Quest for Justice. Sean Wolfe Fay

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      “I’ve got a stone sword and pickaxe, some cobblestone and a few torches,” replied Kat. “Stan?”

      “Oh, I’ve just got some coal, the pickaxe you gave me, and the book.”

      “Come on, you guys! To survive in this game you’re gonna need better stuff than that!” Stan could tell that Jayden wasn’t being condescending – he was just ribbing them. Stan laughed with Jayden.

      “I guess Stan and I owe you a thank you,” said Charlie. “Without those swords and the bread and the book, we definitely wouldn’t have even come close to making it here. We wouldn’t even have survived the first night with those Spiders!”

      “Yeah … thanks a million,” agreed Stan, shuddering as he remembered fighting off the Spiders.

      “Ah, don’t mention it,” replied Jayden with a shrug. “Besides, it wasn’t me who put those out there – it was my friend Sally. She’s the one who goes out there and replenishes the stock at the spawn point every week. Speaking of which, why did it take you guys two days to get here, anyway? It’s only a day’s journey.”

      So Stan and Charlie told Jayden about the time that they had had getting to the village, about getting lost, and the Spiders, and running into Kat (who added to the story from that point on), and the mine, and the Creeper, and Mr A. Jayden seemed taken aback by the story of Mr A.

      “You guys ran into a Griefer?” he asked sceptically. “But none of you are even level four yet! The best weapon you have is a moderately used stone sword! Why would anyone want to attack you?”

      “Well, he was about to tell us in a melodramatic monologue, but I believe that that was the point when Kat told him, and I quote, ‘we couldn’t care less about your “oh, woe is me” story,’” replied Charlie, grinning at her.

      “I regret nothing,” smirked Kat. “So, Jayden, what do you do around here? It must get pretty boring.”

      Jayden shook his head. “No, not really. It’s fun to teach the new guys, like you. At the school, I teach axe fighting, and I help my brother on his farm. Plus, Adoria sends me on missions. I actually just got back from one a little while before you guys got here,” he added as the four finally arrived at the motel, a sprawling four-storey complex made of mainly wood planks. Stan saw a hole in the side of the building that was closest to him, next to several chests and a sign that said Construction in Progress.

      “Well, here we are, home sweet home,” announced Jayden, gesturing to the building. “You guys are lucky. You’ll be bunking with me and my friends tonight. You’d ordinarily get your own rooms, but we’ve been so swamped with new players lately that there isn’t any room left for you in the main wing, and the expansion isn’t done yet. So, come with me.” He started to climb a ladder up to the roof.

      “Wait!” cried Kat. “What about Rex?”

      Jayden paused. “What? Oh, your dog. Just leave him there, but don’t tell him to sit. I think he’ll find his way up on his own.” He continued to climb.

      Shrugging, Kat gave Rex a quick scratch between the ears and went up after Jayden, followed by Charlie and then Stan.

      Jayden’s room was situated on top of the fourth-floor roof. It was a large room, big enough to comfortably hold eight players. Jayden flipped open the wooden door and was greeted by two distinct voices. The other three followed him in.

      There were four beds sitting on the floor, two of them occupied with people. Like the rest of the town, the room was lit by torches, and there was a table with tools hanging from it that was identical to the one Stan had seen in the building in the village. Next to the table stood a stone oven with a fire lit in it. The walls were lined with paintings, and there was a large chest next to each bed. Next to the door was a box with a slot on top.

      The two players in the beds looked unlike anybody Stan had seen in the game so far. One of them was dressed like the Skeletons that had made Stan’s first night in Minecraft so difficult. Stan would have panicked if it weren’t for the red hair on top of the player’s head, which distinguished him from a monster. The other player looked exactly like Stan did in the standard look for Minecraft, except that he was gold. His hair, skin, arms, body, and legs were completely golden. The only thing that told them that he wasn’t some sort of statue was his pair of green eyes.

      “Yo, Jay! Good to have you back!” boomed the Skeleton. He had an unexpectedly deep voice.

      “Good to be back, Archie! I tell you, that trip was absolute torture!”

      “No,” said the gold one, in a disconnected voice. “Torture is being trapped in a pit of burning Netherrack that was set as a monster trap in the middle of Ender Desert, and only getting out because some guy happens to—”

      “Enough, G, you’ve told us the story, like, a hundred times!” whined the Skeleton in an exasperated voice.

      “Still, what could you have possibly done that’s worse than that?” the gold guy asked, now in a regular voice.

      “Dude, didn’t you hear Adoria give me the assignment? I had to go to the nearest Mushroom Island and take back samples of the mushrooms there, and I also had to learn how to farm them from the tribe living there. She also made me lure two Mooshrooms away from the island and across the ocean using wheat and bring them all the way back here.”

      “Ouch!” yelled the gold one. “That is pretty bad!”

      “You’re telling me. The worst part was trading with the tribe there. I tell you, to be iffy about trading two Mooshrooms for four trees and bone meal when you don’t even have trees on your island! Still, you can’t say you’ve lived until you’ve killed a Spider Jockey while keeping two Mooshrooms interested in you with wheat. So, where’s Sally? She back yet?”

      “Oh, she tried a new shortcut to get to the hill. She said that it would take her anywhere from half to double the normal time, she’s not sure. She said not to worry if she was late.”

      “So, Jay, who are these guys anyway?” asked the Skeleton, pointing at Stan, Charlie and Kat, who had entered the room and were listening to the conversation with a mixture of confusion and admiration for these players who had clearly seen so much of the game.

      “These are new players. The motel’s full today so they’re staying in here.”

      “Excellent. I just love a good slumber party,” said a girl’s voice from behind them. They all turned around.

      A girl was leaning against the doorframe. A plait of black hair ran down her back. She was wearing a green tank top and a black skirt. She was holding an iron sword with fresh Spider guts on the blade.

      “Look what the ocelot dragged in! Sally’s back!”

      “Glad you’re not dead, Sal.”

      “What took you so long, girl?”

      Sally gave a tired grin that suggested that she was dealing with little siblings who were entirely too happy to see her after a long day. “Do you remember when we used to greet each other with a nice ‘Hello’?” she asked.

      “I’m sorry,” said the Skeleton. “Would you prefer that?”

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