A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

At dusk, Ke Mingqing took Xia Zili out of the house for a stroll.

He found a familiar rice noodle roll stall by the roadside, pulled up two stools in a spot where the fan could hit them, and sat down. They ate their food while shooting the breeze with the owner.

After dinner, the siblings strolled aimlessly down the street, fiddling with their phones.

A sudden whim struck Xia Zili. Keeping one hand behind her back, she grabbed Ke Mingqing's hand with the other and pulled him into an alleyway.

A hazy, cocoon-like light enveloped her, transforming her into a girl in a gothic dress, delicate as a porcelain doll. She opened an umbrella and carried him up into the sky.

The two soared through the boundless clear sky, finally landing on the roof of the highest cabin on a Ferris wheel.

During the dinner hour, the Ferris wheel had temporarily stopped operating, leaving this particular cabin suspended at the highest point in the city.

The boy and girl looked out from the top of the world, watching the sunset slowly sink toward the city horizon, drawing away the last lingering rays of light.

The world steadily darkened. The gleam reflecting off the high-rises faded, replaced by neon signs flickering to life in the gathering dusk.

"Last night... did I turn into a witch?"

Ember asked out of the blue. Hearing this, Ke Mingqing's eyes widened slightly.

He knew she had just been playing dumb all day; how could she not know what she had done? Still, hearing her say it aloud shattered whatever trace of naive hope he had left.

"No."

Ke Mingqing fell silent for a moment before flatly denying it.

"Tell me the truth... Don't lie to me. Enough people lie to me already; I don't need you adding to it."

"Then it was half and half."

Ember looked confused. "What does 'half and half' mean?"

"You beat them all back, and then you returned to normal," Ke Mingqing said. "Witches can't change back, can they? Rounding it off, you only half-turned into a witch. That's 'half and half.'"

Ember stared blankly for a moment, then lowered her head and whispered,

"Actually, I don't remember anything from then... I only heard the witch talking to me the whole time."

"What did she say?"

"She said I had to rely on her in the end, that I was nothing... That I couldn't even protect you."

Ke Mingqing didn't know how to respond, so he resorted to his usual nonsense.

"Sis, those are classic symptoms of schizophrenia... Honestly, I'm getting annoyed just hearing about it. Why don't you tell that witch to let me turn into a witch instead? That way she won't bother you anymore."

Ember let out a soft chuckle and tilted her head to look at him.

"You're so amazing, Blue Witch."

"No, if I became a witch, I'd definitely be the 'DarkDark Witch of Apocalypse, Reincarnation, Ruin, and World Destruction.'"

"Even a middle schooler couldn't come up with a name that edgy."

"Right?"

Ke Mingqing fell quiet. Without looking up, he reached out and gently brushed the tip of the girl's delicate nose with his index finger.

She cast her eyes downward. The evening wind swept past, rustling the forest in the park. It looked like an ocean of interwoven gold and fiery red, the leaves swaying like the tide.

The whole world was enveloped in a vast rustling sound, but the top of the Ferris wheel remained completely quiet, without the slightest stir.

In that serene silence, the boy and girl looked out, feeling as though they could take in the entire city in a single glance.

"If only... it could be like this forever," Ember said absentmindedly, sitting on the edge of the cabin and tracing circles on the rusted metal with her finger.

"What?"

The wind high above the city was too loud. Ke Mingqing couldn't catch her words, so he turned his head to look at her profile as he asked.

"I said, will you stay with me forever?" Ember raised her voice.

Ke Mingqing heard her clearly and smiled.

He figured that either he only had half a year left in his life, or she only had half a year left in hers. Whichever it was, staying with her for the rest of this lifetime would be incredibly easy.

After all, a lifetime was far too short.

"Of course," Ke Mingqing said casually, ducking his head. "I'm your brother. Even if I found you annoying, I couldn't get rid of you. Two lifetimes works too."

"Mhm, then it's a promise..."

At that moment, the hazy twilight draped over the girl's profile, masking her expression. "You're not allowed to go back on it." Her tone suddenly shifted. All the colors on her body seemed to be flowing...

The sunlight rippled across her pale skin, her rose-like skirt billowed in the wind, and her hair danced like a cascading waterfall.

And... that faint wisp of flame at the corner of her eye flickered in the wind.

Ke Mingqing stared blankly at the wisp of blue flame hovering over her cheek. In his heart, he finally admitted that his childish ideals were pretty much shattered.

His sister's Witchification had grown deeper. She was no longer a pure magical girl.

This meant that when the Tiamat Comet arrived in the human world in half a year, it wouldn't take back her powers. She wouldn't become an ordinary person then.

When it came down to it, she would still be on the players' slaughter list...

Just as his thoughts reached this point, the Ferris wheel started up again.

With a loud creaking sound, the suspended cabins lurched into motion. The sudden movement caught Ember off guard. Not fully seated, her body swayed and tipped backward.

The girl plunged from midair toward the golden earth below. At the very last moment, she reached out her hand to him, her hair whipping wildly in the wind.

In that split second, Ke Mingqing desperately wanted to reach out and catch her, but he felt like he couldn't... or rather, he felt like he had nothing left to hold onto.

Someone who wants everything ends up with nothing. He knew that principle well. His own life, Kuroki Hitomi's life, and the lives of these family members who cherished him yet didn't truly belong to him...

In the end, he could only choose one.

At that thought, Ke Mingqing lost the courage to grab her hand.

He watched her fall in silence, imagining her hitting the ground from three hundred meters up, smashing like a tomato into a sprawling, splattered stain of crimson.

That would certainly be beautiful. It would be a relief, too...

But in the next instant, the boy suddenly stamped hard, warping the metal edge of the cabin. He launched himself forward like a bolt of blue lightning, catching the falling girl in the gothic dress in his arms.

He carried her, bounding across the roofs of the descending cabins as if leaving the entire world behind. For that moment, their silhouettes were illuminated by the massive disc of the sun.

"If... I become a witch." Ember curled up in his arms, her cheek pressed tightly against his chest.

"What?" Ke Mingqing asked as he sprinted. Shrouded in lightning and blinding twilight, he felt the girl's hair whipping against his face.

"The day I become a witch, I won't be your sister anymore."

"Right... Then what are you going to be? My older sister?"

"No, I'm going to be a bandit. I'll be a villain, and do things I never dared to do."

"Huh?"

"And then... I'll take everything I want from everyone else." Here, Ember raised her eyes to look into his, as if she had just made an enormous resolution.

Ke Mingqing didn't look back at her. He simply stared silently ahead, then kicked off the metal roof of a cabin, holding her tight as he curled his body and shot forward.

The boy's bangs were whipped high by the wind. Like a bolt of lightning, he dove from a hundred meters up, plummeting straight into the park's forest. He kicked up a flurry of leaves and startled the birds, vanishing completely down a shaded path.

"Mommy... what was that?"

A young boy turned his head, yelling in awe as he stared at the leaves caught in the wake of the electric flash.

"Shh, we're pretending we didn't see anything."

His mother squeezed his hand, making a hushing gesture as she hurried him along.

Ke Mingqing set Ember down in a deserted corner of the forest. Clasping her hands behind her back, she stepped behind a maple tree. When she emerged, she was once again a girl in a pale yellow dress.

Crunching over the golden fallen leaves, the two strolled through the park on their way home.

This was the park near Old Jingmai District, not far from their house.

By the time they arrived home, the sky had gone completely dark. In the living room, only a single dim bulb was lit, the shadows of moths fluttering across its surface.

Ke Mingqing grabbed a bottle of Mizone from the fridge, while Xia Zili took a can of Sprite.

The siblings slumped onto the living room sofa, slouching back lazily like an exhausted middle-aged couple.

They quietly watched the television.

Right then, Leijing News was broadcasting a memorial service. It was mourning those who had sacrificed their lives in the comet incident: Diamond Man, Swamp Woman, Vending Machine Specialist, and Top Hero.

Sun Yixiong, one of the executives of the Hero Company, was giving a public account of the incident and presiding over the open memorial service.

Superheroes from all over Leijing had gathered at the memorial. Their expressions were sorrowful or solemn, and the uniform sea of black suits lent the scene an exhausting heaviness.

On screen, Sun Yixiong wore a black suit, his hair parted down the middle. Gripping his speech, he spoke at a steady, measured pace.

"This incident was a result of my own strategic error. Because the transport route for the Comet Fragments was kept strictly confidential, I believed that reducing armed support at the port would help us avoid drawing attention. That was why I only dispatched two teams of rookie heroes to back up Team Ember. I never expected this would lead to such a catastrophe, directly resulting in the total annihilation of Team Diamond Man and the death of the rookie hero Top Hero."

Sun Yixiong paused, then bowed deeply to the cameras.

"Here and now, I offer my deepest apologies to every fallen hero and their families."

Watching this, Xia Zili turned off the TV and muttered, "They're already dead. What's the point of apologizing?"

"When are you going to the Magical Girl Company for a meeting?" Ke Mingqing asked casually. "Something this huge happened; there's no way they'll just ignore you."

"Tomorrow..." Xia Zili replied. "My teacher actually wanted me to go over this afternoon, but I told her I hadn't recovered yet, so she didn't force me."

"Someone from the Magical Girl Three Giants?"

"Yeah."

Ke Mingqing considered this. "Isn't it more suspicious if you don't go see them?"

"Little Red Riding Hood covered for me. It's like she clearly saw me..." Xia Zili hesitated, "...but she didn't tell anyone."

"What a good sister. Since she loves eating junk so much, treat her to some junk... food next time." Ke Mingqing murmured. "Still, you've got some real clout, sis. Even the Three Giants can't summon you on command."

He stretched. "I'm super busy tomorrow, too. I've got a funeral to attend."

Hearing him utter the word "funeral" so flippantly, Xia Zili couldn't help but glance sideways at him.

She was quiet for a moment before asking, "That Top Hero died. Aren't you sad?"

Ke Mingqing suddenly stopped talking.

He took a sip of his Mizone, his Adam's apple bobbing, before slowly screwing the cap back on.

'Actually, I knew all along that they might die. Or rather, that everyone around me will die, which is exactly why I've been deliberately keeping my emotional distance from them...'

That was what he wanted to say to her, but what blurted out of his mouth was entirely different:

"A little bit, I guess."

"Just a little?"

"Yeah..." Ke Mingqing said softly. "The Black guy was pretty nice. At least, he was nice to me. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have even gotten the chance to become a superhero."

He rambled on as he thought aloud. "But sometimes, if you don't let yourself invest feelings into other people, the backlash isn't as strong when you lose them. I feel like friends, lovers, classmates... they could all leave at any moment, so I keep my distance normally..."

He paused. "But family is different. Family will always be by your side."

Xia Zili stayed silent for a bit, then balled up her fist and lightly punched his shoulder.

"Then you'd better hurry up and thank your sister for always being by your side."

"Thank you, thank you..." Ke Mingqing yawned, brushing it off as he rested his head on her shoulder and looked down at his backup phone.

The fluorescent glow of the screen lit up his eyes, casting a pallid hue over his face.

[Lin Yin: The incident has already been reported by others. You don't have to come to the memorial for the comet incident, but you had better attend the funeral tomorrow.]

[Lin Yin: I'm worried about you. Don't bottle up your feelings; Top Hero's death wasn't your fault.]

[Blue Pigeon: I'll be there tomorrow morning.]

[Lin Yin: Okay, Rain Crow will be back soon. I have to say, the city really needs him around to stay safe. Those guys from Death Crow only dared to cause such chaos because they knew he was away.]

[Blue Pigeon: That's not necessarily true.]

Ke Mingqing stared at the messages, thinking to himself how Rain Crow was actually aiding the villains, helping the alien female spy gather intel on the super-human species. It wouldn't be long before Earth was plunged into chaos...

'But before the aliens arrive, the players will have to strike first. After all, we only have half a year, whereas the aliens have all the time in the world.'

'Sometime this week, I should try to have a chat with Mom. If she's back, it'd be best to find a time when no one else is home,' Ke Mingqing thought to himself.

With that in mind, he switched over to WeChat and sent a message to Xia Wenna.

[Ke Mingqing: Mom, when are you coming back?]

[Xia Wenna: Miss your mom? (Sticker: Panda clapping hands)]

[Xia Wenna: Your dad and I are coming back the day after tomorrow. I'll make you something delicious. Invite your girlfriend over for dinner too! (Sticker: Kangaroo boxing)]

Ke Mingqing stared at the sticker of a kangaroo punching the screen, secretly breaking out in a sweat.

[Ke Mingqing: Sure, I'll ask my girlfriend if she can make it.]

Xia Zili suddenly leaned over on the sofa, resting her small head on his shoulder to peek at the chat logs.

"Mama's boy?" she shot him a suspicious look.

Ke Mingqing silently flipped her off, then glanced out the floor-to-ceiling window and spotted the silhouettes of his older brother and second sister.

"Okay," he said. "They're coming back for a meeting. Brace yourself."

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