by Sakon Kaidou
Prologue: One of the East’s Mightiest
Western Caldina, Valeira Desert — an area bordering the Kingdom of Altar
Before the break of dawn, a wind was blowing through a dimly-lit desert, gently shifting its sands. It was an east-bound sea breeze that came all the way from the western ocean, crossing the entire Kingdom of Altar in the process.
Caldina was a country of sands. 99% of it was desolate wastelands, while the remaining 1% contained oases.
A land so lacking — if not downright deadly — wasn’t a good environment for any country to thrive, but Caldina was located in the middle of the continent. It prospered due to being in the center of all transactions between the two eastern countries (Huang He and Tenchi) and the three western countries (the kingdom, the imperium, and the fairyland). But it was also abundant in underground resources, ores, and ruins full of various magic items. Any food problems it might’ve had due to lack of fertile land were easily fixed by trading such riches.
Caldina could be summed up with the words “sand,” “wealth,” and “trade.” The deserts that comprised its territory became a road that connected the east and the west, creating an immense flow of riches.
It was similar to what people of Earth had once called the “Silk Road.”
On one such road, there was a row of about ten sizeable dragon carriages, so called because they were drawn by Demi-Dragons.
From their design, it was obvious that the carriages had come from Huang He rather than Caldina. Though it was uncommon for the eastern country to make deliveries to the west without stopping in the desert country, it definitely wasn’t unheard of. However, there were two things about the carriages which many would find odd.
The first was the fact that each and every single one of them was flying the flag of Huang He. While some merchant dragon carriages bore patterns that indicated what country they belonged to, none of them ever hoisted a flag.
The second oddity wasn’t with the carriages, but with the person sitting on the roof of the one carriage at the very back. The person was looking at the trails the wheels left on the road and the predawn desert scenery passing by. Enjoying the scenery, the person blew into the tobacco pipe-looking item at the edge of what passed for a mouth and continuously released soap bubbles into the wind.
If that had been the only notable thing, many would have passed off the person as merely “eccentric” rather than “odd.” However, it wasn’t any conduct that warranted such a description, but a matter of overall appearance.
The person’s limbs were far too long. Though the long, daoshi-like clothing did a good job covering them, it did nothing to conceal their abnormal length.
The eccentric’s total height was above four metels, and the legs made up more than half of it. They were reminiscent of the classic stilt-walkers you might see at a circus. However, the person’s arms were inappropriately long, as well. There was more than length to them, though — the five “fingers” grasping the pipe looked more like thin, sword-like blades than anything else.
The arms were far too long and had to be bent in a peculiar way just to let the person keep the pipe in the mouth and blow into it as they enjoyed the passing scenery.
The state of the person’s face was quite bizarre, as well. The hat they wore had a talisman attached to it, which hung downwards and hid the eccentric’s visage. When combined with the daoshi clothes, it made the person look like a jiangshi from Chinese movies.
The palpably strange appearance made this person stand out from the rest of the world. At the same time, the person emitted a shapeless aura of intimidation that had nothing to do with what you could see with the naked eye, yet was definitely there for those who could feel it.
This eccentric was both abnormal and awe-inspiring enough to appear like a threat to the world just by the virtue of existing. Despite being so menacing, however, the person did nothing but silently enjoy the desert scenery and the bubbles floating in the wind.
“Master Xunyu!” Soon enough, someone called out to the jiangshi-like character by using that name.
The source of the voice was a boy who looked about ten years old. He was trying to get on the same roof Xunyu was sitting on. Since the dragon carriage had no ladder, the youngling found it to be a particularly hard task.
In fact, with the vehicle moving, him falling off was a perfectly plausible scenario.
Noticing that, Xunyu used one of those long arms to take the boy by the nape and pull him to the roof. And thus, the child got safely onto the same platform as the eccentric jiangshi. Though the fingers that held the boy were like blades, neither the boy’s luxurious-looking clothing nor his frail skin were damaged in any way.
“Ah! Thank you very much, Master Xunyu!” he said.
“You sure are eaRly, Cang,” the jiangshi replied.
Though Xunyu’s intonation was peculiar, the boy referred to as “Cang” didn’t seem to care about it and spoke his response with a smile. “Not as early as you, Master Xunyu.”
“...Ya know, having you call me ‘master’ makes me feel pretty uncoMFOrtable.”
The boy looked at the jiangshi with gleaming eyes, which made Xunyu exhale a heavy sigh and blow some more bubbles.
Cang’s real name was “Canglong” — meaning “Azure Dragon.” In the Huang He Empire, the only people allowed to bear names with references to the sort of dragons that Masters would refer to as “oriental” were the direct male descendants of the emperor, meaning that this Cang boy was of imperial blood. Specifically, he was the third child of the current emperor.
Indeed — the reason why these dragon carriages were so unlike those belonging to traders was because they were a mission escorting the empire’s royalty to the kingdom.
“We’re about to reach the boRDer,” said Xunyu.
“Indeed we are, Master Xunyu!” said the boy with glee. “Speaking of which, have you visited the Kingdom of Altar before?”
“Can’t say that I haVe, but the guy in the alien costu— the ‘Spirit Turtle’ or ‘Linggui’ or whatever he wants to be called — said that he’s been there onCe.”
“Master Gray α Centauri? What did he say about it?”
“...Apparently, and I quote, ‘There was an interesting costume there.’”
“Costume?” The boy looked reasonably confused.
As they were having such exchanges, the row of dragon carriages eventually reached the border of the Kingdom of Altar.
The kingdom’s officials went through the necessary formalities to allow their entry into the country. They looked seriously tense through the entirety of it, while the two people on the roof seemed completely unaffected. The tenseness was present even among the empire’s own officials and chamberlains. It was obvious that they wanted to say something, but their reverence for Cang’s royal status and Xunyu in general made them hesitate.
Cang was an upfront boy brimming with curiosity. Due to that nature of his, he often addressed non-royalty in a highly nonchalant manner. However, not many of them replied the way Xunyu did. Most would turn humble and abase themselves, and considering the boy’s status, they were completely right to do so. Xunyu, however, was special — even among Masters — and thus was allowed to respond differently.
About an hour had passed since they had crossed the border between Caldina and Altar and begun traversing the Cruella Mountain Belt.
The kingdom’s people had already told them about the Gouz-Maise Gang that had their hideout in this area. They’d said that the group was led by a powerful undead-gladiator duo, and that — though they focused primarily on kidnappings — the possibility of them attacking dragon carriages wasn’t zero and suggested that they be on their guard.
The problem clearly wasn’t something that could be ignored just by upping their alertness, but the kingdom’s officials had said nothing more. Still, it hadn’t been negligence on their part. They simply hadn’t said anything more because “being on their guard” was more than enough for this group of carriages.
“...Something reeKs.” Xunyu suddenly spoke up while sniffing. “It’s not undead stench, thoUgh Cang, get down for a biT.”
“All right!” The boy listened to the jiangshi’s words and slid down prone on the carriage’s roof. A moment later, Xunyu’s long arm released a flash.
Two seconds after that, they both heard the sound of something sinking into the damp ground nearby.
Those with the appropriate knowledge would instantly know that the object was a rifle bullet.
Not saying a word, Xunyu glared through the talisman covering the visage that passed for a face and observed the rocky area several hundreds of metels away from them.
◆◆◆
Caldina was a land connecting the east and the west, creating an immense traffic of gold and other riches.
Also, with the encroaching possibility of the Kingdom of Altar’s demise, many wealthy merchants had begun abandoning the country for the eastern nations and Caldina itself. Whether they were heading towards or out of the desert country, those going through the border always had treasure on them.
Due to that, many hungry wolves with a taste for wealth would bare their fangs at those passing the area.
“First bullet failed to land on the target. I’m sorry. It seems I missed.”
In the rocky area Xunyu was looking at, a woman was lying down with a large, scoped rifle in her hands.
She wasn’t alone, for over twenty other people were hiding in the rocks around her. Each had their weapons at the ready as they fixed their eyes on the dragon carriages several hundreds of metels ahead.
They were outlaws. That alone didn’t make them special by any means, but this particular group all shared a certain feature.
On the backs of each of their left hands were unique crests. They marked the people as Masters — players of the game known as Infinite Dendrogram and immortal beings commanding special powers known as “Embryos.”
The group’s name was Goblin Street. It was the very same PK clan that had taken part in the blockade surrounding the Kingdom of Altar’s royal capital, attacking anyone trying to go through the Wez Sea Route leading to the harbor town to the west of the city. That incident had been caused by someone who’d hired three PK clans and one solo player killer to do it. Though the four — Goblin Street, K&R, Mad Castle, and the Superior Killer — all focused on player killing, their motives were different.
Mad Castle’s goal was to rob and exert dominance over other players while role-playing as villains.
K&R’s goal was to hunt other players.
The Superior Killer acted as a hired hit man who gave players the death penalty according to people’s requests.
And finally, Goblin Street was a band of bandits that attacked and robbed anyone.
During the blockade incident, the only one of the four areas where tians were harmed, robbed, and killed was the Wez Sea Route — the one handled by Goblin Street. Due to that, the clan was the only one of the four guilty entities that had gotten on the kingdom’s wanted list.
In Infinite Dendrogram, murder and robbery between players wasn’t considered a crime. That was because tian laws had no power over Master disputes.
However, the same couldn’t be said about cases where Masters committed crimes against tians.
Just like criminal NPCs, such players were put on the country’s wanted list, or — provided the crimes were severe enough — the wanted list of every country in the game.
If a Master’s respawn points were all in countries that had them on the wanted lists, getting a death penalty would cause the player to respawn at the save point in the gaol.
That was the reason why Goblin Street’s activities now took place near a border.
Once they had become unable to use the kingdom’s save points due to being on the wanted list, one of the kingdom’s Superiors — Lei-Lei the Prodigal of Feasts — had given the death penalty to everyone who was online at the time. Though some went on to respawn in other countries, many didn’t have save points outside the kingdom and got sent to the gaol, causing about half of the clan’s members to leave.
Obviously, the damage the group sustained was severe, and it wouldn’t have been strange for it to have ceased its activities or split up altogether. In fact, that was exactly what happened to another clan that had taken part in the blockade: Mad Castle. Despite not being on the wanted list, the group had split up after they’d been annihilated by Figaro.
Goblin Street, on the other hand, had simply moved their save points to Caldina and still continued their hunt in the kingdom. They’d sneaked through the eastern border of the country and begun their activities once again. Due to how close the area was to Caldina, it was far more convenient than the Wez Sea Route from last time. In fact, the Cruella Mountain Belt was so good for bandits that even the infamous tian group, the Gouz-Maise Gang, had had their hideout here. Truly, finding a more bandit-friendly environment would be no small task.
Of course, with Goblin Street being a band of player killers and criminals, there was the possibility of them getting hunted down by adventurers or attacked by other nearby gangs such as the aforementioned Gouz-Maise Gang. However, Goblin Street wasn’t the type of group to be afraid of such scenarios.
“Hey, what the hell?” one of them said. “Didn’t you say that switching your job to Sharpshooter turned your effective range into 1,000 meters?”
“I seem to have miscalculated the carriage’s movement speed,” the woman replied. They were talking about the sniping that she’d attempted on the person on the dragon carriage. Everyone — including herself — thought that she’d missed.
No — not everyone. There was one exception.
“You’re wrong there, Neeala. You didn’t miss. The bullet just got deflected.”
“What do you mean, boss?” she asked.
The man who had spoken up was young and had red hair. The upper half of his body was covered by a similarly-colored jacket that had lion mane trimming on it. However, while the red of his hair seemed natural, the crimson on his jacket made it seem as though it was merely showered in something of such a sanguine color.
“You shot a bullet, and that freak deflected it,” he said. “There’s nothing more to that.”
“But that’s impossible,” replied the girl. “The bullet was faster than sound.”
“I can do it, you know? And it just so happens that there’s someone else who can,” the red man said in a nonchalant manner.
His words caused a stir among those surrounding him. It wasn’t caused by the claim that the boss himself could do it, but by the assertion that the opponent was capable of it, as well.
They believed and were well aware that their leader could deflect bullets. He was King of Burglary, Eldridge. Having the throne of the burglar grouping’s Superior Job as his own, he was considered to be one of the kingdom’s strongest player killers.
When his clan had been purged by the Superior, he had happened to be offline. Due to that, he’d survived the event completely unharmed. However, the members of Goblin Street were absolutely certain that not even a Superior could defeat their leader, and that things would’ve turned out differently if he’d been online back then.
In fact, Eldridge’s strength was the sole reason why the clan still continued to function, despite being forced to change hunting grounds. The members were confident that Goblin Street would remain alive and well as long as they had him.
Eldridge looked at the group of dragon carriages hundreds of metels ahead.
“That freak probably has one of Huang He’s Superior Jobs,” he said. “We’re not letting that stop us, though. I can handle that one by myself. You guys attack all
the weaklings that come out once I’m done. That’ll be enough.”
He then opened his hands and extended them behind him. Soon enough, his palms were filled with power and murderous intent, making it seem as though he was drawing a bowstring to the absolute limit.
His muscles creaked as he closed and opened his hands. It was a subconscious, habitual action that was nothing but a show of his innate desire to grasp and rob his targets’ belongings.
“Greater Pickpocket... Greater Takeover... set!” he shouted.
The King of Burglary had three unique skills, all of which used his hands.
In his right hand, he set a skill that robbed people of their items: Greater Pickpocket. It allowed him to pick any transferable items within the effective range, a radius of 100 metels, and forcefully store them in his own inventory. Even a dragon carriage was a viable choice, making it a particularly fearsome skill.
In his left hand, he set a skill that robbed people of their lives: Greater Takeover. As long as they were within the effective range, he could use it to remove his opponents’ body parts. Anything that fit into his hand could be plucked from a distance and end up in his possession.
I’ve gotta aim for the dragon carriage with that long freak sitting on it, Eldridge thought. Due to his maxed-out Identification skill, he could easily tell that that particular dragon carriage was special. It’s a mobile save point.
The Huang He Empire was highly advanced when it came to the creation of magic items, but this vehicle stood out even when that was considered. For Eldridge, who had lost his save points in the kingdom, it was something that he was simply compelled to rob.
The dragon carriage was about three hundred metels away. From its speed, he calculated that it would take between one and two minutes for it to get into his effective range.
Eldridge planned to take the dragon carriage the “long freak” was sitting on, forcefully ruining the tall eccentric’s posture and giving him a window of opportunity to take the head.
He was confident that it would be over with just that.
It had to be noted that Eldridge’s calculations weren’t off the mark.
