A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Red Lotus hovered beneath the night sky on her Wind and Fire Wheels. Lowering her head, she quietly watched the girl in the gothic dress in the alley below.

The evening breeze blew past. Her lowered eyes flickered with a touch of scarlet, like a dying candle flame.

After a long time, her lips parted. "Xiao Li... why is it you?"

Ember stood motionless in the alleyway.

She quietly watched the smiling face formed by a wisp of residual smoke, then looked down a moment later at the bouquet of lilies dropped on the ground.

The evening breeze scattered the petals, sweeping them up toward the night sky beyond the alley.

Ember turned her head to follow the drifting flowers. Out on the street, a police cruiser sped past, its flashing red and blue lights washing faintly into the alley and stretching her shadow across the pavement.

The piercing wail of its sirens echoed down the street, shattering the quiet of the alley.

Right then, Red Lotus finally spoke from where she hovered in midair, offering a slow, measured warning.

"You can't stay here. The nearby security cameras have been destroyed. When the police arrive and see this scene, they'll just assume you murdered two criminals. You're already at the center of a media storm; if this gets out, the fallout will be disastrous."

Hearing the voice from above, the girl in the gothic dress paused in surprise, then lifted her head to look at the figure standing on the flaming wheels.

"You're..." she murmured.

"I helped you on the overpass last time, though you probably don't remember me."

"I don't."

"Consider this a piece of advice," Red Lotus said calmly. "Leave now, before you're discovered, to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings."

Xiao Li is different from me, Red Lotus thought. She isn't a vigilante. She's a magical girl officially enlisted by the government. Public opinion impacts them heavily. She has to learn how to protect herself.

"I never intended to show my face in the first place. I don't need your warning," Ember said, pausing. "You're being a little nosy."

"But you don't look like you're planning to leave."

Ember thought for a moment. "I have a question for you."

"Ask."

"Do you know who White Jack is?" The girl in the gothic dress looked up, meeting Red Lotus's eyes.

Red Lotus suddenly fell silent. After a moment, she gave a soft laugh—a laugh tinged with both anger and a hint of self-mockery.

Compared to that weirdo, she thought, shouldn't you care more about who I am, my dear little sister?

A moment later, she shook her head.

"I don't know his identity, but he's dangerous. You need to stay away from him, or you'll likely get burned."

With that, before Magical Girl Ember could respond, she sped away on her spinning Wind and Fire Wheels.

The girl streaked across Lijing's night sky, her figure soaring over towering skyscrapers while off-key commercial jingles echoed in her ears. The wheels beneath her feet accelerated, scattering stray sparks into the air. She flew faster and faster, as if trying to escape from something.

The city's neon lights couldn't reach the sky. The dark night felt like a heavy curtain, or a black tide that threatened to drown her. She had nowhere to run, wandering the darkness like a flickering firefly that could be snuffed out by the wind at any second.

Not long after, she arrived at Old Jingmai Port and touched down inside a long-abandoned lighthouse by the sea.

The Wind and Fire Wheels slowly spun to a halt, then vanished into thin air alongside her Fire-Tipped Spear and Huntian Ling.

Xia Ningzhi's feet touched the ground. She took off her metallic mask and stripped off her long metal coat.

A moment later, she stopped and leaned against the window. She had already changed back into her blue-and-white school uniform, her hair hanging loose down her back. The crashing of waves against the shore echoed in her ears.

She turned her head, gazing out at the night-shrouded ocean from the corner of her eye.

Xia Ningzhi's emotions were in a tangled mess.

The radio that had been playing constantly in her mind finally fell silent. It no longer broadcast the words White Jack had spoken on the overpass that day.

It was just as White Jack had said.

Her little sister was Magical Girl Ember.

Yet, as an older sister, she hadn't realized it for all these years. She hadn't noticed a single clue. She had just let her sister brave such dangerous environments alone, all the way up until things reached this point today.

Her heart ached when she remembered that her sister was currently being condemned by the entire world, yet just a few days ago, when scrolling past those posts on social media, she had felt it had nothing to do with her—that it was just some stranger's problem.

If I had known back then, I could have comforted Xiao Li.

Who exactly is White Jack...?

Why would he know more about our family than I do? Last night, White Jack even mentioned Dad. Could Dad be hiding a secret too?

Maybe I should take this more seriously. When I have time, I'll follow Dad again and see what he's actually doing at the police station.

After a long while, she turned to look out into the pitch-black night beyond the lighthouse, staring at the shattered white sea foam.

As if making a decision, Xia Ningzhi tied her hair up and took a deep breath.

"I'll head home first."

...

...

Meanwhile, in a bedroom in another corner of the world.

Ke Mingqing opened his eyes to the sight of a familiar ceiling. He remembered the exact locations of the mold spots with perfect clarity.

Right now, he was resting the back of his head against his swivel chair. Being propped up for so long left his neck feeling slightly sore.

"I'm too young to be worrying about cervical spondylosis," he murmured softly, rubbing his stiff neck and rolling it a couple of times. "By the way, why is the reward for killing one of the super-human species so low? Is it because those two small fries were just too low-level?"

Ke Mingqing curled his lip and pulled up the relevant system details.

[The following is the reward table for the first-time kill of a super-human species of each grade:

First kill of an E Rank or D Rank super-human species: 1,000 superhuman coins;

C Rank super-human species: 2,000 superhuman coins and a D Rank Gear Crate;

B Rank super-human species: 3,000 superhuman coins and a C Rank Gear Crate;

A Rank super-human species: 5,000 superhuman coins and a B Rank Gear Crate;

S Rank super-human species: 10,000 superhuman coins and an A Rank Gear Crate.

Additionally, the following lists the experience points gained for killing super-human species of different grades—E Rank: 100 EXP / D Rank: 200 EXP / C Rank: 500 EXP / B Rank: 2,000 EXP / A Rank: 5,000 EXP / S Rank: 10,000 EXP.]

There are no SS Rank super-human species in this world? Ke Mingqing thought. Then once us players grind for a few months, won't we just steamroll right over everything?

Just then, he heard a knock at the door. He got out of bed, opened it, and was greeted by Xia Zili.

"What's up?" he asked, puzzled.

Xia Zili stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Sis said she's almost home. Let's go downstairs to meet her. Dad even bought a cake."

"Since we're both taking the college entrance exams this year, doesn't that mean we get to eat two cakes when we finish?" Ke Mingqing shrugged.

Although in half a year, either you die or I die, so we won't even live to see the college entrance exams anyway, he thought to himself.

"Aren't you afraid of eating yourself to death?" Xia Zili asked.

"It's better to just buy one cake and share it, otherwise it's too wasteful," Xia Wenna's voice called out from the balcony. She walked inside carrying a laundry basket as she spoke.

Ke Mingqing glanced at Xia Wenna, and a quest panel suddenly popped up in his vision.

[Main Quest 5 (Phase 1): Use your secondary identity to establish contact with Alien Colonizer Z12235 (Hint: This quest is extremely difficult; proceed with caution.)]

Even if you dare issue this quest, I don't dare take it... he clicked his tongue inwardly. What if it accelerates Mom's alien invasion plan?

"Did you hear that?" Xia Zili's voice broke his train of thought. "Mom even said so herself."

"Look at you, throwing Mom's weight around." Ke Mingqing rolled his eyes at her.

After a moment of silence, Xia Zili suddenly shifted the topic.

"By the way, there's actually something I wanted to ask you."

"Ask what?"

"What are your thoughts on this 'White Jack' guy?" Xia Zili looked up, staring unblinkingly into Ke Mingqing's eyes.

It was as if she were trying to see something hidden in the depths of his gaze.

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