Story (Full) 1
Johnisdead shares many elements with Ben Drowned - an ARG created by Alex Hall in 2010. This page will be dedicated to retelling the story of Ben Drowned so that readers will have full context required for Johnisdead.
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Alex - a sophomore in college.
On September 7th, 2010, a young man named Alex made a post on /x//x/ is the name of an image board on 4chan. Here, users often discuss supernatural and paranormal subject matters. that detailed his strange experiences over the past few days. Alex was a sophomore in college who had just recently moved into his dorm room. His only form of entertainment was a Nintendo 64The Nintendo 64 is a cartridge-based videogame system created by Nintendo in 1996. and a copy of Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. is a party/fighting game created by Nintendo. It features various characters from other Nintendo videogames. given to him by his friend. Alex had quickly become bored with the game. That weekend, he decided to drive around searching for more via local yard sales. Alex was successful, finding several classic games. However, just as he was about to head home, Alex was drawn to a humble yard sale being hosted by a strange Old Man.
Alex
"One last house caught my attention. I still have no idea why it did, there were no cars there and only one table was set up with random junk on it, but something sort of drew me there. I usually trust my gut on these things."
The Old Man was strange. He seemed to be blind in his right eye and he was selling an assortment of strange inkblot paintings. Alex asked the man if he had any videogames for sale, expecting him to not even know what one was. To his surprised, the Old Man shuffled back into his home to retrieve one. When he returned, he handed Alex an old copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's MaskThe Legend of Zelda is a videogame series created by Nintendo. Majora's Mask released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. It is often considered the black sheep of the series due to its strange tone and atmosphere.. The Old Man gave Alex the game for free. As Alex turned to leave, the Old Man said "Goodbye, Ben!".
An example of one of the Old Man's paintings.
The old Majora's Mask cartridge.
The Happy Mask Salesman from Majora's Mask.
Alex returned to his dorm room and booted up the game. Here, he discovered that it already contained a save file simply named "BEN". Saddened, he believed that perhaps the senile Old Man once had a grandson named Ben and was reminded of him by Alex. Ben had made it fairly far into the game, having just reached the final level - the Stone Tower Temple. Out of respect, Alex allowed the "BEN" save file to remain and instead created his own named "Link"Link" is the name of the protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series.".
As Alex played the game, he noticed several oddities. Textures would occasionally appear where they shouldn't. Random snippets of cutscenes would flash on screen. Strangest of all, characters would sometimes refer to Link as "BEN". Unnerved, Alex decided to delete the "BEN" save file, hoping this would solve the issue. It didn't. Instead, characters would now simply refer to Link with blank spaces. Frustrated, Alex stopped playing for the night.
The next day, Alex continued playing the game. He managed to reach the game's second level before deciding to pull off the Fourth Day Glitch - an infamous glitch that breaks the game. The plot of Majora's Mask is that Link has been thrust into a parallel world named Termina. Here, he must defeat Skull Kid - a forest imp that's been possessed by an evil object known as Majora's Mask.
Link only has three days to complete his quest - Majora's Mask has cursed the moon, causing it to slowly descend upon Termina. Thankfully, Link can rewind time to three days prior using the Ocarina of Time - a magical instrument. To defeat the Skull Kid, Link must travel to four different locations in Termina and awaken The Four Giants, stopping the moon's descent. By pulling off the Fourth Day Glitch, the players can enter into a corrupted in-game fourth day that should not exist.
Alex successfully pulled off the Fourth Day Glitch, leading to some unexpected results. Link was suddenly warped to the final boss area. However, instead of facing the game's final boss, Alex was met with the Skull Kid, who silently watched him. As Alex was about to reset the game, a message appeared that read "You're not sure why, but you apparently had a reservation...". Alex was then asked "Go to the lair of the temple's boss?". Unable to answer no, Alex selected "Yes". He was then shown the "Dawn of a New Day" screen. It appeared corrupted, however - the text below it simply reading "||||||||". Link was warped to Clock Town - the game's main town. However, all of its inhabitants were missing and the usual cheery music was replaced with a creepy reversed version of the Song of HealingThe "Song of Healing" is one of the magical songs that Link can play on his Ocarina. Taught to him by the enigmatic "Happy Mask Salesman", the song is believed to heal the souls of restless spirits and bring them peace. dubbed the "Song of Unhealing". Alex could also occasionally hear the Happy Mask SalesmanThe Happy Mask Salesman is an enigmatic character from Majora's Mask. He's believed to hold some strange powers as he's seen teleporting on-screen and is capable of teaching Link the "Song of Healing". He is the one who owned Majora's Mask before it was stolen by the Skull Kid and he is the one who sets Link off on his quest to retrieve it at the beginning of the game. laughing in the distance.
Alex
"The only way I can describe the way I felt here is having this feeling of inexplicable depression on a profound scale. I am normally not a depressed person, but the way I felt here was a feeling that I didn't even knew existed - it was such a twisted, powerful presence that seemed to wash over me."
Unable to escape Clock Town, Alex eventually decided to have Link drown. However, before he could hop into the water, the Happy Mask Salesman appeared on screen alongside an ear-piercing scream from the Skull Kid. When the gameplay returned to normal, Link was now being chased by the Elegy Statue - an uncanny effigy of Link that's typically summoned by playing the "Elegy of Emptiness" on the Ocarina. However, this version of the Elegy Statue was malicious. Sentient. It continuously appeared behind Link - almost as if it were chasing him. Link would occasionally glitch into strange, impossible animations as the Happy Mask Salesman continued to flash on screen. It was around this point that Alex began recording his gameplay footage:
<--- Click for Video Transcript
The video begins with Link entering West Clock Town. It appears heavily corrupted, missing various walls and surfaces. The "Song of Unhealing" can be heard playing in the background. Link enters the Swordsman's School and enters its back room. Here, the Elegy Statue manifests behind Link. Link attempts to interact with it. The Elegy Statue then moves, now facing the camera. As Link stares at it, the Happy Mask Salesman briefly flashes on screen along with a shot of Link standing next to the Elegy Statue facing the camera. This is accompanied with the Skull Kid's scream.
As Link exits the Swordsman's School, he is warped to the sewers below Clock Town. The Elegy Statue appears to be in hot pursuit, manifesting behind Link every few seconds. Link turns around and exits the sewers, entering South Clock Town, which is still abandoned. The game suddenly freezes as the scream of a "Re-Dead" enemy can be heard. The same corrupted screen from before appears, reading as follows:
Dawn of a New Day
||||||||
Link is warped to the top of the Clock Tower where he's seen facing Skull Kid. He looks around for a moment before attempting to defeat Skull Kid with his bow and arrow, only to be told the follow:
That won't do you any good. Hee, hee.
Link is briefly lifted into the air before being engulfed in flames and lightning. He screams out as the game over screen appears, accompanied by the Skull Kid's laugh. The game reloads back to the fight with Skull Kid. Link attempts to approach the Skull Kid before meeting the same fate. The game once again reloads back to the same battle. This time, Link pulls out the Ocarina of Time, causing his fairy, Tatl, to ask:
Huh? When did you get that instrument?!?
Link attempts to the play the Song of Time, which would normally reset the in-game three-day-cycle. However, before he can finish, he is once again killed in the same manner as before. The game begins lagging heavily before once again reloading the same battle. However, this time Link is lying dead on the ground. The scene suddenly cuts to some dialogue from the Happy Mask Salesman saying:
You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?
The Happy Mask Salesman can be heard laughing before a flash of Majora's Mask appears accompanied by the Skull Kid's scream. Alex is then taken back to the game's title screen. Here, he sees that his "Link" save file has been erased. However, in the spot where the "BEN" file once was is a new file - "YOURTURN". Loading it once again brought Alex back to the battle with Skull Kid where Link could still be seen lying dead on the ground as the Skull Kid laughed. Alex reset the Nintendo 64 and reloaded the game, once again booting up to the title screen. He found that below "YOURTURN", the "BEN" file had returned.
Summary
- This video begins where Alex's description left off - Link is running through a deserted Clock Town while being chased by the Elegy Statue.
- Alex attempts to hide in the Swordsman's School. Here, the Happy Mask Salesman flashes on screen as both Link and the Elegy Statue stare at the camera, breaking the fourth wall.
- Link is chased by the Elegy Statue some more before the same corrupted "Dawn of a New Day" screen from before appears.
- Link is warped to the fight with Skull Kid atop the Clock Tower. Here, he is killed multiple times. The same battle resets each time.
- Alex is told "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" as he's taken back to the game's title screen.
- Alex discovers that his save file has been deleted. Instead, where the "BEN" file once was, there's a new file named "YOURTURN".
- Accessing the "YOURTURN" save file takes Alex to the same battle as before, only Link is now dead as the Skull Kid laughs.
- Upon resetting the game, Alex discovers that the "BEN" save file has returned.
