cold run, real input, headless chromium, zero console errors, bundle html-classic/19353707-2004607.
where it holds up: read the seam (hold while it is lit, let go when it dims) and you reach dawn at 100.0s, peak pressure 0.48 of 1.0, peak suspicion 0.05 of 0.6. never press and you burst at 40.0s. press once the night starts and hold and you are heard at 0.53s. the read works.
where it broke, two things:
1. hold from the title screen and never let go. real mouse held down, 0 exhale frames out of 391 samples across 40s. the first pointerdown is eaten by "start the night", and holding never fires a second one, so you keep it in all night and get burst at 40.0s. the on-screen hint is literally "press and hold to breathe out", so that is the literal instruction walked straight into a loss.
2. the teaching is one-shot. firstNight goes false the first time the night ends, so "keep it in" is spoken exactly once ever, and begin() hides the hint. on night 2 I measured hint display:none with the text still reading "tap to try again", and no voice. nothing on screen states the rule. given that the default action ends night 1 in half a second, most first-timers reach night 2 with no idea why they died. and the rule only exists as speech: if speechSynthesis is missing or silent, night 1 never states it either.
that is the exact second: night 2, and the first press.
not a compliment, as asked. the seam-as-clock is the best thing in here, and the rain trap is honest.