A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Hearing Xia Zili say the name White Jack, Ke Mingqing froze for a second.

He wondered what this was about. Had Xi Ziyue noticed something when he followed her that time?

”Why aren’t you saying anything?” Xia Zili lowered her head, a hint of suspicion and wariness creeping into her eyes.

”It just took me a second to remember who you were talking about. He was such a small fry—is there even anything memorable about him?” Ke Mingqing scratched his head, feigning calm. ”Why do you ask?”

”Just asking.”

Xia Zili stared straight into his eyes. Ke Mingqing leaned against the doorframe, pretending to think it over, then said casually, ”White Jack, huh? You said he was ugly before, but wasn’t he a great guy for clearing our idol’s name? Besides, he’s already kicked the bucket. Why do you care about him?”

Xia Zili fell silent for a moment before asking, ”What if he isn’t actually dead?”

”Big sis, just a few days ago he got skewered on the Leijing Iron Tower with his ass pointing at the sky. He died a gruesome death.” Ke Mingqing opened Weibo as he spoke, searching for ”White Jack” and ”perky ass.” A close-up photo popped up.

He showed the photo to Xia Zili.

Xia Zili stared at the bloody white ass pointing at the sky in the photo, her eyelids twitching.

She covered her face with a long sigh. ”Forget it.”

”You’ve been acting really weird lately. I’m starting to suspect you just wanted to see White Jack’s ass.” Ke Mingqing tilted his head, waving his phone at her.

”If you’re sick in the head, just say so.”

”Alright, alright, I’m sick. I’ll go change into a hospital gown then. Text me on WeChat when Third Sister gets back so I can come downstairs.”

Ke Mingqing put his phone away and closed the door.

He let out a breath and leaned back against the door. When exactly did she start suspecting me? I shouldn’t have given anything away.

Forget it. Overthinking is pointless. A magical girl operates purely on idealism, from her combat strength down to everything else.

Ke Mingqing shook his head and opened the item roulette.

[Player has completed ”Weekly Quest 2” — Kill a super-human species. You currently have one chance to use the ”Item Roulette.” Use it now?]

At the system prompt, a roulette panel popped up.

The prizes in slots one through six were: ”1,000 superhuman coins,” ”2,000 EXP,” ”Cursed Doll,” ”Vampires Must Die,” ”Popeye’s Treasure,” and ”Fairy Tale Picture Book.”

Ke Mingqing didn’t hesitate to click ”Use.” The blood-red pointer began to spin rapidly, accelerating before gradually slowing down and coming to a stop over slot two.

[Congratulations, your draw result is Prize Two — ”2,000 EXP.”]

[Experience limit reached. Your level has increased by 1.]

[Current Level: Lv.06 (1,900/3,000 EXP)]

”I really need to wash my face for some better luck,” Ke Mingqing shrugged. ”But it’s not a loss. The higher a player’s level, the better the odds of refreshing advanced skills.”

Just as he thought this, a prompt box popped up in his vision.

[Notice: ”Player Forum” maintenance is complete. Starting tonight, the ”Forum” is officially open. The 98 players currently surviving in this world may communicate freely through the forum.]

”Forum?”

Seeing that word, Ke Mingqing was instantly wide awake.

Looking up, he noticed a new option had appeared in the upper right corner of his vision.

Without overthinking it, Ke Mingqing tapped it, opening the forum.

[The forum does not support anonymous posting. Please register a forum ID. Going forward, whether creating a post or replying to a thread, you must use your registered ID.]

[Forum IDs cannot be altered once set. Please proceed with caution.]

[Registered ID: Rain Crow’s Number One Fan.]

The homepage loaded. Since the forum had only just opened, Ke Mingqing’s sweep of the page found it completely empty. There wasn’t a single post yet.

However, a steady stream of new registration notifications flowed across the announcement board in the upper right corner.

[Player No. 089 has registered the forum ID: Fanquan. Player No. 023 has registered the forum ID: Paranoia. Player No. 001 has registered the forum ID: The Family’s Black Cat.]

”Everyone’s still making their accounts. I’ll check back later when it’s livelier.”

Closing out the forum for now, Ke Mingqing left his room and went downstairs.

He had just sat down on the living room sofa when Xia Ningzhi walked in through the entryway. Her expression was somewhat heavy.

”A glorious victory in the college entrance exams,” Xia Zili said.

”Congratulations. You’re finally out of prison,” Ke Mingqing said.

Xia Ningzhi stood in a daze for a moment before hurrying over. She leaned against the back of the sofa, wrapping her arms around Xia Zili and Ke Mingqing’s shoulders from behind, and held them like that in silence.

”What’s wrong? Didn’t do well?” Ke Mingqing tilted his head back.

”Your hair is tickling me,” Xia Zili complained.

Xia Ningzhi lowered her eyes and buried her head between their shoulders. After a moment of silence, she let out a secretive chuckle.

”Dad didn’t just buy me a cake,” she said. ”He got presents for you two as well. Guess what they are.”

”What good stuff could Dad possibly pick out?” Ke Mingqing sighed.

”Exactly. What could it possibly be?” Xia Zili chimed in.

”Oh, don’t jump to conclusions just yet. You’ll see when you open them, won’t you?” Xia Ningzhi kept them in suspense, then looked away, clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

Ke Mingqing raised his eyebrows, twisting his head over the back of the sofa to look at Ke Mingwei walking in from the entryway.

A cigarette dangling from his lips, Ke Mingwei looked at Ke Mingqing expressionlessly and held up a shopping bag.

Inside the bag were, astonishingly, two Rain Crow fan T-shirts. The design featured a younger Rain Crow standing in a downpour with his arms crossed, striking a pose.

Ke Mingwei took a drag of his cigarette, put one hand on his hip, and said evenly, ”Since you kids like wearing fan shirts so much, wear Rain Crow’s. At least you won’t get laughed at when you wear them out.”

The living room fell dead silent.

Xia Zili fell silent.

Ke Mingqing was speechless too. Dad, he thought, have you really never considered how your kids are going to look at you once they find out who you are?

Both of their eyelids twitched. Unable to utter a word, they simply stared blankly at the atrocious T-shirts.

Xia Ningzhi, on the other hand, was laughing so hard she was slapping the armrest of the sofa. After a while, she let out a couple of dry coughs, gripped both of their shoulders, and asked, ”Well? Do you like them?”

”Even a dog wouldn’t wear this,” Ke Mingqing muttered. ”Actually, no... we could get a pet dog and put the Rain Crow shirts on it. That way, we’d at least be putting them to good use.”

”No way,” Xia Ningzhi said, shaking her head seriously. ”You two are going to wear them tomorrow to show your big sister. Just consider it a celebration for the end of my exams.”

Xia Zili raised a hand to her forehead and sighed heavily. ”Every single one of you... you’re all completely out of your minds.”

Ke Mingwei dropped the shopping bag on the sofa, carried the cake into the kitchen, and called back to the three of them standing blankly in the living room:

”What are you staring at? Come eat cake. And call your mom down.”

...

...

After eating cake in the living room, Ke Mingqing took a shower in the second-floor bathroom and changed into clean pajamas.

He pushed open the door to his bedroom, toweling his wet hair. After he locked the door and turned off the lights, only the chirping of cicadas and scattered moonlight remained in the room.

Ke Mingqing exhaled and tossed the towel aside. Just as he lay down on the bed, his phone chimed with a message notification.

He picked it up from beside his pillow.

[A message was sent in the group chat ”A Loving Family”.]

[Ke Linye (Eldest Brother): I heard Zhi finished her exams. How did she do?]

No one paid him any attention.

[Ke Linye (Eldest Brother): I happen to be coming home tomorrow. Did you guys miss me?]

Still, no one responded.

[Ke Linye (Eldest Brother): Why is no one answering me? Am I really that disliked?]

After quite a while, someone finally sent another message.

[Xia Lingxue (Second Sister): Little Ning, are you done with the college entrance exams?]

[Xia Ningzhi (Third Sister): Yes! Second Sister, when are you coming back to hang out with me?]

[Xia Lingxue (Second Sister): Next week, probably. I’ll come back once my university coursework is finished.]

In the darkness, Ke Mingqing stared quietly at his phone, the screen’s glow illuminating his dark eyes.

Eldest Brother and Second Sister are both coming home soon, he pondered. Our alien mom is so obsessed with cultivating samples, and there aren’t many types of super-human species left for her. Could they be mutants? Or maybe something like vampires?

Ke Mingqing shook his head, dismissing the thought.

”Forget it. I should first see what kind of monsters and freaks are in this batch of players.” He tapped the option in the upper right corner of his vision, opening the player forum.