➤ Chapter 11: "Underneath the Silence" ➤
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Ehsan woke up to the faint crackle of dying fire and the slow drip of water hitting stone.
For a moment, he forgot where he was. He blinked up at the low ceiling of the cave, his bedroll creased beneath him, the polished deepslate block still sitting quietly in the center of the moss ring a few blocks away.
The air smelled like stone and damp moss. Cool, earthy.
He sat up slowly, groggy from broken sleep. A torch nearby flickered weakly—it was almost out.
He replaced it out of habit.
Then he just sat there.
Listening.
Not to the cave, but to his own breath.
There was something so strange about being deep underground. It wasn't the danger—he'd faced skeletons, zombies, even creepers. This wasn't fear. It was something else.
Something heavier.
Like the air itself remembered things he didn't.
He got to work anyway.
That was the best way to clear his mind—tasks. Simple ones.
He took out his pickaxe and began carving the wall to the right of the chamber, creating a small alcove for storage. He placed a chest there and labeled it with a sign: "Expedition Base."
Inside, he put:
Extra food
Coal
Cobblestone
The backup torches
The empty bowl from last night's stew
Everything had its place. That mattered now more than ever.
As he worked, he started humming to himself. Nothing in particular. Just a random melody he didn't realize he remembered.
Maybe from childhood.
Maybe from a YouTube video.
Or maybe… from before this world.
He didn't know anymore.
A few hours later, he grabbed his shovel and cleared more of the moss ring.
He wanted to know if it extended further. If there were more clues hidden in the pattern. The moss peeled away in layers—some thin, some dense—and eventually he uncovered a second deepslate block, a few blocks east of the center.
His breath caught.
It was perfectly aligned.
Same size. Same polish.
He took a step back.
There was a pattern forming. A circle, yes, but not random. It reminded him of those clock diagrams he'd studied in school—the kind where points were marked out around a center, twelve hours evenly spaced.
Only this wasn't a clock.
It was something older. Stranger.
He took out his book again and scribbled in the margins:
"Second deepslate found. Looks like part of a larger circle. Twelve total, maybe? What's at the center?"
His stomach growled. That pulled him back to reality.
He returned to the campfire and warmed a baked potato.
Not the best meal, but it tasted okay.
He missed real flavor.
Spices. Oil. Street food.
But this world didn't have that. It had hunger and health bars, and sometimes, bland survival was good enough.
As he ate, he stared at the shard again. It hadn't changed. Still hummed faintly if he held it. Still pulsed just once when placed near the center block.
He wasn't sure what to do with it.
He'd tried crafting. Smelting. Even just dropping it on different blocks.
Nothing happened.
But maybe that was the point.
Maybe it wasn't meant to do anything.
Maybe it was just meant to exist.
Later, while expanding a second tunnel, Ehsan stumbled across a vein of redstone—and behind it, a small alcove sealed in gravel.
He cleared it out carefully, shovel first, then torch method. As the last gravel block fell, a small space opened up beyond it.
Just a few blocks wide.
But inside, lying untouched on a moss-covered stone…
Was a single torch.
Unlit.
Unplaced.
And beside it—
A sign.
One word, carved into it:
"WHY?"
Ehsan froze.
The air turned cold in his lungs.
No player had been here. He was alone. He knew that. This world wasn't online. There was no server. No connection. No chat messages. No usernames.
So who placed the sign?
Or worse—
What placed it?
His hands trembled as he touched the wood.
It wasn't a glitch. It wasn't random generation.
It was written.
Deliberate.
Human.
Or something like it.
He sat in that tiny cave for a long time.
Not panicking.
Just… thinking.
Why?
Why was he here?
Why was this world like this?
Why did it feel alive?
He hadn't asked that question in days.
He'd gotten comfortable—farm, home, routine.
But maybe he wasn't supposed to.
Maybe the world had questions for him, too.
And this… this was the start of something bigger.
He picked up the torch and held it close.
Then lit it.
The flame sputtered to life—just like any other torch—but in that moment, it felt like something ancient breathing again.
He placed it gently at the chamber's center.
The light spread out in a soft orange glow, flickering across the moss, the stone, and the ring of silent deepslate blocks.
For a second, Ehsan thought he heard something again.
A whisper.
Then silence.
He stood up.
Looked around.
And whispered back, quietly:
"I'm here."
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▶ To be continued...
Next Chapter: "The Circle Beneath"
Thanks for reading!