Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 19 - Chapter SS

Bonus Short Stories

Bags Under the Eyes

2044, Legendaria

“Knead knead...knead knead knead...knead knead...”

Colossus Meister, ZZZ—the one who would eventually become Overlord Acedia—was kneading clay in an abandoned Legendarian graveyard.

He was using his own clay instead of what was found at the graveyard, but it was an eerie sight regardless. Combined with his looks—particularly, the pronounced bags under his eyes—his actions made him look like an undead monster or some kind of deranged Necromancer. He’d actually been attacked by a number of Masters who had assumed that was exactly what he was, but he’d used Dreamland to put them to sleep.

“A bit more...just a bit more...”

ZZZ’s strange behavior was just part of the process of making a combat golem. Golem construction depended on the builder’s stats and the natural magic in the environment, but those weren’t the only factors that went into the final product. For example, golems built in places dense with grudge had a chance to come out with the ability to deal damage to ethereal, spirit-like monsters—and that bonus was exactly why ZZZ was building one here in a desolate graveyard.

The reason he needed a golem with this power was simple: peaceful sleep. He’d recently discovered an isolated area that was perfect for sleeping, but for some reason, a powerful spirit monster had begun wandering around the location. It was immune to physical attacks and couldn’t be put to sleep using Dreamland’s effects, so ZZZ was now playing the golem-building gacha to create something that could fight it. He was a man who spared no effort to sleep soundly.

ZZZ quietly continued his work—albeit with lots of mumbling—when...

“Excuse me. Can we talk for a bit?”

...someone called out to him from behind.

When he turned around, he saw two people. One of them was a girl with purple hair and clothes, but the one who had spoken was a young man with a gaunt frame, a bad complexion, and bags under his eyes. That was a trait he shared with ZZZ, but while ZZZ had added them in order to make his avatar match his real life appearance, this young man’s tired expression was just the result of the life he lived here. In that regard, he was the direct opposite of ZZZ, who could sleep all he wanted here in Infinite Dendrogram and thus would not normally look so exhausted.

As for why this person had called out to him...

“So he really was alive...” said the young man, sounding slightly surprised.

“As I told you, Master Dearest,” said the girl with a sigh.

Apparently, this newcomer had also thought that ZZZ was undead. Unlike the others, though, he didn’t attack ZZZ on sight, so he seemed more rational, at least.

Hrmm...maybe I should wear a cutesy animal costume or something? Doubt anyone would think I’m undead then, ZZZ thought, perhaps not realizing that someone just standing around in a graveyard wearing an animal costume was terrifying in its own right.

“Oh, I’m sorry...” said the young man. “I just heard that there were dangerous undead in this area. I’m Benetnasch. My job is King of Tartarus.”

“And I am Master Dearest’s Embryo. Persephone is my name.”

“I’m ZZZ. As you can tell, I’m a Colossus Meister just building a goleeem.” The two newcomers tilted their heads, as though unsure if that was really as obvious as ZZZ thought it was, but that was all the introductions they were going to get. “Sooo...why are you in this creepy plaaace?” ZZZ went on, still working on the golem.

“I’m traveling around and extinguishing grudge.”

“Whaddya mean?” ZZZ asked.

It didn’t seem to be a secret, so Benetnasch went on to explain that the grudge of this world changed the nature of its dead. Under its influence, corpses became zombies or skeletons, and even the souls of the dead could be transformed into wraiths.

Because of this, Benetnasch traveled all over the world to purge all gatherings of grudge before they corrupted the souls of the dead...before it was too late for them. It was a kind of philanthropic work—just one that wasn’t focused on helping the living.

“What do you think of my activities?” Benetnasch asked as he wrapped up his explanation.

“They seem fine to me,” ZZZ answered.

He didn’t know if Benetnasch’s efforts would bear fruit or if there was even any point in them to begin with, but he was honestly amazed that the young man could continue to do something so unrewarding and torturous. ZZZ himself would never want to do anything like that, and he felt as if he was looking at a person—an actual living being—who was fundamentally different from him. Nevertheless, he found it admirable.

Everyone’s got their own values, so...yeaaah, ZZZ thought. As one whose dream, so to speak, was restful sleep—something most people took for granted—he was extremely aware of that.

But if he had to say one thing...

“I guess I don’t really like that you’re losing sleep because of iiit.”

...he had a problem with the bags under Benetnasch’s eyes, clearly caused by fatigue and lack of sleep.

“Do tell him that. He must hear it,” said Persephone with a strong nod.

“Ha ha...” Benetnasch chuckled with a bitter smile.

The truth was that Benetnasch didn’t actually like sleep. To be more precise, he was afraid of being too late to do something because he had wasted too much time idling. The day he’d first entered this world, he’d found himself too late to save a girl from starving, and that had left him traumatized. That was another reason he might have begun avoiding sleep—he was likely to remember such things in his dreams.

Regardless, ZZZ and Benetnasch had a completely different outlook on sleep. The former sought it endlessly, while the latter avoided it out of fear.

One could say that they were diametrically opposed to each other, but since neither of them was the type of person to force their values on others, this didn’t result in a clash of any kind.

They would both become Superiors in time—but mellow ones, as far as Superiors went.

“Oh. I’m dooone.”

As they were talking, ZZZ completed his golem. Being constructed in a graveyard had given it a dark purple hue reminiscent of grudge as well as the ability to attack spirits, just as ZZZ wanted.

“Yaaay. I got iiit. I’m gonna call you ‘Violet GB.’”

“And what does the GB stand for?” Persephone asked.

“Ghostbusteeer.”

That made a particular tune play in Benetnasch’s head for a moment, but then he said, “Speaking of which, why were you making a golem in a place like this? And why does it have to be able to attack spirits?”

“A strong undead started popping up around my sleeping spooot. I needed a guaaard.”

Benetnasch’s expression darkened. “Can you tell me more about this monster?”

“It’s got three arms, two heads...it’s all floaty and has no lower body...and it’s also very aggressive and it even eats other spirits.”

Upon hearing that, Benetnasch and Persephone looked at each other and nodded.

“Could you show me to this place? That monster may be my target.”

“Sure thiiing. If we’re gonna go beat it and get my peaceful sleep back, I’m ready to let it all hang out toooo. Wow, how lewwwd.”

“Lewd...?”

The extended hours of work had left ZZZ sleepy and in a strange state of mind. Carried by the newly created Violet GB, he began leading Benetnasch to his sleeping spot—the place where they would fight the undead monster.

◇◆

Thus ZZZ met Benetnasch, cooperated with him against a powerful foe, and became his friend. This relationship endured and they had many similar experiences together—all stories for another time.