Italics=Character's thoughts.

[_]=Item/Spell/Ability.

Prologue

All things end. No matter how much one might wish for a moment to last forever, it never does. Sitting in a cozy inn, four people shared this one thought, reminiscing about their golden days, and how they would never come again.

This was not due to some deep philosophical reason, and these people weren't really people, nor were they actually sitting at this table, nor did the inn really exist.

They were Players, video-game avatars controlled by individuals in a DMMO-RPG called Yggdrasil which was released in the year 2126, and was now after 12 years, finally shutting down. And here sat the only four remaining members of a now disbanded guild, by the name of "The Twilight Horde". They sat and "drank", though they did not actually drink anything, for no matter how complex the technology, the ability to simulate taste was still too far to accomplish. Alongside the feeling of smell, and various other minor senses. But none of that mattered now.

For on this table, sat a demonic swordsman, an orc barbarian, an elven paladin and a human mage. Each equipped with the pinnacle of high-quality equipment. The last four members of the once mighty Guild, which once even managed to assemble three World items, and one of the Twenty, and built an impressive Guild Base with 2400 NPC levels, called the "Mashrikiad Tower". And now, that guild, much to the surprise of one of the members on the table, had practically died overnight, about half a year ago. Though it could be argued that it died years ago, considering that from the 67 members it had during it's peak, only 25 still played the game, and only about half of those still logged on regularly.

"What do you mean the guild got destroyed? I've only been gone for a year or so and already you idiots screw everything up?" - Said a masked man, clearly disturbed by the news relayed to him.

"Hey, you were gone for a year, but how many others were also gone? There were only 6 who were logged on during the time of the raid. And we got attacked by Seraphim of all guilds. You know we could never stand a chance against those freaks! So, stop acting like you're the only one affected, it's pissing me off!" - Replied the big and burly orc. He was clearly just as mad, but his face was completely still.

"Calm down Smorcson, I'm sure Kalman-san is just confused. After all he's one of the founding members, and last time he played, which was two years ago, not one, we still had enough people to mount a defense. But all will be explained in time." - Was said by a calm and soothing voice. Its source was the beautiful elven paladin in the white and blue armor. Even though she looked strong, there was an air of serenity about her.

"Yeah yeah yeah, like Nylenia-san said, I'd be pissed too. Hell, I'm still pissed. But what are you gonna do, the servers are shutting down tomorrow, so it doesn't really matter…" - Melancholy was in the voice of the mage, who seemed to have accepted what happened a long time ago.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter, didn't we build the Tower, expand it? What are we going to do when some of the older Guild Members log on? What about the NPCs we made, the items we had in our rooms, the treasury, all the cash-shop items we used?! It's all worthless now. Those assholes have it, and they're sitting like they own the place! Don't you want to mount a counter-attack, and reclaim what is ours?" - Again, the swordsman did not relent in his anger, for his guild had been destroyed and he wanted payback, at the very least.

"You think I haven't thought of that? I can think of nothing else. But face it, they're the number one guild, and we just barely broke into the top hundred. Even if we were in the top ten, with all the 67 members we had during our peak, we couldn't conquer their base, and they destroyed our guild weapon, so we can't reclaim ours. What's done is done." - This time, the mage tried elaborating a bit more, hoping to convince his friend of the foolishness of his ambition. He tried to explain it as well as he could, that going for revenge was pointless.

"Pathetic. We should keep attacking and annoying those bastards until we get what's ours! I thought that you at least would help me out, but you're just lazy by the looks of it." - For the third time though, the swordsman did not relent.

"What did you say ?!"- Screamed Smorcson, barely being able to contain his rage.

"As you said, we have a day until the server shuts down to reclaim our old home, we should be using it to do whatever necessary to win, or do you lack motivation to so?"

"I ain't wasting my time on this. You think you're undefeatable, but no matter how high you bump your stats, you're still just a melee DPS. You can't take on an entire guild, it' impossible. At any rate, this is pointless. Bye bye, and see you never." - Those were the final words the orc said at the meeting. After that though...

-Smorcson has logged off.

The swordsman leaned his head for a second, a bit saddened by the departure of his friend. He knew that even if he didn't get along that well, parting on bad terms was not something he wanted. After a second of silence, he spoke again.

"Damn it. What about you, our esteemed mister mage. Come on TeutoNHearT, I know you're smart enough to figure out a plan of attack. Shouldn't we at least try again, like the old days?" - He asked as he turned his head towards the handsome mage with auburn hair.

"A plan won't change much when you lack firepower, I'm afraid. I'm just a magic caster. And we all know how broken the angelic classes are, especially the higher-level ones. Even if I could shit out Super-Tier magic every minute, at the end of the day, all those bastards can heal and resurrect each other Ad infinitum and they have enough CC and utility to make sure that any fight they're in, they control how long it lasts. I'm sure you understand." - A disappointing answer.

"And you, Nylenia-san? I know with you buffing me we could easily ambush and kill an entire party, and after that-" He didn't even finish his sentence.

"Listen sweetie, your dedication to our guild is touching, but it's in the past now, let it go, ok? Even if we got everyone, it's as Smorcon-san said before he logged off. There is nothing to reclaim. They destroyed the Guild Weapon. They pilfered everything they could, and when they were done, they destroyed the weapon. That's why our Guild was disbanded. Before anyone knew what was happening, we got blitzed, they took the weapon from Cerberus' Vault, and broke it in half." - A gentle voice from a gentle soul, but it was not comfort enough.

"But why… We defended it for so long, and now for the last day, I'm basically gonna be homeless? Only reason I logged on is to see you guys and our Guild base one final time. This is beyond mood-killing." - He said, as he leaned backwards into his chair like a slug. To an outside observer, it was obvious that this guild had meant a lot to this person, and he did not hesitate to show it. Thus, the end of his guild weighed on his heart, and reflected on his mood. Sadly, all things end.

"Yeah…that's how it is. For what it's worth though, I had fun. And you were a great Guild Officer. Just wish we could've at least gotten revenge and destroyed those assholes' own Guild Base. Believe me, the Guild Master, Antonius Caesarus, got everyone together for a raid on Seraphim's Guild Base about 3 months ago, and we lost. We had 32 members, which was pretty much everyone who still played and a few of their friends, to participate in the raid. We attacked, we got through the first two floors, before getting eaten by that giant flaming lion thing. What did they call it, "Gazah Agar" or something like that? Anyways I'm ranting, but we tried, we really did, and it went nowhere." - This time though, the paladin spoke in a more upbeat voice, trying to lighten the mood. It seemed to work, but not in the way she expected it to.

"Shit…now I just feel bad for getting angry at you guys. So anyways, what do you wanna do until the servers shut down. We still have about three hours or so, plenty of time to go to the noob areas and so some light griefing. Whaddaya say?" - He said, trying to change the topic. At the very least, the three of them could have some fun before the servers shut down.

"Thanks but no thanks, you know how it is here on the West Coast, I got work at 7 AM and it's already 5 here, and I haven't slept at all, so I need to get ready." - Said the young mage. His voice however, was clearly a bit hollow, pointing to a lack of sleep that had been pestering him for some time now. Insomnia was a rampant problem in modern society, and he was not the only person suffering from such an affliction.

" Yeah, sure, I get it. Real life awaits, and you were kind enough to wait for me and inform me in person of what happened instead of over e-mail, like most would've. And you, Nylenia-san?" - The warrior took the explanation better than most would've expected, but he had known of his friends problem with his sleeping schedule for a long time now, and did not wish to see him inconvenienced because of his own selfishness. After all, real life came first, and this was something he knew quite well.

"I don't really feel like bullying people, I'm a paladin, so I'd rather help em out. But honestly, that's not what I wanna do now. I'm tired lately. So tired. I'm just tired, of Yggdrasil, video games, life, everything really. I just go to sleep and not wake up till things get better." - She replied to her friend.

"It's that bad in Japan huh?" - It was.

"Work, get home, eat, minor mindless recreation, shower, sleep, repeat. Enough to drive anyone mad. So, as much as I've enjoyed the good times, I must prepare for another day of pointless drudgery. See ya on the other side." - The paladin said, before making a military style salute towards her comrades. Then she was enveloped in bright light, and disappeared.

-Nylenia has logged off.

"So, Kalman, now that we're alone. I have a gift for you. Or multiple really. Seeing as I can't really use ;em, I thought you might at least spend these last few hours going out with a blast."

"Ooh, now I'm a little interested. Show me."

"Not here. Come with me." - The mage said, and gestured for his friend to follow, and they both stood up and left their table.

TeutoNHearT proceeded to cast [Gate] , into which ImmortalKalman soon followed. They both emerged on a rocky mountaintop in the middle of Nidavellir. Right as the dashing swordsman was about to ask his friend why they were here, he was interrupted.

"You know, we saved our World Items. Well, two of em at least. Of course, you already used your own [The Heart of King Bael] to get your transformation and re-spec four years ago, so we don't really count that one as existing anymore, and BonsaiTree sold his own to get a full set of Divine-class gear so he could help his girlfriend power level with him. So that leaves the last two, those being [The Staff of Norlam] and [Arrogance of the Dragon God]." - The mage said while leaning on his turquoise-grayish staff, that had a crowned blue gem. It was an absolute beauty of a weapon, a [Divine Class] item, and it was currently an impromptu walking stick.

"Wait, you don't actually want to give me both? I know we're both Guild Officers, but you're the vice-guild-master, so I'm lower down the totem pole." - Replied Kalman, stunned by his comrades generosity. And somewhat, by his stupidity. After all, as long as someone owned one World Item, he was protected from the effects of other World Items. Thus, in Yggdrasil, having equipped more than one at a time on a single person was considered, to put it mildly, retarded.

"Technically speaking, lower means more important, not less. But listen, you already used your own four years ago, so you don't have one left. I know it gave you a massive stat boost, but you were pretty much forced to re-spec into a physical DPS build because of the randomness of the stat distribution, and I know how much you enjoyed being a warlock. So here, take em, go be a caster again, summon some imps or something to terrorize the noobs! Go on, take em, please…" - TeutoNHearT said, having replaced his own staff, with the World Item, though he still used it as a walking stick. In his left hand though, he offered up a bracelet, beautiful beyond belief, to his long time brother. A gift to set him off, before their parting. In TeutoNHearT's mind, he saw no future where he would ever see his friends again, and though he hid it from his guildmates, his fate was written in stone to expire, just like Yggdrasil's. But that did not matter now. Why would he ruin the mood further still for a true friend and ally? Some burdens were best carried alone.

"I can't take these. But I can see that you're adamant, so I'll take the bracelet at least. You keep the staff. You can duel wield 'em or something And besides, you think there's any noobs online right now?" - He chuckled as he said the last sentence. As far as jokes went it was poor, but at least it got at least a snort out of his comrade, and that was enough. Anything to lift the heavy mood.

"Ughh, fine, guess there's no winning with you."

"But I want one thing in return."

"What's that?"

"Stay logged on till the end, at least with me, so I'm not alone when the end comes."

"Hehe, sure, I can be late to work a bit. It's the last day, so fuck it, am I right or am I right?" - This time though, the mood was finally lifted, and the two friends went out on one final adventure, however brief it may have been.

The two friends proceeded to go back to the inn they had just left, but noticed that their tables were booked. Seeing as they were in one of the No-PK cities, this one in particular being called Freigradt, where combat against other players except in a friendly Duel was literally impossible, they decided to walk around and explore a bit, looking at all the people celebrating and having a festival. They walked around, saw the sights, spent half their money on various items and ingredients from the vendors, before going to another inn, this one being a bit more rundown, which served as a quest base for low-level players in Midgard. Feeling tired, the esteemed sorcerer decided to sit down, while his friend decided to walk around outside a bit more, seeing as there was about an hour until the shutdown. Though, after walking around for 45 minutes, he got bored and decided to return to the inn. When he did, he noticed his brother-in-arms sleeping on the table. Deciding that it would be funnier if the server shutdown woke him up instead of waking him up himself, and enjoying the serenity of the moment, he decided to let it be, and closed his eyes himself.

"For how much I've cursed them for everything else, it's moments like these that I'm grateful the devs added an opportunity to get a human form. Sure, it cost a pretty penny to obtain the cash shop item, but it was worth it. Having a tail and wings flail around everywhere knocking shit over would get old pretty fast. Plus, there's the whole lightning zapping everywhere and the terrifying eyes. Best keep that for combat. For now, this is fine. Still, I am glad I got help designing this form. I would've made it a carbon copy of my real-world appearance, but having a bit of spice in your life is not so bad. And my gear can be worn in both forms, though the stat debuff is a bit annoying."

ImmortalKalman glanced at his in-game clock, and noticed that there were only 5 minutes or so remaining.

"Damn, I know I shouldn't be talking to myself. But I had a lot of fun. After this game ends, what am I gonna do with myself… My parents are dead, my sister hates me, I have like two friends and they're not even really friends. Work is good, but it gets boring slaving away every day at the company. I know it could be worse, so I shouldn't complain. I'll just enjoy these last moments in silence. Perhaps we'll meet again in Yggdrasil II..."

He said, half aloud, enjoying the final moments of a game that had eaten a big part of his life, though he did not regret it in the slightest.

And as five minutes became four, and four became two, so too did those minutes turn into mere seconds. But when the clock hit zero, something happened. Or to be precise, something did not happen. ImmortalKalman did not feel the sudden disconnect that happened when you were forcefully logged out. He felt perfectly normal, like he was sitting in a chair himself. Only he wasn't sitting in a chair in an old inn, nor was he sitting in his gaming chair, connected to his Dive Gear.

He was standing in the middle of a muddy road, in the dead of night, with a field of wheat burning to his left, and a destroyed and smokey carriage to his right, with the wheels having been torn off or broken.

Standing here, completely normally, with the smell of fresh rain, ash, wheat and blood in his nose, only one thought went through his mind.

"What the hell happened right now?"

So that's it for the prologue chapter guys! Be sure to leave any thoughts in the comment section. It's my first time writing and posting it online, so any and all reviews are welcome. Be sure to follow/favourite the story if you did like it, more to come soon!