Naofumi I*

Today is the last day the EU servers will run my favorite MMORPG. The game is getting shut down for EU players thanks to a new law coming out soon. How petty from the old geezers in command.

Anyhow, if it's the last day in the game, I might as well enjoy it with my friends if they show up. The last time we all played together was about five years ago, and since then, fewer and fewer clan members have been connecting.

I understand that most of them have a life and, most importantly, families, but I still miss all of my boys. It was not the same without them, so I stopped trying harding. I wonder how strong I am after all these years.

I put on my VR headset and logged in to the game without further ado. Alright, so my account is still in the top five, uh? After all these years, has only one player taken my number-one spot? Man, I was a sweatlord back in the day.

I soon found myself battling in the global arena against other top players, and it was clear that I still had it! I was kicking butts globally, and that felt great. Why had I stopped playing? Oh, yeah, life.

In any case, after a couple of demolishing matches, I left the arena and began to roam around our clan headquarters. Our mansion was massive, and I had forgotten most of it; I had even forgotten that we used to have NPC servants and all.

[AI upgraded servants]

Had they updated the NPCs to run on AI? That's not bad. Shame it's the last day I can play, but I surely appreciated them sticking to their words, even if for only the last day online.

"Welcome back Naofumi-Sama!"

"Hey, there, Albedo. Have you seen any of the other clan members recently?"

"No, sir, no other clan members besides you have shown up here."

Well, that was a shame. So it really was just me and the NPCs. I expected as much since basically nobody answered or reacted to my discord general DM. I simply wished to believe otherwise.

Right as I was about to disconnect, something within me urged me to get my top position before I logged offline forever. I wanted to be remembered in the top spot for at least a while.

With a good grind set in mind and my overpowered class and old meta-strategy, I began to climb the ranks from the top five to the top three, and I was soon in second place globally. Only one more player stood before me, and number one "AstridStorm."

Dam, his build was good, but I had the experience advantage, so soon, I countered all of his moves and again claimed the top spot for myself! I couldn't leave without less than number one!

"You're as good as the urban legends said, Naofumi. GG, well played, you win, champ!"

"Thank you, Astrid. You also gave me a run for my money. Unfortunately, I will disconnect soon so you can take the number one spot when rank resets."

"You're one of the EU players?"

"Yeah"

"That sucks, I wanted to face you off one more time soon."

It was a nostalgic feeling, and happiness filled my body as I smiled in real life. I had made my name known all across the game, and people would never forget me as a top player in the game; I couldn't ask for more before going offline.

Maybe someone would also want to take over my clan when I wouldn't

be here to defend it. Nah, that was unlikely; only the top five stood a shoot, but they already had their bases. Why would they raid mine?

It was almost midnight, and since I knew servers were going down anyway, I chose to stay to watch the counter reach zero. I now wanted to see the end of the game, and the message blocking me from playing.

I ordered all the staff to come to the audience room as I sat on my throne, holding my massive champion's staff. The timer was close to reaching zero as the numbers turned red. I began to prepare myself for the forced disconnection.

But then the timer reached Zero, and nothing occurred. I thought it was a possible delay since the game was massive, so turning all the servers down would take some time. Yet the timer began to move forward from 00:00:00:01, 02, 03, 04...

I tried to open up my user HUD, but nothing came up when I wanted to use it. I panicked, so I naturally gravitated towards my staff and remembered I could access the user HUD with it, so I did.

It read [Cannot contact moderators, cannot locate the server. ERROR ERROR ERROR.]