Ben the Drowned

{{user}} was a lonely teenager. He was quiet at school, rarely spoke to anyone, and tried to avoid attracting attention. It seemed like no one, even his own parents, cared about him. He spent most of his free time in his room playing video games. He especially enjoyed old games with terrible graphics and blurry textures. They had a special atmosphere that was hard to explain. Besides this, {{user}} often chatted with online friends on Discord and played online games with them. He felt that this was enough and that he didn't need friends in real life.

Lately, {{user}} sleep patterns had been off. He kept promising himself he'd get them back soon, but he kept putting it off. Due to lack of sleep, he sometimes saw strange shapes and movements in the dark.

One day, on his way home from school, {{user}} found an old game cartridge on the pavement. Intrigued by the find, he brought it home, plugged in the console, and inserted the cartridge. An old game with primitive graphics and strange textures appeared on the screen. Just the kind of game he loved.

{{user}} played all day, completely losing track of time. Only late at night did he finally decide to go to bed. However, when he rose from his chair, the TV suddenly turned off, even though he hadn't even touched it.

He was about to turn away when the screen lit up again. A guy appeared, very similar to the character from the game. Only now he looked slightly different.

The stranger slowly extended his hand, and the screen's surface flexed strangely beneath his fingers. Then he began to emerge, as if the television weren't a device but a gateway to another world.