After hearing the captain's words, Notch thought for a moment, then carefully asked, "Um… can I go with you guys?"
"Just like you saw, I really did just arrive in this area… I'm not very familiar with the rules here."
"If it's convenient, could I stay nearby and observe the whole trading process?…"
Notch spoke while opening his backpack and rummaging through it.
Very soon, he took out a bundle of wheat and handed it to the player captain standing before him.
Of course, Notch understood the importance of reciprocity.
These players all cared deeply about their own interests. Though this captain's warning might've just been to stop Notch from interrupting their trade, it still helped him out a little.
Naturally, Notch had to return the favor.
Besides, when faced with this mysterious rainforest, Notch's heart was filled with doubts.
He had originally planned to enter the rainforest and explore it, but what the captain said just now made him abandon that thought.
There seemed to be some kind of rule here, a rule that forbade anyone from entering the rainforest.
Players were a complicated group. They were always unruly and rebellious by nature, yet now they were strictly following this rule.
That could only mean the consequences of breaking it were far too severe for them to handle.
So Notch naturally wouldn't risk violating that rule.
Since he couldn't find answers inside the rainforest, the only thing he could do was try to get some clues from these experienced players.
When the player captain saw Notch hand over the wheat, a strange, indescribable smile appeared on his face, part mocking, part bitter.
He first looked at the wheat in Notch's hands, then carefully studied Notch from head to toe before waving his hand and saying, "Looks like you really don't know how things work around here… keep your wheat."
After saying that, he turned around, pointed toward the opposite direction of the rainforest, and continued, "Come with me."
Along the way, Notch had met many players. In this trial land, food was incredibly precious.
After all, food could rot and spoil, and unlike the main world, there weren't many reliable ways to get food here.
That's why Notch offered a bundle of wheat, it wasn't much, but it could be crafted into three loaves of bread. In his eyes, that was enough to show sincerity.
But the captain's reaction and expression completely puzzled Notch.
Even though the captain didn't accept Notch's "gift," he still agreed to his request.
So after putting the wheat back into his backpack, Notch and Stephen followed behind the player captain.
The captain led his team about a hundred yards away from the rainforest before finally stopping.
He casually sat on a large rock nearby, pointed toward the rainforest, then looked over at Notch. His eyes swept past Notch and landed on Stephen.
"This… thing's alive?… No, wait…"
"Is it conscious?…"
Hearing that, Stephen had already loaded up a mouthful of spit, ready to fire, but Notch quickly stopped him.
"He's called Stephen. He's my partner."
"He..."
Notch was just about to explain that Stephen posed no threat, but what the captain did next completely caught him off guard.
When the captain realized that Stephen was a self-aware llama, he didn't show the slightest bit of wariness or fear. Instead, he looked at Stephen in astonishment and muttered,
"What??… Stephen?…"
"Pfft… what kind of weird coincidence is this…"
Seeing the captain react that way, Notch couldn't help but feel confused.
Every time he'd mentioned Stephen to other players before, they'd immediately become alert.
Notch usually had to spend a long time explaining and reassuring them that Stephen wasn't dangerous at all.
But this captain's attitude was completely different. He didn't treat Stephen as a threat at all, instead, he seemed genuinely interested in his name.
That left Notch puzzled, but also curious.
Just as he was about to ask, the captain waved his hand and smiled.
"It's fine."
Then he turned his head toward the rainforest and explained to Notch, "That rainforest area is under HIM's control!"
"He's unified all the animals and monsters in the rainforest and even made the rules there."
"In that rainforest, everyone follows those rules. They don't interfere with each other and trade through bartering to get what they need. Even our food supply comes from that rainforest."
Hearing that, Notch fell into deep thought.
"HIM?…" he muttered softly. He clearly recognized the name, but his expression was full of confusion.
Seeing that look, the captain shrugged and said with a grin, "Yep, that HIM, the one we all know."
Then he lowered his voice and said, "You must've heard the rumor, right? That whoever wins the Trial Grounds gets the power to control the entire game world!"
Notch froze on the spot, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"Huh?? What???"
"Where did that rumor come from?…"
"Winning the trial gives you control over the game world? That's impossible…"
The way the captain spoke made it sound like everyone already knew about it.
But as the creator of the game, Notch had never heard of such a thing.
He had already met plenty of people inside the Trial Grounds, and not once had anyone mentioned that winning would grant control over the entire world.
Although the captain called it a rumor, meaning it might not be completely reliable, Notch couldn't find any reason to deny it either.
After all, the Trial Grounds truly existed apart from the game world itself. They were not bound by its systems.
That meant whoever created the Trial Grounds possessed extraordinary power.
And eventually, there would only be one winner.
That winner's reward had to be something huge.
If that "rumor" were true, then the winner of the Trial Grounds would gain the power to rule the entire world.
"It seems this world is far more complicated than I imagined…"
Notch didn't fully believe that so-called "rumor," but he couldn't find any solid reason to disprove it either.
After all, the existence of the Trial Grounds itself proved that this world still held powers even he, Notch, couldn't understand.
And the same was true for the beings in the Void.
Notch had no idea what kind of power could truly "control" the entire game world.
But one thing he did know, even as its creator, he couldn't completely control it himself.
At that thought, that familiar, heavy sense of helplessness welled up inside him again.
He had wanted so badly to protect this world, yet now it seemed the game was drifting away from the path he'd designed, moving toward a place he could no longer reach.
As Notch tried to piece everything together, the captain's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts.
"Bro, are you new here or something?"
"That can't be right. You made it into the Trial Grounds, so you must have some skills…"
"You don't check the forums?"
Notch awkwardly smiled and shook his head.
"Uh… not really."
The captain shrugged.
"Figures…"
Then, with a confident grin, he continued, "Sure, it's just a rumor, but I think it's pretty solid."
"I mean, remember those early rumors that HIM was secretly fighting against the Void? Turned out to be true, didn't it?"
Saying that, the captain suddenly frowned as if a strange thought had struck him.
"That is weird though…" he muttered.
Notch noticed the change in his tone and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
The captain hesitated, like he wasn't sure whether to say it. After a pause, he finally said, "Eh, whatever. Just thinking out loud."
His voice dropped slightly, becoming thoughtful.
After a moment of silence, he looked at Notch and said seriously,
"HIM's been fighting the Void all this time, right? So he must've entered the Trial Grounds to gain the power to control the world. Obviously, he wants to win, yeah?"
Notch nodded in agreement.
Everyone who entered the Trial Grounds wanted to win, HIM included.
The captain rubbed his chin, looking puzzled.
"He's already taken control of the rainforest and set up a rule system there. So logically, those rules should benefit his own faction, right?"
His face was full of doubt, he clearly couldn't make sense of HIM's choices.
After a moment of thought, Notch replied, "You said your food comes from the rainforest… maybe that's because it's rich in food resources. The animals and monsters there don't need to eat, so food is useless to them. That's why they trade it for things they do need."
"Trading useless resources for useful ones, and preventing outside attacks, that's beneficial to them, isn't it?"
Notch didn't know the exact list of trade items, so he couldn't really understand what the captain was confused about.
The captain waved his hand dismissively, looking speechless.
"You think I don't know that?"
"Yeah, food might be useless to them, but the stuff they ask us to trade is just as useless!"
As he spoke, he took several items from his backpack and laid them on the ground, pointing at them.
"Here, look."
On the ground lay chunks of stone, wool, clay balls, dyes, sand blocks, and all sorts of colorful flowers and plants.
The captain stared at them, sighed, and looked back at Notch.
"Tell me, do these things look like anything useful to them?!"
Seeing what the captain had pulled out, Notch was completely dumbfounded.
"Huh??" His eyes went wide. "You're telling me you're trading these tr... these things for food?!"
It wasn't that Notch was trying to be rude, but come on, even a dog wouldn't want this stuff.
"Do these things… actually have some kind of hidden use?…" Notch murmured to himself, completely baffled.
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