Chapter Text
Avery was a 22-year-old third year college student studying Art, he was a decent student mostly passing with B's and lived in his college dorm room with his two roommates.
It was just his luck that on the 31st of December he was left alone in the dorm, no family to visit, no friends in town to spend the new years with, no money to visit bars and nothing to do but play Minecraft. And that's why no one questioned his disappearance for 15 hours, that's why he sat in that small room with a desk and a bed staring at the crash report as fireworks go off in the background, that's why he stares into nothing at all as his mind combusts.
A few weeks ago he posted a video to his YouTube channel about a strange mine he didn't make.
A few weeks ago he was doing his school work not caring about his channel outside an occasional skywars upload, a few weeks ago that book, in that chest, in that mine was found by him…
And a few days later a video was released as well.
Some guy named Wifies posted a video titled “Searching for a world that doesn't exist”
The issue was that the world did exist, it was on Avory's laptop, the one he dug out of an old storage unit, the one he has been using for college in the last few months.
And yet someone else was using the world he used at the same time.
Some guy named D3rlord3 was using it before him, and with him.
On December 31st Avery booted up the world to search for the golden gate.
On December 31st Avery played Minecraft for 15 hours straight.
On December 31st Avery lost D3rlord3 to the insanity The King in Yellow was.
A being not meant to be seen, not meant to exist, and yet it did.
It trapped Derek- D3rlord3 for who knows how long in that God forsaken world, unable to exit, unable to turn away, and Avery followed him.
Avery found him…
And Avery lost him.
The world that once existed was gone, truly lost, truly destroyed.
Never to be found again.
Avery, the only witness of the truth.
He stops recording, opens his YouTube account, uploads the crappy 15 hour footage and closes out of the browser.
Leaving his desktop the only visible thing.
He shuts it down shortly after.
Doesn't pay attention to the stupid fireworks popping in the background of his mind.
The only thing he processes is the hum in his ears, unheard to anyone but him.
Avery plops onto his bed, a tiny little dorm bed barely fitting him on it, and he weeps…
Three months after the events of misery and suffering as Avery liked to call it, Avery got a notification he didn't think he would get.
Wifies posted a video.
A title he did not expect
“Destroying a world that doesn't exist”
2 hours of footage sharing the exact events of December 31st from Avery's perspective, but also…
Also D3rlord3's.
2 hours of the most unforgiving day of Avery's life, two hours condensed from the 15 he endured.
2 hours he spent watching the documentary everyone else thought was fake.
2 hours people spent watching the cause behind his trauma.
2 hours he spent learning more about d3rlord3 than in the 15 he spent searching.
But a few hours later he would stumble upon forums.
Forums talking about the other half of the “ARG” as people called it.
A letter…
A letter he never read, a letter on a YouTube channel he had never seen.
A letter for him…
You know it's weird writing a final letter,
Almost as if I have to come to
s with… whatever is this. Which I find quite displeasurable. But here I am.
Why did I even record all this?
-
Avery stared at the letter.
As he read his hands trembled.
Derek wrote a letter for him…
3 months… It took Avery 3 months to find it because he was stupid to not look further into whatever this was!
He was stupid!
That's why he was an art student, he didn't do research like Derek did, he didn't dive deep into everything like Wifies, heck even the “fandom” knew more than him!
Avery was the dumb idiot protagonist or whatever people call him!
He was the one half of a duo that didn't need to be.
Derek didn't want him to blame himself…
Avery wasn't gonna blame himself!
… Much.
He may be stupid, but even he could find Derek's name.
The man himself had given him his full name and the username on YouTube had Hutchins in one part of it.
So maybe-
Avery wrote the name into the search bar.
Derek Hutchins
The first result loaded in.
Computer Science student Derek Hutchins found in his dorm room unresponsive!
On January 2nd 2026. a 23-year-old computer science student Derek Hutchins was found in his dorm room unresponsive, slumped over his computer screen with a final letter written in a word document
The document was written for-
Avery skipped to the bottom.
Derek Hutchins is currently held at a local hospital awaiting treatment, doctors believe whatever had happened to him had led to his comatosed state. The police haven't been able to get in contact with his relatives.
If you think you are the “Avery” person Mr. Hutchins was addressing to in the letter, or know who it might have been to, please call-
Avery stopped reading
Derek was alive.
Yes it had been 3 months since the report was posted, but there were no further updates, so Avery was willing to shove down the pit forming in his stomach telling him it might have been too late, he was willing to get rid of that little demon in his head because there was a chance- A chance that Derek was alive…
D3rlord3 was breathing.
In a coma, but breathing.
And Avery was going to find him.
He had to find him…
And the first place to look in was the hospital listed in the news article.
A 3 hour drive is not that bad, he will miss class for a few days, but it's much more important for him to know that Derek- whoever he might be was alrighty, he will make it work for Derek.
He had to.
For his own sanity he had to.