“Hey, guys, quick question for you all. If you had a choice, would you rather have an Elemental Titan, or a Celestial Serpent as a Guardian?”

  “What level exactly are you talking about, Dungeon Master 04?

  “Does it matter, though?”

  “It does.”

  “Erm, let's see. I didn't think about the level, so let's just say that they're at the same level?

  “You do realize that if they're at the same level, this is a one-sided loss for the Elemental Titan. So unless you're talking about relative levels, this comparison is going to be very stupid to make.”

  “Okay, relative level it is. So basically a…”

  “—Level 27 Elemental Titan against a level 12 Celestial Serpent.” Dungeon Master 01 calibrated on Dungeon Master 04’s behalf.

  “Yes, that! Same-ish base attack, same-ish base defense, no title involved except the innate ones.

  "Hm, let's see." With nothing else better to do, I decided to play along, whipping out my interface to see what the two creatures' stats looked like. "Hm, it looks quite balanced out."

  "Yep, but you can only choose one."

  "Alright, alright."

  "Is my domain still my domain, or is it some hypothetical domain?"

  "I didn't think of a hypothetical domain, so yes, your current domain."

  "I see. If that's the case, then I'll take the Level 17 Elemental Titan."

  "Me too," followed Dungeon Master 02, and so did Dungeon Master 06. "Me too."

  "Why?"

  "The Celestial Serpent's overall stats are well-rounded. In fact, stat-wise and especially mobility-wise, it would greatly outmaneuver a Level 17 Elemental Titan. However, my domain isn't a place to accommodate most of those aforementioned mobility advantages, so I might as well stick with the Elemental Titan if all that I'm going to get out of a flying snake is a slithering one."

  "Same."

  "But if you're saying that the domain is the one formed by the chosen domain guardian instead of my current domain, then it's going to be a whole other matter."

  "Yep."

  And just like that, we delved into debates about mostly hypothetical power scaling battles concerning the numerous available spawns. There were plenty of them—enough to keep those of us with a little too much free time on our hands occupied, wasting away our time as we waited for our next human invasion. We’ve yet to have been invaded since the day we acquired our fourth authority so it was safe to assume that not a long time has gone since, or at the very least not too much.

  We were truly fortunate to have Dungeon Master 06’s domain, Dungeon Master 06 himself, and, of course, the Ethereal Echo authority that allowed those two to exist in the first place. Considering how little G.P we were getting from human invasions in comparison to what we were receiving from his domain, any lingering guilt I might have had, if I ever had any, about having killed a fellow reincarnate dissipated.

  As I pondered this, I couldn't help but wonder how strong my dungeon would have been without that authority—no doubt nowhere near as robust as it currently stands. I can't help but feel grateful for Tusko Vagar's sacrifice; he went down so that my G.P reserves could go up.

  We will never forget your contribution.

  Now that I think of it, speaking of going down, I couldn't help but think of our formerly youngest, Dungeon Master 07. It's been some time since what we collectively decided to call what happened the Dungeon Master 07 incident. To this day, I wouldn't know how to explain what happened that day.

  On that fateful day, our youngest Dungeon Master, on his way to attempt to travel to the other side of the world, beyond the confines of our own domain, met an unfortunate end.

  What should have happened—or at least what we expected to happen—was that Dungeon Master 07 would be sent out there like an independent soul, returning once his mission was complete.

  It might sound like a lot of expectation, but he wasn't supposed to go alone; he was entrusted with an authority—one that should have allowed him to bypass the only obstacle that should be able to stop a man with a mission: Death.

  Instead, what happened was that Dungeon Master 07 was gone, but somehow the authority remained with us. Naturally the question we asked ourselves was where to? Where did he go? Did he make it through failing to keep the authority on himself but successfully making it into a proper vessel, or could it be that he just disappeared?

  Just the thought of it gave me a metaphorical headache.

  I knew that we, Dungeon Masters, existed only because Ethereal Echo made “us” happen, but I don't think there was anything wrong with caring about one another. Annoying as they are, they were just other “me”, and we all shared the same goal. So, yes, the prospect of one of us being just gone was a rightfully sad one.

  To be honest, right after what happened, I seriously considered creating another one of us to try again, hoping to catch a glimpse of what went wrong. I wasn’t entirely confident, but with careful attention and the support of the Otherworldly Synergy authority, there was a chance. If one of us attempted what Dungeon Master 07 did, I might be able to see it firsthand—and finally understand exactly what went wrong.

  But as I thought about it over, or to be exact, as I nurtured the hope that at least Dungeon Master 07 survived and made it to the other side, I was certain that upon noticing that the authority did not follow him, he would undoubtedly come back to us. Betting on that, I decided to not launch ourselves into any hasty attempt. As for when exactly we should ultimately give up on that, we settled that day on our next human invasion.

  Basing our estimation on the rate at which Kevin Karstark was going after us at the end of each of his lifetimes and the rate at which we were invaded by humans before and after encountering Kevin Karstark and his comrades, we estimated that we were invaded by humans at least once in timeframes ranging between 35 to 149 years on average. So, we thought that should be enough time for Dungeon Master 07 to return to us seeking an explanation for what happened. In other words, our expectation was that the next human invasion should be done by him—should he be recognized by the interface as an invader instead of one of us.

  So with trust in our beloved Dungeon Master 07 in our virtual heart, we waited like we never did before for our next human invasion.

  ***

  Some more time passed, still no sign of any human invasion.

  "Guys, there's this thing that's been lingering in my mind for some time now, and it has to come out."

  "What is it again this time?"

  "Okay, hear me out. Do you guys think that if Dungeon Master 07 survived and is truly out there, do you think that amidst his 'hard work,' he tapped into one of the natives?"

  "Oh, come on!"

  "What?"

  "That's a legit question, right? One that deserves to be asked."

  "Even so, dude..."

  "I know we don't want to end up like Kevin Karstark, but it should be fine to interact that way with them, right?"

  "Well..."

  "Humans of this world don't seem any different from humans back home, so it should be alright, right?"

  "Tsk tsk tsk, as regrettable as what happened to Dungeon Master 07, it's a good thing he was the one sent on that mission and not you, Dungeon Master 04."

  "Why?"

  "If you're this "peculiar" right now, I can't imagine what you would be like with a human body."

  "Normal, absolutely normal. Don't you guys pretend that any of you are better than me; I know at least half of you thought about it."

  "I never did," inferred Dungeon Master 06.

  "You're too busy with your domain anyway, so you don't count. It's to you others that my accusation was directed at."

  "Well, you might be right. At least we have the decency to keep our thoughts to ourselves."

  "It's called being open-minded and authentic."

  "Not sure if that's the right way to describe what I'm hearing, but alright."

  "If you guys are wondering if I hit something during the time I was out there, I’ll answer that one for you all," a very familiar voice suddenly said.

  "Huh?"

  Nonchalantly, the voice went on to add, "I did, in fact, hit something. Three peons by the age of 18. Four Verdenkind by my middle twenties, and one Highbreed on a very clumsy night.”

  It took us some time to register to whom exactly the voice belonged. It belonged to the one we eagerly waited for the arrival of as an invader.

  "Dungeon Master 07!"

  Instead, he arrived like that, without a warning, much like the day the other Dungeons were spawned upon me unannounced by the Ethereal Echo Authority.