Survival became my first priority. I had to learn quickly, or I’d be devoured like any other prey in this cursed dungeon. Every corner hid a predator far stronger than me. The dungeon was a brutal hierarchy, and I, reborn as a mere low-level monster, was at the very bottom.

I couldn’t afford to be reckless. My new body moved with terrifying speed, allowing me to scuttle across the shadows and avoid the more dangerous beasts that roamed this layer of the dungeon. The larger monsters, the ones whose footsteps caused the ground to shake, I kept far away from them. I knew their power by instinct. Challenging them too soon would be my death sentence.

But the weak? They were mine.

I devoured everything that wasn’t too strong. Small creatures that dared to cross my web were met with swift death. My venom was potent, paralyzing them long enough for me to tear them apart. Rats, goblins, and low-level insects fell before me, their cores consumed, each one adding to my growing strength. With every kill, I felt myself changing. My body grew larger, my limbs more powerful, and my senses sharper.

Weeks passed, and my hunger never ceased. The urge to evolve, to grow, consumed me. I stayed hidden in the shadows, never engaging with creatures that could overpower me. I knew my limits until one day, I reached them.

I had grown large, my black body now gleaming with an eerie shine, my legs thick and powerful enough to crush bone. It was time. The boss of this dungeon, a massive reptilian beast, a crocodile with thick scales and razor-sharp claws, ruled this territory. It had been the apex predator here for as long as I had existed in this form, and now, I would challenge it.

The confrontation was inevitable.

I tracked the beast to its lair, a dark cavern filled with the stench of decay and old bones. Its glowing yellow eyes stared at me, unamused by the sight of what it likely considered a mere spider. But I had grown stronger, more powerful, and I wasn’t the same creature that had once scurried through the cracks of this dungeon.

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The battle was fierce. The beast was faster and more vicious than anything I had faced before. Its claws raked at me, trying to crush me beneath its weight, but I was faster. I darted in and out of its reach, spinning webs as I moved, using the environment to my advantage. It roared in frustration, snapping its jaws at me, but I kept my distance, wearing it down with venomous bites and trapping it within a cocoon of webbing.

As it weakened, I closed in for the kill. With a final strike, my fangs sank deep into its neck, injecting my venom until the beast stopped moving. Its massive form slumped to the ground, and I knew I had won.

I devoured the beast’s core, a powerful crystal that pulsed with energy. The moment it entered my body, I felt a surge of power unlike anything I had ever experienced. My body grew, my senses sharpened even further, and I knew I had evolved.

I was no longer a low-level monster. I had taken the throne of this dungeon layer.

The dungeon itself seemed to respond to my transformation. As the new ruler of this lair, the creatures that spawned here began to change. No longer were they the random assortment of monsters that had roamed before. Now, they were all spiders my minions. The lair was mine, and under my control, it had become a nest for my kind.

I explored my new abilities as the dungeon’s boss. The power I wielded was far greater than I had imagined. I could control the spawning of monsters, decide which creatures would appear, and now, I had the ability to interact with the outside world.

Through some ancient mechanism within the dungeon, I discovered I could open a portal—a gateway to the human world. I knew that if I was ever to have my revenge on the hunters who betrayed me, I needed to lure them in. I activated the dungeon’s portal system, sending a rift into the human realm.

On the other side, humans would see the message:

Dungeon: Low-Level Dungeon

It was labeled as a challenge for players between levels 5 and 10 weak adventurers, ones who would be easy prey for my growing army of spiders.

I smiled inwardly. My control over the dungeon allowed me to adjust the difficulty and regulate who could enter. For now, I would keep the threshold low. Let the weak ones come. They would serve as food for my minions and further strengthen my power. But as I grew stronger, I would raise the level cap. Eventually, I would lure the hunters who betrayed me. I would trap them in my web and make them suffer.

The first adventurers would come soon. They would enter, believing it to be just another dungeon. But they had no idea the true terror that awaited them within the lair of the King