A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Night shrouded Tokyo. On a street in Roppongi, a Japanese ramen cart sat parked on a corner.

The scent of ramen drifted through the air. Behind white noren curtains printed with a beckoning cat, a faint orange light spilled out into the street, carrying the sounds of laughter and conversation.

Yet at this very moment, inside an inconspicuous office building on the street corner, the air was dead silent.

A young man in a flight attendant’s uniform and a woman in a white suit skirt stood silently facing each other in the moonlight.

Bai sat motionless on the windowsill.

After a long while, she raised an eyebrow. Slowly lifting her head, she asked, ”You think I spread this information?”

Ke Mingqing nodded.

Bai stared at him. ”Why would you think that? Do I have any reason to harm her?”

”How else would you know about it?” Ke Mingqing retorted. ”Are you telling me intel from the vampire hunters somehow reached your ears?”

”I just asked around. Don’t underestimate my information network. I’m a very famous person, unlike you,” Bai said.The two stared at each other quietly in the moonlight. Ke Mingqing’s eyes were filled with distrust. Bai stayed silent for a moment before a flash of displeasure appeared in her eyes.

She lowered her voice.

”Listen here. I might look young... but I’ve probably lived a bit longer than you imagine. No, a lot longer... So I know more. It’s not strange that I’d know about this.” Bai turned her head away.

Gazing out at the moonlight, she murmured almost soundlessly, ”You could only fool the child I used to be. There’s no need to put on an act... Everyone knows you don’t actually care about her at all.”

Ke Mingqing didn’t want to humor her anymore.

Bending down slightly, he hoisted Bai Ziling onto his back. ”I have another question,” he said.

”Ask... before I lose my patience.”

”Since you know her heart is so precious, why didn’t you take it?”

Ke Mingqing paused. ”Don’t tell me immortality holds no appeal for you.”

Bai was silent for a very long time before she suddenly laughed, a touch of mockery in her smile. ”Unfortunately, immortality really doesn’t hold any appeal for me. I might be a nostalgic person, but I’m not so nostalgic that I’d long for something I’ve already discarded. That would be a bit too cheap.”

Ke Mingqing continued to watch her expressionlessly.

He always felt that this Puppeteer would occasionally spout cryptic nonsense. He didn’t know if she was mentally unhinged, or if it was just some sort of occupational hazard.

”Alright, actually, it’s just that I saw you taking such meticulous care of her, and I couldn’t bear to snatch her heart away,” Bai said. ”Besides, if I bullied her, wouldn’t that violate the rule against infighting between members?”

”What about the leader?” Ke Mingqing asked.

Lorenzo’s face flashed through his mind. If it were The Pope—a man with an apathetic personality, cruel methods, and boundless greed—there was no way he would let Bai Ziling’s heart go once he found out. To a man like him, most things in this world were merely collectibles.

Ke Mingqing stared at the white-haired girl on his back and pondered for a moment.

He knew full well that Bai Ziling’s heart might become his only lifeline, so he couldn’t hand her over casually. Her heart was the compensation he demanded for protecting her over the past six months.

After all, without him, this vampire girl would have died long ago without even an intact corpse left behind. He owed her nothing; he hadn’t owed her a thing from the very beginning.

At this thought, Ke Mingqing looked up, meeting Bai’s eyes directly.

”I didn’t tell the leader,” Bai said. ”He doesn’t know yet that this little white-haired brat’s heart is an invaluable treasure. Currently, inside Death Crow, only you, me, and Heimeng know about this.”

She paused. ”Unless you or Heimeng voluntarily leak this, the other members won’t be bored enough to look into vampire affairs. They have virtually no contact with vampire hunters anyway.”

”I hope you’re telling the truth,” Ke Mingqing said, enunciating every word.

Cupping her face in her hands, Bai let out a long sigh. ”Is this how you speak to your savior?”

”That is a separate matter. Don’t conflate the two.” Ke Mingqing fell silent for a long moment. ”I do owe you a favor. I hope there’s a chance to repay it in the future.”

He thought to himself: ’When I kill you six months from now, I’ll try my best to leave your corpse intact. I’ll make your death quick so you suffer less. That’s the only way I can repay you.’

Bai watched his retreating back as he left, then sat alone on the windowsill in a daze.

A moment later, she suddenly raised a hand and gently pulled at her cheek.

Instantly, the threads stitched into the corners of her eyes and mouth fell away. She had completely changed faces. It was an entirely different face, drastically distinct from the shape of her features to the color of her eyes. If Ke Mingqing had still been standing there, he would have been thoroughly shocked.

”Still as uncomfortable as ever...”

Bai muttered. Taking off her veil, she slowly turned away from the windowsill. She lowered her eyes, gazed at the sight of Tokyo Tower in the night breeze for a while, and then left the office building.

Meanwhile, Ke Mingqing was walking down a neon-lit street with Bai Ziling on his back. His phone soon returned to normal, so he contacted Heimeng.

Heimeng arranged a new hotel for him and Bai Ziling in Roppongi.

After checking into the hotel, Ke Mingqing went into the bathroom to rinse off, activated his flight attendant uniform’s automatic cleaning function, and then lay down on the soft bed.

Amid the humming of the air conditioner, he slowly closed his eyes.

His consciousness was like a flying bird, spreading its wings from Tokyo, crossing the vast ocean, flying over the Chinese border, and finally landing inside a certain three-story residential building in Leijing.

...

...

Ke Mingqing opened his eyes in bed. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was already four in the morning.

At this deep hour, the old building in the Xia-Ke compound was incredibly quiet. There was no sound from any direction; all he could hear was the chirping of cicadas, or the occasional dog bark drifting from a deep alley.

Ke Mingqing didn’t turn on the light. Instead, he sat quietly in the dark.

He opened the Quest Panel and claimed the reward for Weekly Quest Two.

[You have obtained one allocatable Attribute Point from the quest ”Kill Three of the super-human species”. Distribute immediately?]

Ke Mingqing pressed ’Yes’ and quickly opened his personal interface to allocate the Attribute Point.

[Congratulations, your ’Agility’ attribute has increased from B Rank to B+ Rank.]

[Current attributes for player ”Ke Mingqing” are as follows: Strength: B; Agility: B+; Spirit: C+]

Ke Mingqing lay back on the sleeping mat, just about to close his eyes and rest. However, to his surprise, he actually received a message in his player chat list at this hour.

He froze for a moment, then opened his eyes. Looking at the little red dot that had popped up in the upper right corner of his vision, he raised a hand to poke it.

Immediately after, a player Chat Panel popped up.

[Kuroki Hitomi: By the way, I suddenly thought of a very serious question.]

[Ke Mingqing: What question?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: You didn’t tell me good night today. I thought you were already dead.]

Ke Mingqing tilted his head and thought for a moment before remembering that they had indeed agreed to wish each other good night every day as a way to confirm they were still alive.

Of course, he had completely tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

[Ke Mingqing: I’m still alive, I’m still alive, I’m still alive.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: No, this is not the secret signal we agreed on.]

Ke Mingqing sighed and pulled the small cloth doll, Mio, out of his inventory.

He held Mio in his arms, dragged the Chat Panel in front of her, and turned on recording mode.

”Mio, say good night,” he ordered.

”Good night?” Mio tilted her head. Looking up from his arms with her button eyes, she stared at him curiously. ”Does Master want to hear Mio say good night?”

”No, someone else wants to hear you say good night,” Ke Mingqing said, hugging her slightly tighter so she wouldn’t have a chance to escape.

Mio blinked. ”Can Mio sing?”

”That’s great.” The little cloth doll took a deep breath and yammered at the top of her voice, ”Good night, good night, nighty night, night night night—”

The recording soon ended, and the system automatically sent the message to Kuroki Hitomi.

[Ke Mingqing: (Voice message; Duration 10s).]

Ke Mingqing played with the little cloth doll in his arms, occasionally raising her two little hands. The doll, meanwhile, stared at the Chat Panel with absolute confidence and focus. Her button eyes shone brightly, eagerly anticipating the other party’s reaction.

[Kuroki Hitomi: ...?]

The little cloth doll fell silent for a moment. Reaching out a stubby hand, she poked a red button on the Chat Panel. A prompt box instantly popped up in front of the man and the doll.

[Prompt: Blacklist player ”Kuroki Hitomi”?]

The little cloth doll was just about to press ’Yes’ when Ke Mingqing stopped her. ”Could you not be so naughty?”

Mio puffed out her cheeks, looking very indignant.

Ke Mingqing reached out and tapped ’No’. The view returned to the Chat Panel, and he typed out his reply to her message with his mind.

[Ke Mingqing: What’s with the question mark? You get to hear the singing of our great Lord Mio right before bed. You should be endlessly grateful.]

The tiny doll looked at the message on the giant Chat Panel, tilted her head, and blushed faintly.

[Kuroki Hitomi: Good night, going to sleep.]

After sending this message, Kuroki Hitomi didn’t reply again. It seemed she really had gone to sleep.

The room was shrouded in silence. Mio tilted her head in a daze.

”Go back,” Ke Mingqing told her. ”I don’t need you anymore.”

”Can Mio not go back?” the little cloth doll suddenly asked after a moment. ”It’s pitch black in there, and it’s just Mio all alone. Mio is so bored. Mio wants to stay with Master.”

”No, but you can lie here for a while.”

Ke Mingqing said dismissively. He pillowed his head on his arms and lay in a daze on the sleeping mat.

He and the little cloth doll watched the scene outside the window for a bit, summer fireflies drifting through the empty alleyway.

A while later, exhaustion swept over him. Ke Mingqing was just about to close his eyes and rest when he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

The knock jolted him awake. Taken aback, he immediately clamped a hand over the little doll’s mouth. Mio’s button eyes widened as she glared indignantly at the slightly vibrating door.

Ke Mingqing racked his brain. ’Who would be knocking on my door this late? Mom? Second Sister? Or... a witch? No matter which one it is, it’s definitely not a good thing.’

At that thought, he swallowed hard. He made a shushing gesture to the little doll in his arms, then carefully stowed her back into his inventory.

Ke Mingqing stared at the tightly shut door, took a deep breath, and mentally braced himself.

He had originally planned to pretend to be asleep, but if the person outside was a witch or his alien mother, faking sleep would be useless. Either of them would just pry the door open.

So rather than being passive, it was better to take the initiative.

The next moment, Ke Mingqing was just about to create a Theater Puppet to take his place when he suddenly heard a voice from the hallway.

”You’re not asleep yet? What are you doing up so late?”

Ke Mingqing froze. He had never expected the voice outside the door to belong to Ke Mingwei.

He thought to himself, ’Logically speaking, Crow Man shouldn’t be slapping a Brain Imaging Helmet or something on my head in the middle of the night, right? Old Man, I can trust you, can’t I?’

’Wait... he didn’t plant a crow outside my window just now and see Mio, did he? White Jack showed up in front of him carrying Mio before. If he finds out, it’s all over.’

With that in mind, Ke Mingqing snapped his head toward the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, everything was peaceful. He didn’t see any crows on the telephone poles or the iron railings.

Relieved, he deliberately faked a yawn and called out in a drowsy tone, ”Nothing. Just got up to use the bathroom, then played on my phone for a bit.”

”Yeah. Open the door then. Your old man has something to tell you,” Ke Mingwei said.

Ke Mingqing hesitated for a moment. He got off the sleeping mat, slipped his feet into the slippers by the bed, and shuffled over to open the door.

When the door opened, Ke Mingwei was standing there in a set of pajamas, still looking like his usual scruffy, dispirited self. Busy tracking down the Clock Maker these past few days, he hadn’t bothered with his appearance; his hair had grown a bit long, slightly covering his deep-set eyes.

”What’s up, Old Man?” Ke Mingqing tilted his head, resting it against the doorframe.

”Let’s talk on the rooftop. Otherwise, we’ll wake your brothers and sisters,” Ke Mingwei said in a low voice. His face was expressionless, but his right hand gently draped over Ke Mingqing’s shoulder.

Ke Mingqing nodded. With Ke Mingwei pushing his shoulder, he had no choice but to comply. ”Alright.”

The father and son headed upstairs. As they passed the master bedroom, Ke Mingqing peeked inside through the crack in the door. In the darkness, he saw an eye covered in static noise. But a second later, the eye vanished.

He sighed inwardly, thinking, ’Old Man, are you really that oblivious? Can you truly not see that there’s something weird about your wife?’

Before long, the two pushed open the iron door and stepped onto the rooftop of the Xia-Ke compound.

The night breeze rushed against their faces, blowing back Ke Mingqing’s bangs. The distant overpass was deserted. The entire city was brightly lit; at a glance, it felt as though they could take in the whole world.

”So what is it? Making it all mysterious.” Ke Mingqing leaned against the railing, gazing at the distant city.

”Have any strange people contacted you these past few days?” Ke Mingwei asked. ”Or... have you noticed anyone following you?”

Ke Mingqing thought for a moment and shook his head.

”No.”

Ke Mingwei reached into his pajama pocket, as if trying to fish out a pack of cigarettes. Finding nothing, he casually asked again, ”Are you sure?”

”Of course.” Ke Mingqing scratched his head. ”Old Man, why are you acting so cryptic tonight? Who would target a defenseless muggle like me?”

Ke Mingwei pondered for a moment, then nodded. ”Your old man has one more question. When did you...” He paused here. ”...become a superhero?”

Ke Mingqing froze.

In that moment, it felt as though the night wind of the entire world had swept over, pouring straight down his throat.