My good friend 0w0mi joins me for this challenge. She too has never slain the Ender Dragon! She hasn’t watched any speed runs or anything so is fresher to this than me.

We spawn into a snowy forest. Its peaceful, but we know how quick things can change when the sun goes down, so we quickly gather wood and stone. We cobble together a small house to wait out the first night and with wood and stone tools challenge our first opponent. An 8 legged creature sits outside our house. Determined to not let it control our fate I step out, wielding a stone sword. I make quick work of him. 1st enemy checked off the list. After this the night is uneventful. As soon as the sun rises we depart. I hear a cow moo. 0w0mi instantly puts him down. We venture forth hoping to establish a more permanent residence someplace warmer, just can’t stand the snow. *Vorp* An otherworldy noise startles us both, a tall slender figure materializes. An Enderman. Luckily I know how to deal with his type. I build a 2 block high shelter and swing at him. He charges, back but unluckily for him, he’s 3 blocks high. He perseveres through several swings, but eventually falls to my sword. 2nd enemy checked off the list. We continue forth. In the distance we see an opening in the mountain, could we be lucky enough to find some iron? We make our way to it, cautiously descending a waterfall to enter. An entire cave system! We explore, knowing iron tools are just a few moments away! We mine plenty of iron and coal, stumbling upon a zombie or two. We dispatch them easily. 3rd enemy checked off the list. After some time gathering iron, we decide we’ve collected enough and ascend the first waterfall we find, figuring, as long as we get back to the surface, it doesn’t we where we end up. Hah, foolish of us. We make our way up in the middle of the night and are ambushed! A zombie horseman wielding a spear, and his gang of goons is quickly upon us. We put up the best fight we can, but stand no chance to the mob of enemies. Down we go. The iron, the coal, everything we worked hard to gather… gone. We respawn, not knowing where to even start looking to attempt to reclaim what was lost. I start walking, and see a familiar structure! Our night 1 “house”, a generous description to say the least. We walk past it, figuring, this must be the way to our lost items and… YES! I see the entrance to the cave system! We make our way over and after stumbling around for while manage to find ALL of our lost items! If this is the dopamine hit a smoker feels every time? I might have to pick up a new hobby. We gather all of our lost belongings and explore onwards, our initial goal still at top of mind. An icy ocean to the left, and more mountains to the right. We head right, but spot something akin to the Titanic. A broken ship split by an small iceberg. We board it and after clearing gallons of water out of it find a chest! My imagination runs wild, what could be inside? Diamonds? Armor? Gold? Gemstones? I crack it open and peak inside… Potatoes. 5 potatoes, 5 carrots and a couple pieces of bamboo. I tell myself, “Expect nothing and don’t be disappointed next time,” then turn to leave. As I disembark, I catch a glimpse of a 2nd chest. Right where I boarded from. How did I miss that? Welp, I figure might as well check it out. I clear out the water surrounding it and open it up, remembering the lesson I just learned I expect maybe a few stalks of wheat and some celery this time. Iron, Armor, a DIAMOND. “Expect nothing AND CELEBRATE!” I might really start that new hobby now. Now that we’ve cleared the ship and learned a couple of valuable life lessons, we head towards the mountains. We really need to find some sheep to make a couple of beds and settle down somewhere safer. Off in the distance 0w0mi spots a white 4 legged animal and calls out, “Look! I think I found a sheep!” Has our luck turned around? I walk over and take a look. 4 legged, white, furry looking… meeting a lot of the criteria, but, that is most definitely not a sheep. Sharp teeth, a rounded nose, a small cub beside it. It’s not friendly and I’m not looking to harm an endangered species, so we resume our search for shelter. On the horizon we see the outline of a few houses. Civilization. We trek onwards discovering a small village. We haven’t left the snow, but they show us their way of life. Igloos, small wood homes with chimneys and furnaces, warm beds. Perhaps we could learn to love the cold. We decide to stay here, for now at least, and get to work. 0w0mi starts on the house, and I look to secure a stable food source. Civilization began with simple farming, and I figure, why try fix what isn’t broken? I already have potatoes and carrots, and put together a small, but functional crop farm. I’d love to add some animals but only managed to find some rabbits. I lure them into an enclosure with carrots and put them aside for another time. 0w0mi calls me, “House is finished.” I look around, where is it? Did she move it outside the village? Nope, one of the houses in the village is the one she made. “Gotta blend in,” she says matter-of-factly. Fair enough… We decide, that’s enough progress for today and log off.