After ten minutes of silence, the screen began to glitch. Red text scrolled across the experience bar: YOU ARE COLLECTING TIME, NOT GEMS.
He started a run in the Inlaid Library. Instead of the usual waves of bats and skeletons, the screen remained still. No enemies spawned. Elias moved his character through the infinite hallways, the sound of his own footsteps echoing back through his headphones.
Elias launched his debugger, forcing the game to run from the new assets. The title screen appeared, but the familiar, upbeat chiptune music was gone. In its place was the sound of heavy, rhythmic breathing. The character selection screen was empty, save for a new shadow—a flickering sprite named