Within the evergreen forest of Gaveln, a location that was not too far away from the city of Erendak—a young man, Shinto, silently walked through the dirt pathways whilst slashing through the few monsters that had pounced on him.

"K-Kikk...!" The monsters silently wept as they were pushed back by Shinto's blue-black sword. However, a basic attack did not stop them. The two man-eating plant monsters got up from the ground as they began pouncing on him again.

"..." with a sigh at the persistence of the monsters, the young man held up his sword as he soon activated a skill—[ Lunar Sword ], which summons two floating energy swords by his side.

"K-Kikk...?" Bewildered by the sight before them, the monsters had no time to react as their bodies were quickly pierced through in the next instance, crippling them. "K-Kiik...!"

As a sign of their last stand—the plant-like monsters quickly raised their vines as they lunged towards Shinto. But unfortunately for them, Shinto had already taken notice of their attacks and leapt to the sky.

In the next moment, with a strong grip on his sword—Shinto struck at the monsters for the last time and turned them into grey ash, signifying their deaths.

[ You have defeated 'Evergreen Venus'! ]

[ You have defeated... ]

Glancing towards his notification window upon noting that the monsters had been defeated—Shinto uttered out with a sigh whilst sheathing his sword. "...sigh. The monsters here give far too little experience. I better look for better hunting grounds."

In deep thought, as he considered where to head next, Shinto's eyes soon averted towards the east of the forest, where a mountain stood. "Hmm... The east side of the mountains should probably have a few untouched levelling grounds. I should probably head there," with a nod of his head, he noted his next destination. However, just as he was about to begin walking, a sudden thought plagued his mind. "...though, there's no rush to head there, now is there? After all... I'm on break."

...

A few hours before Shinto had found himself in the evergreen forest—Kaisus had called out to him when the two were alone within the meeting room. The atmosphere was eerie, and Shinto knew nothing of the reason why.

"...is there a problem?" Shinto raised his brow in slight confusion. It wasn't unusual for Kaisus to call for him after a meeting. However, this time, what aura Kaisus was giving off wasn't that of his typical casual self. Instead, it was a serious one.

"...yes, there is a problem," Kaisus stated bluntly. "It's a matter surrounding you."

"What?" the young man stared at the blonde-haired man before him in bewilderment. A matter regarding himself? Shinto had no idea how to comprehend such words. "...what do you mean?"

"Well, Shinto..." he took a deep breath as he thought long and hard about the words he was about to say next. "—I've been meaning to ask you. Are you perhaps... Tired of the game as of late?"

"Tired of the game? Me?" Shinto raised his brow in a doubtful manner at Kaisus. "I'm not sure where you're going with this. You know that I enjoy this game as much as you guys are. So a question like that out of the blue is..."

He was wordless at what to say in reply to Kaisus. He was shocked. After all, Kaisus was Shinto's best friend in the real world and within the game. The two had started Spiritual Warriors alongside Hikari, and together—they had built Vainblood from the ground up, making it what it is today.

Thus, as a long time companion and a person who had been by his side since the very start—Kaisus would've known that Shinto loved the game unconditionally. But even then, never would he have expected for him to hear such a question from Kaisus.

"...well, you seem out of it as of late," Kaisus momentarily interrupted Shinto's trail of thought as he continued on with his sentence. "—the recent matches that you've played, the way you were playing, I saw that you weren't trying your best at all," he lamented. "You... You're not having as much fun as you used to, isn't that right?"

"...ah?" Shinto stood there in a dumbfounded manner as he listened to Kaisus.

"So... All I want to know is whether or not you're tired of Spiritual Warriors. Well, perhaps another term would be... A break?" Kaisus stared deeply into Shinto's light blue eyes with seriousness. "Do you want a break from the game? I feel as if you're burned out. From Crystality, from the rankings, from... Us."

"Kaisus... You know I can't do that..." Shinto helplessly uttered out. "With the way things are as of right now... If I were to take a break right in the middle of a league—"

"Yes. Yes, you can," Kaisus interjected midway into his sentence. "I can always switch you out of this upcoming match. In fact—I can do it for future ones too if it's needed."

"W-What...?!" Shinto cried out in shock. "No way. You know that would be terrible for the guild! We're close to this season's finalization for the elimination rounds, so leaving at such an important time would be..."

"Shinto. We'll be fine, with or without you. Remember, we're all on the unified rankings here," he firmly stated. "It's a fact that we've been relying on you for who knows how long? So, I believe it has to stop. After all, between all these personal requests you accept from the arena for the players to see 'how much better they've become' and having to keep up with the rankings—isn't it taking plenty of your time? You could very well be enjoying the game instead of acting as some training ground or unbeatable mountain."

"I..." Shinto was speechless at his reasoning. He could only give a solemn stare at Kaisus who had an expression of seriousness throughout the entire conversation. "...I don't know what to say."

To the naked eyes, it seemed as if he had lost his gears. For Shinto, the one at the top, he had made a mountain that was far from crossable. To him and to everyone else who wished to challenge him—he didn't feel anything satisfactory. Even to his presumed rival, Arceus.

Perhaps he truly needed a break? 

It was as if he had seen it all.

"You sacrificed yourself for us, isn't that right?" he calmly asked. "You stagnated your own personal growth in fear of leaving us behind. You haven't been playing the game as it was meant for, huh?"

"..." Shinto kept quiet as he broke eye contact with Kaisus.

Shinto's inner love for the game stemmed from the worldview and beautification of the world. The lore, the contents and his interaction with the world itself. The combat system was secondary to him. Yet... Right now, he felt conflicted. What was it that he truly enjoyed?

"While you help others grow, what about you? Where does that leave you?" Kaisus continued to reason. "You can focus on content clearing, Shinto. No one would mind in the first place; this is an MMO after all, is it not? Time waits for no one. The game is an open-world meant for everyone to explore. Isn't that what you love? To explore and see a far wider world."

"..."

"So, what do you say?" Kaisus smiled. "How about it? Taking a break, I mean."

"I..." Shinto replied in a weak and soft tone of voice. "...I don't know. I just feel rather... Empty."

"Empty huh?" Kaisus lamented. "Being first is a burden in itself as no one but the first can understand the pain," he shook his head helplessly. "But... If you really want to, you can just free yourself from the chains."

"...and let Arceus throw a hand at my pride?" he questioned.

"Does it matter? Pride needs to be shattered to be built anew," he said. "So, if that is what it takes for you to get yourself back in good shape, then so be it. I understand that you don't want to leave this game, this guild, or even us. But... I think it's for the best, Zayden."

"...huh?" Shinto's eyes slightly shook as he saw the notification before him.

[ You have been demoted by the guild leader. ]

[ Current position: Guild Member. ]

"It's a little difficult for me to say this, but..." Kaisus took a deep breath as his eyes locked onto Shinto's once again. "—from today onwards... You will be free from all responsibilities. From guild activities to the burden that you hold within Vainblood."

"K-Kaisus?!" Shinto cried out at Kaisus' decisive action. "This is... No... What's the meaning of this? Surely you're joking, right? Kaisus! Chris!"

"—until the day you come back anew and refreshed, this is my decision."

"Chris! You're not serious, right? This is..."

"Don't ruin your fun for the sake of us, Zay," walking up towards the speechless Shinto, he patted his shoulder. "Don't force yourself to do this."

"I—"

"...anyway, that's it from me," Kaisus calmly said as he began making his way over towards the entrance of the room. "I'll ask the guild members not to bother you anymore. And if it's possible, I'd like for you to just spend time by yourself and enjoy the moment."

"Chris, I..."

"My decision's final. You may leave the guild if you want and come back when you're feeling up for it again," nodding his head, Kaisus' footsteps soon stopped in front of the doors of the meeting room. "This is goodbye, for now, Zayden. I hope I get to see your smile once again as when we first played this game."

"..." Shinto remained speechless as he could only watch as Kaisus waved farewell to him. What now? He stood there, ever so lonely as he was left with only two choices.

...

By the east area of the evergreen forest of Gaveln—Shinto made his way through the steep rocky pathways that led towards the studious mountains, known for its extreme difficulty to pass through.

"Ugh... I forgot this place was an annoying climb," Shinto clicked his tongue while he meticulously attempted to climb the high mountains, making his way upwards from the pathway that was slowly becoming more difficult to stand on. "...there better be some good hunting grounds beyond here. Or I'm just wasting effort."

The mountainous region of Zemul was one of the many areas that had yet been explored by the player base. This was due to the extremely high mortality rate among the players who chose to cross through the area.

Even for Shinto, he had died countless times trying to climb the mountain that mounted up to the height of 2,352 meters. Although not the biggest of the mountains in-game, It still proved a highly difficult one to climb with its unpredictable routes and dangerous environment.

"...hah, are you kidding me?" Successfully moving through the roads and passing by towards the corner area of the cliff—Shinto was greeted by the sight of a thin narrow pathway that required one to push their body against the mountain to cross. "Sigh... Well, the only option is to go through here, or take another route which might take ages since I need to climb down the damn mountain..."

Despite the risks of climbing the mountain, it was the perfect chance for Shinto to get a breather among all things considered. For him, where no player was in sight, it was like killing three birds with one stone. Allowing him to get away from others, explore unexplored lands and his own attempts at taking a 'break' by doing activities which he enjoys most.

"Argh..." Shinto ruffled his hair. "Let's just get this over with," taking a deep breath—he made his way forward and soon stepped onto the narrow pathway. One step at a time, Shinto carefully manoeuvred on the thin and fragile cliff.

However, upon the soles of his boots making contact with the ground on the fourth step, a portion of the cliff quickly broke apart. And unfortunately for him, it was where he had placed his foot on.

"...?!" In the unexpected scenario, Shinto began swaying to the side—rapidly losing balance.