A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

On the morning of July 10, gentle sunlight spilled through the windows into the living room, the snow-white curtains billowing in the warm breeze.

A few figures sat on the sofa with the morning news playing on the TV. At the moment, the family of seven was discussing whether they should visit the Superhero Company today.

Xia Ningzhi shook her head, voicing her complaints with righteous indignation. ”A lot of people online are flaming that thing! They’re asking what kind of Superhero Company puts eyeballs and a brain on display at their front door. It’s inhumane, and it’s terrible luck!”

Xia Lingxue leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, her expression blank. ”Is that so? To think the Hero Company actually has that kind of thing at their entrance. How come I didn’t know?”

Ke Mingqing cast a sideways glance at his second sister, a hint of disdain in his eyes. ’Your acting skills are a little too good, aren’t they?’ he thought. ’Who was it that moved that thing to the Hero Company’s entrance to serve as a tourist attraction in the first place?’

”So we shouldn’t go, right?” Xia Ningzhi suggested. ”That thing just doesn’t look normal.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ke Mingwei, Ke Linye, and Xia Lingxue all turned to look at her.

At that very moment, all three of them had the exact same thought: had Ningzhi already been replaced by a player?

Could her intense resistance to visiting the Hero Company be because she knew there was a player detection device at the entrance?

”Why are you guys looking at me?”

Xia Ningzhi tilted her head, looking around in confusion. ”Do I have rice on my face, or does my hair look bad today?”

Neither Xia Lingxue nor Ke Mingwei said a word. One had a cold gaze, while the other wore a solemn expression. It was Ke Linye who finally spoke up, his tone relaxed.

”What’s there to be afraid of?” he asked with a smile. ”Aren’t there plenty of bizarre works like that at art exhibitions? We’re going to visit the Hero Company, not the front door.”

Ke Mingqing let out a disgusted sigh and turned to look at Ke Linye. ”Big brother, you’re definitely a psychopathic killer in secret, aren’t you? The kind who likes plucking out people’s brains and eyeballs.”

Ke Linye didn’t miss a beat. ”I’m the most innocent person in this family. Compared to our demonic second sister, I’m not even worth mentioning.” He turned to Xia Lingxue, a smirk playing on his lips. ”Am I wrong?”

Xia Lingxue ignored him. Instead, she put away her phone and looked up at everyone in the living room. ”Anyway, let’s leave right after breakfast.”

’I definitely have to root out all the bugs in the house today,’ she thought.

Ke Mingwei nodded. ”Just think of it as making up for me missing A’Qing’s birthday celebration last night. Give your old man some face.”

’I can use this opportunity to inspect the family, just in case,’ he thought.

Ke Mingqing’s eye twitched slightly. ’You damn Crowman, is this really your way of making it up to me?’ he grumbled inwardly. ’You’re clearly just kicking me while I’m down!’

”Forget it. I don’t really want to go tour the Hero Company anyway. It’s so hot outside. Wouldn’t it be better to just stay home, enjoy the AC, and watch TV? Why torture ourselves?”

He spoke listlessly, slumping onto the sofa with his hands resting on his stomach. ’Who knows what kind of trouble you bunch of villains have cooked up for me this time? I don’t want to die out there for some inexplicable reason.’

But just then, Ke Mingwei stepped up behind the sofa and, without a word, pressed his broad palm down on top of Ke Mingqing’s head.

Feeling the pressure bearing down on his scalp, Ke Mingqing had no choice but to open his eyes again.

Ke Mingwei pondered for a moment before speaking. ”A’Qing, I know you’re a bit mad that I didn’t come back last night, but it’s not that I didn’t want to. I was just too busy. I had a case on my hands that wasn’t finished, and I couldn’t get away.”

’Please, Crowman, could you stop flattering yourself?’ Ke Mingqing thought. ’How am I mad? I just have a strong will to live! Are you absolutely determined to drag me into a ditch?!’

He let out a long sigh. ”Fine, fine, let’s go. It’s just a tour, no big deal.”

Xia Ningzhi grumbled, ”Alright, if A’Qing is going, then I suppose I can go too.”

”Then... I’ll go change my clothes first. Wait for me a bit.”

After Xia Zili said that, she set her vocabulary book down on the table and went upstairs.

And so, the whole family set off for the Hero Company. Ke Mingwei drove a modest silver BMW to carry some of them, while those who couldn’t squeeze into the car had to take a taxi.

At that moment, a bright yellow taxi was slowly driving down a sunlit avenue.

Sitting in the backseat were the two poor saps who had been left out: Ke Linye and Ke Mingqing.

Ke Linye turned to look out the window, the sunlight catching in his clear eyes. After a moment of silence, he spoke up.

”By the way, A’Qing, let me ask you a question.”

”Ask.”

Ke Mingqing replied without even lifting his head, still fiddling with his phone.

Ke Linye thought for a moment. ”Have you felt like anyone in the family has been acting weird lately?”

”The old man, probably. He’s always playing disappearing acts.”

”But hasn’t the old man been like this for a hundred years?” Ke Linye laughed.

”Yeah, so he’s been acting weird for a hundred years.”

”True, that makes sense. Why is the old man always disappearing...” Ke Linye looked thoughtful and shrugged. ”Could he be having an affair?”

Ke Mingqing had just taken a sip of Sprite and almost spat it out on the spot.

Before long, the taxi stopped at Lijing Square in the city center. Since it was the holidays, the area was absolutely packed with a bustling crowd. Under the scorching sun, they looked like ants in a hot pan.

Xia Ningzhi and Xia Zili had gone to McDonald’s to buy ice cream cones, so the others waited in the square.

Shielding his eyes from the glaring sunlight, Ke Mingqing gazed up at the Superhero Skyscraper towering over them like a pitch-black giant. ’The device didn’t detect me last time, so it should be fine this time too, right?’ he wondered.

Just as he was consoling himself, he looked up and saw something completely absurd: a teenager in a black hoodie walking past him with a player ID hovering right above his head.

Ke Mingqing blinked. To double-check, he turned and stared at the teenager’s retreating back.

He wasn’t mistaken. He could clearly see a conspicuous ID suspended over the guy’s head: Li Chunchun. Beside it was a line of notes: ’This player has enabled the forum ID visibility feature. Their forum ID is: Paranoia.’

’Paranoia’—that was the exact same player on the forum who claimed to have rolled a B-grade skill that let him transform into a magical girl! This was also the guy who had made a post harshly critiquing the superheroes and villains, putting White Jack straight into the ”Total Trash” tier.

Ke Mingqing’s heart gave a slight jolt, his pupils shrinking.

’No way, right?’

He froze for a moment. ’Oh crap. If this guy gets close to the Hero Company’s entrance, isn’t Kuroki Hitomi done for?’

While he was zoning out, the youth—who wore a baseball cap and a little pigtail sticking straight up—was already wandering around near the Hero Company’s entrance.

Li Chunchun occasionally looked up to suspiciously eye the Hero Company’s S.H.C. logo, then turned to the glass curtain wall to admire his own reflection.

He also made sure to curl the corners of his lips, striking a few expressions in the mirror that he clearly thought were incredibly handsome.

”Where the hell is the Magical Girl Company...”

he muttered to himself.

To Ke Mingqing, this utterly mundane scene was as terrifying as a jump scare in a horror movie. Cold sweat was already seeping from the backs of his hands.

’I’m so fucking done with this. I have to find a way to distract this guy. How about using ”It’s Raining” in my fifth skill slot to create a downpour? It’s better than just watching him go to his death, right?’

Having reached this conclusion, Ke Mingqing was just about to snap his fingers when Li Chunchun turned around and met his gaze.

He froze, stopping what he was doing.

The next moment, Li Chunchun tilted his head, his eyes sweeping over the family members standing beside Ke Mingqing.

’Perfect—seeing so many muscular superhuman types standing next to me, especially an alien overlord, he should hurry up and piss off if he knows what’s good for him, right?’

Thinking this, Ke Mingqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But against all expectations, Li Chunchun suddenly began striding over, stopping right in front of the tallest among them: Ke Mingwei.

Li Chunchun formed his hands into the shape of a gun and rested his chin on the ”barrel.” He stared fixedly at Ke Mingwei with a wicked smile, his gaze burning bright.

Ke Mingqing’s eyes rolled upward.

Perhaps because of heatstroke, he felt like he was about to faint on the spot.

It was like having a human bomb dangling right in front of him, yet he had no way to kick it away; the moment he got close, this bomb would instantly explode.

If he didn’t have his Disguiser talent, this psycho probably would have run straight up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and said with the tone of someone finding a fellow tourist, ”Yo, you’re a player too? What a coincidence!” right?

At this moment, Ke Mingwei looked at Li Chunchun in confusion, meeting the young man’s gaze.

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, he asked in a muffled voice, ”What is it, kid?”

”I boldly ask you this: who do you think is more handsome, me or Rain Crow?” Li Chunchun asked with keen interest.

Under the blazing sun, Ke Mingqing gulped. His throat suddenly felt completely dry, making him want to down a ton of river water.

”Are you shooting a short video?” Ke Mingwei asked after a moment of thought.

”Uh... you could say that.” Li Chunchun shook his head and covered his face. ”Is Lord Chunchun’s life not a sort of Truman Show? Sigh... what a cursed fate.”

’Will this ever fucking end...’

Ke Mingqing stared blankly as this psycho with a player ID hovering over his head had a friendly chat with his family. The absurdity of the scene was on par with watching enemy invaders march into a village during the war, only to start cheerfully joking with the locals with a ”Yoshi yoshi.”

At this moment, he was actually ready to release a Theater Puppet and have White Jack forcibly kidnap Li Chunchun from the area. But doing so felt a bit like turning himself in and alerting the enemy.

Moreover, this was right in front of the Superhero Company. There were thousands of superheroes wandering nearby. Kidnapping someone here was practically a dark comedy sketch.

’It’s over, it’s all fucking over...’

Ke Mingqing thought, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

”Why aren’t you answering Lord Chunchun’s question?” Li Chunchun stared at Ke Mingwei.

Ke Mingwei was silent for a moment before answering, ”No one knows Rain Crow’s true identity. The mask he wears isn’t a prop meant for looking cool, either. So, I don’t think you need to obsess over who is more impressive between you and Rain Crow.”

He paused. ”Study hard, and maybe you’ll catch up to him in the future. Understand, kid?”

”So you’re saying I’m handsomer than Rain Crow...”

Li Chunchun chuckled. ”Lord Chunchun is more handsome than Rain Crow—that’s one victory. Lord Chunchun is younger than Rain Crow—that’s a second victory. Lord Chunchun escaped from Rain Crow unscathed—that’s a third victory.”

Still talking to himself, he slowly turned and walked away, occasionally letting out bursts of eerie laughter.

Ke Mingwei frowned, watching the back of this crazy guy getting further away, though he didn’t pay it too much mind.

The youth of today had long since surpassed the limits of his understanding; he had gotten used to this sort of weirdness a long time ago.

”Mingwei, someone you know?” Xia Wenna asked casually.

Ke Mingwei shook his head. ”No. Probably just some kid shooting prank videos for attention—there are tons of them around these days.”

After watching the figure with the hovering player ID walk away, Ke Mingqing stood blankly for a moment before snapping out of it. He let out a quiet sigh of relief, only to realize his back was already drenched in cold sweat.

However, right after seeing off that walking disaster, Ke Mingqing heard a sentence that made the hairs all over his body stand on end: ”A’Qing, isn’t that your girlfriend?!”

The speaker was Xia Ningzhi. She walked over carrying an ice cream cone, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked curiously into the distance.

”Which girlfriend?”

Ke Mingqing froze for a second, stammering incoherently as he turned to follow Xia Ningzhi’s gaze.

Then, he saw an incredibly horrifying sight. In the distance, a black Maybach slowly pulled up into the square. A teenage girl with a beauty mark near the corner of her eye stepped out of the car, standing in the sunlight and looking around.

Even from far away, Kuroki Hitomi and Ke Mingqing locked eyes.

The former stood there slightly stunned, while the latter looked completely deadpan, as if he had lost his soul. Almost instantly, Ke Mingqing shot her a message through the chat panel.

[Ke Mingqing: Why are you here? Didn’t I warn you not to go near the Hero Company?]

”Do you have other girlfriends or something?” Xia Ningzhi snorted. ”Isn’t this that rich young miss girlfriend of yours?”

She paused, leaning in close to whisper in Ke Mingqing’s ear. ”I heard from people at school that after you guys got together, you even ran over to your classroom during evening self-study just to steal a glance at her! Don’t even try to lie to me!”

”Could you be any more of a gossip?” Ke Mingqing wanted to weep but had no tears.

”A’Qing’s girlfriend? You mean that Japanese exchange student you guys mentioned?” Ke Linye also tilted his head to look, his black earring swaying in the warm summer breeze.

With his cigarette in his mouth, Ke Mingwei frowned and turned to look as well. He was quite curious about what kind of girlfriend this slacker son of his had managed to find.

Xia Wenna sized up Kuroki Hitomi. ”Mhm... this girl is quite pretty and delicate.”

Xia Lingxue was the last one to turn her head.

She looked at the girl with the beauty mark. In the next moment, Xia Lingxue—who had been completely silent until now—suddenly suggested, ”It’s a rare opportunity. Let your girlfriend tour the Hero Company with us.”

’Second Sister, are you trying to destroy this family?’ Ke Mingqing froze in horror.

Xia Wenna nodded. ”A’Xue is right. Since Qing’er’s girlfriend is here, how can we not go say hello? That would be so rude.”

”See? Even Mom says so. Hurry up and go, A’Qing! You’re just skipping the honeymoon phase and bringing your girlfriend straight to meet the parents, that’s all! There’s nothing to be shy about!”

Xia Ningzhi urged him on with a grin, clapping Ke Mingqing firmly on the shoulder.

After that, she turned back and gave Ke Mingwei and Xia Wenna an earnest look. ”As for you two, Mom and Dad, you should just go wait at the entrance of the Hero Company. Don’t scare the poor girl, okay?”

”Alright, but you absolutely have to bring A’Qing’s girlfriend over to hang out with us.” Xia Wenna tilted her head, resting a finger against her chin.

Ke Mingwei took a drag of his cigarette and placed one hand on his hip, simply saying in a mild tone, ”Don’t waste too much time.”

”Understood! This humble servant shall not fail her mission!”

Xia Ningzhi gave a solemn salute, then turned around, grabbed Ke Mingqing by the shoulders from behind, and started shoving him toward Kuroki Hitomi.

”Sis, she’s dressed up so nicely, you can tell at a glance that she’s not here to tour the Hero Company! She’s definitely just here to go shopping. Why are you guys being so nosy?!”

Ke Mingqing slammed on the brakes, digging his heels into the ground. His sneakers rubbed frantically against the pavement as he protested with both his words and his body.

Xia Lingxue, sucking on a lollipop, said in a frigid tone, ”Our A’Qing is truly innocent, panicking this much just from running into his girlfriend outside. I’m even more curious now about what kind of girl would actually fall for you.”

With her hands tucked into the pockets of her baggy pants, she slowly strolled toward Kuroki Hitomi.

”Can you guys please just let me go?” Ke Mingqing’s eyes were practically dead.

While dragging Ke Mingqing along, Xia Ningzhi turned to glare at Xia Lingxue, saying indignantly, ”What kind of thing is that to say? Our A’Qing has fine features and is a huge star at school. Isn’t it perfectly normal for him to have a girlfriend?”

Ke Linye thought about it. ”Speaking of which, since our A’Qing has a girlfriend, won’t she get mad that he talks about that Magical Girl Ember every day?”

Xia Ningzhi was taken aback and suddenly went mute.

It wasn’t until this moment that Xia Zili finally walked out of the McDonald’s in the distance, holding her ice cream cones.

She looked up from her phone, glancing at Ke Mingqing’s dumbstruck expression before turning to look at Kuroki Hitomi in the distance.

”She is...”

Xia Zili froze slightly.

She knew that the bizarre device placed at the Hero Company’s entrance was a machine used to ”test player identity.” Little Red Riding Hood’s files had mentioned this detail.

After a moment, she finally reacted, murmuring to herself, ”If my brother’s girlfriend gets close to the Hero Company right now, then won’t she...”