Wolf

“It started out as something small. Just a dispute between the two,” Talroth continues after a moment of silence. “The insect wanted to enforce rules on every planet of the known multiverse.” The term multiverse catches my attention, meaning that the other progenitors are likely outside of the bounds of the System, or even the universe that the Milky Way Galaxy is located in. “And while many of the other progenitors refused some of her rules, my master refused them all.”

“Yeah, I can see why that would cause a problem,” I mutter, making Talroth nod his head in agreement.

“Over the years, more and more arguments broke out between the two, and eventually an entire war that dragged in both of their universes, and even some of the other progenitors’ universes,” Talroth continues, making my eyes widen at the hint that each progenitor has their own damned universe.

If that’s the case, does that mean we’re in The Reaper’s universe or something?

“Stop right there,” Diane says, making the devourer turn to her with a scowl, “you said the other progenitors’ universes. What does that mean?”

Talroth glares at her for a few seconds before turning to me and noticing my curiosity. So he answers the question, “All of the progenitors have a universe that they oversee. But most of them tend to not interact with it at all, leaving the mortals to their own devices.”

“What about the System expansion in our universe?” I ask, curious as to what that’s all about.

“That’s his excellency expanding his universe without personally acting himself and breaking the progenitor laws,” Talroth explains before shaking his head and adding, “but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. To put it simply, all of the progenitors formed a council to deal with his excellency and the insect, banishing them to their realms and locking them in there. They then created the progenitor laws, banning any and all progenitors from directly interfering with the mortal society without their consent.”

My attention locks onto the ‘without their consent’ part, making me understand how The Reaper was able to create the System even with these laws set in place. Because – outside of the Technocrats – everyone enjoys the power that the System gives them, even if they don’t particularly enjoy all of the things the System might do to them. Like the Administrator Dungeon and Initialization.

“Back to the topic of the System expansion, none of the other progenitors care about their universes anymore, outside of your ancestor. But at the same time, they’re not just going to roll over and let him steal parts of their universe,” Talroth says while crossing his arms. “So he made the Initialization to expand his own universe, taking in galaxies from another.”

“And let me guess,” I start, a slight frown forming on my face, “the reason he wanted to expand was to have more people in his System bound to him by Voided Karma?”

Both Talroth and Diane look surprised, but the devourer gains a pleased look on his face just a few moments later as he answers, “That’s correct. Well done, your highness.”

Diane clearly doesn’t fully understand what Voided Karma is judging by the look on her face, but I don’t explain for her right now and instead continue, “And his use of Voided Karma is his way of avoiding breaking the progenitor laws, since the people bound to him are technically paying him back a favor they didn’t realize they owed.”

This time the devourer actually smiles at me as he nods, seemingly unaware that I’m not exactly happy with The Reaper’s actions.

Maybe it’s best to leave it that way though, considering that he’s helping me. And that could come in handy during sponsorships.

I give Diane a look that says I’ll explain later, making her nod her head in response. Meanwhile I notice Talroth’s gaze drift down to Sapphire, surprising me for a moment along with her as she hides behind me. But all the man does is give her a light nod of respect before focusing on me again.

“What are the Executives of the System meant for?” I ask out of mere curiosity. After all, I did spend a couple hundred floors – nearly a year and a half – working towards the goal of becoming one.

Talroth looks vaguely surprised for a moment, only to glance at Diane and frown as he answers, “The Players in the System needed leaders who could help them grow in strength, so his excellency made a game that suited his style of entertainment and chose strong leaders for them while introducing them to the universe.” He turns back to me again. “The Executives never had any true power over the System, beyond temporarily cutting people off from using their System skills and being used as pawns for expanding his universe. So he never really cared about what they did.”

That’s about what I expected.

Diane clenches her fist while staring at the back of the devourer’s head, making me wonder for a second if she’s gonna punch him. But she doesn’t. Which is probably for the best, considering that I’m pretty sure he’s stronger than her.

Wait a second.

I blink in surprise before looking around for a few seconds.

“What’s wrong?” Diane asks with a worried expression.

“Oh, nothing,” I answer, turning to face her, “It’s just that I realized that Sapphire and I have been in here for longer than we’re normally allowed.”

Diane looks surprised by that, but Talroth doesn’t share her surprise and even states, “That’s because there aren’t any limitations on how long a Beta Tester stays in the viewing rooms anymore. As long as you don’t just try to camp out in a viewing room forever, you’re fine. And I can’t see you doing that.”

Huh.

That’s… huh.

Certainly a nice benefit.

But I guess it makes sense, since one of the reasons the Competitors were locked from staying forever was because they could use all of the free time to spy on the other Competitors. Meanwhile the other Competitors don’t mean anything to me anymore, not now that they aren’t my competition. So it doesn’t matter.

And The Reaper knows that I have a reason to finish the Beta Dungeon, so there’s no point in putting a restriction on it.

There is one last thing I want to ask though.

“What’s the connection between harbingers and progenitors?” I ask with a frown.