D'oh! I just managed it, relatively easily. For some reason, I had believed that I could not consume any potions & was trying to make a run straight for the top. I can no longer rememebr why I thought that ... maybe relying on my pet for auto-potions? Today it was dried up & I had to manual potion, so I made it to the top ...
I took a few minutes at midnight to wish my family well.
By about12:04 I was in the "special New Year's shop" ... and it was sold old !!
We are talking about digital goods - how could they be "sold out" so quickly?
There was even a cap on the desirable items; e.g max 10 Onyx Apple across the entire account - so no real chance of cheating or flooding the market (how many would bother to make multiple accounts, just for that?). The would have sold for 1m and the cheapest currently in the auction house (Lunna) is 20m. What a (typically Maple) swizz!!
Shame on you, Nexon F5
I feel sorry for any youngsters who stayed up late especially for this non-event.
I cannot believe that I am so dumb. I was trying the real Magus (albeit on easy mode). I tried the simulator (thanks, Akradian) and defeated him in less than 2 minutes. I ought to have known that I was doing something wrong F2