A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Ke Mingqing headed downstairs. He had just pulled a bowl and chopsticks from the sterilizer when the doorbell chimed from the entryway.

"Mom, I'll get it," he called out. Dropping the tableware on the table, he ambled out of the kitchen.

He crossed the dim entryway and opened the front door, letting the evening breeze wash over his face.

Xia Zili stood barefoot outside, backed by the night sky and the chirping of cicadas.

The girl was quietly fiddling with her phone, the screen's glow illuminating her eyes. Her left hand held a pair of sandals, one of which had a torn strap.

Ke Mingqing didn't even need to think about it. She must have returned to her room to rest, changed into clean clothes, slipped out the window into the alley, and circled all the way around to ring the front doorbell.

He slouched against the doorframe and stared at the sandals. "What happened to your shoes?"

"Snapped it while I was running," Xia Zili said casually. "Why do you care? Stop blocking the door."

"I'm blocking it," Ke Mingqing said.

"Move." Xia Zili looked up from her phone.

The two of them stood at the door, staring at each other for a moment.

"Not moving." Ke Mingqing suddenly reached out and gripped her shoulders. "Sis, you have no idea what I just went through," he said, deadpan.

Xia Zili froze. She shifted her gaze slightly and immediately played dumb.

"What... happened to you?"

"Magical Girl Ember got hurt, so she came to my room to heal up," Ke Mingqing said after a moment's thought. "She even told me that she'd just stand there and let me look at her for as long as I wanted. My heart was pounding so hard I almost passed out."

Xia Zili looked at him. She slowly lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly as she fought back a laugh.

After a moment, she looked up, forcing a straight face.

"Did you have a wet dream?" she asked disdainfully.

"No."

"Only you could talk about your wet dreams so openly. It's a good thing I'm your sister. Any other girl would've blocked you by now." Despite her biting words, Xia Zili thought it was actually pretty fun to mess with her idiot brother once in a while.

"I swear, every word is true." Ke Mingqing's tone was as solemn as a sworn oath.

"Where's the proof?"

"Forget it. Don't believe me, then." Ke Mingqing shrugged. "You're just jealous because you'll never get to meet her."

Xia Zili opened her mouth. I see myself in the mirror every single day, she thought. What do you mean I'll never get to meet her?

The girl lowered her eyes, then raised them again. Sometimes her gaze was dark, and sometimes it reflected the moonlight.

Truthfully, she felt an inexplicable sense of joy. At the very least, she could tell that Ke Mingqing genuinely liked her as a magical girl. He wasn't faking it.

Whenever she walked around school, she would inevitably hear people badmouthing Magical Girl Ember. Sometimes, sitting alone in the classroom and listening to those whispers, she wished she could just forcefully split herself and Ember into two entirely different people.

That way, hearing those awful things wouldn't bother her anymore...

Once, unable to take it anymore, she had simply flipped the desks of a group of gossiping girls and stormed off. When she returned to school the next day, everyone had avoided her, casting weird looks her way.

Xia Zili felt that whether it was herself or Magical Girl Ember, she was probably just a weirdo either way.

At school, she was ostracized. As a magical girl, she was still hated.

But even if she was such a weirdo, someone would still always stand by her side...

The evening breeze gently ruffled Xia Zili's hair, snapping her out of her daze.

She squeezed past Ke Mingqing, heading inside as she said, "Aren't you afraid I'll tell your girlfriend? I'll say a magical girl 'accidentally' ran into your room and told you that you could 'look at her all you want.'"

"It's fine. My girlfriend is super open-minded. She'd just clap and say, 'That's amazing.'" Ke Mingqing followed behind her, fiddling with his phone.

Isn't that just being an idiot?

Xia Zili grumbled inwardly. Suddenly, the crisp chime of the doorbell rang from the entryway again.

She walked over and opened the door. Standing there was a girl in a school uniform, her hair tied up in a bun.

Xia Ningzhi had her backpack slung over one shoulder, gripping a workbook in her other hand. She glanced up from her workbook, giving Xia Zili a weird look.

"You're back from your classmate's house already?" she asked.

"Obviously. How long does eating dinner take?" Xia Zili replied.

Xia Ningzhi thought for a moment. "Which classmate? What's her name?"

"An Youlu."

Toying with her phone, Xia Zili rattled off Little Red Riding Hood's name without a second thought.

Xia Ningzhi wasn't giving up. "Can I come over and hang out at her place with you sometime?"

"Why would you? She doesn't even know you... Mom's calling you for dinner."

Throwing her sister a strange look, Xia Zili turned and walked into the living room.

Xia Ningzhi stood alone in the entryway, watching her sister's back disappear into the shadows.

Her mind was swimming with the words White Jack had told her on the overpass. They looped like a radio that couldn't be turned off, endlessly repeating. Would the broadcast keep echoing in her head until she finally found the answer?

Once the college entrance exams are over tomorrow, I'll try following Zili around...

Xia Ningzhi made up her mind. Just then, Ke Mingqing walked over to the end of the entryway, holding a rice bowl. He peeked over at her.

"What're you doing, Sis? Come eat. Mom cooked a whole table of food and no one's eating it. She's practically heartbroken."

"Heartbroken?" Xia Ningzhi asked, slipping off her shoes.

"Heartbroken enough to trip the circuit breaker."

"Is our mom Magneto? That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?" Xia Ningzhi joked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. After putting on her indoor slippers, she walked into the kitchen.

She glanced left and right before pulling out a chair between Xia Zili and Ke Mingqing. Sitting down, she announced, "Just for the record, I'm your older sister. If you guys have any problems, you can tell me, okay?"

"Okay. Then take my finals for me," Xia Zili said.

"Run to the supermarket for me tomorrow. I'm craving a popsicle," Ke Mingqing added.

Both of them remained expressionless, eating with their chopsticks while scrolling on their phones. Their synchronization rate was a solid ninety-nine percent.

"Oh, you little brats. I act nice for one second and you immediately take advantage of it, huh?" Laughing, Xia Ningzhi reached out and vigorously ruffled both of their hair.

...

...

After dinner, Ke Mingqing washed up in the bathroom and retreated to his bedroom to rest.

He slumped into his leather chair, propped his legs up on his desk, and stared blankly out the window at the highway overpass.

Suddenly, a red notification bubble popped up over the 'Friends List' in the top right corner of his vision, indicating that another player had sent him a message.

Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow. He raised his hand and tapped his contacts list, bringing up the chat panel immediately.

[Kuroki Hitomi: Are you there?]

[Ke Mingqing: What's up?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: I'm a bit curious. Where are the biological parents of your current body?]

Ke Mingqing paused. He slowly shifted out of his leather chair, lay down on his bed, and pillowed his arms behind his head.

He stared at the ceiling in thought for a moment before typing out a reply.

[Ke Mingqing: Dead. They got caught in a fire when he was a kid. It seems it was an incident caused by a super-human species losing control, but they still haven't caught the culprit. After that, the original owner of this body was adopted by this house full of monsters.]

[Ke Mingqing: If you search 'Anhe District Fire Incident' online, you'll see it.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: I understand.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: By the way, let's add each other on WeChat.]

[Ke Mingqing: Oh, true. We're supposed to be playing boyfriend and girlfriend, so not even having each other on WeChat would be a bit much.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: HMT245xxx. That's my WeChat ID.]

Ke Mingqing glanced at the message, then pulled his phone from his pocket. He opened WeChat and quickly searched for Kuroki Hitomi's ID.

Her WeChat name was "Heimu Mao," an entirely unpretentious name. Her avatar was a cartoon red panda holding a stalk of bamboo, complete with a beauty mark under its eye.

He sent her a friend request, then swiped his finger to check her WeChat Moments. Her feed was completely empty, and she didn't even have a status message. Total minimalism.

Kuroki Hitomi quickly accepted his request. With a soft chime, she sent him a WeChat message.

It consisted of just a single word:

"Goodnight."

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