DO NOT PLAY News

It’s me. Employee A.

In Europe between the 15th and 17th centuries, many people were executed as examples to others after unjust trials known as “witch trials.”
During the French Revolution, public executions were carried out using the guillotine.
In Rome’s Colosseum, people were made to fight to the death.
There were times overseas when death was presented in various ways—as entertainment or as a spectacle.

It’s not that Japan had no such history, but perhaps the view of life and death here was different from the examples above.
Even in works of entertainment today, such themes exist, and yet shocking footage can spread in an instant.
I can only hope that no one casually posts “images that seem to capture someone’s death.”


There is a reason I began with this preface.
Within this game’s data, there is a straightforward entry titled “Happy Execution Show.”
The accompanying comments are oddly entertainment-like, making it difficult to tell whether this reflects the creator’s view of life and death or simply a form of presentation.

And then there’s the slang phrase, “Tahinasete ageyou.”
I recall it beginning to appear on anonymous message boards in the late 2000s.

What also concerns me is the crocodile-like icon.
I had assumed it depicted the execution of a person, but I will look into what it actually represents.
I will report back once restoration progresses further.

Employee A

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It’s me. Employee A.

These days, terms like “one-click scams” and “malware” have become widely understood,
and I think people have developed at least some level of caution when it comes to downloading things carelessly.
But in the early 2000s, it was a time when internet literacy was still far from sufficient.

I myself fell for it once back when I was a student.
The screen froze, and I hurriedly forced the program to close.
Even now, I clearly remember that feeling of
“I might have just done something irreversible.”

Since then, security software has evolved, and countermeasures have been put in place.
Still, even in this day and age, is it really true that nothing can slip through those defenses—
something that quietly makes its way into your PC without you noticing?

At the very least, since beginning this restoration work,
I’ve experienced a number of unexplained bugs and strange behaviors in my own environment.
I no longer feel confident saying that “nothing is happening.”

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
That reminds me—there was some data I had left untouched for quite a while.
On the screen, it simply says, “For now, try downloading it.”
Beyond that, there was a file named Trojan.zip.
Old memories came rushing back, and I couldn’t bring myself to click it for a long time.
Still, having decided to see everything through, I finally tried running it the other day.

However… I force-quit the process before the progress bar could reach 100%.
The name alone made me think of a “Trojan horse.”
I honestly have no idea what might happen, so I plan to check internally before attempting it again.
It’s possible that someone else has already tried it, though…

Employee A

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It’s me. Employee A.

In recent years, AI technology that animates the deceased in memorial portraits has already begun to enter funeral settings.
By making the departed “smile,” altering their expressions, and passing everything through the filter of “memories,” these practices seem to be barely accepted.

Overseas, there have also been cases where famous portraits or photographs were used to make the dead appear to “walk” through modern cities, drawing public attention.

From a technical standpoint, this is something that can already be done.
The deceased can be made to behave as if they still exist.
Is this an act of remembrance, or a malicious fabrication?
If it is a service born of goodwill, perhaps it can still be justified—but some may see it as inappropriate, or even blasphemous.

If the boundaries of what is acceptable remain unclear, and images of the dead begin to flood social media as if they were still alive,
then somewhere along the way, malice may inevitably creep in.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Now then, this time I came across something particularly distasteful.
It appears to be a game that uses memorial portraits.

Ordinarily, using such images in this way would be considered taboo.
However, much like other unsettling games, there seem to be several examples like this.

Just checking the data is enough to dampen my spirits.
Even so, I must see it through—to find out what awaits at the end of games that place such a heavy burden on the mind.

Employee A

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It’s me. Employee A.

In recent years, pixel art has been drawing attention once again.
Graphics continue to evolve, and today, high-definition visuals and 3D expressions have become the norm.
Even so, more and more creators are deliberately choosing pixel art.

One reason, it seems, is that by not showing too much detail,
the viewer’s imagination fills in the gaps on its own.
And when that completion works in a frightening direction,
people may begin to see things that were never actually there.

Do you remember that retro-style game themed around nightmares that came out not long ago?
They say it depicts the kind of vision seen by someone who has truly suffered a mental breakdown.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

That reminds me—
ASCII art used to be popular, didn’t it?

Among the restored data, something like this was left behind.
I remember that in the early 2000s, there were ASCII artists on message boards.
Back then, many of them felt like cute mascot-style creations,
but apparently, there were also pieces like this—
the kind that sends a chill through you just by looking at it.

It’s hard to look away.
Almost as if you’re being pulled in.

Employee A

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It’s me. Employee A.

Earlier this year, I saw a TV news report about a strange discovery of discarded waste in the Kansai region.
The details were withheld, but it was said to contain what appeared to be blood and skin—
and even fragments resembling organs—leading to speculation that it may have been medical waste.

Under normal circumstances, such materials should be properly disposed of by medical institutions.
Why, then, were they thrown away at an ordinary garbage collection site?
I can only hope there was no criminal intent involved…

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Now then—
I’ve managed to restore another unsettling game, so please take a look.

What appears on the screen is a game where a head that looks like a baby’s face is moved left and right.
Falling from above are not toys or items, but things that can only be described as “internal organs.”

Within the data, this game was tagged as “Organ Catch.”

If this game is meant to depict a single human being…
then could it be that the organs falling from above are—
the very organs that once belonged inside this baby’s body,
the body that this head was once attached to…?

Just thinking about it makes this an extremely disturbing game.

Employee A

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