Volume 1 Chapter 57
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Congratulations on clearing the first dungeon!!”
Those were the words of blessing and applause that greeted me as I stepped onto the 5th floor of Phase One.
The voice sounded feminine, but the face was androgynous-difficult to definitively categorize as either male or female. And those features… they were so perfectly formed they didn’t feel like they belonged to this world. It was a beauty that felt manufactured, like something mechanical or artificial.
”…Ah, in this world, you call the lowest-level first dungeon ‘Phase One Dungeon,’ don’t you! That’s so cool! Using terms like ‘Phase One’! Honestly, the people in our world should have put a bit more thought into naming our dungeons. I think about it constantly-the people back home totally lack any sense of naming!”
”…Er, right…… I see… and, who exactly are you?”
(Is this the final boss of Phase One?) I wondered, bracing myself. As I watched him-or her-she raised both hands and gave me a sunny smile.
”I’m not your enemy! Well, technically I am, but I’m definitely not an enemy right here, right now! That’s what I mean! Oh, and please, no need for formal speech! I’m not anyone important, really!”
”Uh, okay… I get it. For now, it means we don’t have to fight, right?”
”Yes, exactly! I only came out here to have a chat. Once someone clears the easiest first dungeon-meaning the Phase One Dungeon-the rules of this dungeon invasion state that we must greet the locals! I’ve been slow to introduce myself, but I serve as the Dungeon Master of this dungeon. My name is ‘@#$%%&^)@R$¥’… but since a resident of this world like you probably can’t pronounce that, just feel free to call me ‘Dungeon Master’!!”
Dungeon Master… so, the administrator of this dungeon. Why would such a high-ranking person just pop out like this?
”Understood… So, that Dungeon Master-san, why are you here?”
”Well, as I mentioned, it’s to explain the rules regarding the act of invasion¹ from our world to yours using these dungeons! To be honest… you could say this ‘Dungeon’ device is a tool created specifically for aggressive, hostile acts against your world!”
”Wh-what!?”
What the Dungeon Master-san said next was staggering.
”I can answer detailed questions if you ask, but the technical stuff gets pretty dense, so I’ll give you the simple version! Our world is what you’d call a ‘hyper-advanced civilization.’ You can assume that pretty much anything people in your world can imagine is technically possible for us! To make that possible, we need massive energy resources… and the highest energy source a human can utilize is actually ‘Soul Force Energy’²-a system that converts human life and souls into power.”
”Turning human lives into energy… you mean energy obtained by killing people?”
At those words, the inorganic beauty of the Dungeon Master’s face began to look like something truly terrifying.
”If you want to put it bluntly, yes! Of course, killing our own kind is a problem in our world too. Actually, since we’ve eliminated the concept of ‘lifespan,’ the value of a single life might even be higher for us! Naturally, we struggle immensely to secure Soul Force. So, after a lot of technical debate, the conclusion was: ‘If we can’t kill people from our own world, let’s have people from other worlds die’… and that was that!”
”Have other worlds die… Oh, so that’s what the dungeons are for?”
”Exactly! This dungeon is a collection device for Soul Force energy. It’s meant to recover and energize the soul force of those killed by Dungeon Monsters! Not only does it maintain the dungeon system in this world, but it also provides more than enough energy for our lives back home. From our perspective, we are grateful-truly, deeply grateful!”
To have human lives stolen and then be told they’re “grateful”… I didn’t even know how to respond to that.
”That… from this world’s perspective, feels like a massive problem…”
”Actually, it’s surprisingly not! Soul Force is the kind of thing that just returns to nature if you don’t collect and use it the moment a person dies. So, just because we collect and utilize it doesn’t mean anything specifically changes for you! Furthermore, this world is able to receive the benefits of our world’s hyper-advanced civilization through this dungeon device!”
”Ah, like [Dungeon Material]…?”
”Bingo! By the way, [Dungeon Stones] are just recycled waste products from when soul force is converted to energy! So, while we call it an act of invasion, fundamentally, we and this world have a ‘win-win’ relationship!”
The [Dungeon Stones] treated as a revolutionary energy source in this world are nothing but industrial waste in the Dungeon Master’s world. Just as the Dungeon Master said, it seems their world is far, far ahead of ours.
”Then, if there’s no problem with what you’re doing, why are you coming out here to explain this?”
”Because! Because those are the rules when conducting an invasion across worlds! God doesn’t allow the one-sided destruction of another world, and when taking resources from another world-even if they’re just going to waste-you have to act according to various rules! One of those is this direct explanation to the locals! There are many other rules, but I’ll skip the boring stuff for now!”
”…God… so they really exist?”
”Yes, of course! Though, I’m not talking about the religious stories you might have in this world. It’s just a transcendental existence in a higher dimension. If civilization in this world continues like this for another 10,000 years, you’ll probably be able to access God too!”
I didn’t really understand what kind of being it was, but it sounded like there was something even more powerful than the Dungeon Master. The world was a much bigger place than I had imagined.
”And so, the path you all take from here is up to you! We won’t be withdrawing these dungeons, so if you want to keep living by utilizing them, fine! In that case, we will continue to use the soul energy of those who die in the dungeons. If you want to eliminate our influence from this world, that’s also fine! I’ll tell you the conditions for that! Of all the dungeons created in this world, you must completely clear the seven ‘Sixth Dungeons’-the highest difficulty tier-located right here in Japan!”
The seven most difficult Sixth Dungeons… huh. I heard there were fifteen Phase Five Dungeons in Japan, the highest difficulty level, but I guess they’re categorized differently in the Dungeon Master’s world?
”If you pull that off, you’ll understand how to eliminate our dungeons! Then, it will be possible to shut down the dungeon devices! Of course, the blessings from the dungeons will disappear as well. And those conditions are the same for other dungeon regions too! Well, if you choose that path, we’ll just go bother some other world instead! We wouldn’t mind that at all!”
”I see… but can we even clear something that hard?”
”Of course you can! It would be hard for those with [Common Jobs], which people in this world call ‘Jackpot’ jobs, but among the [Rare Jobs] considered ‘Busts’ and other [Unique Jobs] whose true nature isn’t understood, there are some incredibly powerful jobs hidden! Actually, setting things up so the locals can clear the dungeons on their own is a requirement for invading other worlds. If we didn’t, God would just destroy our world in a heartbeat!”
It seemed even the invaders had to play by the rules. Whether our world would keep the dungeons or fight to remove them… that was a decision way above my pay grade as a rookie explorer.
”Let’s skip the philosophy and get to the good stuff. You’re heading to the second dungeon, Phase Two, next… By clearing this tutorial dungeon, you’re officially immune to ‘Dungeon Energy Sickness’ in the second dungeon!”
”Ah, that thing where you get drunk-like symptoms if you go to Phase Two without clearing Phase One…”
”Exactly! That’s a gimmick prepared because of the rule that we must not kill the locals unnecessarily!”
So, it looked like I would be able to start clearing Phase Two dungeons normally after I left this place. That was a relief.
”Well, it’s about time for me to wrap this up. You’ll remember what we talked about here even after you leave the dungeon… but I’ve made it so you won’t be able to share this information with others! I apologize for being selfish, but we want to keep the knowledge of our existence to a minimum, and we don’t want people prying into our business!”
”Ah, I see. That’s why nobody talks about-or rather, can’t talk about-what happens on the 5th floor of this dungeon.”
”Precisely! You’ll be the same… you’ll have the memories, but you’ll just won’t be able to find the words. It’s not harmful to your body, so don’t worry! Well then, I’ll be praying for your future success!”
And with a final wave from the mysterious Dungeon Master, I was sent on my way. I left the Phase One Dungeon behind, feeling less like a hero and more like a very small piece of a very large puzzle.
I had cleared the Phase One Dungeon today.
—
Summary:
The protagonist clears Phase One and meets the Dungeon Master, who reveals a shocking truth. Dungeons are actually harvesting devices for ‘Soul Force Energy’ from a hyper-advanced world. The protagonist is given a choice: continue using the dungeons or clear seven high-difficulty dungeons to remove them.
—
Trivia:
- Dungeon Stones are industrial waste to the invaders.
- A higher ‘God’ entity regulates inter-world invasions.
- Clearing Phase One provides immunity to Phase Two energy sickness.
- The DM’s name is literally unpronounceable to humans.
- There is a discrepancy between local dungeon counts and the DM’s stats
—
Character Insight:
The protagonist feels small and overwhelmed by the scale of the universe. The Dungeon Master is cheerful yet utterly cold regarding human life.
—
Lore And Worldbuilding Context:
The author uses the DM to bridge the gap between ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Sci-Fi’ elements in the series.
—
Glossary:
Notes:
• Dungeon Master – Administrator of the dungeon from a hyper-advanced world. Possesses an artificial, androgynous beauty.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply