A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

”Comrade Kuroki Hitomi, doesn’t it feel strange... taking over someone else’s identity, pretending to be them?”

”Hmm... like a fraud?”

It was dusk. Ke Mingqing and Kuroki Hitomi walked side by side down an empty street.

This was Leijing’s Third Street. The area was currently abandoned, awaiting government renovation.

Its entrance was strictly cordoned off and heavily covered by surveillance cameras without a single blind spot. Ke Mingqing and Kuroki Hitomi had been forced to find another way in, climbing over through a secluded alley.

Looking ahead, there were no cameras on the long stretch of road, nor were there any pedestrians. The only things in sight were dilapidated houses and storefronts. Kuroki Hitomi walked in front, leading the way.

”Rather than a fraud, it feels more like being a robber,” Ke Mingqing said casually. ”Stealing someone’s identity, taking their life, and then basking in the affection of their family.”

”I feel that way, too...”

”Right.”

Kuroki Hitomi spoke softly. ”But it’s fine as long as you’re here.””Why’s that?” Ke Mingqing looked at her back.

”Because at least by your side, I don’t have to pretend, and I don’t feel like a thief. I hope you can be yourself around me, too.” The girl with the tear mole paused. ”We are accomplices, aren’t we?”

Ke Mingqing stayed silent for a moment. ”You say that, but to me, you seem more like a liar.”

She froze for a second, asking softly, ”Why?”

Ke Mingqing didn’t offer a reason.

The boy and girl walked in silence, one trailing the other.

Soon, the two stopped in front of an old supermarket. A crystalline blue panel popped up before their eyes.

[Weekly Dungeon Name: Mystery of the Ghost in the Mirror Supermarket]

[Dungeon Introduction: Mirrors can always turn one person into two. Welcome to the world of these twins. Please be careful of the reflection in the mirror—it might turn into a man-eating beast.]

[Recommended player level: Lv.7]

[Recommended number of challengers: 4]

[Dungeon Clear Rewards: superhuman coins, EXP, dungeon items, etc...]

[Note: This dungeon will disappear at 0:00 on Sunday. Please clear it before the time limit.]

In the fading glow of the sunset, the boy and girl stared at the floating panel and conversed softly.

”Li Chunchun found this dungeon,” Kuroki Hitomi said.

”That fits my impression of him. Chunibyo kids love wandering around places like this,” Ke Mingqing said. ”But shouldn’t you be clearing this dungeon with the others?”

Kuroki Hitomi clasped her hands behind her back and gently shook her head.

”What if they ask?” Ke Mingqing considered. ”You can’t exactly claim you cleared it all by yourself, right?”

”It’s fine. They won’t ask,” Kuroki Hitomi said.

Ke Mingqing drew a sharp breath. Just how did you train them? he wondered.

”We discover about three dungeons every week. You and I can handle one, and then I’ll clear the remaining two with the other players.” Kuroki Hitomi paused. ”Besides, running dungeons is actually quite exhausting. Sometimes, if we fail, we have to fight the whole thing again the next day. Everyone slacks off whenever they can.”

”Doesn’t that make you the most exhausted out of everyone?” Ke Mingqing asked casually.

”I don’t mind,” Kuroki Hitomi said. ”Are you worried about me?”

”Let’s just finish this quickly. I still have to go home for dinner.”

”Actually, I’ve already run this dungeon with them.”

Ke Mingqing paused and turned to look at her.

”We failed twice in a row,” Kuroki Hitomi said frankly.

”So that’s why you came looking for me?”

”Yes, because you’re the strongest among the players.” Kuroki Hitomi nodded.

”And if we still can’t clear it?”

”That’s fine. At least I’ll get to see what you look like as a magical girl.”

”Just how obsessed are you with that?”

Still chatting, Ke Mingqing and Kuroki Hitomi raised their right hands and pressed their palms against the dungeon panel.

[Players ”Ke Mingqing” and ”Kuroki Hitomi” have confirmed entry into the weekly dungeon. Today’s remaining challenge attempts: 1. Good luck.] A burst of intense light erupted from the panel, swallowing their figures and wiping them from the dilapidated street.

When Ke Mingqing regained his bearings a moment later, he slowly opened his eyes. A brightly lit supermarket greeted him. But bizarrely, this supermarket sold only mirrors. From the shelves to the checkout counters, mirrors were uniformly displayed everywhere.

There were all kinds—full-length mirrors, antique mirrors, and compact mirrors designed to be carried like pocket watches. Furthermore, the supermarket’s walls and ceiling were entirely lined with them.

Ke Mingqing turned his head to scan the area.

He and Kuroki Hitomi were separated by roughly fifty meters. Their spawn points were different.

”Be careful, it comes out of the mirrors,” Kuroki Hitomi warned.

”Is there only one boss here?” Ke Mingqing asked just to be safe.

”We only saw one before,” Kuroki Hitomi replied quickly. ”It was too fast; we couldn’t react in time at all. After a few exchanges, we all went down.”

Keeping a close eye on their surroundings, they stepped toward one another.

The supermarket was shrouded in an eerie, absolute silence. The reflections of the boy and girl stretched across the surrounding mirrors.

Vigilant as rabbits stepping through a jungle, they moved forward, their thousands of reflections moving with them. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the confined space.

Just in case, Ke Mingqing preemptively activated the C-Rank Skill, Gate of Truth.

The boy raised his right palm, revealing three small paper dolls standing at the ready.

Yet in that very instant, a ferocious black shadow burst out from a full-length mirror to Kuroki Hitomi’s right. It was humanoid but as wild and untamed as a beast, its jaw stretched wide and dripping with saliva.

At the same time, the creature’s panel reflected in Ke Mingqing’s eyes.

[Dungeon Boss Name: Mirror Ghost]

[Dungeon Boss Level: Lv.10]

Kuroki Hitomi’s reflex stats were inferior to Ke Mingqing’s, and she clearly couldn’t react in time. In a split second, the shadow swept over her like a pitch-black curtain, raising a sharp claw to slash at her throat.

Watching this unfold, Ke Mingqing didn’t cry out a warning.

Instead, he tapped the head of the Nietzsche paper doll with his index finger. The paper doll threw its arms up and cheered:

”Superman Philosophy.”

[Superman Philosophy: Grants you or a nearby target an ”Invulnerable State” for 1.2 seconds.]

Instantly, Kuroki Hitomi was enveloped in a faint golden light. The evil ghost’s claws couldn’t advance a single inch closer to her—evidently, Superman Philosophy was protecting her.

The girl with the tear mole froze, only then slowly turning her head.

Her eyes met the Mirror Ghost’s terrifying pupils and fangs.

”I Am Lightning.” The moment the skill activated, Ke Mingqing stomped both feet against the floor and shot forward like a gust of wind.

Amidst the rumble, pitch-black lightning surged forward. He grabbed Kuroki Hitomi’s wrist, yanked her into his arms, and raised his right hand into a knife hand. ”Bang!”

Violent lightning sprayed from his fingertips, striking at the evil ghost’s head, but the creature blocked it with its sharp claws.

Ke Mingqing’s strike violently collided with the evil ghost’s claws, sending arcs of electricity rippling out. The supermarket’s lights dimmed as if suffering from the interference.

Seizing the moment, the shadow darted backward, diving into the mirror once again.

The surroundings fell dead quiet, resembling a graveyard meant to memorialize every kind of mirror that had ever existed.

Ke Mingqing released Kuroki Hitomi.

Standing back-to-back, the two scanned their surroundings. Neither made a sound, afraid that talking would mask the Mirror Ghost’s movements and give the evil spirit lurking in the glass an opening.

A second later, the evil ghost violently struck again!

It lunged from a mirror beside Kuroki Hitomi, roaring as it sprinted, aiming its fangs and claws at the back of the girl’s head! With quick reflexes, Ke Mingqing shifted sideways, choosing not to clash with it head-on.

He snapped his fingers.

A crisp snap echoed loudly through the supermarket, reaching the girl’s ears. Right on its heels, a torrential rain poured down. An unprovoked downpour had actually started falling inside this dilapidated building.

[E-Rank Skill: It’s Raining (Generates a temporary torrential rain in a localized area).]

”Splash, splash!”

Rainwater cascaded wildly over the fragmented mirror surfaces. The mirrors on the display racks were washed down one by one, toppling to the floor like dominoes!

Following that, Ke Mingqing spun around and held Kuroki Hitomi tightly, shielding her in his embrace.

Kuroki Hitomi froze. Looking up, she watched the boy stretch his right hand into the rain.

At that moment, deep blue electrical currents spread through the rainwater, forming an overwhelming electrical grid.

The current danced through the torrential rain, striking the Mirror Ghost and burning a red, raw wound straight into the terrifying shadow’s outer shell!

”Roar!!”

The Mirror Ghost roared, its entire body trembling. Immediately, it twisted back and vanished into the mirrors once more.

The rain stopped. Ke Mingqing let go of Kuroki Hitomi. The boy and girl’s hair and clothes were left damp from the downpour.

Absolute silence fell over the surroundings. Yet that furious, low roar continued to echo across mirror after mirror, like reverberations in a deep mountain valley, making it impossible to judge how far away the sound truly was.

”Hand of Replication.”

Kuroki Hitomi murmured suddenly after a brief silence. Phantom-like chains manifested over her right hand.

The chains overlapped in layers, wrapping through every gap between her fingers.

”What skill is this?” Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow, turning toward Kuroki Hitomi.

He knew the effect of Hand of Replication was to store a C-Rank Skill or lower that had been used by another player, but he didn’t know whose skill she had copied.

”This is Du Tingbei’s skill, Soul Chains,” Kuroki Hitomi explained. ”I copied it the last time I saw him, but I haven’t used it yet.”

[Soul Chains (C-Rank Skill) (From player ”Du Tingbei”: Creates a chain that wraps around the five fingers of the right hand. The length and toughness of the chain depend on the strength of the user’s ”Spirit”.)]

The next moment, Kuroki Hitomi reached her hand slightly upward. The Soul Chains shot out from between her fingers, latching onto a hook in the ceiling.

With a sharp swish, the chains retracted, hoisting Kuroki Hitomi upward.

She flew straight toward the supermarket’s ceiling like a performer hoisted by stage rigging.

Using the chains, Kuroki Hitomi suspended herself just below the ceiling.

The ceiling was the only surface inside the supermarket without mirrors.

Thus, if the evil ghost wanted to attack her, it would have to launch itself from the mirrors on the floor or the walls, giving her a chance to catch her breath. Correspondingly, Ke Mingqing was out of luck. Why would the Mirror Ghost pass up an easy target on the ground to attack one on the ceiling? Why do I feel like I’ve been sold out? Still, it beats having to protect her while fighting. Thinking this, Ke Mingqing crouched down slightly.

Like a hunter creeping through the jungle, the boy vigilantly surveyed his surroundings.

An instant later, the Mirror Ghost abruptly lunged from a broken piece of glass on the floor.

Caught off guard, Ke Mingqing failed to react in time. The creature’s fangs and claws were already swiping at his neck!

By the time he realized the danger and turned his head, the Mirror Ghost’s claws were inches from his face, magnifying endlessly in his pupils.

It was like entering bullet time in a video game.

To Ke Mingqing, this single second dragged out, becoming abnormally slow. The Mirror Ghost’s claws, its flying spittle, the mirror shards tumbling through the air—everything crawled at a bizarrely sluggish pace.

Yet his thoughts were exceptionally clear.

Superman Philosophy had already entered cooldown. At this moment, Ke Mingqing only had one skill left: Phantom Shift.

But if he swapped places with Kuroki Hitomi now, she would be the one to suffer the blow.

Actually, he could also try using the Plato paper doll’s Allegory of the Cave to teleport himself into a cave.

But Ke Mingqing knew that would likely be penalized as the player leaving the dungeon, wasting all their efforts. He held back. Yet, just as his thoughts were spinning, a red string suddenly materialized around his right pinky. Ke Mingqing paused, shifting his gaze downward.

The thin red string snaked all the way up, connecting to the right pinky of the girl with the tear mole. It was none other than Kuroki Hitomi’s item, the Red String of Fate.

Ke Mingqing had experienced the string’s ability during the train dungeon.

In the nick of time, Kuroki Hitomi triggered the Red String of Fate. The string on Ke Mingqing’s pinky pulled taut, and his body was hauled upward by an invisible force.

In the next second, the boy appeared directly beneath the ceiling.

Kuroki Hitomi reached out and firmly gripped his right hand. She then used the Soul Chains to bind their wrists together, preventing him from falling.

Ke Mingqing reacted quickly, looking down at the humanoid shadow now standing in the center of the supermarket floor.

At the same time, the paper doll in his palm, which had been whispering How to step out of the cave, called out:

”Soul Chariot.”

[Soul Chariot (From philosopher ”Plato”): Summons a white horse phantom representing reason, or a black horse phantom representing desire, to charge in the target direction.]

”Black horse.”

The moment Ke Mingqing gave the order, a deafening whinny drowned out the entire supermarket like a tidal wave.

Immediately after, the phantom of a fierce black horse charged in, slamming straight into the Mirror Ghost.

The collision sent the evil ghost flying several meters away, plowing a massive trench into the floor!

”Bang!”

The horse’s whinny came to an abrupt halt, and the fierce black phantom vanished from sight.

In its place, a notification panel popped up before Ke Mingqing’s eyes.

[Prompt: A target struck by the black horse phantom will fall into a sunken state, losing a percentage of their attribute values for a short period of time — Dungeon Boss ”Mirror Ghost No. 1” has fallen into a sunken state.]

The impact didn’t seem to cause much physical damage to the Mirror Ghost, but the creature was now clutching its head, howling in utter confusion.

Its body flickered in and out, like a dying candle in the wind. The next moment, it abruptly raised its head, narrowing its eyes to glare at the two hanging from the ceiling.

The evil ghost bent its knees slightly, pressing its taut feet against the floor. Its whole body was like ammunition loaded into a cannon, ready to violently launch at any second. ”Let me go,” Ke Mingqing said suddenly.

Kuroki Hitomi hardly hesitated for a second, instantly letting go of Ke Mingqing’s right hand.

”Superhero Landing.” Ke Mingqing’s body plummeted downward.

At this moment, a series of notifications suddenly popped up in his vision.

[Prompt: Single-use skill card activated — ”Superhero Landing” (The player will immediately rapid-descend from their current position, dealing a massive impact to the drop zone).]

Instantly, Ke Mingqing’s body automatically struck an overly dramatic pose—touching two fingers to his forehead, dropping onto one knee.

He transformed into a meteor, wrapped in a swath of fiery red and pitch-black lightning, plunging straight toward the supermarket floor!

At the same time, the Mirror Ghost shot upward like a cannonball, its raised claws aimed straight at Ke Mingqing’s feet.

The supermarket lights flickered, dimming for a brief second.

In midair.

The instant the two collided, the dual-colored meteor gained the upper hand, forcing the Mirror Ghost back toward the ground.

”Roar!” The shadow let out a helpless howl as Ke Mingqing’s feet stomped onto its chest, pinning it to the floor.

The moment he landed, large swaths of mirrors instantly shattered.

With a bang, mirror shards swept up and flew like chaotic blossoms, but the number of intact mirrors remaining inside the supermarket was still staggering.

Obliterating every single mirror here would take at least thirty seconds. That was completely unrealistic; before they could finish destroying the mirrors, they would have been slaughtered thousands of times over by the evil ghost dwelling inside them.

Under the immense force of the impact, the floor fractured into a spiderweb-patterned crater, leaving the evil ghost trapped and with nowhere to hide. Ke Mingqing lowered his head, veins bulging on his arms. Wrapped in pitch-black lightning, his ten fingers pressed down, temporarily pinning the ghost inside the pit. ”Kuroki Hitomi!” he shouted.

Kuroki Hitomi immediately understood. The Soul Chains on her right hand shot out, tightly entangling the ghost’s body to strip it of any chance to hide inside the mirrors again. At the same time, she shouted down to Ke Mingqing:

”Move aside.”

Ke Mingqing knew she was about to unleash a finishing move or ultimate skill. Raising his right hand, he pierced through the evil ghost’s heart with a Lightning Knife Hand, then let go and retreated from the crater.

He looked up at Kuroki Hitomi in midair. Countless chains were streaming from her fingers, coiling tightly around the Mirror Ghost’s body.

”Rose Echo.” The girl’s voice was frigid.

[Rose Echo (B-Rank Skill): Choose a target and summon a rain of roses, trapping the opponent in a siege of chaotic blossoms.]

Kuroki Hitomi extended her right hand, a flash of black-red sweeping through her pupils. Immediately, the sleeves of her cotton dress billowed in the wind.

A flurry of roses poured down around her like a rainstorm, forming a dazzling vortex. The chaotic blossoms plunged together, enveloping the Mirror Ghost like a tornado.

Ke Mingqing raised his eyebrows. At that moment, the rose petals suddenly turned razor-sharp, spinning at high speeds like a chainsaw. Beneath the shroud of thousands of flowers, the Mirror Ghost’s body abruptly shattered, reduced to shredded fragments that were swept away by the wind.

Soon after, the roses vanished without a trace.

The supermarket fell quiet. The surroundings were as messy as if a tornado had truly swept through, with shattered mirror pieces scattered across the floor and shelves knocked every which way. The Soul Chains in Kuroki Hitomi’s right hand suddenly snapped, vanishing without a trace, and her body fell from the ceiling.

Ke Mingqing shifted two steps to his right, catching the girl as she fell. She draped her arms around his shoulders, letting out a soft sigh of relief. ”This skill of yours has to be at least B Rank, right?” Ke Mingqing asked.

”Yeah, I saved up superhuman coins for a long time to buy it,” Kuroki Hitomi said quietly.

”The lethality is decent, but the cast time is way too long,” Ke Mingqing evaluated. ”In actual combat, by the time you pull this off, your opponent will already be miles away.”

”It only succeeded because you were here.”

Kuroki Hitomi nodded. If Ke Mingqing hadn’t pinned down the boss, her skill wouldn’t have had a chance of hitting the Mirror Ghost.

”So, can you get down now?” Ke Mingqing tilted his head.

”Oh.”

Only then did Kuroki Hitomi release his shoulders, letting her feet land on the floor.

She glanced down. A corner of her woven espadrilles had split open, and her dress was soaking wet. But since her clothes would return to their original state after leaving the dungeon, it hardly mattered.

”You four fought this dungeon twice and still couldn’t clear it?” Ke Mingqing asked casually.

”The boss was too fast. We came up with countermeasures, but when it came to actual combat, we couldn’t execute them,” Kuroki Hitomi said. ”Among all the current players, you’re the only one who can keep up with this boss’s speed.”

She paused. ”And just like you said, my B-Rank Skill takes too much time. It couldn’t touch it at all, so we failed both times.”

”That makes sense.”

Ke Mingqing nodded, crouching to pick up a mirror shard to inspect.

Kuroki Hitomi stared at his back. This dungeon run had made her acutely aware that the power gap between her and Ke Mingqing wasn’t something a single B-Rank Skill could bridge.

If the two of them ever fought, he could probably kill her ten times over in just two seconds.

”Let me ask you a question...” the boy suddenly spoke, interrupting her thoughts.

Kuroki Hitomi froze.

”Yeah, go ahead.”

”I finally remembered. We really did know each other when we were kids. You weren’t bluffing.”

Kuroki Hitomi nodded gently.

”And... you’re so good to me, so obedient. Is it because I gave up the chance to be adopted by a wealthy family and gave it to you?” Ke Mingqing continued.

Kuroki Hitomi stayed silent, offering no answer.

”I...”

She finally mumbled after a long while.

”Forget it, you don’t need to explain anything,” he said.

Kuroki Hitomi watched him.

”I’ve realized these past few days that you’re smarter than I thought,” Ke Mingqing said. ”At first, I thought you were just a simple-minded young miss who never had to worry about a thing. Throwing you into an environment like this would naturally make you panic, which is why you were so dependent on me.”

Kuroki Hitomi remained silent.

”I always wanted to say thank you,” she said a moment later.

Ke Mingqing was dismissive. ”Being thanked for something I don’t even remember—even you wouldn’t be happy about that.”

”I think... if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to hold on back then,” Kuroki Hitomi said with lowered eyes. ”The other kids bullied me. You were the only one who protected me, and you even gave me the chance to leave the orphanage...”

She clasped her hands behind her back. ”I always wanted to see you. I really... really wanted to see you again. But later, when I returned to China and went back to find you, the director said you had already left.”

The girl gently rubbed her left index finger against her right. She was just about to say her next sentence when Ke Mingqing suddenly interrupted her. ”By the way... don’t you think it’s a bit strange?” he asked.

”What is?” Kuroki Hitomi looked at him.

Ke Mingqing considered. ”Why hasn’t the dungeon settlement panel appeared yet? Didn’t it pop up really fast last time?” Kuroki Hitomi was slightly startled. The supermarket lights flickered, casting shifting shadows across their faces.

”The dungeon isn’t over yet.” Ke Mingqing stood up straight.

”We never defeated the boss before, so we didn’t know the clear conditions.” Kuroki Hitomi also looked up.

They looked around. A gloomy wind whipped up again, and shrill, hoarse roars erupted from the mirror shards. Thousands of fragments vibrated in unison, resonating together.

The commotion, like something straight out of hell, left the boy and girl momentarily stunned.

”There’s another boss?”

Ke Mingqing muttered. He suddenly remembered the dungeon introduction, which contained a cryptic line: ”Welcome to the world of these twins.”

However, subduing the first Mirror Ghost had exhausted almost all of their strength. All of their skills were on cooldown. It seemed there was a reason this dungeon recommended four people; no matter how overpowered their abilities were, it was going to be hard to turn the tide.

At that very moment, thousands of black shadows floated up from the shards on the floor, gradually piling into a massive, mountain-like shadow. ”Should we give up? There’s still a chance tomorrow,” Kuroki Hitomi suggested.

”No... I guess I’ll just have to see if this comes in handy.”

Ke Mingqing scratched his head, gazing up at the mountain-like shadow, and activated a certain item in his inventory.

[Prompt: You have used the One-Time Magical Girl Transformation Card from your inventory.]

In that instant, a hazy, cocoon-like light enveloped his body before shattering apart. A completely different figure was slowly revealed under the supermarket lights.