Chapter 1: Ke Mingqing

Dusk on July 1, 2026. The capital of China.

The sky over Li Jing was burning a vivid crimson under the setting sun, and the clouds flowed like flushed wine. Below, a bright yellow school bus cruised slowly down the main avenue.

In the back row, a teenage boy in a school uniform rested his chin on his hand, silently watching the scenery outside. His reflection was faintly visible against the windowpane—a handsome face with a hint of indifference in his eyes.

He gazed toward the distant Li Jing Bridge. The traffic on the bridge flowed endlessly. Overhead, a giant, snow-white steel bird roared as it flew into the distance, leaving only a spiral contrail drifting across the sunset.

After a while, the boy raised his eyes slightly to look at the blood-red panel at the very top of his vision.

[Dear Player "Ke Mingqing," there are 180 days, 05 hours, 30 minutes, and 24 seconds remaining until your quest "Extinct Superhuman" expires.]

[In two hours, the player features "Superhuman Species Atlas" and "Skill Store" will gradually unlock. A series of "Main Quests" will also be tailored for you based on your current environment.]

Looking at the text on the panel, he sighed softly.

Ke Mingqing's current mood was like downloading a Pokémon game, only to open it and find that Dr. Da Mu wasn't handing him a Pokeball, nor a Pokémon Encyclopedia.

Instead, it was a Bone-Cutting Knife.

Then, the professor tells you: "Wow, Zhi, you're finally here! From now on, we are going to dedicate ourselves to wiping every Pokémon off the face of the Earth. Start by using this Bone-Cutting Knife to kill a Pikachu and bring its corpse back to me!"

Ke Mingqing let out a dry, expressionless laugh and turned his gaze back to the window, spacing out.

Just then, the girl sitting next to him—who had medium-length black hair and a teardrop mole by her eye—suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Did you... did you come over from there too?"

Ke Mingqing turned his head to look at her. The word "Player" slowly floated up above her head, accompanied by her name.

Her name was Heimu Tong, a foreign exchange student from Japan. The two of them had been assigned to the same classroom before crossing over to this world, though they had only met once.

From the looks of it, both of them had transmigrated to this world, inhabited bodies with their exact same names, and obtained this vague identity of "Player."

"What else? What did you think was floating above my head?" Ke Mingqing asked in a low voice.

"Why didn't you come to me to confirm it?" Heimu Tong thought for a moment. "Aren't we classmates?"

Ke Mingqing was blunt. "I didn't think it was necessary."

Heimu Tong fell silent for a while. "What do you think will happen to us in our original world?"

"I'm an orphan anyway," Ke Mingqing said dismissively. "Even if I go missing over there, no one will miss me. At most, they'll put on a show of looking for me for a bit, and then forget all about me soon enough. But you're different. Your family must be worried sick by now."

"That's true..."

Heimu Tong nodded slightly, lowering her eyes as she drifted into her own thoughts.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed from directly above the school bus, followed by a massive jolt that shook the entire vehicle.

The students looked up in panic, only to see the roof of the bus being torn wide open. A tall figure plummeted through the gap. Silhouetted against the sunlight, the figure crashed violently into the dead center of the bus, sending a web of cracks spreading out from beneath his feet.

"There it is. The standard mob villain that always spawns in those brain-dead Superhero movies."

Ke Mingqing's tone was as calm as if he had just discovered a Pokémon in the tall grass, but Heimu Tong was stunned.

She looked up. Entering her sight was a man entirely covered in a white carapace. The man's pupils were a bewitching, grotesque shade of red that made it terrifying to look him in the eye. Moreover, two white antennae sprouted from his forehead, wrapping around the top of his head to connect to his left and right ears, looking like some bizarre hat.

It took a long moment for Ke Mingqing to finally look up from his phone and size the man up.

[Superhuman Species Code: Ant-Man]

[Type: Mutant]

[Danger Rating: E-Class]

[Known Weaknesses: 1. Afraid of intense light exposure; 2. There is a red crystal on his back, which serves as his second heart.]

"Shh... I need to borrow your school bus, and your lives." Ant-Man tilted his head, his expression dark and cold. "You should be glad that damn crow won't just ignore you, otherwise you'd all be dead by now."

Screams erupted one after another inside the bus. Ant-Man extended his arms, spraying white slime from the palms of his hands that stuck to the windows on both sides.

The slime spread rapidly, forming a snow-white web that completely sealed off the windows of the entire carriage.

In that instant, the world inside the school bus went pitch black. You couldn't see your own hand in front of your face. It was like a white nest.

Immediately after, a swarm of bugs rose from the slime. They latched onto the driver's body and completely corroded his head away, then swarmed over the steering wheel and accelerator, taking over control of the school bus.

The school bus swayed unsteadily, causing the entire cabin to jolt violently. The students screamed in the darkness. The more timid ones even slumped in their seats and began to cry.

Meanwhile, Ant-Man yelled at them, "Yes, exactly! Scream louder! Let Rain Crow know you're still alive so he won't dare make a move!" as he lifted his head, his satisfied gaze sweeping over the terrified faces of every student.

In the dim light, Ke Mingqing glanced down at the bag on his seat. Inside was a flashlight. It was left over from the last school camping trip and hadn't been put away yet.