Superman's End Manual

—When the instance ends, all players who participated in the instance will appear in a nearby location where they are "confirmed not to be monitored".

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 24 Happy Birthday

After confirming everything was correct, Ke Mingye breathed a sigh of relief and opened his contact list on the bus. He typed the message using his mind, clicking "send" in the discussion group.

[The Failed Man: How much longer until you arrive?]

[Anti-dog: Didn't they say 5:30? It's only 4.]

[An inexplicable dream: We can arrive ahead of time.]

[Good Orange Peel: I've already gone there, and I'm waiting for you here.]

Ke Mingye thought that the maximum duration of the trick puppet was 3 hours. He had summoned the puppet at exactly 4 p.m., so the puppet would disappear at 7 p.m.

If I have to wait until 5:30 to meet the three players from the same city, I must try to resolve things within an hour and a half and get away from them in advance.

So the sooner you meet them, the better. Otherwise, if the doll suddenly explodes or disappears while you're talking to them, the consequences are obvious.

Taking the bus in front of the school, it only takes 5 minutes to get from Huanjing No. 3 Middle School to the Laojingmai Street stop, and we're almost off now.

While using WeChat to pre-select a cake with the owner of a cake shop in the neighborhood, Ke Mingye typed a question on the communication panel.

[The Failed Man: Open the shop, the skill sales page lets you choose two skills to acquire for free, did you choose any?]

[Anti-dog: Selected.]

[Good Orange Peel: I farmed two C-rank skills and got them all.]

[Unexplainable Dream: You're pretty lucky then. Out of the ten skills displayed on my page, only one was C-rank; the rest were all E-rank and D-rank.]

[Anti-dog: Normal, the refresh rate for B-level skills is only 2%. As player levels increase, the refresh rate for higher-level skills will rise.]

Ke Mingye was initially thinking that perhaps the first time the skill sales page refreshed, a B-level skill would definitely appear, so he seemed to be lucky, but actually everyone was like that.

In retrospect, he really did get incredibly lucky: he stumbled upon a B-grade skill with a 2% refresh rate, and even managed to acquire it for free thanks to his initial access. If such a high-level skill had refreshed at any other time, he wouldn't have been able to buy it without in-game currency and would have just been left watching helplessly.

"It's rare to have such good luck like this, hopefully it will continue to be so..."

Thinking this, Ke Mingye turned his gaze to the outside of the car window. The residential buildings on the street came into view in a flash; pedestrians rode by on electric bikes and were stopped by traffic police because they were not wearing helmets.

As he stared at the figures hanging clothes on the rooftop, Ke Mingye wondered if Ke Xiaomo was following him, or if she was really at home in the bathroom playing on her phone. Or perhaps, Ke Xiaomo was actually hiding on the bus, but he hadn't noticed.

Regardless, he had no way of confirming it, so he could only proceed in the most conservative manner to ensure accuracy at every step.

Ke Mingye placed his hand on his phone, but then put it down. A short while later, the wheezing sound of exhaust reached his ears, and the bus stopped at a stop in the Old Jingmai neighborhood.

Many passengers got off the bus in the same neighborhood, and he followed the flow of people off the bus.

Meanwhile, in the old Jingmai neighborhood, there is a billiards club.

On the deserted rooftop, Ke Xiaomo emerged from the shadows. Looking down, in the twilight, Ke Mingye had broken away from the crowd and turned into an alley, walking slowly forward.

Ke Xiaomo slowly moved between the tops of several high-rise buildings, her eyes fixed on Ke Mingye's whereabouts, never letting him out of her sight for even a moment.

Soon after, Ke Mingye walked into Old Jingmai Third Street and entered a cake shop with a sign that read "Sam's Bakery." He went straight to the counter, took out his phone, and spoke to the owner. The owner glanced at him, then took out a large packaging box from the back kitchen and handed it to him.

"A cake shop?"

Ke Xiaomo leaned against a large signboard, peeked out slightly, and silently observed Ke Mingye inside the store with a sidelong glance.

After taking the box from the shop owner, Ke Mingye walked out of the store, playing on his phone as he headed home, looking just like a food delivery guy.

Ke Xiaomo followed Ke Mingye silently until she saw him walk into the duplex apartment building and get on the elevator, then she stopped.

He watched as the elevator doors closed and ascended slowly, emerging from behind a large billboard before turning and walking into the empty alley behind him.

“After school, Mingye only went to that cake shop and then went home,” he thought. “He didn’t meet anyone. If there’s any problem, it should be with that cake shop. It seems like the owner knows him, and they talked about something. When he came back, Mingye was carrying a box. I wonder what’s in the box. I’ll check later.”

Thinking this, Ke Xiaomo looked around the alley and, after confirming that no one was paying attention, slowly disappeared into the shadows beneath her feet.

When she opened her eyes again, she was already sitting on the toilet in the bathroom at home. The doorbell rang outside the bathroom. Ke Xiaomo heard Bai Zini running and jumping to open the door and knew that Mingye had returned. So she pressed the flush button on the toilet, turned on the faucet amidst the noisy flushing sound, washed her hands, and then walked to the bathroom door.

I placed my hand on the doorknob, slowly turned it, and pushed the door open.

At that very moment, a sudden "pop" sound rang in my ears.

Ke Xiaomo had already sensed that someone was outside and knew that it must be her two younger sisters' doing, so she pretended to be surprised and reached out to protect her head.

When he looked up, the lights in the room were off, and colorful flowers were falling all over the dimly lit corridor, landing on his hair and face.

Ke Xiaomo was slightly taken aback, then slowly lowered her hands that were protecting her forehead, touched the paper flowers hanging on her face, and looked blankly at the three people standing in front of the toilet.

Bai Zini was standing in front of the toilet with a mischievous grin on her face, holding a paper cannon the size of a megaphone in her hand;

Bai Ziling stood expressionlessly to the side, holding a banner that read "Happy Birthday to 'Ke Xiaomo'";

Ke Mingye stood between his two younger sisters, holding a cream cake in both hands, with a few candles lit on it. The candlelight illuminated his somewhat awkward expression, as if he were very unwilling.

Amidst the scattered colorful flowers, the three spoke almost simultaneously.

"Happy birthday, second brother!" Bai Zini said.

"Happy birthday, I want a red envelope," Bai Ziling said.

"Happy birthday! I hope you get another year older," Ke Mingye said.

Ke Xiaomo stood at the toilet door for a long time, then slowly stretched out his two large arms and hugged his two younger sisters and brother together, their heads touching.

"Thank you... I'm very touched."

He spoke softly, his gaze meeting that of Ke Mingye, who was standing in the center.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 25 Birthday Party

At dusk on June 19, a simple birthday party was being held in a duplex apartment building.

Bai Zini and Bai Ziling turned off the living room lights and drew the curtains beforehand; Bai Zini argued that this was to create a proper atmosphere, and didn't they know what a birthday was all about?

Ke Mingye placed the birthday cake on the table. The room was dimly lit, with only the flickering light of a few candles. He glanced at the balcony; the pale blue curtains hung loosely, blocking most of the sunlight. The afterglow illuminated only an inch of the floor against the wall, lengthening the shadows cast by the French windows.

Bai Zini took it upon herself to turn on a karaoke channel on the TV. She plugged a USB cable into the TV, connected the microphone, sat in front of the TV, and, trying to sound off-key, led the singing of Happy Birthday.

After returning from school, Bai Qiuwu and Ke Yongzhu quickly joined their group.

The siblings gathered around the birthday cake. In the dim candlelight, they took the microphone one after another and sang a few lines perfunctorily. Only the older sister, Bai Qiuwu, sang decently; the others' voices sounded like they were possessed by some indescribable Cthulhu god.

Birthday songs drifted intermittently through the living room, mostly interrupted by laughter from those around them. A gentle breeze blew through the twilight-shrouded sky, lifting the white, sheer curtains.

Through the curtains, several figures could be seen appearing and disappearing around the cake. One of them, a tall and thin figure, had his eyes closed and his hands clasped in front of his chest as he made a wish. Someone placed a freshly folded paper wreath on his head.

Among the six, Ke Yongzhu was particularly difficult to ask to sing this kind of song.

When the microphone was in the hands of this grumpy elementary school student, he frowned, his mouth agape without making a sound. He repeatedly pretended to be about to sing, but actually turned his head away, staring intently at his family's reaction. If anyone laughed, he could then put down the microphone without a second thought and stop singing.

As a result, everyone sitting on the sofa seemed to have reached a consensus on the "Don't Laugh Challenge," with serious expressions on their faces, trying their best not to laugh, and whoever laughed would lose.

Bai Zini's lips twitched slightly. Eventually, she couldn't hold back any longer, so she stuffed a piece of cake down her throat, lowered her head, and chewed it in big bites while trying to suppress her laughter. Her cheeks bulged out like a panda's. This was her last trump card.

After several attempts, Ke Yongzhu finally decided to put her mouth close to the microphone. As soon as she sang the first word "祝" (zhu, meaning "wishing") in "祝你生日快乐" (Zhu Ni Sheng Ri Kuai, meaning "Happy Birthday"), Bai Ziling, who was usually silent and indifferent to everything, suddenly chuckled softly. Ke Yongzhu immediately turned her head and glared at her.

Seeing Ke Yongzhu's gaze, she tried to maintain her composure, so she picked up a piece of cake and held it to her mouth and face. With her red eyes lowered, she deliberately coughed twice, her pale white hair swaying slightly on her shoulders.

Seeing her like this, Ke Mingye, who was sitting next to her, couldn't hold back any longer. He pretended to be playing on his phone, but actually he was slamming his right hand on the sofa so hard that he almost broke the armrest.

Ke Yongzhu's face darkened, he put down the microphone, pounced on Ke Mingye, and slammed him onto the sofa, repeatedly bumping his head against his chest. This caused Ke Mingye to knock over the cake he was holding, which smeared all over the sofa. He shouted, "No! I haven't eaten my cake yet!" while laughing so hard he almost fell over.

It's clear that this little brat showed mercy; he didn't turn into a dragon and bite him—that's more than enough.

Just as the two were playfully fighting, the door opened, and Ke Youqing and Bai Wenna returned home.

Bai Wenna saw a piece of cake smeared on the living room sofa, the cream stains sliding down the armrest, patches of brown and white. Just as she was about to explode in anger, Ke Youqing stopped her, took the cigarette from his mouth, and said something. She sighed, finally only saying, "Don't let it happen again."

Bai Zini jumped off the sofa, ran to the entrance, grabbed their hands, pressed their shoulders to make them sit on the sofa, and then forcefully shoved the microphone into Ke Youqing's mouth.

The elderly father took a deep breath, his face expressionless, and looked solemnly at the lyrics.

However, the moment he began to sing in his deep, honest voice, some people around him laughed so hard they knelt on the ground and rolled around, some spat out the cola they had just taken a sip of, and some rubbed their acupoints and started chanting Buddhist scriptures.

Time flies, and the setting sun slowly sinks below the horizon, taking away the last rays of light that had bathed the city.

Bai Zini went to the bathroom, leaving her phone on the sofa. Her second brother, Ke Xiaomo, picked up the phone, held a slice of cake, and walked towards the stairwell.

He had just memorized Bai Zini's screen unlock gesture, so he easily entered the correct password, opened WeChat, and glanced at her chat messages with Ke Mingye.

[Ke Mingye: I'm in the elevator now. Is Second Brother still in the restroom?]

[Bai Zini: Right, I haven't been out. I hope I didn't faint?]

[Ke Mingye: He's probably playing on his phone in there. You often play on your phone in the bathroom too, sometimes staying for half an hour at a time.]

[Bai Zini: Isn't this just like you guys? Like father, like son. I've already turned off the lights and drawn the curtains. Ziling even went to find the leftover firecracker and banner from last year. We're just waiting for you to come back, bro, hurry up!]

[Ke Mingye: Okay, if I don't arrive, you and Ziling stay outside the restroom and don't let him come out. I'll give him a surprise when I get here.]

[Bai Zini: Okay. 】

After reading the record, Ke Xiaomo put away her phone, leaned against the wall, and half of her face was hidden in shadow.

"Was my judgment wrong? Mingye is still the same Mingye, it's just that I'm being paranoid." Thinking this, he turned his gaze to Ke Mingye.