prologue

“There’s only a day left...”

I clicked my tongue lightly as I entered my ID and password in the familiar login window.

<End of game service>.

It was a few months ago that this announcement came out, but thinking that today was really the last time, I felt empty.

Rachronia Saga, abbreviated as RaSa, was an RPG that I had been obsessed with since I was in school and had been playing it for over eight years. 

A game that was once quite popular with its excellent graphics, immersive story, expansive man and worldview, and relatively novel system.

Currently, it had long been branded as a game of obsolescence, and only several hardcore users remain. I poured a third of my life into this game. It had already become a part of my daily life.

However, such a game eventually announced the end of service.

It’s not that there weren’t signs. And to be honest, there was nothing strange about ending it. But I couldn’t help but feel empty and betrayed. 

I moved my characters to visit the warehouse. It displayed the stored items on the screen. It also showed the inventory. 

Many items accumulated while playing for nearly 10 years. 

There were ordinary items, great items, and then there were the treasures that were even hard to find in the game. Looking back, I had too many of them.

I didn’t stop there and opened the character information window and the skill window.

[Lv. 99]

RaSa’s level system made it exponentially more difficult to level up as the level increased.

Starting from level 80, it not only needed experience points but also many difficult achievements.

At level 99, it was the unofficial maximum level of RaSa. No user had reached it yet. But not it had only become a ‘one level of regret’ for me.

I wanted to reach level 100.

Sky-piercing stats, all kinds of skills, and even the most gorgeous equipments were lined up on the screen. 

It was a splendid character specification that even experienced users did not have. But now, it was all useless.    

Why did I spend all that time to collect and strengthen these scraps of data?

“Shall we start?”

I moved the mouse, feeling the anticipation welling up.

It was for my last curiosity that I put all these things on the screen.

The place where the mouse cursor was directed was at the box-shaped item stuck in a corner of the warehouse.

[Box of Chaos].

Compared to other RPG, RaSa had a lot of freedom.

So, there were a lot of things like hidden pieces from all over the world. And this ‘Box of Chaos’ was also an item I got from a dungeon I found by chance. 

As you could see from the description, the effect was very interesting. 

There was nothing special about simple item synthesis. But in this box of chaos, not only items but also character skills and stats could be synthesized.

In short, there were no restrictions on the type or number of materials that could be set.

Except for novelty, it’s an item that doesn't really have much value.

However, the only time I used this item since I got it was when I wanted to use it for fun. It’s the reason there were few nine-star items in my warehouse.

The efficiency was simply too low. 

Usually, when something was synthesized, something of a higher value would come out.

However, in my case, the value did not improve but decreased.

What’s the use of this item when that would usually happen 9 out of 10 times when fusion was attempted?

Of course, it was nice to experiment with since you could use anything as a material and you would never know what would come out. But it’s just not worth it. 

Until now.

Where else could there be an item as great as this to decorate the end?

[Set the materials for fusion.]

I activated the box of chaos and moved the cursor.

I clicked on items, gold, stats, skills, everything one by one.

I set the items it took me a lot of effort to get and the skills I had gained through luck as materials without hesitation.

Only then would the fusion be complete and the character would return to the first level. But so what? It’s the last time, anyway.

If I synthesize everything without leaving a single thing, what will come out?

[Material settings have been completed.]

[Do you really want to fuse?]

Soon, the preparations were over.

I clicked ‘yes’ without hesitation and, at the same time, felt regretful.

I thought I had selected all of them, but I did not set one skill as a material.

[Soul of the King.]

RaSa’s unofficial highest grade, 9-star skills or items were extremely rare and their effects were fraudulent.

‘Soul of the King’ was also one of those 9-star skills.

[Convergence begins.]

Oh, it’s starting.

It was regretful to leave out one, but it didn’t matter, anyway.

I stared at the box of chaos vibrating violently on the screen, emitting a dark aura.

Why does the effect seems much chaotic than before?

A few seconds later, a brilliant light burst through the darkness that enveloped the box, and a notification popped up.

[Fusion complete.]

[Instant Kill (skill acquired)]

[Instant Kill]

I blinked and looked at the skill that appeared because of the fusion.

And soon, I let out a low, astonished sigh.

“Wow, fuck.”

What was this?

The rating was not 9-stars but 10-stars?

The existence of a 10-star rating in RaSa was a fact that had never been revealed.

To be honest, I had no expectations. But the outcome was completely beyond my imagination.

I was even more shocked reading the skill description.

Instant death ignoring all kinds of effects? And there’s no cooldown or target limit?

An instant kill with no target limit. Did that mean that I could use it not only on normal mobs but also on boss mobs?

Even the heinous bosses who could only be caught after struggling for a few hours could also be subjected to instant kill?

It can’t be... no, but its rating has never been seen before, isn’t it?

I moved the character with an absurd expression on my face.

I should probably just check it out for myself.

I never thought that I would actually gain such an outrageous skill with one day left before the game ran out of service.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have done this sooner.

Woooo!

“....?”

For a moment, my vision shook, and the world suddenly sank into darkness.

I screamed in surprise, but I couldn’t hear my voice. My body didn’t even move.

Amid the strange sound that pierced my ears and the dizziness that seemed to turn the world upside down...

[Don’t give up.]

Conciousness slowly faded.