Note: This story will be AU from manhua chapter 53 onward.

Chapter 1

An outsider wouldn't believe that this was the scene of a victory if they looked around at the faces of each player. Everyone formed a circle around the spot where their liege had once been, staring in disbelief or crying with abandon. A lone figure still knelt at the spot where Prince had last existed, his hands shaking in mid-air where they had once grasped the Blood Elf's limp form.

Guileastos bowed his head and covered his face with his hands, weeping silently whilst Doll and Meatbun wailed in the background.

"I can't believe it," Lolidragon said softly. "He...he actually did it."

Gloom settled among the remaining members of the Odd Squad at her words, despite the victory they had just achieved. Doll threw herself into Yu Lian's arms, while Wolf stood next to them and stared at the ground, at a loss for words. Meatbun wailed inconsolably atop Doll's brunette hair.

The heart of Odd Squad, the king of Infinite City, their leader and friend...was gone.

"He...he can always recreate his character though!" Yu Lian said hopefully, a pained smile blossoming on her face. Lolidragon looked at her for a moment, and then her eyes fell.

"Mm...maybe."

Gui whirled around and glared at her, leaping to his feet. "Maybe? What is that supposed to mean!"

Lolidragon flushed slightly and looked away from his tear-streaked face. "Well...I'm...sort of the GM that created Prince's character."

Everyone stared at her blankly, unsure what to make of this news.

"And...?" Yu Lian prompted.

Lolidragon lifted her eyes to sheepishly look at her friends. "All the GMs sort of...broke the rules for Prince. Since he was the first player to ever log on the game, we ignored one of the most vital rules of Second Life and gave him one wish as a player. I was the one that conveyed his wish. I...I don't know if my superiors will grant that same wish a second time."

The corners of Gui's mouth drew into a frown. "What does that have to do with him recreating his character?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but a PM from Wu Qing distracted her. "What's going on over there, Lolidragon? Is everyone okay?"

"The Dictator of Life is dead. And Prince...well..."

There was a moment of silence, in which Gui's expression darkened even further. "Lolidragon, answer me!"

"I'm going to go check on her," Wu Qing said softly over their PM channel. "I'll...I'll talk to you later."

"Kay," she acknowledged softly, before a soft 'ding' in her ear announced his character logging off. She barely had time to glance back up at the rest of the Odd Squad before Gui was there, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.

"Answer me!" he shouted, voice cracking with grief and rage at the possibility of losing his most precious person forever.

Lolidragon gazed up at him sadly. "I swore I wouldn't tell. I'm sorry."

The bard's face crumpled in frustrated agony. "Why! Why does he tell everyone but me!"

"Maybe because you're too dense to realize why!" she snapped, frustrated with her own helplessness. The other team members glanced between the two of them in rising alarm, Meatbun's continued wails a backdrop to their angry shouting.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means he's been right in front of your eyes the whole damn time!" she shrieked at the clueless bard. "But you're so concerned with your own selfish jealousy and obsession to understand why he's so terrified of you finding out that he's actually-"

"Lolidragon."

She froze, her eyes widening in horror at the secret she'd almost spilled in her irrational anger. She glanced over at Ugly Wolf with a grateful smile for his interruption, and then turned back to look at Gui's horrified face.

"What..." he stammered. "He's been right in front of me? What do you-"

A sudden alarmed cry from Doll redirected everyone's attention to the smallest player of their group. Her head had previously been used as a perch for the abandoned Meatbun, but now only a small peach-colored, spotted egg remained in Doll's shaking hands.

System Message: Unknown's Pet, "Unknown," has reverted to Strange Egg. Ownership transferred to Doll. Please go to the nearest pet store to claim your new pet.

"Unknown?" whispered Doll. "He's...he's really gone? Forever?"

"Everyone," Wolf interjected softly. "I think you're forgetting the most important thing here."

All eyes fixated on the beastman, and he continued gently: "Prince is still alive, in the real world. We just have to find him. He is not lost forever."

Despite the consoling words, the gloom hanging over the Odd Squad refused to dissipate for the rest of the night; while meanwhile all of Infinite City's army celebrated their victory.

Meanwhile...

Feng Yang Ming opened his eyes in the darkness of his bedroom, but remained in his bed for several moments, simply listening. Beyond the usual noises of the city surrounding their home, he could just barely make out a slight hitching noise coming from the room across from his own. Sighing sadly, Yang Ming sat up and removed the dream helmet covering his head before padding softly over to his door. He paused in the hallway, one hand raised to knock on his sister's door.

His eyes softened at the quiet sobbing from the other side of the door, and he simply reached down to open it without knocking.

"Sis...?"

Normally, entering the room of Xiao Lan without knocking would earn you a swift punch or thrown object in the face, but the only thing he was greeted with upon entering her room was the sight of his sister weeping into her hands. He opened his mouth to toss out a ridiculous insult or joke to distract her from her pain...but then slowly closed his mouth moments later.

He couldn't think of anything to say anyway.

So instead, he simply sat next to her on the bed, and let her sob into his shoulder until morning.