＜Infinite Dendrogram＞

□ 15 July 2043

July 15, 2043.

In the 60 years since the birth of the famous console in game history, one game was launched.

The title of the game is Infinite Dendrogram.

What the producer intended, that game, named "Infinite Pedigree Tree," was a dive-type VRMMO (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online) - a game in which players enter and play themselves into the virtual game world… it was a game of dreams.

The period a person dreamed of dive-type VRMMO would be nearly half a century.

In the 2000s, dive-type VRMMOs began to be handled in the medium of comics, animations, or in-game games.

Among those creations, dive-type VRMMOs were awaited as a game of dreams, and pseudo-VRs, whose headsets enhanced the sense of visual and auditory immersion, were announced from around the 2010 's.

And the complete dive-type VRMMO, which covers all five senses, has been available in a small number since the 2030s.

A small number of them were due to the high level of development difficulty and huge development costs, and only advanced technical and financial manufacturers could get their hands on it.

Or even with my hands, it didn't get to completion.

In any case, there were only a few dive-type VRMMOs in the world.

And the few who finished and went out into the world were also... immediately dismayed.

The first dive-type VRMMO < NEXT WORLD > bought the user's laughter at the same time as the launch.

It was a hustle and bustle about "reality and dimensional unchanged reality," but it was an awkward reproducibility that was scarce in reality and the five senses were always irritated by discomfort.

"This is the new generation of graphics," but it was actually a very different CG than a conventional console.

"If we dive, we can immerse ourselves in a different world," but in fact we can only play depending on the real environment, just like normal games.

Extremely, while safeguarding the "design of safety and security," the victims continued to be transported to the hospital during and after play to harm their health.

Due to these circumstances, the first dive-type VRMMO < NEXT WORLD > lost a lot in sales and reputation, and even lawsuits with health victims, and the development company went bankrupt.

< NEXT WORLD > One reviewer took the following words as his thoughts on the work.

"I could make a dream console, but I couldn't make a dream," he said.

Then again, some dive-type VRMMOs were developed, but not one game was made that could be described as a success.

Until < Infinite Dendrogram > is released.

< Infinite Dendrogram > did not receive any information until its launch.

We only made announcements on TV media and networks around the world on an unknown launch day.

In the announcement, the manufacturer of < Infinite Dendrogram > presented four elements for sale.

One, guaranteeing complete reality.

Reproduce the five senses perfectly. However, pain can be played safely because ONOFF is possible.

Two, a single server.

Even if on a billion-person basis, all players can play in the same world.

Three, individually selectable graphics.

I can choose how I see the world from realistic, 3DCG and 2D animations.

Four, a divergence between real time and game time.

In the game, time progresses at three times the speed of reality.

The announcement skipped the temper of users around the world who saw the information.

I was wondering if that was possible.

I wondered how much budget and technology could have been used to make it happen.

And I laughed. "If you're going to advertise exaggerated, give me a little more realism," he said.

It was an impactful announcement of simultaneous worldwide broadcasting, but the content was too absurd.

As a result, 99.9998% of people, including layers who didn't originally touch the game, didn't believe it and decided it was a lie and didn't try to buy the game.

But the remaining 0.0002% went to the game store store and bought "If it sounds like a lie but it's true......", "Let's try it" and "I believe it".

It also pushed forward the pricing of the dedicated equipment, which was around 10,000 yen in Japanese yen, not to mention outrageous through the breakdown.

They bought and played the game, "No matter if it's a lie, it's 10,000 yen."

And they found out < Infinite Dendrogram > was real.

I was stunned by reality, happy with the graphics, logged out of the game, and then stunned to see the clock.

Everything was true.

It was the moment when my dream console became a reality.

The day after the release date, the manufacturer made a second announcement as the world raved about the release day play set reviews.

That's about the content of the game.

Lewis Carroll, the man who was the presenter of the announcement, named the head of development for < Infinite Dendrogram >, said this over the TV and online screens.

"I ended yesterday with a description of the main elements, so let me explain the game system today"

"As you may have noticed if you have already started playing, < Infinite Dendrogram > has certain characteristics"

"It's about offering endless possibilities and one-of-a-kind in a true sense."

"Over Thousands of Job Combinations, Skill Configuration, and Still Clearer Ones Than Them"

"In Infinite Dendrogram, each player will receive an Embrio."

"Embrio will evolve into an infinite pattern, depending on your behavioral patterns, experience gained, biorhythm and personality."

"Not in different colors or parts, but in an infinite pattern in the true sense, including unique skills"

"That's the Infinite Dendrogram."

"Yes, < Infinite Dendrogram > offers the new world and your own possibilities (one-of-a-kind)"

The word was the last cut in which dive-type VRMMO < Infinite Dendrogram > became a major movement.

◇

□ March 16, 2045, LingEr Bird

Me, Lingji Kutoshi, was sitting in front of the package of games.

I'm nervous, I can feel it myself.

I also think it's a big deal, but after a year and a half, I can finally play this game, Infinite Dendrogram, so I get nervous.

"It's been a long, long way"

At the time of the launch, in the summer of my second year of high school, this game was announced and released just in the mood to work hard for my college exams to come.

Perhaps the game-loving students who were in their second or third year of high school at the time should have been as desperate as me.

I also thought when I took the high school exam, how could there be such an interesting game only during the exam season?

But it also changes at last.

Successfully passed universities in the city.

Start living alone on the occasion of college enrollment.

Now, now I can play the game to my heart's content!

The move was completed yesterday and the family who helped me is already home.

And this morning, I went straight to the game store in the time immediately after the store opened and bought < Infinite Dendrogram >.

They were really thin for six months from launch and had all-you-can-have premier prices, but just a year and a half later, I could normally buy them now.

By the way, my brother is the mouth he was buying on release day.

I resent my brother calling me "let's dendro together soon" this past year and a half. I envy him......

But it's not until today!

"... no!

Make up your mind and open the package.

Appearing out of the box were helmet-shaped consoles and instructions.

When I read the explanatory notes, I found that when I wear a helmet and switch it on, they put it into the game world.

There are various other explanations for the video and time, but I can only say that it is amazing.

Truth is, how can I make a game like this? I feel that the level is higher on a 10- and 20-year basis than the current technical standard.

But I can't even be afraid of things.

Put the helmet on your head as described in the instructions and roll over on your back on the bed according to the diagram depicted as the recommended position.

And I switched on the game.

Moments, vision turns dark.

◇

"Yes, welcome aboard -"

When I realized I was in a space that wasn't my room.

The interior of the room is reminiscent of the study of the wooden Western Hall.

A strange cat in front of me is talking to me as I sit in a wooden rocking chair that looks well made.

... cat?

"I'm sorry to bother you"

There's some confusion, but I'll try to return the greeting first.

"Yeah, that's good. I like polite people."

Cats speak Japanese with perky.

But somehow the end of the phrase was constantly stretched.

"Is this like a game login screen?

"It fits pretty well. This is the entrance. I need you to set up a lot of things here, and then I need you to go in. Oh, I'm Cheshire from the management AI 13 in Infinite Dendrogram. Nice to meet you."

Management AI... I see, you should have a sensible and fuzzy answer.

Management AI is an artificial computer intelligence that uses current supercomputers as its own brain. It is said that the main use is management as its name suggests, and that if it is the same, it can manage databases and networks in small countries fast and perfectly.

No. 13 in that management AI means that 12 other bodies probably have the same level of management AI involved in managing this game.

"Regards"

"Okay. Well, let's start with drawing choices. I'm not choosing which method is better because the sample footage is going to change."

Cat...... the surrounding landscape changed when Chesha said so.

Spacious space from the study… somewhere in a medieval European-style town.

There were many people walking there, but the figure had been switched over at a certain cycle.

No, the way it looks, not the way it looks, is switching.

From what you see in real life to what CG looks like, from CG to animation.

The animation is not a rendered CG animation, it looks like a TV animation.

"... no, how is this?

"Because visually captured video ends up going through brain processing. I can do it. Which is why I change the way it looks like this? Oh, you can switch if you use the item later."

"Keep it up."

I did that because I thought it would look better as usual until I got used to the game somehow.

Though I also wondered what it felt like to be tactile even though it looked like an anime.

"Ok"

With the words, the view returned to its original study.

"Next time I'll have my player name set up. What's the name of the game?

"In Ray Sterling"

This is a name I've always used in games.

Well, I simply made my last name the English name of a bird, and it just took my name.

"Then I won't. Next thing you know, I didn't set my appearance."

When Chesha said so, a mannequin flapping up in front of her and a lot of screens appeared.

Inside the screen are sliding bars lined up with words such as "height," "weight," "chest," and screens with eyes and noses fitted.

"This is..."

"I didn't use the parts and sliders there to create my own in-game appearance (avatar). Oh, you can be an animal type like me."

Though they said......

Where can I start with too many sliders and parts.

"You can worry about it slowly. We have three times as much time as we have in real life.... Uh, but someone took a month to make it in Earth time while logging in and logging out repeatedly before..."

Great effort and concentration. I don't think I can do that much.

Besides, the modeling is too detailed for an amateur to create. It's like being told to make a real human face, not a game.

Then.

"Can you defaulting to reality for a bit?

"Yes, I can."

Chesha shook her tail pretentiously.

Then what was a mannequin will look just like me.

"All you have to do is mess with this based on okay"

"Thankyou."

The rest was easy.

Change the color of your eyes, make your hair blonde, add a little height, or try to change the race that serves as the basis for your face with the other settings intact.

... Speaking of which, what happens when you turn my face in real life into anime or CG?

I'm a little concerned.

Why don't you just log in unchanged and try it when you get a toggle item in the game?

But I don't play face-to-face online on boulders......

"... let's not"

Then it took me half an hour to finish my character modeling.

"Done, done."

"Ok. Then I'll give you other general distribution items."

Chesha waved a cat's hand with meatballs toward the air.

Then there was one bag, and it fell out of a space of nothing.

"This is Ray's storage bag, the so-called item box. Because it's a different dimensional space for storage. Then if Ray's belongings go in - but conversely, they don't go in except Ray's."

"I see."

It would mean a handy bag but not for crime.

"Ma, you can pick up a random drop after you PK it, or use your" burglary "skills to steal it."

…………

What did you say?

"Hey, by the way. Because people with high levels of" Theft "skills can steal from inside this four-dimensional O-ket kind of item box. I'm not careful."

How am I supposed to watch out for SF chick thieves who also support different dimensions of space?

"That's for beginners, by the way, because there are many other kinds of - It's hard to steal, it's small, it's got a lot of capacity."

"What's the capacity for this, by the way?

"I wonder if it's about the size of a class. Weighs about a ton on Earth conversion?

"Don't go in there much. Enough."

"They don't do enough merchants, though. I don't know if I can buy another person like that."

Reminds me of the warehouse of a vendor I saw on a part-time job when I was in high school. Indeed, one class minute would not be enough.

"Oh, don't pay attention to endurance because when you destroy all the items in the box, the contents will be scattered."

"Be careful"

"Next up is a set of beginner gear. Which one is Ray?

Chesha shows me the catalog she took out of her bookshelf.

There's a whole array of different weapons on there.

There are Japanese costumes, Western costumes, as well as costumes like historical costumes in China, India, the Middle East and South America, and vice versa, like SF films.

"Then this is it"

I chose a combination of inner and jacket, jeans, and bandana.

Anyway, it looks similar to the male protagonist of the famous RPG from the last century.

It's a little out of date, but it fits my taste that my brother influenced me to do retrogression as well.

"Ok, so which is the initial weapon?"

Open another page in the catalog.

It contains simulated swords, knives, bows, slings, canes, and various other weapons that crushed wooden knives and blades.

"With a knife"

Fitted with costumes.

"Ok, then get your gear and weapons..."

I don't know if I'm in the mood or not. My appearance changed with Chesha's hanging.

I switched to the costume I just selected and the knife hangs on my waist belt.

Ooh, it suits the modeled character inside when you see it with the look Cheshire has prepared.

"Yeah, well, this is the first road bank."

Chesha hands me five coins. That was apparently a silver coin.

"Five silver coins for 5,000 lil. Hey. By the way, about 10 lil for one rice balls."

Then one lil is about 10 yen. Then 5,000 lil is a lot of money.

"Am I supposed to get so much from the start?

"Yeah, I can't make money before I run out of that money."

They don't have any financial support after that.

This money has to be spent systematically.

"Well, finally, I'm going to transplant Embrio."

"Oh, rumors."

Embrio.

I hear that's the biggest feature of Infinite Dendrogram as a game.

One that is truly differentiated by the player. I hear he's a partner who goes beyond the boundaries of items and equipment.

"If it wasn't just an MMO, not a good dive-type VRMMO we could have done so far, we would have had a hit," said the older brother who already played.

"Is there an explanation for this?

"It's a corner, let's hear it"

I think you're right to listen to the tutorial on the unique system.

"Ok. Embrio is handed to all players at the start, but only the first 0th form is the same shape - After the first form, it changes completely differently according to the owner."

Yeah, that's what I'm looking forward to.

After all, the word "one-of-a-kind unique element" as a gamer attracts my heart.

"Thousands of different things, but there's a category for once."

"Oh, I didn't know that"

Because I was blocking information as long ago as I could.

Because when I found out, I wanted to do it and I couldn't wait to throw the exam.

My brother only tells me that it's funny. After a moment, my brother was worried about me throwing the exam and probably didn't say it specifically...

"In a general category -.

TYPE with weapons, protective gear and tool types equipped by players: Arms

Monster shaped TYPE to escort players: Gardner

TYPE in vehicle type for players to board: Chariots

Building-type TYPE for players to reside in: Castle

TYPE of junction type deployed by players: territory

Kana. "

"Ho."

I'm already excited about what my < Embrio > will be.

"By the way, there are other rare categories besides these, as well as the top categories that can be formed when Embrio evolves. There's a one-of-a-kind category. I wish I could."

"Is there such a thing too!... Is that it? Otherwise, people will recreate characters until they become rare."

"Ah. You can't recreate characters in this game."

"Huh?"

"Even if I bought another device to start with, the person logged in with the same character as the first one and it stays the same. Anyway, there's a user's EEG data registered here."

…………

Registration of EEG data.

Yeah, that's a little scary.

"If I could just reset it, it would end up being the person's personal. I think it's gonna be the same."

"That's what it is."

"So. While we're talking, the transplant isn't complete."

"Huh?... Wow!?

When I noticed, the back of my left hand was embedded with pale, shining egg-shaped gems.

"That's Embrio. The 0th form just sticks that way, because when it hatches and becomes the first form, it comes off."

I mean, is it like you're warming your eggs now...

"By the way, does this ever break as an egg?

"I won't. All damage that hits Embrio in the 0th form goes to the player."

Uh, I see. Even if the player dies, he says he's safe.

"It usually hurts or breaks from the first form after hatching, but hey. It'll take me a while to repair myself."

Somewhat biological.

"By the way, the place where the eggs are stuck becomes a crest tattoo when it comes to the first form. Because that's like a player's certificate in this world. Otherwise I can't tell from the players."

"Heh."

No, but that's right, misseeing humans and NPCs...... do you?

"And the crest also has the effect of storing. Leave it on your left hand when you don't have business. As long as we play this game, we'll always be together. Please take care of it."

"Oh."

I still don't know how my Embrio will evolve... well, in the end it will be because it depends on the personals.

Nice to meet you, buddy.

Of course I didn't hear back from Embrio, but I felt it glowed somewhat.

"Please select the last country you belong to."

Chesha spreads the map over the desk in her study.

That was an old scrolling map, but when I finished spreading it, the change happened.

The columns of light rise from the seven places on the map, and the streets are reflected within them.

"It's a country to which this pillar of light stands can belong in the early days. What you see from the pillars is the state of the capitals of each country."

Around each pillar of light, the names and descriptions of the countries float into the letters of light.

A city of positive Western fantasy surrounded by walls, mainly in the castle of White Ya

Knight Country 'Alter Kingdom'

wooded townships as cherry blossoms dance, and a Japanese-style castle overlooking the city well

Blade Country 'Heaven and Earth'

mountains with unseen air and a narrow section of the great river that flows through a long

Wuxian Country "Yellow River Empire"

Black smoke rising from countless factories clouds blocking the sky, a city of steel on the ground

The Land of Machinery 'The Empire of Drife'

Bazaar lines up to lean against a giant oasis surrounded by desert as far as we can see.

Commercial City County 'Cardina'

A man-made earth where countless giant ships could be joined together in the middle of the Great Sea Plains

The Maritime State 'Grand Barroa'

Elves and fairies made in the deep woods, at the foot of the world tree, gardens of secluded borders inhabited by the subhuman

Legendary Township

"Ooh, ooh..."

Honestly, I want to go anywhere.

The heavens and the earth are already in the Andorran Peach Mountain era.

The Yellow River smells like Chinese fantasy.

Drife seems like a robot or something.

Bazaar in Cardina is going to feel tourist just by walking.

Gran Baroa also feels like the romance of the man the sea is calling for.

I don't even have to think about it leading up to Legendary.

But......

"In the Kingdom of Alter"

"Ok. By the way, it's a light survey, but why did you choose -?

"Because my brother is waiting..."

"Oh, yeah..."

I called my brother at the store shortly after I bought the game and he said, "Then I'll wait in the capital of Alter Kingdom".

... Yeah, I can't help it because they're waiting.

I mean, why did that brother choose Alter Kingdom?

But you should have liked robots and battleships and all that, but why not the Empire of Drife or Grand Barroa.

Well, I just have to ask the person about this.

"Don't let it get you down because there are some events that can change your country later"

"Yeah, thanks......"

Let's get back on our minds.

Alter kingdom seems normal too, but it could be a good country.

"Then I will fly to Althea, king of the kingdom of Alter."

"Oh, wait a minute. What is this game supposed to be all about?

In games I've played since I was a kid, the set purpose was to defeat evil gods and demon kings even in online games.

Asking Chesha if this game is the same......

"Anything."

And it was returned.

"Anything?

"So, anything. Whether you're a hero, a demon king, a king, a slave, a good man, a bad man, something or nothing, you're free to stay in < Infinite Dendrogram > or leave < Infinite Dendrogram >. If you can, what did you do?"

Chesha's tone changed.

"Same as in your hands. What's about to start is infinite possibilities."

From prolonged speech to a spoken tone.

"Welcome to Infinite Dendrogram. We welcome your visit."

Shortly after that word, the study disappeared from its surroundings.

The desk, the bookshelf, even Chesha disappeared, and I was floating in the sky myself.

"Huh?"

Under the eyes is the shape of a familiar world.

It overlooks the same shape of continent as the map I was looking at earlier.

Eventually my body fell toward the Alter Kingdom of my choice, a point on the continent to be sucked in - fast.

Thus I set foot in the world of < Infinite Dendrogram >.

To be continued