Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Starting Point 

Heaven’s Three Star Restaurant, Royal Capital Altea — Ray Starling 
Last night, after I had talked about various things with my brother, the dinner had turned into a normal banquet. 
My brother and Nemesis, who had eaten more than double what I had, had given up partway and had left more than half the food untouched. So we’d passed out the remaining food and drinks to the other customers in the restaurant, and the entire scene had morphed into a party. 
If an observer were to look about the restaurant, they wouldn’t be able to tell who among those partying was a player (Master), and who was an NPC (tian). 
The one saying to my brother “Hey big spender” is probably a player, I thought. That was a joke from a retro game. The one with a glass of wine in one hand and an exaggerated way of speaking is probably a tian. 
Other than the distinction of who had an Embryo crest, these were the only sorts of vague differences... They all look human to me. 
The whole scene made me appreciate again just how amazing Infinite Dendrogram was, and along with this, I felt there was something I needed to think about. 
I felt this, however... 
“My head hurts...” I groaned. The headache made it impossible in my current state to think about anything philosophical. 
“Is this a hangover?” groaned Nemesis from beside me, holding her head like I was. I looked about the restaurant and saw that every person at the party who had consumed that drink was in the same state as us. 
A hangover... I thought. Yeah, this must be a hangover. 
Normally, underage players couldn’t drink any alcohol. However, among those who had joined the party yesterday, there had been a Master with a skill that could change water into “an alcohol-like drink.” To which I’d just like to ask, “Why would there be a skill like that?” 
“This isn’t alcohol, okaaay?” the person who’d offered me the drink had said. “It’s just juice, okaaay? Drink it and you’ll just feel as light as air, okaaay?” 
It had tasted great, so I had drunk several cups. And so when the sun had risen, I found myself in this state. 
“Ugh... Why does it have to show up here, too?” I muttered. 
“Hangover” was also displayed on my status, and even though the pain setting should had been turned off, my head was throbbing. 
“That drink, it was similar to alcohol but it was probably actually poison,” said Nemesis. 
“Ahh, a poison disguised as alcohol that gives you status effects, huh?” I responded. 
In that case, it made sense that a skill like that existed, as well as why I had been able to drink it while ignoring the underage restrictions. 
There was a folk tale about something like that in Japan, so there might’ve been an Embryo based on that. 
The person who made the drinks was just fine after drinking it, though. 
“Why would you drug someone like this...?” I wondered aloud. 
“It’s Lei-Lei’s beary special way of welcoming you.” Bro Bear, who had been passing out water to those suffering with a hangover, said this with a strained laugh. 
“Welcoming?” I asked. 
“She makes sure to get every newbie to drink that Divine Oni Poison Sake (light).” 
“Why would anyone do such a thing...?” 
“She’s teaching you the lesson, ‘Surprise attacks like this exist, so you need to be careful, okaaay,’ by letting you experience it.” 
Oh, I see, I thought. No wonder I thought the people who didn’t drink her alcohol seemed like they were grinning or looking on with nostalgia. I’m sure they received the same welcome earlier. 
“...I learned a good lesson, then,” I said. 
“By the way, she’s one of the Masters I mentioned yesterday who bears a Superior Embryo,” said my brother. “She’s also known as the Prodigal of Feasts Lei-Lei.” 
“Prodigal of Feasts...” I murmured. 
She seems like an extraordinary person, but I wonder how she got a second name like that? 
“Oh, also by the way, she wasn’t able to participate in the previous war due to a schedule conflict in real life, it seems,” said my brother. 
I guess it goes without saying, but there are people who’re too busy to participate in the game’s events. 
 
In the end, I wasn’t able to move during the morning until my hangover had passed. 
...The item someone from the restaurant gave me to cure the Hangover effect didn’t work, I thought unhappily. That’s some pretty nasty poison for you not to be able to cure its status effect... 
Putting that aside, we were back to normal, so we had decided to go shopping in town. 
“Hey, Bro, I want to sell the drop item I got from the Demi-Drag and buy some beginner equipment, Dragonscales, and brooches. Do you know where they sell those?” I asked. 
“What? You’re going to stock up on those?” Bro Bear’s expression looked troubled. 
Nemesis’s skill requires that I take damage, so I was thinking that the Lifesaving Brooch and Dragonscale Ward were a must, but... 
“Is there some sort of problem?” I asked. 
“Those accessories are beary expensive,” he said. “The Dragonscale Ward is the top ward-type accessory and costs about 300,000 lir for one. The Lifesaving Brooch goes for about 5,000,000 lir.” 
“Say what?” I burst out. 
That’s 3,000,000 and 50,000,000 in yen. Those items were that expensive? I was taken aback. However, thinking about it, I guess that’s reasonable. It is on the level of determining life or death for you. I would’ve died several times if it hadn’t been for them. 
“...I’ll hold off for now,” I said. Also, sorry for breaking them all yesterday... 
“That’d be for the beary best,” my brother said. “As for beginner equipment, I know a player-run shop that’s fair. By the way, did you already open the Demi-Drag’s drop item?” 
“Open it?” I asked. 
“For boss monsters like the Demi-Drag, the items they drop are usually crates. Inside should be one item derived from the boss you defeated, and then one to five random items based on the boss’s level.” 
“Oh, really?” I asked. 
Come to think of it, the item it dropped was a Demi-Dragon Worm Treasure Coffer, I remembered. I’m pretty sure “coffer” is another word for “chest.” 
I selected it from the item list and the message “Will you open this item?” was displayed. 
“Would it be better to open this?” I asked. 
“Hmm... There’s a chance it’ll be a miss, so you could just sell it as-is,” said my brother. “But if it’s from a Demi-Drag, then it might have something quite good in it. So I think it’s okay to open it.” 
“Okay, then ‘yes’ it is.”

Acquired Natural Demi-Dragon Worm Full-body Armor. 
Acquired Ementerium.

“It says I got natural full-body armor and Ementerium,” I said. 
“Full-body armor is beary nice,” he said. “It should have a skill that reduces physical damage by 150.” 
Wow, that’s really good... I think, but I’m not sure anymore after having seen Bro Bear’s costume. 
“What does ‘natural’ mean?” I asked. 
“Oh, it means that it’s a naturally-made full-body armor.” 
...What does “a naturally-made full-body armor” mean? 
“All right, then I’ll equip it right away...” I said. “Huh? I can’t.” 
I looked closer and saw that the following messages were displayed: “You do not meet the level requirement,” and “You must have a total level of 150 and a job level of 51 in order to equip this item.” 
“...I guess I can’t use this for a while,” I said in disappointment. 
“It looks like it’ll be some time before you can equip it, so I think it’d be fine if you sold it,” said my brother. “It’ll fetch you at least 400,000 lir. Also, Ementerium is an item you sell. It’s worth about 20,000 lir.” 
Ohh, those are pretty good prices, I thought. Although they don’t even come close to reaching the brooch. 
“Ementerium though... For the Demi-Drag’s drop item that you’re supposed to sell, it only goes for 20,000?” I said to myself. 
If, for example, the full-body armor that he said was a winner hadn’t been in the crate, and instead it had been an item based on the Demi-Drag with the same value as Ementerium, then that’d be a total of 40,000, I thought. I’m finally starting to understand how extraordinary Dryfe’s rewards were that I heard about yesterday. I’m sure it’d be much easier to defeat eight soldiers than one Demi-Drag. I bet it was a profitable battlefield for those that took part. 
...In any case, I’ve acquired some war funds, so I guess I’ll go buy some equipment. 

At the shop my brother had recommended, I had them choose a few items for me that I could equip even at level 0. 
The equipment was supposedly part of something called the Riot series, and they were widely used by lower level players. It was a set consisting of light armor, bracers, pants, and boots. 
The equipment I had bought happened to be the quality product of an armor craftsmen. Due to this, the Riot light armor had received the following bonus effects: Increased HP, HP +200; and Reduced Damage, which reduced physical damage by 10. 
This will probably be a big help while my level is still low. 
“Nemesis will do fine for my weapon, so I should be good to go grind levels now,” I said. 
“Not ‘Nemesis will do fine!’ You should be saying, ‘Nemesis is the greatest!’” my Embryo shouted. 
“Ne-me-sis is the grea-test,” I intoned. 
“Don’t say it so monotone!” 
I had also sold the drop items to this shop for the market value of 420,000 lir. Buying the set of equipment and some healing items, by the way, had cost me only about 20,000 lir. I still had the complete amount I had received for selling the full-body armor, but as there was no need to use it, I decided to just keep it. 
At any rate, I was now prepared to go grind levels. 
“Ah, hold on a sec,” said my brother. “Before you go grind levels, you should equip a job. You’ll be at level 0 forever if you don’t.” 
“...Ohh,” I said. I forgot. I’m still jobless. 
“Should I explain a bit about jobs?” asked my brother. 
“Please do,” I replied. 
My brother explained the following things to me. 
Jobs in Infinite Dendrogram were divided into three large categories: low-rank jobs, high-rank jobs, and Superior jobs. 
Low-rank jobs were ones that jobless players acquired first. They were easy to get, and had a level cap of 50. High-rank jobs had set conditions for acquiring them, and they were capped at 100. Six low-rank and two high-rank jobs could be equipped at once, giving a player a total level cap of 500. 
So then what about Superior jobs? 
Superior jobs were extremely difficult to acquire, and on top of that, only the first player that acquired the job would be allowed to equip it. Also, the greatest feature of Superior jobs was that they had no level cap. 
That’s right. With Superior jobs, your level, that was normally maxed out at 500, could be increased as much as you liked. 
There was no balance whatsoever to this. But of course, as your level rose, so did the amount of experience needed for each new level. That was why even without a cap, there apparently weren’t many people with ridiculously high levels. 
...Which is to say, there are a few players with ridiculously high levels, I thought. Given how there were also those Superior Embryos that came up last night, I feel like the development team is deliberately setting up different levels of strength. 
Also, it appeared that there were even cases where tians had Superior jobs. 
This is somewhat of a digression, but the terms “low-rank job” and “high-rank job” used their translated versions in each player’s language. The term “Superior job,” however, was unified across all countries and cultural regions. 
Given how this overlaps with Superior Embryos, I wonder if the development team is trying to give some deeper meaning to the term “Superior,” I thought. 
By the way, when using just the word “Superior,” this apparently referred to a Superior Embryo and its Master. 
...Like I thought, it’s confusing. 
“What’ll happen if I choose a job that doesn’t mesh well with my Embryo?” I asked. 
“If you’re at a save point, you can reset your job whenever you like,” replied my brother. “And even if you reset your job, your Embryo’s growth won’t change.” 
So that was why there were apparently some players that would repeatedly reset their jobs in order to try various ones. You could repeat this process until you found a job that suited you. After finding it, your Embryo would have developed due to the time spent up until then, so you’d then be able to level up even easier than before. 
“Speaking of jobs... what are the jobs of the ranking players you talked about yesterday?” I asked. 
“If they came up in yesterday’s conversation, then they all have Superior jobs,” said my brother. 
“I thought as much,” I said. Titles like “King” and “High Priest” certainly seemed like ones only one person could acquire. “Do you know what kind of requirements they had?” 
“Oh... The requirements for King of Destruction were: surpassing 100 million total damage dealt, defeating a certain number of high-rank boss monsters solo, and also completing a special quest,” said my brother. “The rest probably had something similar.” 
100 million damage... I could use the same skill I used against the Demi-Drag, Vengeance is Mine, 10,000 times and it still wouldn’t be enough, I thought. The jobs for ranking players are as impressive as I’d expect. 
“By the way, the stat modifiers stack for all the jobs you have equipped, but you won’t be able to use some skills if the grouping of your main job changes,” said my brother. “So that means you won’t be able to use Gunner skills while you’re a Cook.” 
“Oh, really?” I asked. “Being something like a Cook and Soldier seems like it’d work out, though.” Like in that one movie. 
“Well, you can also change your main job at save points, and you can still use skills if they’re within the same grouping,” said my brother. 
It’s probably best to keep that in mind when choosing which jobs to equip. 
“Okay, then what jobs can I equip now?” I asked. 
“Ta-daa! The Suitable Job Diagnostics Catalog,” he said in a voice as if he were going to take out some sort of secret tool. What he did pull out, though, was a thick book. “If you read this catalog, you can find the job that best fits you out of all the ones you can equip right now.” 
“That’s useful,” I said. 
“Since the format is a questionnaire, I don’t know if it’ll really be the best fit, but this’ll work just fine when you’re not sure what to do,” he said. “Because at any rate, there are over a hundred low-rank jobs that you can equip in this town from the beginning.” 
“That’s way too many!” I cried. 
“Well, you’ll probably be using this going forward, so I’ll give this to you.” He handed me the book. 
“Thanks,” I said. At any rate, let’s give it a try. 
And so, after five or so minutes the results came in... 
“A Paladin?” I thought aloud. It’s certainly a staple in games, but I’m not so sure it fits me. 
“Ahh,” said my brother, “Paladins get a boost to their HP, STR, and END. Also, they can learn damage-reducing skills and healing magic.” 
I see, I thought. In that case, it’s perfect. As long as I’m using Nemesis, then it’ll probably be a great match. 
“That’s strange, though,” he continued. “Paladin isn’t a job you can get from the start. I mean, it’s a high-rank job.” 
“A high-rank job?” I asked. 
“Yeah,” he said. “You can’t get it unless you meet certain conditions.” 
“What kind of conditions?” I asked. 
“First, you need to defeat a boss of a certain strength... a Demi-Dragon class monster, while also doing more than half the damage to it.” 
“I did that,” I said. I cleared that in the battle with the Demi-Drag. 
“Next, you need to donate 200,000 lir to the church.” 
“I can do that,” I said. Right now I have around 400,000 lir. 
“And last, you need the recommendation of a key person related to the knights,” he finished. 
“A recommendation... that I don’t have,” I said. I just started playing Dendro, so I don’t think I’ll be able to get a recommendation. 
“Wait, wait. Didn’t something along those lines happen just yesterday?” Nemesis, who had been quietly listening the whole time, suddenly cut in. 
“I see,” said my brother. “So that was the real reward from yesterday’s quest. Well, of course they wouldn’t display such a tactless message as, ‘Your relationship with so-and-so has deepened.’” 
“Huh?” I asked. Somehow, the two of them seem to have gotten something I didn’t. 
“Master... have you forgotten just who it was you helped yesterday?” asked Nemesis. 
“...Ah.”

We then made our way over to Liliana’s house. Liliana was the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Royal Guard, and likely because of what had happened yesterday, she was at home with Milianne. 
We received a warm welcome and thanks for the day before. After we chatted with the two, I mentioned to Liliana that I wanted to become a Paladin. She readily agreed and wrote a recommendation letter for me right away. 
I took care of the donation at the church as well, and within the day, I had become a Paladin. 
And with this, I was finally prepared to go grind levels. 
 
“All right, then this is where I’ll take my leave,” Bro Bear struck up his hand and said. 
“What? You’re not going to help us grind levels, Brother Bear?” asked Nemesis. 
“I had planned from the start to go separate ways after the welcome party was over,” he said. 
“Why’s that?” I asked. 
“If you do power leveling, then a gap will develop between your status and actual playing skill,” he said. “A player’s skills and ingenuity are beary important in Dendro, so you need to set out on your own to develop these as well.” 
“I’m here too, though, so it’ll be the two of us,” said Nemesis. 
Power leveling was a method of easily grinding levels by getting help from a stronger player. An example of this would be letting the stronger player take all the hits from a strong monster, during which you would chip away at its health, defeat it, and then instantly gain levels. 
Yeah, I guess if I did that, my level would go up, but my skills wouldn’t improve. 
“Also, Dendro has the Embryo system,” said my brother. “If you constantly ask fur others to help you, your Embryo won’t develop in a good way.” 
“Is that how it works?” I asked. 
“It’s possible,” answered Nemesis. 
Since Nemesis was born this way as a result of my play style since starting, I guess it is possible. 
“And so, I’ll say adios to you here-,” said my brother. “But if you get into any serious trouble, contact me.” 
“Yeah, if I get into serious trouble,” I agreed. 
“That’s all right, but for starters, try to do your best on your own,” he added. 
“Got it,” I said. “And, um, thanks for all your help since yesterday.” 
“Don’t worry about it. I bearlieve it’s only fair to help you out a bit. Oh, and also...” Bro Bear brought the head of his costume closer to me. “If anything happens with a ranking player, make sure you contact me right away.” His voice had taken on a more serious tone again. 
“Bro?” I asked. 
“Well, that thing from yesterday might’ve been just an anomaly. But crazy things shouldn’t happen that often, so just relax and enjoy Dendro.” Bro Bear said this and left, leaving just me and Nemesis behind. 
At the same time, a message was displayed saying, “The party has been disbanded.” My brother’s status, which had been showing the whole time, also disappeared. 
“Well then, Master,” said Nemesis. “It’s finally time for you — no, for us — to stand on our own feet, but have you decided on where to go?” 
“Bro told me about some low-level hunting grounds, so I think I’ll go check those out,” I said. 
“I’m looking forward to grinding levels,” said Nemesis. “Heh heh heh! Tonight I starve for blood.” 
“It’s still noon, you know?” I said. 
 
The first hunting ground we headed to was Easter Plains, right outside of Altea’s East Gate. It had a very clear view, and I could see monsters leaping about here and there, as well as the players fighting them. 
That reminds me, this is the first time I’ve seen other players fight. 
“All right, then let’s get started too, shall we?” I asked. 
“Yeah,” said Nemesis, and she then changed into the same black greatsword as yesterday. 
I swung the greatsword up and down as I held it in my right hand — or rather, it was wrapped around my whole arm. 
“This really isn’t as heavy as it looks,” I commented. 
Even at my STR level, I can swing it with no trouble, I thought. It’s about the same weight as that fake sword I bought as a souvenir a long time ago on my school field trip. Or maybe about the same as a metal pipe. 
“Isn’t it rude to mention a lady’s weight?” asked Nemesis. 
“But this is clearly lighter than when you’re in your human form,” I said. What happened to the law of conservation of mass? 
“...You’re concerned about the law of conservation of mass in a world with magic and where time flows differently?” she asked. 
Well, yeah, that’s true, but... 
“And besides, it shouldn’t feel light to anybody else,” she said. “It’ll only feel light for you.” 
“Is that how it is?” I asked. 
“That’s how it is.” 
Okay, then I guess I’ll leave it at that, I thought. My level isn’t going to get any higher if I spend all my time asking questions. 
“All right then, time to start grinding levels,” I said. 
“I’m itching to get started.”

Two hours later. 
My level had gone up by 3, and I hadn’t taken any damage yet. 
“...How come I’m not taking any damage even though I’ve been getting pummeled?” I wondered. 
Since I had arrived here, I had been fighting monsters like Little Goblins and Pashi Rabbits. They were the type you could take one glance at and say, “Ah, these are the small fry monsters you find in the beginning.” However, no matter how many times they had attacked me, I hadn’t taken any damage. 
“You shouldn’t be surprised,” replied Nemesis. “You have fairly good equipment for your level. Also, wasn’t there a Reduced Damage skill? Isn’t all the damage below 10 becoming 0 because of that?” 
So that means the monsters here can’t do more than 10 damage to me. 
My initial HP had been a little under 100. Taking into account that this was a hunting ground for beginners, it was possible they had only placed monsters here with low enough strength that they wouldn’t kill a player with that amount of HP. 
Incidentally, my HP was now over 700 at level 4. Liliana’s HP had been in the 5,000s with a Paladin level of 60 and a total level of 210, but at this rate, by the time I reached Paladin level 60, my HP would probably be well over 6,000. 
“This may get crazy down the road,” I said. 
“It might be because it’s a high-rank job, but its stat boosts are nice,” said Nemesis. “Also, HP is the highest out of all my stat modifiers.” 
So the large growth in my HP was apparently the result of the total modifiers from the Paladin Job and my Embryo. The modifier for Embryos is pretty big, I realized. 
Although it wasn’t as much as my HP, my other stats had of course gone up, as well. In addition, I also learned the healing magic skill First Heal. 
With this, I can heal myself to some degree now. 
“Hmm... I guess I’ll change spots, then,” I said. As things stand, I should be okay somewhere with enemies that are a little stronger. 
“Yeah, I agree,” said Nemesis. “I also felt things were a bit underwhelming.” 
Well, yeah, that’s because it only takes us one hit to slice the goblins and rabbits in half, I thought. Even though I was the one doing it, it was still kind of scary. The monsters’ corpses don’t remain behind, but if they did, it’d be one extremely gory sight. 
“Let’s see,” I said, “the next suitable hunting ground would be Noz Forest, just past the North Gate.” 
“Then shall we first return to the royal capital?” asked Nemesis. “It’s almost time for sweets, after all.” 
Time for sweets... 
“I’m okay with paying for some drinks,” I said, “but...” 
What will I do if she eats as much as dinner last night? I wondered. I would like to keep the remaining money I got from selling those items to get my next set of equipment. 

At any rate, we headed back toward the royal capital. On the way, I watched the other players as they fought. There were a lot of players with outfits that were in the catalog from the tutorial, so they were probably beginners like me. However, even if they had the beginner outfits, they all had at least one thing other players didn’t. 
One player had a sickle and chain. The player would hurl it in the air and the chain would extend on its own to attack the monster — or so I had thought, but for some reason, it was the sickle that would travel underground and then attack the monster instead. 
Another player had a baby carriage. Inside the carriage was an egg-like object, and for some reason, the player was pushing the carriage with their left hand, while desperately swinging a sword in their right hand to fight off monsters. 
Another player had a stone hut. There was an opening at one section in the wall, and the player was attacking monsters from there with a slingshot. Monsters that bit onto the hut stopped moving as if they were stunned. 
Another player had a red barrier. Monsters that entered the barrier would blow up as if they had stepped on a mine. 
Ah, the player got blown away as well, I noticed. I wonder if all of those are Embryos like Nemesis. 
“...There are a lot of different types,” I said, amazed. 
“The sickle and chain is an Arms, the hut is a Castle, and the mine field is a Territory,” explained Nemesis. “The baby carriage is... what exactly? A tool that’s an Arms? Or maybe a Chariot?” 
So those are the non-Maiden base category Embryos... they look really interesting. 
“Are you cheating on me?! Are you thinking about cheating while you’re embracing me with your right hand?!” cried Nemesis. 
...Does this count as embracing? 
“I’m not thinking about cheating or anything, I just thought it was interesting how they all have their own abilities and personalities,” I said. “It’s really fantasy-like.” 
Bro Bear’s Embryo was such a heavy firearm, the issue went way beyond whether or not it was fantasy-like, I added silently. 
“Well, having something solely unique to each Master is the fundamental principle of Embryos, after all,” said Nemesis. 
“Also, compared to the others, your first form is fairly rugged, Nemesis.” 
“Rugged?!” she exclaimed. 
Yeah, your greatsword mode, that is. 

As we continued to walk like that, we came across another player engaged in battle with monsters. Unlike before, however, I could see the silhouettes of two people. 
One of them wore a coat that appeared to be starting equipment. He was a player of about middle or high school age. He was dirty with mud and blood from battle, but even still, he was an attractive young boy that you could get away with calling either cool or cute. 
As for appearances, the other person was quite unique, as well. She had a demon tail and bat wings, and was a beautiful, imp-like young girl. 
“Haaa!” 
“Take that!” 
The two of them were fighting with all they had, but they were surrounded by four Little Goblins, and the odds were slightly stacked against them. 
Now, I’d like to help, but it wouldn’t be good to just cut into their battle. 
“First Heal,” I said, and healed both of their HP. I did it partly as a way to test the new healing magic I had just learned but hadn’t yet used. It was what you might describe as a drive-by heal. I couldn’t see their HP since we weren’t in the same party, but their wounds noticeably disappeared. 
“Ah! That helps a lot!” one of them cried. 
“Thank youuu!” 
The two regrouped and resumed fighting. 
 
After about five minutes, the two managed to wipe out the Little Goblins. 
“Good work out there,” I said. “First Heal.” I cast the healing magic one more time on the two after they had finished fighting. 
“Thank you very much for healing us! That really helps,” one of them said. 
“Thanks,” the other added gratefully. 
“I just wanted to try out my healing magic, so no need to worry about it,” I said. If anything, it feels awkward to be thanked. 
“Well, you have been getting thanked non-stop since yesterday...” said Nemesis. Her weight then unexpectedly disappeared from my right hand, and she was standing next to me in her human form. 
“Huh? What?!” one of them gasped. 
“Oh? Are you...” asked the other. 
The two of them appeared to be surprised, but Nemesis paid no mind to that and just stared at the imp girl. 
“I see, I see,” said Nemesis. “A fellow Maiden... no, a Guardian, huh? However, it’s rare for a Guardian to look this close to a human.” 
“Hey, stop staring at her, Nemesis,” I said. “That’s rude.” 
“My apologies,” she said. “I was just curious about something.” 
Just what that something was... well, I was curious about it, too. 
“I’m sorry, my Embryo was being rude,” I said. 
“Please don’t worry about it,” said the other player. “That’s amazing, though. There are even Embryos that transform!” 
“That’s right. I’m Nemesis, a Type Maiden with Arms Embryo!” Nemesis introduced herself with such vigor it seemed like a sound effect should’ve accompanied her. 
...This is embarrassing. 
“Oh, sorry for the late introduction, but I’m Ray Starling,” I said. “I started playing Infinite Dendrogram yesterday.” 
“Ah, I’m Rook,” said the other player. “I also just started playing yesterday.” 
“I’m Babylon! A Type Guardian Embryo! Call me Babi, okay?” the girl announced. 
“Rook and Babi,” I repeated back their names. “I have to say, though, weren’t Guardians supposed to be a type of monster?” 
Other than her tail and wings, Babi looks exactly like a human. You could even say that there’s no difference, since I’m pretty sure tails and wings can be added when creating a character. If I had to say which she looked more like, between a monster and a human, I would say a human. 
“That’s because I’m a succubus!” she declared. “I’m sexy and cute and everyone falls head over heels for me!” 
Succubus......... a succubus? 
“Babi, I told you not to be so open about that in front of people...!” Rook wailed. 
“Whaaat? But I’m an Embryo that takes pride in being a succubus, so it’s not embarrassing at all.” 
“It’s embarrassing for me!” he cried. 
“...Rook, you’re embarrassed by me?” Babi looked at him with puppy dog eyes. 
Even as someone on the sidelines, I thought that looking up at him with teary eyes was just unfair. 
Rook became flustered in an instant. “You see, umm, I’m not embarrassed by you, Babi. It’s just that it’d be embarrassing if people were to start prying into my inner thoughts since you were born from me, you see...” 
What is this sense of deja vu? I thought. Also, I feel like I could get along with Rook. 
“Now, now, you shouldn’t cause too much trouble for your Master, Babi,” Nemesis scolded. 
“You’re one to talk,” I muttered. 
 
Rook and Babi were done with their hunting, so we decided to band up and make our way back to the capital as one group. And, since we had no reason not to, Nemesis and I invited them to our little sweets party. 
They gladly accepted, but... 
“Peaches sure are delicious this time of year.” Despite it being her first time eating peach tarts, Nemesis spoke as though she knew everything about it and hastily sank her teeth into her seventeenth serving. 
“No sweet thing is complete without this.” Babi poured chili sauce all over her strawberry parfait. 
“...No, chili sauce shouldn’t even be an option,” I said. 
“I think so, too...” Rook agreed. “But the speed at which Nemesis eats is also quite...” 
“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean...” I said. 
The scene before us was strange in many ways. For example, despite not being older than a day, Nemesis and Babi were familiar with the concept of seasonal fruit, they had their own tastes, and they expressed awareness of flavoring. 
Yesterday Nemesis had told me that, despite being humanoid in form, she wasn’t really like us. But that didn’t stop the sight before me from seriously throwing me off. 
“When born, we Embryos make use of our Master’s memories,” she had explained after reading my mind. “Our knowledge of this world came from the world’s system, but our knowledge of worldly affairs came from our Masters.” 
Oh, so that’s how she knows about peach seasons and the like. 
“Basically, we Embryos know everything about our Masters,” she added. 
“What kind of girls do I prefer, then?” I asked. 
“Ones like me, of course!” 
“Wrong.” 
“Why?!” she howled. 
So, to sum it up, they didn’t know everything, but merely came equipped with common sense. 
“Still, what kind of common sense would make Babi eat something so... blasphemous?” I couldn’t help but ask. 
“Perhaps she does it because it’s blasphemous, no?” Nemesis answered. “After all, her name is Babylon, right?” 
The Whore of Babylon was a figure from the Book of Revelation, often portrayed riding a seven-headed beast as she spread depravity, adultery, and defilement, making her a sworn enemy of the martyr. I had no idea if any of that applied to Babi, but Nemesis had the name of the Greek goddess of vengeance or divine punishment, and befittingly, her ability was a counterattack. There was reason to believe that Embryo names were related to their powers. 
“That aside, Babi, being a succubus, you must know many ways to express your sexuality and make men go crazy about you,” Nemesis commented. 
What the hell are you saying, you damn goth loli? 
“Of course I do,” said Babi. 
D-Does she really? 
Babi’s words actually made Rook choke on his food a bit. 
“Ho ho...” Nemesis said gleefully. “Care to share?” 
“Umm, there’s the shoulder massage, the massage where you lightly step on the lower back, and the best one — the lap-pillow and ear-cleaning combo! Sexy, right?!” Babi exclaimed. 
“...Hm?” Nemesis asked. 
Sexy? I thought. None of that goes beyond normal massage. I wouldn’t even call it “lewd.” 
“That’s not what I wanted to hear. Don’t you have anything befitting the name ‘Whore of Babylon?’” Nemesis asked. 
“Like?” Babi looked puzzled. 
“W-Well, I-I’m not one to know...” 
Don’t give her a question that flusters yourself, you damn goth loli. 
“Umm... I’m underage, so I think that Babi is just acting accordingly...” Rook stopped choking on his food and gave us a highly agreeable reason. 
“Ahh, age restrictions, huh.” I expressed my understanding. Just like they affected alcohol and tobacco, age restrictions reduced the sexiness of succubi to the point of making it equivalent to girls giving massages to their dads. 
Man is it hard to tell if Infinite Dendrogram is wholesome or indecent. 
 
Before parting ways, Rook and I — both being newbies — made a little promise to party up and go adventuring sometime. 
Also, Rook didn’t have a job yet. In fact, he’d started playing without having read anything about the game, so he didn’t even know how to get one. 
I let him take a look at the Suitable Job Diagnostics Catalog my brother had given me, and he quickly found a job he was interested in. To make it into a little surprise for the next time we partied up, I chose not to ask what it was. 
Anyway, after Rook and I went our own ways, I walked to the northern Noz Forest. 
“Shall we?” I asked Nemesis. 
“Yes, let’s raise your level.” 
With Nemesis already in her greatsword form, I entered the second easiest hunting ground in the capital’s surroundings. 
Unlike Easter Plains, this place had a number of trees that took a toll on visibility. The forest was so dense that it was hard to see twenty meters ahead. However, I could hear the sounds of battle coming from the distance, so it clearly wasn’t completely inaccessible to us players. The sounds were probably being made by beginners like myself, who were no longer satisfied by the Easter Plains. 
About two minutes after we began searching for monsters, we found some wolf-like beasts. Right when they entered my vision, the name “Teal Wolf” was displayed above them. There were three in total. 
“Man, this is sudden,” I said. As in most RPGs, fighting multiple enemies right after entering a higher level hunting ground wasn’t the best idea, but I had no choice. 
Quick and nimble as they were, the wolves made the first move as the one closest to us jumped and bit into me. The hit dealt 22 points of damage, and it was the first time I’d felt pain that day. 
Since I would be able to take about thirty such attacks, I decided to go on the offensive. 
As the Teal Wolves surrounded me, I targeted only the one straight ahead. They all began attacking, slightly out of sync with each other. I ignored the two coming from behind and intercepted the one right ahead. 
The hit from my black greatsword made the wolf whine in pain. Unlike Little Goblins and Pashi Rabbits, it didn’t get split in half, but the damage I gave was great enough to make its movements more dull. 
“Yeah, this isn’t anything I can’t handle,” I said. 
I continued the grind. 
 
Several minutes later, with my health at 50% and a level higher than I’d had before, I stood surrounded by drops from three monsters. 
“All right, so we can take on three of these at once,” I said. 
“Indeed we can,” Nemesis agreed. 
In preparation for the next battle, I restored my health with First Heal. Possessing both high HP and an ability to self-heal, Paladins were simply ideal for leveling. 
“All right, I’m healed.” I said. 
“So, now you’re just level 5 and already have over 800 HP,” Nemesis commented. “Your defense has increased, too, so you might even be able to bear a Demi-Drag’s attack without any accessories. Don’t you think so?” 
“...Even if I can, I’d like to avoid boss battles for now,” I replied. Endlessly repeating events that intense would simply drain my life away. “I’ll hunt standard monsters until I reach level 20.” 
“That’s a good idea.” said Nemesis. “I might’ve evolved into my second form by that point.” 
“What will happen when you evolve, anyway?” I asked. “My brother said that Embryos don’t change too much.” 
“I imagine it won’t go beyond new skills and changes to the weapon,” she answered. “Though, I do not know if the same can be said for the evolution between the third and fourth form.” 
“High-rank evolution, was it?” I asked. 
“Yes,” Nemesis confirmed. “First to third forms are low-rank, while fourth and above are high-rank. As far as I understand it, high-rank forms display a whole different level of uniqueness. There are even cases where the focus on certain skills leads to Embryos entering their own, unique categories.” 
The fourth form of my brother’s Baldr was a tank, which was categorized as a “Chariot.” However, it had originally been an Arms-type gun, meaning that it had evolved into a different category. 
“If high-rank forms display a lot of uniqueness, what about the seventh — Superior — form?” I asked. 
“There are no details on that in the knowledge I was granted with my birth,” she replied. “We’re simply not given this kind of information, it seems.” 
“I think I see how it is,” I said. It was top secret knowledge not meant to be seen by the average person. Not surprising that there were fewer than a hundred people who got there. 
“However, I do know that Embryos of fourth or higher forms get called ‘high-rank’ not just for classification, but for power, as well,” Nemesis said, giving more details. “That’s why you must hurry and uplift me into the fourth form... and beyond, if you can.” 
“Well, that’s the plan, anyway.” 
The rankings were probably full of people with high-rank Embryos, so if I wanted to get there, I had no choice but to get on their level. 
“For now, I have no choice but to do some honest leveling,” I said. “I’m gonna reach level 13 and move on to another hunting ground while it’s still today.” 
The orange patches of sky I saw between the trees clearly showed that it was getting late, but I had no intention of ending the hunt just yet. 
Hell, more monsters spawn at night, so it actually makes me excited. 
“That’s the spirit,” said Nemesis. 
“All right, then, let’s g—” 
Suddenly, my vision slanted. 
No — it wasn’t just my vision, but myself. 
The numbness — the remnant of an impact — on my forehead was a sign that something had just hit my temporal region. My status display showed me that it had taken away a whole 80% of my HP. 
“...The hell?” I’d been struck by sudden critical damage with no rhyme or reason behind it. Since it’d hit my head, I was left dizzy and unable to properly move my limbs. 
“Master!” Nemesis raised her voice. 
I thought she was simply worried about me, but I was wrong. It was a warning. 
“Hh! Counter Absorption!” she cried. Twenty-four hours had passed since she’d used it yesterday, so Nemesis could use Counter Absorption again. Right as she did that, the newly-created wall of light was hit by something. 
“Gyaghg, ghgee!” 
It was a small monster that combined the aerodynamic shape of a bullet with the dreadful visage of a preta. It writhed — to no avail — as it tried to break through the wall of light. More likely than not, the damage I’d taken a second ago had been dealt by this thing. 
“Is this a monster?” I asked. 
...No way, I thought in disbelief. This monster’s offensive ability is way too great compared to the Teal Wolves I’ve been fighting. However, it didn’t seem like it was a boss monster like the Demi-Dragon Worm, either. I mean, it doesn’t even have the name pop-up that appears over every monster in sight. Could it be... 
“Kh!” Counter Absorption’s wall of light vanished, and so did the monster that had hit it. 
“A suicidal-type monster that dies right after its first attack,” Nemesis explained. “It’s both a monster and not at the same time... Master! This is a...!” 
“...Guardian!” I completed her sentence. 
Type Guardian... A monster-type Embryo. Unlike Babi, who was of the same type, this one was a real monster. 
“Master, retreat! Someone is targeting you!” Nemesis exclaimed. 
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” I cried. 
With my dizziness gone, I dashed towards the North Gate while healing myself. 
Soon enough, I became fully aware of the situation. Screams of players were echoing all over Noz Forest. It wasn’t just one or two people, either, but dozens of them. Since that monster was an Embryo, the one responsible was another player. 
PK — Player Killing. Just as the name implied, it was the act of killing other players — a concept that had existed since the dawn of MMOs. The person who had attacked me was attacking other players, too, increasing his number of victims with every passing second. 
With Nemesis’s buff and stat increase due to the high-rank job, my HP was significantly larger than that of most people close to my level, and yet a single attack had been enough to bring me to the verge of death. No player without similar circumstances could survive it. 
It was no longer a “newbies’ hunting ground”... but a “newbie-hunting ground.” We had become the hunted. 
“That Guardian died right then and there, so why are the victims increasing?!” I cried. 
“They’re probably part of a high-rank Guardian categorization. Type Legion,” Nemesis answered. “It’s an Embryo that’s basically a colony. As far as I know, the quantity comes at a great cost to quality!” 
“You’re saying that the attack that almost killed me was ‘low quality?’ Nice joke,” I said. 
Wait, if the Embryo is a high-rank, the Master must be high-rank, too, I realized. 
“We’re at a disadvantage!” cried Nemesis. 
We have to hurry back to the capital, I agreed. This player-killing asshole shouldn’t follow us there. 
However, before I could act out my thoughts... 
“Gyaghghghghghghgh!” I heard it behind me — a monster flying towards me like a meteor. 
“Mast—!” 
It’s going to kill m— 
“Like hell!” Turning around, I swung my black greatsword at the bullet monster. 
“Ghh...ghghghgh.” The impact made the bullet monster blast away into the trees, ending its life and role. 
“...I did it!” 
“Well done, Master!” Nemesis cried. “Now, you just have to—” 
—run to the city. Nemesis didn’t get to finish her sentence. In her greatsword form, Nemesis didn’t have a face. However, I could easily tell what she was looking at. 
Someone was standing there beyond the trees, lightly veiled by a dark haze. I couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman, young or old, or even if it was actually human or not. Though light, the haze distorted the silhouette to the point of making me unable to see such basic things. All I could tell was that the figure held a gun-like object in its right hand... 
...and that an Embryo crest was shining on its left. 
At that point, it couldn’t have been more obvious. 
It was this person. This person was the one trying to kill me. 
“Run away! Master!” Nemesis exclaimed. 
Before I could even respond, I began dashing with all I had. The distance was twenty meters. It was much smaller than the distance I had to run when escaping the orchard, and the city was right beyond it. 
I kept on running. 
However, I suddenly heard a gunshot. At the same moment, I felt a dreadful, daunting sensation. 
I had to keep running. 
But the terrible chills running down my spine made me turn around. The sight that awaited my eyes was beyond anything I could expect. 
Nemesis and I had been able to fend off a mere two of those bullet monsters, and still only barely. And, upon turning around, I was greeted by a hellish swarm of the very same creatures, numbering so many that they blocked out the view behind them. 
A moment later, before I could even blink, the monsters charged at me and pulverized my body. 
[Fatal Damage] 
[Party Eliminated] 
[Resurrection Period Expired] 
[Death Penalty: 24 Hour Login Ban] 
 
Reiji Mukudori. 
“...Ghh!” 
Right after they destroyed me, my consciousness was ejected to reality as if I had been only dreaming. Unlike how people felt when waking up after a good night’s sleep, my mind was completely clear. However, I wasn’t sure if I could properly process and accept what had just happened. 
Sure, I’d heard the final message loud and clear. And I was fully aware that the penalty for dying was now in effect. But I still couldn’t wrap my head around what had actually happened back there. 
“Let’s just test it and...” Sure enough, I wasn’t able to log in to Infinite Dendrogram. 
As I made my attempt, I noticed the message on the display fixed to the side of the device. It said “Penalty Active. 23h:55m:16s remaining.” 
“...Well, damn,” I said. 
I looked outside and realized that dawn had yet to break. The clock said that it wasn’t even five in the morning. There wasn’t much I could do at this time of day. 
“...Guess I’ll sleep for now.” I spread myself out on the bed and tried to pass out. However, when I closed my eyes, I couldn’t help but picture the moment I’d been killed. That led to me trying to imagine what I could’ve done to survive. 
It was a case of Tetris Syndrome. Just like people would imagine what block placement would get them to a higher score, I ran my head through various survival strategies. 
As such thoughts dominated my head, I realized just how shoddy my movements had been. With the regrets and considerations of what I could’ve, should’ve, and would’ve done spinning in my mind, I eventually fell asleep. 
 
I woke up at about eight in the morning and had my breakfast while watching the morning news. They were discussing something about the entertainment industry and the world tour of that famous singer — Rachel Raymuse. It wasn’t anything I could bring myself to care for. 
“...Man, this is dull.” I was referring to the taste of the food I was eating. 
Since I had all the time in the world right now, I’d decided to make something myself, but the result had been far below the fancy meals I’d had in the game. I had a feeling that continuing to live like this would quickly drain away my excitement for real food. 
After I finished eating and took care of the dishes, I went to an online message board and looked for info. It didn’t take long for me to find something on the incident I’d been involved in. 
The tragedy at Noz Forest was actually big news in the message board dedicated to Infinite Dendrogram. 
Normally, simple player killing would never get this much attention, but this was a special case. That was because players were still being hunted in all the beginners’ hunting grounds. However, this was only happening in the Kingdom of Altar. 
Simultaneously and continuously, the kingdom’s newbies were being killed off. It was clear that it was an operation executed by multiple members of an organized force. The only question left was: Who was behind it? 
Most people on the message board suspected the Dryfe Imperium, which was rumored to be planning to attack Altar soon. The reasoning behind the suspicion was the idea that Dryfe was trying to keep Altar’s war potential low for when they decided to make their move. Since it was only happening in the kingdom, the possibility of that being true was high. 
As one would expect, the kingdom’s players were responding to this. Some volunteered to act as vigilantes and hunt down the player killers. A number of bigger battles had happened between the two sides. However, the vigilantes had failed to get even a single victory. That made it quite obvious that the player killers were made up of highly proficient players. Just like the others, the one who had killed me at Noz Forest remained undefeated, but there was a slight difference. The vigilantes weren’t even able to find the player killer. 
The beginner hunt showed no sign of stopping, but no one could even find the person responsible, let alone defeat them. 
“...It had to be that person, right?” I said. Back then, I’d seen both the bullet monster Embryo and its Master. Due to the strange mist surrounding them, I hadn’t been able to tell if they were male or female, young or old. That might’ve had something to do with the vigilantes’ inability to find them. 
I ran my eyes through the comments, which were many and varied. Some said, “Welp, the Kingdom is screwed,” others went “Dryfe players are such scumbags,” and some saw this as an opportunity and said, “If you’re thinking of deserting, I recommend Caldina. Noobs welcome.” 
Among them, I saw complaints from unrelated people. 
One said, “Man, I got killed while I was just passing by. My Embryo was this close to evolving and the death penalty messed it all up.” 
Another replied with “Same here, and I was about to start living the high-rank dream...” 
Were there more death penalties than the login ban? It got me curious, so I typed up and posted a message saying “Noob here. Just started and died for the first time. What’s this about death penalties?” 
Replies came quickly. 
One simply went “Get lost, noob.” 
Another was fooling around and said, “Let me teach you my ways. Step one: You get naked...” but there were those who properly explained it to me. 
Apparently, there were rumors that a high number of death penalties decreased the speed at which Embryos evolved. Most players believed this information and treated it as truth. 
It was hard to gauge, considering that Embryos were unique to each player, but rough comparisons showed that Embryos belonging to players with many death penalties evolved slower than those with less. This demerit might’ve been one of the reasons why the kingdom’s players weren’t enthusiastic about participating in the war. 
After giving my thanks for the info, I switched to another board. 
I thought I’d be seeing grim posts about war and player killing everywhere I went, but Tenchi and Huang He were full of people talking about the tame events going on there. 
Cherries were blooming in Tenchi, so people were talking about the cherry blossom viewing sponsored by the tian “Conquest General.” 
In Huang He, panda-like monsters were breeding so much that a whole mountain had become black and white. It was possible to use a camera item to take photos or films and send the output to external media. Someone had posted a screenshot of the panda event, and the heartwarming sight made me smile. 
The only battle-related event I found was in Legendaria. There was a great battle royale to compete for tickets to the concert where “everyone’s idol” — Fairy Queen Titania — was the main event. Though it was clearly PVP, everyone seemed to be having tons of fun. 
“...Why is the Kingdom of Altar the only place that’s getting terrorized and reaching the verge of death?” I began to understand why some players would want to defect. 
Reading it all was a real buzzkill, so I just turned the PC off. 
All right, what now? I thought. My death penalty ends before dawn tomorrow. I guess it’s a good time to take care of some stuff. 
I had to stock up on household supplies and food, not to mention that I’d yet to unpack all the things I had brought here upon moving. Plus I had to start getting ready for college, which would begin in just a month. 
There were lots of things I had to do in reality. 
 
By the time I was done shopping, unpacking my stuff, and finishing up dinner, it was already past ten o’clock. I checked the message boards, and sure enough, the player killers weren’t taken care of even after two days of in-game time. If the rumors were true and Dryfe Imperium players were really the ones responsible, they would likely try to keep the situation like this until right before the war started. That put me in a bit of a pickle, since I wouldn’t be able to use any of the standard places for leveling. All the hunting grounds close to the four gates of the capital were occupied by player killers. That meant that I couldn’t even leave the capital. 
Even if I somehow broke through their blockade and got to another town, the only hunting grounds that fit my level were around the capital. 
If there’s one place I can go to... 
“Guess I have no other choice,” I said aloud. 
...it’s that special beginner’s hunting ground that my brother told me about. 
All of the hunting grounds he’d told me about were beyond the four gates of the capital, but there was one exception. I’d been told it was a place that the player killers couldn’t reach, and since I hadn’t seen anyone posting that it was affected, it was probably true. However, that hunting ground had problems of its own. 
My brother had told me what those problems were, and I’d become averse to the idea of going there. However, since I couldn’t use the standard hunting grounds, that place was my only real option. 
I went to sleep early, woke up at dawn, confirmed that the penalty was gone, and hastily logged in. 
 
Three days had passed in the game. The time of day was evening — just like when I’d died. 
The place I’d spawned at wasn’t Noz Forest, but the large fountain where my brother had waited for me on the first day. While we had been walking around the town and shopping, he had told me that it was one of the capital’s save points, so I’d set it as the place where I’d revive. 
All is as it should be, I thought. The death penalty ends and you automatically revive at your save point. 
“...I see you’re back, Master.” Before I realized it, Nemesis was standing next to me in her human form. She’d left the crest without me noticing it. 
“Yeah. I’m back,” I said. 
She said nothing. 
“...Hmm.” 
Man, this is awkward. The fact that I had gotten the death penalty made our reunion really unpleasant. I’d gotten killed because of my own ineptitude, so I had to apologize to her... 
“Sor—” 
“No need.” She stopped me before I could finish. 
Oh, yeah, she knows exactly what I’m thinking. 
“Stop thinking such ludicrous things,” she said. “I’m the one who feels awkward and needs to apologize.” 
“Eh?” 
Why? 
“...Before the incident, I went on and on about how I was the greatest and nothing could ever match me, but the very first time we fought against an enemy Embryo, I could do nothing to protect you from dying. I am infuriated by my own lack of worth and power.” Nemesis expressed her frustration by biting into her lip so hard that I could see a small trail of blood go down her chin. That was just how guilty she felt. 
But... 
“But you’re wrong.” I said. “If you hadn’t protected me against the second attack, we would’ve been defeated way earlier. Seriously, it’s my fault for being bad at the game. It makes me look pretty pathetic when you consider that I want to join the rankings.” 
“No! It’s my fault because my skill wasn’t strong enough to protect you from the final attack!” Nemesis exclaimed. 
“Don’t be stupid! It’s my fault because I couldn’t operate in a manner appropriate for our ability!” 
Nemesis hit me in the chest. The punch was very weak. And the words that left her mouth... 
“It was my lack of power. If you hadn’t been a Master — a player — I... you and me both... would now be gone forever... and that scares me beyond belief...” 
The words that left her mouth displayed a fragility far greater than the fist on my chest. The same girl that hadn’t stopped talking about the extent of her greatness was now showing her weak side. 
“Nemesis...” I said. 
She only sniffled in response. Nemesis was crying. Her permeable tears were a sure sign of fragility and transience. When she cried, Nemesis didn’t seem like a mere game character. 
“...you might be right.” 
My words made her shoulders shiver. As if to calm them down, I placed my hands on them. 
“However, Nemesis, I really don’t think that this failure is only your fault,” I continued. She was one or two heads shorter than me, so I bent down a little bit and looked her straight in the eyes. “And... just as you said, it wasn’t only my own powerlessness, either.” 
“Master...?” Nemesis asked. 
Nemesis wasn’t the only one who was inept. Nor was my powerlessness the only thing to blame for this. 
“This failure... is our fault,” I concluded. That was the only correct answer. “My level was low. You haven’t matured as an Embryo. And most important of all — we both lacked experience. That’s why we were killed by him.” 
That defeat was in the past, and the past wasn’t something you could change. 
This death penalty might leave a stain on our record. 
“Even so, both of us are alive,” I said. 
I had gotten killed, but since I was a player — a Master — my life continued as normal. And, if you ignored the possibility of her evolution slowing, Nemesis was okay, too. 
“Which means it’s all fine, isn’t it?” I said. “We can still go on and become stronger than before.” 
We Masters and Embryos can get back on our feet countless times, I thought. Who cares about a stain on our record, anyway? I don’t want the path I travel to be a bed of roses. Even if we’re slightly hurt, we’re still standing on our own two feet, aren’t we? 
“Let’s become strong and have our revenge on that scumbag,” I said. 
In fact, we have a new goal now, I thought. We’ll level up, evolve, become better at the game, and eventually grind him into paste, fair and square. 
“...You are an unexpectedly demanding man.” My words made Nemesis adopt a wry smile. “However, you couldn’t be more right,” she went on. “Indeed, not letting go of the past when it hinders your march to the future is the height of folly. We still have a road in front of us.” 
She wiped away her tears. All that was left on her face was a familiar, indomitable grin. 
“I don’t know his name, but that Master will get what’s coming to him.” Nemesis raised her right hand. “Let’s go, Master! Let’s become strong — no, the strongest! No one will be able to harm us then!” 
“Hell yeah!” I cried. “Let’s do this, Nemesis!” 
And so, we linked our arms together. I didn’t get any inelegant messages saying something along the lines of “Your bond with Nemesis has deepened,” but I could feel it having happened. Nemesis and I were closer than ever before. 
That moment was our true starting point. 
 
By the way, I didn’t care about it while talking to Nemesis, but since the fountain was a save point, we were surrounded by many other players. They could see and hear our exchange with no problem, and when Nemesis and I joined hands, we were greeted by a round of applause. 
With our faces red from embarrassment, we chose to leave the place, giving our conversation an unsatisfying ending.