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 international conflicts, energy crises, food shortages, infectious diseases, and economic collapses led to the sequential failure of government functions across the globe. Then, starting from a certain day, human voices almost entirely vanished from the global communication networks. However, not everything disappeared. ⸻ "Stilled Civilization" The streets are still filled with massive amounts 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 humans built. ⸻ Nuclear Power Plants In this era, next-generation nuclear power plants with higher safety and efficiency than conventional types had been built 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. Rusty 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 in renovated 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. Being just a few dozen kilometers apart means "not even knowing if the neighboring settlement still exists." That is why the world is vast. Incredibly vast. ⸻ Yet "Communication" Remains What is particularly strange in this world are the periodic broadcasts. Every day at a fixed time, the same signal is transmitted from communication towers everywhere. "This is [Name] Communication Station. Beginning periodic broadcast." Following this, weather reports, the time, and simple warnings are aired. 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 usual periodic broadcasts 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 prominent feature of this world. Humans exist. And yet, there is solitude. Walking down a desolate highway, you meet no one. Entering a massive city, there are no human figures. 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 [Name] Communication Station. Beginning periodic broadcast." That alone serves as proof that "There are other humans besides myself listening to this world." Atmosphere of the World Quiet. But not complete silence. Signs swaying in the wind. Distant power lines. The sound of birds. Abandoned buildings pelted by rain. Occasional communications. 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, The feeling is strong that "humanity didn't perish," but rather "in a world where humanity vanished, only the wreckage of civilization was left behind." Walking there alone, you truly feel as if you are the only one left in the world.