Build To Survive

The concept of a BTS server is pretty straight forward; you build a base to defend yourself from various monsters, and you often earn points for surviving. There's rarely any sort of penalty from dying, you just lose the round. But what if there was a penalty? Some have thought about adding a shop system; having to spend money to build, and earning money for winning around and perhaps not earning any or losing money for dying. While that seems like a good idea, that's not what i was talking about. I'm talking about death. No, not ingame death.

Actual.

Death.

Seems like an interesting idea. The only problem is: How would this be done? That's what i've been asking myself recently. I was there. I was in a literal Build To Survive.

So, how did this happen, you ask? Well, it seemed like it was any other day for me. I sure as hell didn't expect getting into such a situation, I can tell you that. You see, I started the weekend day like any other. Getting dressed, eating breakfast, and playing Roblox. I was done with all my homework, so my mom didn't object to it like usual. She says I'm "Too old". Anyways, i played a variety of games. They were mostly Tycoons, but late in the evening, a single game caught my eye.

"REAL Build To Survive".

I don't know what it was, but this damn game caught my eye. There was no thumbnail image, no description, and it had only been played by seven people. There was only one server, and seven people in that server. I didn't check the date of creation, but it was obvious that it was a rather new server. I kinda just... joined it without a second thought. The time was 7 PM. And that's where and when this horror story starts.

At first, it was pretty normal; 7 players besides me, building to, well, survive. It was pretty easy. Some people were talking about how the game "finally started", but that didn't really matter to me at the time. Insignificant. What initially seemed like rambling only made sense when this happened.

"You're all here." A pop-up said. So I guess the game was waiting for the server to fill up. It then listed all our real life names. Well, my real life name was there, so that must've been the case. At first i was weirded out, but i thought "Must've traced our registry email adresses and then found our real names that way.". I was always pretty good at figuring out stuff like that. Then, another pop-up appeared.

"Let the game truly begin."

I barely had time to build a base before monsters began appearing. Zombies. These weren't just a couple of stupid zombies gathering around the nearbymost house in a feeble attempt to kill the avatar, but they seemed... well, almost intelligent. And there were many. They went towards smallest, least defensive house and started circling it. But it didn't take long before they began creating something like a... pile of zombies so they could reach the player. And they did. The player died, despite having towered up by placing blocks beneath them.

At that point, i instantly realized why it was called the "REAL Build To Survive". There was blood. And i'm not just talking of a spherical red blob on the ground. It looked realistic. It looked hyper-realistic. It flowed like water down the tower of stone-like blocks. The zombies then searched out the next house, and killed the player there. More blood. I could watch horror movies any day, but this scared me. It felt like I was there. Then, i noticed the playercount in the top right part of the screen. There were six players now. I guessed they ragequit after dying so quickly, but I'd soon find out why they weren't here anymore.

After the round ended, a pop-up appeared.

"This is the REAL Build To Survive. Die in the game, die in real life."

I had previously been bouncing my feet up and down under my desk, but this froze me. I could barely move. Then, 3 separate pop-ups apeared.

"Build".

"To".

"Survive".

I knew what i had to do.

I began building like no one else. The others had alright bases, but you could call me a building veteran. Not only have i played many BTS games, but I had been playing Minecraft for nine months. I was prepared. My base was huge. There was an invisible wall in the sky which prevented building too tall of buildings, so my house wasn't as grand as I had hoped, but it'd have to do. The next round then started. Another player dead, right before my eyes. The blood. It fled his small shack. Damn shack didn't even have a roof. Makes sense he couldn't survive a round of hyper realistic flying eye beasts. I then began communicating with the other players. I asked them to stay in my house. It was well defended and they didn't have to hide in their inferior buildings. They agreed to join me, but the next round had something I surprisingly did not expect. Ghosts.

It was a damn massacre. I was the only survivor. The ghosts weren't normal. They could go through walls, but they absolutely wrecked my base, as well. I made good friends with these people, and those damn ghosts killed them. I was angry. Their blood filled the rooms of my house. I wanted to flip my desk, but I couldn't. My body didn't respond. My hands were resting on the keyboard, not moving. I tried to move, but the only thing I could do was move in the game. I barely had time to rebuild my house.

Then, a pop-up appeared.

"Final round."

I felt myself tearing up a little, but I had to be strong.

This time, there weren't multiple monsters, but just a single one. It was huge, however. A humanoid beast with fleshy, veiny skin, and a mouth with jagged, rough teeth. Black scleras and red, glowing irises. It looked so realistic. It was terrifying. But i had to survive. For my friends.

It was a long round. It only lasted 5 minutes, but it felt like days. The only thing I could do was hide in my base; it had the highest chance of survival, according to some quick calculations in my head. However, it didn't take long before the beast reduced the house to dust. It angered me, but there was nothing i could do. I would've fought it, but I calculated my chances of survival. 22%. I had no other choice but to run to the other shacks, which were almost untouched from the previous round, since my friends hid in my house with me. Their houses didn't last long, however. There was one minute left when all the houses were destroyed. I tried running, but that only lasted for 10 seconds. I felt exhausted. The monster grabbed me with one of its 3 arms. 45 seconds left. I tried escaping, but it crushed my legs. I felt it, but i couldn't move. My hands stayed on the keyboard, unable to do anything except press the keys. I squirmed, but to no avail. I had trained martial arts before, but that wouldn't work against this huge beast. Besides, this was a game, right? I wouldn't be able to do it. 40 seconds left. At that point, i lost track of time. It lead its huge hand with me in it to it's huge mouth. I could smell its breath, somehow. It smelled like rotten flesh. Blood. Bones. It lead me into its mouth and swallowed me. It felt like i was dissolving, but i couldn't move. My hands rested on the keyboard. I fainted. I thought I died.

I woke up a little later. I lifted my head from my desk, and I had a huge headache. I thought I died, but...

"You're finally awake, huh?".

... a pop-up said. I just kinda sat there, unable to do anything.

"Well, you survived. Congratulations."

Then, the game closed. I could finally move again. But, for some reason, I tried to find the game again. I searched "REAL Build To Survive". No results.

I decided to watch some TV, instead. I'd usually spend my time playing Roblox, as i explained earlier, but i really needed a break from Roblox, considering what happened.

I put on the news, and apparently, 7 people had mysteriously disappeared over the course of a couple hours. Whoever did this will pay.