Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.1

Side Story: Valentine’s Day of 2044 
February 14, 2044 
Figaro logged in to Infinite Dendrogram and was welcomed by his friend saying: 
“Figgy, let’s hop off and hunt for chocolate.” 
His friend was none other than Shu Starling, wearing a two meter-tall animal costume. 
The clumsy inclusion of “hop” was him making a pun, for he was wearing the “Hyper Costume Series, Cyclone Pocket” — a costume he’d gained from an UBM that looked much like a kangaroo. 
He also emphasized his “roo”s and even added them where they didn’t belong. 
Figaro silently looked at him, remembering some of Shu’s previous costumes. He made bear puns when wearing the bear costume, but when wearing the wolf costume, he just threw in the occasional “woof.” How does he decide between puns and animal sounds? he wondered. 
He chose not to ask, though, for there was something more important. 
“‘Hunt’ for chocolate? Not receive it?” Even Figaro understood where this talk about chocolate came from. 
In the real world, it was Valentine’s Day — a special occasion in both Christian and non-religious places. Figaro had already received chocolates in real life. 
Though his inborn heart disease had him bound to his house for medical reasons, he had still received chocolates from his mother, the maids working at his house, and his little brother Keith, for some reason. 
Figaro was sickly, and one of the symptoms of his disease was the spasms that happened every time his heart rate rose above a certain point. Because of it, he couldn’t exercise to lose calories, and the increase in heart rate from overeating could kill him, so he could only enjoy the chocolate he was gifted in small bites. 
Even so, he really appreciated the love they had put into them. 
“Yeah. We’re v-roo-ming through the Valentine’s Event!” Shu shouted. 
“Oh... That’s a thing...?” 
At first, women handing men chocolate on Valentine’s Day had been a Japan-only thing. A certain confectioner had created the practice in the twentieth century. 
In the West, the go-to gifts were flowers and sweets of any kind, and the gender of the giving party was never a question. 
However, by the fourth decade of the twenty-first century, the constant flow of culture had led to the Japanese practice spreading to the West, and being a worldwide VRMMO, Infinite Dendrogram reflected this. 
There were also events for the more local occasions, such as the Japanese Setsubun. 
“This one’s like Halloween and Setsubun,” Shu explained. “Monsters that drop chocolate spawn on the map. You’re supposed to stuff your pouch full of them and exchange them for prizes.” 
“Ah. So it’s not the chocolate that’s the prize?” 
“Yep. You’ve gotta exchange it. Though I hear it’s so tasty, it makes you d-roo-l.” 
“Oh? So you have people who try to eat an exchange item, huh?” 
The event had begun twelve hours ago in real-life time. The seasonal events generally began when the real-life holiday began in the time zone furthest ahead, and ended when it ended in the time zone furthest behind, making it last a total of 48 real life hours. 
That translated to six days in Dendro, which was a standard amount of time for an event. 
Side note: the number of people online had dropped during the Christmas event. 
Those who were online, however, were extremely passionate about it... but it was best to not ask for the reason. 
“I get that it’s a hunt, but why are you asking me?” asked Figaro. 
You know I can’t handle myself properly when I’m not solo, he added silently, knowing that Shu would understand. 
“That’s ’cause this event’s special.” 
“It is?” 
Shu nodded and said, “Only couples can kill the monsters for this event. I’m roo-seless alone.” 
“Hm...?” 
According to Shu, this was an event where you had to make parties of two and kill the monsters the devs spawned. 
Those monsters couldn’t be harmed and couldn’t harm you if you weren’t in a party of two. 
This was surely done out of consideration for non-participants, tians, and monster ecosystems. The devs tended to think such things through. 
What made this a Valentine’s Day event was that a party of two was a couple swearing their love for each other. The devs were fine with homosexuality, so the gender composition of the party didn’t matter at all. 
They didn’t allow pairing up with monsters, though — both party members had to be humanoid creatures. 
“I haven’t found anyone else to pair with me, so I’m asking roo,” said Shu. “I’ll do all the fighting, and we can split the rewards evenly.” 
“I don’t mind. I didn’t have anything planned besides a trip down the Tomb Labyrinth,” Figaro replied. “But I find it odd that you didn’t find anyone to pair with yet.” 
Shu was an eccentric weirdo who constantly wore animal costumes, but he was pretty popular, so Figaro would have guessed he’d have no trouble finding someone to pair with. 
“Lei-Lei’s busy in real life, Darshan’s got the restaurant to take care of, and everyone else already has a pair. And those roo don’t, well...” 
“Well...?” 
“I quote... ‘it’d give me pain to be treated as a couple with a guy in an animal costume,’ ‘I’d feel like a lonely office lady who went to Disneyland,’ and, ‘Take it off. Please, take it off.’” 
“‘Take it off’? Now that’s asking for too much of you.” 
“Hell, this is all because of... Forget it, I won’t go too deep into it.” 
“Hm?” 
The actual reasons why the girls had refused had nothing to do with Shu’s costume and everything to do with their relationship situations in real life, but since Figaro had no love experience whatsoever, he wouldn’t understand that. 
He understood affection between family members, but he knew absolutely nothing about the more passionate kind of love. If he had been just a bit more sensitive to subtleties of that kind, this incident might’ve gone differently. 
 
Regardless, Figaro agreed to form a party with Shu and participate in the event, even if as just an observer. 
“Let’s v-roo-m off northwest!” Shu shouted. 
There were event monsters spawning around the capital, too, but Shu didn’t hunt there, since their strength and the value of chocolate dropped was adjusted to fit the local level ranges. 
Also, since they’d been part of the first wave of players, they were already in their fifth forms, and it would be immature for veterans like them to steal kills from the newbies. 
Thus, they were now riding Shu’s Baldr’s fourth form, the tank, northwest of the capital, where he could find monsters of his level. 
“Not using the battleship?” asked Figaro. 
“Not for simple traveling. Roo have no idea how much it stands out.” 
Baldr’s fifth form was a land battleship only as big as a light cruiser. 
“Also, the ammo costs are roodiculous,” he added, sighing at just how expensive his Embryo had become. “I’ll use the fourth and my fists this time.” 
Standing on the tank’s cupola, he did a check on his weapons and items. In its tank form, Baldr could be remote-controlled or put on autopilot. He could use it as one of the self-driving vehicles that had become popular in real life and make it drive him to his destination without him lifting a finger. 
Baldr would automatically attack the occasional monsters popping up on the way, and all their drops would go to Shu’s Cyclone Pocket’s “pouch.” This was the item’s unique skill, High-Speed Auto-Retrieve, which, true to its name, automatically retrieved all items he had a right to. 
While a UBM, “Whirlwind Beast of Ill-Omen, Cyclone Pocket” had been a frustrating monster that automatically retrieved the items people held in their hands and even projectiles flying at it, so you could say that the MVP special reward skill was a big downgrade. 
As for how Shu had beaten it... he’d simply made Baldr go into fifth form and fire its proximity shells at it. Cyclone Pocket had absorbed them all, and the explosions right before they were stored away had made short work of its HP. 
It was probably the easiest UBM kill Shu’d had so far. The proximity shells had cost a lot, though, so getting back the money lost had taken some effort. 
“By the way, what kind of monsters do we have this time?” Figaro asked. 
Events generally had monsters related to the events. 
Setsubun had featured oni and bean bag monsters, while New Year’s had featured rat monsters, since that was the Chinese zodiac for the year. 
Because of this, Figaro thought Valentine’s Day monsters would be chocolate monsters, but... 
“Girls,” Shu said. 
“...Huh?” 
“Pretty girl monsters. Crooture type: devil.” 
Figaro had no words. 
Though he was a musclehead battle junkie, he was still Christian, so he wondered why a celebration of love involved devils or why there’d even be an event focused on stealing chocolate from girls. 
Then he realized that he was about to watch a kangaroo riding a tank massacre girls for their chocolate. 
Instead of questioning any of it, he just said one thing. “What are the devs thinking?” 
“I’m pretty sure the control AI in charge of events doesn’t actually know what Valentine’s Day is,” said Shu. “Those devils also throw chocolate and absorb three times the damage they deal.” 
That’s not what it means to return it three-fold! 

A few hours later, the two arrived at their destination. 
With monsters of level 51 and above lurking about, it was the perfect hunting ground for a high-rank like Shu. 
He’d intended to start hunting the event monsters right away, but... 
“That’s not an event monster, is it?” Figaro asked. 
“I don’t see a name above it,” Shu agreed. 
In the area, they were facing a strange entity. 
It wasn’t an event monster, nor a Master hunting them. 
It looked like two towering, metal legs that skipped around with lightness you wouldn’t expect from their size and earthquake-causing weight. 
Additionally, there were Master-like people where it was heading, and you could see them being crushed and turned to light. 
The most bizarre thing about this place, however... 
“AHAHAHAHHA! CRUSH! I’LL CRUSH YOU ALL! IT’S WHAT ALL BOYFRIENDS AND HOMEWRECKERS DESERVE!” 
...was the feminine roar echoing from the top of the legs. 
The two watched the scene, not saying a word. They were skilled Masters who’d already faced many foes, so they were able to make a quick, calm analysis of the situation. 
The shouting woman was a Master. 
The large metal legs were her Embryo. 
The fact that she was crushing Masters in this high-level area meant that she was really strong. 
Her legs were making them scatter with next to no effort on her part. 
However, anything that came from such analysis meant nothing compared to the searing hatred in her voice. 
Shu instantly understood that, She’s the type you shouldn’t get involved with. 
Figaro, on the other hand, thought, She looks strong. I wanna fight her. 
That might’ve been the reason why there was such a gap in the amount of danger they felt. Figaro knew nothing of love, so he couldn’t understand just how deadly the grudge in that voice really was. 
“We’re hoppin’ away from that,” said Shu as he turned Baldr 180 degrees, determined to leave as soon as possible. 
“Eh...? Ah. Okay,” Figaro replied, slightly disappointed. But then... the hellish voice rang out above them. 
“IS THAAAT A COUPLE I SEEEEE?!” 
They looked up and saw the metallic legs. Not saying a word, the two silently analyzed the situation again. The scariest thing about this was that neither of them had noticed her come close. 
They both had exceptional intuition, of course. Therefore, this had to be teleportation or something similar. 
She’d also come to them after killing every single Master on the map, making it even clearer that she’d be a tough foe to fight. While Shu thought that they were in for some trouble, Figaro was excited. 
Shu started out by trying to communicate, “Uhh... We’re just—” 
“Eh? What?” She unexpectedly cut him off. “There’s a guy in that costume?” 
You could tell by her voice that she was surprised by something. A few seconds later, she asked, “Are you a gay couple?” 
“No,” Shu and Figaro replied in perfect unison. 
“Then all’s goooood... Hold on a second.” 
Suddenly, the hellish thundering subsided, the towering metal “legs” vanished, and a woman descended from the sky. 
It was worth noting that it was over 100 meters worth of free fall, and she went down with great energy and splendor. 
The woman was in her mid-twenties, and looked reasonably beautiful. However, her beauty didn’t seem to extend beyond her appearance. 
“My name is Hannya,” she said. “Sorry if I surprised you.” 
Her voice was nice to listen to — nothing like the curses she’d spewed while PKing. 
That just makes her even scarier, Shu thought. 
And why the hell would you name yourself after a Noh mask, of all things? 
“I’m Shu,” he greeted her, cautiously, for he was experienced enough to know just how scary and complex women could be. 
“And I’m Figaro. Nice to meet you,” said Figaro, as casually as ever, for he knew absolutely nothing about such things. 
Shu appreciated that he was acting natural, but was also worried that he could step on a landmine. 
“Oh, yeah. You say hi, too, Sandalphon,” said the woman. 
“Yes. Right away.” Following the voice from her crest, it began to glow and released her Embryo. 
And what a strange Embryo it was. 
It looked human. That alone wasn’t strange. Both Shu and Figaro had seen human-like Guardians and girl-Embryos — the Maidens. 
But this Embryo was different. 
Unlike human-like Guardians, it didn’t have any inhuman parts, such as a tail or horns, but unlike Maidens, it wasn’t a girl... but a boy. 
Not an androgynous girl, but very clearly a boy. Shu could tell. 
It was their first time seeing an Embryo that looked like a human boy. 
“My name is Sandalphon,” he said. “My Type is Apostle-Angel Gear.” 
Neither Figaro or Shu had ever heard of “Apostle” or “Angel Gear” Types. Though they had a guess that the latter was a category unique to him, developed from either Arms or Chariot. 
Regardless of what he was, his power was immense. 
The ground Sandalphon had tread on looked completely ravaged. 
The event monsters were fine, though, since they could only be harmed by couples. 
“There weren’t any tians here, were there?” muttered Shu. “This’d be a real calamity if there were.” 
“Don’t worry,” said the woman with a mild smile. “He has the ability to differentiate NPCs and Masters, so there aren’t any dead NPCs here. I don’t have any grudge against them, so I don’t want to kill them.” 
So what you’re saying is that you have a grudge against Masters and want to kill them, Shu thought, sweating inside his costume. 
“Why’re roo going around cursing and PKing?” he asked Hannya. 
“Because couples are the enemy.” 
“And you didn’t attack us because...?” 
“You’re not a couple.” 
Ah. We’ve got a walking pile of complications here. Best not pry deeper, Shu thought, setting his mind on changing the subject. 
He was so careful with her that he even decided to refrain from using his puns. 
However, that went to waste when Figaro asked, “Why are couples the enemy?” 
“FIGGYYYYYYY!” Shu groaned. 
The peaceful meathead at his side clearly didn’t notice the darkness surrounding her love life. 
Hannya began answering Figaro’s question. “It happened 52 days ago... or about five months ago here.” 
“...Ah,” Shu said as he realized what day that meant. Like Valentine’s, that was also a day tightly linked to love. 
“Yes, it was Christmas,” she continued. “Back then, I had a boyfriend I was dating with the intention to marry him.” 
Her eyes were calm and her tone was nostalgic, but Shu knew that this was basically like the peace you felt while going up a tall roller coaster. 
Her emotional state would soon go downhill. Figaro, of course, was clueless, and just listened to her story. 
“I knitted a sweater, scarf, and gloves for him, and made a full course Christmas dinner for both of us. I even baked a three-layered cake. I even had a marriage registration and betrothal money. I was fully prepared for him to propose to me.” 
Damn, you’re overbearing, Shu thought, and praised himself for not saying it. 
Figaro, on the other hand, simply thought, That’s impressive. 
“But he didn’t come to my room at the time we agreed on...” Hannya continued. 
“Here it comes...” Shu murmured. 
“Huh? What do you mean?” Figaro asked. 
You wouldn’t understand... Shu thought. 
“I called and messaged him over and over and got no response until, about an hour later, he just wrote, ‘Let’s break up.’” 
Shu said nothing. 
“Why?” Figaro asked her. 
Hannya opened her eyes wide, cracked a joyless smile and said, “‘I found someone I like more in Infinite Dendrogram, and we’re now going out in real life. Sorry.’ Ahahahah...” 
It was definitely a sad thing, in at least one way, if not a few. 
Shu dedicated a moment to think about it. Real love born through MMO relationships and online game marriages had existed for almost half a century now. 
And this was Infinite Dendrogram. A world as real and realistic as this gave plenty of room for love to blossom. Epic fights against powerful monsters could also produce a good suspension bridge effect. 
Over half a year had passed since release, and you had more and more Masters marrying other Masters or even tians. There was even a term for it now: Dendromony. 
However... 
“WHY. WAS I LEFT. BECAUSE OF A DAMN GAAAAAAME?!” the woman screamed. 
Yes, whether someone who was left for such a reason could accept it was an entirely different matter. 

Shu knew that everyone loved differently, and that all loves had different origins. However, he wished that people would at least give their loves a clean conclusion. Otherwise, you could create people like Hannya — desperate and hurt creatures who went around causing trouble for others. 
“Ah,” Figaro said, seeming to realize something. “Are you in Dendro to...?” 
“TO CRUSH MY EX AND THAT THIEVING HOMEWRECKEEEERRRR!” she screamed her desire, crying profusely. 
Sandalphon went to pat her on the back. He looked used to it, so this must’ve been common. 
I’d like it if you didn’t bring real-life drama here, Shu thought with a sigh. 
“Hoo, hoo... Sorry. This happens whenever I remember it... Sorry.” The scream worked as an outlet for her emotions, letting her calm down a bit. 
Just a bit, though. 
“Can’t you settle this in real life?” Shu asked. “Take him to court and make him pay for the emotional damage or something?” 
“I’ve already been filed with a restraining order. That got me a criminal record, and I was fired for it, but I can still get my revenge on him here.” 
“You got physical with him before trying to solve it lawfully?” Shu mumbled. 
She didn’t hear him and just began reciting what she’d gone through so far. “Once I got on Dendro to get my revenge, I started in Caldina, since it’s in the middle of the continent and I thought I’d quickly find him there. No luck, though. I then went to the west, since he likes Europe more than Asia. The time we went on a trip to Italy on my money, he—” 
“Yeah, uhh... I get it,” said Shu. “And why did you go around crushing all the couples here?” 
“Because they all seemed like him and the homewrecker to me. I mean, I don’t know what they look like here, and I don’t even know the thief’s name. That’s why I’ll treat all couples as them and C R U S H. T H E M. A L L.” 
Damn it, woman, you’re one big step into insanity, Shu thought before saying, “You said you don’t know their faces or her name. Do you know the guy’s name?” 
“Yes. He had a blog called ‘RockPanther’s Dendro Tour,’ so it has to be ‘RockPanther.’ But the blog didn’t get a lot of clicks, and he shut it down after I flamed it.” 
“Flamed... Uh huh, okay. ‘RockPanther,’ right? Gimme a moment.” 
“For what?” 
“I think I might be able to find the guy...” 
“Really?” Hannya asked while looking at Shu with eyes bordering on demonic. 
There was no room for lies or jokes here. 
Shu refrained from emphasizing the “might” and just said that he’d ask an informant he knew. 
Then Shu walked away from Hannya and took something out of his inventory. 
It was a luxury item imbued with communication magic, given only to the best customers of a certain information broker: the DIN. 
You could only use it to communicate with DIN workers who had the receiver, but unlike most comms magic devices, you could use it just about anywhere. 
“Uhh... Hey, it’s me,” Shu began talking to the informant. “I need you to find someone...” 
She’ll probably attack us if they don’t find him, Shu added silently. 
While he was busy with that, Figaro was talking to Hannya. 
“By the way, you look pretty strong. What’s your job and Embryo form?” he asked. 
She could absolutely crush skilled players who were hunting in this high-level area, so there was no doubt she was powerful. 
Figaro, the battle-junkie that he was, also wondered if she would be up for a duel. 
“Job... What was mine, again?” Hannya asked a seemingly impossible question. It wasn’t a joke or anything like that, though — she had actually forgotten her job. 
Her revenge on her ex occupied such a large part of her that she couldn’t care about anything else. 
“You are now the King of Berserk, Lady Hannya,” Sandalphon helped her. 
“Oh yeah, that’s it,” Hannya nodded. 
“...A Superior Job,” Figaro muttered in amazement. 
Indeed — the King of Berserk was the Superior Job from the berserker grouping. 
If she was telling the truth, she’d earned it within just fifty days since starting Dendro, which was simply staggering, even when you took into account the tripled time. 
Even Figaro was still just aiming for the gladiator grouping’s Superior Job. 
Granted, the only reason why he didn’t have it yet was simply that one of the conditions was to be first in the duel rankings. He’d already cleared the other two. 
Figaro was currently second, and he was preparing to beat the first — Tom Cat. 
By the way, while Hannya didn’t remember any of the conditions, and Sandalphon was too ashamed to say it, one of the King of Berserk’s conditions was basically unclearable. 
It was: “To kill 444 humans within 10 seconds of seeing them.” 
Berserking at its finest. 
No sane person would even attempt it, and even if they would, they probably couldn’t do it. Unless you’d preemptively decided to kill everyone, you could never decide whether to kill someone and then do it within ten seconds. 
In the time when there were only tians, you’d be hunted down and punished as a murderer. Those who’d tried it were many, but none had succeeded, making the King of Berserk into a true lost job. 
Masters would’ve probably attempted it with other Masters, but as mentioned above, this condition had been completely buried by the time Dendro was released. 
There were probably berserker grouping Masters doing this and that, trying to figure out how to get the Superior Job, completely unaware that it had already been taken. 
Now, though this condition was something you normally couldn’t and wouldn’t clear, the fact that she was the King of Berserk was all the proof you needed that she could and had done it. 
This was due to Sandalphon’s skill that allowed him to differentiate Masters from tians, and due to Hannya being a dangerous person who instantly killed any Master couple she saw. 
As a result of her shenanigans, she had inadvertently cleared the long-buried condition for the King of Berserk, and taken the job. 
“And my current form is six,” Sandalphon continued. 
“Six... Amazing,” Figaro said. 
Neither Shu nor Figaro were there yet. He did feel like his evolution was close, but it was still five. 
“He’s an ‘Apostle,’ right? Maybe they evolve quickly,” Figaro guessed. 
“Maybe,” said Hannya. “I only know Sandalphon, though, so I can’t be sure...” 
“I barely see my own kind,” said Sandalphon. “I wonder why?” 
There was a time when a thing called “category-based personality analysis” had enjoyed decent popularity. It was simply personality guessing based on people’s Embryo’s base categories, so Figaro wondered what kind of personality the super-rare Apostle represented. 
Then, he noticed Hannya looking at him weirdly. 
“What?” he asked. 
“Well... I just felt like it’s been so long since I’ve had a proper conversation. I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone since my ex left me. Except Sandalphon, I guess.” 
“Indeed,” the Apostle said. “As far as I can remember, this is the first time.” 
Of course it was. 
She was a PKer who went on a rampage the moment she saw a Master couple, and the onlookers would see her as a rabid dog, if not worse. She herself knew that she was weird, but that awareness wasn’t enough to hold back her emotions. 
Even Shu couldn’t help but be a bit freaked out by her. 
“Umm... are you sure you want to talk to me? I’m weird, aren’t I?” she asked. 
“How?” Figaro asked, puzzled. 
The only ones who could look at her without any sort of lens... were those who couldn’t even understand what was weird about her. 
As a sickly person all his life, Figaro had limited experience in everything, so he assumed that even Hannya’s eccentricity and rampages were nothing special. 
There was also the fact that his first friend had been a man in an animal costume. It was like he didn’t even have a compass for the very concept of weirdness. 
Hannya looked at him in silence. Figaro had just honestly asked her what was so weird about her, and since she didn’t know that there was something wrong with him, it had made her heart skip a beat. 
“Can we meet again once I’m done with my revenge?” she asked. 
“Hm...? Sure,” Figaro replied. “I’d like to see you again, too. Want to exchange emails to stay in touch?” 
He only wanted to see her again for a duel, and was completely unaware of the romantic potential of his words. 
“Yes! Of course!” 
And so, the clueless, meatheaded son of a wealthy family exchanged addresses with a yandere King of Berserk. 
 
“All right, thanks... I know where RockPanther is,” Shu ended the call and said as the two were talking. 
Hannya turned to him so fast you could hear it and said, “Really?” 
“There’s this large group of info brokers called ‘the DIN.’ They have a list, and he was on it. He’s a Legendarian right now. You’ll get the details if you go to a DIN office and tell them the number on this paper.” 
“Ohh...” Hannya was so moved that her eyes filled with tears and she joined her hands. “I’m so glad I came to this country... to this area... and I met someone... and got a hint to help with my revenge... Oh, dear... Are you an angel?” 
Shu wanted to say that her Embryo was the angel here, but didn’t. 
She looked calm right now, but there was no telling what could set her off. However... 
“Ahahah. Your Sandalphon is the angel here, isn’t he?” Figaro asked. 
His friend didn’t seem to care about such dangers. 
He’s got the wrong job, Shu thought. He ain’t a Gladiator... he’s a goddamn Hero! 
Thankfully, it turned out that it wasn’t a dangerous thing to say, and Hannya just giggled and said, “You’re right.” 
Shu felt that she was being strangely nice to Figaro, but again, he didn’t say anything. 
“Then I’ll be going to Legendaria,” said Hannya. “It’s to the south of here, right?” 
“Yeah. Just go straight south. You can’t miss it,” said Shu. 
“Thanks again. Let me help you out with something after I’m done with my revenge.” 
“No need. Really.” 
Seriously, don’t, he added silently. 
“Goodbye, Shu. And... Figaro!” She walked up to the Gladiator and handed him something 
 

“What is this?” 
“I just got them. It’s Valentine’s Day, right?” 
It was the chocolate dropped by the event monsters. 
“I’ll send emails,” he said. “Let’s meet again!” 
“Yeah. See you,” she said as she waved, made Sandalphon transform back to the towering, metallic legs, hopped on and ran off into the horizon. 
She was heading to Legendaria, and it was guaranteed that she’d make a scene. 
Man, I’m glad her boyfriend isn’t in Altar, Shu thought. I do feel bad for Legendaria, though. 
“Let them handle the rest themselves, I say,” Shu whispered. 
If she was to be believed, her ex was at fault, so he believed — or, rather, chose to believe — that this was the right decision.

Shu ended up not hunting any event monsters. 
The encounter with Hannya was so emotionally and mentally draining that he lost all motivation. 
He and Figaro were now riding Shu’s Baldr back to the capital. 
On the way, Figaro decided to ask Shu the question he had about Hannya and Sandalphon. 
“Category-based personality analysis?” Shu raised an eyebrow. 
“Yes,” Figaro nodded. “What would Apostles represent?” 
“Hm...” 
“Proactive people?” Figaro asked. 
“I’m pretty sure there’d be more if that was the case.” 
“Ah. True.” 
Shu was genuinely impressed that Figaro could look at that woman and see proactiveness, of all things, as the defining feature. 
“Well, I can’t make any conclusions with just a single sample, but I have a guess,” he said. 
“Which is...?” 
Shu’s guess was based on two factors — Hannya’s words and actions, and the extreme rarity of Apostles. 
It was... 
“They hate Infinite Dendrogram.” 
...a real contradiction of an answer. 
“I see. So that’s why there are almost none of them.” 
Most people started Infinite Dendrogram because they were interested in it — they liked what it supposedly had to offer. 
Sure, there were those who experienced something as they played and began to hate it, but those who hated it right from the start — before their Embryos hatched — were practically nonexistent. 
Unless, of course, it was a woman who’d started Infinite Dendrogram to get revenge on an ex she’d lost to this game, and the homewrecker who’d taken him from her. 
“Now that I think about it, Sandalphon’s quick evolution wasn’t caused by some Apostle quality, but by her obsession,” Figaro added. 
“Well... Maybe, maybe not,” Shu answered. 
In Shu’s mind, Apostle Masters were contradictions right from the moment they started. 
Masters who hate Infinite Dendrogram, yet still start it, must be a really troublesome bunch, he thought. Imagine the sense of duty they’d need to dive in here... 
“She’s also the second person I’ve seen who’s ahead of me, the first being Tom,” Figaro said. “I need to work harder.” 
“Yeah, do your best, Figgy. I’m cheering ya on. You’ll hop up to the top in no time.” 
Though things hadn’t gone as planned, seeing his friend become all fired up made Shu satisfied. All that was left now was to ride Baldr back to the capital. 
“Hm?” Shu raised an eyebrow as he noticed Figaro eating something. 
It was the chocolate Hannya had just given him. He probably didn’t want to exchange a gift, so he was deciding to eat it himself. 
Shu silently thought about them both. He was perceptive enough to understand that Hannya’d had feelings for Figaro from the moment she’d handed him the chocolate. 
Hannya was currently a mix of love and hate. 
While her hate was directed at RockPanther, her love had ended up targeting Figaro — the man who was almost completely dense about matters of love. 
Shu felt that Hannya would eventually cause even more love-related trouble, but this time related to Figaro. 
Honestly, I think that would be good for Figgy, he thought. 
Even if there was some sort of misunderstanding that led to PvP between them, Figaro would probably welcome it with open arms. 
“Hell, you really need a lesson in just how complex and scary women can be,” Shu added. 
“Hm?” 
Figaro tilted his head, not really understanding what his friend meant, as he bit into the chocolate. 
“Ah,” he added, suddenly realized something. “If only couples can kill the event monsters, how did Hannya end up having this?” 
“Who knows?” Shu shrugged, feigning ignorance. 
He knew full well that it had been dropped not by the event monsters, but by one of the couples Hannya had killed. 
You could very well call it “murder chocolate.” 
Shu knew that Figaro probably wouldn’t care, but he also saw no need to tell his friend that the chocolate he was eating had a bloody history. 
And so, with the evening sun on them, they rode the tank back to civilization. 
 
Following this encounter, Hannya changed her country to Legendaria and used the DIN’s info to start searching for her targets more seriously. 
Thus, on the final day of the Valentine’s event, she found both RockPanther and his new lover, and got her revenge on them, making a huge mess of the town they were in. 
But then, a tian Special Superior Job and a group of ten Legendarian rankers defeated her, and she was sent to the gaol due to the severe property damage and tian injuries she’d caused. 
However, by some miracle, no one had died, so it didn’t count as murder, and she would get to leave the gaol in only three or four years, Dendrotime. 
After getting locked up, Hannya, feeling completely refreshed, began to get her real life in order and fix all the problems that had arisen while she’d been focused on revenge. 
She also occasionally logged in to Dendro. Whether to get rid of stress or to prepare for when she was released, she trained in the gaol by trampling all over the other Masters locked up in there. 
She also promised to meet Figaro again, and they regularly exchanged emails. 
Now, to evaluate the Valentine’s Day of 2044. 
Shu didn’t get to hunt. 
The Masters in the area were unjustly PKed. 
The destructive drama was nothing but a disaster to the Legendarians who were caught up in it. 
And finally, RockPanther — who could be considered the root cause of this — had ended up breaking up with his new girlfriend. Admittedly, she’d had problems with him to begin with, so you could say it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 
Most of those involved in this incident had gotten nothing good out of it. 
The only exceptions were Hannya and Figaro. 
After settling the score, Hannya began a new life and got a new love, while Figaro believed he had found a new duel buddy. 
That was all he thought of it. 
In his emails to her, he wrote things like, “I want to see you.” (So we can duel.) “I hope you’re released soon,” conveniently forgetting to type out the bracketed part, as if it were obvious, and letting Hannya interpret it in a completely different way. 
Hannya’s love for Figaro grew larger by the day, but Figaro, who’d never loved before, had no means of noticing it. This severe failure in communication continued for over a year in real life and over three years in Infinite Dendrogram. 
It eventually led to a certain incident, but that was a story for another time.