A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

[Good morning, dear player Ke Mingqing. The current time is the morning of Thursday, July 12.]

[Time remaining for the Exterminate Superhumans task: 169 days and 16 hours.]

What woke Ke Mingqing early that morning wasn't a rooster's crow or the chirp of cicadas, but a system Broadcast so obnoxious it made him want to slit his own throat.

The boy slowly opened his eyes, lifting his groggy head to stare at the yellowed ceiling.

Behind the old building lay a small river. A dragonfly flew in from the bank, passed through the window, and wobbled through the sunlight to circle him once. Ke Mingqing stared blankly at it.

"Bro, are you awake?"

A clear voice drifted in from outside the bedroom.

The dragonfly flew away.

Ke Mingqing scratched his head and sat up in bed.

"Come with me to your girlfriend's house today," Xia Zili said softly.

"Sure." Ke Mingqing yawned, smacking his lips. "When?"

He paused, his brain finally catching up.

"Wait... what are you going to my girlfriend's house for?"

"Why panic? I'm not going to see your girlfriend; I'm going to see my classmate," Xia Zili said. "If I wanted to do something to her, I would have done it the day we went shopping together."

"Oh, you mean An Youlu?" Ke Mingqing's mind gradually cleared.

"Yeah." Xia Zili paused. "I had a falling out with her yesterday, and I need you to help me explain."

"Here's the problem: what does your argument have to do with me?" Ke Mingqing threw off his covers. He thought back; Little Red Riding Hood's performance in the arena yesterday had indeed been a little strange.

"Stop asking... I'll tell you this afternoon."

"Alright, then I'm going back to sleep," Ke Mingqing said, lying back down. "Good night."

"Good afternoon," Xia Zili called from the hall.

"Good morning."

"Good night."

"Psycho."

"Childish."

After the siblings concluded their daily, pointless bickering, Ke Mingqing closed his eyes and synchronized his consciousness with Theater Puppet Number One, "Giovanni."

Inside a room on the second floor of the abandoned building.

It was a large, clean, and comfortable room with twin beds. A young man in a flight attendant uniform slept in the left bed, while a white-haired girl in a white nightgown slept in the right.

The walls were opaque and the windows tightly sealed, leaving the room in complete darkness.

"Time to wake up."

Giovanni turned on the bedside lamp, reached out, and gently shook the white-haired girl in the next bed.

Before long, Bai Ziling woke up.

The dim yellow light made the girl's eyes sparkle.

The moment she opened her eyes, she instinctively grabbed Giovanni's arm and lowered her head to bite it, but he blocked her mouth with a pillow. "Still half asleep?" he asked.

"I'm hungry," Bai Ziling mumbled around the pillow. "Sorry... Giovanni."

Giovanni paid it no mind. "I'll let you drink some blood later. Get up and wash first."

Bai Ziling released the pillow and nodded silently. She got out of bed with him and slipped on her sandals.

Suddenly, Giovanni heard a knock. He walked over and opened the door. Standing there was a blond young man dressed in a butler's suit.

"What is it?" Giovanni asked. Bai Ziling clung to his side.

"If everything goes as planned, all of our people will be arriving in Leijing this morning," Cosimo shrugged. "You'll be able to meet Guchen and Sorakagehime then."

He leaned close to Giovanni's ear. "Sorakagehime has a terrible personality... Don't say the wrong thing in front of her, or she'll cut you in half." Giovanni lowered his head to tear open a disposable toothbrush wrapper. "Thanks for the warning," he said nonchalantly. "You really are as considerate as a butler."

"Isn't that the truth?" Cosimo smiled. "How do you think I got my nickname?"

"Butler, oh Butler, what's our schedule for today? Are we just going to sit around and wait for August 15th?"

Giovanni asked as he led Bai Ziling toward the sinks at the end of the hallway, handing her the toothbrush with toothpaste already on it.

Two silhouettes, one large and one small, brushed their teeth in front of the mirror.

"Isn't a vacation a good thing?" Cosimo watched them from behind. "There is one matter today, though."

"What is it?"

Finished brushing his teeth, Giovanni picked up a towel and ran it under hot water for a moment.

"Voting," Cosimo said quietly, withdrawing his gaze. "Deciding whether or not to let this child stay."

"Do we have to vote?" Giovanni paused what he was doing.

Cosimo turned his head, glancing at Bai Ziling out of the corner of his eye. "After all, we have an operation in a month. Bringing her along would just be a hindrance."

Giovanni fell silent for a moment. He crouched down and wiped the white-haired girl's face with the hot towel.

"If the vote decides she doesn't stay..." He paused. "What do you plan to do?"

"Send her away. Have her leave this city and wander abroad," Cosimo said dismissively. "Don't worry, she's a vampire. Her survival skills are strong, and she'll live just fine without you. But if she stays with us, that might not be the case. We have more enemies than you think. If they find out we're dragging a kid around, what do you think they'll do when they catch her?"

"What would they do?"

"Chop her into pieces, use her as a hostage to threaten you, or do even more unspeakable things," Cosimo said darkly.

Giovanni remained silent.

Bai Ziling lowered her head, letting him wipe her face.

She gently gripped his sleeve.

"It's about time to start the vote," Cosimo said. "I hope you won't violate the organization's rules. If it's time for her to go, she has to go."

"Not everyone is even here. How are we voting?" Giovanni asked.

A girl in a hoodie walked up from downstairs. Staring at her handheld console, she said without even lifting her head:

"Check your phone."

At Heimeng's words, Giovanni pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. Holding Bai Ziling's hand, he looked down at the screen.

On the phone's home screen, a cartoon pixel version of Heimeng suddenly raised two flags, and a dialog box popped up above her head:

[An electronic vote regarding "whether to let Bai Ziling stay" will now commence. Yoshi, yoshi, entering the voting interface now.]

The next moment, the interface switched to a small chat room.

Giovanni raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that this genius gamer girl really did have some skills.

He looked up at the girl leaning against the hallway wall playing her game. She was expressionless, merely offering a faint reminder:

"Please focus on voting."

Giovanni looked back down as text continually refreshed across the chat room.

[Participants: 1. The Pope (Lorenzo); 2. Butler (Cosimo); 3. Bandage Man (Bill); 4. Guchen (Vincent); 5. Black Magic Hand (Jiang Qingzi); 6. Captain Red (Scarlett); 7. Heimeng (Me, me, me!); 8. Bai; 9. Sorakagehime; 10. Giovanni.]

[Please make your voting selection within 30 seconds, and leave your reasoning via "voice input" or "text input".]

Two options popped up in Giovanni's vision. Without hesitation, he selected one and typed out his reasoning.

Before long, a voting settlement panel popped up.

[Number 1 (The Pope): Vote — Neutral. Reason: None.]

[Number 2 (Butler): Vote — Have Bai Ziling leave. Reason: "I think it's only more dangerous for her to stay with us."]

[Number 3 (Bandage Man): Vote — Have Bai Ziling leave. Reason: "Hey, hey, hey, Sister Heimeng, I'm the Bandage Man, not a mummy, you jerk!"]

[Number 4 (Guchen): Vote — Let Bai Ziling stay. Reason: "Isn't it nice to have a cute little sister around? With all the fighting and killing all day, sometimes I just want to see a pure, harmless little flower when I get back to base."]

[Number 5 (Black Magic Hand): Vote — Let Bai Ziling stay. Reason: "She's the kid Stroh left behind, and Stroh was our former teammate, after all. I don't think casually abandoning her like this is a very honorable thing to do."]

[Number 6 (Scarlett): Vote — Have Bai Ziling leave. Reason: "We're thieves, what do thieves care about honor? Just throw away whatever gets in the way. Besides, Stroh is already dead."]

[Number 7 (Heimeng): Vote — Neutral. Reason: "The admin will try not to participate in the vote and try not to interfere with the results."]

[Number 8 (Bai): Vote — Have Bai Ziling leave. Reason: "We're going to abandon her sooner or later anyway, so why not do it early? Isn't it better to let her get used to living alone?"]

[Number 9 (Sorakagehime): Vote — Let Bai Ziling stay. Reason: "None."]

[Number 10 (Giovanni): Vote — Let Bai Ziling stay. Reason: "I can take good care of her. None of you need to lift a finger; I'll watch her on my own."]

[AI Heimeng is calculating the final voting results, please wait...]

At this moment, a pixel girl suddenly popped up on the chat room interface.

She lowered her head, hugging her shoulders in deep thought. A moment later, a lightbulb icon appeared above her head, and a notification box popped up on the phone.

[Final voting result is: 4 to 4, a tie.]

[Inquiry: Does anyone wish to temporarily change their vote? (Hint: This may directly affect the outcome.)]

[Prompt: Member number 9, "Sorakagehime," has changed her vote to "Have Bai Ziling leave." Reason for change: "I owe Cosimo a favor; I'm casting this vote for him."]

Giovanni was taken aback. He raised his eyes to the man in the butler suit at the end of the hallway.

"Don't look at me like that..." Cosimo smiled. "I'm doing this for your own good. You can't keep dragging a burden around forever."

Giovanni said nothing. He looked back down at his phone screen.

[After the change, the current voting result is 3 to 5. The side supporting Bai Ziling's departure leads by two votes.]

[Prompt 1: Voting interrupted. A temporary variable has been inserted. Currently, the nickname of member number 10, "Giovanni," has been changed to "Giovanni and Bai Ziling," and the voting weight of this member has been increased from 1 to 2.]

[The current voting result is: 4 to 5. The side supporting Bai Ziling's departure leads by one vote.]

Giovanni froze slightly.

At this very moment, the cartoon pixel Heimeng suddenly popped up on the phone screen.

The hoodie-wearing girl stuck out her tongue on her blurry pixelated face, and a dialog box popped up above her head:

[The following is the admin's explanation: Bai Ziling has not yet left Death Crow. She is a member, and according to Death Crow's rules, she rightfully holds voting Clearance.]

But we're still short one vote, Giovanni thought. It doesn't matter, though.

From the beginning, his attempt to keep Bai Ziling had been solely to win Jiang Qingzi's favor. If he couldn't manage it, then whatever.

But right then, the pixel girl on the screen placed her hands on her hips, and another dialog box popped up.

[Prompt 2: Member number 7, "Heimeng," has temporarily changed her vote from "Neutral" to "Let Bai Ziling stay."]

[Therefore, the final voting result is 5 to 5, a tie.]

[A second vote will be initiated at an unspecified time in the future.]

[Dismissed.]

The screen dimmed, reflecting the faces of Giovanni and Bai Ziling. The white-haired girl was on her tiptoes, curiously peering at his phone, though she couldn't see anything.

The hallway was dead silent.

Giovanni paused for a moment before turning to look at the girl in the hoodie not far away.

"Thanks..." he said softly after a long silence.

Heimeng didn't look up. She focused on her handheld console, her eyes hidden beneath her black cap brim and her bangs, looking just like a little black cat. "You're welcome," she muttered quietly a moment later.

Bai Ziling tilted her head, her red eyes quietly watching Giovanni.

"You can stay for now," Giovanni said gently, stroking her snow-white hair.

The girl nuzzled into his palm like a docile kitten.

"Sister Heimeng really has a wonderful personality. Do you just love taking care of the rookies?" Cosimo spoke up, the same cold smile plastered on his face. Heimeng ignored him, the fluorescent glow of her console screen illuminating her pupils in the dark.

Cosimo stared at her for a moment, then stuffed his hands into his pockets and slowly made his way downstairs.

Giovanni picked up a cotton swab and sat on the bed, letting Bai Ziling rest her head on his lap. He cleaned her ears for a while before taking her downstairs.

When they reached the first floor, everyone else was already gone. They found a random spot to sit and began playing gomoku in a notebook. "Giovanni, would it be better if I left?" Bai Ziling asked suddenly.

"It's fine," Giovanni said, drawing a circle in the notebook with his pencil.

"Am I a burden?"

"You're not."

The white-haired girl lowered her eyes and spoke softly. "Did Stroh not want me because she thought I was useless?"

Giovanni was blunt. "It's because she died."

Bai Ziling froze, her eyes slowly dimming.

After a while, two voices suddenly echoed from the entrance of the abandoned building.

"What a mess. Was little Heimeng always like this? Isn't she afraid of making the boss mad?" The first speaker had a deep voice, carrying a hint of amusement.

"What's it to you?" The second speaker's voice was indifferent and clear, like a handful of fresh spring water scooped up under the moonlight.

Soon after, two silhouettes walked in, backlit by the sun.

Giovanni raised an eyebrow and looked up.

The first person he saw was a middle-aged man wearing a denim jacket and a cowboy hat. He was unshaven with deep, penetrating eyes and long, messy black curls.

A sidearm hung from his waist—what looked like a silver revolver.

This flashy, handsome man whistled. "So this is our rookie. Didn't expect him to be a pretty boy. No wonder the girls like him."

A super-human species panel slowly popped up above his head.

[Super-human species Codename: "Guchen"]

[Type: Esper]

[Danger Rating: B++ Rank]

[Description: The "Strongest Cowboy in History" who emerged from the American West. He later joined the thief organization "Death Crow" and became one of its members. Guchen's ability grants him a phantom horse, a pair of handcuffs, and an immensely powerful revolver. When any part of a target's body is locked in the handcuffs, they temporarily lose all extraordinary abilities.]

"Don't scare him," the girl beside the cowboy said coldly.

Following the voice, Giovanni looked at her.

"Sorakagehime" was a short-haired girl wearing a black kimono and wooden geta sandals. Walking down the street, one might mistake her for a cosplayer.

Ke Mingqing had seen her before.

That day, when he had White Jack follow Jiang Qingzi, Sorakagehime was the one who had spotted him. She had emerged from the shadows and pressed her long blade against White Jack's neck.

[Super-human species Codename: "Sorakagehime" (Danger Rating: B++ Rank)]

[Type: Shadow Warrior]

With this, Ke Mingqing had finally completed his mental map of the combat power and specialties of every member in Death Crow.

Giovanni looked up, watching Guchen and Sorakagehime as they stepped closer, thinking to himself:

Since all the villains are finally here... it's time to open the bets. Let's see which of these crickets manages to survive the battle of the comet.

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