"How long ago was it? Ten years?"

Her voice was sweet. It was so rare to hear it, but it was always a treat when it came through. Special occasions only, important moments. A low budget gacha game couldn't afford to hire voice talent for every scene, and even the main female lead, the first unit you got when you started the game, only had voice acting for the most important scenes in the story. And today was one hell of an important scene, a very important day. Arguably the most important day for the game's entire history... no, not any sort of anniversary or anything.

Instead, it was the day of my favorite Gacha Game's end of service.

A journey of ten years coming to an end. A bumpy ride, from its disastrous launch, to the height of its popularity reaching millions of players, and now, the last handful, the last few, holding vigil during the game's very last day of service.

I couldn't help getting emotional. I've invested time, effort and money into this game. I've become, attached.

"We met on that day, didn't we?" the main lead, Mistina 'Misty' Accel, the first wielder of the Blade of Light that the game was named after. A bit of a generic and cheesy setup, but it was fine, simple and accessible, and it had been expanded over the ages. Blade of Light was by no means a masterpiece of a game, but it was good enough for me, and that's all I cared about. Misty was a wonderful lead who had convinced me to keep playing the game past its disastrous release simply because she was cute, adorable and plucky. Everything from her design as a knight in shining armor who was brave and skilled, yet clumsy and an adorable dork when not on duty, had captivated me to keep playing this game for ten years.

From the start of the game, set in a dark, stormy night, as the desperate Mistina Accel calls out for a hero when she and her unit are overwhelmed by monsters about to destroy her small kingdom's capital, of which she was the crown princess. The clouds would part, and from the heavens would descend the main character, or 'you', essentially. The Heavensent would then recruit many others, giving them a Blade of Light to fight the monsters with, and through the years, the plot of the game would lead through many twists and turns to the liberation of the world from the evil creatures that haunted it forever.

"That night I thought I was done for. I still remember it, like it was yesterday... I was so scared, terrified, but when you came down from above, I felt hope, hope that I hadn't felt in so long... and the warmth and power you bestowed upon me, I've never forgotten them..."

Misty was decked out, I had maxed her and gotten every bit of legendary equipment I could for her. She was by no means one of the greatest characters in the game, in fact, due to the rampant powercreep through the latter half of the game's life cycle, she had actually fallen down to the bottom tier among characters, but I never cared. She'd been the first, and held a special place in my heart because of it. She was the only one that was always available, who would always answer the call, no matter the circumstance. Although it had been a nightmare, I'd finally managed it. Today, on the day of end of service, I managed to finish the Final Battle with Mistina, a feat considered impossible by most as she simply lacked the stats and skills necessary to be useful, let alone be a main vanguard ally... but they were wrong.

"I've never forgotten how much trust and affection you've shown me either, Heavensent," she said. "When we faced the hordes of the Orcish Kingdom of Galur, or the demonic Legions of Nergal, or the twisted angels of the Celestial Palace," she spoke, "even though they were terrifying foes, I never knew fear, because," she raised her Blade of Light, a two handed sword, with a golden handle and crossguard and a pale golden blade that shone with an ethereal light, "I could always feel you with me, and your trust gave me strength, confidence and valor. Because I was with you, I knew I could never lose," she said.

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Oh, we had lost. How many times we had lost. How many times had I had to try again, even as other people soared past me in the rankings and leaderboards, and people got through the story and beat all the bosses... but I was stubborn, and I refused to take Misty out of my party, no matter what foe I faced or what the challenges were. She would not give up on me, so I wouldn't give up on her. Call me stupid, cheesy or pathetic, I don't care, it meant something to me... even if it's pathetic, it's something nobody can ever take away from me.

"This is it though. Our last day together. It's been amazing, Heavensent. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thanks for sticking with me even when I was a nobody princess from a nowhere kingdom. Yeah," she sobbed, "it's been incredible, each and every one of our adventures, but it's the end of our journey as partners and companions, through all that time and pain you've alone been by my side, even when all others threw me away, discarded me, relegated me to administrative duty... We've been through a lot, but while we can still be together... how about one last time?" she asked, giving me the same bright, happy smile that she always did, every time I logged in after the daily reset, through the tears that rolled down her cheeks, though instead of holding the board with the daily rewards, she held up her hand. "One last time... let me feel your touch, my beloved heavensent..."

I couldn't help myself. Even though I knew it was just a manipulation tactic... I didn't care.

I put my finger in exactly the same place, as I'd done a million times before, except this time there'd be no energy restoration drink or gacha currency as a reward for logging in.

"Ah... it's warm... your finger is warm, my beloved heavensent," she said, melancholy in her voice. "Would that I could hold onto you forever, would that it never came to pass that we parted, but-"

I nodded, though when I went to pull the finger away, I found that I couldn't, and what I thought was the warmth of the screen was getting warmer.

Not like emotionally - physically! In fact, you couldn't believe how hard I was trying to move at all, and even more so, things were getting... brighter? The screen of my phone was soon bright enough to light up the room, and even more, blinding me, the light almost like a flashbang going off constantly, pain erupted and I felt a single solitary moment of neverending agony that shook me to my very core, it felt like the light went right through my eyelids, almost like a golden glowing lance tearing right into my brain.

And then it stopped. The earpiercing noise I had only now noticed fading, leaving only a vague, distant ringing and my own heartbeat.

It was bright. It was also not my room. It was a rather... medieval looking room. Maybe early renaissance, hard to tell. It was... it was...

It was My Room, decorated as I had it, from Blade of Light.

And more importantly, my hand- my hand... my hand..! my eyes traced my arm, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Blonde hair with red highlights cascading behind her, big, pink, expressive and watery eyes, and that voice, that voice that I only ever heard in special occasions.

"H-Heavensent..?"

Ohh, it was so much better than hearing it through a speaker.

"This- this is a miracle..! Heavensent! HEAVENSENT!!!"

And then her arms wrapped around me, and I don't know if it was her or me, but one of us was crying, loudly, and we both politely pretended not to notice as we embraced each other for a long, long time... at least until I had time to start freaking out about what just happened.

I achieved the impossible on the game's end of service, and my reward is spending the rest of my life with my ingame waifu!?