A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

On the morning of July 15, Ke Mingqing had a dream.

In the dream, he became Grey Owl—the superhero who had still been alive a few years ago—and found himself tied to a chair.

The surroundings were pitch-black, like a sealed surveillance room.

Clock Maker—the man in the long brown trench coat and silver mask—slowly approached from a distance. He displayed the torture implements laid out on the table while sneering at Rain Crow through the live broadcast camera.

A moment later, just as Clock Maker plunged a syringe toward his eye, Ke Mingqing bolted awake from the nightmare.

Slowly opening his eyes in bed, he immediately saw the blood-red panel floating in the air.

[Good morning, esteemed player "Ke Mingqing." The current time is the morning of July 15, Sunday.]

[Time remaining for the "Exterminate Superhumans" task: 166 days and 16 hours.]

The sight was like a scalding cup of coffee poured right over his head—more jolting and sobering than anything else.

Ke Mingqing massaged his throbbing head, slowly sat up in bed, and sighed.

The morning light spilled through the window onto his face, warm and comforting. Outside, the maple trees rustled, while the aroma of stir-fry drifted over from the neighboring apartment building, accompanied by a woman urging her child to get up for school.

Exhaling a long breath, Ke Mingqing looked straight ahead.

The system panel was still refreshing, but this time, a blue panel popped up.

[Prompt: Today is Sunday. Weekly tasks have refreshed.]

[Weekly Task 1: Complete a 3,000-meter run. (Reward: 1 Attribute Point)]

[Weekly Task 2: Kill a super-human species. (Reward: 1 chance to use the reward wheel)]

Ke Mingqing felt like it had been a century since he last saw the weekly tasks.

This past week had dragged on for far too long. Every day had been filled with so much scheming and intrigue that he had almost forgotten the concept of time.

A moment later, the backup phone tucked beneath his pillow suddenly vibrated violently.

He picked it up and glanced at the text message on the screen.

[Lin Yin: A super-human species crime is happening on Fifth Street. You're the closest. If you're awake, hurry over. I already called Top Hero, but he probably won't get there as fast as you.]

Ke Mingqing yawned, glanced up at the contents of Weekly Task 1, and muttered softly,

"Alright. I need a long run anyway, and heading over there should cover about four or five thousand meters."

Rolling out of bed, he quickly washed up and left the house, heading for the restricted zone.

Stepping into the abandoned train station, he changed into the Blue Pigeon Battle Suit at Platform 7. Then, transforming into a bolt of lightning, he rushed toward the scene of the incident. The culprit this time was a mutant implanted with gorilla genes, and right now, the massive ape was scaling the side of a towering skyscraper.

Crash!

The glass curtain wall shattered along its path, turning into a spectacular rain of glass plummeting toward the ground.

Screams erupted from the crowd below.

What happened next felt incredibly routine: Blue Pigeon sprinted up the face of the skyscraper, Blue Pigeon snapped his fingers, Blue Pigeon summoned a sudden torrential rain, Blue Pigeon used the rainwater to conduct lightning, and Blue Pigeon shocked the giant climbing gorilla unconscious! The whole process was as simple as a Pokémon battle.

Finally, the great ape plummeted from the sky, casting a massive shadow over the street that completely blotted out the sun. The sight was as shocking as a scene straight out of King Kong.

Boom!!!

With a thunderous roar, a crater formed on impact as if a meteor had struck the earth. Pedestrians scattered screaming; no one dared even peek inside.

Blue Pigeon, meanwhile, trotted down the side of the skyscraper like a wall-walking ninja. Crouching at the edge of the deep crater, he propped his chin in his hand and peered down.

There was no sign of a gorilla down there—only a naked man covered in dirt and ash.

"How am I supposed to finish him off?" Blue Pigeon hung his head and sighed.

Since the opponent had already lost all combat ability, reverted from a gorilla back into a normal human, and passed out, Blue Pigeon felt too awkward to jump down into the crater and end his life in front of everyone.

After all, amateur photographers were definitely watching. If he went down there now and pierced the man's heart, it would spark a massive public outcry, and he had no desire to become the next magical girl Ember.

In the end, Blue Pigeon opted to capture the culprit alive and hand him over to the police.

Still, this trip managed to clear one weekly task at least. Catching criminals doubled as decent morning exercise.

[Congratulations. You have completed Weekly Task 1: Complete a 3,000-meter run.]

Blue Pigeon pulled out his phone, snapped a picture of the massive crater in the street, and sent it to Lin Yin.

He turned and waded into the crowd, scrolling on his phone with one hand while high-fiving bystanders with the other. Camera flashes went off non-stop amid the bustling noise. Just then, a teenage girl wearing the uniform of Leijing Third Middle School darted out from the throng.

"I-I-I'm your biggest fan! Could you give me an autograph?!" she stammered.

"Aren't you going to be late for school at this hour?" Blue Pigeon glanced at her uniform, then checked the time on his phone.

"It-it doesn't matter! My teacher is a huge fan of yours too! Once he sees this, he'll forgive me!" the girl stuttered. "The worst that can happen is I stand in the hall for a bit, it's nothing!"

"Then I'll sign one for your teacher while I'm at it. If he tries to punish you, just give it to him to cool his temper," Blue Pigeon said, pocketing his phone and taking her notebook and pencil.

He signed his name on two blank pages and handed the notebook back.

"Thank you!" Clutching the notebook to her chest, the girl scurried away nervously.

Blue Pigeon waved at her retreating back without even looking up from his phone.

After sending Lin Yin the pictures of the scene and giving a brief report, he texted, "I'm going back to sleep," before transforming into lightning and zipping off into a deserted alleyway.

[Weekly Task 1 reward acquired: 1 freely allocable Attribute Point. Allocate Attribute Point now?]

Staring at the system panel that popped up in front of him, Blue Pigeon opened his attributes menu and tapped his finger.

[Consumed "1" Attribute Point. Your "Spirit" attribute has upgraded from "E++ Rank" to "D Rank."]

[Current attributes for player "Ke Mingqing": Strength: D+; Agility: D++; Spirit: D.]

In that very moment, Blue Pigeon suddenly felt something was wrong.

Ever since he signed that notebook, a wave of dizziness had washed over him. Now, that vertigo was intensifying. The world spun and tilted as if gravity had flipped, making him feel like he was walking on clouds.

"Damn it, did I just sign a fucking Death Note or something?"

Just as Blue Pigeon thought this, he caught a strange scent in the air. It smelled like vanilla, or perhaps arctic poppies. Suddenly, a tremendous wave of drowsiness engulfed his consciousness.

His vision went black, and his entire body collapsed onto the ground. His eyes remained half-open, staring blankly up at the sky.

"I fell for it... That girl earlier was bad news. But why didn't she have a super-human species panel over her head? Was that notebook someone else's esper ability?" Right before his eyelids fluttered shut, Ke Mingqing suddenly caught sight of a crow perched on the roof of a residential building. Relieved, he let his eyes close completely. "Is old man here...?"

He murmured softly, soon losing all signs of movement.

Just before slipping into unconsciousness, he used his Disguiser talent to alter his face. This would prevent his identity from being exposed later—essentially acting as a subtle flesh mask.

An unknown amount of time later, Ke Mingqing suddenly heard a shout echoing in the dark.

The young man instantly jerked awake and opened his eyes.

His blurry vision rapidly snapped into focus. The first thing he saw was a dimly lit underground bar, with a "Grey Pigeon" sign glowing in the gloom. Glancing down, he found himself tied to a pillar. He was still wearing the Blue Pigeon Battle Suit, and his helmet was perfectly intact, but thick iron chains bound his wrists, ankles, waist, and even his neck.

These weren't ordinary chains. He couldn't move an inch, and even a blast of lightning wouldn't be enough to shatter them.

Ke Mingqing struggled for a moment, then sighed and looked around.

The patrons in the bar were clinking glasses, and a waiter methodically wiped down a glass. It was as if absolutely no one cared about the superhero tied to a pillar in the middle of the room.

Most of the customers in sight were of the super-human species, with super-human species panels constantly popping up over their heads.

[Codename: Evening Bell (Rating: E+ Rank)]

[Codename: Great Quake (Rating: D Rank)]

[Codename: Hypno-Woman (Rating: E Rank)]

"What kind of small-fry villain base is this?" Ke Mingqing thought.

Countless super-human species panels filled his vision, but not a single customer had a danger rating above C Rank, making him lose all interest in observing further. After a short while, accompanied by the sound of approaching footsteps, a man wearing a long brown trench coat and a cheap silver mask slowly walked over. Blue Pigeon traced the sound, his heart giving a slight twinge at the sight of the man's outfit.

However, the super-human species panel that popped into view made him pause.

[Super-human species Codename: "Clock Imitator"]

[Type: Esper]

[Danger Rating: C Rank]

[Description: Capable of causing a single object the user has touched within 10 seconds to explode.]

Seeing such a pathetic set of stats, Ke Mingqing instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's just an imitator. Scared the crap out of me," he grumbled internally. Turning his head to look around, he noticed the patrons staring at him from the shadows, their gazes feeling like stares from the abyss.

Just then, Clock Imitator curled his lips into a smirk and spoke.

"You're that 'Rain Crow Imitator' making all the headlines lately, right? Perfect timing. Clock Maker is returning to this City soon, so I'll deliver a warning to Rain Crow on his behalf."

In the dim lighting, the man's mouthful of gold teeth reflected a blinding glare, making Blue Pigeon feel almost too embarrassed to look directly at him.

"Not going to say anything?" Clock Imitator continued. "Or are you so terrified you can't even speak?"

"Retard," Blue Pigeon said bluntly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the bar's patrons erupted into raucous laughter. They seemed to be mocking Clock Imitator for having so little presence that a tied-up captive dared to insult him to his face.

"Do you know what situation you're in? We could blow you to pieces at any moment." Clock Imitator gripped his throat, enunciating every single word in a dark tone.

Suddenly remembering something, Blue Pigeon raised his eyebrows, then lowered his head.

As he recalled the scene right before he lost consciousness, he thought to himself:

I distinctly remember seeing a crow right before I passed out. Was it just a hallucination?

If old man is nearby, is he waiting for Clock Maker to show up? But these small fries clearly have nothing to do with Clock Maker. Does old man really think Clock Maker would go out of his way to visit this loser base just to take me away and mess with him?

"Scared now?" Clock Imitator sneered.

Blue Pigeon sighed and shook his head.

He wasn't entirely sure if Rain Crow was actually watching from somewhere nearby, so he was forced to use his only remaining method of calling for backup: opening the player contact list, finding "Kuroki Hitomi," and asking for help.

[Ke Mingqing: Are you there? I've been kidnapped.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Location?]

This actually stumped Ke Mingqing.

He pondered for a moment. Seeing as he was still wearing his Blue Pigeon helmet, he used a thought to manifest the Tracking Sunglasses from his inventory.

Immediately, the sunglasses materialized inside the helmet, resting perfectly on the bridge of his nose.

To be honest, it felt a little cramped, but relying on the live map displayed on the sunglasses, Ke Mingqing instantly confirmed his exact coordinates.

"Sixth Street, an underground bar in Alley F4."

Memorizing the address, he quickly stowed the Tracking Sunglasses back into his inventory. He then entered the address into the Chat Panel and added a line of text.

[Ke Mingqing: Help, help. Make a call and report this to the Hero Company. If they ask, just tell them there's a tracker in my suit and that we're working together.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Before that, since the enemies aren't strong, can't you just escape yourself?]

[Ke Mingqing: I could use Phantom Shift or the Allegory of the Cave to get away, but I'm not sure if Rain Crow is nearby. If he's hiding around here watching secretly, wouldn't I expose myself as a player the moment I use my skills? That would be a fate worse than death.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: If Rain Crow is nearby, why isn't he saving you?]

[Ke Mingqing: Maybe he thinks the real Clock Maker is going to show up and take me away?]

[Ke Mingqing: Anyway, hurry up and get someone to save me. Stop dawdling, or else I'm actually going to have to do it myself.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Actually, I already called. The person should arrive in about a minute.]

[Ke Mingqing: Who did you call? Is the Hero Company really that efficient?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Your sister.]

The air suddenly froze.

Blue Pigeon remained silent for a moment. Slowly raising his head to scan the room, he said a silent prayer for the patrons who had yet to realize the gravity of the situation.

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