Sprawling across the landscape like a giant inland lake, the City of the Vault swallowed the horizon whole. With a population exceeding a million, the city was one of the biggest in the known world and even now, in the middle of the night, it buzzed with ceaseless activity.

Looking down from the air, the city was labyrinthine, its dense network of streets forming a maze that was hopeless to most newcomers. The city’s architecture was a mishmash of styles and designs from a dozen cultures, blending seamlessly into one another. It showcased the melting pot of diverse cultures that made up the city, as fortune seekers arrived every day seeking money, power, and fame.

They were the bold, the adventurous, and the desperate. They came with their heads held high, and courage in their hearts. They came because at the heart of the city, laid the greatest dungeon in the world!

The Hallow Vault.

The dungeon that was the heart of the city.

The Adventure Guild had long built a structure over the hole that led into the dungeon. In the beginning, it was just a wall. Then, it grew to be a building and now, it was a tower.

The Hallow Tower was a hive of activity. Adventurers, some in mismatched armor, gathered up at the base of the tower. Some were waiting for their chance to delve into the dungeon, others were haggling with merchants who seek to buy the monster hides and rare ingredients that the adventurers had taken out of the dungeon.

This was a daily occurrence.

He knew all this. He knew what the people above him were doing, and he did not care. Why should he? He had better things to worry about than the lives of mortals. For he was, The Dungeon Master.

In a world where dungeons were a way of life, his name was one that resonate. From the high courts of the various human kingdoms to deep woods of the elves, to the massive dwarven kingdom under the earth, people knew who he was.

He was the dungeon core of the Hollow Vault.

He was the greatest dungeon core in the known world!

The Dungeon Master felt a surge of pride at the thought. Although he was too modest to publicly admit it, he took great pride in the fame of his dungeon. His dungeon was the best in the world, and no other came close. This was no accident. The Hollow Vault did not become the best by luck, it became the best due to his hard work. The Dungeon Master was no idle core who was content to just let his dungeon be. He kept up with what the other dungeon cores did and did a weekly inspection of his dungeon to see how it could be improved.

Today was the day of the inspection.

The Dungeon Master started with the chamber he was in. Despite rumors, which The Dungeon Master encouraged, the Hollow Vault did not have thousands of floors. It only has nine hundred and thirty-seven.

At its deepest, there was a small cave. Its stone walls were slick, the air was dank, but it did not matter. Not even his three dungeon fairies had been in the cave for centuries. At the centre of the cave was a sapphire the size of a giant. Over five meters high, the sapphire was as blue as the sky on a clear day, and it brimmed with magic and power.

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This was The Dungeon Master.

The Dungeon Master floats above a stone floor that had three circles painted on it. The smallest was a circle of red with The Dungeon Master at its center. Then, a circle of white surrounded the red circle, and a wider circle of black that was the outermost edge of the magical circles. The black circle used to be a ring of yellow, but the colour went dead when the magic was used. The Dungeon Master kept it as a reminder of how dangerous the world truly was, even to one as powerful as him.

The Dungeon Master widened his senses. On one side of the cave was a closed door, the only entrance to the core room. Beyond the simple wooden door, a steep stone staircase leads upwards towards the Hollow Vault’s last Boss, a great red dragon sleeping on a pile of gold that was as high as a big hill.

This was the Vault, the great treasure hall of the dungeon. It was the last room of the Hollow Vault, and the dragon was known as the greatest and most powerful dungeon Boss in the world. At least he was. No adventurer had reached the dragon in decades, and the dragon was more of a legend at this point of time.

The Dungeon Master reached out into his dungeon. As a dungeon core, he was aware of the presence of any adventurer that enter his dungeon and after centuries of experience, could instantly tell if an adventurer was friendly, hostile, or was just here for a treasure. The Dungeon Master was also in control of his dungeon and could command and contact any of the creatures within it.

At his age and size, The Dungeon Master no longer took detailed care of his dungeon. Like a [King] with too big of an empire, his dungeon was just too big for The Dungeon Master to take minute details of everything. So, like all good rulers, The Dungeon Master delegate.

The Dungeon Master mentally contact the oldest of his dungeon fairy.

The dungeon fairy had been with The Dungeon Master for centuries and was entrusted to oversee all the dungeon floors from Floor Six Hundred and One down. It was a boring job as only the most powerful and experienced of adventurers could come so far down, but it was also the most important.

The Dungeon Master asked the dungeon fairy if there was anything he needed to update or improved on within his dungeon. Even in a dungeon, spells and traps were subjected to wear and tear, and adventurers could find ways to safely bypass them. His dungeon fairy gave the dungeon core a list of things that he could do to improve the dungeon, and The Dungeon Master surprised his loyal fairy by agreeing with all the suggestions.

It had been a long time since The Dungeon Master agreed with everything, and the dungeon core could tell that his fairy was wondering if something had happened. However, the fairy knew better than to ask and kept quiet as he watched The Dungeon Master improve the dungeon.

Once that was done, The Dungeon Master moved on to the second of his dungeon fairies and repeated the process. The second dungeon fairy oversaw Floor Three Hundred and One, to Floor Six Hundred, and the dungeon core accepted all her suggestions as well.

The Dungeon Master then moved on to the last and youngest of his dungeon fairies. Despite being the youngest, the dungeon fairy had been with the dungeon core for decades and The Dungeon Master had full confidence in him. That was why he allowed the fairy to oversee the first floor of the dungeon to Floor Three Hundred. As the early floors were the busiest, there were more things to improve on, but The Dungeon Master took his time listening to all the dungeon fairy’s requests and accepted them.

Once all his work was done, The Dungeon Master took an overview of his dungeon and wondered how the dungeon could be further improved. There were a few ideas he had in the past which he never got around to do, and The Dungeon Master wondered if he should start on them now. The Dungeon Master decided that any improvement could come later, now it was better to make sure everything was in working order.

The Dungeon Master turned his attention back to the magical circles in his core room. The Dungeon Master sensed the presence of powerful magics from the circles and made sure everything was in order. There were no smudges on the magical circles, the paint was not faded, and the spells were in place. Unlike most dungeon cores, The Dungeon Master’s final form of protection was not his final Boss, but these magical circles. The circles were his trump cards, and he cannot afford them to fail.

Like all dungeon cores, The Dungeon Master was subjected to the System of War and Magic, and he was granted a Dungeon Event when he reached a certain number of floors. These Events could be good events or bad events, and The Dungeon Master had to set them the moment he received the Event.