ZORAN.LIVE

Zoran was sitting in his room, staring at his computer screen. The clock on the wall ticked. Tick. Tock. Midnight.

He was practicing his spelling words, typing them carefully into his brand-new website: zoran.live. It was supposed to be a normal school project. But Zoran liked things a little bit scary.

He typed his final challenge word into the search bar: D-A-N-G-E-R.

Suddenly, the screen did not just refresh. It flickered.

A loud, glitchy static sound blasted through his headphones. The green and black pixels on the screen began to spin into a swirling whirlpool. The room grew freezing cold.

"What is happening?" Zoran whispered, leaning closer.

Suddenly, a pixelated green hand slammed against the inside of the glass! It looked exactly like a zombie from his favorite block-building video game, but its eyes were glowing bright purple.

Before Zoran could jump back, a powerful force dragged him forward. The bedroom vanished.

WHOOSH!

Zoran hit the ground hard. He stood up and brushed the dust off his jeans. He wasn't in his bedroom anymore. The sky above him was pitch black, filled with square stars. The ground beneath his sneakers was made of green grass blocks.

From the dark forest ahead, he heard a sound that made his spine tingle. “Guhhhhhhh…”

It was the groan of a Minecraft zombie. But these weren't regular zombies. They were faster. Sweeter smelling, like rotten candy. And they were walking right toward him.

Zoran looked down at his hands. They were square. He was inside the game. And the sun was setting.