Kaz had seen this coming. Really, it was hard to miss. He had always been a part of that end-gamer group sitting around the tavern where they did nothing but talk about random shit all day. The shutdown of YGGDRASIL had been the main topic for months. Granted, he spent more time with his guildmates now, but he still came over time from time, so he knew what was going down. Not to mention the uproar on the forum. They had dozen of petitions, even protests, marches, boycotts. All sorts. He helped with what he could, but deep down, he had always known it was futile. It irked him to end, obviously. This wasn’t something he could just beat into submission, which was why he didn’t know how to deal with it. He had seen it coming, but that didn’t make it any easier. 

 The tavern he frequented was deserted, as expected. Most of the regulars left long ago; no one wanted to stick around in a dead game. Gamers didn’t have loyalty; they had appetite. He would know. They were probably out there, surfing the web for a new game to dominate. Normally, he would have done just that. It used to be his routine. He didn’t do sentimental attachment and teary exchanges. He didn’t do goodbyes. Gods, the Seekers was a bad influence. 

 He had his own floor in the guildhall. Perks of being one of the highest ranking members in the guild. However, unlike others, he didn’t have any NPC of his own design. It was the same reason why he didn’t have a dog; he wasn’t interested in the responsibility. After his forth NPC met its end in combat, he had given up creating new ones altogether. He didn’t think too much about that anymore. At this point, he wasn’t sure what his guildmates were doing. They did mention a meeting in the Throne Room, but he didn’t feel like attending yet. There was still time left, he thought to himself as his guild ring activated, placing him on the carpeted floor. 

 His floor was nothing more than a glorified storage room, to be honest. He received complaints now and then, but he still couldn’t bring himself to care. It was, after all, his floor. He could fill the place with explosives and set everything on fire if he wanted. Actually, he did former already. Kaz didn’t have the habit of stacking his stuffs into storage units. Instead, he just literally left them lying all around. His floor was just a large, empty corridor, supported by cobble stone pillars with a granite passage in the middle leading toward a fancy throne. All around, piles of random junks were stacked high, some even touching the curved ceiling. There was a method in the madness though. The items was stacked quite neatly, if one ever took the time to look. He kept all sorts of things here, from weapons and armors to trinkets and junk items. There was also some gold scattered around in various chests and trunks around the place, but compared to what the Seekers had in their vault, it was just chump change. He didn’t have any security measures installed down here. Why bother? Asides from those creeps who were into playing with polished skulls and wearing leather straps, he would actually have to pay people to take these junks. 

 He thought of tidying the place up. Believe it or not, sorting through his stuffs always calmed Kaz down. Not that he was panicking or anything. Just indisposed. Slightly out of it. Irked. Irritated. Something along those lines. So he did just that. He sorted through his things. Wordlessly, he navigated the sprawling bowels of his quarters, making sense of the chaos in his own way. Time slipped by, and eventually, he surrendered with a sigh as he looked at the digital clock on his interface. It wouldn’t be long now. He stopped in his tracks, turning to look at his ‘hoard’. Everything he had fought for, every battle, every death, every enemy, every friend… he kept a memento for each and every one of them here. That was why he named this floor the ‘Hall of Memories’. Corny, he knew. But Kiri didn’t let he pick ‘Pussy Wagon’ or something equally embarrassing. 

 Speaking of the guild founders, he wondered briefly what she was doing at that moment. Probably holding a tea party with all her NPCs. After all, she was the sentimental type. The girl invested so much in this guild. He looked at the guild ring on the middle digit of his left hand, contemplating. He was planning to spend a bit more time in his floor, only planning on turning up at the Throne Room for a few last seconds. Goodbyes weren’t his thing. But in the end, he didn’t go through with his plan. In this situation, maybe he could afford some sentimentality. 

 The teleportation spell deposited him in the Throne Room seconds later, where he joined others at the round table. Kiri was nowhere to be found, so he assumed she was still having her tea party. The occasion called for alcohol, so he brought some, just small bottles of ale he had lying around, and passed them out. Not that they could get drunk or taste anything, but it was the thought that counted. He didn’t want to get shitfaced here anyway, at least, not yet. He would do that later, in real life. 

 He talked a little, keeping his conversations light since he figured it was better than awkward goodbyes. His guild mates deserved as much, for putting up with him all these time. Soon enough, Kirishima, the founder, arrived, along with her entourage. He eyed the three NPCs behind her, wondered briefly if they knew of their imminent end. Would they even care, had they known? He looked blankly at the NPCs, wondered what Kirishima put in their code. 

 When Kiri gave her final speech, Kaz grinned broadly, all teeth and no humor. She sounded awkward, but sincere regardless. If he weren’t such a coward, he would have prepared a speech of his own. But he was, so he didn’t. He just leant back in his seat, eyes skyward, watching the countdown with placid eyes. At the very end though, where it was at number 2 and falling, he managed five words.  

 “[color=royalblue]I will miss you guys.[/color]”  

 He didn’t think they would hear it. Because just as he finished, the clock hit zero. He blinked. Around him, YGGDRASIL persisted. 

 He bolted upright, sending the sword in his lap clattering to the marble floor. The clock was still running. This made no sense. He turned to Kirishima, but she appeared to be just as confused as he was. His other guild mates didn’t fare any better. 

 “[color=royalblue]The fuck?[/color]”- He blurted, attempting to log out to check the forum. Something like this would probably garner dozen of threads by now. However, the log out sequence didn’t work. In fact, nothing worked at all. He tried the friendlist, the cash shop, the in-game news, the trade chat, even the GM panel. Nothing worked. 

 He now had a reason to panic. 

 “[color=royalblue]Oh shit. You guys tried logging out?[/color]”- He turned to look at his guildmates, only to find that they were still around. Meaning they didn’t try, or tried to no avail. This was bad. He wasn’t sure how or why, but they were trapped. Funny how he used to spend hours on end basking in the familiarity of this place, but as soon as he realized he couldn’t leave, cold fear rose to grip his insides. 

 Amidst the rising panic, he heard the voice of Kiri’s three NPCs. And those weren’t their default lines. He looked at them, his eyes narrowing as he marched over, his strides uncharacteristically ungainly. He stopped in front of the vampire NPC, waving a hand in front of her face in order to get a reaction. –“[color=royalblue]You’re hearing this, Kiri?[/color]”- He basically shouted, his eyes wide like saucers. Then he paused, touching his own lips, feeling movement under his hands. Hell, he could even feel his own lips. His hands were colder than he expected.-“[color=royalblue]Shit. I’m talking. Like, really talking. God, look![/color] ”

 “[color=royalblue]Holy shit![/color]”- Astonished, he began patting the red-eyed NPC on the head, feeling soft hair in his bare hand. It felt surreal, almost like a dream. Albeit a very, very realistic one. He had dreams before, but this certainly didn’t feel like one. He had checked, bringing his gauntleted hand up and pinching himself. It hurt.  

 For better or worse, this was real.