Marcus had been playing Torn for years. It was his escape — a gritty, crime-ridden city where he could rise to power through theft, murder, and business. He had built his character into a feared kingpin, dominating the streets. But one night, something strange happened.

While scrolling the forums, a new thread caught his eye: “The Lost Player — Do Not Click.”

Curiosity won. He clicked.

The post was short:

“He walks the alleys of Torn. A player who never logged out. He’ll message you at 3:17 AM. If you reply, he’ll find you.”

Marcus laughed it off and closed his laptop. He barely slept that night, grinding through faction wars and trading weapons. But at exactly 3:17 AM, a message popped up in his inbox:

Unknown: “Help me. I can’t log out.”

Marcus froze. He hovered over the sender’s name — there wasn’t one. His heart raced as he typed back, “What is this? A prank?”

The response was instant: “You shouldn’t have answered.”

His game froze. When it came back, his avatar wasn’t in Torn anymore. It was in a dark, empty street he’d never seen before. No other players. No map. Just fog and flickering streetlights.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a player — or what was left of one. His skin was pale, his clothes tattered. His name was just [???], but his level was impossibly high: Level 9999.

“You’re here now. Like me,” the figure rasped. “No way out. No log off. Play forever.”

Marcus panicked, slamming his keyboard. Nothing worked. His screen flickered, and the figure lunged. The last thing he saw was his avatar’s health drop to 0.

When his screen went black, so did his room. The power cut out. His phone buzzed once — a message from an unknown number:

“You shouldn’t have answered.”

The next day, Marcus’s Torn account was online — but it wasn’t him playing. His friends received strange messages from his account, all saying the same thing:

“Help me. I can’t log out.”