The Question Of Eternity

Later that night, David visited with Alice once more. However, nothing interesting occurred. David brought Violet some pickled cucumbers and bell peppers as a tribute, which gave her another 45 dungeon points and brought her total up to 165DP. Violet wasn't ready to start trying to play the role of a dungeon merchant yet, but she still spent the entire 100MP she earned from David's two back-to-back visits on items she could later sell.

40MP went towards four lesser mana potions, 40MP towards two health potions, 10MP towards wild violets and honey lollipops, and 10MP was spent on two tins of black tea leaves. Violet wasn't sure if anyone would want to buy potions from her or not, but it seemed like a logical thing to invest in. Even if she couldn't manage to sell the potions to adventurers, maybe she'd be able to give them to some of her [Monsters] later on. More intelligent [Monsters] would likely know how to use them and would make good use of them to put up a better fight against any intruders. Still, Violet primarily planned to try and market her goods to adventurers.

The new day brought another 13MP, of which 10MP was spent on a glass jar full of honey. Violet's kodama also brought another four repeats, which brought her up to 169DP total. It would seem that even despite how hard the kodama was working, its efforts were in vain. There didn't seem to be anything new for it to forage for. Violet wondered if this was due to the season or perhaps its size being too limiting. It was unlikely that it could go very far with such a small stature, after all.

Since Violet felt like she had enough after last night's spending spree to start testing the concept of playing a dungeon merchant out today, she rested in the wildflower meadow and waited for someone to come and visit. Surprisingly, Theodore was the first to turn up. It had been several days since she had last seen him, so she smiled happily as she stood up to greet him.

Theodore offered Violet a friendly smile as he asked

"How have you been lately? I see you're still insisting on greeting people as soon as they enter the dungeon..."

Violet rolled her eyes as she replied

"I've been spending most of my time sleeping and resting in the dungeon core room recently. This is one of the first times in a while that I've tried to meet with adventurers. You just happened to coincidently be the first person I met today."

Theodore frowned as he asked

"Are you depressed? I know older dungeon masters tend to sleep more, but that's usually after they've established a large portion of their dungeon. It makes it easier to pass the time while they amass the dungeon points needed to invest in new floors and upgrades for their dungeon. You should still have plenty to do, though, as a newer dungeon master."

Violet shrugged as she replied

"I like sleeping. I don't need to sleep, but I can fall asleep right away whenever I lay down intending to do so. Plus, I get to have pleasant dreams of my life before I reincarnated."

Theodore pursed his lips, looking concerned. He didn't exactly want to pry into Violet's emotional state too much. Besides, it was only a real concern if the dungeon core was being affected by her mental state. Even if she were depressed or traumatized and was using sleep as a way to escape reality, it wasn't an issue so long as her mental state was otherwise stable enough to not corrupt the dungeon core. Due to Theodore's prolonged silence, Violet asked

"So, I had some questions about managing the dungeons in the long term. Like, do I have to live forever? Doesn't it get rather boring for older dungeons once they run out of space to build?"

Theodore's eyebrows had jumped up in concern at Violet's initial question, but his face evened out by the time Violet finished talking. The question of eternity wasn't exactly something most dungeon masters worried about so early on. Most wouldn't even think to ask until several decades to hundreds of years after becoming a dungeon master. Still, it wasn't like it wasn't a question that Theodore couldn't answer.

"Well, as I said, plenty of dungeon masters spend time sleeping once their dungeons have been built up enough to not have to worry about outside threats as much. It lets them amass mana and dungeon points without having to wait impatiently for it to happen. Others take up hobbies to keep them entertained while they wait. However, it isn't like dungeons have to last forever.

Dungeons have a largely symbiotic relationship with the people of this world. They're meant to help adventurers become stronger while feeding on the aether they produce to generate mana that can be used to further grow the dungeon. Dungeon masters make all of the creative decisions regarding the dungeons and are meant to be the face of the dungeon that communicates with the outside world. However, since dungeon masters aren't always so good at that, those like myself, dungeon diplomats, ended up taking on a more active role in ensuring relations between dungeons and the people of this world remain pleasant.

Still, living for eternity can be harder for those who were originally sapient beings. Elves and half-elves are used to living long lives, but even they have a difficult time as dungeon masters in the long term. Being separated from the outside world and the forests they have always loved is almost painful for them. Humans tend to be happier so long as they have loved ones who can live in the dungeon with them. Spending time with a romantic partner and raising children gives them a sense of meaning to their lives and they don't sense the peculiarness of the artificial dungeon environments like the elves do.

Still, there always comes a time when a dungeon master can't handle the torture of living forever anymore. At times like that, it is the job of their assigned dungeon diplomat to help them retire. I can't say whether your soul will end up reincarnating again or anything like that. We aren't equipped with knowledge regarding the afterlife. However, part of the reason for the dungeon core being exposed is that you can choose to end things at any time you wish. Although, I really would prefer if you tried to play your role as a dungeon master for a couple of centuries, at least."

Violet could sense that Theodore was very much concerned for her well-being. She gave a grateful smile as she reassured

"Don't worry, I'm not that eager to end things just yet. Admittedly, I don't intend to have any romantic relationships in this life. Ever since I became a dungeon master, my memory feels sharper and the memories I shared with my husband still hold a good bit of sway over me. I don't want to move on and find someone else to love in this life. Maybe that might make things more difficult for me in the long term, but that's alright.

Still, it is rather reassuring that I'm not going to be forced to live forever without any choice in the matter. It would be quite problematic if I spent all this time building up a strong dungeon that makes it difficult for anyone to harm the dungeon core just for it to backfire. I hope you'll be around whenever it does come time to retire."

While it was unlikely that Theodore would die first since he was still quite young as far as dungeon diplomats went, he didn't feel like reassuring Violet. She was still so young, practically a baby as far as dungeon masters went. He didn't like the idea of talking about such dark things any longer and he was eager to change the subject.