A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Ember descended from the sky, closed her umbrella, and landed inside the abandoned train station.

A hazy, cocoon-like light enveloped her body as Xia Zili changed back to her original appearance. In the sunlight, her skin was so pale it was almost transparent. She was wearing a bright yellow dress, and her hair was still tied back in a high ponytail, completely unchanged.

The platform above was completely empty.

Ke Mingqing stood in front of the lockers. He slowly pulled off his Bird Beak Helmet and stuffed it inside.

Xia Zili leaned against a pillar with her hands behind her back. She turned her head, gazing at a Ferris wheel baking in the sunlight on the distant horizon.

A light, pattering rain had fallen late last night.

Because of that, pea-sized water droplets occasionally fell from the station’s eaves, tracing beautiful parabolas before striking the rust-mottled tracks.

”Oh, right... Mom and Dad headed to the airport this morning,” Xia Zili suddenly mentioned.

”What for?” Ke Mingqing asked casually.

”Didn’t they mention it before?” Xia Zili answered. ”They’re going on a business trip to America. They said they’ll be back in about a month.” ”It’s fine. The old man pulls disappearing acts all the time anyway. It makes no difference whether he’s home or not.”Ke Mingqing paused. ”If you ask me... he should just try to buy the little supermarket downstairs before he retires. That way, whenever he wants a smoke, he can just grab a pack.”

”You know, I actually think he’d be great at running a supermarket,” Xia Zili said with a soft laugh.

”Right?”

Ke Mingqing stripped off his Blue Pigeon Battle Suit. Bare-chested, he folded the suit, shoved it into the locker, and took a T-shirt and a pair of shorts out of a plastic bag.

”When I rushed over today, I thought you were already dead.”

Xia Zili glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She thought for a moment, just looking to keep the conversation going.

”Sis... you really have a way with words.”

Ke Mingqing grumbled as he pulled on his T-shirt and shorts, then slammed the locker door shut.

”That Rocket Maniac was pretty strong. I fought him once before. I didn’t expect you to kill him,” Xia Zili said absentmindedly, her head bowed.

”Well? Do you finally realize your brother isn’t completely useless?”

Ke Mingqing’s lips curled into a faint smile as he turned to look at her.

Right then, a notification panel slowly popped up above her head.

[Main Quest 2 (Stage 3): Help the magical girl Ember survive the ”Comet Fragments Defense Battle,” or induce the magical girl Ember into Witchification during this event.]

Why induce Witchification instead of killing her?

Could it be...

Does the system think she’ll be useful to us players after she becomes a witch?

That makes sense, though... If Ember becomes a witch, countless magical girls will come to subjugate her. Even the superheroes will be alarmed. Thinking this, Ke Mingqing shook his head and murmured, ”Let’s go. We’re heading home.”

”Oh.”

The train station wasn’t far from their apartment building. Before long, the siblings arrived home.

Xia Zili grabbed the remote and turned on the living room air conditioner with a beep. Ke Mingqing collapsed onto the sofa.

”Oh, right. I’m already level ten... Nietzsche’s last skill should be unlocked by now.” Ke Mingqing suddenly remembered this and opened his skill panel to check.

[According to the effects of the Gate of Truth, the philosopher ”Nietzsche” possesses the following skills: 1. Superman Philosophy; 2. Eternal Recurrence; 3. God is Dead (This skill can be manually unlocked at Level 10. Click to view skill details.)]

Ke Mingqing tapped on the description for the final skill.

[God is Dead: Breaks the influence of one domain-type or rule-based ability on you, allowing you to escape from it.]

”It’s that strong?”

The boy raised an eyebrow. ”I was actually worried some super-human species might open a ’True Man Domain’ and drag me in for a one-on-one duel. With this skill, things will be much easier. Perfect for making a run for it.”

After thinking for a moment, he casually picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

Right at that moment, an anchor on the Leijing news channel was holding a script, broadcasting breaking news with a warm smile.

”At ten o’clock this morning, Team Blue Pigeon and Team Ember conducted a joint raid and successfully destroyed a drug trafficking stronghold. All involved personnel have been arrested.

”Following the operation, the Hero Company’s official website updated its information: The rank of the rising hero, ’Blue Pigeon,’ has officially been raised to C Rank.”

The anchor flipped through his script and added, ”According to another official announcement, Team Blue Pigeon—previously composed of reformed criminals—has now been promoted to a C Rank team due to their consecutive completions of multiple high-difficulty missions.” Xia Zili plopped down on the sofa next to him, twisted the cap off a bottle of Sprite, and took a sip. Looking at the enlarged photo of Blue Pigeon on the screen, she said mockingly, ”Well, congratulations.”

”It’s no big deal,” Ke Mingqing snorted. ”Save the congratulations for a few months from now, when I become one of the Roundtable Heroes.”

”Has anyone in the history of the Super Hero Company ever become a Roundtable Hero in just half a year?” Xia Zili pondered. ”Didn’t Rain Crow take over a year to join the Roundtable?”

”Then I’ll be the first to break the record.”

Ke Mingqing yawned, ignoring his sister’s disdainful glare, and looked at an option hovering in the top right corner of his vision: [Item Wheel]. He reached up and poked it. A roulette interface instantly popped up in front of him.

[You currently have one chance to use the ”Item Wheel.” (PS: For every 5,000 superhuman coins spent, you can gain one additional activation of the wheel.)]

Ke Mingqing glanced at the six sections on the wheel. The prizes were ”1,000 superhuman coins,” ”Lucky Gloves,” ”Disposable Skill: Spinning Arm Rock-Paper-Scissors Technique,” ”One-Time Skill Card: Transform into a Dragon,” ”Earth’s Blessing,” and ”Heart of the Glacier.”

They all seem like great items. Can’t they just bundle them all up and give them to me?

Ke Mingqing thought to himself, extending his index finger to tap the center of the wheel.

A blood-red pointer immediately jerked to life. It spun across the wheel at high speed, blurring into a phantom circle. A moment later, the pointer slowly came to a stop.

It rested squarely on the prize in the second section.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the C Rank item, ”Lucky Gloves,” from this draw.]

[Item Description: When you equip the ”Lucky Gloves” and use a probability-based skill, you may specify the ”roll outcome” of that skill once. (This effect has a 24-hour cooldown.)]

A probability-based skill? Doesn’t that mean I can combo this with the Dice of Calamity?

His heart skipped a beat at the thought. He opened his inventory to check the description of the black-and-red dice in slot 8. [Dice of Calamity (D Rank Item): Roll the dice. Different numbers will trigger different events. The events corresponding to each number are ”fixed events.” The player can explore the patterns on their own.]

So far, Ke Mingqing had only used the Dice of Calamity once.

That was a few days ago when he had nothing to do. He had sent White Jack out to an empty, deserted area and rolled the black-and-red dice. White Jack rolled a ”5,” and the resulting event was: [Summons an array of machine guns to perform a wide-area sweep centered on the landing spot of the Dice of Calamity.]

Every number represents a different event. If I take advantage of this and pair it with the Lucky Gloves, I’ll be able to adapt to any situation, Ke Mingqing thought.

”What do you want for dinner?” Xia Zili asked suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

”I don’t know. Mom isn’t home, so we either have to order takeout or eat out,”

Ke Mingqing replied. He secretly thought about how terrible this alien’s cooking was. She was always inventing weird, dark cuisine that made him grimace at every meal. He was finally free.

Xia Zili thought for a moment. ”Then... will you go out to eat with me?”

”I’ll go with you if it’s your treat,” Ke Mingqing shrugged. ”Lady Ember must be loaded. Comrade Blue Pigeon hasn’t even received his salary from the Hero Company yet. I’m totally broke right now.”

”How lame...” Xia Zili said. ”I hope word gets out about this. Blue Pigeon will be the first Roundtable Hero in history to be a sugar baby kept by his own sister.” ”So what? Does anyone else have the magical girl Ember for a sister?”

Ke Mingqing said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. Xia Zili froze for a second. She lowered her head, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips, and then shoved her half-finished bottle of Sprite into his hands.

”You smell like blood. Go take a shower first. See you at dinner,” the girl ordered.

”Yes, sir.”

Late that night, someone suddenly paid a visit to Giovanni’s room in the abandoned building used by Death Crow.

”Are you in there?” Jiang Qingzi’s voice filtered through the door.

By the dim light, Giovanni glanced at the clock in the hotel room. It was already ten o’clock at night. It was safe to say the man was disturbing his sleep.

He didn’t wake Bai Ziling. Instead, he pulled the covers over her, got out of bed, and walked quietly to the door.

He turned the knob and opened the door. When he saw the figure standing outside, Giovanni paused in surprise.

Standing before him was a man draped in a black cloak, wearing a black magician’s top hat and a pitch-black owl mask. [super-human species Codename: Black Magic Hand]

[Danger Rating: A Rank]

The figure was undeniably Jiang Qingzi, but for some reason, he had changed his outfit. He looked like a completely different person from the handsome young man who always wore a school uniform jacket.

”The boss wants you to accompany me on a mission,” Black Magic Hand said.

Giovanni remained silent for a moment. ”What mission?”

”Here’s the deal, kid,” a clear, teasing female voice echoed from the hallway. Giovanni turned his head and saw a red-haired girl wearing an eyepatch and a black-and-red pirate outfit suddenly leaning in.

She crossed her arms and continued, ”There’s another underground organization trying to get their hands on the Comet Fragments, just like us. We’re going to wipe out their people so they don’t interfere with our plans.”

Black Magic Hand lowered his head slightly, glancing at the razor-sharp, claw-like fingers of his pitch-black gloves. Picking up where Captain Red left off, he said, ”They have about a hundred people. Not a lot, but not a few either.”

Giovanni looked back and forth between Captain Red and Black Magic Hand in confusion. He asked, ”Why bring me? Aren’t you two enough?”

”You’ll know why when we get there,” Captain Red grinned. ”No need to ask so many questions.”

Giovanni fell silent for a moment before nodding.

Then, he suddenly turned to look at the sleeping white-haired girl.

”You don’t need to bring her,” Black Magic Hand said evenly, noticing his gaze.

”Then let’s stop wasting time and go.”

Giovanni closed the door behind him and took the lead toward the stairs.

About ten minutes later, the three members of Death Crow passed through a pitch-black corridor and entered an underground bar.

The other side of the door was bustling with activity. Neon lights flashed everywhere, illuminating a lively scene of clinking glasses.

Looking around, quite a few super-human species were gathered here. This was a rallying point for the underground syndicate Vulture. Normally, no one would ever visit this bar. The moment Giovanni stepped over the threshold, three burly men in bodyguard uniforms approached with hostile expressions. They were massive and towering, radiating intense pressure just standing there like small mountains.

The three of them looked highly unfriendly. Under the glare of the neon lights, one man’s brow was furrowed so tightly it looked tied in a knot.

Captain Red rested her hand on Giovanni’s shoulder, leaned her body against him, and winked at the three bodyguards.

”You’re already dead men. Couldn’t you at least give our handsome attendant a nice smile?”

The red-haired girl said, her tone dripping with arrogance and contempt.

”You...” one of the bodyguards rasped.

However, before the man could finish, Black Magic Hand snapped his fingers.

A crisp ”snap” echoed, and the bar abruptly fell silent. In the next instant, hundreds of magic throwing knives materialized in midair. They plummeted like torrential rain, plunging precisely into the skull of every guest in the room.

The boisterous chatter instantly gave way to dead silence.

A sickening chorus of wet thuds echoed through the bar. The guests didn’t even have time to scream. Like patients who had just undergone lobotomies, they stood completely still, robbed of all motion.

Giovanni turned his ear to listen, but all he could hear was the sound of blood spurting and dripping.

Two seconds ago, there had been over a hundred living people in the bar, but as he looked around now, only a sparse handful were still standing. Giovanni withdrew his gaze and looked up at the three bodyguards in front of him.

A magic throwing knife was embedded in each of their bald heads. Pale blue flames burned their brains. The men stood frozen like statues, their faces twisted in absolute terror.

Black Magic Hand strolled calmly past them, not even casting a glance through his owl mask. His pitch-black cloak dragged across the floor without picking up a single speck of dust or a drop of blood.

A moment later, Black Magic Hand slowly turned his head to look at the four dying super-human species in the bar.

With a crisp ”snap,” he raised his right hand—clad in a pitch-black glove that resembled an eagle’s claw—and snapped his fingers once more.

Suddenly, four massive magic wardrobes descended from the sky, slamming onto the floor with a deafening crash.

The wardrobe doors swung open, and chains lashed out at lightning speed, wrapping around the bodies of the four super-human species. Each person was dragged into a magic wardrobe. In the next second, the doors slammed tightly shut.

Giovanni watched the four magic wardrobes, listening to the muffled thuds of people violently pounding on the doors from the inside.

All at once, thousands of bayonets resembling ancient knights’ swords materialized in midair. One by one, they pierced into the wardrobes. The violent impacts against the doors intensified as each wardrobe trembled with heavy thuds. Mixed within the noise were the wails and gasps of humans, along with the sickening sound of sharp metal tearing through flesh.

”I never got to say this to you... Welcome to Death Crow.”

Black Magic Hand spoke in a low voice as he reached out with his pitch-black, claw-like glove and gently patted Giovanni’s shoulder. Giovanni stood in silence, listening to the wails echoing from the wardrobes. A short while later, the wardrobes opened, and the bodies were thrown out, completely riddled with holes like deflated balloons.

”Our grand illusionist left them alive. After all, someone else is supposed to finish them off.”

Captain Red said softly as she placed a revolver into Giovanni’s hand.

Giovanni looked down at the gun in confusion. The red-haired girl simply stared back at him with a teasing grin, playfully twirling a strand of his hair. Black Magic Hand spoke slowly. ”The boss modified this revolver using his ability. Its bullets are far more powerful than a normal revolver’s. They are more than enough to blow apart a super-human species’s head.”

He paused and lowered his voice slightly.

”Rookie, kill them.”