Chapter 1: Humanity's Sudden Extinction?

From the moment he opened his eyes, Raymond sensed something was wrong.

The usual chatter of pedestrians outside his window was gone, the blaring horns of cars on the street were silent, and the construction noise from the nearby new housing development had vanished.

Everything was eerily quiet.

Raymond couldn't help but wonder if he had set his alarm wrong. Could it be only two or three in the morning?

But the bright sunlight streaming through the curtains suggested otherwise.

It was summer, so the sun rose early, but it should be at least seven or eight in the morning by now.

Raymond got out of bed, yawning, and walked to the window. He pulled back the curtains with a swift motion and looked outside.

There was not a single person on the street.

What's going on? This is so strange.

Though puzzled, Raymond, who had lived a routine life for many years, calmly got dressed, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and then headed out to see what was happening, planning to grab breakfast along the way.

He didn't encounter anyone on the stairs as he descended.

Walking through the apartment complex, he still saw no one.

Raymond's brow furrowed deeper with each step.

This unusual situation filled him with a growing sense of unease.

As he approached the entrance of the complex, he glanced at the security booth and felt a wave of relief.

Thank goodness, there's someone in the booth.

Finally, someone.

As he got closer, he saw that the security guard, Jack, was slumped over a small table, seemingly napping.

He knocked on the window, "Hey, Jack!"

No response. He knocked again, "Jack!"

Still no response.

The window wasn't locked, so Raymond opened it and reached inside to shake him, "Jack, wake up! I need to ask you something!"

After a few shakes, there was still no reaction.

A sudden, terrible thought crossed Raymond's mind. He tentatively placed his hand under Jack's nose.

No breath!

Dead? He's dead?!!

Raymond recoiled, shocked. Instinctively, he reached out again to double-check. After confirming that Jack was indeed not breathing, he quickly took out his phone and dialed 911. The call went through, but no one answered.

It was like the call disappeared into a void.

"Answer the phone!!" Raymond yelled, panic rising as he looked around at the empty surroundings. Remembering that the nearest police station was just a few blocks away, he started running towards it.

But as soon as he left the complex, his heart skipped a beat.

No one in the complex could be explained away, maybe everyone had gone to watch something happening. But the streets were completely deserted too?!!

And it wasn't the middle of the night!

Wait, there was someone!

Up ahead, a person!

Finally!

But no, it was just a sanitation worker lying on the ground.

Raymond's heart tightened as he ran over, knelt down, and checked for a pulse under the worker's nose.

No breath!

Dead?!!

Standing up, disbelief written all over his face, he gritted his teeth and sprinted towards the police station.

He didn't see anyone else on the way.

Not a single person.

The entire street was deathly silent.

The oppressive and terrifying atmosphere of the bizarre situation made the short distance feel much longer, leaving Raymond breathless when he finally arrived.

Without pausing to catch his breath, he pushed open the glass door of the police station.

There were two officers at the reception desk.

Both were slumped over, as if asleep.

Raymond's pupils contracted, swallowing back the words he was about to shout. He rushed forward and checked their pulses.

No breath!

Neither officer was breathing!

Dead! They're both dead too!

What the hell is going on?!

What happened last night while I was asleep?!

Raymond's eyes were filled with confusion, but more than that, with fear—fear of the strange and horrifying situation before him.

Did war break out? Were we hit by a bioweapon last night?

His mundane daily life shattered at this moment, an incomprehensible and bizarre situation laid out before him.

Staring at the two officers, who looked like they were just asleep but were actually dead, Raymond stood in a daze for several minutes before snapping back to reality.

What... what exactly happened?

Right, the internet! Check the internet!

In this age of information, the internet was undoubtedly a repository of all kinds of information.

Raymond took out his phone, opened the browser, and went to Google. He first searched for "war". The latest news was from 11:44 PM last night, and it was just an article labeling a business competition as a "war." Next, he searched for "bioweapon." The most recent news was almost a month old. Raymond frowned and opened Reddit, checking several popular threads.

But what he found sent chills down his spine.

The threads he checked had millions of followers, and even in the dead of night, there would always be some night owls posting. But in every thread he looked at, the latest comment was at 3:17 AM.

In other words, there were no relevant news reports online. 3:17 AM!

As if everyone's time had stopped at that exact moment!

At that instant, Raymond felt a deep sense of dread. The truth of the situation might be far worse than he could imagine.

Calm down! Think!

As he made his way through the streets, he had only seen that one sanitation worker, no one else. If there had been a war, and a bioweapon was deployed here, and he had somehow been lucky enough to survive, the attack must have happened around two or three in the morning when the streets were almost empty.

But it was already past eight in the morning now.

So, it shouldn't be a war or a bioweapon.

Otherwise, in the few hours that had passed, there would have been some news online!!

Could the information be suppressed? After more than an hour of searching.

Raymond put down his phone.

He had visited many online communities, Reddit, Twitter, major news websites, and although there were occasional posts after 3:17 AM, they were all pre-scheduled.

Why?

Why did everything on the internet stop at 3:17 AM?

Is there something wrong with the internet?

Impossible. Because Raymond was online right now, and he had been online for over an hour.

In other words, the vast internet, with billions of users, had all left their marks up to 3:17 AM today!

An ordinary, unremarkable time.

Hah, it's ridiculous.

After one last look at the dead officers, Raymond walked out of the police station.

At the corner of the street was an internet café that was open 24/7. He crossed the empty road and walked in.

The cashier girl was slumped over the counter, someone was lying in the aisle, and looking around, some customers who had stayed overnight were either slumped over their desks, leaning back in their chairs, or lying on the floor.

This time, Raymond didn't bother to check their pulses.

He didn't need to check to know—they were all dead.

Everyone here was dead.

"Hahaha..." Raymond suddenly felt like laughing.

Ridiculous! This is absolutely ridiculous!

He woke up, and everyone was dead?! Could this get any more absurd?! He opened a nearby fridge, grabbed a can of beer, popped it open with a hiss, and gulped it down.

Raymond wasn't much of a drinker, and the cold beer burned his throat, but he didn't stop.

Draining the can in one go, he clenched the empty can tightly, staring blankly at the internet café filled with corpses.

"What the hell is going on...?"

Back at home.

Raymond took out a notebook and, after some thought, wrote: "June 23, 2025, 3:17 AM. Humanity seems to have gone extinct. On this planet of 510 million square kilometers, it looks like I'm the only one left, living alone."