Chapter 41 — The Server That Waited for Him
Morning light spilled gently through Haruya's bedroom curtains, soft and ordinary, the kind of calm brightness that made his room feel like it was cut off from the rest of the world.
He lay on his bed with his phone over his face, scrolling through messages without much focus. Saeko had sent a cheerful "Good morning, Haru-kun!" and Reina had followed with her usual tone, "Don't oversleep, haru-kun. Eat properly."
He smiled faintly at both, replied with something simple and warm, then locked the screen and rested it on his chest.
"I'll log in after lunch…" he murmured to himself.
He had no idea that right now, somewhere inside the game he planned to open later, things were already getting out of control.
---
Part 1 — When a Server Becomes a Rumor Mill
On East Sky – 02, the plaza of the main city was overflowing.
It wasn't a festival. It wasn't an update day. It wasn't a special event.
It was worse.
It was the day after a certain beginner Rune Swordsman cleared the Ancient Temple dungeon so cleanly that someone clipped it, posted it, and accidentally turned him into a myth.
His name: Haru.
His problem: the server had nothing better to do.
Inside the official community board, a pinned thread sat at the top of the screen:
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[MEGATHREAD] — HARU DISCUSSION, CLIP, AND THE GREAT GENDER WAR
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The comment count climbed every second.
[RunicAddict]:
I rewatched his Temple run 10 times.
Those weakness hits? Those dodges? That timing??
That's not "lucky beginner." That's experience.
[GirlBoss13]:
And he still typed "I'm actually a boy" in party chat…
LMAO the commitment to the bit.
[TeaLover88]:
Why are you all so sure he's not a boy though??
Rare doesn't mean impossible.
[KeyboardEater]:
If that's a real boy:
– He plays well
– He's polite
– Sounds calm
– Doesn't scream in VC
That's already four red flags of fiction.
[MoonFox]:
I don't care if it's a girl or a boy.
I just want them in my party.
Under that, someone had embedded the clip again: Haru's avatar moving through the temple, hitting weaknesses, shielding the tank, reading patterns like he'd grown up with the game.
The most replayed moment was at the end, when the party was celebrating and someone jokingly said:
"You're too good, you sure you're not some secret pro girl?"
And the Rune Swordsman laughed softly and replied,
"I told you, I'm a boy."
The comments under that moment alone had their own mini-war.
"Yeah yeah, and I'm a dragon."
"Keep dreaming."
"WHY IS THAT VOICE SO GENTLE."
"If that's really a boy I'm moving to his city."
Meanwhile, in the game's guild recruitment channel, things were no better.
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[Guild Recruitment — Haru Only Edition]
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[CrystalHearts Guild]:
We are now officially recruiting ONLY 1 person: Haru.
Benefits: Full gear support, daily dungeons, cosmetics fund.
Everyone else: sorry, apply next life.
[MoonlightUnion]:
@Haru: we saw your clip, join us. We won't bite… much.
[HeavenSlayers]:
Our officer wants you in the raid squad.
Ignore these clowns, we offer actual progression.
[HaruProtectionSquad]:
New guild created:
Our sole purpose is to protect Haru from thirsty goblins (players).
Requirements: oath of loyalty + daily "Haru is precious" chant.
Some guilds were half-serious, half-joking.
Others were very serious and also terrifying.
By midday server time, it was agreed on one thing:
If Haru logs in, everyone will know.
And everyone will move.
---
Part 2 — Saeko's Clumsy Search
While the server was losing its mind collectively, one girl sat in her room with her phone dangerously close to slipping from her hands.
Saeko lay on her stomach, feet swaying in the air, face buried half in her pillow, half in her screen. Her Light Oracle avatar stood near the city's bulletin board, staff loosely held, robe slightly too big because she'd chosen the "cute but modest" style when customizing.
Her eyes moved quickly across the screen, reading post after post in the Haru thread.
"He carries like a veteran."
"He said he's a boy, LMAO."
"If I ever meet him I'll propose on the spot."
"If he joins PVP I will literally protect him with my life."
Saeko's chest tightened.
"Haru-kun… you're already… this famous here…"
She squeezed her pillow.
"It's not fair. I met him in real life first… I saw him up close… I… hugged him…"
Her ears went red just remembering.
That embarrassment quickly turned into a tiny spark of possessiveness.
She sat up and opened world chat, fingers hovering nervously.
She typed.
[World][Sae_Rune]:
"Um… did anyone see Haru today…?"
She hit send.
Instantly, a wave of replies smacked her in the face.
[World][SaltMage]:
"Another one??"
[World][GossipGoddess]:
"Add her to the list!"
[World][HaruIsHusband]:
"We are ALL looking for him, sweetheart."
[World][TempleMain]:
"No sighting yet."
[World][HeavenSlayers]:
"When he logs on, the sky will shake. You'll know."
Saeko flinched.
"I-I just asked one question…" she muttered, shrinking a little.
She turned world chat off and instead tried searching the friends tab.
Search: Haru
System:
"No player named 'Haru' is on your friend list."
"Of course…" she sighed.
She tried the Party Finder tool next. No luck there.
After wandering the plaza for a while and almost walking into a fountain twice, she whispered to herself:
"Maybe… I should just try the dungeons he likes… He played the Temple a lot, right?"
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
"If I run the same dungeon every day… maybe someday… he'll be in the same queue as me…"
The thought alone filled her with nervous hope.
Saeko joined "Ancient Temple of Fallen Light — Beginner."
Not because she needed loot.
Because she wanted even a tiny chance of crossing paths with him in a place he liked.
---
Part 3 — Reina, the Overprotective Tank
In a different room, Reina sat with her back against the wall, her phone resting firmly in both hands, eyes sharp and serious.
Her Stone Guardian avatar stood on top of a fountain statue, shield strapped to her arm, glaring down at the chaotic plaza as if she were surveying a battlefield.
She'd read the same megathread Saeko had, but her reaction was… slightly different.
Reina scrolled and saw lines like:
"If we find him, we're putting him in maid outfits."
"He sounds so sweet, I want to bully him affectionately."
"Imagine voice-calling with a real boy gamer, I'd die."
Her jaw tightened.
"Disgusting beasts," she muttered.
It wasn't that she thought everyone was evil. It was that she didn't trust anyone near Haru.
She opened the player search window and typed:
Haru
The system, just like with Saeko, gave her nothing.
She switched to world chat instead.
[World][ReiBlaze]:
"Question. To everyone who's seen Haru: how often does he come online?"
Replies flooded in.
[World][DungeonFreak]:
"Yesterday he was on around afternoon."
[World][ClipUploader]:
"The clip time was around 14:20 server time."
[World][RumorBot]:
"He's just a casual player I think. Not grinding."
[World][TempleMain]:
"Someone from Moonlight Echo said he plays 'when he has time IRL.'"
That caught Reina's eye.
[World][ReiBlaze]:
"Moonlight Echo?"
[World][RumorBot]:
"Yeah. That party from the clip. Luna, Aria, Neko. All girls. Lucky—"
Reina closed the chat window so fast she almost broke her thumb.
"All. Girls," she repeated under her breath.
Her shielded avatar hopped down from the statue.
"Alright," she said. "Change of plan."
She opened the Party UI and searched for:
Moonlight Echo
The party wasn't online yet. But their names were stored in the system.
LunaShield.
AriaSong.
NekoBolt.
She frowned.
"They're just random players," she told herself.
"Random girls who happened to meet him once."
Still, her heartbeat was slightly faster than normal.
She sent a friend request to each of them—not with the intention of befriending, but tracking.
Request sent to: LunaShield.
Request sent to: AriaSong.
Request sent to: NekoBolt.
Then, she backed out to the plaza and stood in silence.
"If I can't find Haru directly," she thought, "I'll follow the people who played with him."
It was a very Reina idea.
Protect first. Question morality later.
---
Part 4 — Warming Up the Server: The Gender War Continues
While Saeko quietly ran dungeons and Reina silently plotted, the server as a whole had turned Haru into a community event.
Someone started a poll on the bulletin board:
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POLL: Haru is…?
– A girl pretending to be a boy (57%)
– Actually a boy (29%)
– A genderless rune spirit (8%)
– I don't care, I just want carry (6%)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The comments were… loud.
[Speculator01]:
His voice is too soft to be a boy.
[LogicMage]:
Boys aren't extinct, just rare. Like ultra-SSR.
[SaltedTea]:
If a boy like that actually exists and plays this game, God is biased.
[Lurker]:
You all arguing but if he logs in you'll spam invite like animals anyway.
[MoonlightEcho_Fan]:
He sounded genuinely confused when people doubted him…
That's either god-tier acting or he's actually sincere.
Meanwhile, someone else started a second thread:
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[STRATEGY THREAD] — How to Recruit Haru to Your Guild (Hypothetical Discussion)
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[GuildMom]:
Offer stable party, no drama, calm environment.
[ChaosDagger]:
OR we offer him pure chaos and fun. RNG squad.
[WalletPrincess]:
I'll literally fund his cosmetic wardrobe if he joins us.
[PVPJunkie]:
What if he doesn't like guilds??
[GuildMom]:
Then we suffer.
[Moderator]:
Reminder: Do not stalk, harass, or spam any player, even if they are "Haru."
(No one will listen but I did my duty.)
The whole thing looked insane from the outside.
From the inside, it was even worse.
Everyone was waiting for him.
They didn't say it in one place, but you could feel it in bits of chat:
"Is he on today?"
"Did anyone see Haru?"
"Keep an eye on the Temple dungeon queue."
Even players who claimed not to care knew exactly who he was.
---
Part 5 — In Another Room, Someone Else Watches
Far away from all the noise, in a dim apartment filled with photos and digital folders labeled with one name, Akari Hoshizuki sat at her desk.
Her tablet was open on the server list screen.
East Sky – 02 glowed faintly, highlighted.
She didn't log in yet.
She read the tiny description instead:
"East Sky – 02
High activity
Current trending content: Temple dungeon
Featured: viral player 'Haru' (unofficial)."
Her fingertip hovered over the screen.
She remembered his voice from the clip. Calm. Gentle. Very slightly amused.
She remembered his voice from school hallways. Those soft "good morning," "excuse me," "thank you, sensei."
They matched perfectly.
A small smile touched her lips.
"So he's… popular now," she murmured.
There was no jealousy in her tone—only a slow, creeping sense of inevitability.
She opened her notebook app where she'd started her "Operation: Locate Haru" logs.
[Entry 02]
– Community is obsessed.
– Suspected frequent dungeon: Ancient Temple.
– Viral clip shows calm decision-making and consistent pattern reading.
– Haru is unlikely to lie about being a boy.
– Current risk factor: High. Too many eyes on him.
Goal:
Enter his world. Watch quietly. Eliminate threats later.
She sat back in her chair.
"Not yet…" she decided.
"If I join now, I'll only be another nameless avatar in the crowd."
Her fingers traced Haru's name on the screen.
"No… I'll wait until the noise peaks. When it's the loudest, it's the easiest to slip in unnoticed."
She closed the app.
On her wall, dozens of printed photos of Haruya watched her silently.
In all of them, he was smiling, or walking, or just existing naturally.
Not once had he looked at the camera.
He never noticed her lens.
"You'll enter the game today, won't you?" she whispered to the photos.
"You're kind. You'll show up even when people are talking about you. You'll be calm. That's just who you are."
Her eyes softened.
"I'll be there soon."
She turned the light off.
The room returned to darkness, leaving only the server's name glowing faintly in her memory.
---
Part 6 — The Moment the Server Had Been Waiting For
Back in the real world, afternoon sunlight had shifted slightly in Haruya's room.
He stretched, grabbed his phone, and slowly sat up.
"Should I play a bit before studying…?"
He thought of the Temple dungeon. Of Luna, Aria, and Neko's chaotic energy. Of how strangely fun it was to be treated as a "newbie" who just happened to be good.
Then he remembered all the stress of modeling, the strange chaos of real life.
He exhaled.
"Yeah. I need the break."
He opened the app.
World of Ancient Ruins: Path to Heaven
The title flared across his screen.
He logged in.
At that exact second—
A quiet line of text appeared globally across East Sky – 02:
[System]: Player "Haru" has logged in.
It was a simple notification.
One line among thousands.
But for a server already obsessed with that name, it was like touching a match to a pool of gasoline.
World chat detonated.
[World][HeartHunter]:
HE'S ON HE'S ON HE'S ON
[World][GuildMom]:
Positions everyone. Try not to be weird. (You'll fail.)
[World][RumorBot]:
Haru LOGIN CONFIRMED.
[World][TempleMain]:
CHECK THE CITY SPAWN POINT!!
[World][GossipGoddess]:
SOMEONE SCREENSHOT HIM FOR SCIENCE.
[World][ReiBlaze]:
…
[World][Sae_Rune]:
"Haru…-kun…?"
Saeko nearly dropped her phone when the system line flashed by. She blinked twice, then scrambled to run her character out of the dungeon lobby.
Reina, who'd been silently browsing through gear menus, snapped upright.
"There it is," she said.
"That's the signal."
The city plaza filled in seconds.
Mounts, pets, fancy costumes, glowing weapons—everything swarmed toward the spawn fountain like moths to a light.
Some players climbed on rooftops.
Some stood on statues just for a better view.
Others spammed heart emotes in the supposed landing zone "just in case."
And then—
A soft blue circle appeared by the fountain.
A Rune Swordsman materialized inside it.
Light armor. Silver hair. Calm blue eyes.
He took one step forward like someone adjusting to gravity.
Haru had arrived.
For one breath, the entire plaza went silent.
Everyone stared.
Even the most shameless players forgot their pick-up lines for a moment as they actually saw him: not just a blur in a clip, but a living avatar, moving, breathing, turning his head slowly as if confused by all the bodies.
"…Why is it so crowded…?" he said under his breath.
He flicked his camera angle left and right.
"Did they add an event I don't know about…?"
He took another step.
And the silence shattered.
Chat windows exploded.
[Nearby][PlayerA]:
"HARU!!!"
[Nearby][PlayerB]:
"OVER HERE OVER HERE OVER HER—"
[Nearby][PlayerC]:
"JOIN MY GUILD!!"
[Nearby][PlayerD]:
"ARE YOU REALLY A BOY??"
[Nearby][PlayerE]:
"CARRY ME IN TEMPLE PLS!!"
Friend requests popped up in rapid-fire.
Party invites too.
Guild invitations stacked so fast that his entire UI flashed with notifications.
Haru stared at his screen, eyes widening slightly.
His thumb hovered uncertainly.
"Wh… what…?"
He hadn't checked the forums. He'd barely read chat yesterday. As far as he knew, he'd just played a clean beginner dungeon with a nice party.
He did not expect this level of… insanity.
"Is… is this a bug?" he muttered.
He opened his system mail to see if the devs had said anything.
All he saw was:
System: "You have 98 pending friend requests."
System: "You have 12 pending guild invitations."
"…Ah."
His mind tried to put it together.
Someone posted the clip. It spread. Now everyone knew his name.
He felt a tiny wave of guilt.
"Did I break the community balance just by existing…?" he thought wryly.
On the other side of that crowd—
Saeko finally reached the plaza.
Her Light Oracle avatar stumbled to a stop at the edge of the chaos.
"Wh-What is this… a festival…?" she whispered.
Then she saw the center of attention.
The Rune Swordsman. Calm posture. Familiar hair. Familiar way of scratching the side of his neck when he was awkward.
Her heart squeezed painfully.
"H… Haru-kun…"
Her thumb shook over the virtual joystick.
She wanted to run up.
She wanted to shout.
She wanted to type his name.
But dozens—no, hundreds—of other players had already formed a wall around him.
On another side, Reina appeared on a rooftop overlooking the fountain. She gasped quietly, not in a dramatic way, just like someone seeing something they'd been chasing finally appear.
"…So that's how he looks in-game…" she murmured.
Her tank avatar planted the shield in front of her firmly.
Whenever someone seemed to rush too close to him, even though she couldn't reach, she glared at her screen.
"If friendly fire existed, half of you would be dead by now," she muttered.
She was about to jump down and try to cut through the mob—
When something else happened.
---
Part 7 — The Invitation That Stole Him
Among all the spam of random invites and friend requests, one clean notification appeared on Haru's screen.
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Party Invitation:
From: [Moonlight Echo]
LunaShield, AriaSong, NekoBolt
"Hey, are you on? Temple run? (⌒ω⌒)"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Haru blinked.
A slow, genuine smile tugged at his lips.
"Oh, they're online too," he murmured.
Of all the requests, theirs was the only one that felt familiar, safe. He remembered their voices, their easy laughter, how they'd treated him like a teammate instead of some ultra-rare creature.
He didn't even hesitate.
He pressed Accept.
His Rune Swordsman shimmered.
In the middle of that screaming, crowded plaza—he vanished.
Teleported away to the party location.
The plaza erupted.
"HE LEFT—"
"WHERE DID HE GO?!"
"WHO GOT HIM??"
"WHAT PARTY WAS THAT—???"
World chat went feral.
[World][RumorBot]:
"Haru just disappeared from the fountain!! Who invited him??"
[World][HeavenSlayers]:
"SOMEONE TRACE HIS PARTY!!"
[World][LunaFanClub]:
"Could it be… Moonlight Echo again??"
[World][RandomPlayer]:
"I only saw 'Echo' before he vanished!!"
[World][CrystalHearts]:
NOOOOOOOOOOOO
Saeko stared at the spot where he'd just been, eyes wide, palms sweaty.
"He… disappeared…"
Her heart dropped.
Reina's shield hand tightened.
"Moonlight Echo…" she whispered.
On the other side of the server, far from the chaos, inside a quiet dungeon lobby—
Three familiar girls were cheering.
[Party][LunaShield]:
"Yay, she's on!!"
[Party][NekoBolt]:
"Newbie-chan accepted immediately~"
[Party][AriaSong]:
"I told you she would. I can feel it. She's the loyal type."
Haru looked at their text log and decided not to correct the "she" again.
He just typed:
[Party][Haru]:
"Thanks for the invite. The plaza was… scary."
[Party][LunaShield]:
"Welcome to fame, Haru-chan! Let's hide in dungeons where it's peaceful."
[Party][AriaSong]:
"We'll protect you from crazy fans (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡"
[Party][NekoBolt]:
"As long as you keep carrying us, we're even."
Haru chuckled.
Far away, an entire server was trying to locate him.
Saeko and Reina were staring at the empty fountain, realizing this wasn't going to be as easy as walking up and saying "hi."
And somewhere else, in a dark room, a woman who had not yet logged in closed her eyes and whispered:
"So even inside a game…
Everyone chases you…"
Her fingers ghosted over a server name only she could see.
"Don't worry, Haru.
They're loud. I'm patient."
— To be continued...