The worst time to lose a race has got to be right at the finish line. Imagine getting right to the End, everything's gone swimmingly, and then you fall at the last hurdle. That's what happened to speedrunner "skycrab1," who missed out on a world record Minecraft run because an Enderman killed them mere frames before the credits rolled.
As most of you know, each Minecraft world you generate is based on a random seed, meaning it's almost impossible to get two worlds that are the same through sheer chance. As such, it's difficult to properly plan each speedrun attempt, as you need lots of things to go right immediately.
For skycrab1, they did.
They spawned by a ruined portal and a village, meaning they could quickly grab the tools and Obsidian they needed to head to the Nether. They then quickly found the Bastion and Fortress required to get Ender Pearls and Blaze Rods to make Eyes of Ender, and rushed to the End Portal.
In they went, ascending skyward to kill the Ender Dragon with exploding beds, an old trick.
It all went perfectly, they were on track to become the first person to ever beat a random seed in Minecraft in under seven minutes. But, as they dropped back down to the ground with just half a heart of health remaining, waiting for the portal to transport them into the end credits, an Enderman teleported behind them and killed them. Skycrab1's world record victory was gone, and they let out a scream as it happened.
So, what went wrong?
"When the pearl landed at 5:49, he looked at an enderman for 15 frames (nine of which were in the crafting menu)," explains one commenter. "15 frames = 0.25 seconds. It takes an enderman 0.25 seconds to aggro at the player. If he was in the crafting menu for one less frame, or 0.017 seconds less, this would've been the world record. Also, if his crosshair was four pixels to the right, this would've been the world record. It's literally divine intervention."
The community is devastated by this loss. "This is the most depressing thing I've ever seen in my life," writes one person. "I keep rewatching, hoping one time he doesn't die," states another.
Others believe skycrab1 should keep trying. "I'm so incredibly shocked at this run. You shattered every single split record and even killed the dragon. If this isn't proof of you deserving the world record the most, then I don't know what is. Keep your head up."
Despite getting into the End the fastest and even killing the Ender Dragon the fastest, the elusive sub-seven-minute world record still remains tantalizingly out of reach.
If you want more excitement, check out the best speedruns you'll ever see.
