Monster World had, at one time, been a harmless board game. Even now it was a board game, but its demeanor had… changed a bit.
The Game Master went by the name of Ryo Bakura, and he had been the one to create the game world (Monster World had the same rules and basic equipment worldwide, but beyond that it was a build-it-yourself deal). The little miniatures that inhabited the board had felt every ounce of care and pride he'd put into making them, and so were very proud of their master, as well.
But several things changed when the beloved Game Master was eight.
No one had thought much of it at first, but a kind of thrill had run through the board. It was in the aftereffects that the miniatures realized they could move on their own. Somehow, life had been breathed into them.
A group of stationary miniatures had moved through, and they were assumed to be adventurers. This turned out to be correct, as a day later, word spread that the adventurers had been defeated by the Dark Master Zorc.
That was another change. For as long as anyone could remember, there was no Dark Master, only the Black Knight. Apparently the hierarchy had been thrown for a loop.
So now the ruler of Monster World was called Zorc, and it was said that he was an ugly thing, in looks and personality.
With his arrival came a slew of monsters more powerful and grotesque than any before. Even the NPCs were at risk from these- a lumberjack had been brutally destroyed, the body dragged away in pieces by the monsters. Since the incident residents moved in large groups.
Even adventurers were overcome by the monsters, though they were an odd bunch. They only seemed to come alive after a fumble or a loss. After that they would cry and scream and panic, leaving themselves open to attack. The NPCs had to come to the rescue many times after a game, and they listened to the various stories.
All of the adventurers failed in their games, and claimed that when they lost, the Game Master had trapped them inside the miniatures. No one thought this sounded like their beloved Game Master, but the adventurers insisted, so the conclusion they came to was that Ryo Bakura was possessed. It was not unheard of. A Beast Tamer could change the thoughts, morals, and alliances of monsters- why would the Game Master be immune to such a thing?
And so they decided there were two Game Masters: The Ryo Master and (for lack of a better name) the Ghost Master.