"Dungeon Master 00, is that you?"
"It would be very problematic if it weren’t me, wouldn’t it?" I heard in my head in my voice.
“So, it’s truly you…”
Amidst the constant appearance altering, Dungeon Master 00—which with these words confirmed it was—smiled.
“Long time no see, Dungeon Master 18, though it wasn’t that long ago, actually.”
In that moment, as his words rang out in my mind, my attention, which had been fully locked on him, momentarily flickered to the boy beside me.
Aiden had his gaze fixed on Dungeon Master 00, the word “Maa” escaping his lips as he edged closer to the finger we stood on, walking toward Dungeon Master 00. I immediately stopped him.
“Maa…”
“That’s not her,” I said, trying to make him understand that the sight he attributed to Maa was that of someone else, someone who happened to look a lot like my old appearance. “That’s someone else.”
Tilting his head to the left, Dungeon Master 00 looked confused until he caught a glance at himself and realized. “Oh, I see, this appearance... let me fix it.” No sooner had he declared these words than he got rid of the source of Aiden unrest. Now, he only alternated between my shadow-creature-like appearance and that of Aiden.
Seeing the black-haired and long-eared appearance Dungeon Master 00 constantly switched with no longer appears, Aiden calmed down. As he did so, I took the opportunity to ask, “Dungeon Master 00, what did you bring us here for?”
Unable to figure out the answer myself, I was genuinely curious.
Since we Dungeon Masters, starting from Dungeon Master 07, decided to venture into Fiendfell, it had become our policy to put as much distance as possible between ourselves and Dungeon Master 00, who remained in charge of our Dungeon. For our safety, “he” had to not be involved in the business we—other Dungeon Masters—engage in within Fiendfell.
So this…him reaching onto me with this mean—this method I’ve heard nothing of, along with whatever it involved, was very atypical.
“Come on, that’s your first question? Not ‘what is this place?’ I would’ve happily answered that question, you know.”
“Well, I wanted to ask that, but I figured it involves authority,” I said, casting a glance at the clueless Aiden.
At first, with how I’d been so suddenly wrapped into this place, I reckoned it was the doing of Dungeon Master 02; after all, space-bending sheninigans were his things, but I quickly understood that he wouldn’t be able to pull this off, not unless perhaps he, instead of using an avatar, used his real body, but knowing his scaredy personality, I was positive he would never do that. So that left me with only the possibility of Dungeon Master 00 using something other than Dungeon Master 00’s power, and there was only one thing that I could think of that could achieve that—the power of an authority.
Dungeon Master 00 broke into laughter. “Are you afraid the little one might snitch on us?”
“No! It’s just that… he’s just a kid.”
From his spot, he silently glanced at Aiden, “Alright, alright… I get your point. So let’s fix this,” he said, snapping his fingers.
“What do you mean by—” I was still mid-sentence when suddenly Aiden disappeared. An unsettling, uncomfortable feeling instantly settled in on me.
“Dungeon Master 00, where is—”
“Calm down. I just sent him back where he was before I summoned you. To tell you the truth, I had no plan on summoning him here. It was you alone that I summoned, but somehow he ended up following.”
Understanding that I had overreacted, I nodded and took a deep breath. “I see, sorry then.”
With a wave of his hand, he dismissed my apology and took a look at the surroundings. After what felt like dozens of seconds of silence, he still hadn’t said a word. Looking at him and remembering the last time we met, I asked apprehensively, “You said you initially summoned only me? Is there something you wanted to tell me or wanted me to do?”
He slowly turned toward me and laughed. “Would you believe me if I told you that I summoned you just to chitchat?”
I shook my head.
“You lucky bastard must have forgotten how monotonous being a Dungeon Master can be. So, let’s agree to say that you’re wrong.” He disappeared from his spot and reappeared beside me, leisurely taking a seat at the edge of the platform we stood on, as if to observe the scenery.
As he sat there without a word, I said, “I was about to ask where this place is, but from what I understand of it thus far, since Aiden’s body wasn’t teleported here, I have a feeling that that question, when asked like that, won’t get a proper answer.”
He chuckled. “Well guessed, as expected of a clone of me.”
“Mh.”
A strange silence took hold, eventually broken by Dungeon Master 00 sulking. “You’re no fun. I remember every Dungeon Master would go insane when these words—‘clone’—were mentioned.”
What are you, a sulking baby?
“Maybe we all grew out of it.”
“Mph, are you babying me, Dungeon Master 18?”
“I might be.”
He put on a face, but I could tell it was just to tease me.
The silence he left me in only intensified the strange, uncomfortable feeling I was experiencing. Wanting to put an end to it but not wanting to continue on this subject, I changed the topic and asked, “What is this place?”
“With your last visit, which was the last time in a while I received so many visits from Dungeon Masters all at once, it made me realize some things, among which was the lack of a proper means of communication. Sure, you guys have those things that operate like phones in Fiendfell, but we all know what a certain Dungeon Master’s opinion is on them.”
“He hates them,” I mumbled, a Dungeon Master’s face flashing in my mind.
“You know him well… As a Dungeon Master who never left his Dungeon, I couldn’t relate to that paranoia, but I eventually realized it’s an existing issue. This is the solution I came up with. I made it with one thing in mind. Want to take a guess at what it is?”
I thought about it for a moment, looking around to find a clue to the answer to that question. My attention locked on how many fingers there were exactly, I ventured, “Is it related to our time as Dungeon Cores, before we got the authority [Greed and Resurgence]?”
“Well guessed again. Using the authorities at my disposal, I created this place with our days as Dungeon Masters in mind—how everyone was loud, so dismissive of one another, so nitpicky over the slightest detail, jealous over the success of one another. A true mess, really, but it wasn’t that bad at all.”
“... I see.”
“Do I sound like I am nostalgic?”
“You do.”
“I see… I suppose I am, since, well, I made this place so that it can be like that again.”
Looking at the other empty fingers from the one we stood on, I asked, “You can summon all Dungeon Masters here?”
“Just like I summoned you, I should be able to. Though so far, I’ve only tried it on three of you. Well, two exactly, since I don’t think he—I believe you call him Aiden now—doesn’t count as a Dungeon Master. Strange, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“The fact that he was brought here when the one I summoned was you. Sure, there is the fact that you’ve somehow merged with him, but here’s the thing. I created this place using almost all the authorities at my disposal. Just like I used authorities to create this place, I used authority to summon you here—[Greed and Resurgence], [Ethereal Echo], and even [Soul Convergence]. I used the three of them. I’ve tried it on a Dungeon Master 08 before you, so I’m confident in the summoning method. Now, when I summoned you, I was pretty much sure I summoned only you, yet I summoned him too. It was perplexing, but I believed I made a mistake somewhere,” he said, glancing at his constantly alternating arm. “However, when I sent him back, I realized that I did not make any mistake. I summoned the whole of you, and by banishing him, I banished half of you. So, Dungeon Master 18, how does it feel, having half of you missing?”
Looking at him, his form alternating between my shadowy form and that of Aiden, I went on to take a seat beside him at the edge of the large index we were on and confessed, “Uncomfortable—very uncomfortable.”
“I see… so perhaps I should send you back. He must be feeling that as well,” Dungeon Master 00 suggested.
“It’s alright,” I interjected, “I’m confident he’ll be fine.”
“How so?”
“Because I’m the one missing my other half, not him.”
“Oh, that’s interesting. Mind telling me more about that?”
I glanced at him with a frown. “Why not drop the pretense?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You don’t look surprised at all by what I just told you, so you must know the ins and outs of this already.”
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“Not at all,” he denied. But after a few seconds of me staring at him, he gave in. “I admit, I have some idea of how it’s so… actually, it’s less my idea and more that of Dungeon Master 08, or Theta as she prefers to be called now.”
The mention of Theta came as no surprise. From how he was earlierly alternating between Theta’s appearance, mine, and that of Aiden, I figured he was in close contact with her. So much so that I initially believed she was summoned along with us. But it seemed she was the first one to be summoned before us and had already left.
“You talked about me?”
“Just a little talk, you’ve seen how chatty I am. But yes, we talked about you, and she had a little running theory as to how you wound up like you are.”
Of course she has. She’s Theta, after all.
“What was it?”
For the first time, he looked hesitant before saying, “Just like she said, it’s only a theory, but she believes that what happened to you is that your GP merged with that of the boy.”
This world—Fiendfell isn’t very familiar with GP; it’s completely foreign to it, and yet GP is the source of energy that powers everything. If something exists then that something is bound to have GP, this said-GP may be so low that it’s negligible, but it doesn’t change the fact that all things have it powering them. As a Dungeon Master, dungeon mastering in their domain, everything through the dungeon interface was presented to us with a GP value, making it abundantly that's what we were to go after.
“And to tell you the truth, the moment you entered my domain, I could tell. So it’s not really a theory anymore but more like a fact. You share the same GP value as that boy, whether you are in control or him. In a sense, the way it’s layered reminded me of the authority wielder Tusko Vagar.”
I absolutely abhor that comparison he just drew, but I had to also admit that the comparison made a lot of sense, since with his authority he shared his GP value with the clone born of the authority he wielded back then Ethereal Echo.
“But that's the extent of it. It reminded me of it; in fact, it reminded all of us—whether it was Dungeon Master 08 or Dungeon Master 07—because what happened to you seemed like it was the result of an authority, but it wasn't. So how did it happen? Well, Dungeon Master 08’s theory was that, just as authority can be surrendered, GP could also be surrendered, handed over. That’s conventionally impossible—Theta had apparently experimented with that in the past. GP can’t be handed over, whether by sentient beings or monsters; the former have no concept of it and the latter lack the mind to even properly conceptualize it. The only way to acquire a fraction of GP from someone is through the existing system Fiendfell and its inhabitants run on, which involves harvesting 'experience.' That’s the only way.”
“Now, that’s what Theta believed until she heard about your case, which led her to wonder: if GP is handed over by a sentient donor already familiar with the concept of GP to another sentient—a recipient very similar to the donor, perhaps a mother and a son or an Homonculi and let’s say a copy of her—would it work? Theta didn’t know, but she was going to look into it.” Dungeon Master 00 turned to face me as if to scrutinize every single one of my movements. “Now that suggests one thing…"
“...That I voluntarily surrendered my GP to him.”
“You catch on fast.”
“Did I?”
“Unless you were ahead.”
I took a deep breath and confessed, “I was. I’ve always been.”
“So you’re not even going to deny it?”
“What’s the use of that? Theta is going to run her experiments and figure out the truth eventually, so what’s the point in lying now?” I said, leaning back.
“Makes sense… Is it just me, or unlike last time—which I suppose you were already aware of what you’ve done—you don't look apologetic at all.”
“Perhaps it’s because I’m not. Perhaps because I don’t regret that choice.”
“Oh…”
I considered if I should shut up here and just continue, but after pondering for a moment, I chose the latter. “What I’m going to tell you, Dungeon Master 00, I don’t expect you to understand. In fact, I wouldn’t blame you for chastising me for what I’m about to say. Aiden… that boy… I love that kid. When I left Theta’s side, I left with a strange plan in mind. I wanted to come to you; I wanted you to help me be reborn, as my current vessel, condemned to forever live as Theta’s shadow. While there was nothing inherently wrong with that, I grew bored of it. I wanted more, so my plan was to pull a ‘Theta’—that’s what I called that plan. On my own, I had him, but for some reason, I didn’t make the whole journey to the Dungeon as I planned. I think I can still blame the hormones up here, but then it was too late; he was born. Now then, I knew, I understood it was just a copy of me—a clone of me, not a conventional son like most people have. But looking at that little being that was so much like me and at the same time so little like me, I might have not understood back then, but I felt it was my duty to protect him,” I turned toward him. “Say, Dungeon Master 00, do you still remember what our idea of an ideal family was like?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget? After all the bones I’ve broken for that dream…A 1.75m blonde woman and four children: a boy and three girls.”
“Hahaha… I too remember, but I’m pretty sure the time I spent in those woods in that little cabin on the hill was happier than I imagined I would’ve been if I had a 1.75m blonde and four children.”
“That’s not the hormones speaking here, right?”
I chuckled. “I don’t think something like me can even produce hormones. So I’m positive the one speaking is me, Dungeon Master 18, or as he calls me now, Sigma.”
“I see… May I ask something?”
I nodded apprehensively.
“Sigma is your new name now? Why Sigma? Why call yourself that? You took the same inspiration Theta did for her name, right?”
“I did,” I admitted. “I wanted to give Aiden a name to call me from now on. I couldn’t give him either of my two names yet, so just like Theta did in choosing a name for herself, I chose one for myself.”
“I see, sounds like you admire her…Hehe for some reason, I thought you hated her.”
“I… I don’t hate her. She just… we just have some things we don’t agree on. She’s smart, but… she’s also insane and unhinged.”
“Hahaha, she sure is… I still remember that day she named herself Theta.”
“Please don’t remind me of what she did.”
I wasn’t going to pretend that I was a saint. I’m not. None of the Dungeon Masters are. By human standards, we’re all horrible. But Theta—Dungeon Master 08—she’s a level beyond, so much so that she’s unsettling for someone like me. She’s crazy, but not crazy like Dungeon Master 20. That one is just crazy in the stupid sense of the word. Dungeon Master 08, however, she’s crazy in an unsettlingly composed way.
I went on, expecting him to say something, but Dungeon Master 00 remained silent, prompting me to speak, “You’re not going to ask or say something else?”
“Do you want me to say something?”
“Not exactly want, but I expected you to... I don’t know, perhaps scold me for veering off the Dungeon Master’s path, scold me for being so impulsive, scold me for putting my desires over our mission… I don’t know… something.”
Dungeon Master 00 arched an eyebrow. “What are you, a naughty kid that feels she deserves scolding? And who do you take me for, some father figure that’ll scold you for misbehaving? Because I have the feeling you’ve mistaken me for another Dungeon Master.”
“I think… I might have.”
“ I’m unqualified for this. My specialty is to wait for someone unfortunate to enter my domain, and do what’s expected of a Dungeon Core. So please, for what you’re looking for, contact him, not me.”
“... Mph, will do then.”
For a long moment, we just sat there. I was about to say something when he lay down and began, “I’d like to make a confession too.” He looked at me and said, “Being one of the later Dungeon Masters, I feel like you’re one to most likely be able to understand it.” He looked at me dead in the eyes and said. “I envy you.”
“You envy me?”
“By that, I don’t mean I want to have a baby and stuff. I mean being out there. Ever since I became a Dungeon Master, I’ve only known this life as a Dungeon Master—and while it’s literally a paradise compared to that place we were rescued from, I have to admit that I too want to have my epic adventure like Dungeon Master 07 and Dungeon Master 08.”
“I know it’s not a game; I know that better than anyone, but still, I want to be part of it, not just as what I was.”
As he said, being one of the latter Dungeon Masters, I understood. I’d lived it myself, be it as a “Dungeon Master” or as a Dungeon Master in Fiendfell. I wanted to be part of this epic fight we waged against traitors and enemies of the Goddess, partly because that purpose was what we believed we freed from that hellish place, and partly I just yearned to be an active part of this strife, which is why I was so dissatisfied with the role I was stuck with.
“I know….I’m complaining, but I understand that it can’t be helped, for I am—”
Understanding what he was about to say, I wanted to stop him, but before I could do so, he cut in, “You’ve grown out of it, you’ve said, haven’t you?”
“I have…” I nodded.
“Then can you let me at least have this win on my tab by admitting who I, Dungeon Master 00, am.”
From the moment we became Dungeon Masters—as in plural—there was an understanding we all came to as to how we are to treat and refer to one another.
As a denomination, we use Dungeon Master followed by a number. The number might give it away, but since the memories we inherit upon being born made us all think we are the original Dungeon Master while the others are copies, it worked. It is a belief that we were the original Dungeon Master and that the others were copies that strangely made us work as a monolith. It worked, or at least I believe it did until Greed Resurgence was introduced.
The moment a Dungeon Master used that authority, he came to an understanding, one that instantly shattered that belief of being the original. As if he instantly came to understand that if he were the original, the authority, Greed Resurgence, would have followed him in his rebirth like it did with the first wielder and not somehow return to Dungeon Master 00 as it has always been the case.
With our naming style and the way we organized ourselves, we were very good at mental gymnastics. But when hit with such a blatant fact, we couldn’t look away or straight up close our eyes to the truth. We had to admit:
“You, Dungeon Master 00, are the original.”
“...”
“How does it feel?” I asked, curious as to how it felt.
“To be frank with you, I expected it to make me feel a little happier, but no, it seems..”
“I see…”
We remained silent for a couple of minutes until Dungeon Master 00 eventually asked, “What do you plan to do?”
“My plan?”
“Yes, your fate is now tied with that of the boy—Aiden. So what do you plan to do?”
I remembered my discussion with Dungeon Master 02 and then declared firmly, “I will raise him into becoming an adventurer.”
“An adventurer… that’s what Dungeon Master 07 had initially planned for you, right?”
“It was… As Aiden, I think I finally have the opportunity to do it properly. It may take at least 10 though; he’s still too young. But he’ll be ready by then. I’ll have him be,” I declared solemnly.
“Oh I don’t doubt that, but are you sure this is what you want?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you sure you want to involve him in this? Because from what I understand, you want to involve him in our quest. You should know better than anyone what price that requires. For us Dungeon Masters, that price isn’t worth much, but to him... I hope you take no offense, but he’s just “random”. And you want to involve him in a strife that has caused much damage to other “randoms” in the past and will cause even more in the future.”
I was silent, pondering his words. Then, not backing down, I said, “He may be so. He’ll be ready for it. I’ll make sure he is. He might not be a Dungeon Master like us, but he’s the son of one.”
“I see… if you say so, then I have nothing else to add,” he said, standing up.
Having the feeling that he was about to end this discussion, I asked back, “And you, what are you going to do?”
“Me? I’ll go visit the other Dungeon Masters just like I did you.”
“I’m not talking about something this immediate. I’m talking about…”
“—I know, about the future. I’ve been considering something recently—something that’ll grant me the journey and the thrill I’m looking for. But to do that, I’ll have to rely heavily on the authorities, so I have to talk to Dungeon Master 07 first to see what he thinks of it. I have this strange feeling that he might scold me for veering off the Dungeon Master’s path, scold me for putting my desire over our mission… or some other more reason,” he said teasingly, mirroring my earlier words.
“Good luck to you then.”
“To us both. Anyway, I think this is the part where I send you ba—Oh, shit! I almost forgot. I’m currently still in the process of ameliorating this place. I have yet to find a suitable name for it, so I called it Soul Harvest.” He declared proudly.
“Yes, just like I named Dungeon Master 07’s plan to connect me to all Dungeons of Fiendfell. Dungeons, Dungeon Masters? Do you get it?”
“I do. And I think you have a very bad naming sense.”
“The same goes for all of us. Why do you think I didn’t come to any of you for a name suggestion? Anyway, I was saying that, if you have a suggestion to improve “Soul Harvest”, I’m all ears.”
I was about to tell him I had no suggestion, but as I did, the thought of all Dungeon Masters from 00 to 23, all 24 of us, gathered here made me say, “Actually, I think I have a suggestion about this place.”