A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

At dusk, the fading light quietly settled over the long corridor.

Amid the silence, Ke Mingqing looked up from his phone screen and gazed at Ke Linye.

Their eyes met.

Ke Linye held a pitch-black metal helmet in his arms, the display screen on its back glowing faintly.

After a moment, Ke Mingqing asked, "Bro, what is that thing? I've never seen it before."

"Hmm, this is..." Ke Linye fell silent for a moment before replying unhurriedly. "A VR gaming helmet. Your second sister gave it to me."

Ke Mingqing stared intently at the helmet, exclaiming in surprise, "Damn, I've never seen anything like this before. Let me try it out?"

Unexpectedly, Ke Linye didn't refuse. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled up. "Sure. Want to try it on?"

Ke Mingqing froze. Looking at the smile on Ke Linye's face, he couldn't help but shiver inwardly.

With that in mind, Ke Mingqing asked tactfully, "But if Second Sister finds out you just casually lent her stuff to someone else, won't she get mad?"

"Knowing your sister, she wouldn't just get mad—she'd kick my ass." Ke Linye spread his hands. "You're better off waiting until she gets back and borrowing it from her yourself."

Then he smiled. "Hmm... I didn't expect you to be so considerate of me, Qing. I'm a little touched."

"I just don't want to get scolded by her. Don't flatter yourself." Rolling his eyes, Ke Mingqing added, "My girlfriend is up on the roof. I'm going to keep her company. Go find somewhere else to play, bro."

He waved his hand dismissively—in a highly punchable manner—brushed past Ke Linye, and pushed open the iron door.

The setting sun washed over him, illuminating the long corridor.

Ke Mingqing stepped onto the roof and stood shoulder to shoulder with the girl by the railing, gazing out at the setting sun.

The sun was sinking slowly toward the horizon, painting a streak of flushed red across the sky. From the glass facades of the skyscrapers to the bus stops along the road, the entire world was bathed in gold.

"Was it just a coincidence?"

Ke Linye raised an eyebrow. Turning his head in the dim hallway, he silently watched the couple's backs before glancing down at the helmet in his hands.

"Forget it... We'll talk about it later," he muttered to himself, turning toward the stairwell and heading downstairs.

From the corner of the roof, Ke Mingqing watched this unfold from the corner of his eye, then slowly withdrew his gaze.

"How did it go?" Kuroki Hitomi turned to look at him.

"He left," Ke Mingqing said expressionlessly. "My second sister is highly suspicious. She has to be the one to test you personally. Tricking my brother won't do us any good, so it was better to send him away first."

"You really know your sister."

"What do you expect?" Ke Mingqing tapped his head. "I have memories of living with her for so long. Plus, she's messed with me quite a few times before. It'd be weird if I didn't know her."

"Speaking of memories..." Kuroki Hitomi hesitated.

"What is it?" Ke Mingqing turned to her, puzzled.

"I read in a book once that 'a person is the sum of their past experiences.' It got me thinking. Maybe even if our hearts refuse to accept those fake memories, they still influence our personalities." Kuroki Hitomi spoke absentmindedly. She paused. "Or rather... maybe we've already been influenced."

Ke Mingqing froze for a second, then asked casually, "Are you talking about me?"

"I don't know." After a long silence, the girl with the teardrop mole shook her head.

Neither of them said another word. Ke Mingqing folded his arms and leaned against the railing, looking down at the long street dyed red by the setting sun. Someone rode a bicycle briskly through the fallen leaves, the chain rattling softly.

Kuroki Hitomi looked up at the distant sky and asked, "If we really have to make a move against these people in the future, will you hesitate?"

"What's there to hesitate about?" Ke Mingqing said lightly. "I know you're just reminding me. But when that day comes, I'll wipe them all out. Just treat it like playing a game." He paused. "When you play a game, do you shed tears over accidentally killing an NPC? Just treat them all as NPCs."

The boy's eyes silently watched the distant overpass, but his focus was actually hovering over the countdown above his head.

Every passing minute and second only brought that deadline closer, and the sky was gradually growing darker.

Kuroki Hitomi thought for a moment, then asked softly, "Will you feel like you're being selfish? Will you hate yourself?"

Ke Mingqing blinked in surprise, then sighed softly. "Come on, what exactly goes on inside that head of yours?"

"I'm thinking about you," Kuroki Hitomi said quietly. "I don't believe you can so easily kill people you've known for a long time, people you're close to... even if you like to pretend you can."

Ke Mingqing suddenly understood. He lifted his head from the railing and looked at her in silence.

"Are you saying this to mock me for trying to kill you before and failing?" he asked.

"No." Kuroki Hitomi shook her head, quietly meeting his gaze.

Ke Mingqing looked at the girl. Her eyes were as calm as a cat's, always leaving him unable to guess what she was thinking.

After a moment of silence, he said casually, "I won't condemn myself. Not now, not ever. We just want to live. Anyone in this world can hate us, anyone can criticize us and call us selfish... but we can't do that to ourselves."

He paused. "Because we never had any other path to begin with."

"So, you've made up your mind?" Kuroki Hitomi asked.

Ke Mingqing stayed silent for a long time. "You don't need to rely on me so much. What if I said I couldn't make up my mind?"

"Then dying together wouldn't be so bad either," Kuroki Hitomi said in an entirely placid tone.

Ke Mingqing was slightly taken aback. This mixed-race girl spoke with such absolute certainty, as if she had already prepared this answer in her heart long ago. For some reason, it made him inexplicably irritable.

After a long silence, the boy took a deep breath of the twilight air and said, "Please, don't get it twisted... I won't die, and you're not allowed to die either. Got it?"

Kuroki Hitomi didn't say anything, which only made Ke Mingqing more frustrated.

"We haven't even started fighting yet, and you're already saying such depressing things. How are we supposed to get over all the hurdles ahead of us?" Pointing at the iron door behind him, Ke Mingqing lowered his voice. "If you don't want to live anymore, my oldest brother is right downstairs. You can go straight to him, put on that helmet right in front of his face, and he'll gladly send you on your way."

A heavy silence hung between them. Seeing that he was finished speaking, Kuroki Hitomi finally lowered her head and spoke softly, "You see, you're only getting this angry because you want to cover it up. You want to hide the fact that you really have thought about dying for them."

Ke Mingqing fell silent. His throat suddenly felt dry, and he couldn't squeeze out another word.

In the dusky, yellow-tinted world, an airplane roared overhead. The rooftop was completely quiet as the girl with the teardrop mole spoke.

"I just wanted to say..."

"Say what?"

"I can be the villain with you. Even if you kill a lot of people, even if those people are ones you know well, even if everyone despises you and hates you, I'll always stay by your side." Kuroki Hitomi paused. "And... if you don't want to be the villain... even if you don't want to do anything at all, I'll still be by your side. No matter when, I'll always be on your side."

With that, Kuroki Hitomi lowered her eyes slightly.

She dropped her voice to a whisper. "You said it yourself. We're accomplices."

As she spoke, the sun dipped below the horizon. That blazing, blood-red hue in the sky faded, and darkness fell.

The faces of the boy and girl were draped in shadow. They let the evening breeze brush against them, neither uttering a word.

"Don't ever say things like that again, understand?"

"Okay."

"Our goal is simple. Kill them all, then go home," Ke Mingqing said softly. "Listen... in that other world, no one is waiting for me to come back, but someone is waiting for you. They adopted you and gave you a home. You aren't completely free of attachments like I am, so don't say things like that so easily."

He paused. "Living is more important than anything else."

Leaving those words behind, Ke Mingqing shoved his hands into his pockets, turned around, and walked off the rooftop.

Kuroki Hitomi kept her head bowed, standing there in silence all alone for a long time.

Not long after that, Xia Wenna, Xia Lingxue, and Xia Ningzhi returned.

Ke Mingwei was absent from dinner tonight, contrary to what they had agreed upon that morning.

Ke Mingqing could understand his old man. After all, Rain Crow had just received the latest intel on Clock Maker and learned that Train Hero had been dismembered by him. How could he possibly come home to eat as if nothing had happened?

Right now, his foster father was definitely investigating the incident at the Hero Company.

Xia Wenna was a slowpoke. It took her a very long time to cook. People often said slow work yields fine craftsmanship, but while she was slow, her work was far from fine. None of them held any expectations for the taste.

While the alien mother cooked, Xia Zili lay on her side in her bedroom taking a nap. An Youlu crouched on the windowsill with downcast eyes, trimming her nails with clippers.

Meanwhile, Xia Ningzhi and Xia Lingxue dragged Kuroki Hitomi to the living room sofa to watch a movie.

They were watching About Time. Xia Ningzhi was so moved that her tears flowed freely, crying as if tears cost nothing, while Xia Lingxue remained completely expressionless the entire time and even let out a yawn.

Kuroki Hitomi quietly watched the TV, occasionally glancing left and right at the two sisters' expressions.

Ever since she was adopted by a wealthy Japanese man, she hadn't had any siblings. It was just her. She had never experienced this kind of lively, bustling family atmosphere before.

Even so, every time Kuroki Hitomi looked up and saw the super-human species panels floating above their heads, her heart would tighten slightly.

Over by the window, Ke Mingqing and Ke Linye were leaning against the sill, enjoying the breeze while chatting about the helmet.

Ke Linye spun a very convincing tale, claiming it was the latest virtual reality gaming helmet developed in the US. He even said Xia Lingxue was actually a secret gaming fanatic and had bought the helmet with her part-time job salary.

Overhearing their conversation, Xia Lingxue couldn't help but rub her temples. If Kuroki Hitomi hadn't been sitting right there, she probably would have kicked her older brother to death.

Not long after, their mother announced that dinner was ready.

Xia Ningzhi leaped up from the sofa, slipped on her slippers, and bounded upstairs. As she skipped along, she teasingly called out for Xia Zili and An Youlu using their WeChat names: "Time to eat, Chali Jiushi! Time to eat, little match-selling Little Red Riding Hood!"

Xia Zili was jolted awake from her nap. She snapped back a couple of annoyed remarks, grabbed An Youlu—who had just finished clipping her nails—and dragged her downstairs.

Kuroki Hitomi pulled out a chair and sat down at the dining table.

She was sandwiched between Ke Mingqing and Xia Zili. Every time she looked up, she could see the super-human species panels suspended in midair. They were piled together, as messy as a deck of cards spread across a gambling table.

Frankly, Kuroki Hitomi felt like it was hard to breathe just sitting there.

Just a simple, ordinary dinner with this family felt almost as intense as a meeting of the Roundtable Heroes to her.

Especially Xia Wenna. She was the one person Kuroki Hitomi absolutely did not dare to make eye contact with.

Her eyes seemed to be covered in a layer of mist, and her expressions were sluggish and stiff, like one of those doppelgängers from a movie that triggered the uncanny valley effect.

Her identity as an alien and her Question Mark Rank combat power were enough to strike terror into the heart of every player.

And the name Owl Judge was especially renowned.

Thanks to Gu Mengqing, Kuroki Hitomi knew some people from the underworld, so she knew just how many had died at the hands of Owl Judge.

She counted on her fingers. Right here at this very table, there were two mythic vessels, two players, two magical girls, an alien, and a mutant.

If Ke Mingwei hadn't been busy dealing with Clock Maker, there would have been an esper added to the mix too.

Is the alien mother collecting samples? Kuroki Hitomi took a sharp breath of cold air. Or... running a controlled experiment?

After a long moment, she slowly lifted her head from the table and cast a glance at Ke Mingqing.

His expression was entirely calm. He ate and drank normally, his chopsticks barely stopping.

Kuroki Hitomi honestly couldn't understand how Ke Mingqing managed to sit at this table so composedly. But she knew she had to stay calm and not show any flaws.

The reason Ke Mingqing had brought her here was that he believed she could handle it.

Kuroki Hitomi swept her gaze over the others' faces.

After looking around the room, even Xia Zili—who had recently been promoted to an A Rank—seemed somewhat harmless.

Kuroki Hitomi truly admired her. She had lived in this house for so many years, yet still hadn't discovered any of their true identities.

"What are you looking at?" Xia Zili caught her gaze.

"Nothing." Kuroki Hitomi shook her head. "Your brother always brags to me about how cute you are, so I couldn't help but take a few extra looks."

Xia Zili's face flushed bright red in an instant. She opened her mouth, then snapped her head around to glare at Ke Mingqing.

Ke Mingqing ignored her. He was busy eating mapo tofu mixed with rice while scrolling through short videos on his phone.

Suddenly, Xia Lingxue looked up from her bowl at Kuroki Hitomi and spoke up, "It's already so late. If your parents don't mind, why don't you spend the night here..." She paused for a moment. "How about it?"

Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow slightly, glancing up from his phone.

In truth, he had already anticipated that his second sister would suggest this. So, he opened the Chat Panel and sent Kuroki Hitomi a message.

[Ke Mingqing: Agree to it quickly. Just sleep at my place tonight.]

Kuroki Hitomi was stunned for a second.

Blinking, she put down her chopsticks and asked, "I guess I could, since my parents aren't home anyway... But won't I be causing you guys trouble?"

"Hey, hey, hey, what trouble could there be?" Xia Ningzhi looked over with her chopsticks dangling from her mouth, grinning playfully. "We already have so many people in this house, one more won't make a difference! If you need anything, big sister's got you covered!"

Xia Zili stayed silent. She was wondering if it was really safe to let a player stay in their house. But with Ke Mingqing here, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

"Alright." After a long moment, Kuroki Hitomi nodded.

"Great, then it's settled!"

Xia Ningzhi tilted her head slightly, clapping her hands next to her cheek. Humming happily, she said, "Little Hitomi will be resting at our house tonight. Luckily, there's a spare room on the second floor."

Ke Linye rested his cheek on his hand and smiled at his silly sister. "How come you're even more excited than our Qing?"

"What do I have to be excited about?" Ke Mingqing rolled his eyes at him. "But the problem is, that room hasn't been opened in ages, has it? Wouldn't she suffocate in there?"

Xia Wenna, who was washing dishes at the sink, overheard their discussion. Raising an eyebrow, she realized belatedly, "Oh... that's true. Then after I finish washing the dishes, Mommy will go sort out the sheets and blankets and open the windows to air the room out. Don't worry, little girl."

"Thank you, Auntie."

"Just call me Mom," Xia Wenna said.

Kuroki Hitomi froze. She quickly lowered her head, not daring to say another word.

"Alright then, since Mom said so, my girlfriend is staying here tonight." Pointing at An Youlu, Ke Mingqing asked, "But what about her?"

Everyone turned to look. An Youlu was quietly eating with her head down, scooping up mashed potatoes with a spoon. She was eating with extraordinary focus.

Seeing Ke Mingqing pointing his index finger at her, she paused and looked up, meeting the collective gaze of the room.

"She's my classmate. She can just sleep with me," Xia Zili suggested.

An Youlu nodded, ate a spoonful of mashed potatoes, and licked her lips. "I don't mind, as long as Xia Zili doesn't kick the blankets off in her sleep."

The moment she said that, Xia Zili shot her an icy glare.

"Then what about your change of clothes?" Xia Wenna wiped her hands with a towel.

"I'll catch a cab back to get them. A little girl raised on garbage like me is best at running errands," An Youlu said.

"Stop eating garbage and eat something decent."

Xia Zili spoke blankly, picking up a piece of shrimp tempura with her chopsticks and forcefully stuffing it into An Youlu's mouth.

An Youlu puffed her cheeks slightly, murmuring around the mouthful of tempura, "Bully."

...

...

After dinner, everyone killed time in the living room.

Xia Ningzhi flipped open the family photo album, grinning as she shared embarrassing stories from Ke Mingqing's childhood with Kuroki Hitomi.

A smile tugged at Kuroki Hitomi's lips as she quietly studied the youthful faces in the photos. Suddenly, she noticed that Xia Zili and Ke Mingqing were always inseparable in the shots.

Startled, she turned her head slightly to look at the sofa.

On the sofa, Ke Mingqing and Xia Zili were playing Superhero Monopoly on the console. Xia Zili occasionally threw a light punch at his shoulder, but he always managed to raise a hand and block her fist.

Kuroki Hitomi pulled her gaze back and whispered to Xia Ningzhi, "Big sister, can I secretly take one photo with me?"

"It better not be a photo of me running around bare-bottomed after a bath when I was little," Xia Ningzhi said, dramatically clutching her chest.

Kuroki Hitomi froze, utterly dumbfounded.

Xia Ningzhi was thoroughly amused by her reaction. She slapped her shoulder and burst into laughter. "I'm just kidding! Which photo do you want?"

"This one." Kuroki Hitomi pointed softly at a photo in the family album.

"I guess that's fine. We rarely look through this album anyway," Xia Ningzhi hummed. "But once you officially become a part of our family, remember to bring it back."

Kuroki Hitomi nodded. "Mhm, I will for sure."

"Here you go." Xia Ningzhi handed the photo to Kuroki Hitomi.

With her head bowed, Kuroki Hitomi quietly gazed at the photo. Her eyes swept over Ke Mingqing before moving to the family members beside him.

When this picture was taken, Ke Linye and Xia Lingxue were still in high school. They wore blue and white uniforms, their faces full of youthful innocence. Ke Mingwei stood behind them with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his arms draped over their shoulders.

Xia Zili leaned sideways, resting her head on Ke Mingqing's shoulder. Xia Ningzhi, who had always been a giggly child, was striking a Kamen Rider transformation pose.

Only Xia Wenna's face was cast in pale, cold lighting, making it impossible to see her expression.

As for Ke Mingqing, who looked around ten years old in the photo, his head was drooping as he stood in the middle of his family. He was scratching the bridge of his nose and avoiding the camera lens, yet the corners of his mouth were pulled into a faint smile.

For some reason, Kuroki Hitomi felt as though she could see half a year into the future—when all the figures in the photo had vanished, replaced by corpses lying on the ground.

Only the ten-year-old boy remained, his head drooping as he stood silently in a pool of blood. His eyes were hollow, and that trace of a smile had disappeared, leaving nothing but numbness behind.

"Is it really that nice to look at?"

Xia Ningzhi's voice broke her train of thought.

"Big sister, I want to ask you a question," Kuroki Hitomi suddenly said after a moment of silence.

"Ask away, what's there to worry about?"

"If you saw someone you really liked in a lot of pain, what would you do?"

Xia Ningzhi furrowed her brows and answered earnestly, "Hug him tight! Kiss kiss!"

Taken aback, Kuroki Hitomi stammered, "That's a bit too advanced for high schoolers."

Even as she said it, she remembered that day in the alley outside the movie theater. To escape the pursuit of Owl Judge, Ke Mingqing had leaned down and kissed her. Her ears flushed slightly red at the memory.

"Ah, your ears are red! You're way too innocent, little sister. Sorry, sorry, it's my fault." Xia Ningzhi patted her hair, staring into her evasive eyes. "You're just like a little kitten. It's no wonder Qing likes you."

Kuroki Hitomi pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Right, about what you asked earlier," Xia Ningzhi pondered. "If you mean Qing, when he's going through a hard time, honestly, all you have to do is stay by his side."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. Would I lie to you?"

Lowering her eyes, Xia Ningzhi murmured softly, "Qing has always been strong since he was little. He lost his parents in a fire and was thrust into a family of strangers, but he never gave up on himself. He always buries his troubles deep down and likes to shut himself away, but he's a really good person. He's good to everyone."

She paused. "He's just got a somewhat awkward personality. But seeing such an awkward little brother find someone to stay by his side... it makes me really happy."

Having finished speaking, Xia Ningzhi lifted her head and beamed a smile at Kuroki Hitomi.

Kuroki Hitomi sat in silence for a moment.

"It would have been great if that fire had never happened," she whispered.

Xia Ningzhi froze slightly. Her pupils trembled and widened. It took her a long moment to recover, forcing out a faint smile as she murmured to herself, "Yeah... it would have been great if that fire had never happened."

Saying that, Xia Ningzhi suddenly turned her head to look at Ke Mingqing's silhouette on the sofa.

He was completely absorbed in his game, oblivious to her gaze.

The clock on the old wall ticked away steadily. Time slipped by quietly as the night fell like a curtain, draping over the brightly lit Old Jingmai District.

Xia Wenna shooed all the kids in the living room upstairs, muttering, "Even if your dad isnt here, you can't bully Mommy! When it's bedtime, you have to go to sleep!"

None of the siblings dared to rebel against their seemingly air-headed mother.

Despite Xia Wenna looking like an innocent ditz anyone could push around, she was actually terrifying when she got angry. They had all learned that lesson the hard way, so they surrendered without a fight and obediently went into their respective bedrooms.

The night had grown deep.

In the Xia-Ke residence, sporadic lights cast shadows of people onto the bedroom curtains. Someone sat on the windowsill reading a book; someone sat in a swivel chair playing on their phone. Someone pulled back the curtains and cupped their cheeks in their hands, staring blankly at the night sky as their crisp hair swayed gently in the moonlight.

Amid the ceaseless chirping of cicadas, the lights behind each window extinguished one by one in the evening breeze until the entire apartment building went completely dark.

Ke Mingqing pillowed his head on his arms and closed his eyes for a short nap.

And at exactly four o'clock the following morning, someone paid a visit to Kuroki Hitomi's room.

It was the only person in the house who had the key.

She walked down the dim, silent hallway, stopped at the end, and quietly inserted the key into the doorknob. Twisting it, she unlocked the door and pushed it open just a crack.

At that very moment, Kuroki Hitomi rolled over and opened her eyes from the bed.

In the pitch blackness, she suddenly turned her head to look at the slightly ajar door. Through the crack, she saw a face—a visage entirely covered in black-and-white static.

And at this exact moment, those eyes, flickering with static, were staring deeply into Kuroki Hitomi's face.

The next morning, Kuroki Hitomi went missing.

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