Infinite Dendrogram (インフィニット・デンドログラム)

Finally. Man, what a road.

July 15th, 2043,

the acclaimed virtual reality MMO Infinite Dendrogram

was released worldwide.

And now I had a copy in my hands.

Here goes!

Down here! Hello and welcome!

A cat?

Sorry for intruding.

Mmm, real nice.

I like people with good manners.

Oh. I'm control AI lucky number 13.

Call me Cheshire. A pleasure!

Yeah! Same here.

First thing you're gonna need is a player name.

So what'll it be?

It's Ray Starling.

Just a twist on my first name,

and the English translation of my last.

All right, I'll see to that. And next up.

You'll set up your avatar.

Choose your settings and appearance.

Huh. Can I just keep the way I look now,

but maybe with a few tweaks?

You sure can.

Let's see here. "Adjust hair color."

How 'bout blonde?

Yep! I'm on board for this!

Okay!

Uh?

That holds your items.

At the moment, it contains your initial traveling expenses.

Five coins totaling 5,000 lir.

Whoa...

Do you need any explanation

on implanting Embryos?

Wait! Is that next?

Then here goes.

Implantation complete!

All players get a zeroth Embryo at the start.

Once it reaches the first form, they can be removed.

All Embryos look the same at zeroth,

but after that, it'll undergo an evolution

that's completely unique to the owner.

The possibilities are infinite!

Infinite possibilities.

Roughly speaking, the five categories are...

The weapon and armor Type: Arms.

The monster-shaped Type: Guardian.

Type: Chariot, which gives you a vehicle.

The building-shaped Type: Castle.

And the Type: Territory, which provides you a barrier.

I wonder which one mine will be.

There are also rare and advanced categories

the five basic Types can evolve into,

including one unique category,

if you're lucky enough to get it!

Nice to meet ya, partner.

And finally, please choose which nation

you wish to join.

I'll go with the Kingdom of Altar.

Okay! Then I'll send you over

to its royal capital of Altea!

So, just out of curiosity,

what's the goal I'm trying to reach in this game?

Whatever you want!

Really?

You can be anything you desire!

A hero or a villain. Royalty, perhaps, or a faithful minion.

Choose to be a good person or totally evil.

Do something or nothing at all.

Stay in Infinite Dendrogram or leave.

It's all up to you!

But whatever you decide, it can be done!

Just like your Embryo,

you're also on a journey of infinite possibility!

Welcome to Infinite Dendrogram.

We're so happy you decided to take the plunge into this world!

That's how it happened.

How I entered the world of infinite possibility.

Infinite Dendrogram.

Ah! I'm gonna crash! Game over!

I thought I was a goner.

So lifelike.

No way. This game's crazy!

So, my brother ought to be waiting... here.

At the big fountain.

Should be dead ahead.

-- Huh? --

I hope I didn't hurt you!

Force Heal!

Would you look at that, good as new.

I'm so sorry! I should've been more careful!

No. It's fine.

By the way, where were you headed in such a big rush?

I've been looking everywhere,

trying to find my little sister.

You haven't seen her by any chance, have you?

Sorry, then again, I just got here.

I see. No, she might've gone in.

Real quick. Here. This is how you can reach me.

If you run into my sister, find me A.S.A.P!

"Altar Knight of the Royal Guard."

Weird. I shouldn't know how to read this.

Okay. Let's see here...

"Vice Commander Liliana Grandria."

What?

Quest activated.

Search for and locate Milianne Grandria.

Difficulty level five.

This is a quest? Wait, hold up!

I was positive she was another player.

Turns out she was an NPC?

Level five sounds like it should be for a player

who's ranked up with a full party.

Why would a newbie like me trigger such a difficult quest?

I'll ask my bro.

He said he'd be around here somewhere.

Just bear in mind I may have to leave here

pretty soon, kiddos.

Even though I just bear-ly arrived.

Get it? Grizz, Grizz, Grizz!

That him?

Only one balloon for each of you, now, grizz.

I get more since I made it up first, you big 'ol fuzzy bear!

Excuse me, can I ask you something?

Just bear with me a moment.

Was that a pun?

Is that you inside that thing, Suichi?

Indeed it is.

Good to see you, Reiji. Here you go, kids!

Bye, kids! Beary good meeting you!

Let's start with re-introductions.

In Dendrogram, I go by Shu Starling.

I'm Ray Starling. Good to see ya again.

Oh yeah, nice costume, by the way.

So, what's first on the agenda?

Want me to show you around town?

Actually, could you look at something?

Ooh, Liliana's quest.

Even I've never taken on that one before.

Is she famous?

Liliana might be the most popular person

in this entire country. With both players and tians.

She's got a fan club and everything.

That is a pretty big deal.

Wait, what exactly is a tian?

Another name for NPCs.

Back up a sec.

You mean even NPCs can join fan clubs?

It's not unusual.

Their cognition and personalities are on

the same level as humans for admin purposes.

How sophisticated. But why would a level-zero guy

like me get a quest from a famous tian?

'Cause the world's realistic,

and just like our reality,

there're no conditions for starting an adventure.

They can show up anywhere, at any time.

There's an infinite number of them out there.

Speaking of which, was there any indication

as to where you should start looking?

You mean like a hint? It may be in this note.

Hm...

Bingo.

"Dearest Sissy,

Remberries were the only thing the shop was out of,

so I'm going to go pick some.

Don't worry, I have insect repellent.

Just sit tight, okay? Love, Mili"

Is this...?

Liliana must've been in a hurry if she wrote her info

on the back of this note.

Not good. Not good at all.

Why?

Her sister mentioned insect repellent.

She did.

If she's carrying some on her,

that means she's probably headed to Old Reve Orchard,

which is outside the capital.

And what would be bad about that?

I'll save you the history lesson,

but Old Reve Orchard is in ruins,

overrun by insect monsters.

These days, it's nothing but a big bug lair.

We've got to finish this, fast.

Everything's telling me it's a quest you fail

after X amount of time runs out.

And, what if we do?

This world isn't like it used to be

when the game was first released.

There's no guarantee the quest tians will be safe,

not till the mission's done.

When a tian perishes they're dead, for good.

We've lost heroes, sages, knight captains,

even this nation's king.

Yet the world of Infinite Dendrogram

keeps on turning with or without them.

It's that realistic.

I know her character's an NPC, but still.