It was 2:00 in the morning on a school night.

  Normally, I would have been asleep hours ago. But tonight was different.

  Tonight, the servers for Cssic Adventure were shutting down.

  It wasn't just any game. It had been the VRMMORPG I'd grown up with—the kind people talked about even after they stopped pying. But more importantly, it was my favorite.

  I'd lost count of how many times I'd come home from school, tossed my bag into the corner of my room, colpsed onto my bed, and pulled on my headset.

  One beep.

  And suddenly, I wasn't there anymore.

  I was a mage—throwing spells, burning through mana, pushing myself until dizziness kicked in and the system warned me to log out.

  I loved it.

  Cssic Adventure had unched thirteen years ago, back when full-dive VR was still new enough to feel like magic itself. I was a first-day pyer—my birthday happened to line up with the release, and my parents bought it for me without realizing they'd just lost me to another world.

  And now, at 2:00 a.m., I was still logged in. Waiting for it to end.

  I sat on a bench in the starter town, staring up at the big red timer hovering in the sky.

  "One hour to go," I murmured, clenching my gloved virtual hands as a few warm tears slipped down my cheek.

  "You're right... I had a great time. Thirteen years felt like the blink of an eye."

  A dwarf warrior with a thick, bushy beard and brown hair sat down next to me. His voice cracked with every word. His username was QsyerDW, but his real name was Austin. He had been my best friend in real life, and we'd been pying this game together since unch.

  We were both incredibly emotional.

  "Hey, guys, can I sit down with you?" a random pyer called, username Sleepydeepy.

  I nodded and scooched over to make room.

  "Of course, bro! Come sit down!" I answered.

  "Ah, thanks... It's sad, right? Such a good game shutting down. I loved it. Sad to see it actually end after thirteen years," Sleepydeepy said, gncing up at the virtual sky.

  "Yeah..."

  We all went quiet for a while, until the timer hit ten minutes and the system spoke to all remaining pyers.

  > "Server shutdown in 10 minutes. Thank you all for accompanying us on this great adventure!"

  Hearing that made my chest tighten. I couldn't stop myself—I burst into tears. Austin and Sleepydeepy both patted my back, sharing in the grief.

  "I know, bro... it's hard for all of us!" Austin said. Sleepydeepy just nodded silently.

  Five minutes ter, hundreds of glowing mail notifications appeared across the pza. Austin and Sleepydeepy received theirs too.

  Then my mailbox rang.

  I opened the green icon and found a mail from Great Guild Studios, the developers of Cssic Adventure.

  The title read:

  > "Invitation to One Time Mage"

  I clicked it, and my eyes widened.

  > Hello GoldenDayz,

  Thank you for pying Cssic Adventure with us for these 13 years. As a thank you, we want to invite you to our new game, One Time Mage. This is our new RPG where you take the role of a mage with endless possibilities, but be careful—once you die in-game, your character will be deleted!

  I stared at the text, confusion and excitement twisting inside me, while thousands of pyers around the pza murmured and checked their own invites.

  I looked at Austin, whose grin was brighter than the sun.

  "Yo, bro! We're totally pying that new game, right?" he asked, shaking his dwarf arms like a little kid.

  "Dude, are you kidding me? A new game from Great Guild Studios? Of course I'm pying it! Duh!" I said, jumping up and casting a firework spell into the air. It exploded into a dazzling rainbow of colors.

  Countless other mages followed suit, turning the shutdown into a celebration rather than a goodbye.

  > "One minute until server shutdown! Thank you for pying Cssic Adventure!"

  The system's voice rang out one st time.

  I turned to Sleepydeepy and hugged him.

  "Yo, we'll see each other in One Time Mage. I'm sure of it!"

  "Yeah! Let's all enjoy the new game—goodbye, Cssic Adventure!" he shouted just before my screen went blue and I was kicked out.

  I didn't even take off the headset. I opened my emails, clicked the link from Great Guild Studios, and found the download page for the new game.

  One Time Mage.

  "There it is..." I whispered, shaking as I pressed the download button.

  "I really hope it's going to be good... it has to be. It's Great Guild Studios after all!"

  With the game downloading and my anticipation through the roof, I logged off and finally went to sleep.

  Three hours ter, my arm began to ring.

  Loudly.

  Annoyingly.

  "Alright, alright, I get it—just shut up!" I groaned, throwing my pillow at the arm and knocking it off the nightstand.

  It kept ringing on the floor.

  "Urgh... I can't. I'm way too tired for this," my zy ass compined as I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the arm instead of actually getting ready.

  After about five minutes, I finally mustered enough energy to stand and get dressed.

  Nothing fancy. Just a hoodie and sweatpants.

  Dressing up wouldn't change the fact that I looked like a beaten-up microwave anyway, so why bother?

  My mom had left food on the kitchen table with a note, but I was running te. I shoved it into the fridge to eat ter and rushed outside.

  "Finally, dude! Why are you always te?" Austin asked, waiting impatiently by the gate.

  "Man, chill out. We still got like—" I paused and checked my phone.

  "Six minutes before school starts."

  "Yeah, and we walk ten minutes, you bamboo head!" he shot back, dapping me up like always.

  It was a terrible dap-up.

  Once we arrived, I was greeted by my teacher, as usual.

  "Vincent, you're te," Miss Winton sighed, adjusting her gsses. "Like always."

  She went right back to teaching as Austin and I quietly walked to our seats.

  "We're on page fifty," Quinn, the girl sitting in front of us, whispered.

  I nodded, pulled out my book, and opened to the page. Then I immediately stopped paying attention, because the squirrel outside the window was way more interesting than history css.

  Once the squirrel got boring, I put on headphones and watched some e-sports events.

  So all in all, I didn't really see much of history css that day. I just did everything except listen while waiting for the clock to end css.

  Miss Winton was still rambling about some great pandemic happening back in 2020.

  But I was fully focused on the clock, and finally, the ringing began announcing the start of the first break.

  "Alright guys, enjoy a nice break!" she said.

  I was already in the doorframe walking out.

  I rushed down to the school yard, where my other two friends were already at the bench area. Shawn, the shorter Asian boy, and Michael, the taller dark-skinned one, sat slouching in sorrow.

  Of course, they might not have been there during the shutdown of Cssic Adventure, but they had pyed almost its entire lifespan.

  The ending hit them just as hard. They had no idea about One Time Mage yet.

  Austin, I, and the other pyers online during that time were likely the only ones with early access keys.

  "What's up guys? How are ya doin' today?" I asked with a bright smile while walking up.

  "What do you mean, Cssic Adventure got shut down, bro!"

  Shawn's expression looked almost lifeless, like the devil had sucked the soul out of him.

  "Why are you so happy anyway? Your favorite game got shut down. Aren't you sad?"

  Michael asked, his dreads falling over his eyes.

  I swayed a little, thinking before answering.

  "Mhh, no—not really. I mean, it's sad, but it's not like the world is ending."

  Their jaws dropped.

  Just then, familiar footsteps sounded behind me.

  "What's good, guys!" Austin called, one hand in his pocket while waving with the other.

  No hint of sadness—he was as hyped as ever.

  "What, got something on my face?" he asked, trying to wipe it.

  Shawn and Michael just stared in utter shock. Their jaws still hung low.

  "Am I dreaming? Cssic Adventure just got shut down and you two fanboys are unbothered? Or did we miss something?"

  Shawn asked, cleaning his gsses to make sure he was seeing right.

  Austin and I looked at each other, grinning, and just nodded.

  "Sooo, you didn't really miss anything. It's more that you guys just don't know. I have no idea if we should say this, but..."

  Before I could continue, Austin cut me off, his voice almost squeaking:

  "Great Guild Studios is releasing a new game called One Time Mage! And the cool part—everyone who was online during the shutdown yesterday got an early access key!"

  I jumped in as well, shoving him aside.

  "Yeah! It's a VRMMORPG again, but this time there are no csses—you're just a mage! And the description says 'endless possibilities,' so I think we can create our own spells and stuff!"

  Austin interrupted again, shoving me toward the nearest tree.

  Shawn and Michael just stood there, dumbfounded, like they'd seen a level 400 druid with maxed-out Strength.

  "Yeah, but you only get one chance! If you die, your character is deleted and you're banned from pying!"

  The hype from Austin and me was obvious. Shawn and Michael just stared.

  I didn't even notice them breathing.

  Then Michael jumped up, grabbed my colr, and shook me so violently I felt nauseous.

  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN A NEW GGS GAME AND YOU TWO GOT EARLY ACCESS?!"

  He finally let go, staring at me like I'd confessed a crime.

  "You two are dead," he muttered. "If this is real and you get a huge head start, we'll PK you!"

  I ughed, but my heart was already racing. That night couldn't come fast enough.

  Thoughts of the new game, the new world, and the memories I'd make there consumed me.

  When I got home, I didn't even turn on the lights or go to the fridge. I ran straight to my room.

  I tossed my bag aside, sat on the edge of my bed, and picked up my headset.

  Thirteen years ago, I'd logged into Cssic Adventure for the first time.

  Now, I was about to step into something new.

  I pulled the headset down, made myself comfortable, and whispered:

  Goodbye to reality...

  ...and hello to One Time Mage.