Will I still have my current characters and account...? (More info inside)

I bought the game on a whim a week ago because I felt left out of the hype. Immediately, before even playing the game, I regretted the purchase due to money issues, and contacted Sony and requested a refund.

I found out today that they are in fact refunding my account - except I love the game now! It is too late to request that they don't refund it, and they no longer sell digital copies on the PSN store, so I was going to go out and purchase a physical copy.

Will I still have my account with my current characters if I purchase the game? Or will I need to start over?

NOTE: This is on PS3.