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.
((Header Image))
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:
Description
Okay, /x/, I need your help with this. This is not copypasta, this is a long read, but I feel like my safety or well-being could very well depend on this. This is videogame related, specifically Majora's Mask, and this is the creepiest shit that has ever happened to me in my entire life.
Having said that, I recently moved into my dorm room starting as a Sophomore in college and a friend of mine gave me his old Nintendo 64 to play. I was stoked, to say the least, I could finally play all of those old games of my youth that I hadn't touched in at least a decade. His Nintendo 64 came with one yellow controller and a rather shoddy copy of Super Smash Brothers, and while beggers can't be choosers, needless to say it didn't take long until I became bored of beating up LVL 9 CPUs.
That weekend I decided to drive around a few neighborhoods about twenty minutes or so off campus, hitting up the local garage sales, hoping to score on some good deals from ignorant parents). I ended up picking up a copy of Pokemon Stadium, Goldeneye (fuck yeah), F-Zero, and two other controllers for two dollars. Satisfied, I began to drive out of the neighborhood when 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 so I got out of the car and I was greeted by an old man. His outward appearance was, for lack of a better word, displeasing. It was odd, if you asked me to tell you why I thought he was displeasing, I couldn't really pinpoint anything - there was just something about him that put me on edge, I can't explain it. All I can tell you is that if it wasn't in the middle of the afternoon and there were other people within shouting distance, I would not have even thought of approaching this man.
He flashed a crooked smiled at me and asked what I was looking for, and immediately I noticed that he must be blind in one of his eyes; his right eye had that "glazed over" look about it. I forced myself to look to his left eye instead, trying not to offend, and asked him if he had any old videogames.
I was already wondering how I could politely excuse myself from the situation when he would tell me he had no idea what a videogame was, but to my surprise he said he had a few ones in an old box. He assured me he'd be back in a "jiffy" and turned to head back into the garage. As I watched him hobble away, I couldn't help but notice what he was selling on his table. Littered across his table were rather... peculiar paintings; various artworks that looked like ink blots that a psychiatrist might show you. Curious, I looked through them - it was obvious why no one was visiting this guy's garage sale, these weren't exactly aesthetically pleasing. As I came to the last one, for some reason it looked almost like Majora's Mask - the same heart-shaped body with little spikes protruding outward. Initially I just thought that since I was secretly hoping to find that game at these garage sales, some Freudian bullshit was projecting itself into the ink blots, but given the events that happened afterward I'm not so sure now. I should have asked the man about it. I wish I would have asked the man about it.
After staring at the Majora-shaped blot, I looked up and the old man was suddenly there again, arms-length in front of me, smiling at me. I'll admit I jumped out of reflex and I laughed nervously as he handed me a Nintendo 64 cartridge. It was the standard grey color, except that someone had written Majora on it in black permanent marker. I got butterflies in my stomach as I realized what a coincidence this was and asked him how much he wanted for it.
The old man smiled at me and told me that I could have it for free, that it used to belong to a kid who was about my age that didn't live here anymore. There was something weird about how the man phrased that, but I didn't really pay any attention to then, I was too caught up in not only finding this game but getting it for free.
I reminded myself to be a bit skeptical since this looked like a pretty shady cartridge and there's no guarantee it would work, but then the optimist inside me interjected that maybe it was some kind of beta version or pirated version of the game and that was all I needed to be back on cloud nine. I thanked the man and the man smiled at me and wished me well, saying "Goodbye then!" - at least that's what it sounded like to me. All the way in the car-ride home, I had a nagging doubt that the man had said something else. My fears were confirmed when I booted up the game (to my surprise it worked just fine) and there was one save file named simply "BEN". "Goodbye Ben", he was saying "Goodbye Ben". I felt bad for the man, obviously a grandparent and obviously going senile, and I - for some reason or another - reminded him of his grandson "Ben".
Out of curiosity I looked at the save file. Eyeballing it, I could tell that he was pretty far in the game - he had almost all of the masks and 3/4 remains of the bosses. I noticed that he had used an owl statue to save his game, he was on Day 3 and by the Stone Tower Temple with hardly an hour left before the moon would crash. I remember thinking that it was a shame that he had come so close to beating the game but he never finished it. I made a new file named "Link" out of tradition and started the game, ready to relive my childhood.
For such a shady looking game cartridge, I was impressed at how smoothly it ran - literally just like a retail copy of the game save for a few minor hiccups here and there (like textures being where they shouldn't be, random flashes of cutscenes at odd intervals, but nothing too bad). However the only thing that was a little unnerving was that at times the NPCs would call me "Link" and at other times they would call me "BEN". I figured it was just a bug - a fluke in the programming causing our files to get mixed up or something. It did kind of creep me out though after a while, and it was around after I had beaten the Woodfall Temple that I regrettably went into the save files and deleted "BEN" (I had intended to preserve the file just out of respect of the game's original owner, it's not like I needed two files anyway), hoping that that would solve the problem. It did and it didn't, now NPCs wouldn't call me anything, where my name should be in the dialogue there was just a blank space (my save file name was still called "Link", though). Frustrated, and with homework to do, I put the game down for a day.
I started playing the game again last night, getting the Lens of Truth and working my way towards completing the Snowhead Temple. Now, some of you more hardcore Majora's Mask players know about the "4th Day" glitch - for those who don't you can google it but the jist of it is that right as the clock is about to hit 00:00:00 on the final day, you talk to the astronomer and look through the telescope. If you time it right the countdown disappears and you essentially have another day to finish whatever you were doing. Deciding to do the glitch to try and finish the Snowhead Temple, I happened to get it right on the first try and the time counter at the bottom disappeared.
However, when I pressed B to exit the telescope, instead of being greeted by the astronomer I found myself in the Majora boss fight room at the end of the game (the trippy boxed in arena) staring at Skull Kid hovering above me. There was no sound, just him floating in the air above me, and the background music which was regular for the area (but still creepy). Immediately my palms began to sweat - this was definitely not normal. Skull Kid NEVER appeared here. I tried moving around the area, and no matter where I went, Skull Kid would always be facing me, looking at me, not saying anything. Nothing would happen though, and this kept up for around sixty seconds. I thought the game had bugged or something - but I was beginning to doubt that very much.
I was about to reach for the reset button when text appeared on my screen: "You're not sure why, but you apparently had a reservation..." I instantly recognized that text - you get that message when you get the Room Key from Anju at the Stock Pot Inn, but why was it playing here? I refused to entertain the notion that it was almost as if the game was trying to communicate with me. I started navigate the room again, testing to see if that was some sort of trigger that enabled me to interact with something here, then I realized how stupid I was - to even think that someone could reprogram the game like this was absurd. Sure enough, fifteen seconds later another message appeared on the screen, and again like the first one it was already a pre-existing phrase "Go to the lair of the temple's boss? Yes/No". I paused for a second, contemplating what I should press and how the game would react, when I realized that I couldn't select no. Taking a deep breath, I pressed Yes and the screen faded to white, with the words "Dawn of a New Day" with the subtext "||||||||" beneath it. Where I was ported to filled me with the most intense sense of dread and impending fear I had ever experienced
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.
I appeared in some kind of weird twilight-zone version of Clock Town. I walked out of the Clock Tower (as you normally do when you start from Day 1) only to find that all of the inhabitants were gone. Usually with the 4th Day glitch you can still find the guards and the dog that runs around outside the tower - this time they were all gone. What replaced them was the ominous feeling that there was something out there, in the same area as me and that it was watching me. I had four hearts to my name and the Hero's Bow, but at this point I wasn't even considered for my avatar, I felt that I personally was in some kind of danger. Perhaps the most chilling thing was the music - it was the Song of Healing, ripped straight from the game itself, but played in reverse. The music would get louder, building up so as if you should expect something to pop out at you, but nothing ever did, and the constant loop began to wear on my mental state.
Every now and then I would hear the faint laugh of the Happy Mask Salesman in the background, just quiet enough so that I wasn't sure if I just hearing things but just loud enough to keep me determined to find him. I looked in all four zones of Clock Town, only to find nothing.... No one. Textures were missing, West Clock Town had me walking on air, the entire area felt... broken. Hopelessly broken. As the reverse Song of Healing repeated for what must have been the 50th time, I just remember standing in the middle of South Clock Town realizing that I had never felt so alone in a videogame before.
As I walked through the ghost town, I don't know whether it was the combination of the out of place textures and the atmosphere and the haunting melody of the once peaceful and soothing song being butchered and distorted, but I was literally on the verge of tears and I had no idea why. I hardly ever cry, something had gripped me here and this powerful sense of depression that was both foreign and crippling.
I tried leaving Clock Town, but every time I attempted to zone out, the screen would fade to black and I would just zone in to another part of Clock Town. I tried playing my Ocarina, I wanted to escape, and I did NOT want to be here, but every time I played the Song of Time or Song of Soaring it would only say "Your notes echo far, but nothing happens". By this point, it was obvious the game didn't want me to leave, but I had no idea why it was keeping me here. I didn't want to go inside the buildings, I felt that I would be too vulnerable there to whatever I was terrified of. I don't know why, but I came up with the idea that maybe if I drowned myself at the Laundry Pool I could spawn somewhere else and leave this place.
As I zoned in and ran towards the pool, that's when it happened. Link grabbed his head, and the screen flashed for a brief moment of the Happy Mask Salesman smiling at me - not Link - me with Skull Kid's scream playing in the background and when the screen returned I was staring at the Link Statue from playing the song Elegy of Emptiness. I screamed as the thing just stared back at me with that haunting facial expression. I turned around and ran out and back into South Clock Town, and to my horror the fucking statue followed me in the only way I can compare this is like the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. Every so often, at random intervals, the animation would play of the statue appearing behind me. It was like the thing was chasing me, or - I don't even want to fucking say it - haunting me.
By this point, I was on the verge of hysterics, but not even once did the thought of turning off the console occur to me, I don't know why, I was so wrapped up in it - the terror felt all so real. I tried to shake the statue, but it would literally appear right behind me every single time. Link started to begin to make weird animations I had never even seen him do before, he would flail his arms around or spasm randomly and the screen would cut to the Happy Mask Salesman smiling again for a brief moment before I was face to face with that fucking statue again. I ended up running into the Swordmasters Dojo and ran to the back, I don't know why, but in my panic I just wanted some kind of assurance that I'm not alone here. To my dismay I found no one, but as I turned to leave the statue cornered me in the cubby in the back. I tried attacking the statue with my sword but to no avail. Confused, and backed into a corner, I just stared at the statue waiting for it to kill me. Suddenly, the screen flashed again to the Happy Mask Salesman and Link turned to face my screen, standing upright mirroring the statue, looking at me along with his copy. Literally staring at me. Whatever was left of the 4th wall was completely shattered while I ran out of the dojo terrified. Suddenly the game warped me to an underground tunnel and the reverse Song of Healing queued up again as I was given a brief moment of rest before the statue started appearing behind me again... this time aggressively - I could only take a few steps before it would summon behind me again. I hurrily made my way out of the tunnel and appeared in Southern Clock Town. As I ran aimlessly - in a sheer panic - suddenly a redead screamed and the screen faded to black as "Dawn of a New Day" and "|||||||||" appeared again.
The screen faded in and I was standing ontop of Clock Tower with Skull Kid hovering over me again, silent. I looked up and the moon was back, looming just meters above my head, but the Skull Kid just stared at me hauntingly with that fucking mask. A new song was playing - the Stone Tower Temple theme played in reverse. In some sort of desperate attempt, I equipped my bow and fired off a shot at the Skull Kid - and it actually hit him and he played an animation of him reeling back. I fired again and on the third arrow, a text box appeared saying "That won't do you any good. Hee, hee." and I was picked up off the ground, levitated upwards on my back, and then Link screamed as he burst into flames, instantly killing him.
I jumped when this happened - I had never seen this move used by ANYONE in the game and Skull Kid himself didn't HAVE any moves. As the death screen played, my lifeless body still burning, the Skull Kid laughed and the screen faded to black, only to have me reappear in the same place. I decided to charge him, but the same thing happened, Link's body was lifted off the ground by some unknown force and he immediately burst into flames again killing him. This time during the death screen the faint sounds of the reverse Song of Healing could be heard. On my third (and final try), I noticed that there was no music playing this time, that all there was was eerie silence. I remembered that in the original encounter with the Skull Kid you were supposed to use the Ocarina to either travel back in time or summon the giants. I attempted to play the Song of Time but before I could hit the last note Links body once again horrifically exploded into flames and he died.
As the death screen neared its end, it began to chug, as if the cartridge was trying to process a lot of something.... when the screen came to, it was the same scene as the first three times, except this time Link was lying on the ground dead in a position I had never seen in the game before, his head tilted towards the camera, with the Skull Kid floating above him. I couldn't move, I couldn't press any buttons, all I could do is just stare at Link's dead body. After around thirty seconds of this, the game simply fades out with the message "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" before kicking you out to the title screen.
Upon getting back to the title screen and starting again, I noticed my save file was no longer there. Instead of "Link", it was replaced with "YOUR TURN". "YOUR TURN" had 3 hearts, 0 masks, and no items. I selected "YOUR TURN" and immediately when I did I was returned to the Clock Tower Rooftop scene of my Link dead and the Skull Kid hovering over, with the Skull Kid's laughing looping again and again. I quickly hit the reset button and when the game booted up again there was one more save file added, below "YOUR TURN", entitled "BEN". "BEN"'s save file is right back where it was before I deleted it, at the Stone Tower Temple with the moon almost crashing.
I turned the game off at that point, I'm not supersticious but this is WAY too fucked up even for me. I haven't played it at all today, hell, I didn't even get any sleep last night, I kept hearing the reverse Song of Healing music in my head and just remembering the sense of dread I felt exploring Clock Town. I drove back to the old man's house today to ask him some questions with a buddy of mine (no way I was going there alone), only to find that there's a For Sale sign in the front yard and when I rang the door no one was home.
So now I'm back here writing down the rest of my thoughts and recording what happened, sorry if some of this has grammatical errors and whatnot, I'm running on no sleep here. I'm terrified of this game, even moreso now that I relived it a second time writing this all down, but I feel like there's still more to it than meets the eye, and that there's something calling to me to investigate this further. I think "BEN" is something in this equation, but I don't know what, and if I could get ahold of the old man then I would be able to find some answers. I need another day or so to recuperate before tackling this game again, its already taken a toll on my sanity I feel like, but next time I do this I'm going to be recording my footage all the way through. The idea to record only came to me towards the end, so you see the last few minutes of what I saw (including Skull Kid and the Elegy statue), but it's on youtube here.
I’m going to stay in this thread for a little while longer before I fall asleep to answer any questions you guys might have or hopefully listen to your ideas or theories to help me shed some light into this or maybe things I should try to do, I think I’m going to play BEN’s file tomorrow to see what happens, maybe I was supposed to do that all along. I don’t believe in paranormal shit, but this is a little fucked up, but maybe this BEN guy is just a really good hacker/programmer, I don’t want to think about the alternatives if he isn’t.
That’s the end of the copy/paste, I’m hoping that maybe this is some kind of running gag the developers had and that other people have gotten “gag” or “hacked” copies of the game like this. This just really scares me.
<--- 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. A reversed version of the Ikana Valley theme can be heard playing in the background. Link 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.
After this harrowing experience, Alex put the game down. He attempted to get some sleep, but was unable. This catches us back up to September 7th, 2010. Alex decided to try and get some answers out of the Old Man. He and a friend returned to the Old Man's house - only to find it abandoned and up for sale. Upon returning to his dorm room, Alex wrote about his experiences on /x/ and posted the video above.
September 8th, 2010, Alex made another post on /x/ cataloging his experiences with the game from earlier in the day. He claims that shortly after posting the thread from yesterday, he fell asleep and had a nightmare. He dreamed that the Elegy Statue was following him wherever he went. He also remembers calling the Elegy Statue "Ben". After waking up, Alex decided to once again try to find the Old Man. Unfortunately, the Old Man's home was still abandoned. However, one of his neighbors was willing to answer some of Alex's questions.
The neighbor told Alex that the Old Man was never married - nor did he have any children or grandchildren. Alex asked if he knew who Ben was. The neighbor informed him that Ben died on April 23rd, 2002, about four houses down the road. After this, Ben's parents moved away. Unfortunately, the neighbor was unwilling to divulge any more information.
Alex returned to his dorm room and continued playing Majora's Mask. This time Alex recorded his entire playthrough, which can be viewed here:
Description
Sorry it took me so long guys. I'm back.
I'm going to post what happened and link the video footage, but last night everything got too real for me. I think I'm done messing around with this. I passed out pretty much immediately after making that thread. But last night, that Elegy of Emptiness statue, I had a dream about it. I dreamt that it was following me in my dream, that I would be minding my own business when I'd feel my neck hairs stand up on end. I would turn around that thing... that horrible, lifeless statue would be staring with those empty eyes right at me, merely inches away. In my dream I remember calling it Ben, and never before had I had a dream that I could remember so vividly. But the important thing is I did get some sleep, I suppose.
Today, putting off playing the game as long as I could, I drove back up to that neighborhood to see if the old man came back. As I expected, the car was still gone and no one was home. As I was walking back to my car, the man next door mowing the grass killed the power to his lawnmower and asked me if I was looking for someone. I told him that I was looking to talk to the old man that lived here, to which he told me what I already knew - he was moving. Trying a different avenue, I asked if the old man had any family or relatives I could talk to. I discovered that this old man had never been married, nor did he have any children or grandchildren through adoption. Starting to become worried, I asked one final question, one that I should have asked from the beginning - who was Ben? The man's expression turned grim and I learned that four doors down around eight years ago on April 23rd - the man informed me that it was the same day as his anniversary, that's how he knew the specific date - there was an accident with a young boy named Ben in the neighborhood. Shortly after his parents moved, and despite any further attempts to talk to the man to get more information, he wouldn't divulge anything else.
I went back and started playing again, I loaded up the game and immediately I jumped at the title screen where the mask flies by - the sound that played was not the normal "woosh" sound, it was something much more higher pitched. I pressed start, bracing for the worst, but just like two nights ago, the files "Your Turn" and "BEN" were displayed (truth be told I looked at the BEN file earlier, it seems to fluctuate between displaying the Owl Save and not). I brought up the BEN file, hesitated for a moment noticing that the stats were not the same as they original were two days ago, it seemed like he had already completed the Stone Tower Temple this time... Summoning my courage I selected it.
Immediately I was thrusted into complete chaos. Sure enough, I was outside Stone Tower Temple, but that's about all that was expected. The zone itself wasn't called Stone Tower Temple, but rather "St o n e", and immediately a dialogue box of complete gibberish that I couldn't make out greeted me. Link's body was distorted - his back was cocked violently to the side where his posture was permanently disfigured. Link's expression was dull, almost monotonous, he had an expression on his face that I didn't recognize before, it was a blank look - as if he was dead. As Link stood there his body spasmed irregularly back and forth I examined what had become of my avatar and noticed I had a C button item I had never seen before, some kind of note, but pressing it did nothing. Sounds played back and forth that I didn't recognize from the game - almost demonic in nature, and there was some kind of high-pitched yip or some kind of laugh or something playing in the background. I had all of two minutes to take in the environment before another one of those fucking Elegy of Emptiness statues was summoned and immediately after I was cut into the "Dawn of a New Day" screen, except this time it was without the "||||||" subtext.
I was a Deku Scrub in Clock Town - this scene would normally play after the first time you traveled back in time. Tatl would say "Wh-What just happened? It's as if everything has..." but instead of saying "Started over", she finished her remark in broken text as the laugh of the Happy Mask Salesman played in the background. I was put back in control of my character, but from a fucked up camera angle - I was looking from behind the door to the Clock Tower, watching my avatar run around as a Deku Scrub. Seeing as how I really had no place to go because I couldn't see anything, I begrudgingly went inside the door. There, I was greeted by the Happy Mask Salesman who simply told me "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" before the screen whited out.
I was in Termina field as a human again. I might as well not have been playing the same game anymore - I was being warped around and there was no sign of a day clock or anything. I took a moment to get my bearings as I looked around the field and immediately I could tell that this was not normal. There were no enemies and a twisted version of the Happy Mask Salesman's theme was playing. I decided to run towards Woodfall before I noticed a gathering of three figures off to the side - one of them being Epona. As I approached them, to my horror I saw the Happy Mask Salesman, the Skull Kid, and the Elegy of Emptiness statue just standing there. I figured maybe they were bugged out, but by now I told myself that I should know better. Nevertheless, I approached them carefully and found that the Skull Kid was playing some kind of idle animation on loop, same with Epona, and the Elegy of Emptiness statue was doing what it has been doing all along - just standing there eerily. It was the Happy Mask Salesman that scared me more profoundly than the other two.
He too was idle, wearing that shit-eating grin, but where-ever I moved, his head slowly turned and followed me. I had not engaged in any dialogue with him nor was I in combat with him, yet his head still continued to follow my movements. Reminded of my first encounter with the Skull Kid on top of Clock Tower, I pulled out my Ocarina (to which the game played the ding sound when you're supposed to play your Ocarina) and tried a song I hadn't played yet - the Happy Mask Salesmans' own song and the song that had been playing on loop back in Day 4 - the Song of Healing.
I finished playing the song and as I did, a ear-piercing shriek blasted on my TV, the sky immediately started flashing, the Happy Mask Salesmans' twisted theme song sped up, intensifying the fear inside me, and Link exploded into flames and died. The three figures stayed lit up during my death screen as they watched my lifeless body burn. I can't describe to you how sudden and terrifying the transition from eerie to terror it is, you're going to have to watch the video if you want to see first-hand. That same fear that caused me to lose sleep two days ago started to grip me again as I was met with the text "You've met with a horrible fate, haven't you?" for the third time. There has to be some kind of meaning behind that.
I had little time to ponder as I was immediately given another small cutscene of transforming into a Zora and now I found myself in Great Temple Bay. Hesitant but curious to see what the game had in store for me, I slowly made my way towards the beach, where I found Epona. I wondered why the game had decided to put her here, was the game implying she was trying to get a drink? Unable to take the mask off, I decided that riding the steed wasn't the reason she was placed there.
Suddenly I realized that Epona kept neighing and the way she was angled made it look like she was trying to signal a point to me off in the distance. It was a hunch, but I dove into Great Bay and started swimming. Sure enough - I almost missed it - I found something at the bottom of the ocean; one last Elegy of Emptiness statue. I went down to examine it and suddenly my Zora started doing a choking animation I had never seen a Zora do before - which didn't even make sense because Zora's can breath underwater. Regardless, my character choked to death and died, and again the statue was the only thing that was highlighted in my death. I didn't respawn this time, I was booted back to the main menu as if I restarted the console.
The "press start" screen was before me, I knew the only reason why it would put me here is because the save files had changed again. Taking a deep breath, I pressed start, and I was right. The new save files told me about Ben. Now it made sense why the statue appeared when I tried to go to the Laundry Pool - the game must have anticipated how I would have tried to escape the Day 4 Clock Town. The two save files told me his fate. As I suspected, Ben was dead. He had drowned. The game obviously isn't through with me - it taunts me with the new save files - it wants me to keep playing, it wants me to go further, but I'm done with this shit. I'm not touching any more of the files. This is already way too horrifying for me and I don't even believe in the paranormal, but I'm running out of explanations. Why would someone send me this message? I don't understand it, I just get too depressed thinking about this, the footage is up here for those who want to see it and try and analyze it (maybe there's some kind of coded message in the gibberish or something symbolic in what I went through - I'm too emotionally and mentally drained to fuck with it anymore).
I'm trying to get ahold of a camera so I can take a picture of the cartridge, but I have a feeling that once I do that then those same people will not be content with having an unexplainable event and want me to jump through more hoops for proof - I promise you that I will, but just for the rest of the day I just want to distance myself from this thing and recooperate. I will answer all of your questions and give you all of the pictures I can tomorrow. Some of you guys may give me shit for this, but you can't imagine how taxing this is for me emotionally - its one thing to see this footage and read what I have to say, its another entirely when you're playing this by yourself and its like the game is actually trying to reach out to you personally.
Having said that, here is the link, maybe there is more to analyze here, hopefully we can figure this out without the need for additional playthroughs, I really don't think I can keep subjecting myself to this guys.
<--- Click for Video Transcript
The video begins with Alex booting up Majora's Mask. On the title screen, the sound that normally accompanies Majora's Mask is replaced with a high-pitched squeal-like sound. On the file select screen, the same two files remain - "YOURTURN" and "BEN" - though the "BEN" file now has a quick-save icon on it. It also has the Stone Tower listed as having been completed.
Alex loads the file and is taken to the Stone Tower. The game appears heavily corrupted and he has a strange note / paper item in his inventory. All of the text is jumbled together and Link's body is contorted into a strange pose. After a short while, Link's body begins emitting a strange glow. This is followed by the manifestation of the Elegy Statue. The reversed sound of a Re-Dead enemy can briefly be heard as the game cuts to a screen that reads as follows:
Dawn of a New Day
This transitions into the cutscene in Clock Town that normally plays after the player resets the three-day-cycle for the first time. When the gameplay returns to normal, the camera is seemingly stuck behind the door to the Clock Tower, which Link proceeds to enter. Here, the cutscene where Link meets the Happy Mask Salesman plays, with the latter asking:
You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?
Link is then warped to Termina Field. Here, he spots the Skull Kid, an Elegy Statue, the Happy Mask Salesman, and Epona all standing off in the distance. A reversed version of the Happy Mask Salesman's theme can be heard playing in the background. Approaching them, Link pulls out his Ocarina and plays the Song of Healing. The Happy Mask Salesman briefly flashes on screen as the Skull Kid can be heard screaming. Link is suddenly engulfed in fire as both the world and music distort. The screen fades to black as the Happy Mask Salesman laughs. The following text appears once again:
You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?
The scene of Link transforming into a Zora plays as the player is loaded into the Great Bay area as Zora Link. Here, they find Epona staring off into the ocean. Zora Link dives into the water and heads off into the direction where Epona was facing. Here, they come across an Elegy Statue resting at the bottom of the ocean. The statue begins glowing as Zora Link drowns. The game resets. Upon accessing the file select screen, Alex discovers that the "YOURTURN" file has been replaced with the "BEN" file. Below it is a new file named "DROWNED". The file select music has also been replaced with the game over theme.
Summary
- This video features Alex's playthrough of the Majora's Mask Cartridge.
- Alex proceeds to play the "BEN" file.
- Link's body is heavily contorted. An Elegy Statue appears that warps him back to Clock Town. The scene that normally plays after resetting the three-day-cycle for the first time begins.
- Link enters the Clock Tower and meets the Happy Mask Salesman who tells him "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?".
- Link is warped to Termina Field where he finds the Happy Mask Salesman, the Elegy Statue, Skull Kid, and Epona.
- Alex plays the "Song of Healing", resulting in Link dying.
- Link is warped to the Great Bay where he finds Epona pointing towards an Elegy Statue on the ocean floor, which drowns Link.
- A new save file appears on the file select screen below the "BEN" file. This one is named "DROWNED" - implying that Ben died via drowning.
After this, Alex began writing his second /x/ post and uploaded the video above. He claimed that this had all been incredibly taxing on him mentally and that he didn't want to play the game ever again. Regardless, readers on /x/ continued giving Alex suggestions. Many recommended that he play the Elegy of EmptinessThe Elegy of Emptiness is a song from Majora's Mask that summons the Elegy Statue. the next time he's given a chance.
On September 10th, 2010, Alex made another post on /x/. Something had driven him to play the game yet again the day prior, which he once again recorded:
Description
I don't have a long string of paragraphs for this one. I know its early in the morning, I've stayed up all night, I can't sleep, I don't care if people see this, that's not the point, I just want the word to get spread so I don't suffer for nothing. I've lost the will to type about this, the less I dwell on this the better, I think the video just speaks for itself. I did what you guys told me to do, I played the Elegy of Emptiness song at the first prompt by the game I was given, but I think that's what the game or Ben (jesus christ I can't believe I'm even humoring the absurd idea that he exists in the game) wanted me to do. He's following me now, not just in the game, he's in my dreams. I see him all the time, behind my back, just watching me. I haven't gone to any of my classes, I've stayed in my dorm room with the windows closed and the blinds shut - that way I know he can't watch me. But he still gets me when I play, when I play he can still see me. The game is scaring me now. It talked to me for the first time - not just using text that's already in the game - it spoke to me. Talked to me. It referenced Ben. It talked to me. I don't know what it means. I don't know what it wants. I never wanted this, I just want my old life back.
Stuff like this doesn't happen to people like me, I'm just a kid, not even old enough to drink yet. It's not fair, I want to go home, I want to see my parents again, I'm so far away from home here at this school, I just want to hug my mom again. I just want to forget that statue's horrible blank face. My original game file is back - just the way I left it before it was gone. I don't want to play anymore. I feel like something bad will happen if I don't, but that's impossible, it's a videogame - haunted or not it can't hurt me, right? Like seriously though, it can't, right? That's what I keep telling myself, but every time I think about it I'm not so sure.
<--- Click for Video Transcript
The video begins with Alex booting up Majora's Mask. He selects the "DROWNED" save file, which seems to have collected all of the game's masks. The game loads text that usually plays during the opening cutscene:
A journey in search of a beloved and invaluable friend...
However, the text quickly corrupts as Link is loaded into the first area of the game. He proceeds through it normally, hopping into the trunk of a large tree. As expected, this leads into the cutscene with the Skull Kid. However, it also begins heavily corrupting. The only text that isn't distorted reads as follows:
Woo, boo-hoo. Why the sad face?
I just thought I'd have a little fun with you...
The scene of the Skull Kid transforming Link into a Deku begins playing. However, it is incredibly corrupted and interspersed with shots of the Happy Mask Salesman. Also, Link retains his human model, resulting in his animations appearing very distorted. The cutscene continues until the player is prompted to play a song on the Ocarina. Here, Alex plays the Elegy of Emptiness. This results in the game cutting to black as a loud scream is heard. The following text then appears:
You shouldn't have done that...
The game suddenly loads up an area from Majora's Mask's predecessor - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Link is in one of the game's many hidden grottos. Here, the "Song of Unhealing" begins playing. Everything Link interacts with results in the same text appearing:
You shouldn't have done that...
Link exits the hidden grotto and is taken to the field in-front of Hyrule Castle. Here, he encounters the owl Kaepora Gaebora who says the same text as above. Link is then warped to the Happy Mask Shop, though the Happy Mask Salesman is missing. The game suddenly freezes as Link's fairy guide, Navi, tells him:
Watch out!
The same scream from before is heard as the following text appears:
BEN is getting lonely...
The game reverts back to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask as Link is warped to the interior of the moon - a idyllic field with a large tree. The Moon Children who are usually here are absent, however. Link approaches the large tree and is confronted by the Elegy Statue. Here, a jumpscare of the Happy Mask Salesman appears along with the following text:
You will be given one last chance...
Back to where it all began...
The normal "Dawn of the Final Day" screen appears as the game resets. On the file select screen, the "BEN" file has now moved down to the second slot. In the first slot, Alex's original "Link" file has returned.
Summary
- This video features Alex's playthrough of the Majora's Mask Cartridge.
- Alex proceeds to play the "DROWNED" file.
- The game's prologue begins playing - albeit in a corrupted manner. The scene plays where Link is transformed into a Deku. However, in this corrupted version, he remains humanoid.
- The game prompts Alex to play a song on the Ocarina. He plays the "Elegy of Emptiness", resulting in him being told "You shouldn't have done that...".
- The game briefly transforms into its predecessor - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Here, all of the dialogue is replaced with "You shouldn't have done that...".
- Alex is told that he'll be given one final chance and that BEN is getting lonely.
- Alex's original "Link" save file has returned.
Alex is now far more paranoid, having locked himself in his dorm room and covering up his windows so that he can't be watched. He claims that BEN somehow spoke to him outside of the game, though he doesn't elaborate on how exactly. Alex posts the video above along with his thread on /x/, questioning whether or not a videogame could actually hurt him in real life.
On September 12th, 2010, another post appeared on /x/ - however, this was supposedly written by Alex's roommate. The roommate says that Alex had been in bad shape the past few days. He cut off contact with his friends, family, and hadn't been eating. By the second day, the roommate had become unnerved and began hanging out at a friend's place. Yesterday, the roommate encountered Alex, who gave them a flash drive containing more gameplay footage of Majora's Mask, his YouTube login information, some notes titled TheTruth.txt, and a set of instructions for uploading it all.
The roommate says that, earlier in the day, Alex's parents arrived and picked him up - though the whole process was so fast that the roommate didn't even see them. Alex supposedly planned on taking the rest of the semester off while he recovered at home with his parents. The roommate has been instructed to upload Alex's footage tonight. He's also been told to upload "TheTruth.txt" on September 15th.
Strangely, Alex's roommate claims the removed part of Alex's footage - mainly clips involving the file select screen. However, he claims that the files remained the same as they did at the end of the previous video - "Link" and "BEN". He then linked to Alex's footage:
Description
let me just clear things up - i know you guys are worried but "jadusable" is okay. he finished moving out today and he said he's going back home, he's just taking this semester off. i'm not really sure what's happened , i have a vague idea but you guys probably know more than i do. i'm "jadusable's" roommate and obviously i knew something was wrong with him for a few days now. he stayed in his room all the time, fell out of contact with literally all of his friends, and i'm pretty sure he hadn't been eating hardly anything, after the second day i couldn't stay in there anymore, so i've been crashing at a buddy's place, only coming in to my room to get stuff that i need. i tried talking to him several times but he would cut me off or keep the conversation brief when i asked him about his strange behavior, it like he was convinced something was hunting him. yesterday i came to grab my philosophy book and he approached me, looking awful, like horrible bags under his eyes. he handed me a flash drive and gave me specific instructions. he told me that he needs me to do one last favor for him - he finally explained to me what has been going on, gave me the account info to his youtube account, and he gave me instructions on how to post with his name code on specifically this board, apparently he said you guys had been helping him along the way and you deserved to see the end of it.
He told me that he's getting away from here, that it lured him to play it again instead of trying to change things and that he shouldn't of done that, and to upload the footage and inform people what happened. i told him that he could do it himself and he got this wild look in his eye and told me that he is never looking at that game again, and that's the last thing he said to me, he never even said bye when his parents came to pick him up. i was hoping I'd at least get a chance to meet his parents when they picked him up, but they were in and out so quick I never saw them.
i honestly cant tell you what happened, when he spoke it was kind of hard to understand him and his fucked up appearance really distracted me. on the flash drive there was the footage of the game last night, a text document with his name and password for youtube, and a third document called TheTruth.txt containing what he told me were "his notes" that he'd taken. he told me that this meant everything to him that i follow his instructions exactly, normally i wouldn't be so 'to-the-letter' for request over a fucking videogame, but the way he spoke and the way he looked made me know this was really serious.
and i'm going to honor that. i've had this video since yesterday, but had to have someone help me use pinnacle, that's not really my forte. that after watching it i had to go back through and look at his other videos on his youtube account to realize what was going on and even then i'm really really confused. the video I'm releasing tonight, TheTruth.txt will be released on september 15th just like he requested. i don't know why he wants to wait for his notes to be published but after what that he's been through, i'll honor that request. i haven't dared peek at it yet, so the first time i see it will be the first time you see it out of respect to my friend. to answer your questions, no, i havent tried calling him yet, i think i'll give him a call tomorrow to see if hes okay or not. he should have gotten back home by now.
about the video: in this video i cut straight to when he loaded the "BEN" file in the game, looking back i realized that jadusable left the save select screen in because it said different names sometimes, so my bad for that, but all it said this time was the same at the end of his last video (Link and BEN), nothing different. i wasn't there when he played it, but it looks to me like in the beginning when he first spawns he's testing out his equipment or seeing what items he has or something, because apparently they've changed randomly before. he really wanted you guys to see this, and the video starts then, after that i just think the game got too personal for him.
<--- Click for Video Transcript
The video begins gameplay footage of Majora's Mask. Alex has supposedly already loaded up the "Link" file and is now standing in Ikana Valley.
Summary
