“Why?” Jace asked, the word feeling raw.
For ten agonizing minutes, Jace watched the player mine. He found coal. Then iron. Then, on the eighth branch of a dead-end tunnel, a single, rough diamond. The player didn’t cheer or dance. He just stood there for a second, holding the gem, then placed it carefully in a chest labeled “Day 47.”
“Because if you can find a single vein of diamonds on your own, in the dark, with nothing but a pickaxe and the sound of your own breathing for company… you’ll understand why Brian’s diamond meant more to him than your entire castle of ore ever meant to you.” 1.20.1 xray
That hit. Jace’s fingers hovered over his keyboard. It’s just a game , he typed.
It was a mine. Not his mine. A cramped, cobblestone tunnel lit by a single redstone torch. And there, at the end, was a player. Another default skin, digging with a stone pickaxe. The player was methodical, slow. He’d hit a wall of deepslate, switch to iron, chip away for a minute, find nothing, and move two blocks left. “Why
Lobby, now.
He placed a torch. The shadows danced. For the first time in weeks, his heart beat fast—not from the thrill of cheating the system, but from the honest, terrifying, beautiful fear of not knowing what was one block ahead. Then iron
“Why, Jace?” Steve’s voice wasn't angry. It was tired.