Chapter 3

(￣(エ)￣)ノ

□ Capital City Artea, Central Avenue Fountain Front - Ray Stirling

Not long after meeting Lilianna and accepting my first quest, I made my way to the fountain on Central Avenue, the meeting place with my brother.

Incidentally, when I checked the details of the quest that was automatically accepted, it turned out to be a quest to find Lilianna's younger sister, with a difficulty level of 5, which apparently is something that parties of level 51 or higher usually take on.

There's no way I can handle it. To begin with, why would such a quest be given to a beginner who just started?

I decided to consult with my brother. That's why I hurried to this fountain...

In front of the fountain,

a sign reading "Welcome, Brother" was held by a... "bear costume" nearly two meters tall.

"...What is that?"

It can't be, but... no, it can't be... but.

The meeting place is correct.

There can't be many people waiting for their brother.

I can't write my brother's character name or real name, so it makes sense that the sign just says "Brother."

But...

"Why a costume?"

It takes courage to talk to that thing.

Besides, children have been gathering around it, and I can't tell if they are NPCs or players.

The children are climbing on the bear's head and knees, hanging from its arms, and seem very fond of it.

If this continues, nothing will get done, so I decided to gather my courage and speak up.

"Excuse me, may I ask...?"

"Sure, sure, bear-bear."

What's with the "bear-bear"?

"Are you Shuichi Mukadori... I mean, big brother?"

"Sure enough. Hey, Reiji."

...I wish it was wrong.

"Good to see you. Let's go then."

The bear... no, my brother, Shuichi Mukadori, stood up.

He then took out candies from a pocket on the front of his costume, which was different from my storage bag, and distributed them to the children gathered around.

Is he trying to be like Doraemon? If so, he should be a cat or at least a raccoon.

"Yay♪"

"Thank you, Mr. Bear!"

The children, who received the candies, left with joy.

Thus, only my brother and I were left, and my brother started walking somewhere.

As he walked, he began to speak.

"First, let's introduce ourselves. My name here is 'Shu Stirling.'"

"My name is Ray Stirling. By the way, did we end up with the same last name again?"

The English name for the bird is so easy to use that when family members create characters, about 80% of them end up with the Stirling surname.

"So, what do you want to do? Since your <Embryo> hasn't hatched yet, how about I show you around the city? If you need to get equipment, I can lend you money interest-free."

"Ah, about that..."

I told my brother about the quest I had just accepted.

"Hmm, that quest from Lilianna. I haven't taken it either."

"Why would such a quest be given to me, a level 0 player?"

"This world is realistic. Quests often occur spontaneously. Quests don't cause events; rather, events cause quests. It's often impossible to target specific quests, and you often end up doing things you didn't intend to. Well, it's a good baptism. ...You must have felt the realism of this world, right?"

"Yeah, it was so realistic that I'm still suspicious, wondering if I'm not talking to you but to an NPC pretending to be you."

"No, no, bear. I want you to believe me, bear."

"Stop with the bear talk."

It's a strange feeling knowing who's inside.

"Ha ha ha. By the way, Lilianna is one of the most popular characters in this country. There's even a fan club with a mix of players and Tians."

"Fan club, huh... and what's a 'Tian'?"

"Non-player characters. Just think of them as NPCs in general."

"Ah... so NPCs are also part of the fan club?"

"According to the developers, they have the same level of thinking and personality as humans. It's normal, normal, bear."

This game is really too advanced and scary.

"By the way, does the quest detail say where to search?"

"No. So, without any hints, I don't know where to look."

If anything, the clue is this memo.

"Hmm, let me see that memo."

"Sure."

My brother took the memo, didn't read its contents, and instead flipped it over to show me the back.

[To Onee-chan

I'm going to get the Rem fruit because it wasn't in the shop.

I'll bring mosquito repellent incense, so don't worry.

I'm looking forward to it.

From Miria]

"This is..."

"She must have been in a hurry. She wrote the contact information on the back of the memo her sister left."

I didn't notice it until now.

The paper the memo was written on was parchment, which doesn't show through from the back.

"What's 'Rem fruit'?"

"[Rem fruit]. It's one of the high-end specialties in this area. Just think of it as an incredibly delicious fruit."

"Going to get it means she went to look for it herself."

Miria seems to be a very proactive child.

"There are two places near here where Rem fruit can be found. One is an orchard within the capital. They offer a paid harvesting experience, just like real orchards. However, it costs 5000 rils per basket to participate."

That's the full amount of starting funds.

It's expensive.

"The other is the <Old Reau Orchard> just outside the South Gate."

"<Old Reau Orchard>?"

"It's an orchard that was abandoned due to the infestation of insect-type monsters. Many fruit trees still grow there, but it has also become a den of monsters."

"...So, the mosquito repellent incense..."

"That's right."

She's too proactive...

"Go to the safer orchard!"

"It's tough for a child to pay 5000 rils. Even the market price of 50 rils per fruit is tough."

"But still..."

"By the way, the <Old Reau Orchard> is close to the starting point, so many players mistakenly think it's a beginner area and end up getting killed first, making it a notorious trap dungeon, also known as the 'beginner killer.'"

That's the worst.

I just realized that when I met Lilianna, she was heading to the old orchard.

When she said, "Then I'll go in," it was because she was sure that her sister had already entered the orchard, given that I hadn't met Miria yet.

"Anyway, let's prioritize completing this quest. It feels like it will fail if too much time passes."

"Huh?"

"I told you. In this world, events occur spontaneously and are highly realistic. So... there's no guarantee that everything will be fine until the player completes the quest, like in old-generation games."

"But, well..."

"From my experience as part of the first wave, even heroes, sages, knights, and even the king of this country have died in the past."

"..."

"Still, the world of <Infinite Dendrogram> continues to function without any issues. It's realistic."

I imagine it.

If that child in the photo is attacked by a monster and dies a tragic death...

Just thinking about it makes me feel bad, and considering Lilianna's feelings makes me even more depressed.

I know she's an NPC, but...

"That would be a bad ending."

"Right? So let's complete it. Aim for a happy ending."

Even though I couldn't see his face, I felt like my brother was smiling inside the bear costume.

Thus, as a beginner in <Infinite Dendrogram>, I formed a party with my brother and took on my first quest.

The target is the quest with a difficulty level of 5: [Find the Person - Miria Grandria].

The destination is the trap dungeon known as the "beginner killer," the <Old Reau Orchard>.

The goal is... a happy ending.

Quest, start.

To be continued

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