My Virtual Reality Headset (VRH) slowly flickered to life in front of me. Ecstatic, I quickly logged into Heroes and Magic, a small VRMMO only a handful of people played anymore. The reason so few actually played the game was obvious: it was old. Many newer and arguably better VRMMO’s had been released over the last 10 years, but I could never bear with giving up on Heroes and Magic. I had too many memories with it.

My character in the game was a powerful warlock. Master of all elemental magics, and even possessing several unique magics too, my character Samuel Omlin was the epitome of artillery fire. During the game’s heyday, I was known as “One Man Army” due to my overwhelming area of effect magics.

Samuel’s magic wasn’t his only high point, either. His avatar was meticulously crafted. Old but not hunched, possessing a powerful physique and a beard unrivaled in all the land, you could say his visage was synonymous with the word ‘Wizard’. I had spent countless hours using avatar editors to make him as perfect as possible...

And now I was going to have to say my goodbyes to Samuel. Heroes and Magic was officially closing their server tonight. My old guildmates and I agreed to get together for one final mission. In all the years playing, no group had ever cleared the final boss of the game. The Demon King, a 50 foot tall giant filled with enormous magical powers, had stood undefeated for 10 years. The reason was simple: only groups up to 20 players could enter his chamber at a time. Usually, by throwing enough people at a problem, it could be solved… But Solomon Therin, the Demon Lord, was not such an easy foe. It was also worth noting that death in the game came with extremely severe consequences. Players would lose upwards of 10 levels, or about 150 hours of gameplay at the higher ends.

It had never been worth it to try and kill the Demon King. It had never even been feasible…

Until today. Before the final chambers we stood, a solemn 20. We no longer had anything to lose. With the game officially closing in 10 hours, we pulled out all the stops. We brought all of our strongest weapons and gear, even our paid items. We brave few stood on the edge of oblivion and laughed. This was our last adventure together. This was our last fight.

We charged into the room screaming “Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeroy Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenkins,” as per tradition.

The battle was insane. One by one we began to perish. I had to stop casting offensive magic and resorted to healing spells once our White Mage Tarissa was hit with a stray fireball. The fight was going poorly. We had expected as much.

We were being beaten, but the fire in our bellies couldn’t be quenched by such a paltry ending. A rallying call cried out from Tyrion, our leader, and we cried out with him. I switched from healing and began unleashing every last drop of mana I possessed into single target nuke spells.

“For Elderon!” I bellowed as I unleashed my greatest and most powerful spell. It was a hidden class spell I had uncovered and never once revealed. It was the highest tier of magic. There was no wasted energy from the manipulation of elements. A raw sphere of pure magical power gathered at the end of my staff. The entire room began to shake from the sheer force of the cast.

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The chant for the spell was long, but my allies were able to protect me while I channeled. After nearly 20 seconds I unleashed my attack. The sphere exploded outwards in a beam of raw mana, concentrated thousands of times over. The blast struck the Demon King dead center. His health bar dropped by nearly half. Cheers rang out. We knew then that we could win.

The battle raged on towards its conclusion. Our Guild Leader, Tyrion, was the one to land the finishing blow. He used our Guild’s greatest treasure, The Scroll of the Ancient King, a one time use item we had uncovered years ago and stored for only the grandest of emergencies. With the game ending, we decided there was no point to not use it. No one in all of Heroes and Magic had ever seen this legendary scroll used, for it was a unique one of a kind item. We lucky few, recording our game and streaming it on several sites across the world, were giving a show. From my private messages I was told over 3,000,000 people were watching the battle.

With the Demon King defeated, the voice of the world resounded through all of Elderon announcing our victory.

We rejoiced and, together, we partied late into the night. We all thought this wasn’t a bad way to end the legacy of our guild: The Ancients. In fact, this wasn’t a bad way to end our time with Heroes and Magic at all.

The countdown timer to the game’s deactivation began ticking in the corner of our screens. We came together, shedding tears, and promised to meet again in a new game… But we all knew it wouldn’t work out. We were splitting up for good here. These friendships we had forged over the last ten years were finally going to come to an end.

“Goodbye, my friends,” I whispered softly as the world went dark and I woke up again in the real world. I removed my VR helmet and wiped the tears from my eyes.

I wheeled myself to the window and looked out upon the city below. The lights spread out below resembled fireflies in the dark. I couldn’t hold my sobs in anymore. It was really over. They were really gone.

I opened the window; the wind was howling. My tears wouldn’t stop as I looked out on the city beyond. I screamed aloud, letting my voice echo off the distant skyscrapers.

I had no family. I had no friends outside of Heroes and Magic. I had nothing but my ratty apartment and an outdated VR headset.

Perhaps, in my next life, I would be given better circumstances.

With the last of my strength, I climbed over the edge of the railing. The wind rushed past me and whipped my hair around.

While I fell, I immediately started to regret my decision… But it was too late. Everything went black.

There was no more pain. There was nothing. My mind started to ache in that void.

Then I heard a sound. A soft Bump Bump. It was a heartbeat. A light appeared ahead of me in that black void. Voices filled my ears, but I couldn’t understand their language.

Then the light grew huge. It became blinding and everything turned to white. After several seconds my eyes adjusted and I was being held in the air by a woman in rough midwife clothing.

Just like that, I had been reborn.