Right when things seemed more hopeless than ever, my character stopped responding to button presses. I couldn't move any further. This, I supposed, was it. The end. I thought, huh, that was a bit abrupt, but maybe if you squint it's kinda profound? A commentary on the ephemeral nature of life, or how we can't rely on others when it counts, or how in the end we all die alone.
Anyway it turned out that my keyboard's battery had died.