Chapter 12: Ke Mingqing and the Supervillain Classmate

Ke Mingqing put on his headphones and walked up a sunlit sloping road.

The sky had cleared. Ginkgo trees on both sides swayed in the morning breeze, scattering tender green leaves all over the ground. Bicycle wheels rolled through the fallen leaves, the chains RATTLING in the sunlight.

As students cycled past, most cast glances at Ke Mingqing.

Some looked surprised; others let out low, mocking chuckles. In short, the murmurs of discussion hardly ceased along the way, but Ke Mingqing, wearing his headphones, played deaf and mute, his expression unchanging the entire time.

The "school bus incident" had spread widely among the students.

After all, the person involved was right beside them. People always paid the most attention to things within their immediate reach.

Some admired Ke Mingqing for displaying such strong initiative in a moment of crisis despite being a normal person—unlike other students who had resigned themselves to fate. Others, however, mocked it as behavior typical of Jiahao from the next class.

Opinions were polarized, a mix of praise and criticism—this was the current state of the internet.

But no one paid attention to the warehouse explosion from last night, nor did anyone care about the drug dealer who died in that incident...

The only person who cared was probably Rain Crow.

But even if Ke Mingwei spent the entire night using all his connections within the Superhero Company to investigate the figure known as "Bai Jieke," he wouldn't find anything.

Because that was merely a name Ke Mingqing had fabricated on the spot.

Bai Jieke had existed for less than a day, and besides Rain Crow, no one had ever come into contact with him.

Ke Mingqing let out a yawn and languidly lifted his eyes from his phone.

Having escaped the high-pressure environment of his home, the lack of tension allowed a wave of drowsiness to wash over him.

But a moment later, a series of panels suddenly popped up in his vision, instantly waking him up a bit.

[Prompt: The "Weekly Quest" function has been unlocked. (Quests will automatically refresh at midnight on Sunday. Original quests will disappear. Please complete them in a timely manner.)]

[Weekly Quest 1: Complete one hundred push-ups in a single day. (Reward: 1 attribute point)]

[Weekly Quest 2: Kill a Superhuman Species. (Reward: 1 chance to spin the Item Wheel)]

He thought, "Today is Monday. I still have six days to finish these. Push-ups are easy; I can just take my time doing them once I get to school. As for killing a Superhuman Species... If I trail behind the Crow People to pick off scraps and find a chance to finish off the Superhuman Species criminals he catches, will he stomp his feet in anger?"

Thinking of this, Ke Mingqing suddenly sensed a gaze from afar.

He tilted his head slightly and glanced back with his peripheral vision. A girl with a teardrop mole was walking toward him.

However, she didn't walk side-by-side with him; instead, she leisurely trailed behind him.

Seeing this, Ke Mingqing retracted his gaze from her face, shoved his hands into his pockets, and silently continued walking forward.

A moment later, the girl with the teardrop mole behind him suddenly sent a message.

A chat panel popped up in Ke Mingqing's vision.

[Heimu Tong: Why did your player ID disappear?]

[Ke Mingqing: It's the effect of my Exclusive Talent. What about yours?]

[Heimu Tong: My talent is "Lucky Coin." It gives me a chance to get an extra spin on the Item Wheel, generate an extra weekly quest, or refresh high-level Skills in the shop.]

[Ke Mingqing: That's pretty good. Sounds more useful than mine. Oh, by the way, if you meet other players later, remember to keep me a secret. Don't let them know I exist.]

[Heimu Tong: Aren't you going to interact with other players?]

[Ke Mingqing: Let's wait and see. Besides, there are only one hundred players globally, so Li Jing won't have that many assigned to it anyway.]

Ke Mingqing and Heimu Tong walked one after the other, constantly maintaining the same distance as they conversed silently through the panel.

Sunlit gaps separated the ginkgo trees, while shadows pooled beneath their branches. Passing through alternating patches of light and dark, they headed into the distance.

[Heimu Tong: Hmm... By the way, there is also a Superhuman Species in my home. Her code is "Magical Girl Little Red Riding Hood."]

Ke Mingqing finally found a kindred spirit. He was just about to type a reply on the chat panel: "Having a Superhuman Species at home is a great thing! You can also experience the joys of a loving father, a filial son, and harmonious siblings with me!"

But before he could send the text lingering in the input box, a tall, thin figure suddenly came running from afar.

Ke Mingqing immediately turned his head and saw a handsome young man come into view.

The young man was about 1.82 meters tall and wore the same blue and white school uniform. His name was Jiang Qingzi.

Jiang Qingzi was a friend of the body's original owner.

They had known each other for five or six years and were so close they were thick as thieves.

In the past, they would often set up a desk on the school rooftop after class, drinking sodas while watching the sun sink below the horizon, taking the city's lingering afterglow with it.

Unfortunately, high school rules were stricter, and they gradually lost the luxury to do so.

It was worth mentioning that Jiang Qingzi was a well-known rich kid in school. As a wealthy young master, he had a private car chauffeuring him to and from school every day, so he didn't need to take the school bus.

Otherwise, the number of students caught up in last night's school bus incident would have highly likely increased by one.

"More money than sense, and not a cunning bone in his body"—this was the label Ke Mingqing had secretly attached to Jiang Qingzi based on his memories.

At this moment, Jiang Qingzi ran over with the wind at his heels, taking massive strides. Then, he braked abruptly, crashing into Ke Mingqing and forcefully pressing down on his shoulders. Ke Mingqing was nearly knocked over, his shoulders pinned so heavily he couldn't lift them.

Consequently, he let out a long sigh. "Are you out of your mind?"

Just as Ke Mingqing said this, he suddenly froze slightly. A Superhuman Species Panel had appeared above Jiang Qingzi's head.

[Superhuman Species Code: "Black Magic Hand"]

[Type: Superpower User]

[Danger Level: A-Class]

[Superhuman Introduction: Wandered the streets at a young age due to a broken family, and was ultimately adopted by the leader of the international thief organization, "Omen Bird," becoming one of its members. "Omen Bird" consists of 10 people who commit all sorts of atrocities—murder, arson, and looting. At the same time, they are listed on the Superhero Company's SS-Class wanted list.]

[Known Weaknesses: None.]

Meanwhile, a quest prompt suddenly popped up in Ke Mingqing's vision.

[Main Quest 3 (Phase One): Use your secondary identity to make contact with the supercriminal "Black Magic Hand" and attract his attention, thereby establishing a connection with the thief organization, "Omen Bird."]

He thought, "Is there a fucking end to this..."

Looking at the three blood-red characters for "Omen Bird," Ke Mingqing's eye twitched.

"Omen Bird." Anyone would know this was a notoriously infamous criminal organization. Just logging onto the Superhero official website would display their real-time wanted notices—some among them were known as the "Pope," while others were named "Red Pirates."

Previously, Omen Bird had committed numerous crimes that shocked the world—going on a massacre at a Seoul auction and looting all the merchandise; plundering the London Museum and killing the United Kingdom's strongest Superpower User bodyguard, "Bai Hu"; and even attacking a military transport ship on the Pacific Ocean, only to turn around and sell the supplies to another country's mafia.

To detail all the crimes they had committed, a single page wouldn't be nearly enough.

If they ever fell into official hands, every member of Omen Bird would be executed by firing squad at least a hundred times over. And Jiang Qingzi... was actually a member of this bandit gang.

A stampede of curses instantly trampled through Ke Mingqing's mind.

He thought, "Bro, oh bro, so your rich-kid identity was completely fabricated? Which means that luxury car you take to school every day was also stolen from somewhere? Have you been playing my feelings for a fool all these years?"

"Holy crap, did you know? I watched the video uploaded to the school website last night. People were saying you totally roasted Rain Crow. I was so damn excited at the time, frantically telling everyone that you're my best bro..."

Jiang Qingzi feigned being out of breath, patting his shoulder while rambling on and on.

Ke Mingqing watched him in silence and thought, "Keep acting. As long as you're happy."

To understand the absurdity of an A-Class Superhuman Species—capable of soaring through the skies and tearing across the earth—heaving for breath after running just a short distance... It was basically the equivalent of a swimming champion claiming in an interview that they were afraid of water and would faint if they showered for too long.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Saying that, Jiang Qingzi propped his hands on his knees to catch his breath and bumped him with his shoulder. "Your eyes are full of so much resentment. Did Rain Crow lecture you into a mute on the school bus last night?"

Ke Mingqing hung his head and replied bluntly, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. That school bus incident last night left me with psychological trauma. Could you please not jump out and startle me like that?"

Just then, Heimu Tong, who was trailing not far behind him, sent a message.

[Heimu Tong: Kill him?]

[Ke Mingqing: Me?]

[Heimu Tong: Us.]

Ke Mingqing froze for a moment, staring at the message on the panel in silence. The unwavering resolve behind Heimu Tong's single word felt like a solemn oath of allegiance, an intensity he couldn't quite handle.

[Ke Mingqing: Sure, sure. You go kill him, and I'll cheer you on from the back.]