-[Notice] Service Termination Announcement
Greetings to all the players who have enjoyed Abyss. This is the GM.
It seems like this will be the last time I greet you all.
Regrettably, Abyss will terminate its service by the end of this year. All access will be possible only until 20XX, December 31st, 23:59, and after that, gameplay will no longer be available.
We sincerely thank and apologize to all the users who have loved Abyss until now.
“What is this…?”
I sat in front of my computer, reading the text that reflected off my retina.
“Service will be terminated, service termination… server shutdown…?”
As if denying reality, I read it again and again, over and over.
Even so, the meaning of those words remained painfully clear, and I despaired once more.
“I used to joke that it was a dead game, but I didn’t actually mean for it to die…”
Today, my only friend died.
The game I had been playing is now shutting down.
Though it was half-dead anyway, played only by the few who stuck around, I didn’t think they’d officially kill it off like this.
Server shutdown, really? No matter how bad it was, a server shutdown is too much.
“They said they’d patch it and bring it back! They said they’d listen to the users!”
And after saying that, they pull the rug out from under us?
They even held a user conference not too long ago. I couldn’t attend because I had something on, and I regretted it so much!
I feel betrayed by the management once again. I was a fool for trusting them.
I feel like I’m burning up inside. I can’t handle this sober.
I pulled out that red-capped bottle I had stocked in the fridge for times like this.
“I hoped I wouldn’t have to use this.”
To be honest, I’m not much of a drinker. I don’t particularly enjoy alcohol.
Even so, I keep a strong bottle like this for unexpected disasters when I need something to dull the edge.
It feels like my throat is on fire. Maybe it’s because I’m drinking it straight without any side dishes, but my stomach feels like it’s burning too.
No, now that I think about it, even with a side dish, it probably wouldn’t be much better. My insides are already flipping over anyway.
Since I can’t handle much alcohol, I quickly feel its effects.
But today, maybe because of my intense emotions, the soju went down smoothly.
“I’m gonna die, seriously. I’m really gonna die. Damn you, Eonix…”
With my face flushed red, I cursed the game company. I’m not exaggerating when I say it feels like I’m going to die.
You only realize how precious something is after it’s gone. I didn’t know how important Abyss was to me until now.
Maybe it was the alcohol, but I suddenly felt a surge of emotion and broke down crying like a child.
“What am I even doing…”
I sobered up a little from the tears. I put the soju bottle down on my desk and grabbed my phone to clear my head.
The place I headed was the Abyss gallery I visited regularly.
It was a small community where the few remaining users shared game info, complained about the game, and occasionally bonded. Of course, I wasn’t part of any bonding.
<Abyss <<< The worst game on Earth, am I right?>
<Eonix, you promised to do better, you said you’d fix it, I went to the user meeting to try and save this game, and this is what I get?>
<I heard there’s a funeral, so I came from the neighboring gallery to pay respects>
“Lots of people are here.”
Unlike before, when only one or two posts would go up per hour, the forum was now much more active.
Turns out, people had come from all over after hearing the game was shutting down.
Even so, since Abyss was once a prominent game, people seemed to still remember the name.
As I watched the posts, I felt the urge to add my own comment, so I wrote one.
<It’s a melancholic night, haha…>
(A picture of two bottles of soju on the desk)
Today, my only friend passed away.
It was the first friend I made after turning twenty, and now it’s gone so suddenly.
Feeling down, I drank more than I ever do…
Don’t drink like this, guys.
-Really losing it, huh lol
-It’s your fault! If only you hadn’t played Camilla like that!
-Didn’t you take care of your friend properly?
-That friend is my friend too.
-Wow, seems like a social butterfly.
-Sir, drinking without any snacks is bad for your stomach. At least have some chips with it.
The reactions were quite lively.
Since I had been a high-ranking player and had written some strategy guides in the past, comments poured in quickly, and I received a ton of upvotes.
Soon enough, my post was featured.
“Heh.”
Seeing that, I smiled a little, feeling like the days I had spent weren’t entirely in vain, though the smile soon faded.
“What’s the point of all this?”
The game had shut down, after all.
As the sadness crept over me, my eyelids grew heavy as well.
I leaned back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling, where the flickering light of the fluorescent lamp caught my gaze.
“I wish this was all just a dream.”
I wished I could wake up and find that the shutdown notice had disappeared, that Abyss had become the legendary game everyone was playing.
If that happened, I’d dedicate everything I had to playing it.
“Please, make our game a masterpiece…”
Though I was half-asleep, this was my sincere, desperate wish.
“But that’s never gonna happen…”
Of course, reality and dreams never match.
I was long past the age where dreams came true, and before long, I succumbed to the alcohol and fell asleep.
Would you believe me if I told you the world changed when I woke up?
It wasn’t like there were strange creatures flying in the sky, or a sudden zombie outbreak, or people reversing the roles of men and women.
Compared to those examples, this change was rather small.
It wasn’t a world-shattering event, but it was a small, yet undeniable, shift in my reality.
First of all… the game I had been playing suddenly became a masterpiece.
<Abyss Achieves #1 in PC Room Occupancy!>
<People Are Shocked by Pro Gamer Lee Jun-hyuk’s Salary—How Much Is He Earning?>
<Newbie Farming Tips>
The game I had been playing, Abyss, was, at best, called “decent” by most.
Realistically, it was considered a flop.
It had once been seen as the hope of domestic games, shining brightly for a moment, but soon after, it plummeted.
The bizarre patches by the developers and the increasingly stagnant pool of players only made it worse.
No matter how much they patched the game, the balance between heroes was never quite right. The steady decline in new players continued.
The concurrent player count barely reached 3,000, and there was no hope in sight for the game.
It took 20 minutes just to find a match in ranked games, partly because I was a top-tier player, but mostly because there just weren’t enough players. It was a dead game, no doubt about it.
“But now, seeing it like this.”
What on earth happened? My last memory was falling asleep, heartbroken after seeing the announcement that Abyss was shutting down.
But when I woke up, there wasn’t a trace of that shutdown notice on the official website. Instead, it was flooded with patch updates and event announcements as if the game were thriving.
And that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
“Hmm…”
I walked to the bathroom and once again checked my reflection.
In the mirror stood a beautiful woman, greeting me.
“Is this for real? Really?”
I had seen this image several times already, but I just couldn’t get used to it.
But the woman’s appearance was very familiar to me.
And of course, she would be, because this woman was…
“Camilla.”
She was the character I mainly played in Abyss.
The familiar voice, the recognizable appearance, and even the body shape—it was all there.
There was no way I couldn’t recognize a character I had played thousands of matches with.
Yes, I had become Camilla. Overnight, I had turned into a game character—a woman.
And the game, Abyss, had transformed into a masterpiece.
The first part felt confusing, but the second part was great news. There’s nothing worse than the game shutting down, so when you add the two together, I suppose I should consider it a net positive.
Anyway, putting that aside for now.
“Why?”
Why did this happen? Naturally, I couldn’t help but question the situation.
I couldn’t possibly explain how this happened, no matter who asked, so I skipped over that for now. What I was really curious about was the reason behind it.
Then, a thought flashed through my mind.
“Oh, no way.”
—“I wish Abyss would become a masterpiece. I’d give anything for it.”
Could it be because of that drunken wish?
It sounded ridiculous, but that seemed like the only possible explanation.
Someone up in the heavens must have heard my desperate wish and granted it…
As soon as I realized that, I rushed out of the bathroom and threw myself to the ground.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Like a madwoman, I looked up to the sky and expressed my gratitude.
This time, I would do everything in my power as a player to make sure the game didn’t fail. Abyss would be with me forever.
Sitting quickly in front of my computer, I launched the familiar game, thinking to myself.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had come to me.
I couldn’t waste it.
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That should’ve been me, not her! It’s not fair!! Imagine turning into the Raiden Shogun…
Thanks for the chapter!
So you want to be a doll? (Not sure about the main body)
Actually, thinking about it now and considering her story and lore as well, this might be a really bad idea….
It should have been me! Turning into Miss Pink Elf! We could’ve trolled Officer KeBin!
Damn. Elysia is a good choice too… but… um… are you sure about that..? Especially considering her fate… 😅