Chapter 19: Blue Lightning, A Visit

As the horizon glowed with the pale light of dawn, Ke Mingqing opened his eyes on the tatami mat in his bedroom.

He tossed aside the blanket covering his legs. The chirping of cicadas filled his ears, and the summer heat was sweltering. His blurry vision gradually came into focus, but what reflected in his pupils was neither the ceiling nor the first ray of morning sunlight.

It was a damn system prompt.

[Good morning, dear player "Ke Mingqing". Today is Tuesday, July 3, 2026. The time remaining for the "Extinct Superhuman" mission is: 178 days, 18 hours, 20 minutes, and 30 seconds.]

The daily morning ritual arrived as expected, bringing a beautiful start to the day...

Looking at the blood-red letters on the panel, Ke Mingqing couldn't help but think of this advertising slogan he had seen on TV.

He sat up straight and glanced down at the faintly lit sky outside his window.

"The summer vacation starts in four days," he thought. "After this holiday, those people at school will probably have completely forgotten about that mess I made on the school bus."

He didn't have to go to school today. Because the college entrance examination required the use of their teaching building, the freshmen were given a temporary two-day break.

He and Xia Zili could either stay at home for self-study or simply go out and play.

So, Ke Mingqing woke up exceptionally early today. The rest of the family were still fast asleep, but he had already washed up and was ready for his early morning training.

"I'll wait until around one or two in the afternoon, then take the bus to Heimu Tong's house and hand over the combat suit design to her," he thought.

Heimu Tong had asked him last night if she should just send her driver to pick him up. However, Ke Mingqing strictly refused. Otherwise, he could already imagine his entire family teasing him about it nonstop for ten days and ten nights.

Moreover, given the original body owner's personality, he didn't seem like the type to openly reveal his romantic relationships to his family. Being too flashy would only backfire. He would wait until his family noticed how close they were before explaining that they were dating. That was the correct way to utilize this fake relationship.

Walking down to the entryway on the first floor and crouching to put on his sneakers, Ke Mingqing finally noticed that the item he had bought online yesterday with his allowance had arrived. The package was currently sitting on the shoe cabinet.

He tore open the package and looked inside. It was a black T-shirt printed with the face of Magic Girl Embers.

The front of the T-shirt featured an image of Embers with her arms crossed, turning her head to gaze at the distant horizon. The young girl's eyes looked hollow and distant, while the sea breeze blew the hair around her ears. The design on the back showed Embers looking evasively at the camera, raising her hands in a finger-gun pose with her index finger pointing forward, all while playfully winking.

This was a photo taken when Embers first debuted two years ago, captured when a reporter asked her to strike a "playful" pose... Later, she became increasingly headstrong and never catered to others' expectations again, turning this into a dark, embarrassing history of her youthful days.

However, this fan-edition T-shirt featuring that exact photo was the highest-selling item on Taobao.

If Xia Zili found out, she would be so furious that she wouldn't sleep for days. Ke Mingqing knew this perfectly well, which was why he had specifically chosen a local store to place the order while he was still at school yesterday.

He returned to the second floor, anticipating Xia Zili's reaction as he stuffed the T-shirt into the washing machine. After casually pouring in some detergent and setting it to the quick wash mode, he left the house.

Walking down the empty street, Ke Mingqing stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.

It didn't take long for him to reach the deserted riverbank path. A touch of morning light from the horizon made the water sparkle, and his long, thin silhouette twisted in the ripples on the surface. He looked around; there were no surveillance cameras nearby.

Even if there were, it wouldn't matter. After all, he would soon debut by personally playing a Superhero, ensuring that his family would save his life at critical moments.

Ke Mingqing silently recited the command to release the Third Skill in his mind.

[Skill in the Third Skill Bar released — "I Am Lightning".]

At that moment, the depths of his pupils were coated in deep blue electric light, and wisps of electrical arcs began to crackle and dance around his body. The blue arcs seemed to burrow into his skin, flowing along his blood vessels throughout his entire body. His heart began to beat faster, feeling as if it would burst at any second.

Ke Mingqing leaned forward slightly, then sprinted ahead wildly. His body gradually accelerated, faster, and faster, until he seemed to transform into a beam of blue lightning. His figure dragged out afterimages, darting more than twenty meters in just a single second.

He dashed around the riverbank five or six times like a streak of rushing lightning spinning in circles, even emitting faint rumbling sounds. Finally, he returned to his starting point. The entire run took less than a minute, but the physical toll on his body was immense.

By the time Ke Mingqing stopped, he was sweating profusely, almost drenched into a literal water man. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees, and panted heavily.

"It says it can be maintained for five minutes, but the stamina consumption is way too high. However, the actual effect feels like it has already exceeded the scope of a D-Class Skill," he thought, raising his head to take a look.

He saw that wisps of electrical arcs still lingered along the path he had run, crackling with BZZT BZZT sounds. The deep blue currents danced in the air, only slowly dissipating after a while.

After returning home and taking a shower, Ke Mingqing changed into his pajamas, sprawled out on his bed like a starfish, and closed his exhausted eyes.

When he opened them again, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

The fan was spinning lazily, and the hot summer breeze fluttered the curtains. The scorching sunlight baked his face. Just then, Xia Wenna knocked on his door from the hallway, urging him slowly, "Qing... how are you still sleeping this late into the afternoon?"

Ke Mingqing climbed up, glanced at the clock on the wall, and immediately perked up. "Mom, I promised to go out to eat with a friend, and I'm going to be late!"

With that, he stuffed the sketchbook by his pillow into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and ran out the door. At that moment, he looked up and saw Xia Wenna holding a black T-shirt in her arms.

"I brought your laundry in for you," she said.

"Thanks, Mom." He took the T-shirt printed with the Magical Girl, stripped off his pajama top right there, pulled the T-shirt over his head, and hurriedly ran out the door.

It didn't take long for Ke Mingqing to catch the bus. A short while later, he got off at the coastal highway station. After walking for a bit, he stopped in front of a seaside villa.

Heimu Tong opened the door. Today, she was wearing a black dress and looked very elegant.

"You're here."

"I overslept," Ke Mingqing said.

It was then that he noticed a girl standing beside Heimu Tong. The girl had a petite figure, wearing a polo shirt with a white apron tied around her waist. She sported wispy bangs, and a Superhuman Species Panel floated above her head.

[Codename: "Magical Girl Little Red Riding Hood"]

[Danger Level: B+ Level]

[Superhuman Introduction: Little Red Riding Hood, a Quasi-A-Level Magical Girl signed by the Magical Girl Company. She is a rare "Snow Attribute" Magical Girl, which makes her one of the Magical Girl Company's key trainees. Her Magical Dress is a Christmas dress, and her Magical Weapon is the "Christmas Sled".]

"This is our maid," Heimu Tong introduced. "She is half-Chinese and half-Japanese. Her Chinese name is 'An Youlu'."

An Youlu stared at Ke Mingqing silently, expressionless, but her eyes were full of vigilance. She first looked at the fan T-shirt printed with "Magic Girl Embers" on Ke Mingqing's body, then looked up to size him up. Her gaze seemed to nakedly declare, "Disgusting otaku."

Ke Mingqing tilted his head to meet her gaze, thinking, "If you're going to look at me like that, then next time I'll go out wearing a Little Red Riding Hood fan T-shirt."

"Is he Ms. Heimu's classmate?" An Youlu asked in a low voice.

"He's my boyfriend," Heimu Tong corrected.

An Youlu fell silent for a moment. "Ms. Heimu, my classmate is here too." As she spoke, her gaze swept right past Ke Mingqing and landed on the coastal highway.

A taxi had suddenly stopped on the coastal highway. Then, a fair calf stretched out, and a young girl in a white linen dress stepped out of the car. As she closed the door, her figure was bathed in the seaside sunlight.

The taxi drove away, leaving Xia Zili standing there. She glanced down at the navigation on her phone and slowly walked toward the villa.

After a moment, she looked up, only to find three figures standing at the doorway, quietly watching her. She froze for a second, ignoring the two girls, her eyes fixed on the boy in the middle wearing the black T-shirt.

Ke Mingqing and Xia Zili locked eyes, completely speechless.

A chilly sea breeze blew past their cheeks. The wind chimes at the villa's entrance clattered CLINK CLANK, and the roaring sound of waves crashing against the shore enveloped their ears.

A moment later, the brother and sister finally snapped back to their senses, opening their mouths almost in unison.

"Why are you here?!" Ke Mingqing asked.

"I should be asking you that!" Xia Zili also asked.