The monitor went black. Elias wasn't in his room anymore. He was standing in a bruised, sickly purple world, clutching a broken sword, waiting for the next person to click the link.

In the real world, Elias felt a cold hand rest on his shoulder. He looked at his monitor one last time. The text at the bottom of the screen didn't say YOU DIED . It said:

Elias knew better, but the itch to return to Lordran was too strong, and his wallet was too light. He clicked. The download was suspiciously fast. Within minutes, the bonfire icon sat on his desktop, glowing a little too brightly.

When he launched the game, there was no introductory cinematic. No Oscar of Astora dropping a key into a cell. Instead, the game started Elias in the middle of the Firelink Shrine. The sky wasn’t the usual gloomy gray; it was a bruised, sickly purple.