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First published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books and in Canada
by Penguin Random House Canada Limited.
First published in Great Britain 2020 by Egmont UK Limited
The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN
© 2020 Mojang AB and Mojang Synergies AB. MINECRAFT and MOJANG are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Mojang Synergies AB.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978 1 4052 9382 2
eISBN 978 1 4052 9833 9
www.egmont.co.uk
Printed in the United Kingdom
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MEET THE
MORGAN
ASH
HARPER
PLAYERS!
PO
JODI
MS MINERVA
DOC CULPEPPER
Prologue
In Which X Marks the Spot of a Place No One in Their Right Mind Would Want to Visit
F
ive figures floated in a vast sea of blue.
Below them was a strange structure. It was unlike anything that existed on earth. Part pyramid and part fortress, it squatted on the seafloor and stretched far into the distance. The structure
was a gross shade of green. It looked almost poisonous.
But the structure was also grand. It all but dared them to enter.
The figures hovered quietly before it. They couldn’t talk underwater. But even if they could, the massive monument might have awed
them into silence. The only sounds came from the air bubbles quietly purring, popping, and gurgling around them.
One of them held up a map.
The map showed a big red X.
They all looked from the monument to the map and back again.
The figure with the map put it away and nodded in the direction of the structure. Colourful sea creatures drifted past. The five kicked their legs and swam deeper.
The monument and all its many mysteries awaited.
8
Chapter 1
Sea Turtles!
Sea Turtles, Run!
H
arper Houston held her breath. She strained her eyes in the moonlight. She knew the white and green speckled eggs sitting in the sand would hatch soon. And she didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
Harper had seen many amazing things over the last several weeks. That’s how long she and her friends had been using special VR headsets to visit a virtual world.
They weren’t playing
Minecraft anymore.
They were living
Minecraft.
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It was all so real. She could feel the sand beneath her feet. She could hear the snap and crackle of her torch. And she could see cracks appearing on the sea turtle eggs they’d found on the beach.
“I wish I could take a picture of this,” her friend Po Chen said. “Can you say ‘seashore eggshell selfie’ five times fast?” Po liked to change his appearance in the game. Tonight he was dressed for the beach, with swim trunks,
snorkelling gear, an inflatable float wrapped around his waist, and a shirt that only a dad would wear.
“I wish I could bring a turtle home with us,” said Jodi Mercado. “I JUST KNOW THEY’RE GOING TO BE ADORABLE.” Jodi was the youngest member of the group. She had a soft spot for animals.
“I WISH THEY’D HURRY UP AND HATCH,” Ash Kapoor said. “We can’t stay on this beach forever.” Ash loved exploration. She wanted to see everything there was to see in this digital land.
She didn’t do a lot of standing around, either here or in the real world.
“I wish you would be quiet,” Jodi’s older brother Morgan said, shushing them. “It isn’t safe at night. Anything could be out there.” Morgan played more Minecraft than any of them. His knowledge frequently came in handy. And he was very serious about keeping the others safe.
Harper smiled to herself. All of her friends were wishing for something. She didn’t have anything to wish for, though. To her, this moment was perfect just as it was.
The eggs hatched, one after another. Tiny baby sea turtles emerged to crawl
12
along the sand. The friends all took a step back.
“That way, little guys,” Harper said, pointing to the ocean. “Go swim!”
Harper knew a bit about real-life sea turtles. She knew that hatchlings immediately made their way across the sand and into the ocean. She assumed Minecraft sea turtles would do the same thing.
“I was right,” said Jodi. “They are one hundred percent adorable.”
“But they sound weird,” Po added.
Harper strained her ears. She heard a low growl nearby. “I don’t think that sound is coming from the turtles,” she warned.
Morgan hopped in alarm. “Zombies!” he cried.
13
There were four zombies in total. They appeared at the tree line where the forest met the beach. They raised their arms, groaned, and stepped onto the sand.
“Will they hurt the babies?” Jodi asked. She knew less than the others did about Minecraft’s hazards. She usually just ran towards the cute mobs and away from the ones she called yucky.
“No, they won’t,” said Ash. “Because we’ll stop them.”
Harper nodded. Ash was right to be confident. As a team, they’d been on several adventures together. They had built a castle, defeated hostile mobs, and even saved a village by helping some monsters.
And Harper had a new tool she was eager to try. She held up a bow and lined up her shot.
“Nice!” said Po. “Where’d you get a bow?”
“I made it,” Harper answered. “With a few sticks, and strings from a spider’s web.” For Harper, nothing beat the thrill of making something useful.
Although the thrill of defeating hordes of
14
zombies came very close.
She let an arrow fly. It met its mark, striking a zombie right in the chest. At the same time, the rest of the group ran forward and attacked with their swords.
“I’ll have to make bows for the rest of you,” she said. She fired another arrow.
15
“It’s much nicer fighting those things from a safe distance.”
“No kidding!” said Po. He dodged as a zombie swiped at him. “Anytime you want to trade spots, just let me know.”
Harper chuckled. She knew Po wasn’t in any real danger. It would take more than a few zombies to scare her.
But then a low moan sounded at her back.
It didn’t make sense. Harper was standing on the beach. She had the ocean behind her. How could anything sneak up on her from that direction?
She turned to see a creature rising from the surface of the water. At first, she thought it was another zombie. But there was something different about it. Its skin was a sickly
shade of blue. Limp strands of seaweed hung from its head.
“It’s a drowned!” cried Morgan.
“A what?” said Harper. She took several quick steps to distance herself from the slimy mob.
“A drowned is like an underwater zombie,” Ash shouted from across the beach. She swung her sword at one of the regular zombies.
“It’s not underwater at the moment,” Harper pointed out.
“It’s drawn to the baby turtles,” Morgan said. He jumped to avoid a zombie’s grasp. “Harper, you have to stop it!”
Harper saw that Morgan was right. The drowned was ignoring her and shuffling towards the turtles. It would catch them before they could make it to the water.
All of her friends had their hands full. It was up to Harper.
She fired an arrow at the monster’s back. Direct hit!
The drowned flashed red. It uttered a fearsome groan and turned to face her.
17
“Well, I got its attention,” Harper said. It lurched toward her. “Uh-oh.”
Harper lifted her bow as the creature came at her. But she was out of arrows.
“Don’t panic,” she said. “You’ve still got a . . . ” Harper held up . . . a loaf of bread.
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Cooked salmon.
A block of wool.
Her square eyes toggled back and forth in exasperation. I really need to organise my inventory, she thought.
The drowned was almost close enough to slash her. Leading it away from the baby turtles, she backed up all the way to the line of trees at the edge of the beach.
A low hissing sound came from the forest. It was the sound of a creeper, about to explode.
“Oh no,” Harper said. She had nowhere to run. The drowned was right in front of her, blocking her escape. She could see past it, though. She watched the baby sea turtles make it to the water. They scuttled into the ocean.
At least she’d been able to save them.
That was her last thought before the creeper blew up.
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Chapter 2
Go Ahead; Rock the Boat! It’s Already Super Broken.
P
o saw it all happen as he raced across the beach. He saw the creeper step out from the trees. He watched as it exploded, knocking Harper all the way to the edge of the water.
He wasn’t fast enough to help her. He just couldn’t reach her in time.
“Harper!” he cried. “Harper, are you all right?”
“Ouch,” Harper said. “I actually felt that.” She looked down at her blocky hands. “How does that even work? Are the VR goggles interfacing with our nerves? Or do they just trick our brains into thinking we feel something?”
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Po breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, you’re all right,” he said with a smile. “If you’re geeking out about the science of being blown up, you’re obviously fine.”
Po still suspected those VR headsets
were more magic than science. He knew
better than to say that to Harper, however. She was the brains of the group, particularly when it came to science. She was also a whizz at the crafting table, where she made swords, tools, and more, all from memory.
Morgan, Ash, and Jodi ran up to join them.
“DID YOU SEE HOW THAT CREEPER TOOK OUT THE DROWNED WHEN IT EXPLODED?” Morgan cheered. “That was amazing!”
“I think you mean scary,” Jodi said. “Harper, you went flying!”
“You should eat some food, Harper,” Ash said. “To restore your health.”
“At least she’s in better shape than the forest,” Po said. Where the creeper had exploded, there was a crater in the ground and a big gap in the line of trees. Blocks of wood, sand, and soil
21
floated there for the taking, along with rotten flesh from the drowned.
“We should grab some of this stuff,” he said. “Maybe we’ll find a use for . . .”
Po froze. He saw something in the distance. It was a massive wooden structure. He could just barely make out the details in the
moonlight. But what he saw thrilled him. “Do you guys see that?” he asked.
“What is it?” Jodi asked.
“Something awesome,” Po answered. “Team, we just discovered a shipwreck!”
They approached the old
shipwreck cautiously. The
moon was getting lower in the
sky, but night wasn’t over yet.
Any number of hostile
mobs might be lurking
nearby.
The ship was big. It looked as though it had run aground, crashing into the beach. It showed signs of damage, but it was still in one piece. Its masts rose high into the sky.
“Can we board it?” Po asked. “I want to see what’s in there.”
Morgan and Ash shared a look. While they all loved Minecraft, Morgan and Ash knew the most
24
about the game.
“What do you think?” Morgan asked her. “I’ve never found a shipwreck before.”
“Me neither,” said Ash. “But they’re supposed to hold treasure chests.”
“Well, now we have to check it out,” Jodi said.
Harper quickly constructed a staircase out of dirt and stone. It would allow them to hop from the beach to the deck of the ship. “We could hack our way in,” Harper said. “But the ship looks so cool, I don’t want to break it.” She peered through a hole in the hull. “Any more than it’s already broken, I mean.”
They all gathered on the deck. Po immediately pointed out the treasure chest at the front of the ship. He knew from reading non-fiction that the front of a ship was called the bow. It was spelled like a bow and arrow but rhymed with now and wow.
“There’s another chest at the stern,” Jodi said, pointing to the back of the ship.
They split up to open the chests. There was a lot of useful stuff inside both chests: carrots
25
and potatoes, gunpowder and gemstones, and even a couple of pieces of enchanted leather armour.
“Not bad for a night’s work,” Po said.
“And we’re not done yet,” Morgan said. “Check it out.”
Morgan led them down a short staircase to the interior of the ship. There was one more treasure chest waiting to be opened.
“Po, why don’t you do the honours?” Ash suggested. “Since you found the boat.”
Po rubbed his blocky hands together. It was like Christmas morning.
He approached the chest, opened it, and looked inside. He saw a faded map, all orange and yellow with a big red X. There were also several bottles filled with a dark blue liquid.
“It’s a treasure map!” he said, excited. “And some potions.”
“Those are potions of water breathing,” Morgan said. “And the map leads across the ocean.”
“Good,” Harper said. “If we decide to follow the map, those potions might come in handy.”
“We are so following the map,” Po said. “Right?”
“Morgan?” Ash said. “You seem unsure about this.”
Morgan brought his square hand up to his chin. He pondered silently for a moment. Finally, he said, “The contents of a chest are supposed to be somewhat random. And this feels . . . not very random.” He paced around in the
cramped quarters.
“It’s way too convenient
that we would find these
water-breathing potions
right here at the
edge of the sea.”
Ash nodded
slowly in agreement.
“I see what you mean.
It’s certainly
suspicious. On
the other hand, maybe
we just got lucky.”
“We are due some luck,” Harper said. “After all, I got blown up a few minutes ago.”
“And the fact that we are here, actually in the game, means that THIS MINECRAFT IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE MINECRAFT WE THOUGHT WE KNEW,” Po added. “We’ve already seen some mobs acting strangely. Maybe treasure chests are less random in this version of the game.”
“Maybe,” Morgan said, still thinking.
“DO YOU THINK IT’S A TRICK?” Jodi asked. “A trap?”
Po thought about that. There was a lot they still didn’t know about this place. The five of them accessed this virtual world with special VR headsets their science teacher had created. There had been six headsets, but the sixth headset had gone missing.
And there had been clues that someone else was in here with them. Someone had stolen materials from them and then used those materials to spell out a warning in big blocky letters: BEWARE THE
29
EVOKER KING!
And someone (or something) had recently caused a huge migration of zombies and skeletons. The kids had crossed several biomes over the last few visits in their search for answers. They had run out of land now. All they’d found was the ocean.
It felt like a dead end. But the ocean could be crossed. Po wanted to know what was on the other side.
As if reading his mind, Harper quickly expressed that she did not feel the same way. “MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST GO BACK,” she suggested. “I liked that village. We could raise some more sheep. I could get more practice with the enchanting table.”
“Or we could go all the way back to our castle,” Jodi added. “We could make it even bigger! And I could create more sculptures.”
“That’s not really what Minecraft is all about, though – at least for me,” Ash said. “Sure, building is fun . . . BUT I DON’T WANT TO STAY IN ONE PLACE. I ALWAYS WANT TO SEE WHAT’S OUT THERE, BEYOND THE HORIZON.”
30
“Yes!” Po said. “Especially if there’s a treasure map pointing the way. Who knows what we might find?”
“IT COULD BE A TRAP, THOUGH,” Morgan said.
Po shrugged. “Then we’ll deal with it together.” “AS FRIENDS,” Ash said.
Jodi smiled. “That works for me.”
“I’m convinced, too,” said Harper. “But we should make sure it’s unanimous.” She turned to Morgan. “What do you say?”
Morgan gazed out over the still-
dark horizon, and Po looked over his shoulder. As far as the eye could see, there was only water.
“I say X marks the spot,” Morgan said at last.
31
Chapter 3
Do You Dare Enter the
Cellar of Secrets?
Not Without a Hall Pass,
You Don’t!
J
odi was certainly curious about the mysteries of Minecraft. But she had a mystery to solve in the real world, too.
She got to school early the next morning. She wore her best spy gear: dark sunglasses, quiet sneakers, and a wide-brimmed hat.
Despite the clothes, Harper still recognised her immediately. “Hey, Jodi,” she said. She was sitting on the school’s front steps, reading a graphic novel with a dragon on the cover. “Where’s Morgan? Don’t you usually walk together?”
“He was taking too long to eat breakfast,” Jodi
32
answered. “I had to leave him. I didn’t want to, but it was for the greater good!”
Harper grinned. “On a mission, are you?”
Jodi looked around the schoolyard, making sure no one was listening. She lowered her voice just to be safe. “Doc has been acting strange all week. I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
33
Doc Culpepper was their science teacher. She was also the inventor of the VR goggles they used to enter the game world. (Though she seemed to have no idea what that particular invention was really capable of doing.) For Doc, ‘acting strange’ was actually quite normal.
Jodi and Harper were both fascinated by their
teacher. But they were fascinated in
different ways. Harper thought
of Doc as a creative and
inventive role model who was
dedicated to science. Jodi
thought of Doc as a puzzle to be
solved – mysterious, secretive,
and quite possibly descended
from an ancient race of mer-people
dedicated to taking over the surface world.
“Does your investigation have room for
an apprentice?” Harper asked. “Maybe I could
help out.”
Jodi gave Harper a grateful smile. She also gave Harper her hat. “Glad to have you on board,” Jodi said, “because that hat is way too big for me!”
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