Searching For An SMP That Doesn’t Exist

The YouTube video series "College Friends" by David J initially appears to be a normal Minecraft SMP, but quickly takes a dark turn, leading the narrator to question its reality. In Part One, David is alone on his server, waiting for friends. Jimmy Bears joins, and they establish they are likely first-year college students living in the same dorm. David expresses frustration about Chase not joining, typing "I might have to connect him automatically," a statement whose meaning is unclear. David then lies to Jimmy, claiming Chase is loading Minecraft, despite his earlier frustration. Shortly after, David types a line of code in chat, copies it, and tabs out of Minecraft. Coincidentally, Chase joins the SMP. Jimmy questions Chase about not being in their dorm building, which stuns Chase into silence. David tabs out again, and when the video cuts back, Jimmy is gone, with David claiming he went to bed. David and Chase explore the world, and the video ends with David announcing he will open his server to the public, but the IP address is missing from the description. The narrator finds this suspicious and begins to investigate. Part Two, posted two days later, shows David's house complete and a new player, Gracie, on the server. Gracie claims she found the video on YouTube and joined via an IP in the description, which the narrator notes was never there. The narrator also observes that David's first episode only had one view, his own, making Gracie's claim impossible. David, Chase, and Gracie wait for Jimmy, with David's behavior appearing paranoid as he monitors Jimmy's Discord status. David aggressively tells Chase to "shut up" when Chase suggests messaging Jimmy again. David gives a tour of the world, but it seems only he has made progress, suggesting Chase hasn't played much since the first episode. At night, phantoms attack and kill Chase and Gracie, who stand still without fighting back. Phantoms only spawn if a player hasn't slept for three days, raising questions about how they appeared for Gracie, who just joined, and Chase, who had limited playtime. This suggests another player might be on the server. David finds Chase and Gracie still at spawn, unmoving and silent. David then types a message, selects it, and tabs out for about 10 seconds. A subtle "reboot" sound is heard. When David returns, Chase and Gracie are moving and responsive. The narrator speculates David might have pinged them on Discord or messed with the server console, but finds no evidence for either. Jimmy joins, and David lies, saying Gracie is from their class, not someone who joined from YouTube. Gracie also lies about being in their dorm and being in room 505. Jimmy is surprised, as his best friend lives there. Gracie then claims she's out of town due to a "family emergency" when Jimmy suggests meeting. The group goes to the Nether. Jimmy asks David about an LLM project for their class, revealing they share an AI-related course. David offers to send his completed project, which he finished weeks ago. Jimmy asks for it via Discord, but when David tries to call him, Jimmy claims his roommates are studying and leaves the server after receiving the project. David expresses frustration about Jimmy repeatedly asking for homework and not inviting him to anything. Chase and Gracie reassure David that "we are always here." The episode ends with David again promising the IP in the description, but it remains empty. The narrator concludes David is intelligent but lonely, and his relationship with Jimmy is complex. Part Three, posted a day after Part Two, finds David in the Nether, having stayed up all night waiting for Jimmy. David admits he's been "protecting" Jimmy and even skipped class. Jimmy expresses discomfort with David's intense dedication. Jimmy tries to leave to go to the gym, but David pleads with him to stay. Jimmy agrees to play for a bit, but his discomfort is evident in his delayed and careful responses. David notices Jimmy isn't playing actively and tries to keep him engaged. When Jimmy tries to leave again, David tabs out, and the "reboot" noise is heard. Chase and Gracie suddenly join and respond instantly. Gracie then reveals knowledge of Jimmy's class schedule, including his engineering class and upcoming algebra class, which Jimmy finds alarming as he never shared this information with her. David attempts to cover for Gracie, but Jimmy grows increasingly suspicious, questioning if Gracie, Chase, or David are stalkers. Jimmy threatens to leave the SMP forever. David tabs out and frantically messages and calls Jimmy on Discord, but Jimmy rejects the calls. Jimmy then sends a final message asking "How did you get that?" The episode ends abruptly. The description of this episode contains a clue: "Sorry for not listing the IP in my previous two parts. I decided I don't want to just make it public, though. You'll need to find it next time." This "next time" puzzles the narrator as it's the final episode. The narrator discovers a hidden fourth video in David's channel playlist, posted two months after the others. In this video, David gives a tour of the updated SMP. At 1 minute and 11 seconds, David briefly presses tab, revealing five usernames: Chase, David, Gracie, Jimmy, and another "Jimmy" with two underscores instead of one. The narrator confirms the original Jimmy's username had only one underscore, indicating a different player. This new "Jimmy" responds instantly and trusts David, unlike the original. The narrator also spots a brief glimpse of the real Jimmy, with one underscore, digging from underground, suggesting he is still on the server but hiding. The video ends with David tabbed out. A message from the real Jimmy (with one underscore) is visible in the chat bar, containing the server's IP address. The narrator joins the server, finding a fresh world with no other players or structures. After exploring, he finds a single wooden plank, which he matches to a block in David's house from the videos. The terrain also matches the location where the real Jimmy was seen digging in the fourth episode. There, the narrator finds a book. The book, written by the real Jimmy, reveals David's "experiment." David blackmailed Jimmy for over 60 days, forcing him to stay on the server 24/7 to train an AI model. Jimmy was isolated, only receiving food from his roommate and sleeping in shifts. David, obsessed with Jimmy, created an AI copy of him. Once the AI was autonomous, Jimmy was freed, having been "sick" for two months to the outside world. The book concludes by stating David's experiment isn't over, and he's looking for more friends, implying the narrator is now part of it. The final line reads, "Welcome to my SMP."