The morning light of Akihabara was soft — a muted gold that filtered through the glass towers and wooden gates of the city's central district. The world loaded in slowly, the sky fading from grey to blue as player avatars began spawning across the plaza.
[System Message]:"Welcome to Yamato. Daily quests reset."
Seryuuji adjusted his cloak, standing near the fountain where he had first appeared days ago.
Unlike Manila's noisy Dawn Coast, Akihabara was calm — almost too calm. NPC vendors moved with deliberate grace as they opened their stalls, folding banners with quiet precision. There were no shouted prices, no arguments over loot, no laughter spilling into the streets.
The silence was… polite.
He leaned on his bow and let the sound of the wind fill the space that used to be chaos.
Yamato's main hub was a city of rules. Even in chat, players bowed before trading, thanked one another after duels, and referred to guildmates with honorifics. Every plaza was clean, every lamp post symmetrical.
Manila had been the opposite — messy, colorful, alive.
Seryuuji smiled faintly at the thought. "Feels like I switched from a market to a temple."
A pair of Novice Bards nearby performed an early-morning buff song, their lutes synchronized perfectly. Each note shimmered across the plaza like falling petals. Their precision impressed him — artistry in restraint.
[System Log]: Buff received: "Harmony's Blessing – +5% focus recovery."
He murmured, "Even the music here's formal."
_______________________
Guild Hall: Crescent Moon Alliance
Seryuuji had found temporary quarters within Crescent Moon's shared building. The guild was known for welcoming wanderers and new arrivals — a small, friendly community that didn't care about rankings or raids.
"Morning, Ryuu" said Amane, the guild's bard, as he entered. Her voice was cheerful but soft, matching the guild's mood. "You're early again."
"Habit" he replied. "Back in SEA, servers reset an hour earlier. Guess I still wake up to Manila time."
She handed him a virtual cup of tea — an immersion emote unique to Crescent Moon's guild hall. "You're still thinking about home?"
He hesitated. "Sometimes. It's weird, though. I know the SEA server's just… there. But the warp schedule hasn't aligned for weeks. Feels like another world."
Amane nodded knowingly. "Yamato's fairy ring cycles are unpredictable. Sometimes they connect, sometimes they don't. The scholars say it's based on the game's 'world harmony code.'"
He gave a dry laugh. "Guess harmony doesn't include me."
_______________________
The Markets of Akiba
By afternoon, the plaza was full of life — but a different kind of life.
Crafters worked quietly behind counters, carefully polishing blades, etching kanji seals, weaving talismans into armor. Instead of loud advertisements, floating signboards displayed serene messages like 'Blessings in Balance' and 'Harmony over Power.'
Seryuuji stopped at a stall where a blacksmith was reforging an old katana. The man nodded to him.
"You're the foreigner with the sea-marked bow" the smith said. "It sings with strange mana."
Seryuuji blinked. "You can sense that?"
"Of course. Yamato's air hums differently. Your bow hums back. It's not of this land."
He looked down at the weapon slung across his shoulder — the Bow of the Dawn Tides.A Phantasmal-class relic, growth-type. The first and only of its kind in SEA.
And somehow, it still pulsed faintly, though the waves it once resonated with were a server away.
"I guess it's just trying to remember where it came from" he said quietly.
The smith grinned. "Or trying to learn where it belongs now."
_______________________
Training Grounds – East Gate
Every evening, he practiced — not because he had to, but because he didn't want to forget the rhythm of the hunt.
He drew an arrow and released. It hit slightly off-center.
[Hit registered – Environmental mismatch detected.]
He sighed. "Still not in sync."
A local Ranger, older and calm, observed him from nearby. "Your draw's too quick" the man said. "Yamato's wind carries slower. Wait for the stillness before you release."
Seryuuji nodded, adjusted his stance, and tried again.
This time, he waited. Felt the lull of the air. Then fired.
The arrow struck true.
[Critical Hit! Bonus from Environmental Flow achieved.]
He lowered the bow, grinning faintly. "Guess I'm learning."
The Ranger chuckled. "You SEA players… always chasing the storm. Here, we chase the calm."
_______________________
Evening Reflections
When the day cycle ended, Akihabara glowed under lantern light. NPC children ran across the bridges, players chatted softly in tea houses, and bards filled the streets with melodies that lingered like dreams.
Seryuuji found his usual spot at the riverside, overlooking the moonlit reflection of the city. He opened his interface, glancing at his inventory. The bow shimmered faintly again.
[System Notification]:
"Phantasmal-class weapon 'Bow of the Dawn Tides' has adapted to local mana: +0.5% Resonance (Yamato alignment)."
He frowned thoughtfully. "Even the weapon's adapting faster than me."
The chat window blinked — a message from Amane.
[Amane]:"Ryuu, you joining us for a raid? Guild's making preparations tonight."
[Seryuuji]:"Maybe later. Just… watching the waves."
[Amane]:"There aren't any waves in Akiba."
[Seryuuji]:"Exactly."
He closed the chat and leaned back against the stone railing. The air was still. The water reflected stars that weren't really stars — pixels, code, and light. And yet, they felt distant, unreachable, like home.
[System Message]:
"You have spent 30 in-game days in Yamato. Adaptation Trait +1."
[Title Earned]: "The Wayfarer – One Who Crossed the Rings."
He smiled faintly. "Guess I'm staying, huh?"
The screen dimmed to night mode. The world stayed quiet — as if listening.
_______________________
The Ember Within
Seryuuji sat by the riverbank long after the others had logged off.
The faint glow of Akihabara's lanterns painted golden ripples across the water. The bow lay beside him, still radiating that soft silver from before—but tonight, something was different.
The air felt warmer.
He frowned. "Strange… it's reacting again."
[System Message]: "Regional leyline fluctuation detected near Akihabara – Spirit Attribute Shift: Fire."
The runes along the bow's limbs pulsed, their silver sheen fading into a dull orange. He felt a faint heat through his gloves, not burning but alive—like the heartbeat of something waking.
[System Update – Weapon Evolution in Progress]
Analyzing local mana network…
Incorporating element: Fire (Yamato Spirit Type).
Reforging resonance structure…
A low hum filled the air. The glyphs along the bow reshaped, forming the kanji for 炎 – Flame. The wooden limbs darkened, taking on the texture of scorched cedar, and faint sparks drifted from the string each time he moved.
He watched, awestruck. "You're… burning?"
The system chimed softly.
[New Form Unlocked!]
Form II – Blazing Tides (Yamato Alignment):
The bow embodies the spirit of Yamato's inner flame—discipline through destruction.
• Arrows gain +20% pierce and fire attribute.
• Buff synergy with Enchanter skills: Ignition Circle, Mana Combustion.
• Generates Heat Stacks; stability rises with sustained rhythm.• Harmony Gauge resets if the wielder loses composure.
Seryuuji traced the kanji carved into the bow's core. It pulsed once, and the warmth spread up his arm.
"So that's your Yamato form" he murmured. "You don't just copy the land—you become its will."
Trial by Fire
He stood, drew an arrow, and loosed it toward a practice target.
The shot tore through the air with a sound like crackling flame. On impact, the dummy erupted briefly in golden embers before vanishing into respawn dust.
[Critical Hit – Elemental Overload Bonus Applied]
[Harmony Gauge +3%]
Seryuuji blinked at the readout. "That's… strong. Too strong for a test dummy."
He fired again. This time, the arrow traced a faint trail of heat, and the flame curved mid-flight, adjusting to the wind.
[Adaptive Trajectory – Fire Form Active]
The bow felt alive—no longer a relic of the sea, but a living spark of the land he now walked. Every draw burned steadier, every release cleaner, until the rhythm of flame felt natural in his hands.
He whispered, half to himself, half to the weapon, "You've found your voice here."
By the time he returned to Crescent Moon, the city was quiet again — the kind of silence that only came after a long night of battles.
Guild Hall, Late Night
Back at Crescent Moon, the guild hall was quiet save for the flicker of enchanted candles.
Amane looked up from a crafting table when Seryuuji entered, the fiery glow of his weapon casting dancing shadows across the floor.
Her eyes widened. "That's… new. Don't tell me it changed."
He nodded. "Fire this time. The local leyline triggered it."
"Fire?" she repeated. "That's rare. Yamato flame mana's volatile—it doesn't usually bond with foreign artifacts."
"Guess it didn't see me as foreign anymore" he said with a faint smile. "It's learning faster than I can."
Amane leaned forward, curiosity overtaking her calm composure. "You realize what this means, right? If your bow can integrate regional elements, it might be recording them—like it's writing its own patch notes."
Seryuuji laughed softly. "Maybe it's just adapting… like everything else here."
_______________________
The Spirit of the Land
After Amane logged out, Seryuuji remained on the balcony, flame-lit bow across his lap.
He watched the quiet city below—Akihabara's night torches burning like stars.
[System Whisper]:
"The sea taught you motion. The land teaches you stillness. The flame teaches you resolve."
"Harmony Progress +10%."
He drew once more and released toward the sky. The arrow burst into a spiral of light—blue at its core, orange at its edge—melding sea and flame into one. The particles drifted upward and vanished among the coded stars.
"Looks like we both found a way to belong" he murmured.
The bow's flame dimmed, settling into a warm ember glow.
_______________________
[Updated Item Data Log – Bow of the Dawn Tides]
Class: Phantasmal
Type: Adaptive Longbow
Origin: SEA Server → Reforged in Yamato
Current Holder: Seryuuji
Required Level: 55
Elemental Affinity: Water / Fire (Dual Phase)
Form I – Dawn Tides
Element: WaterCombat Style: High mobility, fluid chaining attacks
Skills
Tidecall Volley — Launches a rapid series of water-imbued arrows that track targets; increases attack speed during continuous fire.
Riptide Veil — Summons a defensive current around the user; reduces ranged damage by 20% for 5 seconds.
Echo Current — Reduces cooldowns for water-element skills by 15% and restores 3% MP after full combo completion.
Passive Effects
+10% Movement Speed while attacking
+5% Mana Recovery per chain
Form II – Blazing Tides
Element: FireCombat Style: Precision-based, critical burst focus
Skills
Ember Draw — Charges a flaming arrow that explodes in a 3m radius on impact.
Arrow of Resolve — Converts Harmony Gauge into critical rate and damage bonus for 10s.
Flameburst Finale — Finisher skill; increases power based on combo count and Harmony Gauge.
Passive Effects
+15% Critical Rate when stationary
+10% Accuracy scaling with Harmony
Special Trait — Adaptive Memory
Retains combat data from both elemental forms.
Enables hybrid techniques through stored resonance.
Allows phase-switching between Water (Dawn) and Fire (Blaze).
Hybrid Skill
Tidal Flame Sequence — Alternates between Water and Fire volleys; may trigger Residual Storm Effect (lightning visual + minor stun chance).
Hybrid Bonuses
+20% Combo Efficiency during alternating attacks
-10% Casting Animation Time
Questline Effect — Stormcaller's Oath [Corrupted]
Unstable Harmony Sync — 10% chance to trigger Static Surge (+5% Attack Speed, +5% MP Regen) followed by a 3s cooldown delay.
Residual Storm Effect — 10% chance to apply lightning visuals and minor knockback during hybrid shots.
Stormcaller Fusion Skill (Tier IV) — Locked due to cross-server corruption.
SEA Elemental Network Link — Inactive; cannot sync to original questline.
Harmony Gauge System
0–25% — Flicker Base — elemental alignment active
26–60% — Flow — Minor fusion bonuses unlocked
61–99% — Resonance — Hybrid techniques accessible
100% — Harmony Edge — Triggers Stormcaller fragment reactivation attempt
_______________________
The Hunt Beyond the Walls
The following day, Akihabara's bulletin boards flickered with new postings — rotating quests for the week. Among them, one line of glowing text caught Seryuuji's eye.
[Quest Notice: Crimson Shrine Extermination – Eastern Woodlands]
Threat Level: Mid-Boss (Lv. 55)
Objective: Purge the Ashbound Spirits haunting the old Yamato shrines.
Party Slots: 4–6 players recommended.
He glanced at his interface clock — enough time before the next guild meeting.
"Guess I could use a test run" he murmured, selecting 'Solo Attempt.'
[Warning: Recommended party detected. Proceed anyway?]
[Yes]
The screen pulsed.
[Quest accepted.]
_______________________
The outer forests of Yamato were nothing like the tropical coasts of the SEA regions.
Mist clung to the ground like breath, the trees rising straight and tall, each branch perfectly still. Even the soundscape was restrained — no crashing waves or seabirds, only wind passing through bamboo and the distant ring of temple bells.
[Zone Entered: Ashen Grove – Spirit Field Active.]
As he stepped through the torii gate marking the quest boundary, crimson particles shimmered in the air. The smell of scorched cedar filled the zone. The shrine ruins ahead flickered with ghostly light.
Seryuuji drew his bow. The flame runes along its limbs responded instantly — igniting like a heartbeat.
[Weapon Mode: Blazing Tides (Yamato Alignment) Activated.]Harmony Gauge: 0% → 12%
From the mist emerged his first opponent — an Ashbound Spirit, its humanoid form drifting half-burned, half-transparent. It let out a dry, echoing wail.
"Alright" he muttered. "Let's see what you can do."
He loosed the first arrow.
The projectile struck the spirit's chest, detonating in a small burst of orange flame. The ghost recoiled, fragments of red code spilling into the air.
Before it could recover, he chained another shot, this time invoking a familiar SEA technique.
[Skill Activated: Haste → Ignite Sequence!]
The Blazing Tides flared, blue and orange energy overlapping as the water-based enchantment fueled the fire arrow instead of dampening it.
[Fusion Detected: Dual-element Harmony Achieved.]Damage Multiplier +25%.
The second shot shattered the spirit completely.
He lowered his bow, surprised. "That shouldn't have worked…"
The weapon pulsed softly — as if pleased.
_______________________
The Shrine's Core
He made his way deeper into the forest, dispatching more spirits as the air thickened with crimson haze. Each victory raised the Harmony Gauge, the flame at the bow's heart burning brighter.
By the time he reached the central shrine, it had stabilized into a slow, pulsing glow.
[Harmony Gauge 78% – Perfect Flow Achieved.]
The final boss, a towering Wraith Monk, emerged from the shrine gate. It carried a massive burning staff, its body woven from paper charms and fire.
[Boss Encounter Initiated.]
Seryuuji inhaled deeply, drawing his bowstring back. The weapon felt weightless — almost guiding him through each motion.
[Skill Chain Initiated: Ember Draw → Arrow of Resolve → Flameburst Finale.]
The first arrow set the wraith ablaze. The second cut through its defenses. The third — the finale — streaked skyward before curving down like a falling star, engulfing the entire shrine in searing light.
When the flames cleared, the boss was gone. Only ashes and fading sigils remained.
[Quest Complete – Crimson Shrine Extermination Cleared.]
[Bonus: Solo Clear – +200% EXP, +10 Harmony Points.]
[Loot Acquired: Fragment of the Ember Seal x1.]
Seryuuji exhaled, lowering the bow. His reflection flickered faintly in the ashes — red hair haloed in ember light, eyes steady.
He checked his interface.
[System Whisper]:
"You have proven the flame's resolve. The Bow remembers your calm amid fire."
[Blazing Tides Resonance +3%]
He smiled faintly. "Guess you're satisfied."
The warp gate shimmered as he stepped through. The noise of Akiba returned all at once — players bartering, guild members shouting about raid schedules, Bards tuning instruments for the evening's buff rotation.
He walked through it all quietly, the faint heat of the Blazing Tides still warming his back.
A notification blinked in his chat feed.
[Amane]:"You're back already? How'd it go?"
[Seryuuji]:"Solo'd the Crimson Shrine."
[Amane]:"…You what?"
[Seryuuji]:"Just testing the bow."
[Amane]:"Remind me not to spar with you anytime soon."
He laughed under his breath, closing the window.
At the plaza's edge, he stopped by the fountain, watching the light ripple across the water — soft blue and flickering orange, blending together.
For a moment, it almost looked like home.
_______________________
Few weeks later
Akihabara, or Akiba as players affectionately called it, was alive in the way only MMORPG cities could be — busy, glowing, endlessly social. The transport plaza sparkled with teleport effects every few seconds, bursts of blue and gold as adventurers came and went.
Seryuuji — though most called him Ryuu in party chat — leaned against the fountain's marble edge, sorting through a cluttered inventory window. His bow, the Dawn Tides, rested across his back, faintly humming with the quiet resonance of an active enchantment.
_______________________
[System Notice]"Welcome back, Seryuuji — SEA Data Sync Successful."
_______________________
He smirked. Still takes its time, huh?
Cross-server play between SEA and Yamato was a relatively new feature, managed through the unstable Fairy Ring Channels — timed warp gates whose availability rotated based on regional maintenance.
He'd arrived in Akiba to test a few scripts for his Scribe subclass, mostly to see how the Japanese text rendering handled his custom runes. But he wasn't used to the latency here. Even the city felt slower, heavier.
The local chat buzzed with life.
[Local] Koga: LFM for Goblin Nest, lv 45+ only! Need DPS or Support.[Local] AriaLute: Bard buffs for hire~ <3 Donations accepted![Local] KuroKumo: Anyone from SEA here? Ping's rough today lol.
Ryuu smirked and replied:
[Seryuuji]:SEA player here. Just arrived this morning.
Almost immediately, he got a whisper.
[Whisper - Aira]: Wait, you're the Enchanter with the glowing bow, right? The forums have been talking about you.
He blinked. Still? The Elder Tale forums had their own way of spreading gossip.
[Seryuuji]: Guess they have nothing better to do.[Aira]: You kidding? Cross-server drops are newsworthy! Wanna join a run? We're farming the sewer raid for Ember Cores.
[Seryuuji]: Sure, send me the invite.
_______________________
The team assembled by Akiba's south gate — Aira the Bard, a Cleric, a Samurai named Koga, and two Rangers. A casual group, more laughter than min-maxing.
"Ryuu, right?" Koga asked, sheathing his katana. "Didn't think a SEA player would brave the Fairy Rings for low-tier drops."
"Had nothing better to do." Ryuu replied. "And curiosity."
Aira laughed. "Curiosity's the first step to addiction, you know."
"Then I'm already doomed" he said, smiling faintly.
The Mireclaw Nest dungeon was easy by high-level standards — a maze of murky tunnels and slow-moving enemies. Ryuu stayed back, supporting the group with buffs: Keen Edge for Koga's blade, Haste for Aira's melody timing, Force Step to amplify the party's rhythm.
His cast timing was perfect — seamless, calm. Every spell flickered with precision only years of SEA raiding could teach.
The boss — a mud-ogre covered in moss — collapsed after a brief skirmish.
[System Message]"Dungeon Clear — Mireclaw Nest (Normal Mode)""Loot Acquired: Raw Ember Core x2, Bronze Token x5, Dawn Tides Resonance +1%"
The bow's blue aura shifted momentarily, a faint orange shimmer sparking at its core.
Koga tilted his head. "That bow just changed color?"
"Adaptive artifact" Ryuu explained. "SEA event drop. It grows with Harmony resonance."
"Phantasmal class, right?"
"Yeah" Ryuu nodded. "Evolves based on server alignment and user resolve. Weird system."
Aira's eyes sparkled. "That's… beautiful, actually. Like it remembers your fights."
Ryuu chuckled. "That's one way to look at it."
Back in Akiba, the night had deepened. Lanterns glowed softly, players traded in stalls, and bards played soft tunes that mixed game lore with memes. Aira followed Ryuu to the fountain — his post-raid resting spot.
"You're not in a guild?" she asked, pulling out her harp and plucking idle notes.
"Not on this server" Ryuu said. "I've kinda got one back home — Harana. We run mixed-region raids sometimes."
"I've heard of them!" Aira smiled. "You guys cleared the Davao Citadel back when it was bugged, didn't you?"
"That was chaos" Ryuu admitted. "Half the team died from desync mid-boss."
"Still" she said softly, "you made history."
He shrugged. "Just luck and lag tolerance."
After a pause, she added, "If you ever move to Yamato, my guild would welcome you. You'd fit right in."
"Appreciate it" he said, smiling faintly. "But I'm just a stowaway for now. Until the Rings rotate again. If they ever do"
Her smile faltered for a moment. "Then… let's make the most of it, yeah?"
"Yeah" Ryuu agreed. "Let's."
Later that night, when the plaza emptied and the songs faded, Ryuu sat sketching Akiba's skyline into his Scribe's Tome. His strokes were slow, deliberate — documenting streets, lanterns, even the faint mist rising from the fountain.
[Bow of the Dawn Tides — Harmony +0.8%][Note] Adaptive Memory Sync Complete.
The bow pulsed beside him, its glow reflecting off the water's surface.
"Learning the new flow already, huh?" Ryuu murmured to it.
He didn't notice the faint shimmer at the city's edge — a Fairy Ring flickering unnaturally, its runes cycling faster than usual.
Not yet.
The Fairy Ring pulsed once more.What began as a faint distortion grew into a visible rift of fractured light, each rune flickering like a heartbeat struggling to continue. Players around Akiba Plaza slowed, some curious, others wary, as the shimmering archway began to destabilize.
[System Alert]:
"Fairy Ring Network — Global Recalibration Failed.
Region Route: SEA → Yamato — Connection Lost."
Ryuu stared, the sound of the system chime echoing hollowly in his ears.
He reached for the interface again, forcing open the Route Console. The familiar SEA gateway symbols were gone—deleted from the directory entirely. Only one line remained, in dim grey font:
[No Return Point Detected.]
He exhaled, slowly. "So… it's not just desynced."
Another player tried to activate the ring and was thrown backward by a burst of static. A chorus of confused voices followed—some laughing nervously, others panicking. The crowd was alive with uncertainty, but Ryuu's focus tunneled inward.
He opened his character sheet.
His location tag read:Server: Yamato (Permanent)Fairy Ring Access: Restricted (SEA Route Removed)
The realization settled in like cold stone. "I'm… stuck here."
He sent a quick whisper to Aira.[Seryuuji]: "Aira. The Ring's gone. It's not a bug."[Aira]: "...What do you mean gone?"[Seryuuji]: "SEA's not on the network map anymore. I checked the root access."[Aira]: "There has to be a rollback—some kind of patch."[Seryuuji]: "No. It's... deleted from the route table. The system doesn't even recognize SEA as existing."
Silence filled the channel for several seconds before Aira finally replied.[Aira]: "Then… you're really stuck there, Ryuu?"He hesitated. "Yeah. Looks that way. Indefinitely."
The bow at his side responded with a soft flare — red-orange at the tips of its limbs — a faint pulse that resonated with his voice. Its flame form, once dormant, felt strangely alive, like it understood his loss.
[System Notice]:"Server Alignment Complete – Yamato Host Authority Active.
Player Transfer Confirmed: Seryuuji (SEA Origin)."
"Return Path: Not Found."
The words glowed across his vision before fading.The chatter around him became background noise, swallowed by the low hum of the now-dormant Fairy Ring.
Ryuu tilted his head up, gazing at the digital sky above Akiba — vibrant, crowded, and alien.Eight years before the Catastrophe, before the world would shatter into permanence, one lone player from SEA stood beneath that sky, already trapped between tides.
He sighed, resting a hand on the bow's hilt. "Guess this is home now."
_______________________
The failed Fairy Ring faded from public memory, but for Ryuu, it remained a silent marker — the border between the home he'd lost and the one he had to build.
Akiba changed with every day cycle. Its plazas were full of traders yelling prices, guilds recruiting for dungeons, and bulletin boards overflowing with raid announcements. It was chaos, but in that chaos, opportunity thrived.
Ryuu became part of that rhythm.
He wasn't guild-affiliated, just a honorary member of the Crescent Moon Alliance. Word spread quickly about the SEA player who took any job if the pay was fair and the challenge interesting. "The Ember Enchanter," they called him. Sometimes "The Tidewalker," after title of his origin.
Raid: The Depths of Narukami Caverns
The first big contract came from a mid-tier guild, Lotus Arc. Their raid objective: clear the lightning-charged caverns of Narukami, home to a corrupted elemental core.
Ryuu adjusted his gloves, standing beside the raid leader at the entrance."Just keep your buffs steady and don't get greedy on mana," the leader said.
Ryuu smirked. "That's my line."
At the signal, the party surged forward. Sparks filled the tunnels, and the thunder elementals shrieked from the walls. Ryuu began his rotation:
"Keen Edge. True Guide. Haste."
Magic sigils bloomed at his fingertips, wrapping allies in bright glyphs. His bow pulsed in rhythm — flame and light flickering at the edges, the merged essence of SEA and Yamato.
The frontline charged, blades slicing arcs of lightning. A rogue slipped past a golem's flank — too close — and got caught by a chain of bolts. Ryuu pivoted instantly, staff end tapping the ground.
"Security Wall!"
A translucent barrier absorbed the hit, shattering with a resonant crack. The rogue stumbled away alive, shouting thanks through the static.
At the heart of the cavern, the Elemental Core roared — a sphere of stormlight with arcs of living thunder.
Ryuu's flame-bow unfolded, its limbs reshaping into radiant crimson lines."Time to burn the storm."
He invoked Mage Feedback, flooding his allies' attacks with psychic flame.Arrows streaked red, spells bloomed gold — a symphony of offense.
When the boss began charging a devastating AOE, Ryuu moved first."Astral Bind!"
Chains of light shot out, wrapping the elemental mid-cast, halting its channeling long enough for the vanguard to land the finishing strike.
[System Notice]: Raid Complete — Narukami Caverns Cleared. Bonus Reward Distributed.
As loot windows opened, players chattered excitedly. The leader approached Ryuu."Solid work, Ryuu. You ever think of joining a guild?"
Ryuu smiled faintly. "Maybe someday. For now, I like to keep moving."
By the time he returned to Akiba, his name had begun circulating. Raid leaders whispered about his timing and precision; crafters mentioned how he left behind scrolls recording each raid's patterns — neatly written, signed Seryuuji R.
At the taverns, players raised mugs in his honor when a raid went clean. Some joked that hiring Ryuu was like buying insurance — expensive, but you never wiped.
He kept to himself, usually found under the evening light of the city's upper balcony, copying maps or refining contracts.
His bow rested against the wall, the faint flame along its limbs flickering like candlelight.
Sometimes, he wondered if Lira still played. If the SEA server even still existed.But every time doubt set in, a new raid request appeared — a new fight, a new purpose.
Raid: The Temple of Fangs
A high-level guild from Susukino offered him a guest slot for their weekly raid. The Temple of Fangs was notorious for its regenerating drakes — a fight that punished coordination lapses.
Ryuu watched as tanks struggled to keep aggro. The drakes split apart, one circling for a tail-slam.
He raised his bow. "Electrical Fuzz!"
Lightning burst from his shot, slowing the beast just enough for the monk to intercept.The raid leader barked commands, and Ryuu fell into rhythm — buffs and debuffs flowing like calligraphy across the battlefield.
"Force Step! Brain Vise!"
He danced between casts, stepping into the fight's pulse. His scrolls shimmered in midair, floating beside him — auto-writing logs of damage data and spell order, a trick only a true Scribe could pull off.
When the boss finally fell, Ryuu landed the last shot — a clean burst of flame through its heart.
Days turned to weeks.
Ryuu's schedule filled with raid contracts — dungeons, world events, and escort quests.He'd come to know Akihabara's tempo — the bartering of strategies, the smell of digital spices in food stalls, the nightly gatherings where music from real instruments mixed with spell effects.
In this world of infinite resets, Ryuu wasn't chasing glory.He was surviving — one raid at a time, a wanderer with no homeland but the battlefield.
And though he could never return to SEA, his legend began to ripple through Yamato's channels — a whisper of a player who came from across the seas and fought like he'd never stopped moving forward.