Only I Walk Alone

As the only child of an unknown civilization, he was adored by everyone from birth, knowing that after everyone else had passed away, this child would become the only individual of his civilization. If he was unlucky enough to live long, he might even witness the real end of days.

This civilization survived on this harsh planet thanks to a divine artifact. If the energy of the divine artifact were exhausted, all life within it would die.

Although the child was adored by thousands, as an adult, he was still allowed to choose a job, and he chose to be a time-sensitive reporter, engraving words on the metal plate.

The child grew up watching this metal plate and developed a deep affection for it. He enjoyed engraving and writing such time-sensitive reports, so he chose to become a time-sensitive reporter as he grew up.

The adults did not stop him, but one by one, they left.

The young time-sensitive reporter would write on the metal plate every time such an event occurred, “In the year XXX, on day XX, the kind Grandpa XX left this world. I still remember the XX he planted, sour and sweet, my favorite food…”

Many of the elderly felt sorry for this time-sensitive reporter because he had to send off one elder after another, then live alone in this divine artifact space.

However, the young time-sensitive reporter did not feel lonely or sad. He immersed himself in his work. People of this unknown civilization were like that; when they engaged in work they loved, they could ignore everything else.

Even if the end of the world was approaching, those who planted would continue to plant, those who built would continue to build, and those who were supposed to report time-sensitive news would continue to do so.

Would the apocalypse not come if you stopped doing these things?

However, when there were only forty-five years left until the energy of the divine artifact was exhausted, the last old person of this civilization passed away. This old person was tearful when leaving, saying to the middle-aged time-sensitive reporter, “Child, I’m leaving, how will you survive alone?”

After the last old person left, the time-sensitive reporter became the last individual of this civilization. He suddenly felt bewildered. When he engraved on the metal plate, “In the year XXX, on day XX, Grandma XX left. She was very sad when she left. She had no regrets about her own life, only sadness for me. From today onwards, I am the last individual of this civilization. I will write my final report at the bottom of this metal plate. That way, even if I die suddenly one day, I will have fulfilled my duty.”

The time-sensitive reporter finally became the last living individual of his civilization. The food stored in the divine artifact was enough for him to live until natural death. He had nothing to do except write time-sensitive reports on the metal plate.

But from that day on, the letters of his reports became much smaller, almost one-tenth of the previous size, because from now on, no one else would read the metal plate. From now on, he alone would continue to write down every significant event on the metal plate.

“XXX year XX day, I am now fifty years old, an old man. I have lived alone here for nearly ten years. Today, there is nothing to record, but this metal plate is all that’s left in my life. If I don’t record something, I don’t know what else to do.”

“XXX year XX day, I often wonder, should I hate my parents? If it weren’t for them, I might not have to experience this alone. Even if I were the last to leave, I wouldn’t have to wait so long. Maybe it would have been better if I hadn’t been born?”

“XXX year XX day, I could commit suicide at any time, but I won’t do that. I suddenly want to see what the real end of days looks like. Until the end comes, I will continue with my job, even if no one reads what I write.”

“XXX year XX day, the energy of the divine artifact is still depleting. Probably in four more years, the apocalypse will come. I guess, at that time, this planet will cool instantly, and I will become an ice sculpture. But this metal plate might remain. Maybe, millions of years later, some civilization passing by will see this metal plate, interpret its text, and see the nonsensical ramblings I’ve written alone for over forty years.”

“XXX year XX day, one more year to go. Sorry, because my eyes are blurry, my hands are weak, and my mind is not as sharp, so it takes a long time to engrave a few words. I didn’t expect there was such a long distance to the last time-sensitive news at the bottom. Forty-four years ago’s news, huh?”

“XXX year XX day, I wonder if an alien civilization seeing this metal plate would understand what it feels like to survive alone? I’ll tell you, now I only feel calm, as calm as the darkness. There’s nothing, I feel nothing. Every time I close my eyes, it feels like I’ll never open them again. Speaking of which, why is there only one sun in the sky now?”

The sudden turn in the time-sensitive report immediately caught the attention of Wu Ge and the others.

Scientists had already been conducting mathematical simulations. One of them said, “This is a triple sun alignment. Because of the three-body motion, all three suns and this planet were in a straight line, with the other two suns obscured!”

Someone asked, “What happens during a triple sun alignment?”

The scientist answered, “Massive gravitational forces. The gravitational forces of the three stars will overlap, and the amplified gravitational pull will draw the planet back!”

People were shocked. If that were the case, wouldn’t the divine artifact on the planet be replenished with energy? In other words, the critical danger to this civilization never really existed.

However, some scientists contested this point, saying, “No, this is the real apocalypse. The speed at which the planet is pulled back clearly exceeds the three stars’ three-body motion. The planet will be devoured by the stars!”

But in fact, the planet was only fragmented, not devoured, which was enough to prove that the scientist’s prediction was incorrect.

What exactly happened, everyone could only continue reading to find out.

“XXX year XX day, the suns are growing larger, the rate of energy decrease in the divine artifact has slowed. If this continues, the energy of the divine artifact should be replenished, and the apocalypse may not come. But if that’s the case, what was all this for? We stopped procreation sixty years ago. We didn’t want our descendants to face the end of days. But what have we actually done? We led our own race to extinction! We didn’t want our descendants to suffer, to face disasters, to believe that our descendants could save our race, so we vanished. How sad is this!”