Posted 4/10/2012 at 6:32 PM by Jaya
I need help. Seriously, guys, this is no joke.
Anything I post from here on in is probably one of the scariest things that happened in my life. So before you write this off as just another horror story about a game that isn't really scary or creepy, hear me out before you decide what you believe.
It all started - I think it was about five hours ago. I was surfing the net for a Nintendo 64 emulator, because I had the urge - the craving - to play some of the old N64 games that I grew up with as a child before the system broke.
I know that pirating games is wrong, and I don't condone it. I just didn't want to pay a shit-expensive price for a new N64 and the games on eBay, since they have become a bit of a collector's item.
Anyway I downloaded the emulator and Super Smash Bros, Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64 from a website called “64ROMS46”.
Of course I was prepared with my uber-cool gaming gear (yes, I'm a bit of a nerd, what of it?), which included my headset; my gamepad (which I had configured to N64 settings); my shades; and my lucky gaming cap.
I tried out Super Smash Bros, it was so awesome reliving the classics. I had played Brawl, which might be a better game than the original, but I didn't regret one moment of playing it.
Next up was Banjo-Kazooie, which I found out was actually a pretty messed-up game. Gruntilda was such a strange character as a witch. Who bathes in elephant sweat? Gross.
The one game I really wanted to play; that I was holding off best-till-last; was Super Mario 64. I started the game and loved how smoothly it ran on my computer. The graphics were to be desired, as in most of the N64 games, but there was no doubt as to how great of a game it was.
I picked the first save file and was treated to the classic intro. “Dear Mario: Please come to the castle. I've baked a cake for you. Yours truly -- Princess Toadstool. Peach.” I walked Mario around the outside of the castle, appreciating the original gameplay. I walked him over to the castle and entered the door.
As Mario entered, I was greeted with the typical message box, “Welcome. No one's home! Now scram -- and don’t come back! Gwa ha ha!” accompanied by the Bowser laughter. I proceeded to enter Bob-Omb Battlefield, the first course of the game.
The loading screen came up with the name of the mission Big Bob-Omb on the Summit. I selected it and was taken into the level.
Instantly I was aware that something was out of place; the Bob-Omb Buddies weren't there to greet me. I was disappointed because I actually quite liked the Bob-Omb Buddies.
I continued on to stomp on the most basic enemy of all: the Goomba. I laughed at the familiar noise that played when I stomped it. “Ah-urg” and the coin came out.
I easily made my way to the top of the mountain, where the Big Bob-Omb was waiting for me. As soon as I pressed the button to talk to him, it came up with a textbox, playing the exact sound that I remembered him to make.
But the textbox; it simply read “3... 2... 1...” As soon as I pressed the button to continue, the textbox closed and the Big Bob-Omb exploded, sending Mario skyward and instantly killing him. It happened so suddenly that I nearly fell out of my chair, gasping for air.
Then the mocking Bowser laughter played as the cut-out of his emblem blacked out the screen. Literally, what the fuck was that? I don't remember that ever happening in any Mario game.
I was about to close the game, when the level came back up. I was facing Big Bob-Omb again, this time I was approaching him more carefully. As I was about to talk to him again, the screen blacked out, and the sounds stopped.
All I could see were a few images flash on the screen every few seconds, but they flashed so fast that I couldn't make sense of them. Suddenly the game came back and I was in an area I knew very well: Big Boo's Haunt.
The creepy music and the darkness unnerved me, as I had suspicions that the game was hacked, haunted, or I had broken it. Can a game really be haunted? I know that you can always hack the game and put things in there that are particularly disturbing, but games can't really be haunted, right? If only I knew.
I was an idiot. I know, you're all probably going to come out with “Oh, then why didn't you stop playing? Why did you keep going?” I was actually going to turn off the game then and there, but there was one problem; I couldn't.
I was going to turn it off, but nothing was happening. Mario just stood there, looking left and right, as he normally does in his idle animation. I couldn't exit the game. Frustrated, I held down the power button. Nothing.
Frantic, I flicked the power point switch off, but the computer stayed on. I even pulled the plug and the computer stayed on. A seriously fucked-up laughter sound played and a textbox popped up that made my chest tighten and my breathing stop for a moment. “What's the matter? Don't you want to play?”
I shit myself. What the fuck was wrong with this? Seriously... WHAT. THE. FUCK?
I literally just sat there for 5 minutes, unsure of what to do. I honestly didn't want to continue, but it didn't look like I had a great amount of options here.
I left the house to go shopping. I wasn't going to play that thing's game. I had read heaps of horror stories about instances like this which had things like this happen, and things didn't end well for those who continued playing.
I was going to stop right then and there before I would give it the chance to suck me in; isolate me; get me alone.
I came back to my apartment two hours later to find the computer was plugged back in and running, but the game was closed. Had someone been in there while I was gone? I then heard a shriek from outside.
As I raced to the source of the sound, a crowd had gathered. When I saw what all the commotion was about, I nearly vomited.
My neighbour, Mrs. Thompson, lay on her back, sprawled across the road. There was a huge hole burned in her back that smoked, emitting a rather foul odour.
Police had arrived on the scene, and her husband had stated that she had gone to my house, since she had peered through the window and seen that the computer was still on.
As I knew they would, the Police interviewed me. I told them that I was unaware of this happening since I wasn't home at the time.
I was let go, for the time being. They said they would be investigating further and that they would contact me again.
I had work to do on my computer. And, since the game was closed, now was the perfect opportunity to do so.
I wasn't going to open it again.
I walked back into my room, opening up MS Word to work on an assignment for University. After a moment or so, I began to feel... uneasy. Like someone was watching me.
I caught myself looking over my shoulder many times, and when I looked back at the screen, there would be a letter in the document that I never noticed before, and I was sure that I hadn't placed it there. Either there was something wrong with my typing, or there really was something there, taking control of my computer.
In a rage, I went onto my system folder and tried to delete the Godforsaken game! But, instead of it being deleted, it replaced every file on my computer and loaded up. There was an urge, a calling to play again.
I couldn't resist; I had to know what the madness was. I would attempt communication with the, dare I say it, spirit possessing my computer and try to convince it to stop.
If all else failed, I had a sledgehammer in the garage. As much as it saddened me to destroy the computer, it would have to be done if worse came to worse.
I took a deep breath and loaded the save file, noticing that the save had three stars, where it previously had none.
As I played, I thought about Mrs. Thompson. How did she die? Who killed her? I then thought about the game and literally stood up and punched the wall as hard as I could. I didn't even want to believe what I had just thought about.
Bowser didn't really exist, there was no way he could have killed her. But she wouldn't have gone and killed herself; it had to be some demented freak.
Or... NO! What am I thinking? THERE IS NO FUCKING SPIRIT POSSESSING THE FUCKING GAME! As messed up as the game is, there is no such thing as a haunted game. They are all hacked or modded to look like they are haunted; the people who wrote the stories with included game footage had even admitted to hacking the games and making the footage themselves.
I continued to play the game, heading towards Whomp Fortress. As I enter the room, I see a Toad just standing there, unmoving. He wasn't playing the idle animation, just standing, staring at a corner in the room.
I talked to him, hoping to get some kind of response, but, for a few seconds, nothing happened. I couldn't move Mario, and the Toad was still staring at the corner of the room. After about five seconds, a message box came up, “Tilt the camera with C”, the fuck? That was something you'd expect to be shown at the start of the game.
I then closed the message box and tilted the camera, and saw a Boo incoming. I shit myself; BOOS WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO ATTACK IN THE CASTLE!
I then ran towards the door, but it wouldn't open. I punched the door, but a message came up, “Now, why would you want to do that?” Accompanied by that fucked-up laughter that I heard earlier, that I could have sworn I had heard before somewhere else, but couldn't place.
I turned around; the Boo was still heading towards me, unhurriedly. The painting, it had changed from Whomp fortress to a painting of Bowser, and I had no doubt what the game wanted me to do.
I wasn't going to do it, so I decided to just stand there until the Boo killed me. But the most fucked-up thing I've seen yet happened there and then: rather than taking health off when it collided with Mario, it turned invisible and moved until he was inside it, then it disappeared completely. I wish I could say the insanity stopped there, but sadly - and not at all surprisingly - it didn't.
Mario's eyes turned black, and he then proceeded to run towards the painting, his animations jerking in such a fucked-up manner that I wanted to get up and leave right there and then.
When the level loaded, it was an odd mix of Bowser at the Fire Sea (with the whole linear aspect and a lot of lava) and Big Boo's Haunt (with the soundtrack and some of the assets). When I pressed Start, the name of the level simply read Welcome. The atmosphere wasn't very welcoming at all.
As I ran along the path, I saw a Boo just hovering there. I carefully approached its eyes turned to a dank red and a message box came up with the laughter “Why did you leave me? Was I not making it fun enough?” before the eyes changed back. I dare say it: the thing was trying to communicate with me. It strangely didn't attack, as though it was a friendly NPC.
I didn't bother questioning it; there were a lot of weird things happening in the game that really shouldn't have been, so I simply closed the message box and continued down the path. There were many enemies there, the vast majority of them being Boos, but a lot of them just stayed in one spot, and none of them attacked. Most of them simply showed message boxes with that laughter that I swear to God made me more terrified than I had ever been before.
There was a Goomba standing there at the edge of a massive lava pit, with a worried look that I hadn't seen before. It jumped in excitement when I came close and it ran towards me, glee on its features. “[Name Removed], am I glad to see you.” The message box came up.
I took it as another mindfuck and jumped on the Goomba. This time a scream and a sickening crunch was heard, followed by blood leaking out of the corpse. A bloodied coin popped out of the crushed body, but the Goomba didn't disappear.
How easily I was fooled. That shriek was all too familiar. I had just stomped on Mrs. Thompson.
Another message box came up accompanied by that same recurring laughter that I had heard somewhere else before, but couldn't remember where. “I like you, you are careless. I want to play with you some more...”
I saw a mansion rise out of the lava, and the door opened. I walked Mario over to it, and entered, still dumbfounded that I had unwittingly killed Mrs. Thompson.
This was all my fault, I should never have pirated the fucking game. I had given up all hope for a physical explanation. This was simply too messed up to be a hack, since the game had used my name and there was no reason for it to contain Mrs Thompson’s scream.
I moved through the mansion, which was identically laid out the same as Big Boo's Haunt, but there were no Boos and the environment seemed much, much darker.
I moved to the basement when I saw that the water was replaced with lava.
Nope, not going in there.
When I came back to the main floor, checked all of the other rooms (even the one with the piano) but there were no enemies to be found. Not even the piano or the coffins were there. I then realised that there was one place I hadn't checked yet: the balcony. I came to the room with the bookshelves and jumped onto the ledge to take me to the top floor.
As I entered the door, I saw something that I was sure shouldn't be there: a painting with King Boo on a black background.
Was King Boo even supposed to be in the game? I know that he was in the DS remake of Super Mario 64; you had to battle him to rescue Luigi. I wasn't sure; it had been so long since I had played the original, and I had played a lot of the DS version between then and now.
One thing was for sure, this King Boo looked as demonic as the monsters he was supposed to represent. I was about to leave, but I was stopped as that fucking message box came up; “Now why would you want to do that?”
Suddenly, a whole crowd of Big Boos came out of the walls, forming a something resembling a wall themselves. They were herding me towards the painting. This time I jumped into the painting, not wanting to go through the same process as last time, when the Boo took control of Mario.
Upon the loading of the level, another message box came up. “See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?” Again accompanied by that strange laughter. It suddenly occurred to me where the laughter had come from: it was a fucked-up King Boo laughter from Super Mario 64 DS and Luigi's Mansion.
What was worse was that the laugh came out all staticy and distorted, making it sound more demonic than what it already was. Suddenly, I found that the level was completely white, like when you enter the mirror in Super Mario 64 DS and walk through the door.
I ran around in the white room, unsure of where I was meant to be going. Suddenly the laughter was heard and the room began to darken, revealing a white shape with what looked like a yellow-orange shape on top of it in the distance. I ran towards it, already suspecting what it was.
I was right: it was King Boo. But there was something very wrong with him: his mouth had four yellow blood-stained fangs on the top and bottom jaw, and the mouth was curled into the creepiest of smiles I had seen in a Mario game. And the eyes! They could only be compared to something that you'd see in one of the Zalgo cartoons; that same dank red color. It was truly horrifying.
As soon as I got close, he looked straight into the camera. Not at Mario, but at ME.
“HELLO, [Name Removed], IT’S SO GREAT TO FINALLY MEET YOU IN PERSON. WATCHING YOUR MOVEMENTS THROUGH MY LEGION OF THRALLS ISN'T QUITE AS SATISFYING AS MEETING YOU HERE FACE TO FACE.” The textbox came up with the distorted King Boo laugh.
I had done it. I had finally stumbled upon my tormentor. “Look, I don’t know who the hell you are, but this ends now. Stop fucking with my computer!” I shouted.
I felt silly yelling at the game, and briefly wondered if someone had heard me.
They’ll probably think I’m on Skype, or something. I reasoned.
There was a pause, and then another textbox replaced that one: “Are you sure you want me to do that?”; with two options underneath it: “Yes” and “No”.
I selected “Yes”, and the laughter began again.
“OK, I’LL LEAVE. BUT ON ONE CONDITION…” Wait a minute, what was this? “YOU MUST TELL NO-ONE OF THIS EVENT, BUT PUT THE FILE UP FOR DOWNLOAD ON ANOTHER ROM SITE.” No way was I doing that.
“That’s a pretty good deal,” I responded, “but I have a better one...”
“I’M LISTENING.”
“How about… you get the FUCK off my computer, and I won’t destroy it with a sledgehammer, forever trapping you inside!” I yelled.
It stopped for a moment, as if thinking, before another textbox came up. “NOW, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?” Accompanied by that godforsaken laughter.
“GET OFF MY COMPUTER!” I demanded.
“OK, I’LL MESS WITH YOU INSTEAD…” That didn’t sound good at all...
I tried to get out of my chair, but my body wouldn’t respond. I was frozen to the spot. “NOW, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?” King Boo laughed as his avatar approached the camera. Slowly... slowly, he suddenly collided with the camera.
But that wasn't even near the end of the insanity. No, it was just the beginning!
Something white and round began to come out of the screen, and I was finally able to act. I got out of my chair, but was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness and collapsed. If only I hadn't been such a klutz, I might have saved myself.
I looked up, and King Boo was literally in my room, looking me right in the eyes. He looked much worse than his in-game appearance, to say the least. Words can't even describe how terrible his presence, nor can they describe the cold terror I was experiencing at this point in time.
I wanted to get up. I wanted to leave. But I couldn't.
I blacked out, the last thing I heard was that fucked-up laughter, and actually heard the words “NOW, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT? WE HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED YET!”
And now, nothing can compare to what has happened to me now. I am now a digital game object, watching as King Boo takes control of my body to do his sick work.
You may see me along the way in a Super Mario 64 rom, but then you may not. It depends on which one you get.
I have become Bowser.
King Boo has left the room, no doubt to get the sledgehammer to trap me forever. I only have a short amount of time left, so let me keep this short: if you are reading this, then I have successfully uploaded this, as well as myself, to the Internet.
So I ask you for help. Please, I know you can.
All you have to do is find the file I have been saved to in the rom. I know that it will be extremely taxing to find the rom I am on, for 64ROMS46 seems to have been closed, and I don't know which site I have uploaded myself and the rom to.
Please, help me escape. I must stop King Boo. Somehow, I know that. He knew that I would be the one to stop him, which is why he targeted me, to stop me from foiling him in whatever plan he had.
He's coming back! Come on, Internet. Don't fail me now...
Posted 4/10/2012 at 6:36 PM by Jaya
Don't listen to me, I seem to have gone insane for a moment there. I let my imagination run wild.
If you were thinking of searching for the rom, please tell me this: Now why would you want to do that? There is no spirit that wants to be freed...
Not anymore, at least, heh heh heh...