That's when Lee sat down at a local Internet café in the southern city of Taegu. He logged in on Wednesday, August 3, and spent the next three days playing the game, stopping only for trips to the bathroom and quick naps on a makeshift cot.

When Lee's mother had not heard from him by Friday, she asked some of his friends to find him and bring him home. After reaching the café, they confronted Lee, who told them that he would leave as soon as his game was finished. A few minutes later he collapsed and was taken to the hospital. He died shortly after arriving.

A Taegu provincial official told reporters, "We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion."