The sugary taste of the biscuit and the soft texture of the marshmallow somewhat suppressed the metallic taste of rusty blood in my mouth. This short break felt like that uncanny silence before an approaching storm. When we finished, I brushed the crumbs off myself and stood up slowly.

  "That's enough," I said. The human softness in my voice was gone, replaced by the metallic coldness of my spear.

  We shouldered our bags silently. Elara looked into my eyes as she tightened the straps; she was waiting for an answer, a roadmap. I went to the shutter and placed my hand on the locking mechanism, but before opening it, I turned to her.

  "I have a plan," I said, not looking away from her. "But you're not going to like it."

  Elara tilted her head with a bitter smile. With the dirt stains and dried blood on her face, she looked like a completely different person. "Believe me, Alex, nothing pleases me these days. I've long passed my threshold for 'liking' things."

  "Good," I said, and quickly yanked the shutter up. "Then follow me."

  We left the garage. The streets were now darker, quieter, and more dangerous. We weren't wandering randomly anymore; I had a clear target fixed in my mind. We walked for about twenty minutes, gliding through back alleys and the shadows of ruined buildings. We stopped and listened at every corner, searching every shadow for an ambush.

  Finally, as we turned the corner of the street, we stood before the building.

  It was evident the building had once radiated joy, decorated with colorful paints. Its walls featured paintings of children holding hands, suns, and rainbows. But now, a dark red curtain had been drawn over those colorful pictures. The windows were shattered, and the roof had partially collapsed. The paint was peeling, and the walls had been "repainted" with claw marks and dried blood.

  Elara stopped the moment she saw the building. She took a step back, her gaze fixed on the horrific sight. "You're joking, right?" she said, her voice trembling. "This place... we can't go in here."

  I gripped my spear tightly and fixed my eyes on that dark entrance. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

  Both of us stared at the building for a while. The muffled, wheezing sounds and faint scratching noises from inside carried all the way to the street. I knew they were there. Those small, fast creatures that traveled in groups... The easiest prey for leveling up, yet the heaviest mentally, was right here.

  I let out a deep breath. As I exhaled the cold air in my lungs, I said, "We’re going in."

  Elara's face went rigid. She clenched her fists, closed and opened her eyes, and whispered: "Damn it..."

  She began to follow me. As we advanced toward the rubble-strewn entrance of the building, we passed under a half-shredded sign hanging over the door. The beginning of the name was lost in the debris, but the rest could be read with terrifying clarity under the moonlight:

  "...DAYCARE"

  I approached the doorframe and pressed my ear against the cold, peeling wood. I held my breath. The sounds coming from inside were from deep within, the back sections of the building.

  "They don't seem to be near the entrance," I whispered, turning to Elara. My voice was kept very low so it wouldn't echo in the empty corridor. "This is our best and only chance. Once we're inside, we can't hesitate. They aren't babies anymore, just hungry creatures that want to kill us. Understood?"

  Elara didn't answer, she only nodded. But she was so pale she looked as if she might faint at any moment.

  I eased the door open inch by inch. The start of the corridor was dark; there was no visible movement. I slipped inside slightly, using my spear as a shield. Noticing the silence behind me, I stopped and looked back over my shoulder. Elara was frozen at the threshold.

  "Get inside," I said through my teeth. "Don't stand at the door!"

  "A-Alex..."

  Her voice was weaker than a whisper. Her eyes weren't looking at me. Her gaze was locked onto a dark spot on the ceiling, right above me.

  I felt the hair on the back of my neck prickle. I slowly lifted my head. Clinging to the ventilation pipe on the ceiling, I saw a creature slightly larger than a baby with skin that was transparently white. Its body was completely still, but its head... its head turned 180 degrees like an owl's, without moving its body a millimeter, focusing directly on me. Those large, vacant eyes were looking right into mine.

  "Holy shit!"

  Tripping over a toy truck on the floor as I backed away in panic, I lost my balance and slammed hard onto the ground. At that moment, the creature lunged from the pipe, straight onto me.

  "Stay back!" I roared, pulling my legs to my chest and throwing a kick with all my might.

  The sole of my boot exploded against the creature's chest. Its small body soared through the air like a ball and slammed into the wall next to the door, just two steps away from Elara. The creature was dazed when it hit the floor, its limbs twitching irregularly as it made strange wheezing sounds, but it wasn't dead.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Elara, now!" I shouted as I tried to scramble up from the floor.

  Elara didn't wait this time. An expression of mixed horror and anger appeared on her face. "You don't have to tell me!" she shouted and drove the knife in her hand into the creature's chest, right into the middle of that twitching body.

  A sound like a baby crying, but shrill and metallic, came from the creature. Then its body convulsed and went still.

  I stood up with a deep breath, checking myself with my spear. "Just as I thought," I said, trying to hide the tremor in my voice. "They aren't overpowered. They're just fast and unexpected. How much EXP did you get?"

  Elara pulled the knife back, looking at me without caring that the black blood was smeared on her hand. "20..." she said. Then she stopped mumbling, her voice sounding like an accusation. "They... they're babies, aren't they, Alex? Is this really why we came here?"

  "Yes," I said, fixing my eyes on the rest of the corridor. "I realized after seeing that schoolboy. It's impossible for babies to think of spinning the wheel. 50% of them received this penalty directly. The boy's strength was less than an adult's, so I figured their strength would be even less. This was the place where we could find them most concentrated and easily."

  Elara said nothing. She simply stood up and gripped her knife tightly. I broke the heavy silence between us.

  "Alright, 20 EXP... less than I thought. Doesn't look like anyone else is in this room, but the classrooms are likely swarming with them. Luckily, their intelligence didn't evolve when they mutated; the chance of them having opened the doors is low. We'll clear the rooms one by one and level up quickly."

  Elara took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "I'm behind you," was all she said.

  Gripping my spear tightly, I moved toward the first classroom door on the right of the corridor. The sign above the door that read "Bees Class," along with the bloodstains on it, stood as the most painful irony of this hell.

  I gripped the door handle and signaled Elara. We were entering the first room.

  Just before opening the door, I focused my mind on the spinning sound of that chaotic wheel. Come on, give me something useful, or I'm coming out of this room in pieces!

  [GENETIC ROULETTE ACTIVATED.] [TRAIT ACQUIRED: MUTANT SKIN (LOW TIER)]

  Every inch of my body felt a disgusting burning sensation, as if a layer of boiling lava was passing beneath my skin. Under Elara's horrified gaze, my skin rapidly darkened, turning into that sickly purple color. My tissue became as flexible as rubber but as rigid as armor.

  "Alex?!" Elara took a step back in panic. "What's happening to you?"

  "Don't worry," I said, my voice turning into a guttural, muffled growl due to the mutation. "This is just a bit of... preparation. Wait at the door and don't come in no matter what. I’m counting down from three. 3... 2... 1!"

  I kicked the door wide open.

  CRACK!

  The scene inside resembled a slaughterhouse more than a daycare. Dozens of pairs of white eyes glowing in the dark, perched on bunks, small tables, and colorful coloring books, turned toward me.

  The first attack came the moment I stepped in. A shadow fell on me from the ceiling. Reflexively, I swung my spear upward; the tip entered the creature's ribcage but didn't stop it. The baby slid down the shaft of the spear, trying to reach my face, its small, sharp claws attempting to gouge my eyes. I caught the creature by the neck with my left hand and hurled it against the wall.

  THUD!

  The room turned into hell instantly. Not just one, but all of them lunged at me at once. This wasn't a fight; it was a living pile of flesh mounding over me.

  Four, five, maybe eight of them clung to my legs. They were trying to pull me down with their weight. "Agh! You little bastards!" I shouted, but my voice was lost among the growls. One caught my right wrist and opened its mouth wide. I felt its enlarged, mutated teeth press against my purple skin, applying all its strength to tear my flesh from the bone.

  Thanks to my hardened skin, my flesh didn't tear, but the pain... the pain was incredible. It felt as if dozens of red-hot pliers were squeezing my body at once. I couldn't use my spear; my arms were completely locked by these "babies" stuck to me.

  One sank its teeth into the side of my stomach. It was pulling at my skin with that savage power given by the mutation. I could feel its teeth straining my hard tissue, creating pressure beneath my skin. I was suffocating. I couldn't breathe because of the weight on me.

  "GET OFF!"

  I slammed my back hard against the wall, crushing a few of them against it and making them fall to the floor, but they were instantly replaced by new ones. One climbed my shoulder and tried to bite my ear. Its claws scratched my face, leaving deep white marks on my purple skin. One was gnawing on the shaft of my spear, while another was shredding my boot laces.

  I began to flail wildly. I grabbed one and slammed its head against the wall; I crushed another with my foot. The room echoed with those shrill and metallic baby screams. In the dark room, only my heavy breaths and the wet chewing sounds of those carnivorous creatures were heard. Every bite, every scratch clouded my mind.

  At the end of this suffocating scuffle that lasted for minutes, most were dazed or had lost their mobility, but they were still on me. They wouldn't let go.

  "Elara... you can come in now," I said, a bloody breath escaping my lungs with every word.

  Elara entered the room hesitantly. At the sight, her stomach turned first, and she covered her mouth with her hand. The floor was filled with black blood and shredded toys. But then, seeing my state, a nervous, hysterical giggle escaped her lips.

  I was standing like a "mutant crucifix," my arms forced open with difficulty. Two were hanging from my left arm, while one on my right arm was gnawing on my bicep with all its might. Two were clinging to each of my legs, trying to gnaw my skin with the determination of koalas climbing a tree. The one on the right side of my stomach had torn my jacket, its teeth locked onto my skin, just hanging there.

  "Stop laughing and kill these things now!" I shouted, my eyes darkening from the pain. "There are only 40 seconds left on my skill! When my skin returns to normal, these things will eat me alive! Hurry up!"

  Elara approached me, still giggling but unable to hide the horror in her eyes. "Okay, okay... You really look ridiculous, Alex, you've become like a Christmas tree."

  "Kill them!"

  Elara drew her knife. She landed the first blow on the neck of the monster on my arm. CRUNCH.

  The creature went limp and fell to the floor. Then the one on my other arm, then the ones on my legs...

  Black blood splattered onto Elara's face with every strike; she flinched every time but didn't stop. As the EXP notifications lit up her mind in the darkness of the room, my purple skin slowly began to fade, and the burning sensation beneath it intensified.

  "Final twenty seconds, Elara! Hurry!"

  As the monsters slumped to the ground one by one, I couldn't help but wonder what level Elara had reached at the end of this bloody "harvest," and what else awaited us in the depths of this daycare.