Chapter 2

□ In Front of the South Gate of the Royal Capital Artea - Ray Sterling

"Scared me..."

I was suddenly dropped from the sky and was breathing heavily to calm my heart, which was pounding like a drum.

The sensation of falling still lingered.

The vivid yet rapidly changing view.

The sound of air rushing past me as I fell.

The coldness of the upper atmosphere that I touched.

The smell of the wind, which I had never smelled before.

And then, after landing without any problems, the taste of the dirt when I stumbled and fell.

Although I didn't feel pain, which is apparently turned off by default, all my other five senses perceived this world as real.

"But... this is real."

A real dive-type VRMMO.

I realized that the dream game had finally become a reality with the same dream-like quality.

The thrill was excessive, but I had successfully entered the world of <Infinite Dendrogram>.

Looking around, a huge gate stood behind me.

The gate was part of a massive white wall that towered above. Moreover, the gate was guarded by soldiers in Western-style armor.

This gate was also in the scenery I saw in Cheshire's room, so it seems this is indeed the royal capital Artea of the Altea Kingdom.

The gate leading into the city was open, and carriages and people were coming and going from outside to inside and vice versa.

It seems I can enter normally.

However, since it's my first time, I cautiously—rather suspiciously—passed through the gate.

As expected, I was able to enter the city.

"Alright."

It seems there are no issues with entering and exiting the royal capital Artea of the Altea Kingdom.

Since I successfully entered the city, all I need to do now is head to the meeting place with my brother.

"I think it's the large fountain on the central street of the capital. He said if I go straight from the entrance, I'll reach it... Well, just to be safe, I'll check."

I silently said "Main Menu" in my mind.

As described in the manual, a game-like window appeared in front of me.

The window was divided into two parts, with my simplified status on the right side, like in an RPG party window, and various menu items such as "Equipment," "Items," and "Detailed Status" on the left side.

Glancing at my status, I saw that my current level was 0.

It seems that in <Infinite Dendrogram>, there are levels for each profession, and since I currently have no profession, my level is fixed at 0.

"Map, map..."

I found the desired item in the menu and activated it.

A new window opened, displaying a map of the royal capital Artea.

Normally, in this game, you either fill in the map by walking or buy maps from map vendors and add them to your map.

However, the manual mentioned that the capital and its surroundings of the player's starting country are pre-inputted. Convenient.

"Hmm, hmm."

The royal capital Artea is a city surrounded by a circular wall.

The wall has gates on the east, west, south, and north, and from each gate, a large stone-paved road leads straight to the center of the country.

If they continued, the roads would intersect in a cross, but they don't. In the center of the capital, there is another wall, and inside is a noble district.

To enter the noble district, a special permit is required, and the royal castle is built at its center. I don't have any business there for now.

Anyway, the central street where we are supposed to meet is the road from the south gate to the noble district.

Incidentally, the gate I just passed through is the south gate, so if I go straight, I should reach the fountain.

While thinking about this, I was looking at the map and walking when,

"Ah!?"

"Huh?"

I made eye contact with an unfamiliar woman at close range.

The reason was that she had run out from a side alley, and I was so focused on the map that I didn't notice her until she was this close.

Reacting too late, I couldn't avoid her, and as a result, we collided.

As a result, I was thrown "more than fifteen meters."

"Ugh..."

I felt a significant amount of damage.

The simplified status in the open menu showed that my HP had dropped to 20%.

Additionally, it displayed status abnormalities: [Left Arm Fracture] and [Right Leg Fracture].

To be so vulnerable that a collision with a woman could cause such fatal injuries... my body is surprisingly fragile...

"Are you, are you okay!?"

The woman who had collided with me ran over to me with a pale face.

She had fluffy hair and a gentle face... but she was wearing extremely heavy white metal armor, which could easily weigh a hundred kilograms.

I've worn plate mail before, and it's incredibly heavy despite its thickness.

"I, I'm..."

I tried to say, "I'm fine, nothing's wrong," but my body was numb from the damage, and my tongue wouldn't move properly.

"I'm sorry! *Force Heal*!"

Instantly, her hand glowed white, and particles of light from her hand rained down on my body.

Immediately after, my HP was fully restored, and the [Fracture] status abnormalities were gone.

"O, oh..."

It seems that was a healing spell.

Experiencing a near-death situation and then a full recovery in such a short time, I realized how real the game world can be. It's a bit scary.

"I'm really sorry! I was running without looking ahead..."

"No, no, I was also looking elsewhere... By the way, are you okay?"

I thought she might have been injured since I collided with her with such force, but she seemed completely unharmed.

...Ah, that's it.

She's wearing very strong equipment and seems to be a high-level player.

So, because I, a level 0 player, collided with a high-level player with naturally high stats, I ended up in such a state.

"I'm fine. But you were so badly injured..."

"I, I'm fine now, you healed me."

My tone naturally became formal, and my voice was trembling, not just from the shock of the collision but from the lingering damage.

"By the way, you seemed to be in a hurry. What happened?"

When I asked, the woman seemed to remember something.

"Well, actually, my younger sister ran away from home, and I've been looking for her."

"Your sister?"

"Yes, have you seen this girl anywhere?"

She took out a photo from her pocket—photos are apparently common in this fantasy world—and showed it to me.

The photo showed a cute girl who looked like a younger version of the woman in front of me, with straight hair instead of wavy.

"..."

I felt bad for her, looking at me with such desperate eyes, but I didn't recognize the girl.

"I'm sorry, I just started and only entered the city through that gate a little while ago..."

"I see... then she must already be inside. Here, this is my contact information. If you see my sister anywhere, please let me know! And I'm really sorry for colliding with you!"

She wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"You don't need to apologize anymore, please hurry and find your sister."

"Thank you... see you again!"

She ran off, leaving me with a note.

The note read:

'Member of the Royal Guard of the Altea Kingdom, Deputy Commander, Lilianna Grandria'

"Huh?"

The unfamiliar text was being converted to Japanese in my head.

No, more importantly, the content written...

[Quest: "Missing Person—Milianna Grandria, Difficulty: 5" has been triggered]

[Please check the quest details in the quest window]

"..."

Ah, yeah.

In other words, she, who looked exactly like a real person...

"That person is an NPC!?"

I was once again reminded of the unparalleled realism of <Infinite Dendrogram>.

To be continued

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