A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

July 21st, 12:00 PM. Old Jingmai Commercial Street, Solomon Cafe.

A warm breeze drifted past, setting the wind chimes above the door ringing softly. Two customers pushed open the wooden door and stepped inside. The brilliant sunlight from the long street poured in with them, instantly bathing the mahogany tables and chairs in a golden glow.

Ke Mingqing paused at the entrance. Glancing up at the cafe, he silently mocked the situation:

’Oh boy... I was just sliced to pieces by my older brother right here a little while ago, and now I’m back for afternoon tea. It really feels as if a lifetime has passed,’ he thought. After a moment, Xia Lingxue put her phone away and strolled inside. Ke Mingqing followed close behind, joining her on a sofa. Just then, a young man wearing a staff uniform and an apron emerged from the back room.

It was unmistakably Ke Linye, though he had changed his clothes and peeled off his skin mask. He looked entirely different from the figure in the movie theater moments ago.

”Yo... what brings you two here?” Ke Linye turned his head, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

Ke Mingqing didn’t say a word, only shooting him a look of pure disdain.

He couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that his older brother had hurried straight from the theater to the cafe the second his job was done. Just how much did he love this place? Honestly, he shouldn’t be called the Owl Judge anymore; he should rebrand as a cosplay expert. How many wardrobe changes did this drama king need to be satisfied in a single day?

”Nothing much. I just brought him over to hang out for a bit,” Xia Lingxue said, peeling the wrapper off a lollipop.

”Feeling guilty, are we? Trying to make it up to him?” Ke Linye asked as he carried over two glasses of lemonade on a tray.Xia Lingxue popped the lollipop into her mouth. She looked up, shooting him an icy glare before replying:

”Good that you know. Get him two good drinks. You’re paying.”

”That goes without saying... as your older brother, picking up the tab is only natural,” Ke Linye said mildly. ”Order whatever you’d like. Don’t worry about my wallet. At worst, I’ll just have to work harder once I head back to university.”

’Please stop ruining people’s lives, bro...’ Ke Mingqing shuddered at the thought of what his brother’s ’work’ actually entailed, wincing internally at the phrase ’work harder.’

Ke Linye’s job mostly consisted of brutally killing heroes or criminals, after which Zorro would pay him.

After all, the organization Solomon only had two members. Ke Mingqing couldn’t fathom who else could possibly be funding his brother.

Of course, it was entirely possible that Ke Linye was just in it for the fun and didn’t actually profit. Alternatively, he might just be looting cash from the filthy-rich criminals and heroes during his missions. Though if that were the case, he was basically no different from a robber—earning him the title of a ’gentleman thief’ at best. ”Speaking of which... what exactly is Second Sister feeling guilty about?” Ke Mingqing asked blankly. ”I don’t get it. Is it because the movie we saw was so boring that I fell asleep in the theater and got a stomachache? I’m not that petty.”

Xia Lingxue fell silent. Ke Linye merely smiled, picking up a Fruit Knife to peel an orange.

”Maybe she feels guilty about bringing up the engagement at the dinner table—” Ke Linye had barely finished his sentence when Xia Lingxue suddenly grabbed a silver butter knife from the table, twirled it in her hand, and pressed the blade flush against his neck. Unfazed, Ke Linye kept his calm smile, continuing to peel his orange.

Watching this scene, Ke Mingqing stared dumbfounded.

Was this what a normal sibling relationship looked like? He must be suffering from eight lifetimes of bad luck to be stuck with an older brother and sister who treated brutally killing people as a casual pastime.

”Sorry, sorry. I won’t bring that joke up again,” Ke Linye said with a shrug. He set down the Fruit Knife and rinsed the pile of orange peels down the sink drain.

Ke Mingqing sighed. He picked up a menu and a pen, resting his chin on his hand as he scanned the selection of drinks and pastries.

”Well, since you’re paying, I’m not going to hold back,” he said. ”Let’s start with one of every expensive cake. If we can’t finish them, I’ll pack the rest up for my little sister... Wait, why does that make her sound like a little dog we use to dispose of leftovers?”

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone, snapped a photo of the menu, and sent it to Xia Zili on WeChat.

[Chali Jiushi: I want an Oreo one, and Third Sister wants a strawberry one.]

[Ke Mingqing: Oh, I just sent it to show you guys. I have no intention of buying them for you.]

[Chali Jiushi: Next time it rains, I won’t share my umbrella, but I can use it to send you to your maker.]

Ke Mingqing didn’t reply. He simply spammed her with a relentless barrage of magical girl Ember parody videos, only stopping to pocket his phone when a red exclamation mark popped up on the screen to indicate he had been blocked.

”My little sister and third sister want Oreo and strawberry cakes,” he announced.

He checked off a few boxes on the menu with his pencil and handed it over to Ke Linye.

”Understood,” Ke Linye said, taking it with a smile. ”I’ll brew you two some coffee.”

”Do we have customers?” With a lazy, deep voice, a man in his fifties with his white hair tied back in a ponytail walked in from the back room.

Zorro peered over his reading glasses, scanning the room before his gaze locked onto Ke Mingqing.

Ke Mingqing looked up slightly, meeting his gaze.

[Codename: Black Hand Zorro (Type: mutant) (Rating: A++ Rank)]

”Manager, this is my younger brother, Ke Mingqing,” Ke Linye introduced with a faint smile. ”He mentioned he’d been to this cafe before. I don’t know if you have any impression of him. As for the little girl with the constant cold expression, she needs no introduction.”

”Call me that again, and I’ll kill you,” Xia Lingxue snapped.

”That’s the hundredth time you’ve said that, my good sister,” Ke Linye replied.

Zorro ignored the siblings’ routine bickering. He turned to look at Ke Mingqing, pondering for a moment before taking off his reading glasses to reveal a pair of profound eyes.

”My name is Zorro,” he said. ”I don’t have a Chinese name. Your brother and sister usually just call me Manager, and you can do the same.” ”Nice to meet you.” Ke Mingqing nodded. ”Uncle Manager, please pay my brother a little more this month so he can buy me a game console.”

Ke Linye blinked in surprise before letting out a soft chuckle, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

”That depends on if he does a good job.” Zorro thought for a moment. ”In a few days... I’ll be flying out to Ancheng with your brother to stay for a few days.” ”What are you planning to do there?” Ke Mingqing asked, raising an eyebrow.

”I’m taking him to learn how a cafe should be run,” Zorro answered. ”When you get old, you still have to use your brain. You can’t just stand still, or you’ll eventually be phased out by the times.”

’Really? Aren’t you just taking him to hunt down some named superhero?’ Ke Mingqing thought.

Ke Linye shrugged and took a sip from his coffee cup. ”I have no choice. I’m just an apprentice right now, and I still have to inherit this cafe from him someday.”

Xia Lingxue took a sip of her lemonade. ”I can already imagine a few more pages of negative reviews on the internet once it passes into your hands.”

”That won’t happen, my good sister. I am a serious person,” Ke Linye said, wiping his hands on a rag as the corners of his mouth lifted.

He paused. ”Besides, if I can’t solve a problem, I generally lean toward solving the person who brought it up.”

Ke Mingqing shuddered, thinking: ’Big brother is going to the neighboring county with Zorro for a mission in a few days, and Dad will be going on a business trip to America with Mom.’

Thankfully, the Comet Fragments weren’t scheduled to arrive in Leijing until August 15th, so his dad and brother should be back by then. Otherwise, missing so much top-tier combat power, things would really be uncertain when they faced that group of monsters from Death Crow...

He could only hope that the comet incident wouldn’t happen ahead of schedule. Otherwise, Leijing might really see a witch or a rampaging mythic vessel materialize out of nowhere.

’Oh wait... shouldn’t I be glad if more of them die?’ At that thought, Ke Mingqing shook his head, let out a yawn, and pulled his phone from his pocket.

On a whim, he opened his browser and logged into the most popular hero leak website right now. He typed the keyword ’Grey Owl’ into the search box, and a long list of historical data related to him quickly popped up on the screen.

There weren’t actually many leaks regarding Grey Owl. Most of them were related to the Clock Maker’s live broadcast incident. The photos that met his eyes were all heavily censored with mosaics, showing just how bloody the scene had been.

After a moment, Ke Mingqing slightly raised his eyebrows. In the other party’s personal relationship web, he saw a name, a familiar name: ’Lin Yin.’

”It was actually you...” Ke Mingqing murmured softly.

’Lin Yin’, their current commander, was also the father of the late superhero, Grey Owl.

Years ago, the Clock Maker had brutally tortured and killed Grey Owl in a public live broadcast shown to the entire world... Following that, perhaps unable to bear the pain of losing his son, Lin Yin had temporarily retired to rest.

And this retirement lasted for three whole years.

Ultimately, Lin Yin returned to the Hero Company to continue serving as a commander. He acted as though nothing had ever happened, treating people and situations as warmly as he always had. Very few people in the workplace ever picked at his scars, as everyone avoided the topic completely.

Ke Mingqing looked at the photo on his phone screen and slightly raised an eyebrow.

He couldn’t imagine what kind of thoughts went through Lin Yin’s head back then, sitting in his office and watching the live broadcast of his own son being brutally killed. Nor did he know how Lin Yin felt, years later, when a rising rookie hero mimicking Rain Crow appeared before his eyes once again.

’No wonder... the commander agreed to let me skip the procedures and register my hero identity without revealing my real identity. So this guy, despite looking so honest, is actually just like Dad, wanting to take this opportunity to use me to get revenge on the Clock Maker?’

Thinking of this, Ke Mingqing let out a long sigh:

”They really are two like-minded old madmen.”

The next day. July 22nd, 10:00 AM.

Awakened from his deep sleep by the buzzing cicadas and sunlight, Ke Mingqing opened his eyes on his bedroom tatami mat. What entered his sight was a series of Quest Panel notifications. [Detected that today is Sunday. Weekly quests have been automatically refreshed. The quest list is as follows.]

[Weekly Quest 1: Run 3,000 meters. (Reward: 1 Attribute Point)]

[Weekly Quest 2: Kill two super-human species. (Reward: 1 chance to use the reward roulette)]

[Extra Quest: Cumulatively kill more than three super-human species. (Reward: 1 Attribute Point)]

”An Extra Quest... This is the first time this thing has refreshed all month,” Ke Mingqing said as he sat up. ”Is my luck just too bad? Or is there only one chance every month?”

He lowered his head, turning on a handheld fan and holding it to his face as he dug his phone out from under the pillow. Unlocking the screen, he glanced at a message he had received.

[Lin Yin: There is an urgent matter. If you are free, come to the Hero Company immediately.]

Seeing that the commander had already ordered Team Blue Pigeon to assemble at the Hero Company, Ke Mingqing didn’t think too much of it. He got straight out of bed, washed up quickly, and then rushed directly to the Hero Company.

Half an hour later, Leijing Superhero Company, fifteenth floor.

Several figures were currently gathered inside the commander’s office. Blue Pigeon leaned against the wall with his arms crossed; Shadow Woman munched on Chocolate beans while watching TV; the Invisible Giant youth had his head bowed, playing on a game console; and Top Hero wore headphones, listening to rap music.

After a moment, as Lin Yin walked into the office, the four of them put away their slacking attitudes.

Lin Yin took a seat in the swivel chair across the desk. He set down his briefcase and adjusted his glasses before looking at the four with a smile. ”I have a mission to assign to you today. To be precise... this mission comes from the Magical Girl Company. Your job is to assist Team Ember in completing it.”

[Main Quest 2 (Phase 2): Establish a friendly relationship with Ember, help her complete a company-issued mission, and attempt to make contact with ”Xi Ziyue” of the Magical Girl Three Giants.]

Blue Pigeon raised an eyebrow. He pulled up the Quest Panel and took a look, thinking to himself that this was the perfect chance to complete his quest. With this in mind, he looked up at Lin Yin from behind his goggles, waiting for the other party’s further explanation.

”We have to piggyback off others again?” the Invisible Giant youth asked impatiently. ”Can’t we just get a proper mission of our own?” Top Hero crossed his arms and comforted him, ”Bro, once we’re more famous and the team’s level goes up, we’ll be able to get the missions we want.”

”Top Hero is right,” Lin Yin smiled. ”You just can’t rush things. The more you rush, the more mistakes you make, and the more mistakes you make, the messier things get.”

The Invisible Giant youth scoffed, raising no further objections.

”What does the mission entail?” Shadow Woman put down her Chocolate beans, typed on her phone screen, and turned the phone toward Lin Yin.

Lin Yin spoke slowly: ”The content of the mission is to raid two drug dens. To ensure that the people in one den don’t flee upon hearing reports of the other den being attacked, the work on both sides must be carried out simultaneously.”

”They’re just drug dealers, is it really our turn to step in?” the Invisible Giant youth asked. ”Wouldn’t it be better to leave it to the police?”

”No, this isn’t something the police can solve,” Lin Yin said, shaking his head. ”It has already been confirmed that multiple super-human species bodyguards are stationed inside this organization. The danger level of this mission is extraordinary. There is even another piece of backdoor information—a recently discovered abnormal super-human species is mixed in among the bodyguards.”

”An abnormal super-human species?” Blue Pigeon asked, confused.

Lin Yin nodded and slowly uttered a single word:

”A player.”

Blue Pigeon froze slightly. In that instant, the figures of three people—Du Tingbei, Li Chunchun, and Gu Mengqing—flashed through his mind.