Jafar

I’m deep underground, hacking away at stone like it’s my job. The pickaxe feels heavier with each swing, and I swear I can feel the ache building in my arms. It’s weirdly satisfying, though—there’s something almost meditative about the steady rhythm of it, the way the clink of metal against rock echoes through the empty tunnels.

Then it happens. Just as I strike a block of iron, the whole cave shudders, the screen stuttering for a second. The pickaxe freezes mid-swing, like someone hit pause on the game.

“What the—” I mutter, pulling back as everything snaps back into place. The iron block breaks as if nothing happened. “Lag? Really? I thought this was my own premium tier world, not some hacked together server."

I shake it off, figuring it’s just a bug in some mod pack I must have downloaded ages ago. I keep mining, but the lag hits again, this time lasting longer. I stand there, motionless, watching the torchlight flicker in the cave like it’s struggling to keep up with me.

“Alright, game,” I grumble, swiping a hand across my sweaty forehead. “Pull it together.”

I push on, trying to ignore it, but there’s something off. The night seems to be dragging on endlessly. I glance up through a small crack in the cave ceiling, expecting to see the first hints of dawn. Instead, it’s pitch black, stars scattered across the sky like someone forgot to flip the switch for sunrise.

“What the hell?” I mutter, stepping back. “It’s been night for hours now.” I pull out a torch and start making my way back up to the surface, mumbling to myself. “I swear, if this mod pack’s broken, I’m going to—”

As I climb out of the cave, rain suddenly starts pouring down, drenching me instantly. I groan, running a hand through my hair. “Fantastic. Just my luck.”

But then, just as quickly as it started, the rain stops. The clouds part, and the sun peeks through like nothing ever happened. I stand there, blinking up at the clear sky. “What the actual—?” I shake my head, chalking it up to another glitch.

“Is this world cursed or something?” I say out loud, half-joking, half-serious. I glance around, half-expecting to see some sign of what’s going on, but there’s nothing. Just me, the silence of the forest, and the lingering smell of rain.

I shrug it off. “Whatever,” I mutter, turning back to head into the forest. “I’ve got better things to worry about than some buggy weather.”

The forest feels unnaturally quiet as I walk away, the ground still wet beneath my boots from the sudden downpour. I shove my hands into my pockets, tilting my head back to squint at the clear sky. The sun’s out now, no sign of the storm clouds that were just here a minute ago. It’s like the game can’t decide what season it’s supposed to be.

I drag my feet through the underbrush, already feeling the boredom start to creep in. There’s only so much mining I can do before my brain goes numb, and the weird glitches aren’t helping. It’s almost like the game is trying to mess with me on purpose, changing the weather and freezing up just to keep me on my toes. I kick a stray block of dirt, watching it tumble away. “I need a change of scenery,” I say to myself, sighing. “Or at least something more interesting to do.”

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I pause, glancing back towards the cave. I’ve barely scratched the surface down there—just started to find iron, haven’t even hit the deeper levels yet. But the idea of going back underground feels exhausting. I can already picture the endless gray stone, the same repetitive digging. My whole body aches at the thought of swinging that pickaxe again.

“Alright, screw it,” I decide, turning on my heel. “Time for some exploring.”

I head deeper into the forest, weaving between the trees. It’s strangely peaceful out here, the kind of quiet that usually only exists when the game’s on pause. There’s a part of me that almost wants to lie down and listen to the birds chirping- oh wait, there's no birds in Minecraft. In which case, the rustle of the leaves. It’s so different from the real world, where there’s always noise, always something demanding my attention. Here, it’s just... silence. And me.

I keep walking, half-hoping I’ll stumble across something interesting—maybe a village or an abandoned mineshaft. Anything to break up the monotony. But the forest stretches on, endless and unchanging, like it’s mocking me with its sameness.

After a while, I start talking out loud, just to fill the silence. “So what’s the plan, then? Am I supposed to wander around here forever?” I laugh at myself, but it comes out sounding hollow. “Maybe I’ll build a massive tower or set a forest on fire, see if that makes things more interesting.”

I say it as a joke, but the idea of setting a blaze almost feels tempting. I could watch the fire spread, watch the leaves crackle and burn, see if it messes with the game’s physics. But then I shake my head, shoving the thought away. “Yeah, maybe don’t start burning down your only source of wood, genius.”

I glance up, noticing the sun again—it’s barely moved. I frown, checking the sky. It should be way further along by now. I’ve been walking for what feels like hours, but it’s still hanging in the same spot, like the game’s stuck on an endless loop of morning.

“Alright, this is getting weird,” I mutter. I stop, planting my hands on my hips and staring up at the sky. “Is time broken now too?”

The wind picks up, a sudden gust that sends the leaves swirling around me. I shiver, wrapping my arms around myself. It’s colder than it should be for this time of day. The whole forest feels off-kilter, like I’ve stepped into a part of the map that wasn’t meant to load yet.

A low growl rumbles from behind me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turn slowly, half-expecting to see a wolf or a spider, but there’s nothing there. Just the empty forest, swaying gently in the breeze.

“Okay, nope, I’m out,” I say, laughing nervously as I start to back away. “This is officially too creepy.”

I head towards a small clearing I passed earlier, deciding it’s as good a place as any to set up a temporary camp. I drop my crafting table onto the ground, kneeling down to craft some basic supplies. The lag hits again, just for a second, and my screen glitches—an item appears in my inventory that I didn’t craft. A single block of obsidian.

I blink at it, confusion twisting in my gut. “Where the hell did this come from?”

I pick it up, turning it over in my hand. It feels heavy, more solid than the other blocks, like it’s out of place. “Weird,” I mutter, tossing it back into my inventory. “Maybe I found it while mining and didn’t notice.”

But that doesn’t feel right. I’d remember finding something like this. Obsidian’s a pain to mine, and I sure as hell don’t have a diamond pickaxe yet.

I decide to ignore it for now, standing up and dusting off my hands. “Whatever. If the game’s going to throw me freebies, who am I to complain?”

The wind shifts again, and the temperature drops even further. I wrap my arms around myself, shivering. It feels like the game’s trying to push me, testing the boundaries of what I’ll put up with.