Taro POV
"Burrr."
"God, these zombies are annoying."
Zombies surrounded me as I left a massive cave underneath my base. I'd been mining for more than five days in Minecraft now and had gathered two stacks of iron, three stacks of coal, thirty-eight gold, and ten diamonds.
(Author's note: a stack is 64 items.)
I'd been grinding nonstop for the past five days, preparing to go to the Nether—the Minecraft version of hell.
I'd already found lava sources inside the cave and turned them into obsidian. I gathered about thirty obsidian in total, which took most of the day due to how slow the process was.
The reason I needed that much obsidian was simple: I wanted to enter the Nether and build an extra portal there in case I ever got lost. On top of that, I wanted to save some obsidian for an enchantment table.
Even though I'd been mining heavily over the past five days, I hadn't neglected the farm. The wheat fields had grown into a massive operation—enough to feed my entire clan for months.
After killing all the zombies in the cave, I placed more torches so no additional mobs would spawn. While I'd already collected most of the ores, the cave could still be useful since I hadn't fully explored it yet.
Once everything was finished, I headed back up to my base and checked on the animals.
The animal population had exploded alongside the wheat farm. With more than enough food to sustain them all, I now had thirty-two cows, forty-four sheep, and over eighty chickens. The chickens were the most numerous since they laid eggs, which I could throw to spawn baby chickens.
After feeding everything, I went inside my base and crafted a full set of iron armor, along with a pair of golden boots.
The Nether had a mob called Piglins. They were aggressive toward anyone not wearing gold. You could trade with them using gold for useful items, but most of the time, they just handed over garbage.
Before heading to the Nether, I decided to test something I'd neglected for far too long—chakra in Minecraft.
I'd been so busy grinding that I'd completely forgotten about it.
I stepped outside my base and gathered chakra in my feet. To my surprise, it still worked. I climbed the wall and stood on top of my roof with ease.
Next came the second test.
I gathered chakra in my fist and struck a nearby zombie that was hiding from the sun.
"Boom!"
The zombie's head was torn clean off as my fist connected with its face.
"It's more powerful than I imagined."
After experimenting further, I finally satisfied my curiosity and built a portal behind my base. It wasn't large—just the standard two-by-three Nether portal.
I pulled out flint from my inventory and lit it. Within seconds, a purple vortex formed, slowly filling the frame.
Once the portal stabilized, strange, unsettling sounds began to echo from within.
"Creepy…"
Despite that, I stepped inside without hesitation.
When I arrived in the Nether, the difference between it and the overworld was immediate. While the overworld was full of life and scenery, the Nether was the complete opposite—harsh, dead, and hostile.
Lava and fire ran rampant everywhere. Thankfully, I couldn't feel heat or cold in Minecraft. If I could, I probably would've passed out from the heat alone.
There were two things I wanted from the Nether: Netherite and bone blocks.
Netherite could be refined into Netherite ingots and used to create the strongest armor in the game. While Netherite and diamond armor shared the same defensive stats, Netherite offered higher durability, resistance to lava and fire, and knockback resistance.
The second target—bone blocks—could be converted into nine pieces of bone meal each. Bone meal was one of the best farming tools available, capable of growing crops to full maturity in seconds.
"But that's not what I'll be using it for…" I muttered.
"Although I want Netherite, today's main objective is bone blocks. And to get those, I need to find a Soul Sand Valley first."
There were five biomes in the Nether: Crimson Forest, Nether Wastes, Warped Forest, Soul Sand Valley, and the volcanic Basalt Deltas.
At the moment, I was in the classic Nether Wastes biome, home to Piglins and the remains of long-dead ones.
Like any sane Minecraft player, I picked a random direction and started running in a straight line—careful not to fall into lava.
After a few hours of exploration, I finally found a Soul Sand Valley. Dozens of bone blocks were scattered across the biome.
I ran toward it with a wide grin, but as I got closer, pale figures began to emerge.
"Skeletons! Fucking aimbot users!" I cursed.
Skeletons were weak, but their long-range attacks with bows gave them a dangerous advantage. Worse, they seemed to never miss when you were low on health.
I sighed. "I forgot my shield."
Then I looked down at my hands, glowing blue with chakra.
"Well," I cracked my knuckles, "I guess I'll just beat the shit out of them using chakra."