Chapter 10

Chapter 1 begins.

□ Royal Capital Artea <Heavenly Three Stars Pavilion> Ray Stirling

After last night's various discussions, the party turned into a regular drinking and eating feast.

Nemesis, who had consumed twice as much as I did, and my brother gave up halfway through, and the lavish food and drinks that remained untouched for more than half were distributed to the other customers in the shop.

The entire shop then turned into a festive mood, and it was quite a commotion.

As I looked around the shop, I couldn't tell who among the reveling people were players and who were NPCs... or Tians.

Was the person who said "Yo, take care" to me, a line from a retro game, a player?

Was the person holding a wine glass and speaking in an exaggerated manner, "We are...," a Tian?

Apart from the presence or absence of the <Embryo> emblem, there was no clear distinction. Whether they were players or Tians, they all looked like people.

Seeing this scene, I was once again impressed by the greatness of the game <Infinite Dendrogram> and felt that there was something I needed to think about.

I felt it, but...

"My head hurts..."

The next morning, with a headache, I couldn't manage any philosophical thoughts.

"Is it a hangover?"

Next to me, Nemesis was groaning, holding her head just like I was.

A hangover. Yes, this is a hangover.

Normally, underage players can't drink.

However, the problem was that among the participants of last night's party, there was a <Master> of <Embryo> who had a unique skill to "turn water into a drink that looks like alcohol," which made me wonder, "Why does such a skill exist?"

"Hey, this isn't alcohol. It's just juice. It just makes you feel light-headed," this person said, and because it tasted good, I drank several cups.

And that's how it turned out the next day.

"Ugh... Why did it come to this?"

The status abnormality section also clearly displayed [Hangover].

Considering yesterday's [Fracture], how many types of status abnormalities are prepared?

Moreover, even though the pain setting was supposed to be off, my head was throbbing...

"That drink was probably close to alcohol, but essentially it was a poison, wasn't it?"

Looking around, I saw that among the participants of last night's party, those who had drunk that drink-like beverage were also suffering from headaches.

"Ah, it's a poison disguised as alcohol to cause status abnormalities."

That would explain why such a skill exists, and why I, despite being underage, could drink it.

There's an old story in Japan that might be the theme for <Embryo>.

The person who created it was drinking heavily but remained unaffected.

"Why would someone do such a thing...?"

'Welcome, Ray-Ray-san.'

Kuma-niisan was distributing medicine and water to players suffering from hangovers.

Since Kuma-niisan was in charge of the party, he was also taking care of the hangover sufferers.

"Welcome?"

'She always makes new faces drink that [Divine Poison Ghost Convenience Sake (Weak)] to teach them a lesson.'

"Why...?"

'She teaches them, "You have to be careful because there are such unexpected attacks," through firsthand experience.'

Ah, I see.

That's why the players who didn't drink her sake were smirking or smiling nostalgically at us.

They must have received the same welcome in the past.

"...It was a good lesson."

'By the way, she is one of the <Masters> of <Superior Embryo> mentioned yesterday. She is also known as "Alcohol Pool Meat Forest" Ray-Ray.'

"Alcohol Pool Meat Forest..."

She seems to be quite a person, but I wonder why she has such a nickname.

Moreover, she is called a <Superior Embryo>, but the skill to turn drinks into poison doesn't seem that strong.

Is there something else?

'By the way, it seems that Ray-Ray couldn't participate in the previous war due to her real-life schedule.'

Of course, some people can't participate in events here because they are busy in real life.

◇

In the end, I couldn't move until the hangover was gone in the morning.

...The hangover recovery item from the shop didn't work.

It was quite a nasty poison, as it made status recovery ineffective...

Anyway, now that I've recovered, I decided to go shopping in the city.

"Bro, I want to sell the Demidra drops and buy beginner equipment, [Dragon Scales], and [Brooches]. Where can I sell them?"

'Huh? You want to buy those?'

Kuma-niisan looked puzzled.

I thought [Lifeguard Brooch] and [Substitute Dragon Scale] were essential for me, given Nemesis's unique skill that assumes taking damage...

'I don't think it will be possible for a while.'

"Why?"

'Those accessories are expensive. [Substitute Dragon Scale] is the top-tier substitute accessory, costing 300,000 ril per piece, and [Lifeguard Brooch] costs 5,000,000 ril.'

"What...?"

That's 3,000,000 yen and 50,000,000 yen in Japanese currency. They are quite expensive.

But, thinking about it, it makes sense. They are life-or-death level items.

I would have died many times without them...

But they are too expensive.

"...I'll pass."

Sorry for breaking them so much yesterday...

'That's a good idea. For beginner equipment, there's a player-run, reasonably priced shop. By the way, have the Demidra drops been opened yet?'

"Opened?"

'Demidra, being a recognized boss monster, drops items in a box format. It contains one item derived from the defeated boss and one to five random items corresponding to the boss monster's level range.'

"Wow."

Come to think of it, the item that dropped was [Subdragon Beetle's Treasure Chest]. A treasure chest, right?

When selected in the item list, it asks, "Do you want to open it?"

"Should I open it?"

'Well, there's a chance it could be a dud, so you could sell it as is. However, since it's from Demidra, I think it's worth opening.'

"Okay, let's open it."

[You have obtained [Subdragon Beetle's Full Armor · Native]]

[You have obtained [Emmenterium]]

"[Full Armor · Native] and [Emmenterium], huh?"

'The full armor is a good catch. It should reduce physical damage by 150 with an equipment skill.'

Wow, that's impressive... or so I think, given Kuma-niisan's costume.

"What does 'Native' mean?"

'Ah, it means it's a natural full armor. There are also artificial full armors made by armorers using collected materials. The defensive performance is the same, but the skill composition is slightly different.'

...What is a natural full armor?

"Let me equip it... Oh, I can't."

Looking closely, it says [Level does not meet the required level] and [This equipment requires a total level of 150 and a job level of 51 or higher to be equipped].

"...I can't use it for a while."

'You won't be able to use it for a while, so you might as well sell it. It should fetch 400,000 ril. Also, Emmenterium is a cash item worth about 20,000 ril.'

Wow, that's a good price. Still, it's far from the [Brooch].

"But, Emmenterium... the cash drop from Demidra is 20,000 ril."

If the items in the box had been similar to Emmenterium, the total would have been 40,000 ril.

Now I understand the outrageous rewards for the Dryfo battle I heard about yesterday.

It would be much easier to defeat eight soldiers than one Demidra.

It must have been a "profitable" battlefield for the participants.

In any case, now that I have the funds, I'll go buy some equipment.

Kuma-niisan recommended a shop where I could find items that can be equipped at level 0.

It seems to be a [Riot] series of equipment, which is often used at low levels. It's a set of light armor, gauntlets, pants, and boots.

The items I bought were crafted by an armorer and had additional effects. The [Riot] light armor had the skills [HP Increase] and [Damage Reduction].

[HP Increase] Lv1:

Adds 200 HP.

[Damage Reduction] Lv1:

Reduces physical damage by 10.

Yeah, this will be helpful in the early stages.

"Weapons are fine with Nemesis, so I can go level up now."

"Nemesis is fine, not! You should say, 'Nemesis is the best!'"

"Nemesis is the best."

"Such a terrible monotone!?"

The shop also bought the drops, and I got 420,000 ril.

Incidentally, buying a set of equipment and recovery items only cost about 20,000 ril.

Since it's beginner equipment, it's cheap. The money from selling the [Full Armor] is left over.

I don't need to use it forcefully, so I'll keep it.

Okay, now I'm fully prepared to level up.

'Ah, hold on. You should get a job before going to level up. Otherwise, you'll stay at level 0.'

"...Oh."

I was still unemployed.

'Do you want a brief explanation about jobs?'

"Please."

Kuma-niisan explained the following to me.

In <Infinite Dendrogram>, jobs are broadly divided into three categories: lower, upper, and superior.

All jobs in <Infinite Dendrogram> fall into one of these three categories.

Lower jobs are the first jobs that unemployed characters can take, with a low entry barrier and a level cap of 50.

Upper jobs are designed for those who have gained experience in lower jobs, with multiple job change conditions and a level cap of 100.

You can hold up to six lower jobs and two upper jobs simultaneously, with a total level cap of 500.

What about the remaining superior jobs?

Superior jobs require difficult conditions that even those who have mastered upper jobs find hard to achieve. Moreover, it seems that only the first person to achieve the conditions for each superior job can take it.

Superior jobs have no level cap.

In other words, with a superior job, you can increase your level beyond the 500 cap as much as you want.

While it seems unbalanced, there aren't many superior jobs.

Additionally, as the level increases, the required experience points also increase, making it harder to level up. Therefore, there aren't many people with outrageously high levels, though a few do exist.

The existence of <Superior Embryo> suggests that the <Infinite Dendrogram> management has intentionally prepared a different level of strength.

Moreover, Tians can also take superior jobs, unlike <Superior Embryo>.

Incidentally, lower and upper jobs are called by the language of the player's country.

For us Japanese, it's "lower job" and "upper job." In English-speaking regions, it's "Minor Job" and "Major Job."

However, for some reason, only superior jobs are called "Superior Job" regardless of the country or cultural region.

Given the overlap with <Superior Embryo>, the management might have given the word "superior" a deeper meaning.

Incidentally, when simply referring to "superior," it means <Superior Embryo> and its <Master>.

...It's still complicated.

'That's about it.'

"If I choose a job that doesn't match my <Embryo> or my personality, what happens?"

'There's a ritual hall in each country where you can reset your job. Resetting a job doesn't affect the power of your <Embryo>.'

So, some players reset their jobs multiple times to experience various jobs.

They repeat this until they find a job that suits them, and since their <Embryo> has grown from previous play, they can level up more easily.

"Speaking of jobs... What were the jobs of the rankers mentioned yesterday?"

'All of them were superior jobs.'

"Figures."

Names like [King] and [Pope] sound like they can only be held by one person.

"Can you tell me what the conditions were?"

'Well... The job conditions for [Destruction King] are to deal a total of 100 million damage and solo-kill a certain number of upper boss monsters, plus complete a special quest. [Super Fighter] and [Pope] probably have similar difficulty levels.'

100 million damage... I would need to use [Vengeance is Mine] 10,000 times on Demidra and it still wouldn't be enough. No wonder the jobs of the rankers are so formidable.

'By the way, when you change your main job, you can't use the skills of your previous job. For example, you can't use [Gunner] skills while being a [Cook].'

"Interesting. It would make sense to have a [Cook] and a [Soldier] together."

Like in some movie.

'Well, you can switch jobs easily from the menu at save points. If the jobs are in the same system, you can use the same skills. Especially for jobs that use the same weapon, this is common.'

You should consider this when choosing your job setup.

"So, what jobs can I take now?"

'Here, [Job Aptitude Catalog]—'

...It sounds like he's about to pull out some secret gadget.

Kuma-niisan pulled out a thick catalog.

'Using this item, you can find the job that best suits you among the jobs you can take through a series of electronic voice questions.'

"That's convenient."

'The questions are just a formality, so it might not be the best fit. But if you're unsure, this is a good option. After all, there are over 100 jobs you can take from the start.'

"That's too many."

'Well, you'll probably use it in the future, so I'll give it to you.'

"Thanks."

Let's give it a try.

...After about five minutes, the diagnosis result came out.

"[Paladin]?"

It's a classic job, but I'm not sure if it suits me.

'Ah, [Paladin] has bonuses to HP, STR, and END. You can also learn damage reduction skills and healing magic skills.'

I see, that would be a perfect fit.

It would be a good match for using Nemesis.

'But it's strange. [Paladin] isn't a job you can take from the start. It's actually an upper job.'

"An upper job?"

'Yeah. So you need to meet a few conditions to take it.'

"What conditions?"

'First, you need to defeat a boss monster of the subdragon class or higher, dealing 50% or more of the damage yourself.'

"I did that."

I cleared that during the Demidra battle.

'Next, you need to donate 200,000 ril to the church.'

"I can do that."

I have a little over 400,000 ril.

'Finally, you need a recommendation from a key figure in the knight order.'

"...I don't have a recommendation."

I just started, so I don't think I can get a recommendation.

"No, no, didn't something like that happen yesterday?"

Suddenly, Nemesis, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

'Ah, that's it. So the main reward for yesterday's quest was that. The system wouldn't announce something as uninteresting as "Your connection with someone has deepened."'

"?"

It seems they both understand something.

"Master, do you remember who you saved yesterday?"

"...Oh."

◇

After that, we went to the home of Lilianna, the deputy commander of the Royal Guard.

Lilianna was at home with Mirian, probably due to yesterday's events.

After expressing my gratitude and receiving a welcome, I talked with the two of them and then told Lilianna that I wanted to become a [Paladin].

Lilianna agreed and immediately wrote a recommendation letter.

I also made the donation to the church, and by the end of the day, I had become a [Paladin].

Thus, I was finally ready to start leveling up.

To be continued

The next update is at 21:00.

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