It was just supposed to be a fun horror game night—until pixels caused real-life panic.

*****
"Let's play something spooky!"
*****

It started with one of Harua's innocent ideas.
Or maybe it was Maki.
Actually—no one really knew who said "Let's play something spooky!" but the moment Jo downloaded the horror game onto the TV, it was already too late.

The five of them sat in front of the screen—blankets ready, snacks scattered, and Taki already clutching a pillow like it was his last line of defense.

"Okay, rules are simple," Jo said, confidently holding the controller like a seasoned pro. "One person plays, the rest watch and do not scream in my ear."

"I'm not promising anything," Yuma muttered, already adjusting the blanket over his head like a ghost cape.

Taki narrowed his eyes. "If anything jumps out at me, I'm throwing you in front of it."

"That's not how horror works—" Harua started, before the game loaded in with an eerie violin screech.

Maki was eerily calm. Too calm. "Wow, the graphics are pretty."

"They're terrifying," Taki corrected, inching closer to Harua. "That doll in the corner is looking at me funny."

"That's a lamp."

"It's possessed."

The game began. Jo, the most composed of them all, took the lead.
He walked their in-game character down a dark corridor, narrating sarcastically.

"Oh look, blood on the floor. Wonder what that's about."

Yuma sipped his drink. "Jo, why are you so unfazed?"

"I grew up with Nicholas. Nothing scares me anymore."

Suddenly, a ghostly figure lunged from a doorway.
Jo flinched—but didn't scream.
Yuma, however, did.

In reflex, he flung his arm out—smacking Harua directly in the chest.

"OW?! I'm not the demon!!"

"Sorry! Sorry! That was pure instinct!"

Taki was already halfway across the room. "I'M PIXELS AND I'M SCARED," he yelled, somehow wrapped in three blankets and one of Maki's hoodies.

"You stole my hoodie for protection?" Maki asked, amused.

"Your hoodie is safe. I trust it."

They switched players. Now it was Maki's turn.

Calm and collected, he guided their character deeper into the house.
Everything went quiet... too quiet.

Whispers began in the game.

Harua turned pale. "Who's whispering?!"

Yuma grabbed a pillow. "If anything breathes behind me I'm breaking the TV."

Jo scoffed. "You guys are so dramatic—"

Then the lights in the game flickered.
A figure sprinted past the screen.

Taki screamed. Yuma screamed louder.
Harua, in sheer panic, threw popcorn in the air. It rained over everyone.

"MAKI DO SOMETHING!!"

"I'm trying to investigate the lore," Maki said like this was a National Geographic documentary.

Jo grabbed the controller back. "Okay, clearly we need adult supervision. Harua, you go."

Harua took the controller with visible hesitation. "I'll try not to die."

"You mean in the game, right?" Yuma asked nervously.

"Okay, everyone relax. It's a horror game, not real life."

Five minutes in, the in-game hallway darkened. A music box played by itself in the corner.

Yuma: "Harua, don't go near it."

Jo: "It's clearly a puzzle clue—"

SLAM.

A cabinet burst open on screen.

Harua dropped the controller. "NOPE. WHY WAS THAT SO LOUD?!"

Maki started laughing. "That confidence lasted what, three minutes?"

"I wasn't scared," Harua lied, picking the controller back up with shaking hands. "I was just... startled."

Yuma was next. He immediately changed the control sensitivity.

Taki raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need to adjust settings?"

"So I can run faster."

As soon as Yuma's character entered the basement, the lights flickered.

"Okay. Nope. No. We're not doing this," he muttered, backing his character into a corner.

A whisper echoed.

"Turn around."

Harua: "Don't."

Yuma: "I HAVE TO."

He turned—and screamed so loud that Maki choked on his soda.

Yuma literally tossed the controller into Jo's lap. "My soul left my body. I'm done. I'm out. I've seen the other side."

Taki was already sweating before he held the controller.

"I don't want to do this. I hate you all."

He cautiously tiptoed through a haunted orphanage level.

BANG.

The in-game door slammed shut.

Taki screamed, dropped the controller, and dived behind Maki.

"NO. NOPE. GOODBYE."

Yuma: "We've literally seen scarier things in the dorm kitchen."

Taki: "THOSE THINGS DIDN'T WHISPER MY NAME."

Jo laughed so hard he cried. "You made it eight steps. That's a new record."

As the game progressed, chaos only escalated.

Yuma stepped on Jo's foot during a jumpscare.
Maki somehow ended up holding Harua's hand.
Taki clung to a lamp for comfort.

"TAKI, THAT'S DECOR—NOT A PERSON!" Jo yelled.

"It's the only one who hasn't betrayed me!!"

They finally reached the boss stage—some demonic creature that crawled on walls and whispered their names.

"Wait, it said Harua just now."

"No it didn't—"

"I SWEAR I HEARD IT," Taki shrieked.

BOOM.

A loud thud from the game.

Yuma full-on leapt off the couch and tackled Harua in fear.

"WHY AM I ALWAYS THE ONE YOU HIT?!"

"I PANIC VIOLENTLY, I'M SORRY!!"

After 2 hours of yelling, tears (mostly Taki), and popcorn in every crevice of the couch, they paused the game.

Silence.

Jo blinked. "So... same time tomorrow?"

"Absolutely not," said Harua, cradling his bruised shoulder.

Maki grinned, already queuing up the next game. "What about the sequel?"

"YOU'RE DEAD TO ME," Yuma declared, while Taki slowly removed the hoodie.

"...Can I sleep with this hoodie tonight?"

"No," Maki laughed. "But you can sleep in the living room with the lights on."

Bonus Scene:

The next morning, Nicholas walked in, yawning. "Why is there popcorn on the ceiling?"

"And why," EJ asked, "is Jo sleeping with a pillow fortress around him?"

"Trauma," Jo whispered. "Pixel-based trauma."