A year before the Cross-Server Transfer
The morning air in Manila carried the scent of rain-soaked concrete and distant sea breeze. Jeepneys rolled through the streets, blaring music and exhaust as Ivan hurried across the crosswalk, uniform collar half turned.
Middle school again.
Not for the first time, he wondered how it all came to this—why everything he remembered felt older than he was supposed to be. But that thought stayed buried. He smiled faintly, adjusted his backpack, and walked through the school gate like any normal second-year student.
"Morning, Ivan!"
"Yo, Salvador, you finished the project?"
He nodded absently. He always did. His classmates joked that he worked like someone twice his age, and maybe they weren't wrong. His notebooks were filled not just with class notes, but neat diagrams, systems, even strange little UI layouts drawn between margins.
When asked, he always shrugged it off.
"Just ideas for a game I play" he'd say.
After Classes – Café Polygon, España Boulevard
The café hummed with the usual symphony of fans, clicking mice, and laughter. Rows of PCs glowed blue in the dim light, reflecting off mugs of cheap coffee and instant noodles.
Kenji was already online, headset tilted. "Ivan! You're late, man. Maintenance just ended."
"Yeah" Ivan replied, dropping his bag on the table. "Had to finish some stuff at school."
Mae swiveled her chair. "Schoolwork? In June? Nerd."
Ivan grinned. "Says the one running spreadsheets for raid DPS."
"Touché" she said, laughing.
He sat down, logged in, and the familiar world loaded around him.
[Connecting… Elder Tale Online SEA Server: Dawn Coast]
The familiar chime always made his chest tighten a little. It was home in pixels.
In-Game – Harana Guild Base
The guild hall shimmered to life, a seaside fortress framed by glowing runes. The Harana guild wasn't top-tier, but it had a reputation for consistency — small groups, clean clears, and fair loot rotations.
"Ryuu, your bow looks the same as last week," Mae teased, her avatar crossing her arms.
"You still haven't upgraded?"
He looked down at the weapon in his character's hands — Ash Branch Longbow, uncommon grade, +6 refinement.
Simple. Reliable. Lacking the flare of other weapons, but perfectly tuned to his precision playstyle.
"Gear's just numbers" Ivan said. "Timing beats stats."
Kenji laughed. "Try telling that to a boss with 300k HP."
Ivan smirked. "I have. He's dead now."
Raid Night – Davao Citadel (Pre-Rework)
The raid field roared to life — storm clouds spiraling, waves crashing against the fortress walls. The boss, Typhon the Sky-Wrath, screeched from above.
[Boss Engaged – Typhon the Sky-Wrath Lvl. 65]
Ivan gripped his bow tighter. The old model felt clunky compared to what others used, its shots heavier, slower to draw. But he knew its quirks — the slight delay before release, the uneven spread when buffed with wind runes.
"Frontline, watch the left flank!" he called. "Mae, keep the chant steady!"
A volley of arrows streaked through the air. His own shots found the gaps between enemy movements — precise, deliberate.
Not flashy. Just effective.
Kenji's voice boomed through comms. "Ryuu, add pressure—right wing's regenerating!"
"Got it."
He switched stance, adjusted for elevation, and released. The arrow struck the exposed tendon joint just as Typhon started casting.
The spell canceled. The raid survived another phase.
[Damage Registered: Critical Strike – Weak Point Bonus +75%]
"See?" Ivan muttered with a grin. "Timing."
The group fought for nearly twenty minutes before the boss finally collapsed in a rain of light and static.
[System Message]:
Raid Complete – Davao Citadel (Normal Mode)
[Loot Acquired: Stormscale Mantle, Typhon's Fang, Storm Ash Longbow Blueprint]
The others cheered, voices filling comms. Kenji whooped loudest. "Bro, you carried! Those interrupts were god-tier!"
Ivan smiled softly. "We all carried. Good calls."
The group was still buzzing, discussing loot rolls.
Kenji leaned back. "You gonna craft that blueprint, Ivan? Looks like your upgrade."
Ivan stared at the holographic screen showing the new longbow design — carved from ashwood and scaled with faint storm motifs.
"Maybe," he said. "Feels like it's waiting for the right moment."
Mae rolled her eyes. "You're way too poetic for someone who mains a bow with support skills."
"Old habit" he said simply.
Guild Meetup – Mall of Asia
The Harana guild gathered at the open-air food strip. Laughs, handshakes, and the easy noise of friendship filled the night.
"Dude, you actually look younger than your avatar," Kenji said, slapping Ivan's shoulder.
Ivan chuckled. "Guess the real world doesn't give EXP."
"Give it time," Mae said. "Once the Fairy Ring update drops, maybe we'll get to visit other servers. Akihabara, London, all that."
"Yeah" Kenji added. "Imagine seeing Japan's playerbase up close."
Ivan's smile faltered for just a second. "Yeah" he said quietly. "Imagine."
Night – Home
Back in his room, Ivan powered on his PC again. The dim light of the monitor reflected across his eyes.
He checked his inventory — nothing rare, nothing enchanted, just the Storm Ash Longbow sitting in his crafting queue.
Ordinary.
But when he held the mouse, something about it still felt alive — the idea that one day, this simple bow might be more than code. More than data.
A faint notification flickered at the corner of his HUD:[Developer Notice – Global Patch 5.98b: Fairy Ring Synchronization Test Begins Soon]
Ivan leaned back in his chair, a quiet unease settling in.
"Just another update" he told himself.
But part of him wasn't so sure.
Part of him could already hear a distant hum — like a song trying to cross from one world to another.
__________________________
Mornings in the city always began the same — the echo of tricycles rattling through narrow streets, vendors calling out for taho, and the faint hum of jeepneys idling near the school gate.
Ivan adjusted his backpack and stepped into the familiar buzz of St. Claire's Middle School. The smell of chalk and floor polish greeted him, the faintest trace of rain still clinging to his shoes.
"Morning, Ivan!""Yo, Salvador! Did you finish the math homework?""Bro, lend me your notes later!"
He smiled faintly, waving them off. "Yeah, yeah. After class."
No one here knew the truth — that deep down, the quiet, polite student used to be someone else entirely. An IT undergrad from another lifetime, reborn with memories he never asked for.
He'd decided early on that it was better this way. The world didn't need another story about second chances.
Not when it already had enough unsolved problems of its own.
Homeroom
The teacher droned on about algebraic functions while Ivan stared out the window, his notebook open but untouched. The hum of the electric fan and the faint drizzle outside blurred together, lulling him into a rhythm he could live with.
He liked quiet days like this. They reminded him that he was still human — not an adventurer, not a level 50 archer, just another boy trying to blend in.
"Salvador," the teacher's voice broke through."Yes, ma'am?""Please solve number three on the board."
He stood, chalk in hand, solving the equation effortlessly. Old memories of debugging scripts and optimizing code flashed faintly in his mind — logical thinking came naturally. He wrote the final answer, stepped back, and nodded.
"Correct" the teacher said. "As expected."
As he sat down, his seatmate whispered, "How do you do that without even studying?"
Ivan smiled slightly. "Just patterns. Everything's patterns."
After School – Rainy Afternoon
The sky had turned gray by the time classes ended. Ivan lingered under the eaves, watching students run toward tricycles, their laughter trailing behind them.
He walked home through quiet backstreets, the kind lined with old sari-sari stores and tangled power lines. The rain started again, soft at first, then heavier.He didn't run — he never did. Something about the rain felt grounding, familiar. Like the rhythmic tempo of arrows loosed in a storm.
When he finally reached his small apartment, he toweled off, hung his uniform, and powered up his PC.
The screen flickered to life. Elder Tale's login page gleamed faintly.He hesitated.
There were days he didn't log in. When real life felt too real, and the virtual world seemed too far.
But tonight, he clicked Enter.
Evening Routine
He balanced both worlds quietly — school by day, adventurer by night. Homework beside raid notes, equations beside strategy charts.He wasn't chasing fame or loot; he played for balance.
When his classmates talked about grades or weekend malls, he smiled and joined in. When guildmates discussed raid schedules, he adapted. Neither side knew how close he was to burning out.
Sometimes, he caught himself slipping — calling his classmates by his guildmates' nicknames, thinking in terms of cooldowns and rotations during PE drills.He laughed it off, but it lingered.
Weekend – SEA Guild Meet-up
The Harana guild had decided to meet again, this time at a small café near Taft.Ivan arrived early, sipping his coffee while doodling raid formations on tissue paper.
Kenji arrived first. "Yo, man! Always early. What are you, the raid leader of life?"
"Just habit" Ivan said. "Hard to unlearn."
Mae followed soon after. "Ivan, we're planning a small local tournament. You in?"
"PvP?" he asked."Yup. Casual, though. Winner gets game credits and bragging rights."
He smiled. "Count me in."
They spent hours talking about builds, balancing school, part-time work, and online games. Between laughs and coffee refills, they felt less like a guild and more like a family — bound not by blood, but by shared respawn timers and late-night dungeon clears.
Home – Night
Back home, Ivan lay on his bed, phone light flickering faintly in the dark.A message notification blinked from their guild chat:
[Mae]:"New Fairy Ring teaser dropped! Looks wild!"[Kenji]: "They say it's like dimensional travel for servers. Cross-events soon!"[Ivan]:"Cross-servers, huh? That'll be messy."
He stared at the screen for a moment longer before setting it down.
The ceiling fan spun lazily above him. Somewhere outside, thunder rolled.
He closed his eyes, thinking of his two lives — the one behind a school desk, and the one behind a keyboard.Both real. Both fragile.
_______________________________________________
Monday morning
The rain came early that week, blanketing Manila in gray.Ivan sat by the classroom window, the patter of raindrops mixing with the faint hum of the electric fan. His classmates were busy gossiping about mobile games, exams, and summer plans — normal things. Things that fit their age.
He tried to fit in too.But sometimes, his thoughts ran on a different clock.
"Alright, class" their computer teacher said, adjusting his glasses. "Starting today, we'll be working on a group project. You'll need to create a basic website — anything goes, as long as it runs."
A few groans followed.
"Sir, we just learned how to make tables!""Yeah, what even is CSS?"
Ivan chuckled quietly. Tables and CSS — that's nostalgia.
The teacher scanned the room. "Salvador, you're pretty good with computers, right? You'll lead Group 3."
He froze for a second, then nodded. "Yes, sir."
After Class – Computer Lab
While the others argued about who'd handle the design, Ivan quietly took a seat in front of one of the lab PCs. The keyboard was old, the keys slightly sticky, but familiar under his fingers.
He opened the code editor, fingers moving faster than he realized.Tags, divs, structure — muscle memory from another lifetime. It felt strange, almost wrong, that his hands still remembered things this body shouldn't have learned yet.
Kenji, sitting beside him, blinked. "Dude, where'd you learn to code like that?"
Ivan paused. "Online tutorials, I guess."
"Tutorials? Bro, you just wrote a navigation bar from scratch."
He smiled faintly. "In coding. if it works, it works."
Later That Night – Apartment
The glow of his old laptop filled the room. The hum of rain outside was steady, rhythmic — the kind of background noise he liked when he needed to think.
He reopened the project file, cleaning up the HTML and adding a touch of CSS for form. Then, almost without thinking, he started writing a small script — something that stored usernames locally and mimicked login behavior.
He paused halfway.This is too advanced for middle school, he thought. Better not submit this part.
Still, he kept going, just to see if he could.It was simple, elegant — like debugging an old memory. Every line reminded him of the IT lab from his old life, the smell of solder and coffee, the late nights before project deadlines.
He leaned back, rubbing his eyes. "Guess some habits don't die, even if you do."
[Guild Chat – Harana]
Mae:"Ivan, you free this weekend? We're testing the new raid."Kenji:"Yeah, Luzon rework beta! You in?"Ivan:"Sure. After I finish this thing for school."
Mae:"School? What are you, twelve?"Kenji:"Bro, don't expose the reincarnated programmer."Ivan:"lol, I wish."
He smiled, typing a few more lines of code before shutting the laptop.
Weekend – Café Polygon
The café was louder than usual. Rain pattered outside, but inside, the hum of PCs and friendly chatter filled the air. Ivan sat with Kenji and Mae, coffee in hand, a faint tiredness in his eyes.
"Still can't believe you coded the whole project alone," Kenji said."It's group work," Ivan replied. "I just... helped a bit."
"Helped?" Mae scoffed. "You built a functioning login system and a leaderboard. That's not helping, that's sorcery."
Ivan laughed softly. "Just something I picked up before."
"Before what?"
He paused — then shrugged. "Before this."
They let it slide. Everyone had secrets; his just ran deeper.
Night – Home
Back at his apartment, he powered up his PC again. The Elder Tale launcher glowed softly on the screen, the same way it always did.But tonight, instead of logging in, he opened his project folder again.
He looked at the simple lines of code — clean, structured, logical.It wasn't much, but it grounded him.Because in a life that didn't belong to him, code was the one thing that still made sense.
And as thunder rumbled in the distance, Ivan couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere, somehow, the two worlds — real and virtual — were getting ready to cross.
___________________________
Manila – Two Weeks After the Fairy Ring Event
The first thing Ivan noticed was the silence.The kind that follows when a world you knew suddenly changes — not in noise, but in connection.
He sat in front of his PC again, eyes locked on the login screen. The SEA server list was still there: Dawn Coast, Emerald Reaches, Tidesong Plains.All active. All online.
Except for one small addition at the bottom:[Yamato Server – Foreign Access: Restricted]
His mouse hovered over it for a long moment before he clicked.
[Connecting…][Access verified: SEA Account – Seryuuji][Transfer Exception: Approved]
It still worked.Every time he logged in, the system reminded him of what made him different.
No one else from his region could connect anymore. The Fairy Ring synchronization event — once hyped as a cross-server collaboration — had glitched beyond repair. Most players were reverted back to their home regions, but for reasons no one could explain, his account stayed bound to Yamato.
He was a SEA player trapped in a Japanese server.And somehow… he'd made it work.
In-Game – Akiba City Plaza
Seryuuji leaned against the fountain, his cloak fluttering in the faint magic breeze. Players passed by — most of them Japanese — but many gave him nods or called out greetings.
"Yo, SEA-san!""Ser! You running the Akiba defense raid later?""Need your bow on wave duty again!"
He smiled through his mic. "Yeah, I'll be there."
Locally, he'd become somewhat of a novelty. "The foreign archer from the outer ring."Streamers had done features on him, translators had clipped his raid calls, and some players even practiced English just to chat with him.
It was strange. Lonely, sometimes. But fulfilling, too.
Real Life – Evening in Manila
The glow from his monitor painted the small apartment blue. Ivan rubbed his eyes, taking off his headset. The air felt heavier than usual.
His mom called from the kitchen."Ivan! Kumain ka na?" (Ivan! Did you eat already?)"Later, Ma. I'm just finishing a run."
She sighed but didn't press. He'd been spending more time online since the incident — maybe too much. But it wasn't addiction. It was necessity.
The Yamato community had become his second home.And somewhere deep down, he felt responsible — for being the bridge between two servers that would never connect again.
Later That Night
He scrolled through the forums.Most SEA players had already moved on, treating the Fairy Ring disaster like a distant memory. Others joked about "that one guy who got stuck in Japan."
He was that guy.
A message popped up on Discord.Kenji:Yo, Ivan. You still playing with the JP crowd?Ivan:Yeah. Can't exactly switch back.Mae:You're like... digital isekai-ed, huh?Ivan:Guess so.Kenji:You doing okay though?Ivan:Yeah. Just… different.
He stared at the blinking cursor for a while, then added:It's not bad there. Just quiet.
He hit send and leaned back. Outside, the rain began again — faint, constant. It reminded him of Akiba's twilight skies, coded clouds drifting endlessly above pixel roofs.
Two worlds, two skies.And he was caught between them — one hand on the keyboard, one foot in reality.
______________________
Three Months After the Fairy Ring Event
Morning came quietly.
Manila was already awake — the sound of tricycles, the chatter of street vendors, the distant drone of traffic.
Ivan barely heard any of it. His alarm had been ringing for five minutes before he finally stirred, eyes heavy from another late-night raid.
He sat up, rubbed his temples, and stared blankly at his desk.Notebooks lay open, half-filled with formulas and scribbled quest notes side by side.It was hard to tell where school ended and Elder Tale began.
"Salvador" his classmate whispered as he slid into his seat that morning. "You okay, bro? You've been zoning out lately."
"Yeah" Ivan replied, forcing a smile. "Just… tired."
He wasn't lying.Tired from balancing two lives — one that kept him physically here, and one that gave him purpose elsewhere.
After Classes – Café Polygon
The café felt emptier these days.
Kenji and Mae still played, but on the SEA server — their laughter and banter now separated by language, latency, and server walls.
"Dude, you sure you don't wanna make a new account?" Kenji asked through Discord one evening. "You could catch up in a few weeks."
"I could" Ivan said, watching his own character — Seryuuji — standing quietly in Akiba Plaza. "But it wouldn't be the same."
He didn't explain further. How could he?The people he played with now — the Yamato guildmates who typed in polite Japanese, the streamers who called him "SEA-san" — they were strangers who had somehow become home.
Rebuilding on another server felt like starting over in a place that no longer remembered him.
Real Life – Night
His grades began to slip.Homework piled up untouched. Teachers noticed the dark circles under his eyes.
At dinner, his mom frowned as he scrolled through guild chat on his phone."Ivan, anak, do you even see your friends anymore?"
"I do," he answered without looking up. "Just not… here."
She sighed. "You need to rest, hijo. Those games won't take care of you."
He didn't reply.Because in a strange, digital way — they already did.
In-Game – Akiba Raid Square
"Formation B, switch!" Seryuuji called, voice steady through the chaos. Arrows rained down from his bow, each shot weaving perfectly between attack patterns.
"SEA-san, cover left!""Roger!"
The team moved like clockwork. Even among Japanese guilds, his coordination and timing had earned respect.He was no longer a guest — he was part of Yamato now.
When the boss finally fell, the plaza erupted in cheers.Party invites flooded in, friend requests blinked nonstop.
Seryuuji just stood there, staring at the digital sunset.
In that moment, he felt more seen than Ivan Salvador ever had.
Manila – Later That Week
The world outside his window looked smaller now — Manila's lights dim behind a thin curtain of rain.
Ivan watched his reflection on the dark monitor screen, headset still around his neck. His eyes looked different — sharper, older.Almost like Seryuuji's.
His phone buzzed.A text from Kenji: Haven't seen you at the café in a while. You okay, man?
He typed, then erased, then finally sent:Yeah. Just busy.
The lie settled easily. Easier than it should have.
He turned back to the screen and logged in again.
The world of Elder Tale lit up around him — familiar, vast, and alive.And as the login chime echoed, something inside him quietly admitted what he'd been avoiding for months:
He felt more at home here than anywhere else.
________________________
Prelude to Departure
The rain hadn't stopped in three days.Manila's skyline shimmered beneath low gray clouds, the streets reflecting headlights like streaks of molten gold.
Ivan sat by the window, laptop open, the faint hum of Elder Tale's title music filling the room.He hadn't logged in yet. His cursor hovered over the "Connect" button for what felt like forever.
A soft knock came from the door."Ivan," his mother called. "Can we talk?"
He turned off the monitor before she entered.
"Hmm?" he asked.
She hesitated for a moment, holding a folder against her chest. "Your uncle from Osaka called again. He said there's an opening for me there — teaching position. They need help at the school."
Ivan blinked. "You mean… moving there?"
She nodded slowly. "It's not final, but if things go well, we might relocate by the end of the year."
The words hung in the air.Manila, with all its noise and humidity and late-night raids, suddenly felt fragile — like a place he could lose with one signature.
He forced a smile. "That's… good, Mom. Japan's nice."
Her expression softened. "I know this is sudden, anak. But it's a good opportunity for both of us. You'll be closer to better schools, better programs—"
And closer to them, he thought.The players of Yamato. The world that had already taken half of him.
Later That Night
The game loaded slowly.Akiba glowed under the eternal twilight, and Seryuuji stood in his usual spot near the teleporter gate — the same pose, the same calm look.
"SEA-san!" a familiar voice typed across chat.It was Haru-no-Tsubasa, one of the Yamato healers.
"Did you hear? They're planning another inter-alliance raid soon. Big one. You'll join, right?"
Ivan smiled faintly, fingers resting on the keyboard.
"Wouldn't miss it."
He didn't mention the move. Not yet.Part of him was afraid that if he said it out loud, the game would find a way to make it real — to tether both worlds even tighter together.
He turned off the chat window and just watched his avatar.Akiba's marketplace bustled around him, filled with vendors, adventurers, and laughter.The same hum as Manila's streets — only cleaner, safer, easier to understand.
It was strange, he thought.The longer he stayed in Elder Tale, the more fluent he became — not just in Japanese, but in their rhythm, their silence, their quiet perseverance.
He wasn't just a visitor anymore.And soon, he might not be a foreigner at all.
The Announcement – One Month Later
The decision came on a humid Wednesday afternoon.
"Ivan," his mother said gently, "it's official. We're moving to Osaka next semester."
He didn't speak for a moment. The classroom clock ticked faintly in his mind, echoing like a countdown.
"Okay," he said finally.
That night, as he walked home from the café, the streets of Manila felt smaller — the corners too familiar, the lights too dim.
At home, he logged in again.
[Connecting… Elder Tale Online – Yamato Server]
Seryuuji appeared once more in Akiba, bow slung across his back.A storm was brewing over the horizon — a new event, maybe, or something bigger.
He typed a quiet message in public chat:
"Might be changing locations soon. Real-life stuff."
Replies came quickly:
"Oh?""Traveling?""Hope everything's okay."
He smiled.
"Yeah. Just heading closer to home."
A few weeks later..
The room was half-empty now. Boxes piled by the door.His old SEA server posters, screenshots, and maps lay folded in an envelope labeled "Manila."
Ivan looked once more at his monitor — at the faint glow of the login screen.
Japan.Yamato.Two worlds, now converging in ways he never expected.
He exhaled softly. "Guess I'm coming to you for real this time," he murmured.
And as the loading screen faded into Akiba's familiar streets, he couldn't tell anymore whether he was logging in — or coming home.