Leo tried to Alt+F4. Nothing. Ctrl+Alt+Del brought up only a single process:

New objective: Witness.

The hallway ended. Leo’s view was forced to look down into a vast, circular pit. At the bottom, not lava, not water, but a writhing mass of corrupted save files. Saves with hundreds of hours. Saves marked 100% Complete , All P-Ranks , Flawless . They were tangled like umbilical cords, each one weeping a single, silent tear of red ink.

Leo clicked it.

The download was instantaneous. No progress bar, no chime of completion. Just a new icon on his desktop: a cracked, blood-splattered skull with the file name .

TERMINAL: You are not supposed to be here.

The flesh-walls behind him sealed shut. The jittering player-ghosts turned in unison. Their faces—just low-res JPGs—were all smiling now. The same smile.

A new objective appeared.

They weren't attacking him. They were re-enacting their own deaths.