tinker's Construct, creating custom tools and weapons just for fun.
Hours passed. Real hours. The day cycle in Minecraft continued outside—day turned to afternoon, afternoon to evening. The chaos continued unabated. But inside his small base, Marcus was just... existing. Playing Minecraft the way people normally played Minecraft.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: YOU'RE ACTUALLY RELAXING
YOUR STRESS INDICATORS HAVE DECREASED BY 73%
I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD STRESS INDICATORS
I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS MONITORING THEM
BUT APPARENTLY YOU'RE ACTUALLY CALMING DOWN
THIS IS WORKING
"Yeah," Marcus said, putting the finishing touches on a custom sword he'd made (not as powerful as the Sword of the Cosmos, but he'd made it himself, which felt good). "Yeah, it is working. I needed this."
NEW DONATION AVAILABLE
Marcus almost ignored it—he was enjoying his break—but curiosity got the better of him.
FROM: ZENMASTER_420 FROM DIMENSION 108-THETA
ITEM: MEDITATION CUSHION
DESCRIPTION: SITTING ON IT RESTORES MENTAL CLARITY AND PROVIDES BUFFS TO FOCUS AND CALM
MESSAGE: "BROTHER, YOU'RE DOING GREAT. SELF-CARE IS IMPORTANT. EVEN IN APOCALYPSES. ESPECIALLY IN APOCALYPSES. STAY CENTERED."
Marcus accepted the donation and placed the meditation cushion in his base. It was a simple thing—just a cushion—but it radiated a peaceful aura that seemed to push back against the chaos outside.
He sat on it.
BUFF ACQUIRED: INNER PEACE
EFFECTS: STRESS IMMUNITY, ENHANCED FOCUS, AURA OF CALM
DURATION: WHILE SITTING ON CUSHION
SIDE EFFECTS: NONE
SERIOUSLY, NO SIDE EFFECTS
IT'S JUST A NICE CUSHION
ENJOY
Marcus sat and breathed. In this blocky body, in this impossible world, wearing a Superman suit and Infinity Gauntlet while sitting on a meditation cushion in a stone room while the apocalypse raged outside, Marcus found something he hadn't experienced in what felt like forever.
Peace.
VIEWER COUNT: 35.1 BILLION
HIGHEST VIEWERSHIP EVER RECORDED
ACROSS ALL DIMENSIONS
PEOPLE ARE WATCHING YOU MEDITATE
SEVERAL MEDITATION APPS HAVE BEEN CREATED ACROSS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS
USING YOUR STREAM AS BACKGROUND
YOU'VE ACCIDENTALLY STARTED A WELLNESS MOVEMENT
CONGRATULATIONS?
Outside, the sun was setting. Night was coming. The most dangerous time in Minecraft. When all the worst things spawned. When the darkness brought out the nightmares.
Marcus stayed sitting on his cushion, eyes closed, breathing steadily.
Mobs spawned outside. He could hear them. Dragons, Titans, eldritch horrors, all of them. They gathered around his small base, confused by the presence inside that wasn't fighting, wasn't fleeing, wasn't engaging at all.
Some of them tried to attack the base. The stone walls held—barely. A few cracks appeared, but the structure held.
Marcus didn't move.
MOBS OUTSIDE: 1,847
BASE INTEGRITY: 67% AND HOLDING
YOUR CALM AURA IS APPARENTLY CONFUSING THEM
SEVERAL BOSSES ARE JUST... STANDING THERE
WAITING FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING
THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED
The night passed slowly. Marcus sat and meditated. The mobs outside eventually got bored or distracted by fighting each other. The sounds of chaos became background noise, then faded to almost nothing.
When dawn broke on the continuation of day twenty, Marcus opened his eyes.
His base had held. He'd survived the entire night without fighting, without engaging, without even worrying. Just by existing peacefully in his protected space.
DAY 20 STATISTICS:
TIME SURVIVED: 20 MINUTES (ONE FULL DAY)
DEATHS: 0
BOSSES FOUGHT: 0
MOBS KILLED: 0
BASES DECORATED: 1
ITEMS CRAFTED: 47
TIME SPENT MEDITATING: 6 HOURS
VIEWER SATISFACTION: 97%
THIS WAS YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL DAY
BY LITERALLY DOING NOTHING
Marcus stood up from his meditation cushion, stretched, and looked around his base. It was small but comfortable. Organized. Peaceful. His own little sanctuary in the middle of chaos.
He equipped his gear—Superman suit, Infinity Gauntlet, Sword of the Cosmos, top hat—and walked to his door.
"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "Day twenty-one. Eighty days to go. I'm rested. I'm organized. I'm ready."
He opened the door.
Outside, the world was exactly as chaotic as before. Dragons in the sky. Titans on the ground. Reality tears. Nowhere entities. All of it.
But Marcus felt different. Calmer. More focused. The day off had helped more than he'd realized.
A dragon saw him and roared, diving toward his position.
Marcus smiled, raised the Infinity Gauntlet, and sent it flying with a casual blast of the Power Stone.
"Alright, universe," he said, flying up to meet the day's challenges. "I took a break. I rested. Now let's see what you've got."
VIEWER COUNT: 37.4 BILLION
VIEWERS ARE EXCITED
THEY MISSED THE CHAOS
BUT THEY APPRECIATED THE BREAK
SEVERAL DIMENSIONS HAVE DECLARED "MARCUS REST DAY" AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY
YOU'VE BECOME A SYMBOL OF SELF-CARE
WHILE ALSO BEING A SYMBOL OF EXTREME VIOLENCE
IT'S A WEIRD BALANCE
BUT IT WORKS
Marcus flew toward a cluster of mobs, feeling refreshed and ready. Day twenty had been his day of rest. Day twenty-one would be back to the chaos.
But now he knew something important: even in hell, even in an impossible survival challenge, even while fighting gods and wielding cosmic power...
Sometimes you just needed to take a day off.
Even if that day off was spent sitting in a stone room while the apocalypse happened outside.
Especially then.
NEW ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: SELF-CARE IN THE APOCALYPSE
REWARD: PERMANENT +10% TO ALL STATS AFTER RESTING
DESCRIPTION: "YOU'VE LEARNED THAT SURVIVAL ISN'T JUST ABOUT FIGHTING. IT'S ABOUT KNOWING WHEN NOT TO."
THE UNIVERSE RESPECTS THIS
SLIGHTLY
OKAY, NOT REALLY
BUT I DO
GOOD JOB, MARCUS
Marcus grinned and dove toward a Titan wearing a propeller beanie, the Sword of the Cosmos ready.
It was good to be back.
But it was also good to know he could stop whenever he needed to.
That was power too.
Maybe the most important power of all.