"Obituary—"

"We mourn deeply that Mr. Boxed Meal, the number one player in ’Elf Kingdom’ in terms of combat power, passed away due to illness on X month, X day, 20×× year."

"Mr. Boxed Meal was one of the three hundred first-testing players of ’Elf Kingdom,’ and since the game launched, he has maintained the record for combat power and personal influence, playing an irreplaceable role in advancing the storyline of ’Elf Kingdom.’"

"To express our condolences, according to Mr. Boxed Meal’s last wishes, the official committee of ’Elf Kingdom’ has decided to retain his original game account and transform it into a memorial NPC in the game."

"This announcement is hereby made..."

When players logged on as usual, their game interfaces were flooded by this system message.

The once futuristic system frame had turned gray, and on the world channel, messages from players mourning Boxed Meal flashed by one after another.

"Boxed Meal has passed away?!"

Still shaking off sleep, Little Xian Miao suddenly became wide awake. She hurriedly opened her friends list and found that the name belonging to Boxed Meal was no longer there.

Not only that, but even in the game’s leaderboard, the ID that had occupied first place for years had vanished...

"What happened? Everything seemed fine... How could he have passed away? Could it be a joke from the officials?!"

Little Xian Miao still couldn’t believe it, until she saw Hu Lu and others in Chosen City with their sorrowful expressions.

"Boss Miao, it’s true... the captain... he’s really gone."

"We just got in touch offline with the captain’s caregiver, and we’ve received confirmed news. The captain has indeed passed away, and his remains were cremated yesterday..."

Hu Lu said sadly.

Little Xian Miao fell silent.

"What... what illness did he have? Why didn’t he tell us? What about his family?"

She couldn’t help but ask.

"The captain had no family."

The cheerful one said chokingly:

"We only learned of the captain’s identity in reality after he passed away; he was a retired anti-drug officer and was an orphan since childhood."

"He suffered a severe injury during a mission, and according to the hospital, the cause of death was various complications triggered by the injuries..."

"However, his final days were happy; we were always with him in the game. If there is a next life, I think... the captain definitely reincarnated into the game world he loved..."

Listening to the words of Boxed Meal’s friends, Little Xian Miao finally accepted this hard-to-believe reality.

He’s gone.

Boxed Meal has actually passed away!

Although just a friend in the game, this was her first time experiencing the permanent departure of a loved one from this world.

Suddenly, intense grief surged into her heart, and scenes of collaborating with the silent "number one player" on missions appeared in Little Xian Miao’s mind.

After a long while, she sighed and patted the shoulders of several people:

"My condolences..."

The members of the Boxed Meal team nodded sadly, lightly.

"I saw the system message... seems the officials established a memorial account for Boxed Meal? Where is it?"

Little Xian Miao asked again.

"He’s with Nightingale."

Chopin said sadly.

He wiped the corner of his eye and sighed:

"The captain’s memorial account is already in Chosen City; he still retains the combat data from when we were together, but... but... that’s already an NPC."

By the end, he was sobbing uncontrollably.

Little Xian Miao’s heart felt heavy as well.

She sighed lightly and said:

"Let’s... pay our respects."

...

Elf Forest, Chosen City.

Today, the city seemed to have more player activity than usual.

And in the northern district, a region densely populated by elf NPCs, one ornate-equipped player after another peeked around, gazing towards a beautiful estate.

That estate, known to many hunter players who have studied thief skills, belonged to the famous NPC Nightingale.

Usually, many rookie players would visit, seeking to learn skills like lock-picking, but today, most players coming here were not newcomers.

They looked into the estate, seemingly searching for something...

Li Mu, Dema, Tomato Fried Tomato, Transforming Ji Gang, and other well-known players were present, and soon, Little Xian Miao also arrived with Hu Lu and others.

They exchanged brief greetings with Li Mu and the others, and the atmosphere became somewhat oppressively silent.

Until after a moment, Li Mu in the forefront gently sighed:

"I’ve heard... the memorial account is set up with an identity of an amnesiac reincarnator; to the NPCs, Boxed Meal has transformed from a Chosen One into a true elf."

"When we see Boxed Meal in a moment, everyone should control their emotions; if Boxed Meal’s spirit is watching over us, I think he wouldn’t want to see us so sad..."

The cheerful one sniffled, nodding:

"Yes, the captain loved this game; he once said his greatest wish was to be an NPC in Elf Kingdom in the next life, for which we mocked him for a long time..."

"But now, he’s finally fulfilled his wish... he’s finally become an NPC in ’Elf Kingdom,’ finally realizing his own dream..."

"Ah..."

The players who came to pay their respects sighed deeply.

And at this moment, the doors of the estate slowly opened.

...

No one knew how long had passed when Boxed Meal awoke from his sleep.

What caught his eye was no longer his familiar villa, but another room, equally familiar, though he had always tried to limit the number of visits to this place.