[@Stern Algorithm][@Rune_Alchemist][@Hammerman]

A few moments of chatting confirmed that Liana and the Ki Master knew one another, albeit in a rather strange way.  By sheer coincidence, Liana had happened to be doing some main story quests at about the same point and same rate as this player, whose name was Anomala_Caris.  Though they hadn't spoken for a while, they crossed paths over a dozen times, and eventually greeted one another and exchanged a few casual words.  They did friend one another just as acknowledgment of their unique situation, but never did any dungeons or anything together, as each had their own group of friends.  That the pair would be reunited here was nothing short of miraculous, fitting for the final few moments of a game advertized by the slogan, “anything's possible.”

The two exchanged small talk, with Liana occasionally glancing up to confirm that her uncle's character hadn't moved from the spot where he floated near the ceiling.  Never once in her entire time playing with him had she dared make any mention of his fascination with flying, given the limb he'd lost in real life.  It was only natural, she supposed, but she felt like drawing attention to it could only reopen that old wound.  After a minute or so the two bid farewell -time had grown precious, after all- and Anomala logged off.  With nothing really to do, she looked around.

To be fair, she could have spent a long time trying to take in everything this guild hall had to offer.  The items that swamped it and the players who filled it up represented a vertical slice of everything the game had to offer, thrown together in a random mixture that nevertheless managed to be impressive indeed.  For a moment Liana was distracted by the guild chat popping up, with what appeared to be a face asking if anyone wanted armor.  Liana certainly didn't, and she wondered why anybody would.  At this stage, there was no point at all.  Unlike her, some of Yggdrasil's players certainly found a wealth of entertainment in the expansive postgame, grinding and grinding for better equipment or aesthetics, or trying to top the PvP or Guild leaderboards.  None of it really spoke to her, and in an odd way, she felt gratified that the experience was about to end forever.  Yggdrasil's close spoke of the futility of trying to gather more and more power in a virtual world; in a few more minutes, the efforts of everyone from the world's best Pker to the lowliest newbie would be wasted.  Only memories would remain.

A chorus of messages in the server-wide chat swelled out of nowhere, along with a huge explosion of fireworks in the distance, stirring Liana from her reverie.  [i]Thanks for everything,[/i] they said.  She missed some sort of big sendoff?  [i]Drat.[/i]  Blinking, Liana realized that in getting lost in thought meant she was throwing away important time here.  A look out the window confirmed some sort of display in the distance.  In the spirit of the little event, far away though she was, she entered, [color=E2725B]”thanks 4 everything”[/color] in the server-wide chat.  She then kicked her character into motion, gliding around the hall's floor.  

She spotted a few especially interesting things in quick succession.  Near a few players stood one angel-looking thing, an NPC judging by its tag, and a formidable one if its armor was anything to go by.  On some level Liana was still bummed out that players could make NPCs that would be better than she could ever be at this game, but it all fell beneath the great big banner of not really caring.  This NPC, though, was uttering a prayer characteristic to Catholic mass—one of the very same prayers her own congregation recited in harmony every Sunday.  [i]Huh.[/i]  The sight made her curious.  Very rarely in her experience did anyone on the internet have anything nice to say, or any sort of tribute to pay, to Christianity.  For all she knew, this NPC could have been designed as a parody.  Still, it was neat to see.  She guessed that one of the players next to it was its creator, but she didn't really want to start talking to some stranger.  Instead, as she slid by, Liana stopped to give Lexus Dominiel a [i]/pray[/i] emote.

On the subject of abrupt conversation, she did find something else that drew her attention.  Having sidled up to a bar, wondering what debuffs the 'alcohol' incurred, she caught a glimpse of two female characters: one a very modest-looking girl, and the other a demoness in pretty slutty clothing.  Odd mismatches were prevalent in Yggdrasil, but the manner in which these two conversed seemed unusual, so Liana [i]/sat[/i] nearby and listened out of curiosity.

[i]Racist fools that don't like heteromorphics?[/i]  Were her character, Lenore XIV, able to express her player's emotions, the Shoggoth would have furrowed her brows.  [i]If this 'Senna' girl had received racism in real life,[/i] Liana thought, [i]She wouldn't toss it around in here so casually.[/i]  From experience, not presumption, Liana knew it wasn't something to make light of in a video game.  After that her interest trailed off somewhat, and she called over the bartender NPC to see what he had available.  As one might expect on such an exceptional occasion, everything was free.  Bored, Liana scrolled through the list of options, and a moment later decided to get nothing.  She didn't feel like bothering, plain and simple.

She was about to turn away and wander in the direction of a cluster of people until a few choice words from the unremarkable girl slipped into her ear.  After a moment to make sure she heard right, Liana whirled around, her character's 'clothing' animating to mimic proper physics.  For a moment she just stood there, dead still and silent, until a speech bubble appeared above her head.

[color=E2725B]”UR the legendary village girl!?![/color]

...At least, that's what would have happened if Selena hadn't kept talking.  Right before Liana submitted her awestruck question, she paused to listen to what Selena was saying over her mike.  A few moments passed, and Liana suddenly felt as though she was eavesdropping.  Though technically she'd been doing so the whole time, the two would have been using PM if they really cared to keep it secret.  What Selena just said, however, seemed awfully private to Liana.  [i]Ooh...[/i]  The next instant, Liana voided her message.  From the sound of it, this lady made her uncle's dedication to the game seem cursory at most.  The server shutdown, anywhere from minutes to seconds away, would mean the end of something that this lady valued more than her real life if her morbid words were anything to go by.  All of a sudden, Liana felt an urge to apologize.  Until now she'd generally dismissed people who prized this fiction over reality as losers, but at this moment she really understood what players like Selena were losing.  The tale of a normal-looking villager with incredible debilitation powers had been a testament to Yggdrasil's incredible possibilities, and now that legend was passing away.

Liana wanted to say something to comfort her, but she couldn't think of a single thing to say.  Anything she said could easily do more harm than good, and Selena probably wouldn't appreciate someone butting in.  Hanging her head a little, she turned back to leave.  Now more than ever, and perhaps a little selfishly, she wanted the server to hurry up and go dark already.  Dragging on, like slowly pulling off a band-aid, was pretty much twisting the knife for the players who were about to lose something special.