Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 20 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

Cat: “It’s time for the afterwooord. This one is brought to you by me, Cheshire the ‘Caaat.’”

Six: “And me, ‘Six’ or Sechs Würfel.”

Cat: “Oh. Haven’t seen you in a whiiile.”

Six: “Rascal and Emily were deeply involved in this one, so I will represent them here.”

Cat: “I seeee. Let’s start, then. Do you have any questions?”

Six: “I do. The afterword of the previous volume said that this one will come out in winter of 2023. Isn’t it March now?”

Cat: ...

Six: “Cheshire?”

Cat: “IT’S STILL SNOWY WHERE THE AUTHOR LIVES, SO THIS STILL COUNTS AS WINTER.”

Six: “I don’t feel it’s necessary to say that in all caps...”

Cat: “Anyway, stuff happened and you had to wait six months for it, but we believe that the quality of volume 20 is worthy of such a milestone! It’s the first one that places Hugo and Cyco on the cover! It has illustrations for many characters who never had one! And it even has something we’ve never done before: a mecha design illustration at the very end of the volume!”

Six: “Yes. It seems like something you would see in Fullmetal Panic.”

Cat: (He just went and named another company’s work like it was nothing...he truly is King of Crime.)

Six: “Now, let us move on to the serious comment from the author.”

Dearest readers, thank you for your purchase. I am the author, Sakon Kaidou.

This work has finally reached its twentieth volume. This is something that wouldn’t have been possible without you and everyone else involved in ensuring every release.

Dendro will not end anytime soon, so I would be deeply grateful if you’d stay for the ride.

Now, those of you who read the webnovel may have noticed this, but this volume went through a lot of editing. I have updated the writing to better represent my current ability and added things to it that I felt needed to be written. The updates include certain sections focused on the DLG, while the additions include Rascal and Emily’s background in the prologue.

What is at the heart of that won’t be revealed for a while, but Rascal is an IF member too, and he chose to commit crime in Dendro for the sake of a goal he wished to fulfill. Infinite Dendrogram is a place where the feelings of many people intertwine, and it would give me great joy if you stayed to witness where they lead.

On another topic, this volume is one that puts my personal obsession with mecha content front and center.

That of course includes the cutesy, goofy robot maid, Machina, who was drawn in this volume by Taiki’s skillful hand, but it certainly doesn’t stop there. The very climax of this volume is a three way fight between giant mechs. The editor, K, even suggested that we might as well add a mech illustration. That, combined with the fact that this was a milestone volume, made us decide to approach someone known for their mecha work.

That was none other than Tomofumi Ogasawara—the artist who provided the art for Gundam W: Haisha-tachi no Eikou. I actually had the MG Sandrock (Armadillo Unit) that appeared in this work.

Out of all the works he was involved in, the one I find especially memorable is the Gensou Senki RuLiLuRa reader-driven experience that was released in Hobby Japan’s Game Gyaza magazine.

It was a play-by-mail type game where you wrote your characters and their actions on a card that came with the magazine, then sent it to later receive the character’s results and achievements.

Back then, I was in middle school and a regular Gyaza reader who always filled in and sent the cards.

At that time, I couldn’t have ever imagined that future me would release a novel through Hobby Japan or have the person behind RuLiLuRa’s art provide me with a mecha design.

That, as well as the fact that an avid NEEDLESS reader like myself could get Kami Imai to draw the manga adaptation of my work, left me in awe of all the ways that memories of the past could come back to me. Volume 11 of the manga, by the way, is set to come out on the same day as this novel volume, so please do check it out. It also includes an original short story.

I feel like I say this a lot, but Dendro is a product that can only continue to exist because of the support and effort of a great many people.

Allow me to once again say “thank you” to you all.

And please continue your support for Infinite Dendrogram.

Sakon Kaidou

Cat: “Anyway, time to announce the next ooone.”

Six: “IS IT OKAY TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT WILL COME OUT IN SUMMER, 2023?”

Cat: “...Why is it a question?”

Six: “Because these announcements have been off for a few volumes in a row now.”

Cat: “You’re not wrong...”