Chapter 1

Everyone was scrambling to sell their accounts for the mobile game that was about to shut down.

Only I stayed up all night, saying goodbye to each NPC in the game.

My friends all laughed, calling me crazy for treating a bunch of data like real people.

But then, monsters suddenly descended upon the world. The game's NPCs became terrifying realities.

Everyone was panicking, running for their lives.

Only I was in my backyard, casually fishing and enjoying a barbecue.

Terrifying realities?

What terrifying realities?

They were all my best friends.

Eldoria Online, a globally popular game, announced it would shut down in one day.

As soon as the news broke, everyone rushed to sell their accounts.

My roommate, Leo, urged me to sell mine quickly too. "Even a little money is better than nothing," he'd said.

But I didn't want to sell. For me, what that account meant to me, personally, was far more valuable than money.

I politely declined Leo’s suggestion to sell our accounts together and logged in alone.

I figured if the game was closing, I should at least give it a proper farewell.

After all, this game had been with me through the hardest five years of my life.

As usual, I logged on, harvested my garden vegetables, and tidied up my in-game yard.

Then, I started visiting each character one by one.

I went to the main city and spent all the gold in my account.

I bought the old messenger his favorite pastries.

I brought Professor Miller the paper and pens he wanted.

I bought new shoes for the homeless man by the city gates.

I brought something for every single game character. Watching them smile and say, "Thank you, noble hero," filled me with satisfaction.

I smiled back.

"Goodbye for now. We might not see each other again, so please, take good care of yourselves."

I whispered to the characters on the screen.

My roommate, Leo, scoffed dismissively:

"I swear you've lost your mind. They're just data. Once the servers shut down, they're deleted with one click."

"Take care of yourselves? You actually think they're real people? You're out of your mind."

I lowered my eyes, my voice soft but firm as I retorted:

"How you see it is your business."

"I consider them my friends. Please don't insult them."

He snorted. "Alright, alright, 'friends,' hahahaha. You really need to see a shrink."

"Calling screen data your friends? How desperate for affection must you be?"

"I told you before, something's not right with him. We should tell the teacher to send him to a mental hospital."

As he spoke, he reached for my phone:

"Stop being crazy. Just link your account with mine and sell them."

I pushed him away.

"I said no. Leo, I'll do what I want. Mind your own business."

"Besides, friends are people who provide good emotional support, and they give that to me. Why can't they be my friends?"

As we argued, the clock silently ticked past midnight.

I frantically glanced at my phone, only to find the game had been forcibly logged off and shut down.

Evelyn! I hadn't visited Evelyn yet! It was all Leo's fault, just one more to go.

She's so delicate; disappearing without saying goodbye would probably upset her for ages.

But now, no matter how anxious I was, it was too late. Eldoria Online had officially shut down.