The long, pitch black obsidian table reflected flickering torchlight in the murky gloom of the Throne Room. At the head of the enormous, oblong table sat a man, his features shrouded within the folds of a black cloak.

With a haunted look in his hollow, sunken eyes, the man stared at the now vacant seats of thirteen.

He alone remained.As the Guild Master of Pandemonium, Edge Online's top guild for over a decade, Shugireth Darkstar felt it only right that he stay here until the very end.

Unlike the other players of Edge Online, he couldn't just leave for another MMO as so many did when they heard the news. To him, this was more than just a game. It was his lifeline.

He wanted to face his own death head on, not close his eyes and go quietly.

The Master of Pandemonium was a stubborn man. He had to be in order to dominate the upper tiers of Edge, for those were the most competitive in the history of gaming.

So insane were the grueling grinds they went through, the battles, the competition, that laws had to be signed by the world government decreeing cease-fires, treaties and truces.

Edge online was the game that set the precedent that virtual worlds were treated mostly the same as the real world, barring the game specific rules.

Of course, Pandemonium did not abide by these regulations. For them, there were no laws but the ones they chose to create themselves. None could bar their path to dominance. A path which had been long and grueling, yet so very satisfying.

They'd had a good run.

Shu sighed heavily, all the energy from last nights farewell party having long since drained from him. Now he was but a deflated corpse yet to fully expire. A vestige of an age past, waiting to disappear. Bytes set adrift to float into the void, but not yet fully gone. He was like the setting sun. A mirage, an after trail of life.

The announcement that Virruworld, the creators of Edge Online, was shutting down the game servers after 12 years, had shocked and enraged over 100 million players worldwide. It came as a complete surprise to the players, since the game was quite competitive with the other giants despite its age, still bringing in hefty profits for the company. Millions of enraged players rioted, filed petitions and law suits, but to no avail. The game was dying and they could do nothing about it.

Edge Online was ancient by the industry's standards, with old almost archaic game systems and technology. Yet still it had prevailed, survived. It had been hanging on, clinging to life just like he had. But now, the end had finally come both for him and for his beloved game.

Although the majority of its playerbase moved on to newer VMMORPGs, many players like Shu remained, calling Edge Online their home away from home.

For him though, this game was his lifeline. 5 years ago, he'd caught the singular sickness and been sent into an isolated special ward of the underground government hospital dealing with classified diseases.

Since then, he'd spent his every waking and sleeping moment inside the medical VR capsule playing Edge. The World of Edge became his reality, and this virtual body became his real body.

Just yesterday the doctors told Shu that he could die any day now, and he had been forced to send them his will via the in-game messaging system. There was only so much they could do, and in the end he'd lived past their expectations. He had Edge to thank for that, but it seemed that he'd finally reached the end of the road.

To disappear forever was not a new thought to Shu.

Yet this time it somehow struck him as final as he sat there alone in the vast guild house, surrounded by shadows of the past and memories of his old comrades. Atleast the legacy of Pandemonium that they'd worked so hard to create, would live on in the minds of the people.

Even normies who had never played Edge before, knew of Pandemonium. The news often ran reports on them when they accomplished something crazy, which was quite often. The news companies were engaged in pure sensationalism, so his guilds outrageous, nearly impossible deeds, made for the perfect material for their news stories.

Today, Edge Online's archenemy, the hated and revered Pandemonium caused damages in excess of 10 billion dollars in their raid on the player run Empire of the Blue Wind. Witnesses report that more than 20 top tier guilds were seen forming an alliance in an attempt to repel Pandemonium and preserve the Empire.

The scene pans to a smoking battlefield where huge parts of land are missing. The reporter turns to the camera, her eyes twinkling despite her serious expression, reporting the defeat of 20 top tier guilds at the hands of a single, mighty existence.

The overwhelming, dominating might of Pandemonium. His Guild, his legacy. Him and his friends, Pandemonium. Their creed to create chaos. Their manifesto to make trouble. To enjoy this virtual life and let loose and do things as different and extreme as possible. Do everything that you do couldn't in real life. Explore the limits of the human mind, go nuts and have a blast. They were a wild bunch, but when push came to shove his people had iron discipline and inhuman levels of coordination and team work. He was so proud of them, all of them, and the legacy they had built together.

That they won the day was no surprise to anybody anymore. Pandemonium had only 1 rival guild in Edge, and he was friends with the other Guild Master.

Shu glanced around at the ostentatious splendor on display in the throne room, the countless trophies. All of this would disappear, but he would be remembered. His guild, his legacy, would be remembered.

It was only the machines and tubes connected to his withered husk of a body, that kept him from succumbing to the erosive effects of his affliction. If Edge was no more, he would be no more. This avatar was him. If the avatar were to die, he'd die with it.

He already bid farewell to his comrades, and they'd long since logged out. The world would go on without him. Jamjam had work like always and Perinella had her wedding ceremony in two weeks. For Shu, nothing but oblivion awaited him.

Perhaps it was a fitting end for a man who calls himself the Darkstar of Pandemonium, to quietly fade into oblivion along with his legacy, leaving behind the memories of his great deeds.

However, Shu wanted his last moments to be cool, to matter. He did not want to pass away in the real world, inhabiting his withered body while a sterile nursing robot watched his passing dispassionately. He simply could not accept that. Thus why he was still sitting here, clinging to Edge Online's failing servers as a drowning man to a life raft.

Warning, System shut down in 5 minutes. Please disconnect your VR capsule.

It had begun then. The countdown to his death. Shu was certain that he wouldn't make it even one day outside of the capsule, and the doctors agreed with him. He didn't want to, either. They'd studied him as a miracle patient for surviving past all expectations, but it seemed that this was it for him.

Warning, System shut down in 3 minutes. Please disconnect your VR capsule.

Shu gazed around the throne room one last time, a hungry look flashing in his hollow eyes. He saw the trophies, the legendary items in display boxes, the creeds to entire kingdoms lining the walls. The land creeds were numerous enough that he could use them for toilet paper an entire month and still have some to spare.

Mountains of gold and gem-encrusted thrones from deceased kings and queens... and he wasn't done yet. Shu felt it in his bones.

He did not want to die.

He still had work to do, deeds to accomplish, dungeons to raid and Kingdoms to crush.

He still had his life to live!

Pandemonium had ruled the world, and he had been their leader. Shugireth Darkstar, the strongest Mage in Edge online, the undisputed 1v1 pvp champion 12 years in a row. The man behind the war machine. The mastermind of Pandemonium. Of course, the name of his avatar was a little silly, but he'd named it when he was still a kid, so there was no helping that. Even so, it was a name people would remember. And it'd long since become his only true name, his only real identity.

It was not so simple to accept that his avatar, that he, would just disappear as though he'd never existed in the first place.

Warning, System shut down in 30 seconds. You will be forcefully disconnected from your VR capsule in 29... 28... 27...

Shu closed his eyes, images of past achievements flashing before him. The party at the heavenly lakefalls that lasted for 7 nights. Over a hundred thousand guests, the cost well over 1 billion gold coins. A feast fit for Gods.

Raiding the castle of the Demon King back when they were still newbie fledgelings and barely succeeding. Obtaining the worlds first achievement on dungeons and raids time and time again, dominating everything and never stopping. Always climbing higher, getting stronger, dominating more and more. Dungeons and labyrinths, castles and caves, cities, kingdoms and empires. Pandemonium had raided everything and always, always they came out on top.

Forced logout in 10. 9. 8. 7...

Shu closed his eyes, leaned back in the throne, and let out a sigh as his hands gripped the cold black obsidian armrests tightly and a single tear forced its way from the corner of his eye.

Farewell, my world, my home, my life.

3.2.1...