He finally made it to his feet, holding himself up and using a rung for support. He drew ragged breaths, exhausted from the effort of standing up. For the first time since climbing down into the well he was grateful for the cold walls, ignoring the wet as he pressed his back into the cool surface. His head swam, pulse pounding through it like a hammer. His stomach churned with the threat of secondary eruptions.

It wasn’t the worst he’d ever felt. The worst was after eating one of his Great Aunt Marjory’s casseroles, which led him to taking up residence in his parent’s bathroom for ten hours. For all her efforts to push Jason into the waiting arms of the Lord, the closest she came was food poisoning so bad it had him praying for death.

Jason looked down at the snake, its incredible length piled up at the bottom of the well. It was big enough that there wasn’t anywhere for Jason to stand except on the snake itself. The largest individual piece of shattered masonry had crushed the creature’s head against the bottom of the well. Either the hefty chunk or the snake itself could have killed Jason, but wild luck led to one danger handling the other.

He glanced up at the blue circle of sky, uncertain how long he had been unconscious. He had to decide between climbing back up the well or going back through the tunnel, neither of which seemed easy with a busted arm. He put off the unpleasant choice and looked at the windows he had been ignoring.

You have defeated [Umbral Mountain Snake]

Would you like to loot [Umbral Mountain Snake]?

“Sure,” he said wearily, then froze. Belatedly remembered that monsters dissolved into stinking smoke when they were looted. To his relief and surprise, that didn’t happen. All he felt was the snake shift a little under his feet. He looked over the list of items he got from the snake.

[Night-Scale Leather] has been added to your inventory.

30 [Dark Quintessence Gems (Iron)] have been added to your inventory.

10 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

100 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

Unlike every other monster Jason killed, the snake didn’t turn into a stench cloud and didn’t produce a monster core.

“I need to learn the rules of this place.”

He took a look at the next screen.

Quest: [Time to Run]

Hidden objective discovered: Kill [Umbral Mountain Snake] 0/1.

Hidden objective complete: Kill [Umbral Mountain Snake] 1/1.

Main objective reward increased from rare magical dagger to epic magical dagger.

Objective complete: Escape [Umbral Mountain Snake] 1/1.

[Night Fang] has been added to your inventory.

Quest complete.

100 [Bronze Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

1000 [Iron Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory.

“Hidden objective? I just fell on it; that seems kind of cheap. Wait, why am I complaining? Get it together, Jason.”