Dungeon POV

  "That was quick" I think to myself as I see a group of kids who look to be between 18 and 22 years old approaching my domain. I can't seem to leave my domain so all I can do is try to listen as they discuss whether or not to explore the strange cave … uh, my domain. Of course they have no way of knowing they're about to walk into a dungeon since dungeons don't exist in this world, or rather they didn't exist. I guess they technically do now seeing as I am one. Still, what are the odds I would be discovered less than a day after opening up my entrance? Listening to them talk it seems that I'm not the only weird thing to happen to earth lately. Why else would there be a reward for reporting anything strange. To my knowledge anything outside the norm is something governments usually try their best to suppress.

  Eventually they decide to come inside my domain. Even after verbally acknowledging the strangeness of it they still chose to enter. I can't say they're not brave, stupid maybe, but they've definitely got guts. I certainly wouldn't be exploring a strange hole in the ground if I where in their shoes. Things go pretty well for the first few minutes. I haven't had time to spawn more than a few hundred snakes and most of them are closer towards the floor boss. A few hundred may sound like a lot but there is several kilometers worth of twisted paths and dead ends piled into one cubic kilometer of space. As they relax, which is a mistake but I can't exactly tell them that, they start to talk and theorize. Some of the theories they have about what I could be or what caused me to appear are actually quite hilarious. On the flip side I've been able to learn a little about what's been happening in the world lately.

  It seems I've been dead for a while. Nothing like what they describe was happening when I was alive. Trust me I would have known about it! Yet it's apparently been happening for a while. In a strange kind of way I'm almost relieved to not be the only weirdness happening to this world. Although, I am a little bummed that the world only started getting interesting after I died. Still, listening to their stories I have a sneaky suspicion things are only just getting started. Perhaps the reason I am here is to help the people adapt to the world that is to come after the change is completed. Ok, I admit I'm grasping at straws but there has to be some reason I was put here right. My thoughts are soon interrupted by the party facing their first encounter. Let's hope it's not also their last encounter.

  Their first thought is to give it a wide birth and just go around. To be fair that would be a good plan, if that were a normal snake. The problem is that my snake has no intention of letting them ignore the encounter. No, it has a job to do and by god it's gonna do it. The snake heads straight at the party and one of the men, Eric I think the others called him, steps forward and takes up what could arguably pass for a defensive stance. If you squint and tilt your head while pretending really hard that is. Not that I could honestly do any better. I wouldn't even be able to tell there was anything wrong with his stance if not for information provided by the system. Still it does the job and my snake pauses for a moment.

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  Only a moment though as it soon lunges at Eric's leg. He then brings his sword like thing down and sends my little noodle flying. Not the most graceful attack. More like frantic flailing really, but it does connect which I guess counts. It's not dead though and soon begins making it's way back over towards the party. Even better, he whacked it towards the exit so now they have to get past it to leave. Unfortunately for them, while they're all focusing on that one snake more are coming up from deeper in. They don't even realize it until one of them bites the ankle of one of the girls. At level 1 the venom is far from lethal but they don't know that. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say a single dose is far from lethal. Any venom can be lethal if you use enough of it. Thirty minutes of what could generously be described as combat, but is more accurately described as targeted flailing, they manage to successfully leave my domain with more than a few bite marks. There would have been a lot more if not for the surprising amount of crudely put together armor they were wearing.

  On the plus side they did managed to rack up a few kills, earning me a full 12 DP. The question is what to actually spend it on. A new floor costs 200DP so that's out of the question for now. Which leaves either a new spawner or my first node. I must admit that I'm more than a little curious what kind of options I'll get for nodes. Part of that however is just wondering what a node actually is. For the sake of my own curiosity I decide to spawn my first node, or at least take a look at the options.

  Nodes

  Mushroom (edible): cost 10DP, will cause edible mushrooms to begin spawning within a certain area

  Mushroom (poisonous): cost 10DP, will cause poisonous mushrooms to spawn within a certain area

  Iron: cost 10DP will cause Iron ore to spawn within a certain area (note: it will need to be mined)

  Coal: cost 10DP will cause coal to spawn within a certain area (note: it will need to be mined)

  Treasure: cost 50DP spawns a treasure chest that will gradually fill with items and gear appropriate for the floor level of the floor it is placed on.

  Well that's certainly something, I'm tempted to save up for the treasure node. I'm also tempted to get the iron or coal node but I don't want large companies coming in and blast mining. The mushrooms don't interest me at all because I'm almost positive most people wouldn't pay any attention to them. That really only leaves the treasure node which I was already tempted to save up for. Before I fully commit to saving up for it however let me just check the spawners.

  Spawners

  Bat: 10DP

  Spider: 10Dp

  Snake: spawn new 10DP upgrade existing spawner to level 2, 20DP

  Ant: 10DP

  Rat: 10DP

  That's interesting It seems previously placed spawners can be upgrade. That would explain why spawner level matters in calculating DP gained from encounters. Kind of obvious really, now that I think about it. I'm really tempted to upgrade my snake spawner, but the last party could barely handle the snakes I have now. No, I think I'll stick to my original plan and save up for a treasure node. Let's just hope that first party doesn't paint such a picture that the authorities basically quarantine me.