Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 1 - Chapter 0

Chapter Zero: Infinite Dendrogram 

July 15, 2043. On this date, the VRMMO Infinite Dendrogram was released around the world. It had been nearly half a century since man had first dreamt of a VRMMO (virtual reality massively multiplayer online) game. 
In the 2000s, a variety of media, such as manga, anime, and video games, began to incorporate VRMMOs into their stories as the ultimate “dream game.” From among a sea of creative entertainment, people eagerly looked forward to the release of a VRMMO, and in the 2010s, quasi-VR headsets were released, offering enhanced quality of sight and sound immersion. 
Although at first a mere product of fantasy, VRMMOs were anticipated, developed, and then finally given form. In the 2030s, a small number of full-dive VRMMO games were released, allowing players to enter game worlds using all five of their senses. 
The reason so few were released was due to the difficulty and enormous cost of development. This meant that only companies with leading technology and sufficient resources could even make an attempt. Or perhaps more were attempted, but never completed. 
However, the few completed games that did make it out into the world were quickly met with disappointment. Unlike the VRMMOs depicted in fiction, these ones lacked in realism, they assailed the senses with discomfort, and their graphics were hardly any different from existing game systems. Also, despite guarantees of a safe design, players one after another fell ill and were taken to the hospital. 
The development companies behind the initial dive VRMMOs all went bankrupt due to poor sales, bad reputations, and numerous lawsuits from afflicted players. 
A reviewer from the time had the following to say about these games: “They managed to create the ‘dream game,’ but they weren’t able to create the ‘dream.’” 
Dive VRMMO games continued to be developed, but none were made that could be considered a success. 
That is... until Infinite Dendrogram was released. 
 
The lack of information about Infinite Dendrogram before its release was abnormal. 
It was kept secret the whole time, and on the day of release, the developers only made one announcement simultaneously across the global media networks. In it, they presented four key selling points for the game. 
First: the five senses would be perfectly simulated. 
Second: even if there were 100 million players, all of them would play in the same game world on a single server. 
Third: players could choose how they’d view the game world, with options including realistic, 3D CG, and 2D anime. 
Fourth: time within the game would flow three times faster than in the real world. 
In response to the announcement, voices from around the world could be heard saying: “Is this really even possible?” “Just how much money and tech did they use to make this?” “Even for a case of misleading advertisement, isn’t this going a bit far?” 
Although the announcement had an impact, people found its content simply absurd. Out of everyone that saw the announcement, and this included non-gamers, 99.9998% didn’t believe it and didn’t buy the game. 
The remaining 0.0002% of people, however, said things like, “It seems like a lie, but what if it’s true...” “I’ll try it,” “I believe it,” and they headed into stores to buy the game. 
The necessary hardware cost around 10,000 yen, and was an extraordinary, some would even say reckless, pricing scheme. This helped lure in customers, with some saying, “Well, even if it’s a lie, it’s only 10,000 yen.” So they bought it and started playing. 
And once they logged into the game... they all knew it was the real thing. 
Overcome with amazement at the game’s realism, they would log out and look at their clocks, only to be astonished even more. The dreams they saw were all real — the “dream game” was now a reality. 
The day after release, amid the clamor set off around the world by posts and comments from those who played the game, the developers released another announcement. This time, the contents of the game were detailed. A man named Lewis Carroll, the lead developer for Infinite Dendrogram, presented the broadcast announcement and said the following: 
“The game system in Infinite Dendrogram has a special feature. Rather than relying on thousands of possible combinations of jobs and skills, this feature provides absolute and distinct uniqueness. This feature is the Embryo. It will offer players truly infinite possibilities and unique customization. 
“Embryos will respond to personal circumstances and evolve from among an infinity of patterns. These patterns will not merely be different colors and parts, but will even include unique skills, allowing them to be truly limitless in scope. This is what Infinite Dendrogram is all about. 
“Yes, Infinite Dendrogram will provide you with a new world and your very own unique possibility.” 
These words served as the last trigger needed to turn the game into a giant movement. 
 
March 16, 2045 — Reiji Mukudori 
I, Reiji Mukudori, was sitting on my heels with the game in front of me and a nervous expression on my face. 
It probably sounded like an exaggeration, but after waiting a year and a half, I was finally going to be able to play Infinite Dendrogram. So, of course, I was nervous. 
“It’s been a long road,” I said. 
The game had been announced and released during the summer of my junior year in high school — at the same time I had been motivating myself to do my best on my college entrance exams. 
I’m sure there had been other game-loving high schoolers in their junior or senior years who had been left in despair like I had been, thinking, why of all times did such an interesting-looking game have to come out during my entrance exam years? 
However, I had now successfully made it into a college in the city, and had taken the opportunity to start living on my own. I had finished moving yesterday, and my parents, who’d helped me, had already returned home. 
I can play games as much as I want now! 
I had headed to the game store this morning as soon as it opened and purchased a copy of Infinite Dendrogram. For about half a year after its release, it had apparently been difficult to get a hold of a copy, but a whole year and a half later, I was able to buy it without any trouble. 
My older brother, by the way, was one of the ones who had bought the game on release day. This whole time, he had been calling me saying, “Hurry up and let’s play Dendro together.” I hadn’t been sure if this made me feel bitter or simply jealous. 
But all those feelings end today! 
“...Let’s do this!” I braced myself and opened the box. Inside, were a helmet-type game system and a manual. 
According to the manual, in order to enter the game world, all you needed to do was put on the helmet and turn on the switch. There were other explanations regarding visuals and time as well, but “amazing” would be the only way I could describe them. 
Really, just how in the world did they make this game? I wondered. It seems to be ten, maybe twenty years ahead of current technology... 
However, now wasn’t the time to be scared. Following the instructions and recommendations in the manual, I put on the helmet and lay on my bed facing the ceiling. I then turned on the game. 
Instantly, my vision went black. 
 
“Hello and welcommme.” 
Before I knew it, I was no longer in my room, but in a space that appeared to be the study of a Western-style, wooden building. The voice had come from a cat I had never seen before, which sat in front of me on a seemingly well-made, wooden rocking chair. 
...A cat? 
“I’m sorry for the intrusion,” I said. I was confused, but decided to respond with a greeting first. 
“Yes, that’s niiice,” said the cat. “I like people with proper mannerrrs.” The cat spoke in fluent Japanese, but with a slow drawl at the end of his sentences. 
“Is this like the game’s tutorial or something?” I asked. 
“That’s riiight. You’ll be sent into the game after you finish configuring various settings herrre. Oh, I’m Cheshire, control AI No. 13 for Infinite Dendrograaam. Nice to meet youuu.” 
Control AI... I see. No wonder it’s able to use fuzzy logic in its responses. 
Control AIs are man-made cyber intelligences with entire modern supercomputers serving as their brains. Their primary uses, as the name suggests, are in control and management. It’s said that just one of them can perfectly, and at high speeds, manage the databases and networks of a small country. 
If this one is No. 13, does that mean there are twelve other control AIs of equal ability involved in managing this game? 
“Nice to meet you, too,” I said. 
“All riiight,” said the cat. “First up is selecting the graphiiics. Samples of these will alternate, so choose which one you like the best, okaaay?” 
After the cat... Cheshire... said this, the surrounding scenery completely changed. 
The study I turned into a spacious area — a somewhat Middle Ages European townscape. There were many people walking about, and after a fixed period of time, their appearance would change. Actually, it wasn’t their appearance, but rather, the way I saw them was changing. It went from a realistic appearance to CG, from CG to anime, and then back to realistic. 
“...Wait, how are you doing this?” I asked. 
“Imagery perceived by sight is processed by the brain, after all, so there’s a waaay,” replied Cheshire. “And so, the way you see can be changed like this, but which one will you go wiiith? You can change it later by using an itemmm.” 
“I’ll leave it as-is,” I said. 
I thought it would be better to see normally until I got used to the game, so that’s what I did. Although I was interested in how it would feel to touch something that looked like it was from an anime. 
“Okaaay,” said Cheshire, and the scenery reverted back to the study. “Next is your player naaame. What do you want your name to be in the gaaame?” 
“I’ll go with Ray Starling.” This was a name I had often used in games before. It was simply a distorted version of my first name and the English translation of my last name, Mukudori. 
“Okay, then I’ll set it to thaaat,” said the cat. “Next, the settings for your appearaaance.” 
After Cheshire said this, a featureless mannequin and a bunch of window screens appeared before me. These screens contained words such as “height,” “weight,” “bust,” their corresponding sliders, as well as facial features. 
“These are...” I said slowly. 
“Use those parts and sliders to make your own avatar for the gaaame,” said Cheshire. “Oh, you can also make it into an animal like me, or even change your genderrr.” 
No, I’m not so sure about changing my gender in a game this realistic... 
“It’s okay to take your time and think it overrr,” said Cheshire. “We have three times the amount of time here than in the real wooorld. ...Oh yeah, there was that one time when someone repeatedly logged in and out and spent one month in Earth time making their avatarrr.” 
That’s a tremendous amount of effort and concentration, so I don’t think I’ll be able to go that far. 
It wasn’t just because of the sheer number of sliders and parts, but the values you could set for each of them were way too exact. It was almost like they were telling me to make a real human face. 
For a beginner, that’s way too difficult, I thought. In that case... 
“Can I just use my real appearance as the default and make some changes to that?” I asked. 
“You can do thaaat,” Cheshire said and waved his tail. 
The mannequin turned into me. 
“Now you just need to make some changes using this as your baaase,” said the cat. 
“Thanks,” I said. 
It was fairly simple after this. I left most of the settings the same, but changed my hair color to blond, and changed my ethnicity as well, which altered my face. While I worked on this, I wondered about what my face would look like if I set it to anime or CG. I’d be able to see it if I played without changing any of the settings, but... no, it’s better that I don’t play online with my actual face. 
And like that, I finished creating my avatar after about thirty minutes or so. 
“And... finished,” I said. 
“Okaaay. Then I’ll hand over your starting itemmms.” Cheshire waved a padded paw in the air and a bag fell from empty space. “This is your storage bag, also known as your inventoryyy. The storage space inside it is from a different dimensionnn. You can store items in here if they’re yours, but on the flip side, you can’t put any items in here that arrren’t.” 
“I see,” I said. 
It’s a useful bag, but I guess that means it can’t be used to commit crimes. 
“Well,” Cheshire continued, “if it’s an item that dropped from someone you PKed, or one that you stole with the Steal skill, then it’ll go innn.” 
I fell silent. I don’t know what to say to that. 
“By the way, if a player’s Steal skill is high enough in level, they can steal an item from even inside this 4D pocket-like item baaag,” the cat said. “So be carefulll.” 
Now just how exactly am I supposed to be careful against a thief that’s capable of stealing from the fourth dimension? 
“This bag is for beginners, but there are also other types, such as ones that are tough to steal from, small ones, and ones with a lot of capacityyy,” the cat said. 
“What is the capacity of this one, by the way?” I asked. 
“The size is about equal to one classroom, and the weight is maybe around one ton in Earth measuremeeents.” 
“It can fit quite a lot,” I said. “That’s plenty.” 
“It’s apparently not enough if you’re a merchant, thooough,” said the cat. “They’re likely to buy new onnnes. Oh, item bags will scatter their contents around if they get destroyed, so pay attention to their durabilityyy.” 
“I’ll be careful,” I said. 
“Next is a set of beginner equipmeeent. Ray, what will you piiick?” Cheshire pulled a catalog from a bookshelf and showed it to me. 
In it were full sets of various types of armor. There was the typical Eastern and Western style armor, but in addition to these, there were traditional outfits from China, India, the Middle East, and South America. On the opposite end, there were even outfits that seemed to be from Sci-Fi movies. 
“I’ll go with this, then,” I said, choosing a combination that consisted of innerwear, a jacket, jeans, and a bandana. The look vaguely resembled the male protagonist from a masterpiece game of the last century. 
I played retro games as well as modern games thanks to my brother, so although the look was a bit behind the times, it matched my tastes. 
“Okaaay. What will you pick for your first weaponnn?” the cat asked. 
I turned to a different page in the catalog. All kinds of weapons were listed, including a wooden sword, a practice sword with a dull blade, a knife, a bow, a sling, and a staff. 
I should choose something that matches my outfit. 
“I’ll go with the knife,” I said. 
“Okaaay. So for your weapon and equipment... Wazaaaam.” It was hard to tell if Cheshire’s voice was energetic or not, but as he said that, my appearance changed. My outfit switched to the one I had just chosen, and a knife now hung from a belt at my waist. Most impressive of all, my appearance had changed to mirror the avatar I’d made earlier. 
“Wow, this is something else,” I said as I looked at myself in the full-length mirror Cheshire had provided. It looks pretty good. 
“Oh yeah, that’s right, here’s your starting moneyyy.” Cheshire handed me five coins that appeared to be made out of silver. “Five silver coins is worth 5,000 lirrr. One rice ball costs about 10 lir, by the waaay.” 
Then 1 lir would be about 10 yen, I thought. In that case, 5,000 lir is a lot of money. 
“Is it okay to get this much in the beginning?” I asked. 
“Yep. Be sure to learn how to make money before it runs out, thooough,” he said. 
In other words, I probably won’t get any more after this, so I should use it wisely. 
“Well then, it’s finally time to transfer your Embryooo,” he said. 
“Oh, the thing in all the rumors!” I said. 
Embryos. 
I’d heard they were the greatest feature in Infinite Dendrogram. They offered true uniqueness and evolved in infinite ways based on the player. They were partners that exceeded the likes of items and equipment. 
My brother, who was already playing the game, said, “If this hadn’t been a well-made dive VRMMO, but just a regular MMO instead, I’m sure it still would’ve been a hit as long as it had the Embryo system.” 
“Do you need an explanation on Embryooos?” asked the cat. 
“Since you’re offering, I guess I should listen to it,” I said. It’s probably best to hear the tutorials for unique systems, after all. 
“Okaaay,” said the cat. “All players receive an Embryo at the starrrt. The only time they’ll look the same is while they are in this zeroth fooorm. With the first form and beyond, they’ll change in completely different ways based on their ownerrr.” 
“Ohhh,” I said. As a gamer, I can’t help but be fascinated by features that allow for something to be totally unique. 
“Although the possibilities are infinite, there are some rough categorieees,” added the cat. 
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” I said. This was because I’d done my best to block out any information before I started playing. I’d been worried that I might abandon my entrance exams if I’d found out something about the game, as it would have made it harder to resist playing it. 
The only information I’d heard from my brother was that “it’s fun.” It might have been the case that he’d also been worried about my exams, and so he hadn’t told me anything specific. 
“The broad categories arrre: Type Arms — a device type that players can equip as a weapon or armorrr. Type Guardian — a monster type that protects the playerrr. Type Chariot — a vehicle type that players can riiide. Type Castle — a building type that players can reside innn. Type Territory — a barrier type that players can deployyy. That’s about ittt.” 
“Ohhh,” I said. I was starting to get excited to see how my Embryo would turn out. 
“Also, besides these ones, there are rare and advanced categories that an Embryo can evolve into, tooo. There are even categories that are unique to one Embryooo. It’d be nice if you could get onnne.” 
“Wow!” I exclaimed. “But if that’s the case, there are bound to be players who keep resetting their character until they get a rare category.” 
“Ahh, you can’t remake your character in this gaaame,” said the cat. 
“Huh?” 
“Even if someone bought different hardware and played the game, that person would log in as the same character as the first tiiime,” Cheshire explained. “Their Embryo would also be the saaame. This is because we keep records on our side of users’ brain wave dataaa.” 
“......” I was silent. 
They record our brain wave data... I thought. Yeah, that sounds kind of scary. 
“Even if they were able to reset, it’s all based on that person anywaaay, so I think their Embryo would end up exactly the saaame,” said the cat. 
Is that how it works? 
“Annnd... while we were talking, your Embryo finished transferrinnng,” the cat added. 
“Huh? ...Ah.” I realized that on the back of my left hand was now embedded a faintly glowing oval gem. 
“That’s your Embryooo,” Cheshire said. “It’ll be stuck to your left hand during its zeroth form, but it’ll come off after it hatches and reaches its first forrrm.” 
In other words, I guess it’s sort of like I’m incubating an egg. 
“By the way, is there any chance it can break while it’s an egg?” I asked. 
“That won’t happennn,” said the cat. “Any damage an Embryo receives while in its zeroth form will be passed on to the playerrr.” 
Ahh, I see. So that means the Embryo will be safe even if the player dies. 
“But after they hatch, Embryos can be damaged and break like anything elllse,” the cat said. “They’ll self-repair over time, thooough.” 
It’s kind of like a living creature. 
“By the way, after your Embryo turns into its first form, a tattoo of a crest will appear where the egg waaas,” said the cat. “It serves as a sort of identification for players in this worrrld. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to tell players apart from NPCees.” 
“Is that so?” I asked. 
But no, there’s no way you would mistake an NPC for a human... right? 
“Also, the crest has the ability to store your Embryooo,” said the cat. “When you don’t need it, you can keep your Embryo in your left hannnd. You’ll be together with it as long as you play this game, so please take care of ittt.” 
“Got it,” I said. 
I’m still not sure how my Embryo will evolve, but that’s fine. It all comes down to oneself anyway, so I guess it’ll work out on its own. 
“It’s nice to meet you, partner,” I said. 
Needless to say, there was no response from my Embryo, but I got the feeling that it shined slightly. 
“Lastly, please choose which nation to joiiin.” Cheshire laid out a map on the study’s desk. It was an old scroll map. After it was unfurled, however, pillars of light rose up from seven locations on the map, and from within them, I could see various towns. “The nations with pillars of light are the ones you can join in the beginninnng. What you see in the pillars is the capital of each nationnn.” 
Floating in letters of light around each of the pillars was the name and explanation of each nation.

Surrounded by castle walls is a Western fantasy town, with a white limestone castle at its center. 
Kingdom of Altar: the land of knights.

Sakura petals dance through the air in this city made of wood. A Japanese-style castle looms high above it. 
Tenchi: the land of blades.

Subtle elegance hangs in the air of these mountains. A large river flows for all eternity through its valleys. 
Huang He Empire: the land of the hermits.

Black smoke rises from countless factories and forms a cloud that blocks out the sky. On the ground is a modern day city made of steel. 
Dryfe Imperium: the land of machines.

Bazaars nestle up to a giant oasis, surrounded by desert as far as the eye can see. 
Caldina: the commercial city-state union.

Made from connecting countless large ships together, this man-made landmass floats in the middle of the open sea. 
Granvaloa: the maritime nation.

At the base of Yggdrasil deep in the forest, elves, fairies, and demi-humans live in this secluded garden of flowers. 
Legendaria: the homeland of fairies.

“Ohhh...” I said. 
Seeing this makes me want to visit every one of them, I thought. Tenchi has a similar feel to the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, while Huang He gives off a sense of Chinese fantasy. Dryfe seems like they’d have robots, and just walking through the bazaars of Caldina would feel like I was sightseeing. The seas of Granvaloa call out to me to seek adventure, and as for Legendaria, there’s no need to even think of a reason. 
However... 
“I’ll go with the Kingdom of Altar,” I said. 
“Okaaay,” said the cat. “By the way, as a quick survey, what would your reason for choosing that beee?” 
“My brother is waiting for me.” 
“Oh, is that so...” 
I had called my brother from the store right after I’d bought the game, and he’d said, “Then I’ll be waiting for you in the Kingdom of Altar’s capital.” 
...Since he’s waiting, I have no choice, I thought. But why did he choose the Kingdom of Altar, anyway? I’m pretty sure he likes robots and warships, so why didn’t he go with the Dryfe Imperium or Granvaloa? Well, I guess I’ll just have to ask him in person. 
“There are events that allow you to change the nation you belong to, so don’t feel so down about ittt,” said the cat. 
“Yeah, thanks...” I said. 
I need to change gears, I thought. The Kingdom of Altar seems kind of plain and normal, but it just might be a nice place. 
“Okay then, I’m going to send you to the Kingdom of Altar’s royal capital, Alteaaa,” said the cat. 
“Ah, just a second. What are the goals in this game?” 
In all the games I’d played since I was a kid, even online ones, they’d had established goals such as defeating the evil god or demon king. I thought this game would be the same, but when I asked this to Cheshire... 
“Anythinnng,” was the response I got. 
“Anything?” I asked. 
“That’s what I meannnt. Anythinnng. You can become a hero or the demon king, a king or a slave, a good person or an evil person. You can do something, or you can do nothing. You can stay in Infinite Dendrogram, or leave it. It’s all up to you. If it’s possible, then you can do anything you want.” Cheshire’s way of speaking had changed. “Just like the Embryo in your left hand, what’s about to begin is infinite in possibility.” 
His speech had morphed from the slow drawl. It was almost as if he were narrating something. 
“Welcome to Infinite Dendrogram. We warmly welcome you,” a voice said. 
As soon as these words were spoken, the study disappeared from my surroundings. The desk, the bookshelf, and even Cheshire, vanished, and I was left floating in the air. 
“Huh?” 
Below me was a familiar-looking world. I was looking down on the same continent I’d seen on the map just moments earlier. Before long, almost as if my body was being sucked down toward one point on the continent — the Kingdom of Altar — I started to fall at a great speed. 
And just like that, I set foot in the world of Infinite Dendrogram. 
 
In front of the South Gate, Royal Capital Altea, Kingdom of Altar — Ray Starling. 
“I thought I was going to die...” My heart was pounding after being suddenly dropped from the sky, and I forced in breaths to help calm myself down. 
The feeling of the fall still remained with me: 
The sight of scenery changing vividly before me at high speed. 
The sound of my body scraping against the air as I fell. 
The chill in the air whipping around me. 
The smell of wind I had never smelt before. 
The taste of dirt from the ground — I had fallen over in a daze, confused at how abnormally safe my landing had been. There hadn’t been any pain — it was apparently turned off by default — but all five of my other senses had perceived this world just as they would the real one. 
“This... is too real,” I said quietly. 
A true dive VRMMO... I finally had a sense that the dream game had become a reality. 
I did think the theatrics had been a bit over the top, but I had now made my way into the world of Infinite Dendrogram. 
I looked about my surroundings and saw a large gate behind me. It was encompassed by white castle walls that stretched up as far as I could see. There were also soldiers clad in Western-style armor serving as its gatekeepers. 
This gate is one of the places I saw in Cheshire’s room, so it’s probably safe to say this is Altea, the Kingdom of Altar’s royal capital. 
The gate was open leading into the town, and for a while now, carriages and people had been coming and going. 
It seems I can pass through just fine. 
As it was my first time, I timidly — or, more accurately, suspiciously — passed through the gate and was able to enter the town without any trouble. 
“All right,” I said with relief. It looks like they don’t do inspections for people entering or leaving Altea. 
Since I’d safely made it into town, all that remained was to head to where I was supposed to meet my brother. 
“If I remember correctly, he said a large water fountain on the capital’s central street,” I said. “He did say I could reach it by heading straight from the entrance, but... hmm... I’ll take a look just in case.” 
I recited the words “main menu” in my mind, and just like it was described in the manual, a game window appeared in front of me. The window was split into two; on the right side was my name and a simplified view of my stats, while on the left side was a list of various menu commands. 
I glanced over at my stats and saw that my current level was 0. Jobs in Infinite Dendrogram supposedly each had their own level, and since I was currently jobless, my level was stuck at 0. 
“Map... Here it is.” I found what I was looking for in the menu and opened it up. A new window appeared displaying a map of the Royal Capital Altea. 
Normally, a map had to be filled in by traveling around or by buying maps. However, the manual explained that a player’s starting area, the capital of the nation they joined and its surroundings, got input into the map from the start. 
This is useful. 
“I see. I see,” I murmured. 
The city of Altea was circular in shape and surrounded by castle walls. These walls had a gate at each of the four cardinal points, and stretching out from each of them was a large, stone-paved road leading to the center of the city. 
The roads would have intersected into a cross if they had continued; however, this was not the case. At the center of the royal capital was another ring of castle walls, and inside it was the area for nobility. Special permission was required to enter this area, and at its center was the royal castle. 
Well, I probably won’t have any need to go there for a while, I thought. 
The central street we were supposed to meet at was the one running from the South Gate to the nobility area. The gate I had just passed through, by the way, was the South Gate. 
So if I simply head straight, I should be able to reach the water fountain. 
I was walking while looking at my map and thinking this, when... 
“Ah?!” 
“Huh?” Somehow, I had locked eyes with a woman I didn’t know. She had run out from a side alley, and since I’d been engrossed in my map, I hadn’t noticed until she was right upon me. I reacted late and wasn’t able to avoid her, causing us to collide. As a result, I was flung more than fifteen meters away. 
“Gah...” I muttered. That felt like it caused some serious damage. 
As a matter of fact, the window screen I still had open showed that I’d lost 80% of my HP. In addition to this, I appeared to have broken some bones. The status effects “broken left arm” and “broken right leg” were now being displayed. 
Just one collision with a lady, and I receive such near-fatal wounds as these... come on, just how shockingly frail am I? 
“A-Are you all right?!” The woman that ran into me rushed over to my side with a pale look on her face. She had soft hair and kind facial features... and was wearing white, metal armor that looked absurdly heavy. 
I wouldn’t be surprised if that thing weighs a hundred kilos. 
“I-I’m...” I tried to tell her, “I’m okay. It was no big deal.” However, my body was still numb from the damage and I couldn’t properly move my tongue. 
“I’m so sorry! Force Heal!” Her hand instantly glowed white and particles of light fell from it onto my body. My HP was completely healed, and the status effects for my broken bones were also gone. 
“Oh... ohhh...” 
That must’ve been healing magic. It was a common occurrence in video games to nearly die and then get completely healed, but this was what it was like to actually experience it. ...It’s kind of scary. 
“I’m terribly sorry! This is all because I wasn’t paying attention to what’s in front of me while running...” she said. 
“N-No, I was also looking away... By the way, are you okay?” I asked. We’d collided with enough force to give me near-fatal wounds, so I was worried that she might have been injured as well, but... she was completely unharmed. 
She appeared to be a really high-level player, and the equipment she was wearing looked to be of a high-grade as well. Her stats, then, would most likely be high, too. 
So that’s why our collision ended up the way it did. 
“I’m fine,” she replied. “But I caused you to get such a terrible injury...” 
“Oh no, y-you were kind enough to heal me, so I’ll be just fine.” I couldn’t help but speak politely. On top of that, I was fairly sure my voice was shaking. The damage from when we’d collided had caused me to lose my nerve. 
“B-By the way, it looked like you were in quite the hurry. Is there something wrong?” When I asked her this, the woman suddenly appeared to have remembered something. 
“Well actually, my little sister left the house and I was in the middle of searching for her.” 
“Your sister?” I asked. 
“Yes. This is her in this picture. Have you seen her anywhere?” Asking this, she took out a picture and showed it to me. Although this world has a fantasy setting, it would appear that pictures are readily available. In the picture was a cute little girl. She looked like a younger version of the woman in front of me, but with straight hair instead of wavy. 
Her sister, huh? I thought. Like me and my brother, she must be playing this game together with her sister. 
I could only stay silent as she looked at me in desperation. I felt bad for her, but I hadn’t seen her sister. “I’m sorry. I just started recently, and I just entered this town through that gate a moment ago...” 
“Is that so... Then she might already be inside... Um, this is my contact information,” the woman added. “If you happen to see my sister anywhere, please contact me! Also, I’m really sorry for running into you!” She took out a piece of paper, wrote something on it, and then handed it to me. 
“There’s no need to apologize, so please go and search for your sister,” I said. 
“Thank you... Well then, goodbye!” she said and darted off, leaving me with a memo in my hand. The following was written on it: “Liliana Grandria, Knights of the Royal Guard Vice Commander, Kingdom of Altar.” 
“Huh?” 
Characters I had never seen before were being translated into Japanese in my head. More shocking than that, however, was the rest of the memo... 
“The quest ‘Search for Milianne Grandria, Difficulty Level 5’ has started. Please see the quest screen for further details.” 
I was at a loss for words. 
Umm... yeah. 
Although she looked like a real human to me, this meant that she wasn’t actually a player, but instead... 
“She was an NPC?!” 
And just like that, I realized again just how unbelievably realistic Infinite Dendrogram was. 
 
Shortly after I met Liliana and received my first quest, I arrived at the large water fountain on the central street where I was to meet my brother. On the way there, I had a look at the help information, and apparently difficulty level 5 quests were supposed to be undertaken by a party of advanced players. So without a doubt, it wasn’t something I could partake in. 
Why would a quest like this be given to a beginner, anyway? I wondered. I should just ask Bro about it for now. 
Thinking about this, I had hurried my way to the water fountain, and... 
The scene that greeted me left me speechless. 
There was a nearly two-meter-tall bear costume with a sign reading “Welcome little brother” parked in front of the water fountain. 
“...What in the world is that?” I managed. 
There’s no way... But... No, no way... But then again... 
This is where we’re supposed to meet. 
There likely aren’t that many people out there waiting for their younger brother. 
He wouldn’t know my character name, and it’s not like he can use my real one, so it makes sense to write “little brother” on the sign. I get that part. 
But... 
“Why the costume?” I asked aloud. 
It’s going to take some guts to talk to that thing. 
For a little while now, children had been gathering around the bear. I couldn’t tell if they were NPCs or players, but they seemed to be very attached to the bear. They were climbing onto its head and lap, as well as hanging from its arms. 
I wasn’t getting anywhere at this rate, so I steeled my nerves, and decided to talk to it. “Excuse me. I would like to ask you something...” 
 

“Yes, yes, just bear with me for a moment.” 
Was that a pun...? I thought. I get that it you’re a bear, but still... 
“Are you Shuichi Mukudori... Forget it, is that you, Bro?” I asked. 
“Indeed it is,” he said. “Hey, Reiji.” 
...I so wanted to be wrong. 
“I’m glad we were able to meet up.” The bear — I mean, my brother, Shuichi Mukudori — stood up and said, “Shall we go, then?” 
He then pulled out some candy from his storage bag — or rather, a pocket attached to his stomach — and passed them out to the children gathered around him. 
Is he pretending to be that famous character? I thought. In that case, he should be a cat, or at least a raccoon. 
“Yay!” 
“Thanks, Mr. Bear!” 
The children received their candy and then headed off in cheerful spirits. Before long, only my brother and I were left remaining. 
“I guess first up should be introductions,” my brother said. “My name here is Shu Starling.” 
“I’m Ray Starling,” I said. “So like I thought, we did end up with the same name.” 
Since it was so easy to use the English translation of our last name, Mukudori, whenever someone in my family made a character, eight out of ten times we’d end up with the name Starling. 
“So, what should we do?” my brother asked. “It looks like your Embryo hasn’t hatched yet, so should I show you around the town? While we’re at it, if you want to pick up some equipment, I can lend you some money at no interest.” 
“Oh, well, actually...” I explained to him about the quest I had just received. 
“Really... A quest from Liliana,” he said. “I’ve never received one before.” 
“Really, though, why would I get a quest like this when I’m at level 0?” I asked. 
“That’s because this world is realistic, and a lot of quests are triggered by coincidence,” he said. “Incidents don’t occur in order to create a quest, but quests arise when there happens to be an incident. There are many quests you won’t be able to trigger intentionally, and there’ll be a lot of cases where you end up going on one you didn’t intend to. Well, consider it a good baptism... you were able to get a sense for how realistic the people of this world are, right?” 
“Yeah,” I said. “It was so realistic, in fact, I’m a bit suspicious as to whether I’m talking to the real you, or just an NPC pretending to be you.” 
“Of course it’s me,” he said. “You better bear-lieve it.” 
“Stop it with the bear stuff!” It made me feel weird because I knew the person inside and could picture him. 
“Ha ha ha. By the way, Liliana is a contender for the first or second most popular person in this kingdom. She even has a fan club made up of both players and tians.” 
“There’s a fan club... Oh, and what’s a ‘tian’?” I asked. 
“A person that isn’t a player,” he said. “Well, you can just think of it as the general term for NPCs.” 
“Interesting... so that means even NPCs participate in fan clubs,” I said. 
“According to the developers, ‘their personalities and ability to think are on the same level as humans.’ So that kind of thing is the bear minimum of their capabilities.” 
Really, this game is so sophisticated, it’s almost alarming. 
“By the way, did it say anywhere in the quest information about where to search?” my brother asked. 
“No, nothing,” I said. “They’re telling me to search for someone without any hints. That’s why I don’t know where or how I should start.” 
Although to be accurate, this memo would count as a hint, I figured. 
“Hmm,” he said. “Can you hand me that memo for a sec?” 
“Here you go.” 
My brother took the memo, but instead of reading its contents, he flipped it over and showed its back to me.

Dear Sister, 
The shops were all out of remberries, so I’m going to go get some. I’m bringing bug-repellent incense, so I’ll be okay. Please look forward to it and wait for me. 
From Milia.

“Isn’t this...” I said slowly. 
“She must have been in a real hurry,” said my brother. “She wrote her contact information on the back of the memo her sister left and gave it to you.” 
I didn’t notice it either. Since the memo had been written on parchment paper, I hadn’t been able to see through it. 
“What are these remberries?” I asked. 
“Remberries are one of the high-grade specialties from around here,” he said. “Just think of them as really delicious fruit.” 
“‘Go get’ must mean that she went to go search for them,” I said. Milianne seems to be quite the proactive kid. 
“There are two places around here where you can get remberries,” said my brother. “The first is an orchard within the capital. You can harvest there if you pay the fee of 5,000 lir per basket.” 
Isn’t that the entire amount you get at the beginning of the game? I thought. That’s expensive! 
“The other one is just outside the South Gate. It’s called Old Reve Orchard.” 
“Old Reve Orchard?” I asked. 
“Some things happened, and insect-type monsters have taken up living there. So it’s an abandoned orchard,” he said. “Even now, there are a lot of fruit trees growing wild there, but at the same time, it’s become a nest for monsters.” 
“So the stuff about bug-repellent incense must mean...” I said slowly. 
“Probably so.” 
That’s way too proactive! 
“Go to the safer orchard!” I shouted. 
“5,000 lir is asking a bit much from a child,” said my brother. “Even the market value of 50 lir for one would be tough.” 
“But still, that doesn’t mean...” 
“Old Reve Orchard, by the way, is a place players usually mistake for being beginner-friendly due to how close it is to the starting point,” he said. “However, it’s a dungeon where beginners enter and then get killed right off the bat. It’s also known as the ‘newbie killer.’” 
This couldn’t be any worse. 
I’d just realized this now, but when I’d met Liliana, she had probably been headed toward the old orchard. When Liliana had said, “Then she might already be inside,” she must have been convinced that Milianne had already entered the orchard because I hadn’t seen her after passing through the South Gate. 
“Well,” my brother continued, “in any case, it’d be best to clear this one quickly. It’s probably the type where you’ll fail if time elapses.” 
“What?” I asked. 
“I told you, right?” he said. “In this world, incidents are realistic and occur spontaneously. That’s why there are no guarantees that things will be fine until the player clears the quest, unlike in older games.” 
“Yeah, but...” 
“Let me tell you this from my experience as one of the starting players,” he said. “There have been examples in the past of people dying. A sage revered as a hero, the commander of the knights, and even the king of this nation — they all died.” 
“......” I didn’t know what to say. 
“Despite that, the world of Infinite Dendrogram carries on without a hitch,” he said. “That’s because it’s real.” 
I began to imagine... 
What if the girl in the picture gets attacked by monsters and tragically dies? Imagining it gave me an unpleasant feeling. Thinking about Liliana caused those feelings to sink even further. I know that they’re NPCs, but... 
“That’d leave a bad taste in my mouth,” I said. 
“Wouldn’t it?” my brother agreed. “So let’s clear it and shoot for a happy ending.” 
I couldn’t see my brother’s face because of the bear costume, but I had the feeling that he was smiling on the inside. 
Thus, my brother and my newbie self formed a party, and we set off to tackle my first quest. 
The quest to clear was “Search for Milianne Grandria.” 
The difficulty level, 5. 
The location was the trap dungeon “newbie killer,” Old Reve Orchard. 
The goal... was a happy ending. 
Start quest.