Player 404

==Intro==
Hello. I am th3_1NFIni7e. This is my story.
Have you heard of Entity 303? People always talk of him trivially, jokingly. Some things have that strange habit: of seeming silly. Until they strike; until they actually happen to you.
It all began with fr13ndz. That was the name of a server I created, a server I shared with my friends. It was a Creative server, and I was the admin.
I was the admin. Not any more. Now, I am banned. So are my friends. It is ruined.
And why?
==How it all began==
It was a friendly server. We were working on many fun projects. But then, one day, another player appeared, out of nowhere. I had never authorised him.
His name was ERROR_404.
What an interesting name, I thought to myself. At first, I was going to just have him banned immediately, but then I decided to /tp to him, to see what he was doing. Maybe he wouldn't be too bad.
So I typed it in: /tp @p ERROR_404. And without success. Up came an error message. But it was unlike any such thing I had ever seen.
 Error 404: Player "ERROR_404" not found.
Since when did Minecraft put the error number in front of an error message? I tried again, with the same result. Wondering if the 'player' was a glitch, I got on with my own builds.
== The second happening ==
But it was not long before another strange occurrence. As I was running towards a build over the horizon, one of the chunks on its corner turned black. Pitch-black.
Then, Minecraft froze. My cursor separated from the crosshairs. 'Not Responding' appeared on the window's heading. A second later, an error window popped up.
It was headed 'Error 404'. It read:
 Error 404: Chunk not found - Unable to load
 Players currently in chunk: - ERROR_404
At this point, I knew for certain that something was wrong.
I clicked 'OK'. Minecraft crashed. When I reopened it, I found that I was banned - from my own server.
==Later==
Later, I was able to reenter. When I did, I found to my intense dismay that the entire chunk had been cleared - to the ground. Tons of work, evaporated into thin air. Even more annoyingly, two other corners had gone black.
"Please. Not again." I whispered, fervently.
But it was again, and the computer went through the whole rigmarole once more. This time, though, I kept a close eye on my server, and joined as soon as it reappeared. Immediately, I tentatively peeked at my great build, anticipating terrible evil.
And gasped in horror.
Flames were licking all over my palace, throwing months of work out the window, spreading ever closer to -
A huge pillar of TNT.
"No." I muttered in shock. I sprinted, full pelt, towards it, hoping to stop the fire somehow. But I was arrested in mid-flight by a wall of invisible bedrock.
I couldn't destroy it for some reason. I could only watch, helpless, as my palace exploded into oblivion.
But as I watched, I spotted a small, dark figure in the corner of the screen, leaping away from the flames. Instinctively I rushed after it, in pursuit, wondering if it was by any chance - ERROR_404?
== The confrontation ==
My instincts were proven correct. As I neared the figure, I caught sight of its gamertag. Unsurprisingly, it was ERROR_404.
My heart was all a-flutter. Butterflies had spawned into my stomach. I, at last, could contend with this menace!
I alighted next to him. He did nothing, so I opened my chat-box. This is how our talk went:
 (ME) Why the destruction?
 (ME) Why the errors?
 (HIM) Why the happiness?
 (ME) I have as much right as you to be happy.
 (HIM) I have no right to be happy.
 (ME) Why?
 (HIM) The existence of this fiendish game.
Very interesting.
 (ME) It is good.
 (HIM) It hates me.
 (ME) You hate it.
 (HIM) Both correct.
 (ME) Even if you bear a grudge against it,
 (ME) Why take it out on me?
I knew the question ought to be asked.
 (HIM) You play it.
And now for the biggie, I thought...
 (ME) Who are you?
 (HIM) Find it out.
 (HIM) If you don't, within 3 Minecraft days,
 (HIM) Then you will be banned.
What on earth?!!!
 (ME) By what right??
 (HIM) My right.
 (HIM) The right of an admin.
Again, how?!
 (ME) Of a hacker!
 (HIM) And you'd better believe it!
 (HIM) For you are powerless against it.
== The search ==
I was terrified at that, I can tell you! Immediately I checked his status, and it was indeed OP. I tried to de-OP him, but yet again the message popped up, along with another one:
 Error 404: Player "ERROR_404" not found.
 Don't even try.
He seemed to have a weird niche between player and non-player.
I told my friends of this, and asked them to leave, in case they came to harm. But as soon as they left, they were mysteriously perma-banned. Not by me!
I would have to face ERROR_404 alone.
I put up a message on several forums, giving a synopsis of the occurrences, and asking who it could be. One was insta-deleted, and the others, when I looked for comments later, the page 404'd - quite fittingly. ERROR_404 must have wanted me to keep quiet about him.
And what else could I do?
I looked it up, but all I got were things about Error 404 on Google. No help.
But then I thought of a few things. I could back up my world, and recreate it into a different Realm. Besides, didn't hackers often edit source codes? I could check them.
== The end of the server ==
I already had backups from before this great evil arrived, so I entered the world - in what was fated to be the last time. It was already almost midday on the third day. Only five minutes left; but a lot can be done in five minutes.
I left and opened the source codes. Nothing unusual. I looked through it for several minutes. And I was rechecking it when -
Behold!
Right before my eyes, one line of code began to change, letter by letter, as if it was being edited at the same time. I reread it, and my blood ran cold.
 34852-AFCQTRW-TIMEUP-MAKEAWISH-404/303-MS-9362807
Make A Wish. 303. Those fiendish phrases, the ones I never bothered to care about. And now it had happened to me, myself.
At long last, I knew the culprit. But my time was up.
Alas, it was too late. Much, much too late...
== The conclusion ==
I am crazy_steve. I am the one who spotted the 404 message as it was put up - although it 404'd right after. I am the only one who knew its meaning.
I had a friend, similarly named crazy_alex_2, who once had a nerve-wracking 303 encounter. She gathered clues, accidentally dropped by 303, suggesting that he was going to try a new tactic; being a player, yet partially not, and so evading any harmful commands while terrorising the game.
When I saw the 404 message, I knew this was it.
I gave him a message, telling my e-mail address and asking him to e-mail me, and ask questions later. Once he had done so, I told him why; it was to keep away from 404.
He e-mailed me with lots more info. He told me of the end of the server, and also how the back-ups had been corrupted. And I told him of my friend's encounter.
We put it up here on the Creepypasta Wiki, where 404/303 would not look for it, and to tell the world of it.
Please bring publicity. Everyone must know - everyone must be warned of this terrifying new tactic, devised by Entity 303.
Category:Entities
Category:Creepypasta
Category:Supernatural
Category:Dramapasta
Category:Theidealist