1 「PROLOGUE」
「 1 HOUR BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
I rubbed my eyes. The message still remained bright on my screen, covering the main lobby of my game that filled my computer screen.
"Could this be a special event?" I thought to myself. The game developers did not post something like this on the patch notes. Maybe it was a hacker? I looked again. The message was clear as day.
「 59 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
The game I am playing is "Forsaken Realm Online." It's not a very popular High-Fantasy MMORPG, but I have been playing it ever since I was 15. The playerbase averages to around maybe 15 logins a day. During that time I was bullied every day and it became harder and harder to come to school. It has been 2 years and I have played pretty much religiously every day. So much so that my grades were affected badly. I had to drop out of High School a few months ago and moved in to my best friend's apartment, but at least I could play FRO more often.
「 55 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
Or so I thought. Ever since then I have been grinding non stop, some days not even sleeping or going to the toilet. In the end, I became the Number 1 Ranked player in FRO.
-PING
A mail alert popped up in my Hotbar. I slowly dragged my mouse over to it, hoping what I was dreading isn't true.
[ THANK YOU FOR PLAYING FORSAKEN REALM ONLINE ]
[ ALL LIVE SERVERS WILL BE SHUT DOWN WHEN THE TIMER REACHES ZERO ]
「 40 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
Reading these words pierced my heart. "Why..? How...?" I immediately opened up the global chat.
[ CHAT SERVERS HAVE BEEN SHUT DOWN ]
"What the hell is going on?" My thoughts were becoming frantic. For me, FRO wasn't just a game. It was an escape. An escape from this cruel reality, where I was weak and helpless. I couldn't stand up to anyone and was so easily pushed around. But the moment I log into FRO, it feels as if I become a completely different person. I'm the Hyung Eun-tae I've always dreamed of being. I was unstoppable.
「 30 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
It's all being taken from me. The least I can do is see it out through the end, and then go back to being the sad Eun-tae. The shut-in, the loser, the weakling. Looking around my room, I finally have a chance to take in my surroundings. Damn. I haven't cleaned in about a week. Hopefully Yeon-joo doesn't get too pissed off about it. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I look around. My hair has grown again. My side bangs are now almost down to my chin. I need a shower.
「 25 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
-BOOM
The thunderclap nearly sent me jumping out of my skin as rain begins to pour heavily from outside, battering at the window. I silently curse. My heart feels as if it's about to burst.
-BZZZZ
My phone buzzes with a notification. I have to squint to adjust to the bright light as my phone illuminates the room. It's from the FRO forums.
[Did you guys see the alert??]
[Yeah, I think it's just a hoax lol]
[Are you sure? It seems real af]
[Duh, the game is dead lol. No wonder dev's are shutting it down]
[It is me. I am behind all of this]
[Shut up idiot]
I put my phone down and blink. Twice. Three times. This isn't just a dream. FRO is shutting down.
「 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
I lie back on my chair, looking at my screen.
-PING
Another mail alert from the system.
[ CONGRATULATIONS HYUNG EUN-TAE ]
My heart immediately stops the moment I read my name. "What? I never gave my name to the system. The email I used doesn't even use my real name!" I feel a bead of sweat slowly trickle down my temple.
「 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
[ YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS THE SAVIOUR OF FORASKEN REALM ]
[DO YOU ACCEPT? YES / NO ]
"What? Saviour? The game is shutting down in less than 10 minutes. This makes no sense."
[ HYUNG EUN-TAE, DO YOU ACCEPT? ]
[ DO YOU ACCEPT? ]
[ DO YOU ACCEPT? ]
[ DO YOU ACCEPT? ]
[ DO YOU ACCEPT? ]
[ DO YOU ACCEPT? ]
-PING. PING. PING.
More and more pop up notifications begin to swarm my screen, the alert noise getting louder and louder, piercing my ears. I isn't long until I reach my breaking point.
"YES!" I scream, louder than what I had intended, and immediately, the pings stop. Silence for what seems to last forever until a loud banging comes from the wall outside.
「 5 MINUTES BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
"Keep it down in there you brat!" a gruff voice shouts at me.
"Sorry!" I yell back meekly. My attention comes back to the screen. One single message is now on the screen.
「 1 MINUTE BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
This is it. The last stretch. "What did the system mean by saviour? Did I get hacked? Nothing makes sense here."
「 30 SECONDS BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
30 more seconds. 30 seconds and I will be the weak Eun-tae I have always been. Nothing more than that.
「 15 SECONDS BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
"So long, FRO. Thank you, for everything." I whisper one last time, as I see my life unravel before me.
「 10 SECONDS BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS 」
「 9 」
「 8 」
「 7 」
「 6 」
「 5 」
「 4 」
「 3 」
「 2 」
[ THANK YOU FOR PLAYING FORSAKEN REALM ONLINE. YOUR RANK 1 REWARDS ARE WAITING TO BE CLAIMED ]
"Huh?"
「 1 」
And the world went dark.
