Kenichi Yamada, now Allen, continues his MMORPG life in Hell Mode. As he slowly levels up, he learns just how gradual his growth is compared to others’. From obtaining new Summons and skills to fighting terrifying monsters like a murdergalsh, his life is still filled with discoveries and hardships! And when the white dragon decides to migrate after a century, his situation changes—he’s now on the hunt to gain as much XP as possible. In contrast to Allen’s determination, however, Mihai, the oldest of the Granvelle children, seems less than thrilled about shouldering his noble house’s responsibility. What emotions hide behind his seemingly fearless smile?

Kenichi Yamada, a single, 35-year-old businessman, has spent the majority of his adult life playing every MMORPG to hit the market. Tired of the constant cycle of repetitive, newbie-centric gameplay, he is immediately drawn in by the promise of a new game that, on top of being never-ending, offers up a “Hell Mode”—a difficulty level that makes it nigh impossible to level up but also promises uncapped growth potential. Upon selecting the newly released Summoner class, Kenichi finds himself reborn as Allen, an infant in a serf family, with nothing but his wits and old memories to guide him. Allen works diligently to level himself up despite Hell Mode requiring vast amounts of experience between levels. In doing so, he hopes to uncover the secrets the Summoner class holds. All the while, he dedicates himself to freeing his new family from serfdom.

Allen and Cecil continue their escape from Carnel and his goons. In the process, however, they run into the same murdergalsh Allen fought years ago, turning their situation from bad to worse! Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Allen makes his choice: he’ll defeat the murdergalsh so that he and Cecil can head home. But other questions plague Allen’s mind. What exactly is a “noble duty”? Why must every noble with a Talent be conscripted into the army? Gradually, he finds himself learning the truth of the world he was reincarnated into.

Allen’s Academy life begins! And he has just one goal: to become stronger! To do so, he forms a party with Krena, Dogora, and Cecil. Together, they take on dungeons, earning them levels and money. All in all, it’s looking like a pretty comfortable life. But Allen soon realizes that his party needs a healer. To fill that role, he recruits a mysterious Cleric named Keel. The boy seems a bit shy at first, and he’s clearly strapped for cash, but he hesitantly joins Allen’s party to earn money for his family. But just who is Keel? Will he get along with the rest of Allen’s party? And can Allen accept that being in Hell Mode puts him at a level disadvantage?

Allen continues his Hell Mode adventure as he fights alongside the famed War Demon Zenof. Upon learning that both Zenof and Viscount Granvelle are aware of Allen’s hidden Talent, he decides to cooperate with them to defeat the monsters surrounding the city. All the while, House Granvelle is hit with devastating news about Mihai, and Cecil faces a life-changing decision. To make matters worse, she and Allen are kidnapped. When the culprit is revealed, Allen must make a choice of his own. Will the two be able to make a safe return to the Granvelle estate?

A new adventure awaits Allen as he enters the service of a noble! After climbing up the social ladder from serf to manservant, Allen now finds himself dragged around by the whims of the willful young lady of the house, Cecil Granvelle. Despite this, he is free to leave the city—and immerse himself in hunting monsters! As Allen meticulously grinds on goblins and orcs, both he and his Summons grow stronger by the day. At the same time, he begins to earn the trust of the members of House Granvelle with his diligent work ethic. Just as everything seems to be going well, however, the viscount overseeing the next fiefdom over seems to be up to something. As danger creeps toward Cecil, Allen declares, “I promised to protect you, Lady Cecil. And I keep my promises.” Going all out with his skills and Summons, Allen must resist evil and impending doom!

The trouble with full-on MMO's is that there's always some overpowered nutcases who can show up and wreck things. It seems like Infinite Dendrogram is no different, with a set of four in the Kingdom of Altar alone! Having previously been PK'ed out of the game, Ray continues his quest to level up and press ahead, But in the background, political maneuverings cause the game's top players to make their presence known.

After enduring 99 executions for a crime she didn’t commit, Alphina claimed victory in her 100th loop by finally striking back at the evil Saint who set her up. Presumed dead, our heroine leaves the empire behind to start a quiet new life in a forest. However, it isn’t long before her former fiancé, the coldhearted Prince Lionett, shows up on her doorstep a bloody mess. From this encounter, Alphina learns that the prince still loves her dearly—and that the Saint has escaped from prison and fled to an enemy kingdom! Could a world war be looming on the horizon?

Specifically designed for use in a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, while reaching specialists and general readers, this second edition of Introducing Japanese Popular Culture is a comprehensive textbook offering an up-to-date overview of a wide variety of media forms. It uses particular case studies as a way into examining the broader themes in Japanese culture and provides a thorough analysis of the historical and contemporary trends that have shaped artistic production, as well as politics, society, and economics. As a result, more than being a time capsule of influential trends, this book teaches enduring lessons about how popular culture reflects the societies that produce and consume it. With contributions from an international team of scholars, representing a range of disciplines from history and anthropology to art history and media studies, the book covers: Characters Television Videogames Fan media and technology Music Popular cinema Anime Manga Spectacles and competitions Sites of popular culture Fashion Contemporary art. Written in an accessible style with ample description and analysis, this textbook is essential reading for students of Japanese culture and society, Asian media and popular culture, globalization, and Asian Studies in general. It is a go-to handbook for interested readers and a compendium for scholars.