South

You head south. Three steps south, to be precise.

Dig straight down

Sometimes, mining recklessly is the only way to feel something. In most cases, that thing turns out to be a surprise stream of lava or a sudden impact with a cold cave floor! But you don’t let those odds get in the way of your misguided adventure. You dig, dig, and dig some more and it’s going surprisingly well... until you break the wrong block. As you free fall, you begin the much too familiar cycle of the Straight Down Digger’s Regret (trademark pending), until – OOF! You hit a solid floor and lose several hearts.

You place a few torches and look around. The place you’re in is dark, unfamiliar, and dead silent. You thought zombie groans were unnerving, but now you almost... miss them?

In the eerie darkness, you spot a strange looking block. It’s dark teal, gives off an odd glow, and has... teeth? Tendrils? Some kind of appendages, in any case. 

What do you do?

Looks bouncy! I’m jumping on it.

You joyfully jump onto the mysterious block. It’s not exactly bouncy or squishy, but stomping on it feels oddly cathartic. As soon as you touch it, it emits a loud shriek, not very different from the sound of a slightly inconvenienced cat.

Okay, now there’s a weird darkness around you and you can hear a rhythmic beat! It’s quite loud, but kind of catchy!

What do you do?

Self preservation is so one minute ago. Bounce again!

You stomp on the shrieking contraption again. It’s still very dark (even for this place) and the beat is pounding. Nothing seems to have necessarily changed, but you’re getting into the groove.

Dance party! Bounce AGAIN!

You were never a quitter – and you absolutely refuse to become one now! You break into furious dance and treat the contraption like it’s your own personal, noisy, and kinda gross stage.

But suddenly, something is different. You hear a peculiar sound and see something burrowing out of the ground in the darkness. Could it be a new mob? A meerkat, or even a badger??? Well...

You’re immediately faced with the bone-chilling reality: a large figure with a blue glowing chest (if you can even call it that) emerges from the sculk. It has something that looks like horns or antennae on its head, a large, misshapen mouth, and as far as you can tell, no eyes. But it clearly knows that you’re there.

Maybe it’s just... looking for a friend? What will you do?

Keep whistling and walking

There's nothing down here! You're very confident about that. Too confident, perhaps? Because suddenly, something is different. You hear a peculiar sound and see... wait. Is something burrowing out of the ground in the darkness? Could it be a new mob? A meerkat, or even a badger???

You’re immediately faced with the bone-chilling reality: a large figure with a blue glowing chest (if you can even call it that) emerges from the sculk. It has something that looks like horns or antennae on its head, a large, misshapen mouth, and as far as you can tell, no eyes. But it clearly knows that you’re there.

Maybe it’s just... looking for a friend? What will you do?

I'm not taking my chances. Unlike you, I have friends IRL!

You decide to stop ignoring the voice of reason screaming from the depths of your subconscious, gut, or whatever you want to call it. You only have a fraction of a second before the warden reaches you, so you need to think fast!

There is no timer feature on minecraft.net, you’ll have to read this aloud before making a split second decision: five mangrove swamps... four mangrove swamps... three mangrove swamps... two mangrove swamps... one mangrove swamp... GO GO GO!

Better not touch

It may be faint and rarely present, but there is a voice of reason deep inside you, despite your digging antics. You’re a daredevil, not a fool! You decide to walk past the strange contraption, but the darkness and the lingering adrenaline from digging straight down make you stumble right into it. The contraction shrieks. Then, darkness starts pulsating around you and you can hear a pounding heartbeat.

This is NOT good. I'm running away.

You retrace your steps and go back to block one. Where will you go next?

This is too much. I'm going to bounce, but in the way that means leave.

You retrace your steps and go back to block one. Where will you go next?

Trance music is so ten years ago. I'm out.

You retrace your steps and go back to block one. Where will you go next?

Fascinating. Let's hit it again!

You enthusiastically yet meticulously strike the strange object with your pickaxe, only to have it disintegrate in front of your eyes. The world goes back to normal, but you can't help but feel a sense of dread. You continue to explore the darkness.

After a short while, you see a hint of movement and a faint light in the distance. You pick up your spyglass and look through it – it's some sort of strange tentacle block. How do you approach it?

Full sprint - I want to get close before it... sees (?) me

When faced with a choice between going fast or going slow, you always choose to go fast, like any reasonable person. Nothing is hurrying you, but still! It’s the principle.

You start sprinting towards the contraption, but before you can touch it, it becomes brighter and it’s tentacles start... wiggling faster. You really don’t like this – and you shouldn’t.

A moment later, you hear the now-familiar howl of a shrieker. Another moment passes, when you see an ominous figure burrowing out of the ground. Normally, creatures that burrow are pretty cute, but you have a bad feeling about this one.

The mysterious creature stands up, towering over you. Within the span of a second, your eyes dart between its blue glowing chest, the odd horns on its head, and its large, misshapen mouth. It has no eyes, and its groan sends shivers down your spine.

You need to act fast! What do you do?

Sneak until I can get a better look

You carefully approach the strange block, and it doesn’t seem to react to your presence while you’re moving slowly. You carefully examine it, but then remember what happened the last time you tried to mine it. Looks like you don’t have too many options here...

Walk away slowly and explore more

You go to a safe distance from the sensor and start mining through a cave wall. Chances are you’ll run into something eventually!

You mine up, then back down a bit, zigzagging left and right until you reach a small alcove with a chest. Yay, free stuff!!! You enthusiastically ransack the chest and find a Silk Touch-enchanted pickaxe. Wait a minute... this means...

Shoot it with an arrow!

You take out your bow and aim at the contraption. You hit it dead on and its tentacles start wiggling and emitting a stronger glow.

A moment later, you hear the now-familiar howl of a shrieker. Another moment passes, when you see an ominous figure burrowing out of the ground. Normally, creatures that burrow are pretty cute, but you have a bad feeling about this one.

They mytserious creature stands up, towering over you. Within the span of a second, your eyes dart between its blue glowing chest, the odd horns on its head, and its large, misshapen mouth. It has no eyes, and its groan sends shivers down your spine.