Day six of The Merchant of Minecraft!, Michael Deering's February 2015 Minecraft Hardcore Challenge, where the most emeralds at the end of the eighth day wins. Basket starts the morning on open plains with no town in sight and a plan to keep hunting. Some of what drops can't be sold, so it becomes dinner. "I'm actually going to use those to eat." Finding a fourth village would help. "I only know of just three villages that I've already been to."
Raw beef and a quick look underground
Basket works through the chickens, pigs and cows on the plains, eating the beef raw. "I'll actually just eat it raw for now." At one point Basket digs straight down through dirt and gravel to check on a cave. "We'll just take a quick peek and then if nothing pans out, we'll head back." Nothing does. "I'm going to guess it's just the cave, we'll go back." The cows stay on the list even though no villager has wanted beef so far. "I can't trade in the beef but I could trade in the leather so it's still worth it to kill the cows."
The sword gives out
In the middle of a pig hunt the iron sword breaks, and Basket is left swinging with an empty hand. "Oh, there goes my sword! Let me go ahead and make a new one." A crafting table goes down in the grass, two iron ingots and a stick make another iron sword, and the hunt picks up again. Rabbits get a pass. "I don't think there's anything for the rabbits besides I guess the leather." The plan for the evening is careful: even if a village turns up late, it can wait for morning, "just so we have enough time to do our trades before it gets night."
Sunset brings the zombies
"Alright so sunset and here comes all of the zombies. I'm still in full iron armor so that's good." The zombies come in twos and threes across the dark grass, and Basket keeps fighting and keeps picking up zombie flesh. Hunger gets topped up with more raw beef. "So many zombies." Then a line about something off screen: "Oh yeah, there's a village, good." Basket decides not to go in until daylight and thinks it might not be a new one. "I think it's already a village I've been to."
The second sword is wearing down too. "Oh, my sword is low, so let's go ahead and craft another one once we have a chance." Basket puts down another crafting table and makes a third iron sword. The inventory screen shows the emerald stack still at 38.
Creepers and skeletons
The rest of the night is spent gathering pigs while the mobs keep coming. One creeper goes off close by. "Oh god! Didn't know about that creeper." Then: "Lots of creepers, holy cow." A skeleton gets right up close too, and Basket tries to stay behind the hills. "There's a skeleton heading for me so I'll use natural cover." The pork pile keeps growing. "Lots of pork. Hopefully there's enough trades for pork."
A red morning
The sky turns red and Basket grabs a last cow or two, waiting on the zombies to start burning in the sun. "Oh, now they're burning." That's the end of day six. Basket is alive on the plains with full iron armor, a big stack of raw pork, beef and leather, and the same 38 emeralds, with a village somewhere close by to check in the morning. The game is paused, and the credits follow with no gameplay after them.
