It was roughly a year ago; I had decided I was going to clean out my garage. It was quite cluttered in there and I decided that I could use that garage for something better than to keep it a mess.
While I was taking junk off the shelves, I came across my old Nintendo 64, coated with dust. I remember buying this during my childhood, along with a few games, which were in a box right next to the N64. One of them being Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, by far my favorite out of all the games I had gotten.
I still play Ocarina of Time every now and then, except instead of the original N64 version, I played the Nintendo 3DS version.
Other than the massive amount of dust it collected over the years, the N64 was still in good shape, and the games were too. If they still worked well, I could possibly make some money from selling them.
After cleaning the system, I plugged it in, popped in Ocarina of Time, and turned it on to see if it still worked.
The title screen ran smoothly, and I decided to start a new file just to make sure everything was working properly.
It did, until I got to the Happy Mask Shop.
While talking to the ever so eccentric Happy Mask Salesman, for a split second his usually cheery face would blink to the face he makes when he's angry and back. Naturally, I thought this was odd, but I kept going nonetheless.
Eventually I got to the point where you sell the Skull mask to the mischievous child in the woods, and he pays you less than what the mask costs.
I had seen online what would happen should the player return to the shop without the full pay, but I wanted to play out the cutscene just to make sure everything was working.
As expected the Happy Mask Salesman wasn't happy, he put on his manic, intimidating face and said what he was supposed to say,
"What?! You don't have my money?! How dare you! You'd better bring me my money...or else!"
Unexpectedly, the screen cut to black instead of fading out to white like I had seen in videos. I was confused.
A minute passed before I appeared outside the shop like I was supposed to. To my surprise however, the town was completely in ruins! I recognized that this is what the town was supposed to look like as adult Link after Ganondorf takes over.
The differences: I was child Link, there were no ReDeads loitering around, and there wasn't even any sound! Except the sound Link makes when he walks or runs.
Feeling uneasy, I decided to leave the Market hoping everything else was still like it should be. But when I got to the gate, the drawbridge was shut, trapping me in the market!
Curious, and feeling the anxiety grow, I started to wonder around the back alleys.
There I found the Soldier in the Back Alley. I remember hearing about him, and how he is frequently missed by players due to the remote location and short timespan he can be seen. But why is he appearing now?
I tried to talk to him, instead Navi says, "He's not moving anymore…."
He was already dead.
When I closed out the dialogue box, the game suddenly froze to that petrifying scream that ReDeads make. Then Link made that animation he makes when he dies in the water.
The game faded to black, I was about to hit the reset button when the game came back. I recognized where I was, at the bottom of the well in Kakariko Village. Having appeared in the room where there were those cages with chains and blood added to my nervousness, and the eerie music that plays in the well sure didn't help.
I wandered around the room. Strangely, the skulltulas that normally drop from the celling when you get close to their area were gone. I tried to go out one of the doors, but instead of going through the door, Link was thrown back as if he were hit by an attack! Little jolts of electricity crawled all over his body and made little crackling noises. Which is only supposed to happen when you get zapped.
To make the situation scarier, Link didn't get up, and I couldn't move him! No matter what buttons I tried!
I heard the sound of a wallmaster dropping down. Unable to move, I was easily caught. I watched in horror as the evil hand carried Link off into the shadows...
A dialogue box suddenly appeared reading,
"What?! You don't have my money?!"
I then appeared in the Royal Family's Tomb, in the room where you're surrounded by bones and skeletons. At this point I'm frozen in fear, too scared to do anything. Link looked over his shoulder, which is normal if you leave him idle for a short period of time. But this was anything but normal; in my panicked mind, he looked afraid and I felt like he was looking at me, pleading me to get him out of there.
I tried to, but the stone you stand on to get out of holes was gone. Link suddenly started doing his 'ReDead strangling" animation, and another dialogue box popped up with the words,
"How dare you!"
The screen then cut to white, faded to black, and the Happy Mask Salesman slowly faded in from the darkness with that angry demon-possessed face. Along with a dialogue box reading,
"You'd better bring me my money...or else!"
He stared at me for several seconds, then I heard Link scream, before the game played the normal death sequence.
That was it, I couldn't take it anymore.
As the words 'Game Over' appeared across the screen I screamed in terror, ripped the plugs out of the outlet, yanked the cartridge out of my N64 and flung it out my two story bedroom window. My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking. I've never been so terrified of a Zelda game in my life.
The next morning, I decided I was going to play the game again, except this time have a video camera ready to record any scary moments. I went outside to look for it, but it was nowhere to be found. I could barely make out an imprint in the dirt where the cartridge had seemingly landed, next to a few footprints. Somebody must have picked it up.
I went to my neighbors, asking if they had picked up an Ocarina of Time N64 cartridge, but nobody had anything.
I continued on with my life like normal, but that frightening memory of that day will always linger… I never saw the Happy Mask Salesman the same way again. The biggest question I have is...
Where is the game now?