A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

”Why is this thing... here?” Xia Zili froze.

She looked at the word ”Ember” written on the postcard. It was undeniably her own handwriting, not a forgery. Even the image on the postcard was identical—Rain Crow crossing his arms in a downpour, striking a flamboyant pose.

”I just saw that Blue Pigeon take this postcard away a little while ago... Why is it here?”

While Xia Zili sat staring at the postcard in deep thought, Ke Mingqing hurried downstairs. He snatched it up with quick hands, claiming it was a limited-edition autograph he had gotten from a classmate.

Xia Zili kept her head down in silence before finally looking up at his back.

”Which classmate?”

She thought for a moment, then asked, ”And since when does Magical Girl Ember give out autographs?”

”None of your business. I’m returning it tomorrow anyway,” Ke Mingqing said.

”Why are you walking so fast? Who is it?”

Seeing her press him so aggressively, Ke Mingqing complained as he marched up the stairs, ”You’re such a busybody. You wouldn’t say a single word to me these past two days, just dodging me whenever you saw me.”

A second later, as if feeling a piercing gaze on his back, he stopped on the stairs.

After a long pause, he let out a low sigh. Then, as if hitting rewind, he hopped backward down the steps like a kangaroo, returning to the first floor without even turning his head.

He turned around, met Xia Zili’s eyes, and asked, ”Finally willing to talk to me?”

Xia Zili lowered her head in silence, her eyes shifting as a chaotic storm of thoughts swirled in her mind.

Why exactly did her brother have the postcard?

Could it be...

She looked up. In that moment, Ke Mingqing’s figure seemed to overlap with the image of Blue Pigeon.

”Actually, I wanted to give this to you in the first place,” Ke Mingqing said softly, stuffing the postcard into her hand. ”Let’s make up. Stop giving me the silent treatment.”

Xia Zili stared at the postcard, stunned.

”My classmate isn’t actually a fan of Ember.” Ke Mingqing rubbed his nose. ”But I asked him to get me an autograph if he ever met her, and he actually managed to pull it off. Pretty amazing, right?”

”Who is this classmate you’re talking about?” she asked softly.

”Why do you ask?”

Xia Zili fell silent before looking him straight in the eye. Her tone suddenly grew cold.

”Then help me ask this classmate of yours. Ask him, ’What is your relationship with Blue Pigeon?’”

Meeting her gaze, Ke Mingqing couldn’t help but sigh. ’Silly sister,’ he thought. ’You don’t actually believe I have a classmate playing superhero, do you?’

”That’s ridiculous. He’d think I’m crazy.”

”Just ask him.”

”Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll ask.”

”Mm. Tell me his answer tomorrow.”

Ke Mingqing remained silent for a moment before reaching out to ruffle her hair.

”I don’t really understand you,” he said. ”You’re always getting mad at me over the most baffling things. Kuroki Hitomi isn’t a bad person. Why does seeing us together make you so unhappy?”

”I don’t know,” Xia Zili said, shaking her head.

”We’re brother and sister, right?”

”Right... brother and sister.”

”You’ll have a boyfriend of your own someday, too. I just don’t think this is worth getting angry over.”

Hearing this, Xia Zili went quiet again. Then she spoke in a low voice. ”I have something to tell you.”

”What is it?”

”My friend, An Youlu. Do you remember her?”

”Of course I do.”

”She’s actually Magical Girl Little Red Riding Hood.”

”Huh...”

Ke Mingqing was dumbfounded.

He tilted his head. ’What are you playing at, sis?’ he thought. ’Selling out your own best friend just like that? I guess you really can’t trust besties!’

”A-and then?” he asked weakly.

”And then... your girlfriend, that Japanese rich girl, might be Magical Girl Ember,” Xia Zili continued.

”Are you running a fever?”

Ke Mingqing stared at Xia Zili in sheer disbelief, his eyes practically screaming, ’Are you sleepwalking?’

Xia Zili lowered her eyes, then raised them again. Thinking aloud, she spoke at a measured pace. ”Just think about it... Little Red Riding Hood is always hanging around Ember. Little Red Riding Hood respects Ember deeply, and Little Red Riding Hood is Kuroki Hitomi’s maid. Don’t you think that’s too much of a coincidence?”

Ke Mingqing was stunned. He had originally wanted to guide Xia Zili toward figuring out his identity, but now it seemed she was completely delusional.

’What kind of elementary-school logic is this?’ he thought. ’Even Dora the Explorer makes more sense.’

Xia Zili just watched him quietly.

Ke Mingqing looked up, cooperatively switching to a tone of utter shock. ”Sis... are you saying that Little Red Riding Hood is Ember’s maid? And Ember is my girlfriend?”

Xia Zili gave a light nod, averting her eyes for some reason.

”Then why would she keep it from me?” Ke Mingqing asked.

”Because she’s afraid you’ll get dragged into something dangerous,” Xia Zili answered without hesitation. ”Magical girls have a lot of enemies.”

”No way. You’re kidding me. I’ll definitely have to ask her tomorrow.” Ke Mingqing scratched his head.

”I’m just saying, if your girlfriend really is Ember, wouldn’t you be happy?”

”Why would I be happy?”

Xia Zili hesitated, then lowered her voice and said softly, ”Because... because that means you could marry Ember and bring her home in the future. Wouldn’t you be happy about that?”

”Please, as if something that good would ever happen to me,” Ke Mingqing said weakly. ”Boss, could you stop with the delusions? My girlfriend and I are first-class, law-abiding citizens!”

”Never mind all that. Just tell me—if it were true, would you be willing?”

Ke Mingqing looked at her and asked suspiciously, ”Wait... are you recording this right now? So the second I answer, you’re going to turn around, send the recording to your classmate on WeChat, and have her play it for my girlfriend? Since when were you this diabolical?”

”I don’t have my phone on me.”

”I don’t believe you. Why else would you be asking me all this?” Ke Mingqing stared into her eyes. ”I knew it, all that buildup was just a trap for this question. Let me tell you, if you really wanted to record me and make me look stupid, you might as well have asked, ’Do you want to marry Ember or your girlfriend?’”

Xia Zili froze, her ears turning red. She didn’t speak for a long time.

”You aren’t actually going to ask that, are you?” Ke Mingqing asked, alarmed.

Xia Zili furrowed her brows. ”Mind your own business.”

”You’re crazy.” Ke Mingqing was left utterly speechless.

Xia Zili stayed quiet for a moment before saying in a low voice, ”I was just tricking you. My friend isn’t Little Red Riding Hood, and there’s no way your girlfriend is Ember.”

”Fine, fine, you win.” Ke Mingqing sighed. ”You played me for a fool. Are you happy now?” With that, he turned away with an impatient look and headed upstairs.

Xia Zili watched his back, then looked down at the postcard. ’How could it be such a coincidence?’ she thought.

Since it was summer vacation anyway, she decided she would just tail her idiot brother for the next two days and see what he actually did all day.

Meanwhile, after climbing to the second floor, Ke Mingqing walked into his bedroom and sat cross-legged on the tatami mat.

With a clack, he turned on the standing fan. The breeze from the blades blew the curtains by the floor-to-ceiling window into the air. He turned his head, staring idly out the window.

The sky had already gone dark. Outside, an old man in a white tank top sat hunched under a tree to cool off, fanning his face with a palm-leaf fan, while children chased each other playfully down the street.

’I think I got an equipment box just now, didn’t I?’ Ke Mingqing recalled. He raised a hand to open his inventory, tapped the equipment box icon, and a ”Use” prompt instantly popped up.

[Consumed one D-Rank Equipment Box. You have obtained a piece of D-Rank Equipment: ”Evil Angel Fist Blade”.]

”As expected of a D-Rank item, the name is just as trash-tier as its grade.” Ke Mingqing couldn’t help but laugh.

[Equipment Description: When equipped with the Evil Angel Fist Blade, striking an enemy will temporarily steal a portion of their ”Strength” attribute. This effect can be triggered repeatedly on a single enemy.]

’Stealing stats?’ Ke Mingqing thought. ’But most of the super-human species fight with superpowers. Not many of them rely on pure brute strength, right?’

He shook his head, dismissing the thought, and clicked on the item roulette.

[You obtained one spin on the roulette from Weekly Mission 2. Would you like to use it now?]

Ke Mingqing curled his lip and clicked ”Use.” The roulette wheel immediately began to spin at high speed, the needle finally coming to a stop on Sector 5—”One Magical Girl Transformation Trial Card”.

His vision went dark. ”Has this day finally come? Maybe I should just give this card to Kuroki Hitomi. I’m actually a little curious to see what she’d look like transformed into a magical girl.”

Now that summer vacation had arrived, his house was practically swarming with monsters and demons. Between his oldest brother, his second-oldest sister, his mom, and his dad, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that any of those four was spying on him at this very moment.

Because of that, every time Ke Mingqing interacted with his system interface, he made sure to cover it up by pretending to play on his phone.

Right now, he tossed his phone onto the bed and lay back on the tatami mat. Listening to the chirping of cicadas and watching the iron dragons roaring across the distant overpass, his thoughts involuntarily drifted far away.

”That incident when I was eight...” Ke Mingqing pillowed his arms behind his head, recalling Kuroki Hitomi’s face.

”If all I did back then was help her deal with those bullies at the orphanage, she wouldn’t be this devoted to me, right? It’s like she’d give her life for me.”

At that thought, he suddenly froze before realization dawned on him:

”Could it have been that incident?”