A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

September 1st, the night of the first day of school.

Light flooded over like a tide from the distant night market, illuminating Ke Mingqing’s stunned face on the old building’s rooftop.

He stood directly in front of the iron door, staring motionless at Xia Zili’s silhouette.

No, that wasn’t Xia Zili. Objectively, she possessed Xia Zili’s body and facial contours, but framed within those familiar lines was a bizarre, macabre visage.

It looked exactly like a face a little girl had haphazardly scribbled into a notebook while lying on the floor with a pencil.

Ke Mingqing froze. A bone-piercing chill welled up from the soles of his feet, climbed his spine, and instantly reached the crown of his head.

Why would Xia Zili suddenly undergo Witchification?

And what time was it, anyway? According to her previous patterns, didn’t the witch persona only emerge in the dead of night? Had the psychological pressure gotten to her?

Ke Mingqing silently watched the witch’s smiling face, his mind racing with chaotic thoughts.

The stick-figure girl held onto the iron door, hiding in the shadows and staring deeply at him. She remained still for a long time; only a low giggle drifted out from the darkness.Brother and sister locked eyes.

The distant night market lights slowly shifted colors across his face, rendering his expression unreadable. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead, bead-sized drops sliding down his cheeks.

At that moment, Ke Mingwei, who was leaning against the rooftop railing smoking, slowly turned his head and addressed Ke Mingqing’s back.

”What’s wrong, A’Qing?”

Ke Mingqing took a deep breath, reined in his expression, and feigned a calm response.

”Nothing’s wrong, Dad. Just keep smoking your cigarette.”

Ke Mingwei stared at his profile, staying silent for a moment before asking, ”Is everything really okay?” He stubbed out his cigarette and walked over from his side of the roof.

”It’s fine. My sister just came up to ask me something.”

As Ke Mingqing replied, he raised his eyes to look straight at the witch in the dark, speaking as if to himself.

”Sis, can you stop cornering me? Is that school stuff really that important? I already told you I’d explain when the time is right.”

In the darkness, the witch tilted her head in confusion. She widened her penciled-in dot eyes, completely failing to understand what Ke Mingqing was talking about.

Ke Mingqing stepped into the corridor, reached out, and took the witch’s hand. He led her toward the end of the hall while complaining loudly.

”I told you, that girl at school is just a friend. Did you really have to go and report it to my girlfriend?”

Hearing this, Ke Mingwei stopped in his tracks.

He rested a hand on his hip, lowered his head, and sighed softly, wondering just who A’Qing had inherited this womanizing streak from.

”Okay, Brother—” After a moment, the witch suddenly let out a soft giggle. For some reason, whenever she said the word ”Brother,” she would draw out the syllables in a teasing, mischievous tone.

The girl stood on her tiptoes, leaned close to Ke Mingqing’s ear, and whispered, ”Brother—as long as she’s just a friend, that’s fine. If Brother—gets too close to that girl, I’ll get angry.”

”I know, I know...” Ke Mingqing clicked his tongue.

Ke Mingwei stood behind the iron door.

He looked up, his brow furrowed slightly as he quietly watched Ke Mingqing and Xia Zili’s figures recede down the hall.

The siblings crossed the third-floor corridor and headed downstairs. On the steps, Ke Mingqing suddenly turned his head, catching sight of Xia Ningzhi approaching from the corner of the hallway out of the corner of his eye.

In the next instant, he whipped off his blue and white uniform jacket and swiftly draped it over the witch’s head.

”What are you two doing?”

Xia Ningzhi stopped at the top of the stairs. She looked up from her vocabulary book, blinking suspiciously at them.

”Truth or dare punishment. Playing a ghost for an hour,” Ke Mingqing said flatly. ”Fun, right?”

With the blue and white uniform jacket draped over her head, the witch slowly turned around.

She let out an ”Awoo,” moaning softly while raising her arms like a ghost.

Xia Ningzhi paused, seemingly wondering if Xia Zili would really do something like that. But the voice coming from under the jacket sounded exactly like her, so she dismissed her suspicions.

”Childish! Next time you play, remember to bring your big sister. I’ll show you guys a real game!”

Xia Ningzhi rolled her eyes at them, stuck out her tongue, and quickly turned into her room.

Ke Mingqing watched Xia Ningzhi leave, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

Thank god it was my third sister, he thought. If our second sister had been standing there, we’d be dead meat.

Ke Mingqing turned to look at the stick-figure girl, who was still holding her ghostly pose without moving.

”Brother, was my acting good?” the stick-figure girl asked, hopping up and down with the jacket still over her head. ”Praise me... give me praise.”

Wordlessly, Ke Mingqing took her freezing hand and led her into his room.

He firmly shut the door, locked it, and finally slumped against it, slowly lowering his head.

His pitch-black bangs covered his eyes. He took a deep breath, his tense nerves finally relaxing a bit.

”You can take it off now,” he said softly after a long pause.

”No. The jacket smells like Brother—” The witch refused to let go, hugging the jacket tight. She spread her arms like a child balancing on a crosswalk and ran around the room with the jacket over her head, occasionally flopping down onto the bed.

Ke Mingqing watched the ghost-like figure dart around, remaining silent for a long time.

He didn’t know how to treat this innocent girl.

Or rather, this monster still in its embryonic stage.

He only knew that if this witch wanted to, she could kill him at any moment. To him, she was currently the most dangerous person in the entire house.

Like a walking time bomb.

At that moment, the stick-figure girl suddenly stopped.

She pulled the uniform jacket off her head and held it in her hands. For some reason, the jacket suddenly bulged upward, as if some solid, oval-shaped object had been stuffed inside it.

Holding the object inside the jacket with one hand, the stick-figure girl tapped her chin with her other index finger and asked softly,

”Brother, why do you keep staring at me?”

”Didn’t I tell you not to come out so casually from now on?”

The witch opened her penciled mouth wide and stared blankly before finally asking, ”Do you hate me, Brother?”

”I’ll say it again. You can only come out when I’m the only one around, understand?” Ke Mingqing switched to a gentle tone and patted her head.

The witch nodded slightly, but Ke Mingqing’s gaze was dead-fixed on that bizarre uniform jacket.

”This is for you, Brother,” she suddenly said after a while.

”What is it?”

”It’s a vase.”

”A vase?”

Ke Mingqing murmured, glancing at the shape of the jacket again. It did indeed look like a vase was hidden inside.

”Mhm! It’s a gift for you.” The witch puffed out her cheeks. ”Brother, promise me you absolutely won’t take the wrapping off the gift before tomorrow night...”

Ke Mingqing knew the ”wrapping” she meant was his uniform jacket. He sighed.

”Fine. It’s summer anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t wear my jacket.”

The stick-figure girl gave a hum of agreement, nodding obediently. She reached out to pat his head and giggled.

”Good boy, Brother.”

”Then can we make a deal?” Ke Mingqing asked softly. ”If I keep my promise, you won’t come out again, okay?”

”Alright, Brother.” The stick-figure girl pouted and lowered her head.

Ke Mingqing lowered his eyes, quietly watching her.

”Then I’ll hide Brother’s—gift right here.” With that, the stick-figure girl carried the bulging uniform jacket and tiptoed over to place it in the corner of the room.

Ke Mingqing remained silent for a moment, lightly flaring his nostrils as he sniffed the scent of whatever was under the jacket.

Since there isn’t any smell, it shouldn’t be anything too horrifying, right? he reasoned.

”Are you going to sleep?” he asked.

”Brother—read me a story.” The stick-figure girl grabbed a book of fables from the shelf and handed it to him.

Ke Mingqing took the book. ”Alright then.” He sat cross-legged on the tatami mat while the stick-figure girl sat on the bed behind him, wrapping her arms around his back from a slightly higher position and pressing herself against him.

The young man lowered his eyes, turning the pages of the fables as he softly read the words aloud. The girl closed her eyes, the warm glow of the bedside lamp illuminating her cheeks.

Before long, the sound of soft breathing reached Ke Mingqing’s ears.

She had fallen asleep.

Ke Mingqing waited quite a while before he dared to stop reading.

He exhaled and slowly turned his head, finding Xia Zili’s chin resting on his shoulder.

The young girl tilted her clear, delicate face slightly, her eyelashes lowered as she slept soundly.

Ke Mingqing set the storybook down on the tatami, picked Xia Zili up from the bed, and carried her to the room next door. Afterward, he went alone to the second-floor bathroom to take a hot shower.

”Is there no end to this...”

Ke Mingqing took a deep breath. Snow-white steam crawled up the bathroom walls and windows like geckos.

After a while, he turned off the showerhead, toweled himself dry, and changed into his pajamas.

Ke Mingqing returned to his room, closed the door, and looked up, silently staring at that eerie ”jacket vase” in the corner.

He turned on his phone’s camera mode, placed the phone on the floor, and gently kicked it forward with his foot.

The phone slid across the floor, nearing the jacket-covered vase in the corner.

But right at that moment, the phone suddenly dinged. A Pop-up notification slowly descended at the top of the screen.

Ke Mingqing focused his eyes on it, his pupils shrinking slightly.

[Chali Jiushi: Brother, no cheating. You promised me.]

He froze and slowly turned his head. The wooden door behind him had suddenly cracked open, and a bloodshot, grotesque eye was peeking through, widened slightly and staring at him unblinking.

”I just dropped my phone, that’s all.”

Saying that, Ke Mingqing picked up his phone from the floor, kept his distance from the uniform jacket, lay down on his bed, and slowly closed his heavy eyelids.

After a while, he tilted his head against the pillow and opened one eye halfway to look at the door.

The crack in the door slowly closed, allowing the light from the corridor to spill through the frame’s gaps.

A silent night.

...

...

[Good morning, beloved Red Name Player, ”Ke Mingqing”.]

[The current time is 07:00 on September 2nd, Sunday morning. The time limit for the ”Exterminate Superhumans” task is—117 days, 17 hours, and 0 minutes remaining.]

It was a bright, breezy morning. As the sky took on the pale grey of dawn, Ke Mingqing slowly opened his eyes.

He stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before turning his head on the pillow to glance at that bizarre jacket vase.

”Damn, it’s a miracle I actually managed to sleep last night...”

Ke Mingqing muttered as he got out of bed. He let out a yawn and looked up at the Quest Panel.

[Weekly Quests have refreshed: Quest One: Kill one super-human species of any level; Quest Two: Run 5,000 meters.]

As usual, he brushed his teeth and washed up early that day. After changing into his blue and white Third High School uniform, he headed out.

Before leaving, he made sure to lock his bedroom door to prevent anyone from wandering in and spotting the uniform-draped vase in the corner.

Ke Mingqing grabbed something to eat on the way, then arrived at the classroom. He sat in his chair, spacing out at the pale blue sky outside the window.

He had once heard that when humans recall a memory, they remember the visuals first, followed by the sound.

Thus, whenever ”classroom” was mentioned, he would first picture the textbooks piled like mountains on desks, the tightly packed schedule on the chalkboard, and the crumpled-up notes passed back row by row. Only after that came the grating scrape of chair legs against the floor, the noisy chatter of students whispering to each other, and the eye-care exercises between classes.

In the past, whenever he escaped his psychologically oppressive household, his mind would instantly relax.

But this time, Ke Mingqing was completely different. His mind was playing last night’s scene on an endless loop:

—The witch skipping around his room with the uniform draped over her head, and after she pulled it off, the jacket suddenly bulging upward.

Just like magic.

What the hell is inside that vase? Ke Mingqing thought to himself. Should I go ask my sister? But I’m worried that if I tell her what happened last night, she’ll break down on the spot.

Time passed quickly. Ke Mingqing was absent-minded for almost the entire day, completely failing to notice that someone was missing from the classroom.

Just before the first period of the afternoon began, a pretty figure suddenly walked into the corridor of the teaching building.

Ke Mingqing pulled his gaze back from the sports field.

He turned his head and saw Xia Zili in her blue and white uniform, her hair tied in a high ponytail. Her expression looked a bit strange right now.

”What’s wrong?” he asked. ”I already ate lunch. If you want to eat, go find someone else.”

”It’s not that.”

Xia Zili stayed silent for a moment. ”Have you seen Kiyono Sakura?”

”No.”

”She didn’t come to school today. Little Red Riding Hood hasn’t been able to contact her either.”

Ke Mingqing froze. He suddenly snapped his head around, staring at the empty desk and chair in the corner of the classroom.

A moment later, his mind suddenly flashed back to the words the witch had spoken while they walked down the third-floor corridor last night: ”Brother—as long as she’s just a friend, that’s fine. If Brother—gets too close to that girl, I’ll get angry.”

All of a sudden, Ke Mingqing leaped up from his chair, the legs scraping across the floor with a harsh screech.

”What’s wrong with you?” Xia Zili blinked, then frowned. ”Why are you reacting so strongly just from me mentioning her?”

”My stomach hurts. Sis, ask my homeroom teacher for leave for me. I’m going home to lie down for a bit.” Tossing out those words, Ke Mingqing bolted out of the classroom at top speed without looking back.

”I’m not even in your class, how am I supposed to ask for leave for you?!”

Ke Mingqing ignored the class bell and Xia Zili’s shouting. He sprinted down the hallway, dashing out of the teaching building with the speed of the wind.

After leaving the school, Ke Mingqing ducked into an empty alleyway. He transformed into a streak of dark blue lightning and raced home. It wasn’t long before he arrived in the Old Jingmai District.

The teenager skidded to a halt in front of the old building, panting heavily.

The harsh sunlight beat down on his face, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut. Sweat pooled along his jawline before dripping onto the ground in a steady stream.

The cicadas buzzed deafeningly.

He walked forward step by step, pulling a silver key from his pocket to unlock the front door. Without even taking off his sneakers, Ke Mingqing strode through the pitch-black entryway, hurried up the stairs, and made his way to his room.

Ke Mingqing took a deep breath, slid the spare key into the lock, and turned it.

The door clicked open. He peered inside through the crack. That jacket-covered vase was still sitting perfectly intact in the corner.

Inside the quiet room, Ke Mingqing’s footsteps sounded exceptionally loud.

He held his breath, walking toward the vase one slow step at a time.

Then, he reached out and threw off the uniform jacket covering it. At that moment, Ke Mingqing’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.

There was indeed a vase underneath the jacket, but what rested inside it were not flowers.

A teenage girl’s severed head was impaled atop her own two arms. Her eye sockets were empty, and her mouth was still frozen in the shape of a wail, with blood flowing freely from within.

Those two slender arms pierced through a hole in the top of her skull, twisting upward like the gnarled branches of a tree, as if reaching for the ceiling.

Even though Ke Mingqing had already braced himself mentally, staring at this sight still caused his body to unconsciously stumble back two steps.

The sharp reek of blood rushed into his nose, stinging his nerves. This silently wailing head before him was already mutilated beyond recognition. It took him a good while before he finally realized who it was:

—Kiyono Sakura.

”You’ve got to be kidding me...” Ke Mingqing muttered in a daze.

Amid the absolute silence, an eerie voice suddenly spoke from right behind him:

”Brother... didn’t we agree that you weren’t allowed to open my gift before tonight?”