Game Master

GM.

Game Master — the ones in charge of running a game, pure and simple.

Strictly speaking, God's Games — the game labyrinths — had no such thing as the GMs of old-era games. Once a developer handed over the 'source' that formed the foundation of a game labyrinth, there was almost nothing left for the company to do.

They had attempted updates a handful of times to patch discovered problems, but every attempt had been blocked by Yggdrasil.

Every single time, the labyrinth's own system window had been commandeered to display that refusal.

Strictly speaking, Yggdrasil itself was the GM.

"GM authority in a game labyrinth? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

If YggON was telling the truth, then worrying about GA-ES's bugs was the least of anyone's problems.

"5555, has a gamer ever actually obtained GM authority over a game labyrinth?"

"Huh? Where's that coming from all of a sudden?"

"The one who caused all this might have GM authority."

"No way...... Hold on a sec."

A short while later, 5555's flustered voice came through.

"There's one case that matches! About twenty years ago, some user apparently got authority close to a GM's and caused absolute chaos."

So a gamer really had laid hands on a GM's power.

"The labyrinth's name is World of Genesis. It sank without a trace because nobody knew about it, but it's presumed to be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the original that World of Phantasm was built from!"

World of Genesis.

He'd never heard of the labyrinth. That World of Phantasm — an unfinished work — even had an original behind it was astonishing enough. But the important part was this: the one labyrinth where a gamer had seized GM authority just happened to be World of Phantasm's direct ancestor. That was no coincidence.

"It can't be chance. 5555, dig into Gabriel Darius for me."

"There's a mountain of data on Gabriel Darius, so you'll have to be specific about what you want."

"Keyword: World of Genesis. If my hunch is right, there's a connection somewhere."

"Hmm, got it. I'll start searching around World of Genesis."

5555 began picking through the vast ocean of information, dredging up what mattered piece by piece. Then she stumbled onto something unexpected.

"Wait, hold on...... this is......"

"Found something?"

"That GM incident twenty years ago? Gamers died in it. Several of them."

"People died in it?"

Why had he never heard of an incident like that?

"There are traces of the information being buried."

How did she dig up buried information that easily? 5555's abilities were, in more ways than one, beyond common sense.

"And? What does any of this have to do with Gabriel?"

"One of those dead gamers was named Cecilia Darius."

"Darius?"

In this world, bearing a family name was a privilege reserved for Gold rank and above. In other words, a surname itself was a badge of privilege — just like 5555's Unique Number.

A gamer sharing Gabriel's surname. There was no way that was a coincidence.

"What's the relationship between that gamer and Gabriel?"

"Cecilia, dead at thirty-four. She was famous enough back then that her death actually made the news. It was written off as an accidental death from unknown causes, but...... the kids in the funeral photo — don't they look familiar to you?"

A single image arrived.

It was the photo from the article: a man who appeared to be Cecilia Darius's husband, standing with two children. They were still young, but their faces were unmistakably familiar.

"Don't tell me."

Cecilia Darius — a victim caught in the rampage of a gamer who had seized GM authority. And she was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠none other than......

"Gabriel and Linpel's birth mother."

Gabriel Darius, every preparation complete and waiting only for his moment, found the old memory surfacing unbidden. Who had it been, again, that had screamed those words?

After a moment's thought, the face of his 'father' rose in his mind.

No parent should ever say such things to a child. But the greater problem was that even hearing that verbal abuse, Gabriel had felt nothing at all. He'd simply concluded there was nothing to be done about it. After all, when 'Mother' died, Gabriel hadn't shed a single tear — he'd been perfectly composed.

The sound of his younger brother Linpel Darius wailing felt strangely distant. When his mother became someone who would never return, and when his father hurled that abuse, Gabriel had thought only, quietly, of what he himself needed to do. Like a cold, calculating machine, he had thought about why his mother had to die.

It had been Gabriel's grandfather who attained Gold rank and earned the name of 'Darius'. The descendants of Gold could inherit the rank and the name upon reaching adulthood at eighteen, provided they met the conditions. Fail them, and the surname was stripped away along with a demotion to Silver — though such cases were rare.

The Golds who had thrown themselves more eagerly than anyone into the face of Yggdrasil, that colossal upheaval decades ago, had missed their window to retire and become ghosts clinging to faded glory. Now their descendants strutted about wearing the Gold title like borrowed plumage.

Mother had been a victim of that era.

She had pursued a life more authentically 'Gold' than anyone — a woman who seemed painted straight out of the golden age those ghosts still reminisced about. But the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and the stagnant, rotting water had swallowed her whole. She died for reasons no one could explain.

At the funeral, reporters who knew nothing of decorum snapped photographs without pause. Standing before his mother's altar, listening to his father's venom and his brother's endless wailing, Gabriel had suddenly thought:

Wouldn't it be better to just smash it all to pieces?

"Hm."

Now, Gabriel stood alone at the very heart of World of Phantasm. There was no abusive father here, no eternally wailing brother. The surroundings were in utter chaos, yet to Gabriel this place felt tranquil.

Sensing something, he turned his head. His 'guests' had arrived.

Regrettably, they were not the guests he'd been waiting for, and he let out a sigh. Not just one — several. A few familiar faces among them, too.

"To think you'd be the first to arrive. You've exceeded my expectations."

The one who seemed to lead them stepped forward.

"Shattering your expectations has been my specialty since the old days."

"I suppose it has."

He was a man bound to Gabriel by a long and bitter enmity.

"Well, I have nothing to hand over, but consider yourselves welcome. This is the endpoint of World of Phantasm. Seven — and GA-ES. Hmm. Still going by that name, are we? Sounds like a jab, honestly."

Seven, and the GA-ES he led. They had been the first to reach the 'endpoint' of World of Phantasm.

"Don't be like that — it's a name that symbolizes our friendship, isn't it? And what do you mean, nothing to hand over? There's a treasure of staggering value right there."

Seven pointed at the glowing tree behind Gabriel.

"Well, no need for long speeches between us. Right?"

At Seven's words, Gabriel swept his hair back. Between us, indeed. Seven's words were, unfortunately, accurate.

"The first time we met was eighteen years ago. An unpleasant bastard who never actually smiled and yet strutted around grinning like the merriest man alive."

"I don't act cheerful, I am cheerful. Unlike some permanently gloomy mope I could name."

Thorns laced every word on both sides. The GA-ES guild members looked visibly rattled to learn that Seven and Gabriel knew each other at all.

"Well, enough pointless bickering. You know what I'm here for, don't you? I'm sure you've got your own agenda, but that's that and this is this. Step down from there, Gabriel. Slowly."

Seven drew his weapon. Seven tarnished blades began whirling around him in lazy circles.

"We'll be taking World of Phantasm for ourselves."

"Hmph."

Gabriel cast a brief, dismissive glance at the ominous tarnished weapons and snorted.

"You've always hated anything that didn't go your way. I suppose dragging Latia down from its throne doesn't sit well with you either?"

"For me, sure. But my kids are different. They despise Latia and your Linzea with every fiber of their being. Call it karma."

Gabriel's gaze drifted across the GA-ES members.

"Karma Linzea built, is it? Hmm......"

As he committed each of their faces to memory, one by one, Gabriel noticed that someone important was missing from this gathering.

"Where's the woman who manipulated my idiot brother and stole our accounts? Cynthia, was it — or should I say Asea now?"

"......!"

Seven's expression stiffened, just slightly.

"Hmm, is that so? Perhaps she ran into a monster on the way here. A monster she created, so she had it coming. I'd call that her own 'karma,' too."

Only an idiot could fail to grasp which 'monster' Gabriel meant.

"Going straight for the wound, are you?"

Seven's lips curled.

"I told you — no more pointless bickering. I'm a busy man. There's still much to be done if we're to drag ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the heavens down to earth."

"Fine by me."

Gabriel shrugged off his suit jacket and drew forth a spear. Gabriel's main armament had always been a sword, so Seven's brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"I need a warm-up before I taste the main dish."

"A warm-up? You mean we're the appetizers?"

"I'd settle for being served an appetizer."

Gabriel spun the spear lightly two or three times, then rested it across his shoulder.

"Back in the day you came at me over every little thing, and you never won. Not once. Today will be no different."

"Oh, that's all true enough. But that losing streak ends today."

At Seven's signal, every GA-ES member drew a black weapon.

"Believe me, I'd love to settle this one-on-one. But right now, GA-ES's purpose comes before my pride."

"Fighting you one at a time would be nothing but a chore anyway. Feels good to own the whole world thanks to the 'bugs,' I imagine......"

Seven's expression stiffened once more. Gabriel already knew about the 'bugs.' The implications of that were enormous.

"You people only know the narrow slice of sky visible from the bottom of a well."

Seven felt an unease he couldn't name.

"Privilege Drive."

"It's already started, huh."

Ryu Hwi, who had finally drawn near the glowing tree, clicked his tongue. He'd taken the fastest route possible, but apparently 'first place' had been stolen out from under him. The sounds of battle had been ringing from the far side this whole time.

"Dodge the bugs and there's gamers, dodge the gamers and there's bugs...... This is a damn nightmare."

He grumbled, but apart from being a little worse for wear, he was completely unharmed. Intuition Lv.3 had spared him most of the trouble.

"The GA-ES lot, probably. Looks like they got teleported closer than we did."

Arriving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a little late wasn't a disaster. As YggON had said, if Gabriel truly held 'GM authority,' then even GA-ES with its arsenal of bugs would be hard-pressed to handle him.

No — hard-pressed didn't begin to cover it. Maybe......

"Either way, let's hurry. We're almost there."

As they approached the glowing tree, the effects of the fiftieth floor's collapse faded dramatically. The shattered, quaking ground stabilized, and for the first time the path became something he could walk in peace.

This place was the very center of the skeleton that formed World of Phantasm. No matter how violently the fiftieth floor collapsed, this spot alone remained pristine.

"......"

The closer Ryu Hwi drew to that center, the harder his expression became. Intuition was screaming — so loudly it was almost obnoxious. Keep walking, and he would come face to face with whatever was generating this warning.

Ryu Hwi kept walking. Whatever lay ahead, there was no reason to hesitate.

"So you've finally arrived."

Seven, who had blocked his path earlier, and every last member of GA-ES lay sprawled across the ground. And at the center of that utterly devastated scene stood a demon.

"Welcome, Ryu7017."

The demon, gripping a spear stained scarlet, met Ryu Hwi's gaze and smiled.

"This is the final stage."