Chapter 5: Ke Mingqing and the Theater Puppet

After returning to his bedroom, Ke Mingqing slumped into his swivel chair like a dead fish.

The teenager rested the back of his head against the chair and stared blankly at the ceiling fan for a while.

"I'm so done. Is there a single normal human being in this house?" Ke Mingqing sighed inwardly. The cyan ceiling fan spun leisurely, driving away the heat of the summer evening. Suddenly, a red and black prompt box popped up across the fan's surface.

Seeing this, Ke Mingqing sat up straight and raised an eyebrow, looking closely.

[Prompt: At the beginning of the game, every player will get one chance to claim an "Exclusive Talent."]

[Exclusive Talent acquired: "Disguiser" (Your Exclusive Talent will accompany you throughout the entire game and cannot be changed.)]

[Ability 1: You can change your appearance and voice at any time to confuse others. (However, you temporarily cannot alter your height and body shape.)]

[Ability 2: "Disguiser" prevents other players from seeing your player tag or proactively adding you as a friend;

If needed, "Disguiser" can also forge a fake "Superhuman Species Panel" to conceal your true identity.]

"The first ability seems quite useful, but what's the point of the second one? Guarding against our own people?" At this thought, Ke Mingqing couldn't help but sigh. "But since there are a hundred players, there will definitely be a traitor or two... the kind of psychopaths who throw away their own lives to side with the Superhuman Species."

He reached out a foot to kick his door shut, then spun his chair around and tapped the "Skill Store" icon in the upper right corner of his vision.

A series of text panels instantly unfolded before his eyes.

[As your initial player privilege on the first day of the Extinction Game, you have one "free" chance to acquire any Skill. Please choose one from the following five Skills.]

[Your current level is Lv.01. The refresh rates are: E-Class Skill 40% / D-Class Skill 30% / C-Class 25% / B-Class 5% / A-Class 0.001% / S-Class 0% (PS: The refresh rates for higher-level Skills will increase in sync with your level.)]

[Skill One: Moon Seeking Step (D-Class Skill) — Every time you cast this Skill, you will leap upward into the sky and enter a brief state of weightlessness.]

[Note: 1. This Skill can be used continuously up to five times; 2. The distance of each upward leap depends on your "Agility" attribute.]

[Acquisition condition: Free this time.]

[Skill Two: Index Finger Pistol (D-Class Skill) — Modifies your right index finger into a gun barrel. Every time you snap your fingers, an air bullet is fired.]

[Note: The bullet's power depends on your "Power" attribute.]

[Acquisition condition: Free this time.]

[Skill Three: Theater Puppet (B-Class Skill) — Create a ghastly white Theater Puppet and control its actions with your mind. The puppet can inherit your "Exclusive Talent" abilities.]

[Note: The maximum duration of the puppet's existence depends on your "Spirit" attribute.]

[Acquisition condition: Free this time.]

[Skill Four: Shifting Form and Shadow (E-Class Skill) — Instantly swap places with a living target within a twenty-meter radius.]

[Note: The size of the detection range depends on your "Spirit" attribute.]

[Acquisition condition: Free this time.]

[Skill Five: Big! Big! Big! (E-Class Skill) — Causes a certain part of your body to rapidly enlarge for a short period of time.]

[Note: The magnification of the enlargement depends on your "Power" attribute.]

[Acquisition condition: Free this time.]

[Comment: At midnight every day, the five Skills in the Skill Store will undergo a round of refreshing.]

Scanning from top to bottom, Ke Mingqing's gaze locked onto "Theater Puppet" and didn't move away.

"A B-Class Skill?" he thought. "The refresh rate is only 5%, yet I get a free Skill on the very first day. Talk about hitting the jackpot."

Ke Mingqing finally understood the meaning behind the saying, "When God closes a window, He opens a door." Enlargement was every man's dream, and learning a mid-air double jump was every gamer's ultimate desire. However, as an unlucky bastard trapped in a cage and surrounded by enemies, Ke Mingqing didn't have the luxury of being capricious.

Right now, the obvious choice was simply whichever Skill was the strongest. Thus, unsurprisingly, he chose the store's third Skill.

[You currently have one chance to acquire a free Skill. You have confirmed the selection of the B-Class Skill — "Theater Puppet".]

["Theater Puppet" has been automatically loaded onto your Skill Bar.]

After drawing the Skill, the store didn't restock immediately. Instead, it showed that the slot for the third Skill was now empty. The remaining four Skills also changed: their acquisition condition went from "Free this time" to "Requires XXX Superman Coins to purchase."

The higher the Skill's level, the more Superman Coins were required to buy it. Since Ke Mingqing was penniless, he didn't dwell on it and simply closed the Skill Store. Next, he opened his player Skill Bar and clicked on the description for "Theater Puppet."

[When casting the "Theater Puppet" Skill, a Theater Puppet will be generated at a location within a 50-meter radius around you.]

[Prompt: Currently, a maximum of 1 puppet can be generated. The puppet's maximum existence time is 6 hours. (The cooldown timer starts calculating from when the Theater Puppet dies or disappears; there must be a 12-hour interval before it can be cast again.)]

As the system prompt faded, a bird's-eye view was forcibly thrust into Ke Mingqing's mind. Just like the description stated, this god-like perspective looking down on the world covered a full fifty-meter radius around him. Whether it was the current residential building, the empty streets and alleys in the night, or even the neighboring buildings—everything was captured in full view.

It was as if a game developer were surveying their own created sandbox world. Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow. He realized he could also see the phantom image of a marionette.

The puppet was suspended in mid-air by invisible strings, like Jesus bound to the cross.

After thinking for a moment, Ke Mingqing used his consciousness to grab the puppet's phantom and place it on the rooftop of the high-rise opposite him. Immediately after, the bird's-eye view vanished from his mind. Ke Mingqing opened his eyes again, got up from his chair, pulled back the curtains, and looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at the opposite residential building's rooftop.

The rooftop was empty save for a clothes drying rack. A snow-white bedsheet hung on the rack. The wind picked up, and the evening breeze blowing over the city lifted the sheet. Behind the rack, he saw a figure standing there, completely out of place with its surroundings.

"Theater Puppet." It was a humanoid figure, ghastly white all over.

It had no other facial features—only a pair of hollow eyes and a cracked mouth. The puppet wore a white tall hat on its head and held a black Magic Wand in its right hand.

[The "Theater Puppet" can fly using its "Magic Hat," while the "Magic Wand" is used for combat. A cluster of eerie blue flames can be generated at the tip of the wand.]

[First-person perspective of the "Theater Puppet" has been connected. You can control the Theater Puppet to perform any action.]

After witnessing the Theater Puppet's appearance, Ke Mingqing suddenly noticed something unusual. His consciousness had been forcibly linked into a new vessel. As long as Ke Mingqing closed his eyes, he could see what the Theater Puppet saw and hear what the puppet heard. It seemed that even its sense of taste and touch were transmitted over. At this moment, Ke Mingqing felt as if his soul had left his body.

Thus, his consciousness fully immersed itself into the Theater Puppet's body, as if he had gained a second shell. Every single thought of his could make the puppet move.

The ghastly white puppet began to jump back and forth on the opposite building's rooftop, stepping lightly on the railings and even dancing ballet. Its every movement perfectly replicated what Ke Mingqing envisioned in his mind, without even a millisecond of delay. Under the night sky, this scene looked somewhat bizarre and eerie. If an old lady had come to the rooftop to hang her laundry right then, she probably would have fainted from shock on the spot.

"Do this hat and wand have special abilities?" Ke Mingqing wondered. The Theater Puppet leapt high from the railing, and its Magic Hat suddenly began to spin. Like the rotor blades of a helicopter, the hat lifted the puppet's body upwards.

"Will this thing actually not crash?" Ke Mingqing pondered. "Oh, right... since the puppet can inherit my Talent abilities, couldn't it use 'Disguiser' to change its face?"

[Prompt: The "Theater Puppet" has used your "Player Exclusive Talent" — Disguiser, to change its appearance and voice.]

At this moment, the facial and physical details of the Theater Puppet suddenly transformed. It turned into a tall, naked man with deep eyes and chiseled features.

It was unmistakably the exact likeness of his father, Ke Mingwei.

While doing radio calisthenics, the Theater Puppet altered its vocal cords, opened its mouth, and let out a deep voice: "I am Crow People, I am Crow People, one two, one two, officer please confirm."

The voice was also identical to Ke Mingwei's.

"I can actually play it like this. From now on, I can have the puppet impersonate me to deal with the others at home," Ke Mingqing rejoiced inwardly, closing the curtains again. He thought to himself, "It's just missing some clothes to cover up, and my Disguiser can't alter body shapes for now, so it can only disguise itself as someone of similar height. There's still quite a height difference between my old man and me..."

Thinking of this, he sighed. "What a pity. Let's see if my Talent Skill will evolve after leveling up later."

A moment later, the puppet's appearance reverted to normal, its ghastly white skin once again covering its body. The Magic Hat on its head started spinning at high speed again, lifting the Theater Puppet high into the air and vanishing into the night.

"Come on, this is way too weird... But whatever, I'll just use it like this for now." Thinking this, Ke Mingqing opened his eyes and brought up the quest panel.

[Main Quest One (Phase One): Create a second identity to approach the Superhero "Rain Crow," attempt to attract their attention, and establish contact with them.]

He stared at the quest lying in his panel and pondered, "Since Rain Crow's biggest principle is to never kill criminals, I'll make him kill one. I have to figure out a way for my puppet to die suddenly right in front of him to grab his attention..."

Ke Mingqing spun his swivel chair around, rested his arms behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling. "I should think of a name for the puppet first. A supervillain has to have a codename, right?"

As his thoughts reached this point, he suddenly turned his head, catching sight out of the corner of his eye of an anime poster for 'Black Jack the Strange Doctor' plastered on his bedroom wall.

"Yeah, the name will be 'Bai Jieke'." Ke Mingqing slapped his forehead, deciding on the name, and then thought, "But the key is still what kind of villain to play in order to get Crow People to notice me... All masters start by imitating others. It's time to put those superhero movies I watched in my past life to good use."