1 When the Game was Ended

"Kill him!" A tall goblin with red eyes shouted to his subordinates around him. Although he was called large. His height was only 1,7 meters. In human's eyes maybe he was not too tall. However, in the eyes of other goblins he deserved to be called goblin king.

With silver metal armor protecting his torso and a long halberd in his hands that looked menacing, he deserved to be a level 600 goblin boss.

Goblins were famous as weak monsters in all games. It was rare for a group of goblins to reach a high level.

These goblins were monsters in Greendale Village exclusive dungeon. Exclusive dungeon was generated by activating the dungeon key. The Dungeon key was a rare item. The drop rate of this kind of thing was so small that people called them treasures.

They were indeed treasures. Each of them was a unique item. It meant, when one of them was used, it would disappear from the game forever. However, players could obtain rare, even unique items from them.

It used to be a very expensive item. Yes, it used to. However, Alto reluctantly purchased it with 100 universal credits. For a note, the price of a burger never reached 10 universal credits, even if it was filled with double or triple cheese and patties. Alto paid that much because he wanted to reminisce about the past.

25 years ago he started his journey as a professional player by playing this game. 25 years was the time in the real world. If it was counted in the actual numbers maybe it would reach more than 100 years.

The time in this game was 4 times longer than in the real world. He played this game for 10 years, so the actual time he spent in this game was about 30 years. It was already deducted for offline activities. By the way, this game title was 'Highlife'. It was a common RPG game that had operated for 30 years. It was crowned as the benchmark of VR games for 15 years. With 'alive' NPCs, a truly mesmerizing plots, and addicting gameplay, it became the most popular virtual game for 15 years.

After that, he played a kingdom-building game, 'Turbulent Time' for 7 years. From a rural village head, he built a strong kingdom that ruled 5% of the total land in that game. His kingdom, 'Grandia Kingdom' was the 3rd strongest country in the game until the game closed after 7 years of operation. Actually, with a time difference of 1:10, he spent most of his time in this game.

Alto was known as 'The Tyrant' by the media and got most of his wealth from this game.

After 'Turbulent Time' ended its service, he tried a space genre game by title 'Star Legacy'. However, he couldn't repeat his glory in 'Turbulent Time' in this game. He could only end his playing in this game as nobody after 5 years of struggle.

Then he played a war game, 'Scarlet bullet'. It was a modern war game with setting of the 20th century. This time he successfully put his name in the limelight once again. He built a mercenary group with NPCs as its members except him as the captain. The 'Black Sharks' became the symbol of terror in many battles. He was still playing it at the moment. It was his 3rd year in the real world time and he was still enjoying his glory.

He would be on the battlefield at the moment if he didn't get the news that the legendary game 'Highlife' would end its service today. Actually, there was another reason why he was here now, but he would never admit it.

It had been the fourth day he was in Highlife. He hoped he could complete the dungeon before the game was closed.

[The service of Highlife will end in 30 minutes. The total online players are 321]

Alto glanced at the Boss's HP. It was still more than 50%.

"It seems I have to quicken the pace," Alto complained.

He then opened and activated a scroll. As the scroll glowed and then burned, dozens of fireballs fell from the sky.

***

[The service of Highlife will end in 10 minutes. The total online players are 42]

"Hah… Hah… Hah… Finally done," Alto said while lying on the ground, greedily taking breaths.

Around him were dozens of goblins' corpses. The big Goblin was among them with zero HP. However, he sat down and blood flowed from his mouth.

"Human, you are strong. I'm glad to be defeated by such a brave hero," the goblin king said.

'A cut scene? It is rare,' Alto said in his heart. As a true gamer, his soul didn't allow a follow-up quest to be wasted. He then got up and looked at the goblin king.

"Do you have the last words?" Alto asked.

The goblin king sighed, "I was afraid. My tribe would just disappear and would be forgotten. Your arrival erased my worry. I just never thought we would be defeated only by a person.

However, it proved that you are worthy of our recognition. Human, do you want to inherit our legacy as the strongest goblin tribe?"

[Do you want to inherit the Greendale Goblin Tribe's legacy?]

"Yes!" Although he knew that it was foolish, he still gave a confirmation. He fully understood that all of his harvests would be lost a few minutes later. However, he just couldn't be indifferent when the NPC gave him a quest. It just not his style.

A bright ball of light then flew from the goblin king to Alto's chest.

"Thank you… Therefore, my tribe will continue to exist even if this world is destroyed," The goblin king's and all the deceased goblins' corpses then turned into fragments of light.

"Huh?!" Alto was dumbfounded. He seemed to hear something weird from the goblin king. However, he didn't think about it anymore as the loot was scattered everywhere.

"Forget it. It's time to clean up," He said as he saw a pile of gold coins, several pieces of equipment, materials, and other items around him

***

[The service of Highlife will end in 7 minutes. The total online players are 17]

As the empty goblin village collapsed, he left the dungeon. Looking around, Alto realized that he had already come back to the top of a hill. This hill was an ordinary hill. However, he chose to be here because it was a special place for him.

Alto smiled bitterly, "I am such a fool. Of course, she wouldn't come here."

He looked at the starry skies and then sighed, "Why did you leave me? You know it was impossible for me to stop playing games. As a gamer, why can't you understand?"

He then controlled his user panel. He wanted to know if there were players who he knew were also waiting for the end of the game service like him.

He saw some names that he knew, such as Arbain, the most loyal player and the strongest player of Highlife. When many of the players retired from this game or chose to play other games, he kept playing it. His level was mind-bogglingly high.

No, that was an understatement. His level was 999. Just one more level and he would reach level 1,000, the level limit of this game. He was definitely a legend.

Then Alto's eyes couldn't help but popped up, "What the hell?"

Arbain's level suddenly increased to 1,000. Alto couldn't believe what he had seen. Unconsciously, he typed a direct message to him, "You are crazy!!! No. You are a monster. Where are you?"

"Hahaha… Isn't it Solo King? Welcome to the party!" Arbain replied.

Just as Alto wanted to send another message, he got a notification from the system.

[Arbain sent an invitation to join guild 'Everlasting'. Do you agree?]

[Yes/No]

'What the… This guy is too random,' Alto sighed.

As he wanted to click 'No', Arbain DMed him, "Come on! This game will end in a few minutes. Can't you make an exception just this time?"

Alto sighed. He then remembered that this guy, who introduced 'her' to him a long time ago.

[The service of Highlife will end in 5 minutes. The total online players are 12]

Seeing the notification, he made up his mind. He then clicked 'Yes'. It was the third time he entered a guild and would be his last time. He promised.

[You joined Everlasting Guild]

Alto then accessed the guild chat room, and typed, "What about the guild? I never heard you founded a new guild?"

"I made it to attack the Underworld. We just killed Satan. Hi guys, won't you say hello to the solo king? We don't just make a legend today but two. Only we, who could make the solo king enter a guild since 20 years ago," Arbain joked.

"Hahaha, I will leak it. The gaming world will tremble after knowing it," A player with the name Ares typed.

Ares was also a hegemon in the pro-gamer circle. He beat Alto just three months ago in the final of 'Bullet Carnival', a professional league for Scarlet Bullet.

Alto just smirked. He had a pretty good relationship with Ares. Because they were in the same camp in the Scarlet Bullet, they often worked together in some missions.

"Look at this unprincipled person! I guessed you are here because you were just assassinated. The one million dollars that I spent seems to be worthwhile," a player with the name Loki commented.

'So it's him!' Alto gritted his teeth. Not long ago, he was shot by a sniper when he was doing a solo spying mission. He thought he was shot by an NPC. He never thought he was planned.

"Laugh when you can Loki. I will come to you after this game ends," Alto answered.

[The service of Highlife will end in 4 minutes. The total online players are 8]

"Hahaha… Come! We can kill you once. And we will kill you again," Loki didn't want to appear weak.

Just as Alto wanted to exchange another provocation word, his breath as if was stopped after he saw a new message.

"You never changed. When will you grow up?" Although it was just text, he couldn't help to imagine the writer's expression when she wrote it.

'She must be frowning right now,' Alto smiled.

"Amanda, are you there?" Alto typed nervously. He didn't want her to close the chat room.

She was his ex-wife. Five years ago they divorced after they fought. She wanted him to retire from pro-gaming. She thought they had been too old and that was the right time to retire.

He of course refused her fiercely. He then said something that shouldn't be said. It caused her to be so angry and then left him that very night.

As he realized that she was really important to him, it had already been too late. He had never met her except in the court when she stubbornly asked to divorce except if he decided to retire. Something that he couldn't do even now.

"Yes. I hope you are healthy," Amanda typed.

The chat room was then dominated by the two. They just talked formally, ordinarily. However, it made Alto feel the peace he missed all these years.

The others didn't want to disturb the two. They just watched the chat room silently.

However, the happy time always had an end.

[The service of Highlife ended. The total online players are 8]

[Thank you for playing Highlife for these 30 years or 120 years in game]

'It's a pity,' Alto smiled bitterly.

[Please log off in 10 seconds or the forced log off protocol will be implemented]

"It seems to be a goodbye," Ares typed.

[10]

[9]

[8]

"Goodbye, guys! It was a nice time. See you on the battlefield dumbass!" Loki said goodbye.

'This guy!' Alto frowned.

[7]

[6]

"Let's meet offline guys. I will be lonely after this game ends. East Wind Restaurant should be good. My treat. What do you think?" Arbain said.

[5]

[4]

"Okay," Loki replied.

"You said it! Hohoho," Ares typed.

[3]

"Amanda, let's meet!" Alto typed nervously. He hoped she would reply positively.

[2]

[1]

"Okay," Amanda replied.

It made Alto in the ninth could. He was really in a good mood. Now, he waited for the game to kick him off.

However, after some moments, nothing was happening.

'Huh, is the system error?' Alto was in doubt. He then realized that the chat room still had 5 people. It meant that everyone was still online.

As he wanted to type, Alto suddenly felt that his head was hurt very much. Then his eyes went black.

***

The next day the world was stunned by the news that 8 gamers had died because they refused to log off from Highlife.

***