I stood before the heavy metal fire exit door. The smell of mold, gunpowder, and stale blood seeped through the gap, hitting me in the face. I drew my knife from its sheath, but without my spear, I felt exposed. Before stepping inside, I spun that chaotic wheel in my mind one last time. Come on... don't let this be a waste...

  [GENETIC ROULETTE ACTIVATED.] [TRAIT ACQUIRED: MUTANT PHYSIQUE (MID TIER) - DURATION: 5 MINUTES]

  I felt every muscle fiber in my body tighten and expand as if surged with electricity. My heart rate quickened, and the pressure of the blood flowing through my veins increased. I had gained this ability before; this wasn't just a mutation, it was a burst of pure power. As my agility and strength reached their peak, a savage smile formed on my face.

  "Now we're ready," I muttered. "We have 5 minutes; we have to be fast."

  I looked at Elara; she took a deep breath, joined her hands, and whispered. This time, the white light seeping from her hands didn't gather over a wound but transformed into a small, dense sphere between her palms. The beams of light sliced through the dark stairwell like a searchlight.

  We opened the door silently and slipped inside.

  The upper floor of the police station was plunged into total darkness. The power was out, and only a few of the dying red emergency lights flickered rhythmically. Elara's light cast massive shadows against the corridor walls. Scattered documents on the floor, overturned side tables, and long black bloodstains stretching across the wall told the story of how bloody the struggle here had been.

  "Shh... Be quiet," I said, taking each step with the cat-like, silent flexibility my mutant physique provided.

  As we moved toward the end of the hallway, Elara suddenly shone her light on the left wall. Where the light hit, we saw a face staring at us from the darkness. Its eyes were bulging, its mouth crookedly agape.

  "Ah!" Elara let out a small shriek and lunged a step back. I raised my knife instantly into an attack position, my heart hammering against my ribs.

  We held our breath for a few seconds. But that 'thing' didn't move.

  When we brought the light a bit closer, we realized the truth. It wasn't a monster; it was a "Wanted" poster pinned to a corkboard on the wall. The faded and worn passport photo of a criminal from the old world had looked like a living head in the darkness and Elara's trembling light.

  Elara let out a long breath and put her hand over her heart. "My heart nearly stopped... I really thought someone was watching us."

  I was still on high alert as I slowly lowered my knife, but I turned to her with a wicked grin to break the tension.

  "Were you scared?" Elara asked.

  "Shouldn't I be asking you that? It smells so bad in here... I'm picking up a foul scent, Elara—did you wet yourself?"

  Elara frowned and gave my shoulder a light swat. "Very funny, Alex! Look at yourself; if your hair hadn't grown back, you’d look just like the guy in that photo!"

  We shared a small laugh, but it only lasted a few seconds. From the other end of the corridor, deep within the stairwell, the heavy, metallic sound of something dragging cut our joy like a blade. Someone, or something, was approaching us, dragging a heavy object across the concrete floor.

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  With the sharpened senses of my mutant physique, I felt it; whatever was coming wasn't small like the babies.

  "Dim the light," I whispered, holding my knife in a reverse grip. "Whatever is coming, we're going to see it before it sees us."

  I shut my eyes tight. In the darkness, I relied only on my ears and that new, tense energy in my body. I whispered to Elara: "The moment that thing arrives, shine your light directly into its eyes. And turn off your skill the second I tell you."

  Elara’s breathing quickened. "Why?" she asked anxiously. "If I don't use my skill, how will you see in front of you, Alex? It’ll be pitch black!"

  "Don't question me, Elara, just do as I say!" I said in a sharp voice. "Now, get ready!"

  The metallic dragging sound at the end of the corridor grew closer. Heavy, lumbering, yet determined steps... Elara turned the light toward the source of the noise. When the beam of light cut through the darkness, we saw the hideous sight before us.

  "It’s coming!" Elara shouted.

  The monster shielded its face with its claw-like hands as the light suddenly struck its eyes.

  "Now!" I bellowed. "Turn off the light!"

  The thing approaching was a mutated policeman. His uniform was torn in places, but the blue fabric was still discernible. His skin had turned gray, and his muscles had swollen enough to burst the seams of the uniform. He held a heavy baton, dragging it along the floor as he approached us with a snarl.

  The moment Elara deactivated her skill, everywhere was plunged into absolute darkness. Because the mutant's eyes had focused on the light, he was blinded instantly, his snarls turning to confusion. But I... I had already closed my eyes, preparing them for the dark. When I opened them, even the faint emergency glimmers in the corridor were enough to guide me.

  With the explosive power of my mutant physique, I lunged forward. I glided through the darkness like a shadow. I stabbed both my knives into the monster's torso, right at the ribcage, with a series of rapid strikes.

  CLANG!

  "Huh? Steel armor?"

  The knives hadn't pierced the monster's skin; they had struck the heavy ballistic vest beneath his uniform. Although the monster was staggered by the impact, he recovered instantly and swung his baton at my head with massive force. I felt the wind of it right by my ear.

  "Oh, for fuck's sake!"

  I rolled to the side at the last second, narrowly avoiding the blow. The concrete floor cracked. Without losing time, I went back on the offensive. This time, I knew my target. I slid under the second blow the monster swung and, in that moment, drove both my knives into the creature's ankles—those unprotected joints.

  SHRED!

  Along with the sound of tendons tearing, the mutant lost his balance. His massive frame tumbled forward uncontrollably and slammed face-first into the floor with a loud crash. I didn't miss the opportunity; using my agility, I instantly climbed onto his back. Pressing my knees into his shoulders, I drove my knife with all my might into the exposed part of his neck where his helmet ended.

  The creature shuddered once, let out a muffled groan, and remained motionless. As I stood up from on top of him, breathless, that familiar blue light appeared in the middle of the darkness:

  [NOTIFICATION: LEVEL 5 MUTANT (SECURITY OFFICER) NEUTRALIZED.] [EXPERIENCE GAINED: +80 EXP] [CURRENT STATUS: 280 / 600 EXP]

  "Elara, you can turn the light on," I said, wiping the black blood from my knife onto the creature's uniform.

  Elara reactivated her skill; her mana was quite high, so I didn't hesitate to use her as both a flashlight and a first-aid kit.

  When the light illuminated the room again, Elara was looking at me in amazement. "That plan... it actually worked. How did you see him in the dark?"

  "I didn't see him perfectly," I said, reaching for the holster on the policeman's belt. "I just knew where he was. But that steel vest messed things up. Let's see what else we've got."

  Elara murmured in horror as she held her trembling light over the massive form on the floor. "Steel armor? My god... as if turning into monsters wasn't bad enough, now they wear armor too? This isn't fair at all."

  I replied as I roughly ripped the heavy leather holster from the mutant's belt. "He had a loaded gun on his belt too," I said, pulling the handgun from its holster and checking the action. With a metallic clack, a round seated into the chamber. "Their intelligence has regressed so much they can't use guns; we should be thankful for that much. If they thought to shoot back, we wouldn't have made it out of that corridor alive."

  I tossed the light, flimsy knife aside and gripped the heavy combat knife I had taken from the policeman. The power of the mutant physique was slowly draining from my veins, but I now held a much more serious trump card.

  "Come on," I said, turning to Elara. "If the weapons and vests are here, the armory must promise much more. We're losing time."