Superman's End Manual

Right now, Ke Mingye was sitting on the armrest of the sofa, drinking a cola, his eyes fixed on the television screen. However, his mind wasn't on the screen; it was completely focused on the trickster doll.

At exactly 5:25 p.m., the trickster arrived at the Meiyijia Supermarket on Yandai Commercial Street.

This is the meeting place mentioned by the player with the ID "Anti-Dog", but the supermarket in front of us seems to have closed down, with a sign in black and white that reads "Temporarily Closed" on the locked door.

But Ke Mingye's attention wasn't on the notice at all, because a huge panel was floating in front of him.

[Congratulations! You have discovered "Instance #5" in the "Beijing Surrounding Area" and added it to your instance encyclopedia. You can view it at any time.]

[Instance Name: Giant Zombie Chase]

[Instance Location: Yandai Commercial Street, Meiyijia Supermarket]

[Dungeon Difficulty: F-rank (Recommended for players below level 3 to team up)]

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 26 Player Meeting

"A zombie-themed copy, it's a classic."

Ke Mingye glanced at the dungeon's description for a while, then turned his attention back to himself. He opened the communication panel with his mind and sent a message to the discussion group.

[The Failed Man: Have you all arrived?]

[Good orange peel: Arrived.]

[An inexplicable dream: 1.]

[Anti-Dog: The console game experience store next door, the third room on the second floor. Just tell the owner you're with us.]

[The defeated man: Okay, here I come.]

After sending the message, Ke Mingye shifted his view back to the trick puppet. He controlled the puppet to turn its head, and sure enough, there was a video game store not far from the supermarket.

He manipulated the trickster puppet into the arcade, told the owner, and went upstairs to the second floor. Entering the third private room, he lifted the black cloth, revealing three unfamiliar figures.

Inside the arcade's private room, the warm orange light illuminated three faces. The moment the con artist entered, they all turned their faces away simultaneously.

"Who are you?" Ke Mingye asked.

"Anti-dog."

The first to speak was a young man wearing glasses, a long black coat, and jeans. He was carrying a black-covered book, and his gaze was deep and clear.

"Qingmeng. That ID was just something I randomly typed out, just call me that."

Next to speak was a girl wearing a baseball cap. She had long, light blue hair, her hands in the pockets of her jacket, her neck slightly raised, her expression arrogant, and a blue heart tattooed at the corner of her eye.

"Then I am an orange peel."

Finally, a handsome young man came into view, dressed in casual clothes. He smiled with his eyes narrowed, looking easygoing and approachable.

Why choose a game console store?

Ke Mingye had the doll sit down on the sofa while he had it ask questions.

“It’s safer to talk in a shop that’s facing closure than in a coffee shop,” Antidog said.

"That's true."

Ke Mingye could tell as soon as he entered that the video game store was indeed deserted and had few customers.

With today's developed economy, people can easily buy a PS5 or Switch and play at home without having to go to a console gaming store. While busier stores can function as gaming enthusiast clubs, smaller stores like these will only see their customer base dwindle, creating a vicious cycle.

"Let's chat. You should have seen the Meiyijia copy too," said Anti-Dog.

"It's described as a zombie chase, quite a classic," Ke Mingye said.

"Qingmeng and I have found a total of seven dungeons in the surrounding cities over the past two days. Among these seven dungeons, this one is the easiest and is recommended by the system for players in the 'Lv.1 to Lv.3' range. As our first dungeon, it should be the best choice."

Ke Mingye couldn't refute it; it was indeed difficult to find a dungeon with an even lower difficulty level.

"So, shall we start today?" he asked.

"After acquiring the skill at three points, Qingmeng and I tried to challenge that dungeon, but we failed," Fanquan said calmly. "The gap wasn't that big; we just lacked a player who could attract the monsters' attention to coordinate with us." He took a sip of his coffee as he said this.

"Drawing fire? I think I can do it," Ke Mingye said. He had a web launcher, and the Deception Puppet was very light, so it was more than capable of maneuvering. It should be easy to draw the aggro of the dungeon monsters.

He added, "But let me make this clear first, I haven't learned any damaging skills, only..." He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Anti-Dog pushing a pistol onto the table, so he changed his words, "Then it's alright."

"Where did you get the gun?" Ke Mingye asked, puzzled.

"This body was given to me by my father," Anti-Dog said, putting the gun back into his coat.

"what?"

Ke Mingye was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He thought to himself, "This is China, not America. What kind of father would be so bold as to give his son a handgun to play with?"

"It's a long story."

As he spoke, Fan Quan began to introduce his family background.

His father was an illegal gun smuggler who would occasionally give him a few guns to play with, so he could provide pistols for his teammates. However, his father also warned him that if the police found out, he would be finished. He attended a top-tier university in the country, but had to drop out due to health reasons. His family didn't interfere much, and he was basically free to move around all day.

"That's great. We can move around freely, and they provide us with guns," Ke Mingye commented.

"It's nothing. Players who spawn in the US can easily get guns. My background at most gives me an advantage in China," Anti-Dog said calmly.

"Too."

Next to the anti-dog, the punk girl with the ID "Qingmeng" also introduced her background.

She said, "The body I now belong to was a rebellious punk girl. As I mentioned in the discussion group before, I was an orphan. I even organized a band in the orphanage that used orphans as a gimmick. Later, I was sent to a juvenile detention center for assaulting a police officer, and the band disbanded."

As he spoke, he popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth. "Anyway, I can climb over the wall of the orphanage anytime now, so I guess I'm pretty free. I can contact you if I need anything."

"It's pretty sci-fi that these things can happen in China."

Ke Mingye commented, turning his gaze to the young man whose ID was "Orange Peel".

Orange Peel smiled and said that his background was that of an ordinary person from an ordinary family who was now on summer vacation from university and working at a milk tea shop in his hometown.

Finally, it was Ke Mingye's turn, and all three of them turned their attention to him.

Ke Mingye figured that to really introduce his family background, he would have to write at least a 10,000-word essay, so he controlled the puppet to pick up the water glass on the table, take a sip of water, and began to introduce:

"Uh, the father is kind and the son is filial, the family is harmonious, everything is normal, over."

Actually, he didn't use his original body to come over, partly to avoid involving these players in his family problems. So he chose to use a deception puppet to infiltrate the player group and loaf around. If he could get some dungeon rewards, he'd be lucky; if not, it wouldn't be a loss—given his background, keeping his identity a secret from his family, living a life of leisure and watching other players perform was the most practical thing to do. Trying to carve out a niche for himself was no different from dancing in shackles.

"It seems that players usually take over the body of a normal person in this parallel world, and their families are mostly normal people, without any superhumans. This is probably to avoid players developing feelings for superhumans, since when you travel here, you also gain all the memories of your predecessor. These memories can easily make you feel emotionally attached to your family, thus making you indecisive."

After listening to the speeches of the group, Fan Quan analyzed the situation without hesitation.

Ke Mingye forced a smile onto the puppet and said, "Yes, it's so human-like."

"Anyway, we just need to get together here around this time tomorrow and clear this dungeon. After that, we'll be responsible for finding dungeons. It doesn't matter if you need to go to school or work, as long as you can make time to meet up," said Anti-Dog.

“Okay, then tomorrow it will be,” Orange Peel said. “I’ll be going now.”

"Bye." Qingmeng waved while looking down at her phone.

“Okay,” Ke Mingye said, “I’ll be on summer vacation after class tomorrow. Call me in the discussion group if needed.”

After saying that, he manipulated the charlatan to be the first to leave the private room. The moment he left the console gaming store, he changed his face, turned a few streets, and then turned into an alley where he confirmed there were no surveillance cameras.

The doll shrunk in size, returning to its original form and curling up in the trash can. The next moment, the doll exploded from the inside, fiery cracks engulfing every inch of its skin and swallowing it whole.

Immediately afterwards, a strange laugh echoed through the alley.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 27 One step away

[Note: The "Trickster Doll" has been proactively destroyed. The next doll release will take 10 minutes.]

Ke Mingye rubbed his Tianming acupoint and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that if this thing didn't disappear soon, his brain would be overloaded.

When he opened his eyes again from the sofa, only one image came to mind, and he immediately felt that the world was much quieter.

Simultaneously manipulating two bodies is not an easy task, especially when the hearing and vision on both sides are intertwined. The burden on the brain is almost the same as that of a severe schizophrenia attack, and over time it can lead to mental derangement.

Ke Mingye sat on the sofa for a while, then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 6:25 p.m., already dark, and the birthday party at home had long since ended.

After everyone had dinner, except for the second brother who stayed in his room, everyone else went out for a walk, and the house was very quiet.

With nothing else to do, Ke Mingye spent some time watching TV with Bai Qiuwu and Bai Zini. He picked up the remote and pressed the number keys to switch to the news channel.

On a fairly large screen, the host played a blurred video, introducing it as it progressed:

"Last night, two vigilantes, 'Black Wukong the God of War' and 'Magical Girl Ash,' assisted the superhero 'Blue Raven' in apprehending the thug 'Ghost Tree the God of War' who was causing trouble in the center of the city. The Superhero Association highly commended the two superhuman vigilantes for their courageous act and promised to provide them with generous treatment if they were willing to join the association."

"The mayor of the city surrounding Beijing also personally appeared in a media interview, calling on vigilantes to register their information with the Superhero Association as soon as possible, become a member of the superheroes, and maintain public order with a legitimate identity."

Did you hear that? I'm talking to you two. You always wear masks and run around outside, not caring whether it's legal or not... Ke Mingye thought to himself while glancing at Bai Qiuwu and Bai Zini on the sofa out of the corner of his eye.

Bai Qiuwu calmly played with her phone, acting as if it were none of her business, demonstrating excellent acting skills.

On the other hand, Bai Zini, while playing on her phone, carefully shifted her position on the sofa, moving closer to Ke Mingye, and asked in a casual tone:

"Hey bro, don't you think that magical girl in the news is really pretty? She has a kind of fresh and ethereal beauty?"

When Ke Mingye heard her say that, he looked up at the picture of Magical Girl Ash on the news and tilted his head.