“Here it is, the shutdown of the server…”

Phantium was a popular MMO, but as all great MMO’s have their peaks, they eventually fall. Due to mismanagement, lack of funds, or lack of players, the game will have its end.

Today was the day that the last Phantium server went offline.

‘I’ve played this game for ages. I might not have been playing since day one, but I am one of the first people to get into it, and I might not be the best player but I was there when the game got popular and when it lost its popularity!’

Adam sighed, ‘I’ve been there since the first few servers got shut down, when it was migrated by other companies that gave it life support, although not for free, for they really made us veterans pay for it…’

Adam wasn’t a likable person in real life, he came off as cold and uncaring, he never felt he could show his true self to the world, but in Phantium he could. In Phantium, Adam wasn’t what other people would think he would be, while in real life he went to the gym and had a relatively athletic body, and with his personality to other people he might be a [Warrior], or possibly a [Rogue]. He was none of these, he was an evolved version of a [Priest], someone who helps others.

He wasn’t even a he in Phantium, their player character was a female named Lily. She was short, bubbly, and a social butterfly, well at least compared to the tall, cold, and uncaring he was in real life.

1 hour left until server shutdown, thanks for playing!

Adam read the message, and sighed again. If this was the last day of the game, then he sure would enjoy every last second of it!

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Server is shutting down now, thanks for playing!

‘This is it, the end of the game.’ Adam teared up a bit. He spent every enjoyable moment of his life in Phantium, made amazing friends, made enemies of other players, had adventures and misadventures alike. Things he couldn’t do in real life, made possible thanks to the developers and the community of Phantium.

Adam just sat there when the server shut down and stared at the main screen of Phantium for a few minutes. After the pause he tried logging in again to no avail. Then he shut the game down and checked the website, it had already been redirected to the parent company's website, which after checking didn’t mention Phantium at all. Even the lack of a post mentioning it was a slap to the face to Adam.

‘It’s over… I’ll never be Lily again’

Adam froze up. Normally when the server was down for maintenance he went to the gym, got lunch or dinner or even went to read a book, but now he felt like not doing any of that. Adam checked the time.

6:30 PM

This was the normal time to get some dinner, and Adam did feel a gnawing emptiness in his stomach. However, it wasn’t hunger, despite the fact he had opted to skip lunch to maximize the time he played. He couldn't even imagine eating right now; food wouldn't nourish the emptiness that he felt now that the game was gone. It was really gone. Adam felt his body grow lethargic as that realization truly hit now that the servers were down. It was just... gone. He naturally turned to sleep as a way to fix this sudden loss of energy as the sadness began to take hold.

Adam slowly got up from his chair, wobbling awkwardly to bed since he was sitting down playing the game from early morning to now without leaving his chair. When he got to his bed, he fell flat down onto it and fell into a deep sleep.

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Suddenly Adam felt like he was falling ever faster and faster. Then something new was happening. Wind, and lots of it, was blowing towards his face as he was falling. He opened his eyes and saw clouds rushing past him. The next thing was obvious, he started to scream

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” a very girly scream was exerted that day.