A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Late at night, Ke Mingqing hunched over his bedroom desk, buried in his summer homework.

More accurately, he was copying Kuroki Hitomi’s. The young lady had finished all her assignments at the start of the summer break. Ke Mingqing had only mentioned his in passing, and she had sent him all the answers through the Chat Panel.

Right now, he had the Chat Panel propped above his head, glancing up at the answers every now and then.

A trace of lightning wrapped around his fingertips as he gripped his ballpoint pen. The electric current stimulated his active cells, moving the pen so fast it practically smoked against the notebook.

When had Ke Mingqing ever stumbled into such a good thing in his past life? He never thought the day would come when he grew addicted to doing homework.

A sudden ding chimed from the edge of the desk, overpowering the scratching of his pen.

A text message broke his concentration.

He sighed. Can’t you let me study in peace? he thought, setting down his pen to check his phone.

[Jiang Qingzi: Are you free tomorrow? Let’s meet up if you are.]

Seeing the name, Ke Mingqing froze for a second. He remembered what had happened at the port, when Black Magic Hand shattered his mask with a knife and saw his true face.Even now, recalling the shock and bewilderment on the other boy’s face made him want to laugh.

He tilted his head, typed a reply, and hit send.

[Ke Mingqing: I’m free, but what do you want to do? If it’s a movie, count me out. My family has been dragging me out to watch movies every single day.]

[Jiang Qingzi: I just want to chat for a bit and give you a few things. See you tomorrow?]

[Ke Mingqing: Okay, see you tomorrow. I still have homework to do. It’s nice being a rich kid; teachers don’t even care if you turn in a blank test.]

[Jiang Qingzi: I can buy off the teachers for you too.]

[Ke Mingqing: Don’t. It’ll be a disaster if my family finds out. My second sister would definitely hound you.]

Message sent, Ke Mingqing set his summer homework aside. He lay back on his bed, resting his hands behind his head.

Even with lightning speed and an answer key, copying still took too much mental energy. After a moment’s thought, he decided to have his doll Mio take over the job.

It was rare to find such an excellent employee; wringing every bit of value out of her was just good management.

He glanced up at the clock.

The hands ticked forward. Right at midnight, he received a player message on the dot.

[Kuroki Hitomi: Good night.]

Ke Mingqing yawned, typed on the panel, and replied.

[Ke Mingqing: I’ve actually been curious—what’s the point of checking in like this every single day?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: To let you know I’m safe. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even know if I got killed, right?]

[Ke Mingqing: Fair point. If I woke up and saw your name on an obituary, my jaw would hit the floor.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: So I hope you can develop this habit too. It’s just two words, and it’s very convenient.]

[Ke Mingqing: You really have a knack for manipulating people into doing things.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Do I? I didn’t realize.]

[Ke Mingqing: Good night.]

She stayed silent for a moment before typing another message.

[Kuroki Hitomi: I think we should practice a bit more, just in case you forget.]

[Ke Mingqing: Good night, good night, good night.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Also, maybe it would be better if we used voice messages to report in? That way, we rule out the possibility of someone figuring out our habit, capturing you, and forcing you to type ’Good night’ in the Chat Panel.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: If it’s a voice message, we can gauge each other’s situation through the tone of our voice when saying it.]

Ke Mingqing was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He lay face down on his pillow and switched to mental typing.

[Ke Mingqing: Then from now on, I’ll have my doll Mio report in for me. That way, if I ever personally say ’Good night’ to you, you’ll know I’m in trouble. Okay?]

She didn’t send another message, seemingly accepting the suggestion.

Ke Mingqing closed the panel, turned his head on the pillow, and shut his eyes. Sleep washed over him, and he soon drifted off.

...

...

[Good morning, slightly respectable Red Name Player ’Ke Mingqing’. Please watch your words and actions today as well.]

[The current time is 09:05 on Saturday, August 4th. The time limit for the ’Exterminate Superhumans’ quest is—146 days, 14 hours, and 55 minutes.]

Ke Mingqing sat up in bed and glanced out the window.

The weather was beautiful. A gentle breeze blew under a bright, sunny sky—a perfect day to head out. He could see a girl in a gothic dress holding up a pitch-black umbrella, flying through the power lines and high-rises toward the sky. She was probably on her way to a meeting at the abandoned elementary school.

Ke Mingqing didn’t pry. Xia Zili wouldn’t tell him anyway.

He had agreed to meet Jiang Qingzi at ten o’clock in the morning, so after brushing his teeth and washing his face, he hurried out the door.

He boarded a bus, resting his chin in his hand as he watched the scenery. Outside a bookstore, a cluster of boys and girls were eagerly discussing the latest issue of Superhero Weekly.

The cover featured the rising star hero, Blue Pigeon. He stood sideways, one hand on his hip and the other raised in a karate chop toward the camera, deep blue lightning crackling from his fingertips.

Could the Super Hero Company’s taste get any tackier? Ke Mingqing wondered. Kids wouldn’t be able to tell it was AI-generated art.

He soon got off the bus at a library next to Leijing No. 3 Middle School.

The library was mostly empty this morning. The librarian, a bespectacled college student likely working a holiday part-time job, sat quietly behind the counter, reading a book.

Ke Mingqing nodded in greeting before heading deeper into the stacks.

He strolled past row after row of bookshelves until he spotted a young man in a white casual jacket in the very last aisle.

Jiang Qingzi leaned against the shelves, head bowed as he quietly leafed through an archive file. Judging by its appearance, it didn’t belong to the library; he had brought it himself.

Ke Mingqing knew Jiang Qingzi had been avoiding him for three days. To schedule a meeting now meant there had to be a reason.

For example, was he going to confess to being Black Magic Hand?

Thinking of this, he glanced at the file in Jiang Qingzi’s hands. A slip of paper was taped to the cover, bearing a single line of text: Investigation Record of the Anhe District Fire Incident.

Why is my good buddy so obsessed with this fire? His parents died, so what? Ke Mingqing thought.

In the shadows of the bookshelf, Jiang Qingzi heard the footsteps and slowly turned to look at him.

Their eyes met. Jiang Qingzi had heavy dark circles and looked haggard. The girls at school who obsessed over him probably wouldn’t even recognize him right now.

His gaze landed on Ke Mingqing’s cheek.

Back at the port, he had personally carved a nasty gash across Ke Mingqing’s face. Afterward, Guchen had boasted in the abandoned building:

”I blew a hole straight through Blue Pigeon’s stomach with a single shot. The kid is probably dead...”

Hearing those words from Guchen, Jiang Qingzi had frozen in place. For a moment, he hadn’t known whether to be furious or what else to feel; his brain had simply stopped working.

He had left the abandoned building early after that to avoid losing control of his emotions in front of the rest of Death Crow.

Sorakagehime, Bandage Man, Ke Mingqing... In Jiang Qingzi’s mind, three people close to him had died that night.

Because of that, he hadn’t slept or eaten for an entire day and night, wandering around like a walking corpse.

It wasn’t until the morning of the second, as he sat in a daze in front of the television, that he saw the superhero Blue Pigeon on the live broadcast of the funeral.

Only then did his agony begin to fade, replaced by surprise, dread, and confusion...

But honestly, Jiang Qingzi no longer understood how to view his friend, nor did he know how to interact with him moving forward.

After nearly killing Ke Mingqing, was he supposed to just pretend nothing had happened? To flash a despicable smile and joke around with him like always?

Jiang Qingzi had thought about it for a long time before deciding to make it up to him in his own way, as best he could.

There was one thing only he could do.

”I’m here. Why aren’t you saying anything?” Ke Mingqing stared into his eyes. ”Cat got your tongue?”

Jiang Qingzi closed the archive file, looked up, and gave Ke Mingqing a faint smile.

”I actually just wanted to give this to you in person, which is why I asked you out.”

Ke Mingqing played dumb, dropping his gaze to the file. ”What’s this?”

”Data and photos from the Anhe District fire. A lot of this never made it onto the internet...”

”Where did you get it?”

”One of my online friends is a hacker,” Jiang Qingzi said with a smile. ”I asked her to dig up all the classified data regarding that fire, and she ended up finding these crucial clues.”

”Damn, how do you even know a hacker? So high-end,” Ke Mingqing said, feigning surprise. In reality, he had just tied that exact hacker up and toyed with her a couple of days ago.

Jiang Qingzi scratched the bridge of his nose and looked away. ”Well... I chat a lot online, so I know a wide variety of people.”

Despite having the codename Magic Hand, Jiang Qingzi was terrible at lying. Ke Mingqing knew every single one of his tells.

”How wide?”

”Like an Italian clergyman, or a deadpan flight attendant with a bit of a lolita complex for little white-haired girls. Who knows, I might even know a Ninja...” Jiang Qingzi smirked slightly at the end.

Bro, could you not drag my reputation through the mud behind my back? What did Giovanni ever do to you?

Ke Mingqing stayed silent for a moment before slowly opening the archive file.

He kept his head down, skipping past the jumbled text descriptions, and looked at a few blurry photos: people screaming in the fire, houses engulfed in flames, plumes of black smoke drifting into the sky...

Finally, his gaze stopped on one particular photograph.

The photo showed a naked girl with her head bowed. She gripped a crimson spear, each foot resting on a rapidly spinning wheel, hovering in mid-air.

The library was completely quiet.

Amidst the absolute silence, Ke Mingqing’s pupils suddenly contracted.

The firelight obscured the girl’s face and body, but based on her other features, Ke Mingqing could pretty much confirm her identity...

In that moment, the face of his third sister, Xia Ningzhi, flashed through his mind.

Although Ke Mingqing had long suspected who was responsible for the fire, seeing actual proof still sent a jolt of shock through him.

”Red Lotus...” Ke Mingqing murmured.

He pretended to think, then asked, ”That vigilante who’s always on TV?”

Jiang Qingzi stayed silent for a long moment before nodding.

”Yes. The Wind and Fire Wheels, the Fire-Tipped Spear. It could only be her. She caused that fire ten years ago and burned our parents to death.”

”She was just a kid in this photo. She’s probably around our age now,” Ke Mingqing said softly.

”Do you think a child can be forgiven for doing something like this?”

Ke Mingqing closed the folder. ”I want to ask you something instead. You said you didn’t care anymore, so why dig so deep into this?”

”Because I know you care...”

”Didn’t I say I don’t care?”

”You’re so stubborn. You always claim you don’t care about the things you actually do. That’s why, when we were in the cafe that day, I realized I had to give you an answer.”

Jiang Qingzi was lying again.

In truth, he just wanted to do something for him to ease his own guilt... Nearly killing his best friend wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.

Jiang Qingzi had never experienced such torment. If he hadn’t known Ke Mingqing was still alive, he likely would have left Death Crow already, and the boss wouldn’t have stopped him.

Ke Mingqing stayed quiet for a long time before letting out a low sigh.

”I’m seriously speechless.”

”If you need help...” Jiang Qingzi shook his head. ”No. If you want revenge against Red Lotus, I will definitely help you. I don’t care what it takes, I’ll find her and drag her in front of you.”

He paused and slowly looked up. ”Ke Mingqing, you’re my best friend.”

”I know, I know. You’re being so serious I’m not even used to it...” Ke Mingqing said. ”I’ll hold onto this, then? There are a few details I want to look into.”

With that, he tucked the file under his arm.

”Yeah, I brought it for you anyway,” Jiang Qingzi said.

”Want to grab a drink?”

”No, I have to go to Japan next for a family trip. My flight takes off soon, so I need to hurry to the airport.”

”When will you be back?”

”Right before school starts.”

”Oh, alright. Have fun,” Ke Mingqing said.

Jiang Qingzi stayed quiet for a moment, then reached out and patted his shoulder. ”No matter what you do, I’ll support you...” With that, he turned and left.

Ke Mingqing watched him go. In his vision, a Quest Panel slowly popped up.

[Main Quest 3 (Final Phase) Updated: Temporarily infiltrate Death Crow and wait for an opportunity to kill all members of Death Crow, including Black Magic Hand.]

”Come on, why did the difficulty suddenly jump so high?” he muttered in shock.

Since Ke Mingqing had nothing else to do, he ducked into a secluded alley on his way home and summoned the Theater Puppet, making White Jack’s top hat spin.

White Jack shot high into the air, flying straight toward the Zero Overpass. A moment later, he descended from the sky, landing atop the desolate, abandoned structure.

It was high up here. He couldn’t hear the cicadas, but the roar of airplanes rumbled overhead. A snow-white metal bird glided through the clouds, leaving a contrail that stretched across half the sky.

White Jack pulled the Lucky Gloves from his inventory and slipped them over his pale fingers. At the same time, he took out the Calamity Dice.

Each number on the Calamity Dice triggered a different event. He only knew that rolling a 5 spawned a barrage of machine guns that swept the ground, but he had no idea what the other numbers did.

The Lucky Gloves allowed him to dictate the outcome of any probability-based item. Fixing the result of the Calamity Dice to a 6, White Jack tossed the die onto the overpass.

The black-and-red die tumbled across the asphalt until it finally came to a stop. The number facing up was a 6.

”Amitabha,” White Jack chanted a quick prayer, yet nothing happened. It was like throwing a dud grenade.

A moment later, a notification panel popped up in his vision.

[Roll 6: Trigger a heavenly lightning strike (Prerequisite: Must be in a rainy environment to activate).]

White Jack scratched his chin. ”Oh, heavenly lightning? Since it’s a lightning-based ability, couldn’t I just disguise it as Blue Pigeon’s power?”

”The rain requirement is easy enough. I can just use ’It’s Raining’ to summon torrential rain. Then, I can use the Lucky Gloves to lock the die on a 6, guaranteeing a heavenly lightning strike.”

Thinking this, White Jack turned to look at the Calamity Dice. The die vanished. He decided he would test this move’s power another day.

He highly doubted there were many superhuman species in this world capable of tanking a bolt of heavenly lightning head-on. This was definitely going to be an incredible trump card.

White Jack stood on the overpass railing and leaned back, plummeting from hundreds of meters in the air toward the ground below. A moment later, his body dissolved into a puff of fading smoke in mid-air.

...

...

Elsewhere, just as White Jack finished testing the Calamity Dice’s number 6 effect, Ke Mingqing returned home.

When he stepped into the living room, he met Xia Lingxue’s gaze. She was leaning against the wall, messing with her phone, balancing a book on her head. He had heard she was doing this to train her posture.

Ke Mingqing had no idea what went on in Xia Lingxue’s head. He just thought she was crazy.

Hiding the fire incident file under his clothes, he went upstairs, slipped the folder between the books on his shelf, and then headed back down to sit on the couch.

Xia Ningzhi and Xia Zili were sitting on the couch, playing Superheroes vs Magical Girls on the Switch connected to the TV.

They were playing the latest version. Xia Ningzhi was playing as Blue Pigeon, and Xia Zili was playing as the magical girl Ember.

As they fought, Ember suddenly yanked Blue Pigeon into her arms, shoved her gun barrel into his mouth, and pulled the trigger. It was an easter egg the developers had added based on recent trending events.

The moment the easter egg triggered, Xia Zili tried to keep a straight face, but her shoulders trembled as she held back her laughter. Xia Ningzhi burst out laughing instantly, slapping the armrest of the couch and taking quite a while to catch her breath.

”Is it really that funny?” Ke Mingqing walked over and asked. ”Looks like sexual harassment to me. If the roles were reversed, there’d be tens of thousands of angry comments.”

”When are they going to add an easter egg of Blue Pigeon getting flirted with by Officer Girl? I want to see that,” Xia Zili said. ”Oh, wait. Blue Pigeon is too weak in this game. No one would ever pick him to fight against Officer Girl.”

Ke Mingqing shot her an icy glare.

Without a word, the boy silently shared an Ember compilation video to their family group chat.

Xia Ningzhi sent a stunned Minion sticker with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. Ke Linye replied, ”Looks great, love it, send more.” Xia Lingxue didn’t respond at all.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in the living room, shattering the silence.

”Tomorrow is Sunday. Aren’t we inviting your girlfriend and Xiao Li’s classmate over for dinner?” Xia Lingxue looked up, crossing her arms as she asked Ke Mingqing.

”Yeah, yeah! Why don’t we add them to our group chat? Mom and Dad aren’t home anyway, so there’s nothing to be awkward about,” Xia Ningzhi suggested with a clap and a smile.

”I object,” Xia Zili said deadpan. ”Don’t you dare add my classmate to the group, or I’m leaving it.”

Ke Mingqing shrugged. He was probably the only one who knew exactly why Xia Zili refused.

Flipping through his chat history with Little Red Riding Hood, he could already picture An Youlu spamming their family group chat with magical girl Ember compilations every single day.

At this point, basically every sibling in the house knew Ember’s identity. Only Xia Zili herself was still in the dark, under the illusion that Ke Mingqing was the only one who knew.

After a bit of Comrade Little Red Riding Hood’s remodeling, this family group chat might quickly turn into an Ember Fan Club.

Every day, Xia Zili would open the chat only to see her brothers and sisters showering Ember with sarcastic praise, leaving her to doubt her entire life.

At that thought, Ke Mingqing silently pulled An Youlu into their small group chat. A second later, Xia Zili abused her admin privileges to kick her right back out.

Immediately after, Ke Mingqing received a message from Little Red Riding Hood.

[Little Red Riding Hood Who Sells Matches: Why did this happen? Are country girls who grew up eating garbage doomed to get kicked out of group chats? I didn’t even get a chance to read the group name.]

[Ke Mingqing: The group chat is named ’A Family That Loves Each Other’. You’re welcome.]

[Little Red Riding Hood Who Sells Matches: Am I supposed to tag along as a dowry maid for the young lady? Polygamy isn’t a thing in the modern era anymore. Please drop that idea, Mr. Blue Pigeon.]

Ke Mingqing fell silent. He raised his eyes from his phone and glanced at Xia Lingxue in the distance.

Then, he opened the player Chat Panel and sent a message to Kuroki Hitomi.

[Ke Mingqing: Are you mentally prepared?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: For what?]

[Ke Mingqing: Tomorrow you’re coming to my house to fight monsters... My second sister has had her eye on you for a while now. Rather than being passive, it’s better to take the initiative. Once you clear her suspicions, she won’t do anything to you in the future.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Got it. I trust you.]

[Ke Mingqing: Don’t worry. I won’t let her find out you’re a player. Absolutely not.]