A Dream Beneath the Tree Canopy.

When the first rays of sunlight slipped through the window frame, they spread across Ren's face like a delicate mist of morning dew, gentle, not enough to wake him, merely whispering that a new day had begun.

He was still buried under the blanket, half-awake, half-asleep, as if listening to a silent argument between the soft bed and the reasoning voice quietly reminding him of duty.

Eventually, after tossing and turning a few times with sighs in between, Ren finally opened his eyes. His eyelids still felt heavy, unwilling to forgive him for the hours of sleep he had stolen from them.

The first thing he saw was a messy bunch of black hair, far longer than necessary, tangled and obeying no order whatsoever.

The wolf-cut he once thought would look "cool" now only made him look like he had just crawled out of a bush after a night of rain.

"I should've cut it all off... before stepping in here."

Ren ran a hand through his hair, trying to tame the chaos into something more acceptable.

But all his efforts only managed to make it... slightly less wild. Notably, since the day he stepped into this world, his hair hadn't grown even a millimeter.

As if time here didn't really operate the way it did in the real world.

At first, he let it grow long simply because it was practical, no need to spend money at a barber, no time wasted on a haircut that would become ordinary within days. All he needed was a pair of scissors and a mirror.

Sometimes, he'd even convince himself with more logical reasons. Long hair kept his ears from freezing in winter, and shielded him from the blazing sunlight in summer.

A simple yet effective barrier, especially in a world where the sun's harsh rays could do more than just burn skin, they could make you dizzy if you weren't careful.

Believe him, heatstroke or sun fatigue isn't fun. And no one wants to faint while handling manual labor.

Ren opened his personal menu with a familiar rhythm, his fingers gliding across the translucent interface with unconscious precision, as if his body had memorized the sequence from hundreds of repetitions.

He re-equipped everything: armor, weapons, and the cloak that had accompanied him through countless battles.

His movements were unhurried. No eagerness, no sense of urgency. Just a steady, methodical routine, like someone brewing a cup of tea in the early morning.

Today... Ren had decided to take the day off. No dungeons. No hunting grounds. No growls of monsters lurking in the dark.

No exhausting combo chains or the headache-inducing clash of metal.

'Don't even mention hunting or grinding mobs in a labyrinth today.' He emphasized the sentence in his head, as if declaring it firmly to himself.

Leaving the inn room, Ren walked slowly down the old wooden hallway, his leather boots making soft thuds on the floorboards, a strangely peaceful rhythm.

No one called out to him. No urgent messages. No one needed him for a mission or a grand plan.

On the ground floor, Ren returned to his usual corner, the table by the window, where morning light filtered through the glass and dyed the scratched wooden surface a soft golden hue.

He sat down without ordering anything right away. Just sat there, letting his body sync with the unhurried rhythm of morning life, a time when everyone was still groggy, the diner still sparsely populated, and the outside breeze still carried a faint chill.

When breakfast arrived, simple, just a few slices of toasted bread and hot soup, Ren began eating in silence.

No rush. No thoughts of experience points, drop rates, or stat optimization.

His eyes settled on the window, gazing outside. It was unclear whether he was observing the scene or lost in some distant thought...

...Maybe about a day that had passed. Maybe about people who had gone.

Or perhaps, he was just letting his mind drift for a while, before returning to become a part of this never-stopping world once more.

Suddenly, his gaze paused, unconsciously stopping at a small number in the corner of the system interface.

9:03

December 3rd

Ren blinked, slightly confused. He hadn't realized he'd been sitting there that long—doing nothing but eating, staring out the window, and letting his thoughts float in silent emptiness.

A soft sigh, almost inaudible, escaped his lips. Ren stood up, folded the napkin neatly, and tidied up a few leftover items on the table, not out of obligation, just out of a habit not long forgotten.

Leaving the diner, he had no specific destination. Not a training ground, not an equipment upgrade shop, and certainly not the labyrinth entrance.

Ren simply... walked.

Just walked, without a goal.

His boots made soft crunching sounds on the stone-paved path. The cobblestones had been worn down by time, evoking a sense of age and familiarity, as if this town had been here long before the game ever began.

He preferred calling this place a city rather than a town, because its scale seemed comparable to that of a small city... or so he guessed, though he had never left his own city before.

Ren circled around a few fountains, where NPC children were playing under splashing water, the light cutting through and forming small halos in the air. Laughter blended with the sound of flowing water, but to Ren, it all felt like it was being filtered through frosted glass.

He didn't stop anywhere for too long. His eyes looked at everything, yet saw nothing at all. The red-tiled rooftops, the flower-laden balconies, the shops with wooden signs swaying in the wind, everything drifted past him like a gentle stream of images, as if the scenery had been painted for someone seeking refuge from the battlefield.

Ren wasn't in a hurry. Nor was he running away from anything.

He simply let his feet decide the direction, and allowed his mind to float through the city that was still breathing steadily, regardless of the battles awaiting beyond the edge of the labyrinth.

When the sun was high and the sunlight began tinting the corners of the streets gold, Ren stopped at a small courtyard near the square, where the wide canopy of a tree stretched its shade over an old wooden bench.

That space was strangely quiet, even though it was just a few steps away from the main street.

The noise of passersby, the cries of street vendors, the clanging of metal from a nearby forge, all of it stayed behind, as if the tree's canopy was an invisible wall, separating Ren from the hustle and bustle of the town.

He sat down, placing the food he had just bought from a roadside stall on his lap.

A grilled meat sandwich, simple but fragrant, with a distinct sauce and a filling that was grilled just right, still warm in its wrapping paper.

Lately, Ren had been coming back to this dish like a familiar routine. Maybe because its rich flavor made him feel a bit better or maybe just because... he needed something steady in a world that never stopped changing.

Ren took a bite, chewing slowly, letting the blend of sweet and savory spread across his tongue. He didn't speak, didn't think, didn't worry about experience points or the next combat strategy.

There was only the gentle shade, a bit of wind brushing through his messy hair, and the sound of birds somewhere above, each piece like a fragment of a peaceful dream.

A few crumbs fell onto his coat, but he didn't bother brushing them off. His eyes still gazed into the distance, where sunlight filtered through the leaves and cast flickering patterns that swayed with the breeze.

A day like this, rare, quiet, and... unforgettable.

But then... as if by an unspoken rule of this world, the tranquility couldn't last for too long.

In the afternoon, when the sunlight had tilted and the canopy could no longer fully block the glare, a sudden notification popped up from the system, cutting off Ren's drifting thoughts.

No...more precisely... it was a message.

A simple dialog box appeared in the transparent space of his HUD, like a light tug back to reality, forcing anyone, willing or not, to turn their eyes toward it.

No loud alert sound, no dazzling flash, yet it was enough to make the heart skip a beat for someone lost in stillness.

Ren frowned slightly. He didn't want to read it. He truly just wanted to ignore it, to let the message fade into oblivion with the countless other useless notifications.

But Ren knew well... he didn't have many names on his friend list. And the ones who were on it, if they messaged him, it was never for something trivial.

Moreover... sending a message required a medium, and it wasn't cheap. No one would waste it on a random tease.

He sighed, eyes fixed on the dialog box for a long while, as if debating whether to open it or not, then finally, he swiped his finger, revealing the message inside:

[Hey, it's Argo.]

[You need to come to the town square, now.]

[The room of the first floor boss has been discovered.]

[An emergency meeting is about to start, don't forget you agreed to this.]

[If you're not here soon, I'm doubling the price.]

Ren stared at the last line, half a threat, half a familiar shoulder jab from someone who knew him well enough not to bother with polite words.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, gaze drifting away from the sky and the trees around him. The peaceful space from earlier suddenly felt distant, as if pushed behind a curtain, giving way to reality, tightening with every step.

So... it was time.

Leaning back against the old wooden bench, its paint long faded, he looked up at the afternoon sunlight streaming through the branches.

He took a deep breath, as if it might be his last chance to breathe freely.

Ren stood up, brushed off a few leftover crumbs on his cloak, his eyes gradually regaining clarity.

Once again, he was being pulled back into the cycle of this game, a place where days of stillness could never last forever.