Under a boundless clear sky, a flock of birds swept overhead in the midday sun.
One or two old desks sat on the school rooftop, holding several nearly dead potted plants. The iron door was shut tight, its rusted back covered in student graffiti and a few childish confessions of love.
The midsummer wind blew past the boy and girl sitting behind the fence, gently stirring their hair and sending the collars of their school uniforms fluttering.
"So, what did you need me for?" Ke Mingqing opened his boxed lunch and picked up his chopsticks. "Couldn't you just say it in the Chat Panel?"
"I need to correct you on one point," Kuroki Hitomi said, her face expressionless. "Little Red Riding Hood is the one looking for you, not me."
"Oh, what a serious declaration. What a clean break!"
Ke Mingqing said sarcastically. He shrugged, turned to look at Kuroki Hitomi, and only after a long pause did he ask, "Are we doing the cold war thing too?"
"Yes."
"I'll tell you whenever something happens from now on, all right? Can we not make things so awkward?"
"I just thought the Clock Maker situation was too dangerous, which is why I didn't tell you beforehand. He's an S-Rank. Just think about it—we'd struggle against a B-Rank right now."
"You said the same thing during the Comet Fragments incident."
"What else was I supposed to say?"
Kuroki Hitomi didn't reply. She just lowered her eyes and quietly ate her food. Ke Mingqing paused for a moment, placed the clear plastic lid of his lunchbox on the ground, and asked, "What does Little Red Riding Hood want with me anyway?"
Without even lifting her head, Kuroki Hitomi spoke bluntly: "Magical Girl Sakurahime is dead. She died a miserable death." At that moment, the sun was obscured by shifting clouds. The rooftop suddenly dimmed, casting the boy and girl's faces in shadow.
After a long pause, a calm voice spoke from the gloom.
"I figured. So it really was about that."
Kuroki Hitomi thought for a moment. "Does this have nothing to do with you, or did you kill her?"
"I didn't kill Kiyono Sakura," Ke Mingqing said as he tore open the wrapper for his chopsticks.
He fell silent for a while, shook his head, and lowered his voice. "But I can't really explain the details. This needs to be kept a secret from everyone else for now. That includes you. The situation is complicated."
Kuroki Hitomi gave a rare frown. She hesitated, looking as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it.
"But you just said..."
"Said what?"
Ke Mingqing picked up a slice of hot dog with his chopsticks and casually popped it into his mouth.
"Never mind..." Kuroki Hitomi remained silent for a long time before shaking her head. "I told Little Red Riding Hood today. I said I knew you were Blue Pigeon and that I was having someone forge a combat suit for you."
"Whatever," Ke Mingqing brushed it off, completely unbothered. "She already knew my identity anyway." He paused. "So? What did Little Red Riding Hood say?"
"She flat out confessed that she was Little Red Riding Hood and even transformed right in front of me. She's quite pretty up close—a little girl in a Christmas dress."
"You can wear it too if you like it. There are tons of magical dress replicas online. Compared to what the real magical girls wear, they just lack a few sparkly special effects."
Ke Mingqing spoke absentmindedly. Right then, Kuroki Hitomi suddenly turned her head. With her chopsticks resting between her lips, she stared at his profile and asked out of the blue, "Do you want to see it?"
"I do." Ke Mingqing paused. "But I only want to see you show up in front of Little Red Riding Hood wearing that replica. Her reaction would definitely be hilarious."
Kuroki Hitomi silently withdrew her gaze, picked up her chopsticks, and quietly ate her food.
The girl's face was bathed in sunlight. The small beauty mark by the corner of her eye made her seem especially tranquil, much like a black cat. Over this period of time, she had already learned how to get along with Ke Mingqing.
When she didn't know what to say, she wouldn't speak. She adopted a strategy of cold treatment—that was the only way to avoid giving herself a heart attack out of sheer anger.
"And then you two just acknowledged each other?" Ke Mingqing continued to ask.
Kuroki Hitomi picked up a piece of braised pork with her chopsticks. Staring at the reddish meat, she recalled, "Then I told her, 'We've spent so much time together, I figured out your identity ages ago. I was just curious about when you were going to tell me.'"
"Damn," Ke Mingqing said, shocked. "Why does that sound exactly like the excuse I used on Crow Man? Do all of us players just love brushing people off like this?"
"Perhaps great minds think alike?" Kuroki Hitomi shot him a glance.
"If you Japanese don't know how to use Chinese idioms, don't just throw them around. This is clearly 'birds of a feather flocking together.'" Ke Mingqing sighed helplessly. "More like finding a kindred spirit in a muddy swamp."
Kuroki Hitomi lowered her head again and silently ate her meal. Cold treatment.
"And then? What was Little Red Riding Hood's reaction after you said that?"
"First, she pretended to burst into tears. Then she said stuff like, 'So my Lady understands me so well,' and asked if we were playing 'Spy x Family.' Then she added, 'Mr. Blue Pigeon really is a gigolo, actually using our Young Miss to fulfill his debut conditions. It seems I have no choice but to execute Plan B—the Scumbag Obliteration project.'"
"That little trash hood better be able to beat me," Ke Mingqing said as he devoured his food.
Just then, the iron door to the rooftop was pushed open with a loud bang. A voice that was neither warm nor cold, but laced with heavy sarcasm, drifted over.
"The man who took down the Clock Maker certainly talks a big game."
Following the voice, Ke Mingqing looked up at An Youlu. The girl with airy bangs walked over, saying,
"Mr. Blue Pigeon, I have something to ask you, and I need you to answer honestly. Otherwise, I will publicly reveal your identity and ensure you're harassed by various schoolgirls and the media every single day you come to school."
"Damn, what a heavy threat. That makes me want to wet my pants even more than the Clock Maker's threats." Ke Mingqing spoke absentmindedly. "Spit it out if you have something to say, and stop wasting my time. Do you really think a guy who almost got publicly dissected gives a crap about something this trivial?" He waved his hand dismissively.
"Then I'll ask." At this point, An Youlu's tone turned icy. "Do you know what happened to Kiyono Sakura?"
"I know her."
"I saw you whispering to her in the hallway the day before yesterday."
"Are you already pinning suspicion on me?"
"No, we don't suspect you." An Youlu shook her head. "But the severity of this incident has already escalated to the point of affecting international relations between our two countries. Are you a caveman who doesn't use the internet?"
"It can't be that bad," Ke Mingqing said. "Then I'll transfer to a school in Tokyo tomorrow and livestream myself jumping off a building to commit suicide. That way, I won't owe your country anything."
"Could you not make such awful jokes?" An Youlu sneered. "If I recorded a video of you saying that, you'd be cyberbullied to death."
"It's fine. The Super Hero Company's PR and public opinion department would step in. They'd claim your video was AI-generated, then hire a thousand bot accounts to repost it. Your words wouldn't mean a thing."
"And what if Little Red Riding Hood steps up to personally verify it?"
"Then Little Red Riding Hood must have been brainwashed by the Clock Maker's pocket watch to do such a thing," Ke Mingqing replied flatly. "Do you believe the Hero Company's PR can spin it to that extent?"
An Youlu conceded defeat and stopped arguing with him. With a dark expression on her small face, she asked, "So, what exactly did you say to Senior Kiyono Sakura the afternoon before yesterday?"
Kuroki Hitomi set down her lunchbox, snapped the lid shut, and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. She cast her gaze over, looking ready to listen closely.
"I asked her about the End Sky Tower, because I know absolutely nothing about witches," Ke Mingqing said. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm a superhero in Leijing, for crying out loud. If I know a bunch of crazy women are coming to wreak havoc in Leijing, I should at least know a little bit about them, shouldn't I?"
An Youlu thought for a moment. "And the rest?"
"We also chatted about the identities of the other two transfer students, and that was it."
"You spent the entire day with the senior yesterday, didn't you?"
"Yeah, she had a fever. I never left her side," Ke Mingqing said in a low voice. "I stood guard right outside the door while she showered and went to the bathroom. Is there a problem?"
An Youlu suddenly pinched her nose and said in a muffled voice, "What touching sibling affection."
"What about Kiyono Sakura? Was she in her apartment building the entire day yesterday?" Ke Mingqing sighed.
"Yes. She said she wasn't feeling well and took the morning off sick," An Youlu said. "Around six or seven in the evening, we found her corpse. Security footage from that time showed she never left the apartment building. The witch most likely made her move against her during that window."
She paused. "We strongly suspect Senior Ember encountered the exact same issue."
Ke Mingqing was startled, muttering, "You mean... my sister was cursed by a witch too?"
"Yes," An Youlu said. "Don't you think it's quite a coincidence? It was also yesterday when Senior Ember suddenly took a leave of absence to go home. We suspect the witch who killed Senior Kiyono did something to her as well."
"So what do we do?"
"Teacher Xi Ziyue left a protective Magic Card on Senior Ember. When she enters a near-death state or encounters a life-threatening danger, that card will protect her," An Youlu said. "But I'm still very worried about the senior, so I was hoping to stay at your place for a while. That way I can keep her company."
Ke Mingqing was taken aback. With his chopsticks in his mouth, he asked, "Are you sure your Young Miss will agree to that?" Saying this, he turned his head to look at Kuroki Hitomi.
"I refused, but it was useless," Kuroki Hitomi said softly.
"Really?" Ke Mingqing asked. "There are actually times when Little Red Riding Hood doesn't listen to you?"
"Ask her."
An Youlu fell silent for a moment. "My friend died. This isn't a small matter." She paused. "If something happens to the senior too, I'll never be able to forgive myself."
Ke Mingqing mocked, "Could you not say that as if it's some 'with great power comes great responsibility' crap? You're just a small fry."
"Ever since Mr. Blue Pigeon was promoted to an A-Rank hero, his ego has certainly gotten bigger and bigger." An Youlu's expression turned cold. "Regardless, when I became a magical girl, you were still just a loli—oh, wait, an embryo—in the superhero world."
"Class is starting. I'm heading out first," Ke Mingqing said. "Right, one last question. Did Xi Ziyue suspect my sister, and is that why she sent you to observe her?"
An Youlu froze. She didn't answer, merely standing quietly where she was.
"I understand. Then come on over. My sister will be pretty happy to have someone keep her company."
Ke Mingqing glanced at her reaction, dropped that sentence, and left the rooftop.
On the way back to the classroom, he opened the relevant panels for the Skill Shop. Immediately, a series of text Pop-ups appeared before his eyes.
[Prompt: Your Skill Bars 1 through 7 are all currently occupied. Skill Bars 8 through 10 have yet to be Unlocked. Currently, Skill Bar 11 remains empty (this slot is an "Extra Skill Bar" acquired from—"Weekly Task Reward").]
'I still have one Skill Bar left to use,' Ke Mingqing thought. 'I'd better choose the next skill carefully.'
[Player Level is 22. Shop refresh probabilities are—E-Rank skills: 10% / D-Rank skills: 40% / C-Rank skills: 38% / B-Rank skills: 8% / A-Rank skills: 4% / S-Rank skills: 0% (PS: The refresh probability for higher-grade skills will increase alongside your level.)]
'The refresh rate for A-Rank skills has already increased from one percent to four percent. Will I win big?'
Ke Mingqing muttered as he rubbed his hands together and tapped the shop icon.
[The five skills refreshed for today are as follows:]
[Skill 1: Dragon God! (B-Rank skill) (10,000 superhuman coins): Summon the phantom of the Dragon God. For a short period, you can unleash a "Dragon Might Energy Wave" by clasping your hands together and thrusting your palms forward.]
'What kind of Kamehameha is this?' Ke Mingqing thought. 'Though I feel like it wouldn't be much use to me.'
[Skill 2: Snap Pistol (D-Rank skill) (3,000 superhuman coins)]
Ke Mingqing shivered. He reached up and patted his chest to calm his nerves. 'This is absolutely a punishment mechanism for being a Red Name Player. Bro Li Wei, could you not just linger around overstaying your welcome?'
[Skill 3: Erupt in Silence or Perish in Silence (D-Rank skill) (3,000 superhuman coins): For the next hour, you will enter a silenced state and cannot make a single sound. The moment you make a sound, you will trigger a highly destructive self-detonation (dealing 80% maximum health damage to yourself).]
[Cooldown: 48 hours.]
'Hey, all else aside, this skill actually suits me quite well.' Ke Mingqing raised his eyebrows. 'For other players, this is a kamikaze skill that kills a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of your own, but I have the Theater Puppet. If a puppet blows up, it blows up.'
He scratched his chin. 'But why is the cooldown so long? Are they afraid I'll play myself to death?'
[Skill 4: Earth Spike (D-Rank skill) (3,000 superhuman coins): Summon a patch of earthen thorns to attack enemies within an area. Damage is based on your "Strength" attribute.]
"What kind of standard mob skill is this? I'll look down on anyone who buys this," Ke Mingqing muttered.
He continued to scroll down the shop panel, but his finger suddenly froze. His dark eyes stared fixedly at the color of the final skill's icon.
Gold.
—This was absolutely a color Ke Mingqing had never seen before.
And since the probability panel showed the S-Rank skill refresh rate was currently at 0%, there was only one type of skill left that Ke Mingqing had yet to encounter.
"Holy shit, an A-Rank skill finally dropped for me! Even someone with terrible luck gets a chance to turn things around!" Ke Mingqing's eyes lit up, his jaw dropping so wide his chin practically hit the floor.
[Skill 5: Path of Hyperdimension (A-Rank skill) (20,000 superhuman coins) (Upon purchasing this skill, instantly upgrade any of your skills that are D-Rank or lower to A-Rank. This skill does not occupy a Skill Bar slot.)]
Looking at the skill description, Ke Mingqing tilted his head, stunned. It took him a long while to react.
"Wait, does this thing mean spending the money for an A-Rank skill and a lower-tier skill just to get an A-Rank skill? Doesn't that mean I'm losing 3,000 superhuman coins? I'm losing at least 1,000 superhuman coins at minimum."
But on second thought, he realized, "At least I can be certain that the resulting A-Rank skill will be something I can actually use. If the shop refreshed an A-Rank skill restricted only to women, I really wouldn't be able to buy it."
"Plus, this thing doesn't take up a Skill Bar. It's basically just an A-Rank upgrade card."
Reaching this conclusion, Ke Mingqing no longer hesitated. First, he lifted a finger and long-pressed the icon for the A-Rank skill, "Path of Hyperdimension."
The icon gradually lit up, finally bursting with profound light.
Then, he bought the "Path of Hyperdimension."
[Congratulations. You have consumed "20,000" superhuman coins to purchase the A-Rank skill—"Path of Hyperdimension".]
[The player's current superhuman coin balance is: 1,000.]
[Based on the effects of "Path of Hyperdimension," you may upgrade a low-tier skill to A-Rank. The eligible skills are as follows: Phantom Shift (E-Rank), I Am Lightning (D-Rank), Rainbow Bubbles (D-Rank), It's Raining (E-Rank), and Mist of Loss (E-Rank).]
"Then there's definitely only one choice."
Thinking this, Ke Mingqing selected the skill with the blue lightning icon from among the many options.
[Are you sure you want to select "I Am Lightning!" as the target for "Path of Hyperdimension"?]
Ke Mingqing pressed confirm.
In an instant, a series of black and blue Pop-up prompts appeared, reflecting in his pupils.
[Congratulations. Based on the effects of "Path of Hyperdimension," "I Am Lightning" has officially been upgraded to an A-Rank skill, and the skill's name has officially been changed to—"Thunder God".]
[The overall skill changes are as follows:]
[1. Newly added Battery System (You can see your own battery power in the upper right corner of your vision. The higher the stored power, the stronger the electricity you can unleash.) (When the power drops to zero, you will temporarily be unable to use "Thunder God.")]
[2. Blue Lightning Form: The blue lightning no longer possesses lethal capabilities, but it can be used to heal a target's wounds, including your own. (When you envelop your body in blue lightning while in a near-death state, the healing effects will be drastically enhanced.)]
[Black Lightning Form: The destructive power of the black lightning form has been drastically enhanced. (However, while using black lightning, the power consumption rate will be significantly increased.)]
[Fusion Lightning Form: The blue and black lightning merge, giving birth to the ultimate and most dangerous color. Using the "Fusion Lightning" form will instantly deplete all of the player's "power."
Following that, the Fusion Lightning will cause a moderate increase in the player's "Agility" attribute. The lightning's intensity will reach its absolute peak and acquire a partial "Devour" characteristic.]
"A Devour characteristic?" Ke Mingqing was stunned. "That sounds incredibly overpowered. No matter what game you play, any skill with those two words attached is never weak."
"The Pro Max version of Blue Pigeon is about to debut." He curled his lips into a smile, murmuring, "I'm really curious if the strength of this 'Fusion Lightning' could rival Zeus's lightning once all my attributes reach S-Rank."
"But then again, if an A-Rank skill is already this comprehensive, how overpowered must an S-Rank skill be? Wouldn't the price of an S-Rank skill be upwards of 100,000 superhuman coins?"
Ke Mingqing shook his head, dismissing the thought. S-Rank skills were still far too distant for him. At his current level, there was absolutely no possibility of one refreshing in the shop anyway.
"Man, the fact that 'Path of Hyperdimension' doesn't take up a Skill Bar is amazing. Now I can save my 11th Skill Bar for 'Erupt in Silence'." Thinking of this, he lifted his finger and long-pressed the icon for the other skill in the shop.
However, the icon did not light up; instead, it remained dim, and a red Pop-up appeared before his eyes.
[We apologize, the purchase has failed. Your balance (1,000 superhuman coins) is insufficient to pay the price of a D-Rank skill (3,000 superhuman coins).]
[Prompt: As a "Red Name Player," you not only Hunt your compatriots but also attempt to dine and dash. Please reflect deeply on your actions—!!!]