Dragon's Tale: Ultimate was the final version of a game that defined an era.
The definitive patch. The swan song. The bittersweet love letter to millions of obsessed players who had poured their souls—and maybe their actual minds—into its world.
The original Dragon's Tale had dropped half a decade earlier.
Ten million players at launch. A hundred million by year two. The kind of game your great-grandkids would hear about and think you were making up. A full-dive VRMMORPG where everyone, and I mean everyone, could become a dragon.
Fire Dragons. Ice Dragons. Sky Serpents. Abyssal Wyrms.
Pick your poison. Spec your class. Die trying to evolve. Repeat.
Replayability? Endless.
Power fantasies? Enabled.
Toxic PvP? Oh, absolutely.
But at the top of it all sat one unreachable peak:
[Dragon Sage]—the final class. The divine evolution. The heavenly serpent coiled beyond the limits of mortal grinding.
The devs claimed it was achievable.
Nobody ever reached it.
Except for them.
And me?
I was close. Too close.
The kind of close that makes people nervous. The kind that gets you targeted.
See, the PvP community loves seeing you improve…
Just not past them.
It started with backhanded advice. Then friendly "duels." Then coordinated griefing squads camping my evolution trials.
Some of the top guilds even placed a bounty on my last milestone item.
Didn't matter.
Because I was going to do it anyway.
Or at least…
I thought I was.
Ultimate was the perfect game. It brought in more and new players, changed a few gimmicks and rules, improved upon balanced and bug patches.
I was too young to play the base game, but when Ultimate appeared I had to play it. And unknowingly…I spent the last 2 years devoting actual time.
It was the best thing ever. The Final Mix of all of the video games concepts baked into one thing. Every expansion in the past made free. Yeah, a little pay-2-win accessories, classes, and items.
But who cares?
It's fucking Dragon's Tale: Ultimate we are talking about here. They can have all of my money at that point.
But…you know. All things surely have come to an end.
When the devs announced the sequel, Dragon's Tale: Infinity Online was in production, everyone was ecstatic. Excited. We didn't know much about the next game, but we were happy.
As the days ticked by, the release date slowly got closer and closer. So while everyone else was hyped for Infinity Online, I was still playing Ultimate.
"Menu." I muttered, it came and popped up with no effort.
The familiar digital ripple passed through my vision—and like always, the interface obeyed.
[Name: Ryuuzen Valeflame]
[True Name: The Dawn (+50% Damage Reduction while HP > 70%)]
[Gender: Male]
[Race: Dark Silver Dragonoid (☆+)]
[Level: 339]
[Evolution Tier: Alpha]
[Affiliation: None]
[Title(s): Sovereign, Solo King, Exile of the Sky Temple]
Yep.
Still mine.
Still beautiful.
I took quite a few more steps, the open sky painted with the starts and swirling colors of pink and purple. Mana throughout the air. The magic. Everything.
I sighed.
I can't believe I'm going to leave this.
Checking the status message box for the server, the entire game closes down in 20 minutes. While others are in other servers doing one more PvE runs or trading their items that they swore were valuable.
I'm here.
Trying to fight a legacy boss.
Before I take one more step, a bright light shines from me, emitting from my body as it floats around. I could only deadpan.
"H-hey! Listen!" She speaks in a hushed tone, one that of a guide. I could only smile at the little clairvoyant spirit.
"Yeah, I'm listening. It's just one more legacy boss fight. You know how many clears I have against the guy?"
I shift all of my weight into one foot, as we both stare at the boss resting there. My eyes narrowed, and another pop up screen came about.
[Kami Ryuu]
[The Devil's Shadow]
[Level: ?]
[Those who face the shadow of God shall meet the fate reserved for devils.]
Usually when you couldn't tell the boss' level, it was a dynamic one. The game would roll a dice between 1-300 and place it that many levels above you.
That's what made it so fun.
Because each clear against Kami was not the same as the last. He would learn new skills depending on how higher he was than you.
I get a shudder at it. This game was really ahead of its time. Not like the others who gained controversy dealing with players consciousness—long, long story and I promise we'll talk about it later.
I turn back towards the guide.
"I'll get a sub 5 clear, alright?" I reassured. It floated around, the bright light wings fluttering crazily before slowing down.
I think it believed me.
I hope it did.
Even though this might be the last time we see each other.
"U-understood Ryuuzen! Will be timing…"
I outstretched my hands, "Wait, no, don't time. Then it'll get posted on the leaderboard just for some speedrunner to come and demolish it again!"
I tried to catch Guide within my hands, but she disappeared before I could. She was timing me now.
Alright.
I roll my shoulders, and take off the upper piece of my robe. Revealing defined muscles and a textured 8-pack for sure.
The perks of being one of the most valued races, I suppose.
Kami noticed my presence, my invitation to fight. He spoke, his usual dialogue.
"Hm…you've come to challenge me…?" He asks that like I haven't been beating his ass for the past year or so. If AI remembered then I'd guess it would break the immersion.
I stretch my body, jumping around a little bit. Feeling my blood course through the veins of my meta build.
"For old time's sake, you know?" I rebuttals, he only got up from his sitting position. Arnie decked out entirely of samurai esthetics.
His hand rests on his hilt, his blade. I only shift my feet and my posture to get into natural fighting position.
And then, a second later, feel my self smiling. Greatly. Widely.
I'm going to miss this game.