Chapter 36: Jake[]
Back at his apartment, Jake mentions Isabella Reyes to his father, who replies that she had grown up here at Pacific Crest, but had resented the fact that her mother had spent more time with other kids doing activities. Jake then confesses to his father that he, Tank, and Emily had spent most of the time in community service playing on the Minecraft LAN server, trying to discover the secret about the "mermaid kingdom", but his father says that it’s perfectly fine that they did that, and also says that he should apologize to Tank and Emily for his behavior. Later, Jake is knocking on the door to Tank’s apartment in the west tower, who is greeted by Vivian. She explains to Jake that Tank she thinks he is hanging out with Shark. Jake thinks about texting Tank, but instead decides to come back later. Jake then heads over to the north tower, knocking on the door of Emily’s apartment. He is greeted by her older sister, Carmen, who says that Emily isn’t home. Jake asks as to when she’ll be back, but Carmen says she doesn’t know and abruptly closes the door. As Jake heads down the stairwell, seemingly defeated, he notices a light on at the community center and rushes toward it.
Jake rushes into the computer lab only to be greeted by nothing but one computer turned on with Minecraft already open. He joins the LAN server, spawning at the cavern underneath the castle (as there are three beds beside him). Going through the chat log, he notices that "TheCrestWizard" has joined the game. Jake asks TheCrestWizard if there is a way to kill the leviathan, and the player replies that there is, but they don’t remember how to defeat it as they "have gotten rid of so many things that reminded me of the past". TheCrestWizard then asks Jake if he can just be teleported to the end of the adventure, but Jake refuses, saying that it would defeat the purpose of the game. TheCrestWizard then mentions that there is no point in figuring out how to kill the leviathan as the renovation is planned to begin tomorrow. TheCrestWizard then decides to intentionally kill themselves by being attacked by the leviathan, thanking Jake for the adventure before disconnecting for good.
Just then, Emily barges into the computer lab, asking Jake as to why he wasn’t at his apartment. Jake mentions that he was looking for her at her apartment. Jake and Emily soon apologize for their actions, and Emily shows Jake the crayon drawings, eventually finding one with the leviathan and a mermaid preparing to fight it. The two soon notice that the mermaid is holding a golden trident, realizing that it is the secret weapon, and soon head off to find Tank.
Chapter 37: Tank[]
Tank arrives by the north tower of Pacific Crest, where he is greeted by Shark. Shark mentions to Tank that he would help him get a pair of sneakers, but Tank says that he doesn’t have all the money yet. As Tank says this, he has a flashback to when Ba had given him an envelope with some cash, and also mentioned to him that he got Vivian some books about programming that she was interested in, saying that him and Ma will take care of Vivian and Tank, saying that Tank doesn’t need an after-school job and deserves to be a kid. Shark then mentions that his brother, Chris, needs help with a "shopping run", which involves stealing some shoe boxes from Shoes N' More, a local shoe store that Chris was an employee of, but had recently been fired from. Tank flat out refuses, saying that he doesn’t want to help steal stuff, whilst also realizing that Shark was using Tank as a prop to make him look cool. Shark gestures at Chris to leave the car as the two prepare to beat down Tank, but are stopped short by the sound of a police siren. A voice is heard over a voice filter, mentioning that they are looking for a former employee of Shoes N'More. Shark realizes that the "police" are looking for Chris, and the two speed off in Chris' car. Jake and Emily then wave at Tank from the stairwell ledge, revealing that they had used the sound and voice filter. The three soon apologize for their actions from earlier and reconcile, with Emily handing Tank the notebook of crayon drawings, and soon head back to the computer lab.
Chapter 38: Jake[]
Back in the computer lab, Jake is reading the story mentioned in the notebook, being described as the mermaid being given "a magic spell so she could journey to the world above and find the one weapon that could destroy the monster and save the kingdom". The three (Jake, Tank, and Emily) soon realize that the notebook is useless, but also realize that Isabella Reyes might be the one to help defeat the leviathan. Just then, the three are in Jake’s apartment, with Jake distracting his father with questions about shaving while Tank and Emily find info about Isabella Reyes' office hours. Eventually, Tank and Emily find the information they need and quickly leave Jake’s apartment. Jake’s phone then buzzes with a text from Emily, saying that Isabella’s office opens at eight in the morning and that she can ask her sister to drive them there. Jake calmly asks his dad if he can hang out with Tank and Emily early tomorrow, and he accepts. The next morning, Carmen drives the three (Jake, Tank, and Emily) to the offices of "Reyes Architecture and Design".
The three enter the offices, sneaking past the receptionist and eventually finding the office of Isabella Reyes. At first, Isabella thinks that a school tour was booked for the office, but soon recognizes Jake, and decides to talk with them. Jake feels like the community center should be renovated instead of being demolished, but Isabella mentions that the demolition was already approved by the city, and that it is planned to start at noontime today. Isabella then mentions that Ellen Jenkins had lost interest in the center by the time that Isabella had begun college. She then puts a stack of paper in a drawer, sighing and feeling tired. Emily then asks if they can have a little more time to work out the mystery of the Minecraft server, which makes Isabella raise an eyebrow. Tank then shows her some pictures of the server on her phone, and she agrees to take a look at it.
Chapter 39: Emily[]
Isabella arrives at Pacific Crest, followed by Jake, Tank, and Emily in Carmen’s vehicle. As they enter the computer lab, Isabella sits down at the center computer, prodding at the stickers beside the monitor. Emily begins to think that the computer used to be her’s, but says nothing about it. Tank then shows Isabella screenshots that they had saved from the server, and she says that it’s sweet that they are really attached to it, while also mentioning that she used to play Minecraft. Jake then asks Isabella if she played Minecraft with her mom. Isabella says she did, but her mother was always busy. Tank is scrolling through screenshots when he finds one in particular, gesturing everybody else to look at the screen. The screenshot is of a ship, with "BELLA" written on the side, which makes Jake, Tank, and Emily realize that this was Isabella’s world after all. Isabella then puts on a pair of glasses and decides to join the server on Emily’s account, hoping to finally solve the mystery.
Chapter 40: Tank[]
Tank joins the server as well, and soon the two are back at the mermaid kingdom. Tank decides to let the leviathan spawn and kill them as a way of showing how they are stuck at that point in the adventure. Emily then shows Isabella the notebook of drawings, with the latter in disbelief that Ellen somehow had kept them. Isabella explains that it was herself who made the drawings, and that her mother had created the world from them as a way of connecting with her when she wasn’t around. This leads Tank to believe that Ellen is "TheCrestWizard", and Isabella nods in agreement, saying that Ellen was a programmer. Isabella also mentions that the story about mermaids and the trident was one she had made up, and would act it out in a local swimming pool. Isabella also mentions that the golden trident needed to kill the leviathan is back at the ocean monument, and they head back there to retrieve it. Jake and Tank show Isabella around the monument. As Isabella swims toward the room with note blocks, she instinctively touches one, which creates a pinging sound.
Isabella then realizes that the note blocks were a melody that she had made up when she was younger. She finishes the melody, making a piston door open, revealing the gold trident. Isabella steps back from the computer and decides to let Jake, Tank, and Emily finish the adventure. The three head back to the second ocean monument as the leviathan rises once more. Emily raises the trident, making it shoot out a beam of gold energy directly at the leviathan. The leviathan roars, causing the three to scatter. Tank and Jake decide to distract the leviathan by shooting arrows at it, allowing Emily to use the gold trident once more. She does so by throwing it at the leviathan, killing it instantly. The mermaids celebrate and allow the three to tour the kingdom as a thank you.
Chapter 41: Emily[]
The three (Jake, Tank, and Emily) exhale in relief as they finally understand what the last riddle was: a reference to a song that Isabella used to sing from her childhood. Isabella smiles and thanks them, saying that she is going to talk to Ellen about it, and soon leaves the computer lab. Now that the mystery regarding the Minecraft server is finally solved, the three decide to become friends and discuss plans about hanging out together. As they turn off the computers for the final time and leave, they notice Isabella pacing back and forth in front of Ellen Jenkins' door. Emily gives Isabella a thumbs up, who knocks on the door, greeted with the door slowly opening. Later, Emily is back in her apartment when Pattie arrives to visit her. Emily apologizes to Pattie about the way she acted when she previously visited her apartment, saying that she didn’t want to find out where she had lived. Pattie responds by saying that she doesn’t care about where she lives, thinking that she always had to walk somewhere else, and that it’s easier to actually pick her up at Pacific Crest, much to the surprise of Emily.
Pattie then mentions about a double-feature playing at the Annex, a local movie theater, as well going out to get ice cream. Emily politely interrupts and discusses YouTube, saying that she doesn’t care about having a YouTube channel as long as she likes to hang out with her friends. Her palms begin to sweat as Emily thinks that Pattie would end their friendship right then and there, but Pattie says that it’s ok that she figured it out, saying friends don’t have to like the same things. Emily then briefly mentions Minecraft, and Pattie seems interested in it. The two then leave to head to the movie theater, with Emily excited that she’ll be able to make space for all of her friends.
Chapter 42: Jake[]
Jake and his father are playing catch with a ball in the courtyard of Pacific Crest. His father tosses the ball at a high arch, with Jake catching it just before it sails through an open apartment window. Ellen greets the two from inside the apartment, and Jake asks if she wants to come over to his apartment for dinner. Ellen agrees whilst also asking if Isabella can come over as well. Jake’s father wholeheartedly agrees and heads back to the apartment to prepare dinner. Ellen then mentions the Minecraft server to Jake, saying that she felt upset that he and his friends were playing on it, but decided to give them their items back because they were so serious about solving it. Ellen also mentions that the world was meant for Isabella, but she hadn’t spoke with her for years, as well as being busy with the community center despite her husband, Christopher, being diagnosed with cancer, saying that she had lost perspective when he had died. Ellen then thanks Jake for showing Minecraft to Isabella, saying that seeing him and his friends play it reminded her of why she had made it in the first place. The two soon part ways with Ellen entering her apartment, and Jake walking back to his.
On the way back, Jake stumbles upon Tank and Vivian in the courtyard, working on a makeshift volcano as part of a science experiment. Jake then notices Tank’s new shoes, with Tank saying that he got them from Ba as a back-to-school gift. The two then mention that they’ll play some Minecraft with Emily tomorrow before parting ways. Back at his apartment, Jake is greeted by the smell of baked bread as well as something covered in plastic in the living room. He and his father unwrap it, revealing a couch and pillows in a pattern of offbeat-striped blues and greens. The two flop down on the couch, with Jake’s father asking him if he is nervous about high school. Jake replies that he isn’t, instead thinking of the adventures waiting for him and his friends, while finally in a place that feels like home.