Saturday 1 October 1997.
Bryan Reynald was truly having an absolute blast playing Diablo 2 with his close group of friends. The game was incredibly deep, filled with endless possibilities and build combinations, which was part of what made it so addicting. Right now, Bryan was still working through Hell Mode with his main character—a Barbarian specializing in the Whirlwind build. It was brutal. Hell Mode lived up to its name, especially for a class that thrived in melee combat. Playing solo was a real challenge, with unforgiving enemy mobs and tight resource management that constantly pushed him to the edge.
Even when he joined up with his friends to run dungeons and grind for rare loot, it didn't make the experience much easier. The difficulty remained relentless. But that was exactly what Bryan loved about it—the intensity, the risk, the satisfaction of overcoming what felt impossible. He thrived on the grind, pushing through each battle with sheer determination. His goal was to craft the perfect set of gear, optimized entirely for his Whirlwind Barbarian, and the pursuit of that dream build was what kept him coming back day after day.
Today, like many weekends before, he and his six friends were planning to meet up at a nearby internet café—one that had slowly become their unofficial headquarters. The scent of instant noodles, the hum of CRT monitors, and the echo of furious mouse-clicking filled the place with an atmosphere Bryan found comforting and exciting. They were ready to tackle another session of Diablo 2 together, carving their way through demons and hellspawn, side by side.
And for Bryan, it wasn't just about loot or leveling up. It was about the camaraderie, the shared frustration and laughter, the triumph of finally beating that boss after the tenth try. It was a ritual. A lifestyle. And there was nothing else quite like it.
Not just that, this game has so many secrets, it's almost overwhelming in the best way possible! From hidden recipes tucked away in the depths of the Horadric Cube to legendary bosses like Uber Diablo, Uber Baal, and Uber Mephisto—each encounter carefully hidden and locked behind challenging requirements. These Uber bosses are so powerful that facing them alone is practically suicide; they demand a full party of well-equipped and coordinated players. Bryan and his crew weren't quite ready for that yet, but the thought of someday taking them on together gave him a rush of anticipation.
Even more fascinating was how the Uber Stage worked. During these chaotic battles, players didn't have to face every demon alone. There were scripted assists from special NPCs—characters who, surprisingly, came from other ZAGE games which none other than Spawn. Spawn would leap into the fray, distracting or holding off additional demonic waves while the players focused on the main bosses. The crossover element blew Bryan's mind.
And then, of course, there was the infamous Secret Cow Level. A bizarre yet beloved hidden stage that had become a meme in the gaming community in Zaboru previous world, but still incredibly useful. In this world it still the same and It was the best place to farm specific runes and grind levels before progressing to higher difficulties. Bryan had ventured into it many times, slashing his way through legions of axe-wielding demon cows.
But what truly made his eyes widen in awe was another, lesser-known secret within that very level. One of forum post said If a player managed to kill every single cow in the stage using only fire-based attacks, it triggered the appearance of a terrifying hidden boss: the Aldebaran Cow. A massive, flame-wreathed bovine monstrosity with molten breath and magma skin, said to be just as strong—if not stronger—than Uber Diablo, Baal, or Mephisto.
The catch? The condition was precise. If even one cow was slain without a fire-type move, the event would fail, and the Aldebaran Cow would never appear. It was a harsh requirement, and that's why Bryan had never attempted it. But the challenge called to him. The thought of unlocking something so rare and powerful made him itch to try it one day with the right party and setup.
There were certain persistent rumors circulating in the community—whispers that Doom Guy, the iconic protagonist from ZAGE's legendary Doom game, could actually appear in Diablo 2 as a hidden Easter egg. No one had managed to confirm it yet, but the forums and fan sites were alive with speculation and wild theories. Threads were constantly buzzing with supposed clues, obscure data mining results, and even vague developer comments, all fueling the mystery. It seemed ZAGE had hidden him extremely well.
Bryan Reynald sighed, intrigued and puzzled, his curiosity growing stronger by the day. "I really want to know how Doom Guy shows up in this game," he thought, shaking his head with a small smile. It was the kind of secret that drove the community wild—an impossible mystery just begging to be solved.
What made the rumors even more compelling was a specific moment from a developer presentation. When Zaboru had introduced the game on stage during a major showcase, he had been dressed head-to-toe in a Doom Guy costume. Fans had initially thought it was just playful marketing, but to the hardcore crowd, it felt like something more—a deliberate hint, perhaps. A sly nudge from the creators themselves.
Bryan couldn't help but feel that the truth was out there, buried beneath layers of trial, error, and cryptic design. And one way or another, someone would eventually uncover it.
Then, while casually scrolling through the ZAGE forums late into the evening, Bryan's eyes widened in disbelief. "No way!" he gasped, nearly spilling his drink. A new thread had just gone live with a shocking title: "I found Doom Guy! In Diablo 2!" His heart pounded as he clicked into the post, his curiosity exploding.
The forum post was written in a mix of excitement and disbelief. "No way, guys! I found the Doom Guy! And the method to summon and play as him is crazy and super specific! You won't believe it—but here's what happened. My friends and I were messing around last night with a group of seven, all using the same class Barbarian. Yeah, I know, it sounds ridiculous already. We were just goofing off, running Andariel in Normal mode, and we got wiped out. A lot. Like 15 times in a row. We're not proud. But then, instead of the normal death screen, something weird happened. We got a completely different prompt that said, 'You are so terrible… call secret character?' We were stunned."
Bryan kept reading, eyes glued to the screen. "So obviously, we all clicked 'yes,' thinking it was some sort of joke or bug. But then—bam! The screen flickered and changed. Suddenly, we were no longer controlling our regular characters. We were dropped into a distorted, hellish version of a Diablo 2 stage, except we weren't playing in isometric view anymore. It had turned into a first-person shooter. And not just any FPS—it looked exactly like Doom 1! The HUD, the shotgun in hand, the way you moved—it was all there. But instead of Doom's demons, it was filled with Diablo enemies. We were Doom Guy. We were all Doom Guys!"
The post went on to describe how the gameplay was intense, fast-paced, and totally unlike anything else in Diablo 2. The crossover felt like a fever dream. And after completing the stage—surviving waves of demons and taking down a modified Diablo boss in first-person mode—a final message flashed on screen: "Get Better." Then, just like that, they were returned to the normal Diablo 2 game.
"It was so insane," the post concluded. "I don't even care if it was a glitch, an Easter egg, or a punishment. That was the coolest thing I've ever seen in a video game."."
Bryan Reynald's eyes widened in disbelief. "No way!?" he shouted, practically leaping out of his chair. Without wasting another second, he immediately picked up his phone and called his entire friend group, telling them they needed to test this claim right now. Within the hour, all seven of them were arrived at the internet caffe they quickly online and equally fired up with anticipation. This time, instead of Barbarians like the post user, they chose to all play as Paladins to switch things up. They gathered in Normal difficulty and made their way toward the Andariel boss, purposefully letting themselves be defeated over and over again.
They joked, screamed, and laughed through each wipeout. The plan was ridiculous, but exciting—and after dying for the fifteenth time, just like the forum post had described, something incredible happened. The death screen didn't appear. Instead, a new prompt flashed on their monitors: "You are so terrible… Call Secret Character?"
Everyone in the group went silent for a moment.
"Click it. Click it now!" Bryan said, barely containing his excitement. And the second they did, the screen went black for a few seconds—then exploded into a first-person shooter layout. Just like the post said, the interface shifted to resemble Doom 1. The gritty textures, the HUD, the weapons—it was all there, but with a nightmarish Diablo twist. Diablo 2 enemies were now charging at them, but instead of swords and spells, they had guns. Shotguns. Machine Guns. They were no longer Paladins. They were all Doom Guy.
Bryan couldn't believe his eyes. This wasn't just a small Easter egg. It was an entirely different game mode hidden within a fantasy RPG Game. The gameplay was smooth, chaotic, and thrilling. They ran through the distorted dungeon stage, blasting corrupted demons and undead horrors in first-person view, the sound of gunfire mixed with heavy metal music of. It felt like a dream.
When the stage ended, the final boss—a monstrous, FPS-style version of Diablo—let out a guttural roar before collapsing. Then, as the screen dimmed, one final message appeared: "Get Better." Just like that, they were back in the standard Diablo 2 interface.
Bryan leaned back in awe, eyes wide, mouth still half-open in shock. "I can't believe ZAGE actually did this," he muttered. Then a grin slowly crept across his face. "I guess that's what makes them different from every other studio out there. That's what makes them pioneers... hehehe."
With renewed excitement, Bryan and his friends dove back into Diablo 2, buzzing with energy and determined to uncover what other insane secrets the game might still be hiding.
To be continue