The countdown began.
[Server Shutdown in: 10 seconds]
The words floated above the throne room like a cruel prophecy.Ten years of work… ten years of conquest… all reduced to ten seconds.
Kael Draven sat upon the obsidian throne, his gauntlets resting on the armrests carved with dragon runes.
His empire—Ebonheart City—glowed faintly beyond the shattered glass windows. The towers, the banners, the endless streets built by his hand… all flickered like dying embers.
He'd built this city block by block, code by code.And now, he was going to die with it.
[9 seconds]
A smile tugged at his lips. "So this is it."
The silence was deafening, broken only by the hum of fading mana-lines running through the walls.The great banners of the Imperial Crest—black and crimson—hung still, as if even the digital wind refused to move.
Then he heard footsteps
.
Light, precise.
He didn't need to look to know who it was.
Alyss Venera—Head Maid, Assassin, and the first NPC he ever recruited.
Her obsidian eyes reflected the dying glow of the throne room.
"Your Majesty," she whispered, bowing. "Will you not log out?"
Kael chuckled. "I was here when it began. I'll be here when it ends."
[8 seconds]
Alyss's gaze softened. For a moment, her artificial eyes looked almost… human.
"Then I will remain, too," she said quietly, kneeling at his side.
Kael stared at her—at the digital perfection of the woman who had served him flawlessly for a decade.
A script, a program, a line of code.
And yet…
Why did it feel like she meant it?
[7 seconds]
The world around them began to shimmer.
The marble cracked; pixels bled through the floor like sand through glass. A low hum filled the air, deep enough to make his chest vibrate.
Kael's vision wavered. For a second, he saw the world lag—the throne fracturing into data streams, his hand dissolving into light.
But then… it reformed.
[6 seconds]
His system interface flashed open on its own.
[System Notice: Transfer Protocol Detected]
[Warning: Unknown code override incoming]
"What the hell…?" Kael muttered. "This wasn't part of the event."
Alyss lifted her head. "My Lord?"
He didn't answer. His fingers trembled as he reached toward the interface—but it shattered into a rain of glowing fragments before he could touch it.
[5 seconds]
The city outside was gone.
In its place stretched an endless void of stars, glowing rivers of mana flowing like galaxies around the throne.
Kael rose to his feet. "Am I… dreaming?"
[4 seconds]
Alyss stepped forward, her voice trembling. "My Lord… the mana density—this isn't the system."
Kael blinked. He could feel the air.
Not the cold hum of a server simulation, but warmth, pressure, and—was that wind?
[3 seconds]
He looked at his hands. They were real.
The texture, the pulse beneath his skin, the faint resistance of air against his fingers.
"What's happening…?"
[2 seconds]
The throne room convulsed.
Light tore through the floor, swallowing the pillars, the ceiling, the banners, the world.
[1 second]
Alyss turned toward him one last time.
"My Lord… command me."
Kael met her gaze—and for the first time, he couldn't tell if he was talking to a program or a person.
[0]
Everything vanished.
And yet, he did not fall.