by Sakon Kaidou
“...Ummm,” I said. You were still alive, Bro? Well, his stats were displayed the whole time, just blackened out so I couldn’t tell, but still...
For some reason, Bro Bear wasn’t carrying his Gatling gun, but instead had a shovel in his right hand.
That can’t be how he moved through the ground, can it? I wondered.
“The underground tunnel is now open!” he proclaimed.
Right after he said this, the ground shook slightly, and the sound of something caving in could be heard. The hole Bro Bear had come out of then closed.
“And it caved in right away!”
Oh, shut up.
“You were all right, Bro?” I asked.
“Oh yeah! Me and Baldr’s fourth form tore them to shreds!”
“Fourth? Not the Gatling gun from earlier?” I asked.
“That’s the second form.”
I guess that means there are various forms.
“For some Embryos, you can use their previous forms at will,” Nemesis chimed in. “Brother Bear’s Embryo must’ve been one of those types.”
...Is “Brother Bear” referring to my brother? I wondered.
“Ray, is that blali your Embryo?” he asked me.
He meant “black loli,” shortened to “blali”... Neither of those terms are all that great.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said. “I’m Nemesis, Ray Starling’s Maiden with Arms Embryo. I hope we get along, Brother Bear.”
It appears Nemesis is determined to push through with calling him “Brother Bear.”
“Setting that aside... Bro, if you were alive, I wish you’d come out sooner,” I said. “I was this close to dying.”
A total of about four times, actually.
“That would’ve been difficult,” he said. “Because the whole time, I was locked in battle underground with all the Demi-Drags.”
All the Demi-Drags?
“There were swarms of Demi-Drags bearied in an underground cave,” he continued. “I don’t hate bugs, but that really sent shivers down my spine.”
I stayed silent.
That thing?! Swarms of them...
Good thing I didn’t stick around for long.
“An outbreak of those centipedes... the ‘newbie killer’ is way too scary,” I said. I guess that’s just what you’d expect from a trauma-generating machine.
“Normally there shouldn’t have been even one Demi-Drag living there...” said my brother.
“Huh?” I asked.
“Oh, well. I took care of every one that I found, so they shouldn’t multiply anymore,” he said. “More importantly, let’s head home.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Let’s head back.”
And so like that, Nemesis, Bro Bear, Liliana, Milianne, and I all started on our way back.
Due to our close proximity to the royal capital, we arrived in no time. After we passed through the gate, we then parted ways with Liliana and Milianne.
Before leaving, Liliana said, “I’ll be sure to repay this debt of gratitude.”
Milianne, who had woken up, gave each of us a remberry from the basket she had held onto so dearly, and said, “Thank you.”
As I watched the two sisters walk home hand-in-hand...
The message, “Quest ‘Search for Milianne Grandria’ has been completed,” was displayed, and I finally felt like the quest had ended.
“It’s over...” I said, exhausted. I feel like I’ve gone through some crazy danger and chaos right off the bat.
“The reward is one remberry, huh?” asked Nemesis. “A tad shabby considering what we went through, I’d say.”
If I recall, it’s a fruit worth about 500 yen.
However, I felt that it had more value than that.
I wiped the remberry on my clothes and took a bite. It had the taste of a strawberry and the texture of an apple, but that one bite was more delicious than either one.
It was the taste of accomplishment.
“All righty then, it’s time to party,” said my brother. “It’s dinnertime. Since today is Ray’s first day playing, I prepared a feast.”
“You did?” I asked.
“I have heaps of meats and vegetables ready. Not that bear-bones stuff, either! Top-grade stuff.”
“Ohh, that sounds fascinating,” chimed in Nemesis.
That does sound tasty, I thought. Nemesis seems to agree, as well... Wait, Embryos eat food too?
“And for dessert I’ve got remberries.”
“Ohhh...” I said. “Wait, what?”
“For dinner, I bought up all the remberries available at the market this morning. It’s all-you-can-eat.”
“.........You.”
If I remember correctly, the reason Milianne went to Old Reve Orchard was because all the remberries were sold out, right? I thought. Which means...
“Damn it, Bro Bear, you were the start of this whole mess!” I couldn’t stop myself from shouting, and it echoed about the royal capital as the sun began to set.
◇◇◇
After chewing my brother out for a while, we made our way to the restaurant he had made reservations at. It was run by a player, and not only did they serve their own food, they also allowed customers to bring their own ingredients that chefs from the restaurant would then cook. My brother had apparently already handed over a mountain of ingredients.
“All right, in celebration of Ray’s first day and completing his first quest, cheers! Thank you beary much!”
“Cheers!” said Nemesis and I, as we all clinked our drinks together. My brother had a rem liqueur (made from remberry), while Nemesis and I had a drink that was similar to orange juice.
Infinite Dendrogram checked age restrictions based on each player’s citizenship, so I apparently wouldn’t be able to drink alcohol until I turned twenty. If I were to go into further detail, sexual material was R 18, while alcohol and tobacco was R 20.
Since these things exist in the game, I’m not sure if I should call this wholesome or indecent.
“Hmph. Thanks to my kiddy Master, I can’t drink any alcohol, either,” Nemesis griped. “Six years in our time... that’s long.”
“Based on appearances, when it comes to who shouldn’t be drinking, you’re number two,” I pointed out.
Number one would be my brother... for various reasons, I thought. ...Don’t drink alcohol from a glass while in a bear costume.
“Chomp, chomp,” grunted my brother. “Go on now, eat up. Meat. Eat some meat. Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp.” My brother ate the food laid out on the table and encouraged us to do the same.
Really, you can eat and drink while wearing that costume? I thought. It’s high-spec, even in weird ways.
“Okay, okay... What is this? It’s delicious!” I cried. I was surprised at the taste after trying the unknown food I had been recommended. It had been made using ingredients and cooking methods I didn’t know, and yet it had all come together in a tastiness I could comprehend. On top of everything, it was incredibly delicious.
“The owner of this place is a Star Chef,” said my brother. “It’s the top class fur the Cook Job. His cooking skills would be about a three star in our world.”
“That’s amazing,” I said. “But after eating a feast like this, it’ll be tough to deal with the difference between this and what I eat in the real world.”
It should be about dinnertime for me back home, and I should be getting hungry.
“By the way, my body back in the real world should still be lying down, right?” I asked.
“Yes. But you’ll get a notice if something happens in the real world. Like fur bathroom breaks or hunger, for example.”
Right after he said this, a window appeared at the edge of my sight.
“Notice: urge to urinate.
Notice: hunger.”
Oh, I see. “Okay, then I’m going to log off for a bit,” I said.
“All right. Try to come back as soon as you can.”
“Do return quickly, Master,”
said my Embryo. “I can’t help myself to the food until you come back.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, and then selected the Logout option from the Main Menu.
“Logging out. Should your next log in point be your save point or current location?”
“Current location,” I replied.
“Understood. We await your return.”
And like that, my avatar disappeared from the world, and as if waking from a dream, my consciousness receded from Infinite Dendrogram.
◇
“...Ohh.” The first thing I did after logging out of Infinite Dendrogram was check the clock. The time was about three hours later than when I had started the game. I was impressed to see that time really had only advanced by a third of what I had spent in the game world.
I then went to the bathroom. After that, I ate a balanced nutrition bar and drank some mineral water to replenish my body’s nutrients. Although I had eaten inside the game, my actual stomach hadn’t been filled.
I checked my cellphone in case I had any missed calls or messages, but there were none. I also looked at the news on my computer, but there wasn’t anything that stood out.
After about ten or so minutes, I logged back in.
◇
“Welcome back.”
“...You,” I said.
Upon arriving back, I saw that the food on the table was all different. It appeared that he’d eaten everything that had been there initially.
...For him to eat all that food by himself... is my brother really a bear? I wondered.
“Waahh?! The a la carte I was looking forward to is gone!” As I logged in, Nemesis materialized and let out a scream.
“Don’t worry,” said my brother. “There’s still plenty of food left. What you’ve seen so far is only about 10% of it.”
“That’s too much! Just how many people is this for?” I exclaimed.
If Nemesis hadn’t been born, then it would’ve been just the two of us. Why did he prepare so much?!
“...Oh well,” I said finally. “By the way, Bro, I still have a few things I want to ask you.”
“How I got this costume?”
“No... well, I am a bit interested, but no.”
There were two system-related things and one thing about Liliana that I was curious about. I guess I’ll start with the easier questions.
“Embryos change form as they evolve, don’t they?” I asked.
“That’s right. My Baldr increased its weapon-y-ness. It also got beary much bigger.”
I thought that Gatling gun was quite large, but... that was only its second form, right? Anything bigger than that and I don’t think you’d be able to carry it.
“By the way, I wasn’t able to show it to you, but the fourth form I used today is a tank,” he said.
“A tank?!” Is that even allowed? “So Nemesis will also eventually turn into something different from her current human form... like maybe even a tank.”
Nemesis, who was eating beside me, became scared and said, “Th-That’s so ominous.”
“How they evolve depends on their Master, but in your case, Nemesis will probably always be a Maiden,” said my brother. “Although the ‘with Arms’ part might change to a different type.”
“Speaking of that, Nemesis turned into a sword. What would she be regarded as?” I asked.
“Like I was saying, she’s a Maiden Embryo that turns into an Arms. Maidens are generally hybrids... A mix of various types.”
“Really?” I asked. That seems like kind of a bargain.
After I thought this though, Nemesis complained, “What do you mean, I’m a cheap girl?!”
“There’s one person I know that has a Maiden Embryo,” my brother explained. “She stayed as a Maiden while the ‘with’ part changed into various things. It’s even become a Superior Embryo now.”
A Superior Embryo?
“The first to third forms of an Embryo are called low-rank, while the fourth to sixth forms are called high-rank,” explained my brother. “And then the current highest level that can be reached, the seventh form, is called a Superior Embryo. It’s called this because it surpasses the limits of the high-rank forms.”
“The final form... Superior Embryo,” I murmured. I wonder if Nemesis will reach that one day. She’s still in her first form, though, so I don’t know how long it’ll take to reach that.
“By the way, out of all the players, there are fewer than a hundred that have reached this form,” my brother added.
The game has over 100,000 active players, and yet there are less than a hundred?! I thought. Just how difficult of a path is it?
“Those people are way too hardcore,” I said.
“It’s not like they all achieved it solely through their play time,” my brother said. “There are a lot of players who started on release day and still haven’t reached it, while there are those who were able to do it in half a year.”
Does that mean it requires some special conditions?
“Oh yeah, Bro, you started playing on release day,” I said. “So how far has your Embryo evolved? What form is it up to?”
“That’s a bearied se-cr-et.”
That’s annoying.
Also, Bro Bear mostly spoke normally when he was explaining things, but used bear puns when he was teasing me. It was irritating, now that I had caught on to this.
While Bro Bear and I had been talking, Nemesis had cleaned off all the food on her plate before I had even realized it.
...We were talking about you, you know.
“Okay, on to my next question,” I said. “It’s about our standing in this world.”
“And by that you mean?”
I was thinking over how Liliana had spoken and acted. “Liliana called me something like ‘a Master chosen by an Embryo,’ and not a player. I don’t really get what the circumstances are regarding that... or what the status for us as players is within the setting.”
Somehow, I didn’t get the feeling she was thinking of me as a player in a game.
“Hmm,” said my brother. “You can find out about that by reading the background setting on the official site, but... you’ll lose several hours of time if you do, so I’ll give you the short explanation.” My brother then began his lecture on the world’s setting.
“In this world there are Masters and tians. All of us players are called Masters here. The meaning is something like, ‘One chosen by an Embryo.’ So a Master is someone who raises and uses an Embryo that possesses infinite possibilities. Due to this, a Master’s power is enormous, but in exchange, they are burdened with one condition.”
“Condition?” I asked.
“Their bodies are frequently spirited away to a different world.”
...Hm?
“A Master may vanish from this world for as little as a few minutes, or for as long as several months,” said my brother. “Also, there are times when they return to the place where they vanished, as well as times when they are flung to a special location called a save point.”
Wait, isn’t that...
“At the moment before death, a Master can also use the power of an Embryo to send their body to another world and survive,” said my brother. “However, if this happens, they will not return for at least three days.”
“So what that means is that logging out and the death penalty for players have been incorporated into the foundation of this world?” I asked.
“That’s right,” he said.
“...Wow.”
As far as I can tell from interacting with Liliana and Milianne, the way tians think is at the same level as real humans, I thought. So in order to allow those tians to go about without realizing this world is a game, they’ve defined how players return to the real world and their immortality as truths of this world.
I see. There’s a lot more to it than I thought.
“By the way,” my brother continued, “sometimes there are players that go around saying, ‘this world is a game,’ but the tians vi
ew them as ‘pitiable Masters that have gone mad from being sent to different worlds.’”
“...Ahh,” I said.
“Also, since Masters disappear so irregularly, for the most part they don’t take on important positions in the kingdom,” he added. “Even if you join the knights in order to get the job Knight, you won’t be given regular work. Instead you’ll get tasks specific to Masters.”
In other words, you’re given jobs where it’d be fine even if you disappeared during it.
“Well,” said my brother, “in terms of strength, we’re stronger because of our Embryos, so the jobs that get sent our way usually pay higher rewards than the ones for tians.”
I wonder if I’ll be asked to go slay a monster by myself, I thought. Well, okay then, that resolved the bigger questions I had regarding the game’s system. Which just leaves...
“Bro, did something happen between you and Liliana?” I asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t try to dodge the question. Liliana clearly knew who you were.” And if I were to add to that, it didn’t feel like it was a good impression she had, either. “What did you do?”
Surely he didn’t make a move on her, right? For example, saying something like, “Yaay! It’s a real female knight! I just can’t get enough!” and then hugging her?
“I didn’t do anything.” Contrary to my expectations, my brother answered in a serious tone. “It’s because I didn’t do anything... that she probably resents me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’ll be another long story,” he said. “And unlike before, it’s not going to be a fun one.”
“I don’t mind.”
After I said this, my brother let out a sigh and then began to talk. “Two months ago in real time, half a year ago in Dendro time, there was a war. The machine Imperium Dryfe invaded the Kingdom of Altar.”
The machine Imperium Dryfe: it was one of the nations a player could choose when first starting. It was at odds with this fantasy world as it had an advanced mechanical civilization.
...Although I don’t have the right to talk about being at odds, given that I have a tank-riding bear in my family.
“The reason given by their nation was to obtain the Kingdom of Altar’s fertile land,” my brother said. “As for the game’s side... it was a war event.”