About

Era Approximately 30 to 50 years from the present. The world has lost its function as a civilization. The cause was not a single, clear event like a "World War." Instead, a chain reaction of conflicts between multiple nations, energy crises, food shortages, infectious diseases, and economic collapse led to the sequential failure of government functions worldwide. Then, starting from a certain day, human voices almost entirely vanished from global communication networks. However, not everything disappeared. ⸻ "The Halted Civilization" The streets are still filled with a massive amount of man-made structures. Skyscrapers. Highways. Vending machines. Unmanned stations. Shopping malls. Hospitals. Schools. Factories. However, most of them no longer function. Power grids are severed in various places, and urban areas are submerged in darkness. Abandoned cars line the roads, and traffic lights have remained red for years without changing. Meanwhile, vegetation is relentlessly encroaching upon these man-made objects. Ivy covers the walls of buildings, trees grow from cracks in the pavement, and meadows spread across station platforms. Nature is slowly reclaiming the world that humans built. ⸻ Nuclear Power Plants In this era, next-generation nuclear power plants with higher safety and efficiency than conventional types had been constructed worldwide. However, these too are now mostly offline. The reactors themselves did not explode. Rather, "They shut down normally, and no one ever came back." Such power plants are numerous. Giant cooling towers. Rusted transmission towers. Silent control rooms. Empty administration buildings. And the roads surrounding them remain eerily well-maintained. From a distance, it looks as if civilization existed there until only yesterday. ⸻ Survivors Humanity is not extinct. Small communities exist in various parts of the world. The scale ranges from a few individuals to several dozen. For example: * Settlements made by renovating abandoned schools * Residential areas utilizing subway stations * Old campsites in the mountains * Family groups centered around farms * Settlements made by fortifying abandoned factories They do not interact frequently. Even if they are only dozens of kilometers apart, they "don't even know if the neighboring settlement exists." That is why the world is wide. Incredibly wide. ⸻ Yet, "Communication" Remains What is particularly strange in this world are the periodic transmissions. Every day at a fixed time, the same signal is broadcast from communication towers in various regions. "This is [Station Name] Communication Bureau. Beginning periodic transmission." Following this, weather reports, the time, and simple warnings are broadcast. No one knows who is operating them. Is it a human operator? An automated system? Does a massive government organization still exist somewhere? No one knows. Only a voice is heard at the same time every day. And very rarely, messages not found in the regular periodic transmissions are mixed in. "...This is—" "Are there any survivors—" "Please respond." There are those who search for where that voice is being sent from. ⸻ "Feeling Like You're Alone" The most significant characteristic of this world. Humans exist. And yet, there is solitude. Even walking along a desolate highway, you meet no one. Even entering a massive city, there is no sign of human life. Products remain in the convenience stores. Timetables remain in the stations. Desks remain in the schools. And yet, there are no students. At night, distant communication towers blink with red lights. Beyond that, someone might be there. But they cannot be seen. And every night at a fixed time, a voice comes from the radio. "This is [Station Name] Communication Bureau. Beginning periodic transmission." That alone serves as proof that, "Besides myself, there are other humans listening to this world." Atmosphere of the World Quiet. But not complete silence. Signs swaying in the wind. Distant power lines. The cries of birds. Abandoned buildings pelted by rain. Occasional transmissions. And, coming from a city where no one should be, The sound of machinery driving. Civilization is dead. But the things civilization left behind are not yet dead. Therefore, in this world, There is a strong sense not that "humanity has perished," but that "in a world where humanity has vanished, only the wreckage of civilization has been left behind." Walking there alone, you feel as if you truly are the only person left in the world.