A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

[Good morning, esteemed player "Ke Mingqing". The current time is 07:00 AM on July 11th, Wednesday.]

[Time remaining for the "Exterminate Superhumans" mission: 170 days, 16 hours, 23 minutes.]

[As of today, the number of surviving players worldwide is: 95 (↓ 3)]

The system broadcast was as irritating as a school morning exercise routine, jolting Ke Mingqing awake from his dreams.

"—The player count dropped again?" He seriously suspected he had misheard. He sat up in bed, sporting a bird's nest of bedhead.

He scratched his head. Sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, striking his face.

He had forgotten to turn on the air conditioning before going to sleep last night—a catastrophic mistake. After just one night, his room felt like a sauna.

When he woke up, the sheets beneath him and the T-shirt he wore were drenched in sweat. He was completely soaked, his cheeks and earlobes flushed red.

"Thank God I didn't suffocate," he muttered.

[Obituary: Just yesterday, players "John Jackson", "Aaron Harper", and "Josben", located in Washington, USA, died at the hands of the A++ Rank super-human species "Doctor Toy".]

The delayed obituary confirmed his suspicions. He hadn't misheard; the player count had genuinely dropped.

Ke Mingqing sighed. "Man—why do these people love grouping up just to die together? And they just had to die to Doctor Toy, becoming research material for that mad scientist."

He finally understood the game loop. For the first six months, these hundred unlucky players were stuck in a battle royale. Only by barely surviving that half-year mark could they shift the genre and activate unmatched mode.

Just like the generals in Dynasty Warriors mowing down grunts.

The tragedy was that some players wouldn't last that long. They would be stuck in prison from start to finish, all the way until the day they reincarnated. Their only takeaway from this whole experience might be: Holy crap, am I playing True Superhuman Musou or Be a Man and Survive 100 Days?!

At that thought, Ke Mingqing let out a dry laugh. He tossed aside his thin blanket and lethargically climbed out of bed.

He had agreed to meet the other players at Kuroki Hitomi's house last night, so he didn't go back to sleep. Instead, he yawned his way into the washroom and wiped his face with a cold, damp towel.

Breathing out a hot breath, he stood before the mirror and stared at his own face before dropping his gaze to the razor on the shelf.

Over the sound of running water, Ke Mingqing set down his towel, secretly grabbed his older brother's razor, and flicked the switch.

He shaved off the faint adolescent fuzz on his face, then headed out the door and caught the first morning bus toward the coast.

Leaning his head against the window glass, he took a short nap, lulled by the gentle vibrations of the ride.

At 8:30 AM, outside a seaside villa on the Leijing coast.

Walking up from the coastal highway, Ke Mingqing rang the doorbell. A moment later, someone opened the door.

Greeting him was the girl with a tear mole. She had dark, cat-like eyes and was wearing a white dress.

Kuroki Hitomi rarely wore white dresses. With her hands clasped lightly behind her back, she looked as clear and serene as an autumn sky.

As the sea breeze blew past, Ke Mingqing stared at her, feeling a refreshing sense of novelty.

She tilted her head in confusion.

"White actually suits you," Ke Mingqing said casually.

"Ah—thank you. Aren't you coming in?"

Ke Mingqing shook his head and lingered at the entrance.

Kuroki Hitomi lowered her eyes, then raised them again, watching as he opened his talent panel and adjusted his public stats with a swipe of his finger.

[Prompt: You have used the "Disguiser" talent to generate a superhuman panel for yourself. When other players look at you, they will not see your player ID, but rather this superhuman panel.]

Ke Mingqing glanced up at the text on the panel, brushed past the tear-mole girl, and entered the villa.

He looked around the living room.

Three figures were sitting on the sofa, but An Youlu was nowhere to be seen.

Ke Mingqing turned to Kuroki Hitomi. "Is your maid not home?"

"Yeah, she's out for the morning," Kuroki Hitomi nodded. "I sent her away on an errand; otherwise, I wouldn't have called you all here." She spoke softly as she closed the front door.

Hands shoved in his pockets, Ke Mingqing strolled over, observing the profiles of the three people on the sofa.

Sitting on the far left was a young man with a short, spiky ponytail sticking straight up. His hands were clasped together, fingers steepled beneath his chin—striking the exact Gendo Ikari pose from Evangelion.

Kuroki Hitomi introduced him. "This is Li Chunchun, forum ID 'Paranoia'."

Li Chunchun looked up, wearing a mysterious smile. Before he could introduce himself, Ke Mingqing nodded. "Good, very spirited. Next."

Kuroki Hitomi shifted her gaze to the short-haired boy in the middle of the sofa. "This is Du Tingbei. His ID on the player forum is 'Orange Peel'."

"Nice."

Ke Mingqing turned to look at the somewhat reserved, greenhorn youth.

The short-haired boy carried a badminton racket bag on his back and was currently looking down, flipping through a sci-fi novel.

He put down the novel and smiled warmly. "Hello, you can call me Xiao Bei. I'm a sci-fi enthusiast."

Whether from his outfit or his overall appearance, he looked like a completely ordinary male college student. But for some reason, Ke Mingqing felt his smile was slightly creepy.

"This is Gu Mengqing, forum ID 'Meng Qing'."

Kuroki Hitomi made the final introduction, motioning with her eyes toward the blue-haired girl in the corner.

Gu Mengqing had sea-blue hair and wore a black punk T-shirt paired with a skull necklace.

At the moment, she was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, chewing on the end of a pen, her eyes glued to the sketchbook in her hands.

"That sounds like the name of a romance novel protagonist," Ke Mingqing remarked. "Did fictional characters cross over to this world too, on top of people from Earth?"

"What are you looking at?" Gu Mengqing asked without raising her head.

"What are you drawing?" he asked.

"A band logo."

"You transmigrated over here, and you still have the mood to draw stuff like that?"

"How else am I supposed to make money? I'll starve to death before I even get the chance to exterminate the super-human species," the blue-haired girl replied, glancing up at him. "Your battle suit design was too tacky. You made me waste a lot of time crafting it."

Ke Mingqing froze for a moment, understanding her implication.

"You made Blue Pigeon's battle suit?" he asked.

"Who else?" the blue-haired girl retorted. "If you need upgrades for it, come find me, but it'll cost extra."

Ke Mingqing turned to look at Kuroki Hitomi.

His gaze clearly said: You never mentioned this to me.

Kuroki Hitomi replied flatly, "The original owner of her body specialized in this line of work and had quite a reputation in the industry. People called her a genius girl. Aside from making hero suits, she also designed logos on the side."

"Well, then I really have to thank her for the help."

Ke Mingqing spoke casually, glancing at Gu Mengqing's sketchbook. "Good thing you didn't add a bunch of skulls and crosses to my suit. Otherwise, people who didn't know better would think I was part of some terrorist organization."

The blue-haired girl flipped him the middle finger, lowered her head, and went back to sketching.

Suddenly, Ke Mingqing seemed to think of something.

Looking at the three people on the sofa, he asked curiously, "By the way, on the superhuman panel you guys see, roughly how strong am I?"

Hearing this, all three of them looked up simultaneously and stared at him.

[Superhuman Codename: "Blue Pigeon"]

[Danger Rating: C++ Rank]

[Superhuman Profile: A superhero whose ability is to control dual-colored lightning. Suspected to have ties to "Rain Crow".]

[Currently Known Weaknesses: 1. Easily swayed by emotions; 2. Values friendship and loyalty too highly—this can be used to manipulate him.]

"Trash mob," Gu Mengqing summarized concisely.

"Just a tiny bit weaker than the great Lord Paranoia," Li Chunchun sneered.

"C++ Rank," Du Tingbei answered honestly.

Seeing this, Ke Mingqing let out a sigh of relief. It seemed there were no issues with the superhuman panel he had edited using his talent.

Du Tingbei smiled faintly. "Among the super-human species we've encountered, Mr. Blue Pigeon is already considered very powerful."

Ke Mingqing thought to himself, I filled in the stats on the panel myself; of course it looks powerful.

He shrugged, playing dumb. "I see, C++ Rank. Don't you guys think this combat rating makes me perfectly suited to be a C++ programmer?"

Unfortunately, no one entertained his dry joke.

Kuroki Hitomi stepped closer to him, hands behind her back. With lowered eyes, she unhurriedly introduced him to the trio. "Let me introduce you one last time. This is my boyfriend. His name is Ke Mingqing—and as you can see, he has another identity: Blue Pigeon."

She paused. "I need you to keep this a secret on the player forums. The moment this information leaks, I will assume someone betrayed me, and I will hunt them down to the very end. Understood?"

The three on the sofa fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow. For some reason, the other players were surprisingly obedient to Kuroki Hitomi. Was it because they thought she had a C Rank bodyguard?

Li Chunchun looked up at Ke Mingqing. "Speaking of which, why do you want to shelter the great Lord Paranoia?"

"Right, I still don't get it. Aren't we supposed to be very dangerous to you?" Du Tingbei asked.

Gu Mengqing also looked up from her sketchbook, expecting a satisfactory answer.

"What do you mean 'why'? Because I like her," Ke Mingqing answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Kuroki Hitomi froze, a blush creeping up her ears.

Under the trio's watchful eyes, he naturally grabbed Kuroki Hitomi's hand, acting just like a genuine couple—though his smile was completely fake.

Feeling the warmth from his palm, Kuroki Hitomi slightly lowered her head, her cheeks burning hot as if they were on fire.

"Damn normie couple," the blue-haired girl said, raising her middle finger once again.

"So, do you really intend to help Lord Paranoia exterminate the super-human species?" Li Chunchun asked seriously, resting a hand on his chin. Du Tingbei also looked at Ke Mingqing curiously.

Ke Mingqing shook his head. "No, I won't help you guys. After all, I'm part of the super-human species myself."

"Then you—"

"I'm only responsible for guaranteeing my girlfriend's safety. Everything else has nothing to do with me." Ke Mingqing lightly swung Kuroki Hitomi's hand back and forth, like two little kids playing around.

Kuroki Hitomi let him do as he pleased without complaint.

He paused and scratched his cheek. "If necessary, I'm willing to sacrifice myself for her."

Kuroki Hitomi's pupils shrank. Even though she knew he was lying just to put on an act in front of the other players, she still couldn't help but stand there in a slight daze.

After a long while, she looked up slightly and glanced at his profile.

Ke Mingqing wasn't looking at her.

He was focusing on Li Chunchun, asking curiously, "By the way, I heard you joined the Magical Girl Company. How did you pass the player detection?"

Sitting on the sofa, Li Chunchun shook his head in mock mystery and pressed a finger to his lips.

He curled the corners of his mouth and was just about to explain when Kuroki Hitomi beat him to it.

"He explained it yesterday," she said softly. "The manager of the Chinese Magical Girl Company, Xi Ziyue, believes that the company doesn't need to install player detection devices."

"Why?" Ke Mingqing asked.

Kuroki Hitomi recalled as she spoke, "Firstly, because players usually only possess ordinary people. Secondly, Xi Ziyue believes that if a player really possessed a magical girl, they would eventually degenerate into a witch due to the extreme pressure of the death missions."

She paused for a moment. "And once a player turns into a witch, it makes no difference to them. Dealing with witches is the magical girls' job anyway. They just have to kill them."

Hearing her explanation, Ke Mingqing drew a breath. "Magical girls are pretty dark, huh."

He sighed, letting go of Kuroki Hitomi's hand, and turned to Li Chunchun. "Then, Comrade Chunchun, do you think you'll turn into a witch just like Xi Ziyue said?"

Li Chunchun said dismissively, "Lord Paranoia isn't a real magical girl. There's no need to worry."

He sneered. "Even if there really is a risk of degenerating into a witch, with Lord Paranoia's wisdom, he will definitely be able to control the witch's power."

"Good, that's the spirit we need!" Ke Mingqing praised in a booming voice, acting like a division commander as he reached out and patted the psycho on the shoulder.

Yet in his heart, he thought: If only my little sister had your confidence. Unfortunately, it's obvious she's already started to give up on herself.

"Chunchun, show my boyfriend your magical girl form," Kuroki Hitomi suddenly said, her tone as cold as an order.

Li Chunchun shuddered. Ke Mingqing looked at him suspiciously, then turned to glance at Kuroki Hitomi, reaffirming his earlier thought: For some reason, these players seemed extremely obedient to her.

Li Chunchun let out two coughs and slowly stood up from the sofa.

His figure was suddenly enveloped in a hazy, cocoon-like light. When the light shattered, a girl wearing a dark red dress appeared.

Ke Mingqing was shocked.

The girl's red hair cascaded down like a waterfall, framing red eyes and delicate, petite facial features. Her magical device was a massive scythe, its crescent-shaped blade glowing with a dim crimson light.

"Magical Girl Red Moon. This is the codename I just got from the company," the girl hummed proudly, brushing a lock of hair from her forehead.

Du Tingbei stared at him in utter shock. "That's incredible—a macho man transforming into a magical girl."

"Hehehe—" Magical Girl Red Moon let out a smug, eccentric laugh.

"Traps are disgusting," Gu Mengqing commented.

Magical Girl Red Moon abruptly stopped laughing and merely shook her head in disdain.

Kuroki Hitomi remained silent. Only then did Ke Mingqing snap out of it. He let go of her hand and curiously examined Magical Girl Red Moon.

He asked, "I'm actually a bit curious. Roughly how strong are you players?"

Du Tingbei shook his head. "Don't worry, Mr. Blue Pigeon. Even if the three of us teamed up right now, we might not necessarily be able to beat you."

"How would we know without giving it a try?" Ke Mingqing said with keen interest.

As soon as he spoke, his right hand flared with dark blue lightning. The reason he used the weaker blue lightning was because he was intentionally holding back.

He thrust his right hand forward with restrained speed, pointing his index finger straight at Du Tingbei's head. Lightning wrapped around his fingertip.

With a point of his finger, electricity erupted.

Almost simultaneously, Du Tingbei and Red Moon reacted. A faint light flashed across the five fingers of Du Tingbei's right hand, each finger becoming covered in layers of chains.

One of the chains whipped outward like a steel snake, tearing through the blue currents jumping through the air, and wrapped around Ke Mingqing's right wrist.

Meanwhile, Magical Girl Red Moon swung her giant scythe from afar, sending out a ripple of magic that splashed through the air like fresh blood. This ripple slashed straight toward Ke Mingqing's neck.

Their counterattacks came from both left and right, catching Ke Mingqing in a pincer.

Seeing this, Ke Mingqing halted his offense. A layer of dark lightning covered his body.

The black lightning violently swept outward, knocking away the agile, snake-like chain and stopping the sweeping blood-red ripple dead in its tracks.

The living room fell dead silent.

None of the five people spoke. Only the crackling sound of electrical arcs lingered in the air.

"So strong..." Du Tingbei looked down at the chain dangling on the floor and muttered, "Is this what a near B-Rank super-human species is like?"

Magical Girl Red Moon raised her giant scythe, its edge pointed at Ke Mingqing's forehead.

Gu Mengqing looked up from her sketchbook, her legs still crossed, quietly staring at Ke Mingqing.

The expressions of all three players had changed, and the atmosphere in the living room grew tense. Only Kuroki Hitomi stood quietly behind Ke Mingqing from start to finish, her face completely emotionless.

Ke Mingqing shoved his hands into his pockets and thought, As expected, the other players are still far too weak at this point in time. Is this the advantage of having several extra main story missions?

He looked back at the three of them, shrugged, and looked away.

"I just wanted to test your strength, no ill intentions. I still have things to do this afternoon, so I've gotta go. Bye."

Ke Mingqing turned around, raising an arm to wave at them without looking back, and headed for the villa's exit.

Kuroki Hitomi followed him, and the two walked side by side.

"They aren't strong enough yet," Ke Mingqing said. "For a superhuman to crush players at this stage is no different from stepping on an ant. Try to make them keep a low profile."

Kuroki Hitomi nodded. "Before long, I might take the Ghost Train from the abandoned railway station to Tokyo and New York..."

Ke Mingqing slowed his pace and turned to look at her in confusion.

At the abandoned railway station in the Old Jingmai District, Kuroki Hitomi and Ke Mingqing had previously cleared a game dungeon. One of the rewards from that dungeon was an exclusive item: a Ghost Train Ticket.

This ticket allowed them to board the Ghost Train once a week. By utilizing this mechanic properly, they could travel anywhere in the world and back within a single day.

"What are you going there for?" Ke Mingqing asked.

"To meet the players over there," Kuroki Hitomi said. "If I can add them as friends in person, it'll at least make contacting them easier."

Ke Mingqing blanked for a moment.

He hadn't expected Kuroki Hitomi to be this ambitious, already thinking about contacting players in other cities this early on.

But the other players did indeed need someone who could unite people from all over the world; relying solely on the player forums wasn't enough.

As the first initiator, she would definitely secure the trust of the other players, smoothly becoming their leader later on.

"Will you need me by your side then?" Ke Mingqing thought for a moment before asking.

"Yes, I can't do it without you," Kuroki Hitomi said.

"Liar." Ke Mingqing sighed. "You act all innocent in front of me, but you have everyone else completely submissive to you."

At this point, he glanced back at the three players behind them. There had to be a reason why these people were so obedient to her.

Kuroki Hitomi thought for a moment. "When we go abroad, I'll announce to the other players that you're my superhuman bodyguard. And normally, I'll try to let as few players know about you as possible."

"Alright, I'll help you as much as I can," Ke Mingqing said. "Call me when you need me. I'm leaving."

"Thank you," Kuroki Hitomi suddenly said.

"For what?"

Ke Mingqing stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. The young man and the young girl met each other's gazes—one standing in the sunlight outside the villa, the other in the cool shade inside.

"Thank you for covering for me in front of them."

"I was just doing it for myself."

After saying that, Ke Mingqing brushed past Kuroki Hitomi and walked down the sunlit coastal highway without looking back.

He still had another mission today: to tail his second sister and meet her using his "White Jack" persona. If he missed the chance to tail her while he was away from the old apartment building, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Kuroki Hitomi watched him leave, then slowly turned her head to look at the three people on the sofa behind her.

"Boss, what do we do next?" Li Chunchun reverted to his original form, crossing his arms as he asked.

Gu Mengqing and Du Tingbei both sat on the sofa, silently waiting for Kuroki Hitomi to speak.

Kuroki Hitomi said seriously, "There's a dungeon in the supermarket on Third Street. It just so happens that it has a strict four-person entry limit, which fits our numbers perfectly. I've already found a route that avoids the surveillance cameras."

She paused. "Let's go. Don't waste time."

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