LITMIR.BIZ

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He saw a faded map, all orange and yellow with a big red X. There were also several bottles filled with a dark blue liquid.

      “It’s a treasure map!” he said, excited. “And some potions.”

      “Those are potions of water breathing,” Morgan said. “And the map leads across the ocean.”

      “Good,” Harper said. “If we decide to follow the map, those potions might come in handy.”

      “We are so following the map,” Po said. “Right?”

      “Morgan?” Ash said. “You seem unsure about this.”

      Morgan brought his square hand up to his chin. He pondered silently for a moment. Finally, he said, “The contents of a chest are supposed to be somewhat random. And this feels . . . not very random.” He paced around in the

      cramped quarters.

      “It’s way too convenient

      that we would find these

      water-breathing potions

      right here at the

      edge of the sea.”

      Ash nodded

      slowly in agreement.

      “I see what you mean.

      It’s certainly

      suspicious. On

      the other hand, maybe

      we just got lucky.”

      “We are due some luck,” Harper said. “After all, I got blown up a few minutes ago.”

      “And the fact that we are here, actually in the game, means that THIS MINECRAFT IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE MINECRAFT WE THOUGHT WE KNEW,” Po added. “We’ve already seen some mobs acting strangely. Maybe treasure chests are less random in this version of the game.”

      “Maybe,” Morgan said, still thinking.

      “DO YOU THINK IT’S A TRICK?” Jodi asked. “A trap?”

      Po thought about that. There was a lot they still didn’t know about this place. The five of them accessed this virtual world with special VR headsets their science teacher had created. There had been six headsets, but the sixth headset had gone missing.

      And there had been clues that someone else was in here with them. Someone had stolen materials from them and then used those materials to spell out a warning in big blocky letters: BEWARE THE

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      EVOKER KING!

      And someone (or something) had recently caused a huge migration of zombies and skeletons. The kids had crossed several biomes over the last few visits in their search for answers. They had run out of land now. All they’d found was the ocean.

      It felt like a dead end. But the ocean could be crossed. Po wanted to know what was on the other side.

      As if reading his mind, Harper quickly expressed that she did not feel the same way. “MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST GO BACK,” she suggested. “I liked that village. We could raise some more sheep. I could get more practice with the enchanting table.”

      “Or we could go all the way back to our castle,” Jodi added. “We could make it even bigger! And I could create more sculptures.”

      “That’s not really what Minecraft is all about, though – at least for me,” Ash said. “Sure, building is fun . . . BUT I DON’T WANT TO STAY IN ONE PLACE. I ALWAYS WANT TO SEE WHAT’S OUT THERE, BEYOND THE HORIZON.”

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      “Yes!” Po said. “Especially if there’s a treasure map pointing the way. Who knows what we might find?”

      “IT COULD BE A TRAP, THOUGH,” Morgan said.

      Po shrugged. “Then we’ll deal with it together.” “AS FRIENDS,” Ash said.

      Jodi smiled. “That works for me.”

      “I’m convinced, too,” said Harper. “But we should make sure it’s unanimous.” She turned to Morgan. “What do you say?”

      Morgan gazed out over the still-

      dark horizon, and Po looked over his shoulder. As far as the eye could see, there was only water.

      “I say X marks the spot,” Morgan said at last.

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      Chapter 3

      Do You Dare Enter the

      Cellar of Secrets?

      Not Without a Hall Pass,

      You Don’t!

      J

      odi was certainly curious about the mysteries of Minecraft. But she had a mystery to solve in the real world, too.

      She got to school early the next morning. She wore her best spy gear: dark sunglasses, quiet sneakers, and a wide-brimmed hat.

      Despite the clothes, Harper still recognised her immediately. “Hey, Jodi,” she said. She was sitting on the school’s front steps, reading a graphic novel with a dragon on the cover. “Where’s Morgan? Don’t you usually walk together?”

      “He was taking too long to eat breakfast,” Jodi

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      answered. “I had to leave him. I didn’t want to, but it was for the greater good!”

      Harper grinned. “On a mission, are you?”

      Jodi looked around the schoolyard, making sure no one was listening. She lowered her voice just to be safe. “Doc has been acting strange all week. I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

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      Doc Culpepper was their science teacher. She was also the inventor of the VR goggles they used to enter the game world. (Though she seemed to have no idea what that particular invention was really capable of doing.) For Doc, ‘acting strange’ was actually quite normal.

      Jodi and Harper were both fascinated by their

      teacher. But they were fascinated in

      different ways. Harper thought

      of Doc as a creative and

      inventive role model who was

      dedicated to science. Jodi

      thought of Doc as a puzzle to be

      solved – mysterious, secretive,

      and quite possibly descended

      from an ancient race of mer-people

      dedicated to taking over the surface world.

      “Does your investigation have room for

      an apprentice?” Harper asked. “Maybe I could

      help out.”

      Jodi gave Harper a grateful smile. She also gave Harper her hat. “Glad to have you on board,” Jodi said, “because that hat is way too big for me!”

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