It was a quiet, moonless night when Sam decided to dive into his latest gaming obsession. He had recently downloaded a game that everyone was talking about—a horror title known only as "The Midnight Game." Rumors swirled around it, claiming it was cursed, but Sam was a skeptic. He laughed off the idea, convinced that it was just a clever marketing ploy.

The game’s icon on his desktop was simple—a clock striking midnight. With a smirk, he clicked on it. The screen went black, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, a chilling voice whispered through his headphones, "Welcome to The Midnight Game."

The screen flickered to life, revealing a dark, pixelated hallway. The objective was simple: survive until 3:33 AM. Sam maneuvered his character through the narrow corridors, the sound of his virtual footsteps echoing eerily. The game was surprisingly atmospheric, with shadows that seemed to move on their own and faint whispers that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

As he played, the atmosphere in his room seemed to change. The air grew colder, and the shadows in the corners of his room seemed to stretch and writhe. He shook it off, attributing it to his overactive imagination.

In the game, the clock struck midnight. The screen pulsed with a deep red glow, and the whispers grew louder, more frantic. "Don’t look back," they hissed. Sam’s heart raced, but he continued forward, eager to see what the game had in store.

Suddenly, the lights in the game flickered and went out. The screen went completely black, save for a single, flickering candle that appeared in the distance. Sam’s character moved toward it, the only light in the oppressive darkness.

As he neared the candle, the game’s graphics glitched, and the screen filled with distorted faces, their eyes hollow and mouths agape in silent screams. The whispers grew into a cacophony of voices, all chanting the same word: "Run."

Sam’s hands trembled as he tried to move his character away, but the controls felt sluggish, unresponsive. The screen flashed, and suddenly, his character was standing in a room that looked eerily like his own. The details were uncanny—the same posters on the wall, the same cluttered desk, even the same flickering candle that now sat on the edge of his real-life desk.

A cold sweat broke out on Sam’s forehead as the game’s clock ticked closer to 3:33 AM. The whispers turned into blood-curdling screams, and his screen started to crackle with static. He tried to exit the game, but the option to quit was grayed out, unresponsive.

Just then, the power in his house went out, plunging his room into darkness. His heart pounded in his chest as he reached for his phone, only to find it dead. The only light came from the flickering candle on his desk, just like in the game.

Suddenly, a soft tapping sound came from behind him. Sam froze, his breath catching in his throat. The tapping grew louder, more insistent. He turned slowly, his heart pounding in his ears.

There, in the darkness, stood a figure—its face obscured by shadow, but its eyes gleaming with a malevolent light. The figure stepped closer, its footsteps echoing the ones he had heard in the game.

"Game over," the voice from the game whispered, this time coming from right behind him.

The last thing Sam saw before the candle blew out was the clock on his desk. It was 3:33 AM.

The next morning, Sam’s friends found his room empty, the computer still on, with "The Midnight Game" stuck on a black screen. The only clue to his disappearance was a single, flickering candle sitting on his desk, still burning despite the absence of Sam... and his clock, which was permanently stopped at 3:33 AM.