The Depths Beneath

Have you ever wondered what dwelled beneath the impenetrable bedrock? Many think it's The Nether, while some think it's a never-ending void where your flesh disintegrates as you fell.

That's not what the depths beneath are. The Void is nothing but a temporary inconvenience, but even this has a bottom. Fall far enough, and you'll end up in The Nether. The Depths Beneath can be classified into four distinct categories:

- The Void - The Nether - The Second Void - The Down Under

The Void
First of all, we shall address The Void. It's a truly empty place, completely lacking any form of matter or energy. Nothing happens in The Void, and nothing continues on happening regardless of how much time you spend in there. Your bones and tissue decay as you descend down this dark abyss, and the silence is enough to drive the bravest of people insane. You won't find anything there but solitude, and eventually, death. Escaping from The Void is surprisingly possible, provided you can thrust yourself upwards with enough force and velocity to reach the layer of bedrock. Whether it's easy or not however, is another matter. You'll most likely have ceased living anyways, so there's no need to attempt such a thing. The Void was actually a problem for a long time, and that's why we have Nether Portals.

Many people believe that The Nether comes directly under the overworld, but The Void is actually what happens to be there. If you somehow manage to fall through The Void for an extremely absurd amount of time, you'll hit the Nether ceiling, for The Void is not infinite. But you'd most likely spend your entire life falling through The Void, which is why Nether Portals exist - to make us travel to The Nether instantaneously.

The Nether
The Nether comes next. A hellish, bloody place with the stench of burning flesh and ash where horrid Pigmen roam, and nimble Ghasts fly. The Nether may have been home to a civilization once, evidenced by the ruins we call Nether Fortresses - home of the wither skeletons. There is not much to do here other than rot or burn to death like many unfortunate adventurers before you. Your chances of survival are slim in this purgatory unless you're prepared. But what if you take it a step further and mine down to the bottom of The Nether, and hypothetically penetrate the bedrock? You'll come across The Second Void.

The Second Void
The Second Void, much like its younger sibling, is empty and deadly. Your body will decay here even faster than the first void, and your sanity will erode extremely quickly. Nothing can survive here, regardless of how strong. The biggest distinguishing feature of The Second Void is that, unlike the first void, it is infinite. You can fall forever here and never be able to return as the space around you expands. But The Second Void is not the last layer of The Depths Beneath. That credit goes to The Down Under.

The Down Under
We know little to nothing about The Down Under, other than it is impossible to reach through normal means as it is an infinite distance beneath The Second Void. Many theories have been proposed as to what The Down Under really is - an eternal home for tortured souls; a fate worse than The Nether, or a pleasant paradise where only those who have managed to reach it get to live in. It might even just be more void, making The Second Void truly the last layer, but we don't know. Lunatics describe The Down Under as a bizarre wasteland made of a dark-looking stone, with bright trees that have glowing cyan leaves illuminating it, and a dark sky (possibly The Second Void we're looking at). Of course, they're just Lunatics, and they might be lying. However, all of them swear that The Down Under is the source of all ultimate evil in Minecraft - the place where entities, such as "Herobrine" emerged from. (He most likely did not, as he may have not had any means to even travel from The Down Under all the way back to The Overworld, but who knows).

These are all four layers of The Depths Beneath. Next time you get agitated and wonder why bedrock exists, you may as well thank it for saving you from an unfortunate fate, but you may also hate it for locking away many secrets.