From our first handful of incarnations, Dungeon Master 07, and by extension us, discovered that our biggest obstacle in achieving our many goals was "us," or, to be exact, the vessel we reincarnated into. Initially, with Greed and Resurgence, we reincarnated into a vessel that is subject to an interface that relies on the concept of experience points to level up, in other words, in getting stronger. Sounds fair alright. However, we quickly understood that this fairness could be overshadowed by the concept of "potential" depending on the vessel we reincarnated into.

Despite the seemingly fair and unfeeling power-granting interface that overrules everything, equality is far from guaranteed. I, myself, am well acquainted with this unfairness, having ditched numerous “vessels” or avatars as it is the case for me, for failing to acquire either [Teleportation] or [Teleportation Magic], or at the very least, [Space Magic]. Depending on our vessel, our potential could be great in one incarnation and completely horrible in the next. In some incarnations we might even struggle even to reach level 10.

Dungeon Master 08, who spawned into Fiendfell before I did, also had an unpleasant experience with this unfairness. Motivated by what I believe was bitterness over having to give up a vessel she’d grown attached to, she dedicated her latest incarnation to overcoming or bypassing this said potential.

Her effort led to the creation of the "Homunculus Project" — an initiative aimed at “designing” perfect vessels for Dungeon Masters to reincarnate into. Since potential is more of an "untouchable concept," Dungeon Master 08's goal with Project Homunculus was to create a vessel with an unparalleled base to level from, allowing the vessel to develop into whatever the wielding Dungeon Master desired. While it came a little later than expected, her research bore fruit. Well, in truth it did bore many fruits before but those fruits were by her standards unripped, unworthy of us.

The first instance she considered a “ripened” fruit was Project HMC-P217, the vessel which Dungeon Master 18 reincarnated into.

This vessel did not display anything, as she promised, that could be considered “high potential” but instead had increased basic advantages, granting her the possibility to unlock skills that would otherwise be impossible for the human race she reincarnated into: Verdenkind.

She wielded the blueprint vessel for the HMC-0 series—vessels with actual heightened potential, heightened basic level, peculiar innate skills and abilities.

Although Dungeon Master 08 considered HMC-P217 inferior to the HMC-0 series, I just witnessed Dungeon Master 20, a second-iteration vessel from the HMC-0 series, being effortlessly defeated by the former.

As the dust settled, my gaze met that of Dungeon Master 18. For the first time in a while, I saw what she looked like. My “usual” role which involved being a living teleporting device for all Dungeon Masters, mainly for Dungeon Master 07, made it that I had only encountered Dungeon Master 18 a handful of times, as her “role” required her to remain in the shadows, mostly in Dungeon Master 08’s shadow.

Her current appearance was very different from the last time I saw her more than a decade ago. Despite looking no older than before, her large circular glasses, most likely due to the recent headbutt, were now snapped. She had black eyes with a hint of red, lustrous black hair that drooped to her shoulders, and instead of the tomboyish attire she wore last time, she now donned a simple earth-toned dress cinched at the waist with a worn leather belt. If it weren't for the out-of-place circular glasses and her facial features resembling that of a Highbreed, she could easily be mistaken for a random female Peon. However, that was without counting the murderous expression on her face.

Despite my ability to teleport, I hesitated to warp away. I had a strange feeling that she could reach me before I could even teleport away if she wanted to. For several tense moments, we locked gaze, and gradually, the frenzied expression on her face transformed into a complicated one. Just as I was about to break the silence, the boy broke into tears.

"S...S...snake...? he's go...gone, Owl...too..." he stammered through his sobs.

Dungeon Master 18 retracted her gaze from me, casually discarded Dungeon Master 20's arm, and removed her broken glasses. With a gentle touch, she began to stroke the boy's black hair, her fingers moving in a rhythmic pattern.

"Hush, Baby," Dungeon Master 18 whispered soothingly. "It's okay now."

As I stared at her holding onto the kid, I came to realize who else other than Dungeon Master 08, the kid reassembled to.

Snake, Owl, Crow, Baby?

I see. So it was her behind those names.

I wished to say that everything fell into place at that moment, but it wasn't quite like that. Something fell, but not into place—or to be exact, I struggled to put things into place.

As she tenderly soothed the boy, calming him a little down, our gaze met once again, this time with an expression that was different, tamer. Retracting her gaze, I saw her glance at the spot where the cabin once stood. She then took a step in the direction from which she came, prompting me to reflexively stop her, or at least attempt to.

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"Dungeon Master 18, wait."

Unexpectedly, she did. She turned around as if to listen to what I had to say. To be frank, I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there until, a few seconds later, she turned around and disappeared as fast as she appeared.

I stood there for a few additional seconds before sighing, "What kind of mess did I drag myself into?" With that thought, I warped into space, reappearing somewhere just by Dungeon Master 20's side. Surprisingly, he was still alive and more or less in one piece, using a tree as a makeshift support.

Upon seeing me appear, he conjured a smile and said, "Ah, Dungeon Master 18, she didn't change one bit," causing him to cough up some blood, "she didn't change, but I think she got me a little by surprise this time."

Got you by surprise? That was more than that.

"To think she would level up so fast in just... Ah, now that I think of it, it makes sense. Unlike I who'd been punished for what I did back then, she was left to do as she saw fit. No wonder she leveled up ahead of me."

That's what you get for messing up, blame no one else but yourself, freak. Not even bothering to let my thoughts through, I asked, "You're okay?"

"Yeah, no need to worry about me," he said, before slamming his abnormally bent arm against a tree. "Crap! Shit, shit, shit!"

It had the strange effect of putting the bone back in place. In that moment, as he withered in pain, his body began producing a red, blood-like smoke that almost engulfed him entirely. The next instant, he looked at his arm, began stretching it as if it hadn't been broken a few breaths ago. He seemed satisfied and then looked at his missing left arm, from which a vivid red light emanated. The light slowly regenerated the arm, and he appeared a little disappointed but dismissively added, "It's slow, but it'll fully grow back when I catch up to her again."

"You plan on chasing after her again?"

"Why would I not?"

Here I was thinking that you would change your mind after that beating.

Perhaps guessing my thoughts, he added, through gritted teeth, "I was just taken a little by surprise. I wasn't able to appraise her, but I doubt she's something I can't take on." As he said those words, the receding red of his eyes manifested, giving him a fully albino or vampire-like appearance. Without appraisal, I could tell he had used the ability that, as a product of the Project Homunculus, made him unique: [Frenzy], a racial ability belonging to a noble subrace of the beastfolk. In exchange for numerous status increase advantages, including passive skill [Regeneration], the skill induced a frenzied state in the wielder.

In spite of already being “frenzied”, Dungeon Master 20, in a final display of rationality, barked at me, "You should tell Dungeon Master 07 what happened. I doubt I'll be able to defeat her, but I think I can stop her until reinforcements arrive." With those words, he dashed forward at an impressive speed.

"Tsk, who do you think you are to order me around like this," I complained before proceeding to do exactly that. Raising my finger, I prepared to open a portal that would've taken me to Dungeon Master 07. However, just as I was about to, I hesitated, thinking about what I had just witnessed.

I looked in the direction Dungeon Master 20 dashed, thinking, "I should leave this to him. The closest city is hundreds of kilometers away, so this should be the perfect place for him to unleash a rampage. I should just leave, inform Dungeon Master 07. That was the reasonable course of action, and yet..." Something made me hesitate. For a few seconds, I went back and forth between wanting to do exactly that and hesitating. After a while, I finally came to a decision, snapping my fingers to activate my skill, "Teleportation."

Dungeon Master 20 emerged just in front of me, in the middle of running. Teleporting him caused him to continue his charge. Noticing me and what I did, he came to a halt, but before he could react fully, I snapped my fingers again, teleporting him in front of me. This time, he stopped just half a dozen meters away.

"Did something happen?" he asked, his eyes bulging red, the entire eyeballs bathed in crimson.

"Yes. Change of plan. You're not going after Dungeon Master 18."

Dissatisfied with that answer, he didn't bother hiding his frown. "Why?"

"I just feel like something bad is about to happen if I let you engage her in a fight."

"I can defeat her," he arrogantly declared, contradicting what he had stated a few moments earlier. I knew that at that moment, the one talking wasn't 100% Dungeon Master 20 but mostly his ability, [Frenzy]. It didn't seem like he was about to accept my reasoning, so I added, "If I let you engage against her, I have the feeling that one of you is going to die at the hand of the other. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be involved in the death of another Dungeon Master."

Hearing that, he recoiled. At that moment, I knew I hit the jackpot. I knew I was being harsh for bringing that up, but since it seemed effective, I added, "You know about it, don't you? How much of a mess it is to be involved in something like that."

Seeing how he recoiled like a guilty dog, I felt like someone who had discovered the perfect blackmailing tool but nonetheless remorselessly added, "Isn't one already too much? Unless you want to add a second name to your list?"

It took a few moments, but eventually, the red in his eyes receded into just his iris. In resignation, he said, "Fine, I'm not going after her."

I added nothing, simply praising his decision with a nod. The truth is, I didn’t know what to say. If the theory I came up with is correct, then this mess is far deeper than I imagined. But if that’s true, how could that have possibly happened? How could a Dungeon Master—another copy of myself—end up doing something like that?

Aarrrgh! What a mess.

Scratching his head, Dungeon Master 20, who regained his sanity, asked, "So... since we don't chase her, what do we do instead?"

"Right now, I think we should first contact Dungeon Mas—" I was about to suggest contacting Dungeon Master 07 and telling him about what happened when I felt it in the distance. A glance at Dungeon Master 20 revealed to me that I was not alone in feeling it. Something happened in the direction Dungeon Master 18 and the boy vanished into.