I have to admit, initially, I was very reticent about giving away my hard-earned G.P. It was something I had literally killed for. Yes, I was very aware that I was being stingy with myself. However, things were to change, and I had also changed. Not because I suddenly became more generous, but rather because I realized there were more benefits in entrusting the Dungeon Masters with the G.P. than keeping it all to myself.

With exactly 3,231.55 G.P. each, the Dungeon Masters were left to manage their own domains. Well, I say "left," but it wasn't like they exiled themselves or that they were being exiled. It was more like they were given the freedom to pursue their own endeavors. There were instances when they even came around to watch how the invasions were going. Yes, the invaders were back, just like they always were. They often came by to watch invasions as if they were football matches broadcast on TV, cheering for my spawns and claiming their percentage of the gathered G.P. Frankly, it was only through them that I realized how much of a greedy bastard I was. I wasn't planning on changing, but damn.

Anyway, just as I said, they were free, much like I was, but they were focused on their domains, trying to improve whatever they could about them.

 

***

 

Having not much on my hands, and with no ongoing invasions to manage, I decided to waste some time and visit the Dungeon Masters to see what they were up to. I started with Dungeon Master 02, who played along and began explaining, almost as if pitching an idea.

"Alright, Dungeon Master 02, what have you been up to?" I inquired.

He straightened up, adopting a pitch-like discussion tone, "Well, Dungeon Master 00, the first thing I did was establish a proper domain. You see, my interface was completely territoriless—there was simply nothing. Luckily, the domain editing portion of the interface allowed me to expand it, even from scratch."

"Interesting," I responded. "And what was your next move?"

"Well," Dungeon Master 02 continued, "the first thing I almost instantly did was acquire spawns. But not just any kind of spawn. We've all agreed that each Dungeon Master would take on a different subcategory than undead, and none overlapping with one another. So, I chose Elemental Creatures. I initially wanted angels or demons, but those categories were already taken, so here I am with Elementals."

“I see.” I nodded, acknowledging his decision. "Good call. It’s useless to linger on an opportunity that is already beyond reach. Well done moving on. Anyway, how's it going so far?"

"It's going pretty well, actually. The Elemental Creatures are diverse—too diverse, I would even say. I've yet to find the optimum modifications to the domain structure to accommodate them better: since unlike with undead, it seems that a Guardian's spawn enhancement doesn't apply to just any spawn of the same category. Instead, only spawns of the same element—air, water, ice, fire, lightning, earth, darkness, light."

I was already aware of this fact, but wanting to play along, I metaphorically nodded. "I see, that sure complicates things."

"It does. But what else is there for me to do but to adapt? If I have to choose an element to focus on, I simply will, and I will make sure this domain becomes an elemental hell."

I applauded Dungeon Master 02’s grand soliloquy. "That's the spirit. As expected of me. I think I'll take my leave here, but keep me updated."

"Sure." At that moment, an imaginary thumbs-up was exchanged between the two of us before I headed for my next stop, Dungeon Master 4, who took over the eldritch beings category and shared the celestial beings category with Dungeon Master 01.

"Dungeon Master 4, old friend, how's it going?"

Unlike Dungeon Master 02, who somewhat welcomed me with warmth, Dungeon Master 04 greeted me with a cold silence, broken only by a sarcastic, "where it's going, huh?"

"Hm, yeah."

"Where it's going, huh," I heard him getting more and more fuming before eventually exploding, "where do you want it to be moving with 3,231.55 G.P? There's barely anything I can do with that except manifest my domain."

Sigh. I had the feeling it would come to this, and most likely he did too.

"Listen, I don't really know what to tell you. You've chosen this yourself, now here's the consequence of that choice."

Having spent most of my free time skimming through the available spawns sections of the interface, I think I've gone through most, if not all, the categories in pretty much detail. Here's one undeniable fact I've come to learn through that endless skimming: there was no better spawn category than "undead," not because they were the strongest, but because they offered, for what they were worth, a very respectable strength/G.P cost ratio. Not a single other category rivaled it in that regard.

Of course, I'm not saying that undead are the strongest; there are plenty of strong acquirable spawns. However, if I were to consider the strength/G.P cost ratio, something that I, as a Dungeon Master, am bound to put close attention to, none of the others feel like they were worth it. That's most likely what Dungeon Master 04 was feeling right now.

 

"Come on, Dungeon Master 04, I know it's bad, but surely there's..." I began, attempting to cheer him up. As I opened Dungeon Master 04's interface, I immediately went silent. "Okay…”

_____________________________

 

[ ???'s Interface ]

 

Name: ???

Entity: Dungeon Core (04)

Designation: Dungeon Master

 

[ Ressource ]

- Raw Manacyte (R.M): 3 / 3

- Mana Available (M.A):

- Godhood Potential (G.P) Earned: 903.55

_____________________________

 

“...Nevermind."

_____________________________

 

[ ???'s Interface ]

Spawns

- Darkling Essence Lvl.4 (2)

- Darkling Essence Lvl.3 (1)

- Voidshade Serpent (2)

『Expand』

_____________________________

 

It was “that” bad.

I guess there wasn't really that much he could do with such a meager budget. My attempt at consolation quickly shifted to a more somber realization of the predicament.

Dungeon Master 04 let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, exactly. It's like trying to build a mansion with a handful of pebbles. Not happening."

"I get it," I replied, acknowledging the challenge. "But, hey, you are me, you're resourceful. I've seen you pull off miracles with limited means. Make the best out of it. Maybe—." As I was about to impart whiskers of my infinite wisdom upon the poor fellow Dungeon Master, I could feel his rage fuming, ready to explode anytime at me.

“Listen if you struggle that much with the budget you’ve been given, perhaps we can talk this out, somehow.”

“I’ll be fine!”

“You sure? If it’s too much to handle you can still consider changing to another spawn subcategory, or perhaps I could lend you some—”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll figure something out,” our of frustration and stubbornness.

“I see.” I guess that's where all my plans of creating a banking system come to an end. Too bad, my lending interest would’ve been to the roof.

“If you see it then you’d be wise enough to know that you should be moving already since I’ll need my full focus to make miracles happen with pocket change, and you’re in the way.”

"I get it, I’m leaving already. But I just wanted to say hang in there, Dungeon Master 04. We're all in this together."

“Just scram already.”

“Okay, okay I get it. Rude.” In these words, I left Dungeon Master 04 to manage his domain with his very limited funds, and I proceeded to check on the remaining Dungeon Masters, hoping for better news from the others.

Considering visiting Dungeon Master 01 next, I hesitated. Having just experienced the bitter frustration of Dungeon Master 04 dealing with his limited resources, I knew full well that Dungeon Master 01 was contending not only with Celestial Beings, a subcategory that rivaled the challenges of Eldritch Beings, but also overseeing the entirety of the sentient section, and thus is bound to face the same issue as did Dungeon Master 02.

Now that I think of what he has to deal with, I should really go help him in my free time, but for now, let's ignore him.

Considering whether to visit Dungeon Master 01 or Dungeon Master 05 next, I hesitated. Having just experienced the bitter frustration of Dungeon Master 04 dealing with his limited resources, I knew I was bound to encounter similar sentiments from Dungeon Master 01, who had the challenging task of managing Celestial Beings and overseeing the entirety of the sentient section. Similarly, Dungeon Master 05 dealt with Mythical Beasts, a sub-category I had avoided due to its exorbitant pricing. It was a perfect recipe for disaster.

Having had my fill of negativity for the day, I decided to skip the high-potential trouble and headed straight to Dungeon Master 03. He had taken charge of Familiar-type monsters, shadow creatures, and Animalistic Monsters.

"Dungeon Master 03, how's everything going?" I inquired, taking my cheeriest voice.

"Ah, Dungeon Master 00, huh? Things are progressing quite well. You know, Familiar-types are rather cost-effective to acquire. Of course nowhere as affordable as the undeads, but their affordability allows for quantitative deployment and experimentation without draining the resources excessively," he explained as he opened the interface for me to behold.

_____________________________

 

[ ???'s Interface ]

 

Name: ???

Entity: Dungeon Core (03)

Designation: Dungeon Master

 

[ Ressource ]

- Raw Manacyte (R.M): 3 / 3

- Mana Available (M.A):

- Godhood Potential (G.P) Earned: 1203.55

 

[ Spawns ]

- Voidshade Alpha Lvl.22 (1)

- Frostbite Direwolves Lvl.8 (3)

- Stalker Hounds Lvl.7 (8)

- Shadow Stalker Hounds Lvl.15 (2)

- Astral Razorclaw Beta Lvl.11 (4)

- Thunderhowl Pack Lvl.8 (8)

『Expand』

_____________________________

 

"That's good to hear," I replied, genuinely relieved to encounter a more optimistic response.

“Same thing could be said about animalistic monsters while far behind the undead, the Animalistic Monsters category offers an extensive array of choices, ranging from feline and canine to reptilians and beyond.”

There was one particular reason for which one single dungeon master was allocated to three different monster categories; actually, nevermind, there were two, with the first being that there were only seven of us, and the second, which happened to be the main reason, was that the phenomenon and that I and thus "us" came to refer to as "cross-over." Among the different categories of spawn, especially for the trio (familiar-type monsters, shadow creatures, and animalistic monsters), it's not uncommon to find a particular spawn present in two or three different sub-categories, be it a single aspect or a different one. It was, in fact, under that very premise that shadow creature subcategories existed; most, if not all, of the creatures within the shadow were spawns that could be found within the categories, but with the single difference that those spawns had shadow characteristics.

“The diversity is simply staggering. It's like having a vast menu of options, and the challenge mostly lies in selecting the right combination.”

“I see.”

With that, Dungeon Master 03 went on to explain not only the matter of his spawn or his domain but also what he planned to do in regard to both. Especially compared to the last Dungeon Master I'd visited, he was doing pretty well and was very enthusiastic about the future. Now that I think about it, Dungeon Master 03 could be considered an optimist, just in his own twisted way. Trying to forget the toxicity of the previous encounter, I spent some time with Dungeon Master 03 until I decided it was time for me to leave. I still had Dungeon Master 06 to check on before my next invasion, although I didn't know exactly when it would happen, I simply knew that, as always, it would.

But just as I was about to take my leave, Dungeon Master 03 halted me. "Wait."

"Hm? What is it, fellow Dungeon Master?"

"There's something I have to talk to you about."

"See, everything is going great."

"I can see that."

"Be it spawns-wise or domain-wise."

"Okay, yeah?"

What's with this tense buildup? Why the shyness? Dungeon Master 03 seemed hesitant for a moment before finally speaking up, "I've yet to acquire a spawn that I would have become my Domain Guardian, but I've already put aside the GP needed for that, so..."

"What's the point you're coming at?" I asked, more or less guessing where he was coming from. "Do you want me to attribute you some more G.P?"

From the way he was silent, it seemed that I hit the mark. But then, as if regretting what he was about to suggest, he immediately went on to offer instead, "Even if you don't lend me G.P, I could earn them myself, meaning..."

"Meaning that you want to go to the forefront and harvest the G.P yourself?"

Initially, I assumed that the authority that allowed Tusko Vagar to seemingly operate as if he had multiple classes worked differently for me. After all, I didn't have any classes; I was what I was. However, now that I knew the authority didn't grant him multiple classes but instead simply split or cloned him into several versions of his "soul," each wielding similar characteristics, I realized how wrong I was. The “Ethereal Echo” authority operated on me exactly the same way it did with Tusko Vagar.

Just like how Tusko Vagar essentially wielded a single body that he could have his splits/clones take control of, giving the impression of him essentially changing classes, I along with the other Dungeon Master, through “Ethereal Echo”, was able to materialize one of the Dungeon Master's domains to take my “Undead” domain’s place.

It seemed like a Dungeon version of "several souls, a single body": several domains, a single territory.

Once again, similar to Tusko Vagar's case, only one of our domains could be materialized at a time, but we had full control over the “when” part of the shifting process. Truly an incredible power. But as incredible as this power was, it left me with more questions than answers.

How did this work logistically? Where does the Dungeon Masters domain exist when not materialized, for they clearly existed? How exactly does this even work? I could comprehend it for souls' splits/clones, as they existed wherever my mind was, but dungeons were physical masses, right? Is it like downloaded into reality then uploaded into a mysterious plane of existence that exists as a server? If yes then what the fuck?! If not, then just how?

From the moment I acquired my first authority to the latest, they, while powerful and versatile, have consistently defied conventional understanding. They operate beyond the control of an interface, whether mine or theirs, and seem to follow their own mysterious rules that still evade my understanding. I don't know much, but one thing is clear: when it comes to questions about these authorities, I'll never run out of them.

However, if there's one question I can give an answer to, it was Dungeon 03's request for the next batch of invaders. "Dungeon Master 00, give me the next batch of invaders; I'll deal with them with my domain. It is ready; all that I have to do is acquire a Dungeon Guardian; I'll be able to handle anything out there," he declared confidently. "What do you think? Just the next batch."

 

I, sharing the hustling nature as him, could clearly see what he was trying to achieve here, and he most likely knew that. This was, for him, the most roundabout way to ask for more G.P, wanting to take advantage of the 76/24 G.P ratio we, as a collective, have agreed upon. I, in his shoes, could easily see myself making the same demand. I understood, but today, being seated in the position that I was in, I couldn't simply act as I would like to.

"Dungeon Master 03, I understand more than you can imagine where you're coming from and where you're going, but this isn't a decision I can take alone."

"Since when."

"Since I had to coexist with six equally selfish, equally stubborn, equally resentful versions of myself. Decisions like these affect all of us, and it's not something I can decide unilaterally. I’ll have to talk about this to the others, then we’ll come to a consensus."

Dungeon Master 03 sighed, sinking into a tense silence before saying, "fine, I let you discuss this to the others, you were heading to them, right? Go ahead. I’ll be waiting here for an answer."

“This Dungeon Master will do his best.”

On these words, I left to go straight to the last Dungeon Master I’ve yet to visit, apart from the two I’ve deliberately chosen to ignore—Dungeon Master 06, who was the one to take over the "forest creatures," and who happened to be the one keeping a big surprise for not just me but the other as well.