4 people sat in chairs around a table in a bleak room. There was no exit; all of them had been teleported in.

“This feels like an interrogation room,” said Mike, visibly nervous.

“Have you ever been in one?” asked Beck.

“I’ve seen them.”

“In movies?”

“James, shut up.”

James gave a light chuckle, loosening the tension in the room. “Ah, fine. Well, they’re probably not interrogating us, or else they would have separated us.”

“There’s chance that they’re simply incompetent,” said Beck. “But hopefully they’re not, considering they manage this place.”

“Oho. I’ve seen them be incompetent before,” said James, remembering the first time he had gone into the dungeon. He remembered the announcer woman, who had been flustered but attempted to keep up appearances. Good customer service.

[Hello.]

“Oh shit.”

A deep masculine voice spoke, projecting the sound throughout the room. James had heard this voice before, when he had gotten his hands on the holy beanie as a reward for killing the tier 4 bear.

Although James hadn’t sensed anything before, he could now tell that the voice was using Dragontongue - it didn’t actually know English.

Mike swooped in, saving Beck and James from being berated for shit-talking the dungeon administration. “So, what’s going on? Did we mess something up?”

[No? Why would you think that?]

Mike gestured vaguely at the room, which had faded walls, dim lighting, and uncomfortable seating.

[Ah. Sorry. One second. We haven’t changed it since the last person that used this room.]

The room suddenly became much more comfortable. The walls were painted a fresh peach color and the chairs they were sitting on became cushioned. The lights became a lot warmer and brighter. The table was now circular and made of wood, rather than metal, and there was an assortment of cookies on a plate sitting in the middle.

[There.]

James, Mike, and Beck were stunned and couldn’t say anything. Perhaps they were thinking about who the “last person” was. Leah, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed: “So, what’s happening?”

[Ah. This meeting has to do with the music that affected mana.]

“?”

4 confused faces tilted in unison.

[It was called...ThousandDust.]

“Ohhh….”

4 voices of realization echoed in unison. 

“That was...two months ago.”

“Shit, I completely forgot about that.”

“I asked about it and I forgot to check up on it again.”

James, Mike, and Beck, had very similar reactions. Leah was not shaken in the slightest.

[Before we go any further into this topic, I would like to say that everything in this room must remain confidential. You are not to discuss this outside this room.]

These words caused the atmosphere to become serious again. James leaned forwards, putting his arms on the table.

[If you decide it is necessary to discuss this topic, you will come back into this room. We will give you access to this place. Got it?]

“Yes.” “Yeah.” “Mhm.”

The voice took a deep breath, then continued. 

[James’ initial concern about this music was about how it felt like it contained mana.]

“Yes,” said Mike. “I checked it out, and I found it to be extremely weird. Even though I sensed mana, there was no mana in the music. Rather, it affected the mana within me, but only a tiny bit.”

“Pretty much the same thing here,” said Beck.

“Mm,” agreed Leah.

[And you James? I know that you had a different reaction.]

James rubbed his nose. “When I heard the music, I felt awful. I nearly fainted. I didn’t think much of it at first, but it happened twice, which confused me. Also, I’m not sure how I forgot about it. Am I stupid to forget about something that important?”

[Aha, don’t worry about that. There is a reason. Let me explain to you what happened. That music itself was normal - the song’s … what are they called? Waves? Frequencies! The frequencies which the people of Earth can hear are normal. However, there are multiple higher and lower frequencies that cannot be heard. They are not strong enough to affect anyone without mana. 

These higher and lower frequencies are actually forming a magic circle. Without magic, it cannot be activated. But if a source of mana appears, it will absorb the mana and activate itself.]

Silence enveloped the room as the four tried to digest what they’d heard.

“Wait, what type of magic circle is it?” asked Mike. “And, who made it? Was it the dungeon?”

[It appears to be a simple interference test circle.]

“Test circle?” James, unlike the other 3, was unfamiliar with this term.

“A test circle is like..do you know programming?” said Beck.

“A bit.”

“Okay. A test circle is like debug code, designed to check if a certain part of the inscription works. An interference test is the most basic of the basic tests - it checks whether the formation can affect mana at all. Although, it can check for different types of interference.”

“Oh.”

“The programming analogy is a good one,” Mike said. “Our most common form of magic is a program, and we use basic mana circuits, which are well known, to build more complex circuits. But can you imagine creating a complex program on the spot? It would be impossible. Magic circuits are inscribed in a physical form, so they can be activated at any time using mana and can be much more complicated. At least that’s the theory. None of us are any good at it, really. Except for Beck.”

[...I’m unfamiliar with this “programming” you talk about, but I imagine you get the gist of it. Anyways, this particular circle was a simple one. But, using sound to manipulate mana in such a precise way is unheard of. This in itself is a worrying thing.]

“Worrying? So, who was the one who did this?”

[This is where things get tricky. From the methods of dilating the effects by using summoning magic, I imagine that this was done by…an invader from another world.]

“What?” “Huh?”

James, who already knew of the existence of multiple worlds, tried his best to act surprised, since he didn’t want to reveal Ajartum and Viann’s resistance. Which wasn’t too hard, because he was genuinely surprised that there was an invader from another world.

Mike spoke: “If you’re saying that, you’re implying that there are other worlds? That the invaders have hostile intentions?”

[Indeed. The dungeon is but a small part of a much larger infrastructure. For now, I would not worry about all the other worlds.]

“...how do we know how to trust you?”

[The most succinct answer I can give you is that you’re under our jurisdiction. You are within our territory, and that means we will protect you so long as you don’t fight against us. Also, if we had hostile intentions, we could have very easily destroyed the world you reside in, or at least the forms of life currently living here.]

All of them were dungeon explorers, who knew how strong the dungeon monsters were. They couldn’t argue.

“So who is invading?” asked James.

[Ah...to put it bluntly...our enemies. I speak as one of the dungeon’s administrators.  But as I said, the dungeon is part of a bigger structure. We as a whole have had multiple run-ins with this other group, and they haven’t been friendly.]

“...”

[...]

“May we know what that bigger structure is? Or who your enemies are?”

[No.]

Although the voice said no, a telepathic message was sent to only James.

[See me afterwards.]

James didn’t receive any further explanation.

Mike scratched his head. “What do you want us to do? If there’s information that you don’t want to tell us, you would have just not mentioned it at all.

[Well, i suspect that the enemies I talked about are behind this attack. But, this world actually has solid defensive barriers. Which means, I highly suspect someone on the inside.]

“Do you mean one of the other dungeon explorers also helped?” asked Beck.

[Precisely. I believe they may have been cajoled by the other party and their supposed power. But a certain level of magical prowess is required, meaning it probably is one of the “frontrunners.” That is your word for them, I believe. ]

Leah finally spoke:  “You want us to find them?”

[You are quick to understand. In order to gain their interest, I will give information about the 20th floor. I will also unlock the party function, in order to give you a chance to distribute the information and observe them more closely. Anyone who is not interested probably has found some other source of power and will be marked as suspicious.]

“There were never parties before. Why now? I’m sure plenty of people would have survived if there had been that opportunity.”

[I did not make the dungeon, nor do I have the capability to change it,] the voice said firmly. [I can tell you, however, that things are accelerating rapidly. The dungeon is changing, and it probably never return to its original state. If you clear the dungeon, we will inform you of the circumstances.]

Ouch. The 4 dungeon explorers had to remember that they were much weaker. They practically had no choice but to comply.

[I understand that you probably think you are being forced to do this, but we are very thankful that you noticed this anomaly in the first place. If not, the situation could have become much worse.]

That didn’t change the fact that they were being forced, thought James.

Light particles began covering the 4 explorers - the sign of teleportation within the dungeon.

[We will give the “information” through our other channels. If you find anything, please report it to us immediately. Do not engage. I wish you the best of luck, and thank you.]

The particles completely covered them. When the light died down, James was...still in the room.

The other 3 had been teleported out.

He watched as a mass of shadows began to coalesce in one of the empty seats, eventually turning into a humanoid shape.

The shadow reached out and grabbed a macaron from the plate on the table.

[One good thing about this job is I get to eat and do things that the others could never dream of. Like these cookies. Macarons, I think they were called? Simply delightful.]

James could have sworn the shadow grinned.