He tried to remove it. The option was grayed out. A message appeared in chat:

The final hit connected. The boss froze. Its face cycled through every Eminem era—slim, bearded, blonde, bald, clean-shaven—and then it exploded into forty-seven music discs, each one a different diss track aimed at a YouTuber who’d never heard it.

Instead of the usual swish , his character yelled, “ Will the REAL Slim Shady please stand up? ” A creeper ten blocks away exploded instantly.

It was chaos. Leo’s armor—the white tee—got shredded. His hunger bar dropped. He ate the last of Mom’s Spaghetti. He had half a heart left.

From his speakers, the game whispered: “ Guess who’s back? ”

Leo stood in the crater, breathing hard. The pack was insane. Broken. Glorious.

He hit “Apply.”

Leo sighed, grabbed his mic-sword, and started digging for more obsidian. He had a feeling he’d be here a while.