For the first time in months, Kael felt fast.

Then he looked at his hotbar.

“Nice hits,” PixelPunisher whispered in voice chat.

It blinked.

He tried to type /lobby . The chat bar appeared, but the letters he typed came out as gibberish: §k§a§b§r§3§n§d§p .

He opened his inventory. The Pig’s Foot talisman was gone. In its place was a black icon, the size of a single pixel. He hovered over it.

And the universe contracted.

Kael's hand trembled on the mouse. He tried to remove the texture pack. He opened the options menu. The buttons were there— Video Settings, Controls, Language —but they were greyed out. Unclickable.