The World's Final Days

The hall was a vast expanse of space, its marble floors polished to a shine and its high ceilings adorned with crystal chandeliers. The room was filled with powerful warriors, each of them garbed in armor of different colors and designs.

In this grand feast, men and women alike showed off their beauty, clad in the finest and rarest of armors. They danced, ate, and drank with wild abandon. It was a gathering of the most powerful, all to celebrate the end of the world.

In the center of the hall at the grand table, a giant of a man decorated in extravagant golden armor bellows out a laugh that can be heard throughout the grand hall. A towering mass of muscle, the Giant Man stands at over 10 feet tall. His skin is a deep bronze, and his hair and beard are a fiery red.

By his side, a lithe, short, androgenous person clad in dark, shadowy armor quietly sips at his flask. The person was small, even by human standards. Their armor consisted of dark, shadowy materials, making it difficult to discern any details about their body. Their face was obscured by a mask, and their voice was muffled and distorted, making it impossible to identify their gender or age.

The Giant man gave the Shadowy person a powerful clap on the back. "And then, this bastard? He pretended to have a falling out with our clan, and then joined the enemy! For months he waited, slowly build up trust, and then guess what?" He leans forward, pausing dramatically. "On the day our Clans met for battle, Ceviran's whole Clan base exploded!" The man laughed. "This bastard had snuck in an Abyssal Dragon egg into Ceviran's treasure vault, timing it to give birth on the day of our battle! As a result, the whole clan was obliterated, and their territory fell to us."

A nearby knight nodded, "I remember hearing about that. It caused quite the ruckus, didn't it?"

Ceviran, who was sitting across the table from the shadowy figure, chuckled. "Good god, what a day. I had to change the name of my Clan! The recording of our base exploding blew up online, and our whole clan became laughingstocks... Well, it was a pretty damn hilarious way to go down, so I have no regrets."

The Giant man looked at the Shadowy figure and grinned. "Ah, Ravenstar. You are the most slippery, scummy, manipulative bastard I have EVER met!"

Ravenstar sipped from his flask. "Oh, please, you are too kind Opeia."

Opeia chuckled, and then looked at his mug. Smiling sadly, he said "I am going to miss this place."

All those gathered at the table looked down, each person having the same solemn expression.

Opeia lifted his mug, and smiled sadly. "Don't get all mopey, not when our next adventures are bound to be even more amazing! Come on, one more toast for all the fun we've had."

Everyone at the table lifted their mugs, and yelled in unision. "Fuck yeah!" Then, they all chugged their drinks...

... except for Ravenstar. Sighing, he sipped from his flask. "Man, you just had to get all sappy. You almost made me feel bad for what I did."

Everyone at the table froze. Opeia turned, crushing the mug in their hand. "Ravenstar, what did you do?"

At that moment, the first person in the hall collapsed. They were a corpse before they even hit the floor.

Ravenstar shrugged. "Nothing much, just poisoned all the drinks."

Everyone at the table cursed.

Ceviran rubbed his temples and sighed. "You really couldn't resist? Even when the game is over?"

Ravenstar sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Sorry guys. I figured if it was time to say goodbye, I wanted to do it my way."

By that time, 20 more people had died in the grand hall.

Ceviran cursed, slamming his fists on the table. "You bastard! I am going to hunt you down in Liegthaven Online! Your death will be the most horr-" At that moment, Ceviran froze, coughed out a bucket of blood, and collapsed in his chair. Dead instantly.

Ravenstar smiled and wagged their finger. "Another good reason for what I did. If we got along too well, we would surely dominate the new game. That sounds boring! If you wanna have fun, you gotta plan well in advance~"

By that moment, the only two alive were Ravenstar and Opeia.

Opeia shook his head and laughed. "God damnit Ravenstar, you're a real bastard."

Ravenstar smiled. "You're one tough bastard yourself. How are you still alive?"

Opeia smirked. "Oh, come on! A little bit of poison can't take ME o-" Opeia froze, coughed out a bucket of blood, and collapsed in his chair. Dead Instantly.

Ravenstar stood. "It was nice knowing you all. Sorry, but this was a lot of fun." With that, Ravenstar walked away from the table and out the hall, and was gone.

***

10 minutes before the game's server shuts down.

Stepping outside, Ravenstar began walking towards Mt. Amos, the giant mountain that overlooked his clan's base.

Ravenstar had spent years playing games with his clan, and had enjoyed every moment of it. He remembered how they had worked together to build their base, and how they had fought countless battles. It was a time filled with adventure and excitement. But now, everything was coming to an end, and with it would be the start of his next adventure.

Coming to a clearing high up the mountain, Ravenstar looked at his clan's base, viewing it in all its' splendid glory.

The clan's base was a marvel of engineering and artistry. Its towers were adorned with gold and silver, and its walls were reinforced with steel and iron. Its courtyard was a lush garden, filled with exotic flowers and plants. Inside, the halls were filled with paintings, sculptures, and other priceless artifacts. It was a fortress that housed the elite players of the most powerful clan.

But now, it was time to move on.

Ravenstar sighed, taking off his mask. 'It is finally time to say goodbye. All our hard work... I remember grinding for hours to get the resources for this base! During the past five years, I think I spent I majority of my time in this game.'

After a moment of sullen silence, Ravenstar began to gather up energy in his hands, preparing to activate a spell, when suddenly-

-A giant sword cleaved through the center of his body!

Ravenstar jumped in shock. 'What the hell? That attack took out 90% of my HP!' Quickly turning around, Ravenstar found a beast of a man standing behind him, with a giant sword in hand.

Opeia grinned. "Fooled you, dumbass!"

Ravenstar slumped forward and turned back around. "Huh. So how'd you survive?"

Opeia yawned, and walked beside Ravenstar. "Well, I didn't know anything for certain, but I was suspicious as soon as I saw you drinking from your flask. I can't afford to take any chances with you, you slimy bastard! So, I drank my from my own mug with my own ale I had in my inventory."

"Well, you fooled me. What did you use to make yourself cough up blood?"

Opeia summoned a small gem into his hands, and handed it to Ravenstar. "I think you will like what I did. Since this is the end, I figured it would be best to trick you like this."

Looking at the item's description, a flash of recognition crossed Ravenstar's eyes. "Ah, I see. How poetic. A Mimic's Crystallized Tear."

Opeia nodded. "What you used to avoid being killed by that Abyssal dragon, when you unleashed it upon Ceviran's base."

Ravenstar stared at the item in his hand, smiling warmly. 'A Mimic's Crystallized Tear, an item that allows the one holding it to replicate a death they had witnessed previously. I had used it to fake my death, so I wouldn't be eaten. Ah, to use my own tricks against me...'

Ravenstar tossed it back to Opeia. "If you suspected I was going to do something, why not prevent it?"

Opeia scoffed. "Where would be the fun in that?"

Ravenstar smirked. "I suppose you are right..." Looking at the base, he sighed. "Well, Ella, you ready to say goodbye?"

Ella nodded, staring off into the distance. "See you in the next game, Raven."

Ravestar once again gathered energy in his hands, preparing to unleash his last spell. After several seconds, he unleashed it upon the base.

At first, it seemed like nothing happened. Slowly, however, the base's walls began to expand outward. A few short seconds later, the whole base exploded outwards, with goop and slime spraying in every direction.

Ella raised her eyebrow. "Are those... slimes I see?"

Raven shrugged. "I used a legendary artifact to boost the power of my spell 'Summon Slime'. I also used a legendary artifact to bypass the cooldown, allowing me to summon as many slimes as my mana could afford."

The resulting slimes numbered over a million.

The slimes immediately began to eat and consume everything in their path. Within moments, the entire base was consumed, and all that remained was a giant horde of slimes.

Not long after, it was finally midnight, and the game's servers shut down for good.

***

In the year 3047, the whole world knows only peace. It was a world without poverty, discrimination, hunger, or war. Medical science allowed people to live upwards of 200 years, and Artificial Intelligence had replaced the vast majority of jobs. Humanity had reached a utopia. It was a world where all people's material needs were met, and people were free to pursue pleasure in whatever form they wished. Video Games, Movies, Music; all had been perfected through centuries of development, and then brought even further with the help of AI. However, after reaching the peak of human development, the world had become stagnant. For centuries the Earth had remained the same as it awaited the single development that would bring about a new era...