Infinite Dendrogram_Volume 1

by Sakon Kaidou

  Ancient Legendary Armor

  DEF +903 (beary high)

  Skills:

  Disguise: completely hides your stats from anyone with a total level of 100 less than yours.

  Built-In AC: a built-in AC designed for any environment. The perfect temperature any time, any place.

  Power Assist: supports movement with muscle motors. STR +903.

  Bullet-Proof Made: able to withstand even crossfire. Reduces damage from physical ranged attacks by 903.

  Knife-Proof Made: feel safe on even the days with a lot of assassins. Reduces damage from physical close-ranged attacks by 903.

  Utility Bear Hands: mysteriously, these hands can properly grab things, and they can be used quite skillfully. Increased damage to fish and insect monsters.

  ????: ■”

  What’s with this overly high-spec gag item?

  “What’s ‘+903 (beary high)’ supposed to mean?” I asked. “Is it actually as high as that implies, though? Wait, what level are you anyway, Bro Bear?”

  I can’t see his stats at all right now, so at the very least, his total level should be over 100, but...

  “That’s a bearied se-cr-et,” he said.

  Man, that’s irritating.

  “All right then, that’s enough of our comedy skit for now. Let’s go save the girl.”

  “...About 90% of the material came from you, Bro Bear, but I agree,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  We made our way into Old Reve Orchard. Once inside, we followed a path of weeds and broken signs. On one of the signs was written, “500 metels to remberry field.”

  “I take it that means 500 meters?” I asked.

  “Pretty easy to understand, isn’t it?” my brother agreed. “Also... have you noticed?”

  “...The sound, right?” I asked. “I’ve been hearing it for a while now.”

  From the direction the sign pointed in, I could hear clashing sounds and the cries of something inhuman. I couldn’t see anything due to all the plants in the way; however, Liliana, who’d entered the dungeon ahead of us, was without a doubt fighting something.

  That was when I realized that the sound of battle could only be heard from the remberry field, while everywhere else was quiet.

  “Are there no other players here?” I asked.

  “Ahh, there are a lot of people with trauma from this dungeon,” said my brother. “On top of that, the drop items and materials you can gather at these levels aren’t all that great, either. Also, the insects attack in swarms, and a lot of them can cause Poison or Paralyze, so a counter for status effects is a must.”

  I guess it’s what you’d call an unpopular hunting ground.

  “Well, thanks to that, it does make it easier for me to fight...” my brother muttered. “Baldr, activate in second form.”

  “Ready.” An electronic voice I hadn’t heard before answered him.

  The back of my brother’s left hand began to glow through his costume, and then something suddenly flew out from it. The bear’s silhouette now had the following strange additions to it: a ring of gun barrels, a motorized mechanism for quick reloading, an ammunition belt, and a giant drum-like magazine.

  Right there before me was a heavy firearm known as the Gatling gun.

  “...Isn’t this game supposed to be primarily fantasy-based?” I asked. As I looked at my brother’s Embryo, which was likely a Type Arms, I couldn’t help but ask this question.

  I envisioned Type Arms to be more, you know, like a demon sword or a demon spear. Is something like a Gatling gun allowed? I wondered.

  “The machine Imperium Dryfe also exists in this world, so my Embryo is just fine.” Bro Bear laughed as he hoisted the drum magazine on his back and lifted the barrel of the Gatling gun under his right arm.

  As I stared, somewhat shocked at the surreal sight of him...

  “KIKIKI...”

  “CHIKI... CHIKI...”

  Bee and ant-type insect monsters had begun to swarm around us.

  “All right then, let’s bear-eak our way through to the remberry field,” Bro Bear said, as he readied his Gatling gun... and fired away. “YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

  In the next instant, the sound of explosions roared about us. The insect monsters were smashed to pieces, and their bodily fluids were scattered all around.

  The gun barrel spun, and each bullet it spit out added to the number of corpses. As soon as the monsters fell to the ground, they turned into specks of light and disappeared.

  It was a one-sided killing spree. Bro Bear mowed down the monsters faster than they could appear. In under a minute, a few thousand empty cartridges had been ejected from the Gatling gun.

  Normally, there would be no way he could hold and fire something that heavy-looking. However, based on what he had showed me earlier, his costume was essentially a power suit.

  His STR is at least ninety times higher than mine, so that might be why it’s possible, I thought. Even so, it’s bizarre for him to be shooting while walking.

  The reason he didn’t run out of ammo while firing at that pace was probably because his Gatling gun was an Embryo. It was likely using some sort of mysterious power.

  Seeing him carry a Gatling gun and rapidly fire like that... It’s almost like that one scene from that old, famous movie, I thought. I think it was the second film in a series about cyborgs, and the most well-known title of an actor who later became a state governor.

  Well, given that it’s a bear costume doing it and not a muscle-bulging, macho man actor, it’d probably turn into a C-class movie.

  “In any case, it really doesn’t look like I’ll be of any use...” I said. If I were to carelessly get out in front, I would probably end up like Swiss cheese in an instant.

  “Oh, you can ignore the drop items. I want you to stick right behind me,” said my brother. He was referring to the drop items that had remained behind after the monsters disappeared.

  Parts like this are really game-like.

  “Gotcha,” I said. “Hm? Isn’t this situation kind of like...”

  It was a situation found in a lot in games. The low-level player character would get help in the beginning from a high-level character and proceed through the game. This character would be really powerful and helpful, but would usually end up dying. The death would sometimes be used to close out the opening act.

  “‘Uuuuuurgh,’ I think it is,” I said. “That brings back memories.”

  “...Wait, I’d be the one that dies in that scenario.” My brother’s voice sounded unsettled.

  It was hard to tell if we were in battle, working, or doing a comedy skit, but we traversed the 500 meters and arrived at the remberry field.

  ◇

  “Who’s there?! Y-You’re...” As expected, Liliana was engaged in battle at the remberry field with a swarm of insect monsters. She was taking on a countless number of them while protecting her younger sister behind her.

  “Yes, we made it!” I said, relieved.

  “The bear cavalry (no horses) has arrived!” my brother agreed.

  He fired his Gatling gun again in grand style. The insects that had been encircling Liliana started to fall at an incredible rate.

  I was worried he might hit the two of them, but he handled his Gatling gun skillfully, and there wasn’t even a ricochet. He easily wiped out the encirclement of insects, and we made it safely over to the two sisters.

  “Are you all right?” I asked, repeating back the same words Liliana had said to me earlier.

  “You’re the one from before... Why are you here?” She looked at me in surprise.

  Hm? She’s reacting as if she just realized who I was, I thought. So then when she said “Y-You’re” a moment ago, was that directed at... my brother?

  “And you, as well...” Liliana said. “Really, why?”

  “We came to help,” said my brother. “My little brother was saying, ‘I can’t leave them alone! I’m going to go rescue her, no matter what!’ so I figured I’d bear with
him.”

  I didn’t say that! I thought. I don’t recall saying anything that embarrassing!

  “Your little brother... so that’s why,” Liliana whispered to herself as if she had understood something.

  The mood here... I think Liliana and my brother just might know each other.

  Liliana turned to me and bowed deeply. “Thank you very much. If you two hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have been able to protect my sister, Milia.”

  “O-Oh, no,” I said. “All I did was watch from behind...”

  “Still, please let me thank you,” she said. “Even though I caused you trouble, you brought reinforcements to come save me... I won’t forget this kind deed.”

  Her words went beyond making me feel embarrassed; they made me feel a sense of guilt. The quest had been automatically accepted for me, and all I had done was stick safely behind my brother like a parasite.

  That guilt caused me to avert my gaze from Liliana, and when I did, it landed on her sister, Milianne.

  She’s as cute as she was in the picture. No, even more so.

  “Loli?” my brother asked. “Lolicon?”

  No I’m not! I fumed.

  “Sniffle, sniffle...” Milianne was crying.

  Well, yeah, she would be, I thought. She was surrounded by a bunch of insect monsters, and her life was even in danger.

  However, given that there were still about five fruits — most likely the remberries — inside the basket she was holding, she really had her stuff together.

  “A-Anyway, let’s get out of here,” I suggested. “It’ll be dangerous if more monsters come.”

  “Very well,” replied Liliana, and a change occurred on my menu screen.

  “NPCs have joined your party.

  Liliana Grandria has joined.

  Milianne Grandria has joined.”

  Ahh, NPCs can join parties, too. And their stats are...

  Milianne’s stats were lower than mine were at level 0. Liliana’s stats, however, were very high. Her Paladin level was 60, and her total level was 210. She even had over 5,000 HP.

  Well, then again, she is the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Royal Guard, which means she’s ranked second out of all the knights in this kingdom, I thought. So it shouldn’t be a surprise she’s this strong.

  I then noticed that Bro Bear was silent and his expression was serious. I couldn’t actually see it directly, but given how long I had known him, I could tell from the mood.

  “Ray, the quest still hasn’t been completed, has it?” he asked.

  “Um, yeah,” I said. “It hasn’t changed at all.”

  “I see.” Bro Bear readied his Gatling gun and looked about our surroundings. He appeared far more serious than when he had been mowing down insects earlier.

  “Bro...?”

  “Ray, the difficulty levels of quests are calculated individually by the control AIs in charge of them. The control AI takes into account information about the surrounding environment and people related to the quest.”

  “What?” I asked.

  So the difficulties are calculated with information on the environment and related people? Control AIs really are impressive to be able to do that for every quest... but what does that have to do with anything?

  “So, I was thinking the difficulty for this quest was high due to a time limit.” My brother started to put his thoughts into words bit by bit. “I thought we cleared it easily because I’m suited for fighting against large numbers, but...”

  His gaze fell to one spot on the ground.

  “...we met up with Liliana and eliminated the swarm of insects. And yet, the quest still isn’t complete. In other words, this quest has a difficultly of 5 even after taking into account that Liliana’s total level is 210.”

  Right after he said this, the ground where he was looking exploded. Something huge and long flew out from it.

  “GYULUUUUUUUUAAAAAAA!” It was a giant centipede almost thirty meters long. “Clink!”

  The giant centipede had large, stag beetle-like jaws growing on its face in all four directions. Its skin was also covered in reptile-like scales. The bullet my brother had swiftly fired at it had been easily repelled.

  It was completely different from the bugs my brother had been trampling over earlier. Even a beginner like me could tell.

  This thing is strong.

  I could hear Liliana’s shocked voice beside me. “A Demi-Dragon Worm!”

  “GIIIEEEEAAAAAAAA!” The ground exploded again, and another Demi-Dragon Worm appeared.

  “A Demi-Dragon class monster, huh...” my brother said. “I get it now. If we need to protect this girl while facing off against several of these, then I can see why it has this difficulty rating even with some help. But even so!”

  His voice sounded cheerful, almost as if his worries had disappeared. I, on the other hand, was intimidated by the two monsters and was at a loss for words.

  “If you’re up against me, that amount just isn’t going to cut it!” My brother then lifted up both his arms and said, “It’d be fine to just smash them to pieces, but this is a good opportunity! Baldr! Activate your fourth fo—”

  “GIIIEEEAAALEAAAAAA!”

  “GYULUUUUUUUUAAAAAAA!”

  “GYUIIILUUUUAAAAAAAAAA!”

  “GYULUUUUUUUULOOAAAAAAA!”

  Just then, four more Demi-Dragon Worms appeared from the ground in each direction, trapping my brother.

  “Hey, wait, I can bearly move right now!” he protested. “Really though, there are still—” The newly appeared Demi-Dragon Worms locked their jaws onto my brother and then disappeared into the ground.

  “.........Huh?” I couldn’t process what I had just seen.

  “Ah!” gasped Liliana, as she bit her lip at the unexpected turn of events.

  I checked the party status, but my brother’s stats were still blacked out. I couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.

  “Um, Bro, I’m sorry for triggering a flag, but... isn’t this a bit sudden?” I hesitated.

  With my brother missing, the remaining two Demi-Dragon Worms drew toward us.

  I was terrified. In an instant, I had been cast from the safe zone behind my brother into danger.

  The biggest animal I had ever seen in my life was an elephant. Now, monsters far larger than that were bearing down toward me with cold hostility. Even if I knew this was a game, my legs shook.

  “...There’s something I wish to ask of you,” Liliana said to me.

  “Wh-What is it?”

  “I’ll hold back one of them. Both, if possible. During that time, could you please take my sister to safety?”

  “But...” I paused.

  There are two of them, I thought. Even for Liliana, by herself that’d be...

  No, I’m thinking wrong, I reminded myself. At level 0, I won’t be of any help to her. In fact, I’d just get in her way if I stayed behind. That would put not only me, but Milianne in danger as well.

  “...All right.” I pulled Milianne’s hand and started running. Behind us, the battle between Liliana and the Demi-Dragon Worms commenced.

  ◇

  The path where my brother had just recently mowed down enemies with his Gatling gun was clear of monsters.

  We can make it to the exit in one go like this, I thought. I have to say, though... I only realized this after running desperately, but this game also incorporates the concept of fatigue.

  On top of that, my legs were shaking, and the game was kind enough to display that I had the status effect Fear. Infinite Dendrogram’s absolute realism even went so far as to convey the terror of a giant creature.

  Even so, I ran, making sure that I never let go of Milianne’s hand.

  “Heh... Heh...” Following behind me, Milianne also ran in earnest. Her face was full of dread.

  Both scared, we continued to run.

  “By the way...” I said to Milianne. It was an attempt to help ease our worries, if even for a bit. I wasn’t sure myself just exactly whose min
d I was trying to put at ease though. “Milianne... Milia, so why did you come all the way here to get remberries?”

  I asked her this half out of curiosity; the other half was for distraction.

  “T-Today is Sister’s birthday... She loves remberry cake, so I thought I would make it for her...” she stuttered.

  “I see,” I said.

  “But there weren’t any for sale at the shops, so I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “And then, a guy with glasses told me, ‘If you have this incense, you can go get some from the orchard outside.’”

  ...So this is that four eyes’ fault, I thought. I don’t know what he was thinking telling her that, but I’d like to punch that idiot for sending a kid to a place this dangerous.

  “Sister came to get me, but the effect of the incense wore off...” she said.

  We had covered half the distance while we were talking.

  Just the other half left, I thought. At this rate, we’ll make it the rest of the way.

  “...uluuuu!” Just then, I heard a roar and felt the ground tremble behind me.

  I made the decision on the spur of the moment. I picked up Milianne and jumped to the side.

  In the next instant, a Demi-Dragon Worm burst from the ground and chomped its jaws as it passed through the area where we had just been running.

  “She couldn’t have...!” An unpleasant thought compelled me to turn around, but I could still hear the sounds of battle.

  Liliana was still fighting.

  Could this be one of the two she was fighting, and it left to chase after us? I wondered. Or maybe it’s one of the ones that dragged my brother underground? The real issue is that, no matter which one it is, I don’t have a way of fighting back.

  My stats were still at their default levels, and the Embryo on my left hand still hadn’t hatched. Even if it did hatch now, I can’t imagine a newly-hatched Embryo would be able to stand up against an enemy that my brother’s Gatling gun didn’t work against.

  My heart pounded in terror and unease, while a cold sweat broke out on my forehead and down my back. I thought I might die just from how realistic it felt.

  “GYULUUUUUUUUUEAAAAA!” The Demi-Dragon Worm exposed its long body from the ground and roared, not in an attempt to intimidate us, but rather in triumphant laughter.