Hardcore

Lyrics: I rolled a Warlock on a Tuesday night, bound my first demon by the campfire light, the Rogues watched me pass through the Blood Moor rain, and I swore this time I'd see Baal again. Every hit point is a promise you keep, every portal is a prayer before sleep, you don't play Hardcore to win the fight — you play it to feel alive tonight. One life, no loot — that's the deal I signed, leave your body where the servers left your mind, the character screen won't remember your name, but I'll click "Create" and I'll do it again. Made it through the Maggot Lair on fumes, potion belt empty, merc dead in those tombs, Duriel hit me — health dropped to a sliver, cold sweat on my hands, I could feel my pulse quiver. I hammered that town portal, watched the blue ring spin, landed in Lut Gholein with the skin of my shin, Cain said something wise — I didn't hear a word, my hands were still shaking from what just occurred. Every waypoint is a checkpoint you earn, every Herald of Terror, a lesson you learn, you don't play Hardcore for the gear or the grail — you play it for the moment right before you fail. One life, no loot — that's the deal I signed, leave your body where the servers left your mind, the character screen won't remember your name, but I'll click "Create" and I'll do it again. One life, no loot — that's the deal I signed, leave your body where the servers left your mind, the character screen won't remember your name, but I'll click "Create" and I'll do it again. Level eighty-nine in a Terror Zone, Colossal Ancients — I should've left it alone, Korlic charged, Madawc threw his axe, I saw my Warlock fold — and I leaned right back. The screen went grey. The silence hit. No dramatic death — just… that was it. A Grief, an Enigma, a perfect Torch gone, twenty-seven hours, and the character moved on. And here's the thing they'll never understand: I didn't throw my mouse. I didn't slam my hand. I sat there for a minute. Stared at the screen. Thought about the Viper Temple — level seventeen — when I almost died the first time and my heart was beating like I'd never felt this game restart something in my chest that no soft-core run could give, that beautiful, stupid reason why I live. One life, no loot — that's the deal I signed, leave your body where the servers left your mind, the character screen won't remember your name — but I'll click "Create"… …and I'll do it again. …and I'll do it again.