Happy Kindergarten, Level Completed

The air outside was thick and cold, carrying a strong, sweet, fishy smell and the stench of something rotting.

Zhuangzhuang grinned, his mouth full of sharp teeth, and let out a strange "giggle" as he approached step by step. Behind him, more shadowy figures emerged from the darkness, their eyes gleaming with hunger.

Instead of fighting head-on, Shi Mo suddenly threw the small flashlight in his hand towards the other end of the corridor! The beam of light drew an arc in the air, attracting the attention of most of the "children".

"there!"

"It is light!"

The little monsters let out excited hisses and surged toward the light source like a tide.

Taking advantage of the brief chaos, Shi Mo flashed, disappearing into the shadows like a ghost, and quickly moved towards the backyard he remembered. The corridor wasn't safe; he could hear chasing sounds and short screams coming from other places—clearly, he wasn't the only one breaking the rules tonight.

The scene inside the activity room was even more bizarre.

The toys from the daytime now seemed to come alive, trembling slightly on the floor. The figures in the paintings on the wall had black liquid flowing from their eyes, their mouths opening and closing, emitting silent screams. Several "children" were surrounding a broken doll, tearing at it like hyenas, making a sickening chewing sound.

Shi Mo held his breath and used the reflection in his lens to observe the corner, avoiding a patrol team led by the mutated "headmistress".

The kindergarten principal appeared much taller at night, her apron stained with dark dirt. Her face, no longer bearing the standard smile, now displayed several twisted, pained expressions that constantly shifted and roared. She dragged a huge, rusty pair of scissors in her hand, radiating a chilling aura.

After passing through the main building without incident, Shi Mo arrived at the backyard.

The backyard was shrouded in the pale moonlight at night, casting distorted shadows on the slide and swing.

He went straight to the large combination slide and, following the clues in Lingling's note and diary, found an opening at the bottom of the slide, in a very hidden corner, deliberately covered with withered grass and soil, just big enough for one person to crawl through.

Without hesitation, Shi Mo crouched down and crawled inside. The passage sloped downwards, narrow and damp, filled with an even stronger stench of decay and sweetness. After crawling for about seven or eight meters, the space suddenly opened up ahead, revealing a small basement.

The sight in the basement made his gaze freeze.

The walls were covered with twisted runes that looked like children's scribbles but contained eerie power, emitting a faint dark red glow.

In the center of the basement was a "nest" about half a person's height, constructed from countless colorful candy wrappers, broken toy parts, and even some small, skeletal-like objects. At the center of the nest, a blurry, constantly writhing dark energy body pulsed slowly, like a heart. The air was thick with intense resentment and pain.

This is the core.

The children who "disappeared" in the diary, their souls or energies are imprisoned here, becoming the energy source to maintain the illusion of "happiness" during the day. And those "candies" are the medium that binds and transforms them, turning the children into monsters who only know how to hunt and provide "fear energy" at night.

Teachers are both the "guardians" maintaining order during the day and the "sacrifices" and "nourishment" to be hunted down at night. Rule five, forbidding students from leaving the house, is precisely to cover up this bloody truth!

The moment Shi Mo saw everything clearly, the runes in the basement suddenly lit up. The core energy body fluctuated violently, emitting a piercing noise like a mixture of countless children crying and laughing.

"Intruder... Destroyer..." A venomous roar, a mixture of the headmistress's voice and countless children's voices, echoed from the passageway. The mutated headmistress had discovered this place, dragging a giant pair of scissors, her massive body blocking the passageway, several faces simultaneously staring intently at Shi Mo!

In that critical moment, Shi Mo's gaze swept over the nest made of candy wrappers, and he suddenly remembered the candy Lingling had given him. That candy, which she had specifically told him "not to eat at night," was probably uncontaminated.

He quickly pulled out the crumpled candy and, with all his might, hurled it precisely at the energy entity in the center of the nest!

The candy, containing a faint but pure will of "resistance," clashed violently with the core, which was filled with twisted and binding energy.

"No—!!!" The headmaster let out a shrill scream, his massive body twisting and his movements freezing for a moment. The energy entity at the center of the nest, like an ice cube thrown into hot oil, hissed and flickered violently, temporarily losing its stability.

It's now!

Without hesitation, Shi Mo turned and rushed towards the entrance of the passage! He had to leave this core area before dawn!

The mutated headmaster recovered from his brief moment of paralysis, letting out a frenzied roar and brandishing his giant shears as he gave chase.

Shi Mo dodged with difficulty in the narrow passage, the scissors grazing his back and leaving a bloody mark. He rushed out of the passage and headed towards the dormitory building without looking back, followed by the furious pursuit of the principal and the roars of countless "children" gathering behind him.

Just as he was about to be caught up—

The first pale ray of sunlight pierced the darkness and shone on the kindergarten playground.

"ah--!!!"

As if scorched, the principal and all the chasing "children" let out painful screams, their bodies contorting and fading like smoke in the sunlight. The deep-seated malice and ferocity quickly faded, and the kindergarten returned to its daytime "tranquility."

The announcement came on time, with its usual "cheerful" tone:

[Congratulations to all teachers on successfully completing three days of work at Happiness Kindergarten! Mission objective achieved! Surviving participants: 7.]

Listen quietly to this gift from the abyss...

……

The contract is complete; what you desire awaits you outside the door.

……

[Ding! Hidden Quest: Uncover the Truth. Completion: Excellent. Reward: 3 Extra Attribute Points Issued.]

A gray mist rose, enveloping the survivors. Shi Mo took one last look at the kindergarten, which quickly "returned to normal" in the sunlight as if nothing had happened, before disappearing into the mist.

……

The real world, familiar corners.

Shi Mo appeared, seemingly unharmed except for a shallow wound on his back. A system notification sounded in his mind:

[F-rank dungeon "Happy Kindergarten" successfully cleared. Basic reward: 2 attribute points.]

[Hidden quest completed, bonus reward: 3 attribute points.]

[Currently available attribute points: 5.]

Bai Xu appeared quickly, there to meet up with the members who had completed the dungeon. When he saw Shi Mo standing there calmly, and learned from the system feedback that he had not only cleared the dungeon but also completed the hidden quest, the shock and curiosity in his eyes were almost impossible to conceal.

"You..." Bai Xu was momentarily speechless. Although the hidden mission of the F-level dungeon was not difficult, being able to find out the truth and escape unscathed within three days was something that ordinary candidates could not do.

Shi Mo merely glanced at him indifferently, then cracked her knuckles: "Shouldn't we find a more interesting dungeon for the next one?"