Ke Mingqing and His Supervillain Classmate

The sky had cleared. Ke Mingqing put on his earphones and walked along a sunny sloping road.

Ginkgo trees swayed in the morning breeze on both sides, their tender green leaves scattered all over the ground. Bicycle wheels rolled over the fallen leaves, their chains turning in the sunlight with a soft rustling sound.

Most students riding past would glance at Ke Mingqing.

Some looked surprised, while others let out mocking chuckles. In any case, the gossip never really stopped along the way, but Ke Mingqing wore his earphones and pretended to be deaf, his expression unchanged throughout.

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 reach.

Some admired Ke Mingqing for showing such strong initiative during a crisis despite being an ordinary person, unlike the other students who had resigned themselves to fate. Others mocked him, saying it was just something Jiahao from the next class would do.

Opinions were sharply divided, with both praise and criticism. That was the state of the internet.

But no one cared about the warehouse explosion that had happened last night, nor did anyone care about the drug dealer who had died in the case...

The only one who probably cared was Rain Crow.

Yet even after Ke Mingwei spent the entire night using all his connections within the superhero company to investigate this "White Jack," he still found nothing.

Because it was merely a name Ke Mingqing had made up on the spot.

White Jack had existed for less than a day. Other than Rain Crow, no one had encountered him.

Ke Mingqing yawned and listlessly lifted his gaze from his phone.

Having escaped the high-pressure environment of home, the tension was gone, and drowsiness immediately washed over him.

But before long, a series of panels suddenly appeared in his pupils, instantly making him more alert.

[Notice: The "Weekly Missions" feature has been unlocked. Missions will refresh at midnight every Sunday. Previous missions will disappear, so please complete them promptly.]

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

[Weekly Mission 2: Kill one superhuman. (Reward: One item roulette draw)]

Today is Monday. I still have six days to finish these. Push-ups are easy; I can take my time doing them once I get to school... As for killing a superhuman, if I trail after the crow guy and pick up the scraps, then find a chance to finish off a superhuman criminal he catches, would he stomp his feet in rage?

Just then, Ke Mingqing suddenly noticed a gaze from afar.

He tilted his head slightly and glanced toward the rear with the corner of his eye, only to see a girl with a tear mole approaching.

But she did not walk alongside him. Instead, she leisurely followed behind him.

Seeing this, Ke Mingqing withdrew his gaze from her face, slipped both hands into his pockets, and silently continued forward.

After a while, the tear-mole girl behind him suddenly sent him a message.

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

[Hitomi Kuroki: Why has your player ID disappeared?]

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

[Hitomi Kuroki: My talent is "Lucky Coin." It has a chance of giving me an extra roulette spin, an extra weekly mission, or making the shop refresh higher-level skills.]

[Ke Mingqing: Not bad. It sounds more useful than mine... Oh, right. If you meet other players later, remember to keep me a secret from them. Don't let them know I exist.]

[Hitomi Kuroki: You aren't going to interact with the other players?]

[Ke Mingqing: I'll see how things go first. Besides, there are only a hundred players worldwide. Dawn Capital won't get that many.]

Ke Mingqing and Hitomi Kuroki walked one in front of the other, always maintaining the same distance as they conversed soundlessly through their panels.

The road between the rows of ginkgo trees was bathed in sunlight, while shade lay beneath the trees. They headed into the distance, passing alternately through light and shadow.

[Hitomi Kuroki: Um... Oh, right. There's a superhuman in my family too. Her codename is "Magical Girl Little Red Riding Hood.]

Ke Mingqing had finally found a kindred spirit. He was just about to type a reply in the chat panel: "Having a superhuman at home is a good thing! Come experience the warmth of loving fathers and dutiful sons, respectful elder and younger brothers with me!"

But before the words could leave the input box, a tall, lean figure suddenly came running from afar.

Ke Mingqing immediately turned his head. A handsome young man came into view.

The young man was around six feet tall and wore the same blue-and-white school uniform. His name was Jiang Qingzi.

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

They had known each other for five or six years, and were close enough to share a pair of underwear.

Back then, after school, they would often set up a desk on the school rooftop, drinking beverages as they watched the sunset sink below the horizon and take away the lingering glow scattered across the city.

Unfortunately, high school discipline had become stricter later on, and they gradually lost the freedom to do that.

It was worth mentioning that Jiang Qingzi was a well-known rich second-generation student at school. A young master like him had a private car to pick him up and drop him off every day, so he did not need to take the school bus.

Otherwise, there would probably have been one more student caught up in last night's school bus incident.

"Dumb, rich, and completely lacking in common sense." That was the label Ke Mingqing had given Jiang Qingzi in his mind based on his memories.

At that moment, Jiang Qingzi rushed over like the wind in long strides, then abruptly slammed on the brakes and crashed into him, gripping his shoulders tightly. Ke Mingqing nearly toppled over, his shoulders pinned down so hard that he could not lift them.

He let out a long sigh. "Are you sick?"

As Ke Mingqing said this, he suddenly froze slightly. A superhuman panel had appeared above Jiang Qingzi's head.

[Superhuman Codename: "Black Magic Hand"]

[Type: Esper]

[Threat Level: A]

[Superhuman Profile: As a child, he wandered the streets after his family fell apart. He was eventually adopted by the leader of the international thief organization "Deathbird" and became one of its members—Deathbird has ten members in total. They commit every imaginable evil, from murder and arson to robbery and plunder. They have also been placed on the superhero company's SS-level wanted list.]

[Known Weaknesses: None.]

At the same time, a mission prompt suddenly popped up in Ke Mingqing's pupils.

[Main Mission 3, Phase One: Use your second identity to approach the supervillain "Black Magic Hand," draw his attention, and establish contact with the thief organization—"Deathbird."]

"What the fuck, does this ever end..."

Ke Mingqing's eye twitched as he looked at the three blood-red words, "Deathbird."

Anyone knew that Deathbird was an infamous criminal organization. As long as one logged onto the superhero official website, they could see the group's real-time wanted notices—some of its members were known as "Pope," while another was called "Red Pirate."

Deathbird had previously committed numerous world-shaking crimes—slaughtering everyone at a Seoul auction and stealing every item; looting the London Museum and killing the United Kingdom's strongest esper bodyguard, "White Arc"; even attacking military supply transport ships in the Pacific Ocean before turning around and selling the supplies to a gang in another country.

A single page would not be enough to list all their crimes.

If Deathbird fell into official hands, every one of its members would have to be executed at least a hundred times. And Jiang Qingzi... was actually one of this band of thieves.

Countless alpacas stampeded through Ke Mingqing's mind.

Brother, brother, was your rich second-generation identity fake? So the luxury cars you rode to school every day were stolen from somewhere too? You've been deceiving your buddy's feelings all these years?

"Damn, do you know? I watched the video uploaded to the school website last night. Everyone said you gave Rain Crow a piece of your mind. I was so excited that I kept telling everyone you were my best bro..."

Jiang Qingzi pretended to be out of breath as he patted Ke Mingqing's shoulder and chattered away.

Ke Mingqing silently watched him, thinking, Go ahead and act. As long as you're happy.

An A-rank superhuman who could fly through the sky and burrow through the earth was panting heavily after running a few stretches of road in front of him. It was like a champion swimmer claiming during an interview that he was afraid of water and would collapse from exhaustion if he showered too long.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

As he spoke, Jiang Qingzi bent over with both hands on his knees, panting, then bumped Ke Mingqing with his shoulder. "That look in your eyes is full of resentment. Did Rain Crow scold you dumb on the school bus last night?"

Ke Mingqing drooped his head and said bluntly, "Yeah, yeah. Last night's school bus incident left me traumatized. Could you stop startling me like that?"

Just then, Hitomi Kuroki, who was following not far behind him, sent a message.

[Hitomi Kuroki: Kill him?]

[Ke Mingqing: Me?]

[Hitomi Kuroki: Us.]

Ke Mingqing was stunned for a moment, silently staring at the message on the panel. Those two words from Hitomi Kuroki were so resolute, as if she were about to join the party, that he found them a little hard to handle.

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