Free the Game, Beat the End [DreamNotFound]

Chapter 4

Dream ran. 

He ran as fast as he could and jumped head first back into the portal. 

3 hearts was far too close for comfort. 

And as soon as he got out, he sighed, leaning back onto the cobblestone wall beside him, Sapnap there waiting for him. 

"You good bro?" Sapnap asked, voice full of concern. 

Dream just brushed him off lifting up his white smiley faced mask ever so slightly to eat to steak and regenerate some health. "Yeah, but still no fortress." He sighed. Dream opened his menu to check his inventory. His helmet had broke, and the rest of his gear had lost practically all of its durability. "Damn it, and I'll need new armor too." 

Sapnap sighed, draping an arm over his friends shoulder. "You'll also need a break idiot." He scolded. "We already sent out a bunch of scouts, you should just stay here and rest."

Dream scoffed at his request. He had a hard time relying on people he didn't know, and with their progress constantly being slowed down, 'staying here to rest' didn't seem like the best option.

This version of minecraft was scaled differently after all , everything being essentially just way harder than it should be, and drops being insanely rarer. 

But this was still minecraft, and Dream was confident enough in his skill and ability that he would be able to beat it. 

He just needed time, people, and resources. All of which he was severely lacking. 

He wanted to argue with Sapnap about the resting, but could already tell he would lose. Regeneration worked differently in this server, and Dream had just spent three consecutive days in the nether. 

As much as he would hate to admit, Sapnap was right, Dream needed rest. 

They ventured out of their base's portal room. It was located underground so they both caught up a bit as they resurfaced. 

"I swear if all of this had happened before 1.16 we would've beaten the game by now!" Dream claimed, and Sapnap just silently agreed. "Also our seed actually sucks! You have no clue how many stupid bastions we've found already."

"Dude chill," Sapnap said, earning an eyeroll from Dream. Though it wouldn't have even been visible through the mask. "It'll be fine, besides the rest of the team here's been working crazy hard. We got so much iron yesterday."

"When you say 'so much' it always tends to be an exaggeration." Dream quipped, as they made their way back onto the surface. "I bet you guys only got 4 or 5 stacks."

Sapnap let out a slightly embarrassed chuckle as Dream whispered "I knew it." under his breath. In a regular game of minecraft it would have certainly be considered a lot, but with a team this big, it would only be enough armor for a few people. 

They walked out into their base watching as people, or referred to as players here, rushed from here to their doing their respective tasks.

Their base, entrance hidden behind a waterfall, was fortified by large walls and a few iron golems here and there. It was situated seemingly right in the middle of a valley with a small river flowing through it. The many houses and shops weren't particularly good looking, but they served their purposes right, all of it connected by a large intricate path way of cobblestone (it was the cheapest non-flammable material after all).

The boys walked into the blacksmiths and were greeted by a friendly laugh. "Dream, how the hell'd you break your armor again?" Greeted their good friend Callahan. 

They both took a seat by the counter, and Dream almost collapsed, still exhausted from the long journey

"Skeletons in the soul sand valley." He replied. "Any chance you can get soul speed on the new boots too?" He said as he handed Callahan the old gear. 

He nodded his head. "It's valuable though, so make sure you don't die with it." He said walking towards the anvil. 

"Oh trust me Dream is way more valuable than a stupid pair of boots." Sapnap said, making Dream smirk under his mask. "Though of course I'm even more important both both of those things combined."

Dream's face then changed into a playful frown and he lightly punched Sapnap. "Oh shut up, Simpnap." 

Callahan laughed, and they both laughed with him. Still it was hard to take Callahan seriously with his ridiculous skin, a weird man in an animal suit, with a superhero mask and clown nose. 

Thinking about that made Dream silently thankful, that when the game rendered his skin, they put his real self in the game with a mask on, rather than make him a green blob. He wouldn't have been able to live like that for that many months.

Months.

He hasn't seen George in months.

"It should only be a few weeks in the real world," Dream blurted out, thinking aloud. 

Sapnap and Callhan both exchanged weird looks. "A little off topic, but yeah." Sapnap said, causing Dream to stiffly laugh. 

"I didn't realize I was talking." He explained taking in a deep breath. 

The silence that followed after was only slightly awkward, but was broken when a young girl wearing a black face mask and hoodie stepped out from behind the counter running up to them. "Sorry guys, we're out of Soul Speed books." She announced. 

"It's fine Alyssa," Callahan said. "Dream, they should have some at the enchanters, go get some."

"Wow, I just came back from such a long journey and your already handing out tasks." He remarked. He stood up from his seat as he made his way out of the shop. "You sure I don't have to pay?" 

They all laughed, knowing that wasn't the case. Not only were they friends, but them, and everyone around them was working towards the same goal. 

Beat the Game; Free the End.

Though obviously not everyone could be fighting and killing mobs. For one, not everyone had the skill, and some others just weren't ready to take the risk. 

The risk of dying. 

Dream walked out of the store, quickly taking a glimpse of the world around him. Blocky for sure, after all it was minecraft, but with a touch of realism that made it feel like real life. 

Players looked humanoid rather than block-like too, thankfully. 

He smiled to himself as he watched players farm and cook food, while some others worked on fortifying the base, and mining. He watched as children, as young as 10 ran around, playing with their friends, and collected items, transporting them from one place to another. 

It was so unfair. 

Life was so unfair that mere children were stuck in a game where in they could die at any minute. 

Dream unconsciously clenched his fists as he thought about it all. Those children might have even been considered lucky to some, as countless others had already died. 

A young boy then ran up to Dream holding a cooked salmon in his hands. "Dream, Dream look I just gained a new achievement!"

He smiled at the kid. "Alright then, let's go check it out." Dream replied, seemingly tapping the air in order to open the chat menu. He looked through a few messages before coming across the boy's achievement. "Congrats kid!" 

The boy smiled running off, fish in hands leaving Dream there to chuckle, as he adverted his gaze back to his now open chat menu. 

He had gotten a lot better seeing through his mask, it not even being a slight issue to him. He browsed through the chat reading the player's achievements, and paying silent respects to the deaths, until one name had caught his eye. 

Dream felt his body physically come to a stop as he saw it.

He had to read it over and over again, unable to believe what he was seeing, his heart dropping in a panic as the realization hit him.

GeorgeNotFound joined the game. 

And he would be dead in a few days if he didn't do something about it.