After All Humanity Has Vanished from Earth

"After all humanity has vanished from Earth, there was a knock on the door again..."

Ryan Miller first stumbled across this line when he was in middle school, flipping through a sci-fi magazine.

At the time, he was just blown away by how wild and imaginative it was.

The world was empty of people, and yet, there was a knock on the door. Was it aliens? Or animals? Or something else entirely?

Apparently, that one-liner won the author the top prize for the shortest sci-fi story that year.

And even after a decade, Ryan still remembered it like it was yesterday.

But he never, ever thought he'd actually live through something like that.

It all started on February 2, 2020 (20200202) - a once-in-a-lifetime palindromic date - when Ryan received a mysterious helmet via courier.

It was mysterious because there was no return address, just Ryan's name and address, and it was left right at his doorstep.

Ryan, a typical office drone, wasn't exactly Mr. Paranoid. He took the package home and tore it open without a second thought. Inside was a black helmet that looked a bit like a motorcycle helmet but with some weird differences.

Ryan held it in his hands and examined it closely. He couldn't tell what material it was made of, but it felt really good to the touch. There was also a button on the left side that looked like a power switch.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he pressed it. Immediately, a voice came from inside the helmet. "Player not detected. Please put on the game helmet."

Ryan paused for a second. He'd heard of game helmets before.

They were always in those sci-fi books and movies, the kind used for virtual reality gaming. Actually, in the world of online gaming novels, they were often referred to as one of the two ultimate gadgets, alongside the game pods.But in real life? No way. No one had even heard of any game company developing such a device. Everyone was using AR glasses these days."Player not detected. Please put on the game helmet."

The voice repeated. Ryan felt a strange sensation in his heart. Was this some kind of prank? Someone sending him a fake helmet just to mess with him?

Ryan picked up the helmet, glanced at it, and suddenly chuckled. Without a second thought, he slapped it on his head. "Alright, let's see what the hell this is about."The next moment, Ryan heard the sound of a mechanical system prompt ringing out.

"Player detected. Binding account... Biological info binding complete. Genetic info binding complete."Before Ryan could even process what was happening, a sharp pain shot through the back of his head, like a needle had just been jabbed in. He didn't even have time to react before everything went black.

When he came to, the world was empty.Not a soul in sight on the streets, in the subways, malls, or office buildings.It was so quiet. It was creepy. The usual hustle and bustle, the noise - all gone. His phone was dead, no signal.Ryan couldn't believe it. He found a car with the keys still in the ignition and drove around the city all day, searching for anyone, anything. But there was nothing. No birds in the sky, no ants, no cockroaches, no rats on the ground.He even drove out to the city zoo, but it was just as empty as everywhere else.Ryan was completely baffled. He couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on.

It was like everyone had just vanished into thin air in a moment, leaving him as the last person on Earth.Had they been abducted by aliens?Was it a nuclear attack?Some top-secret government experiment gone wrong?

A thousand thoughts raced through Ryan's mind, only to be dismissed just as quickly, because none of them made any sense.The world was silent, except for the hum of his car engine.It was so quiet it made his skin crawl.

Ryan took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. Then he started the car and headed out of Fallford. If this city was empty, maybe the next one wouldn't be.

Just then, a series of prompts started echoing in his head.Hyper-spatial connection restored." Player detected in logged-in state. Running game eligibility test...""Generating mission based on player's environment..."

"Mission generated.""Mission released.""Newbie mission: To survive!"

"Mission objective: Do whatever it takes to stay alive in this virtual world. The longer you survive, the better the newbie rewards.""Warning: Death in this virtual world means brain death in real life."Ryan was stunned upon hearing that. The prompt was the exact same voice as the one from the helmet, and it was talking directly to him, inside his head.As he was still bewildered, a virtual red digital number suddenly appeared before his eyes."Survival time: [0:01]."But then, the red numbers gradually faded away until they vanished right before Ryan's eyes.

Ryan was stunned. He slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a sudden halt in the middle of the road.For a moment, he couldn't figure out what was going on. Everything felt weirdly off.However, judging from the voice prompt he had just heard, it seemed that the root cause of this bizarre situation was the game helmet!As Ryan was still reeling from the shock, a sudden peal of thunder roared through the sky.He looked up just in time to see a blinding white lightning bolt split the sky, bright even in the middle of the day.The sky darkened abruptly, and a light drizzle began to fall.The rain was so light it looked like mist.Ryan glanced up at the sky outside his car window, puzzled, but he didn't pay much attention since the rain was so light.Right now, the most important thing for him was to figure out what this game was all about."How do I get out of this game?"Ryan muttered, still driving towards Riverton.Survive for the minimum required time, and you can exit the game," the voice replied."How long is that?"

"90 days. After that, each extra day you survive increases your reward by 10 times."

Ryan furrowed his brow slightly. 90 days - three months. If he were on a deserted island, that might be a real challenge.But in a first-tier city with abundant resources, even a year didn't seem too difficult.This newbie mission felt way too easy.Ryan was puzzled, but at least he knew there was a way out now."What are the rewards?" He asked.

"They're calculated based on how long you survive. They're random, and I can't tell you what they are ahead of time."

Ryan was speechless and rolled his eyes. This was basically just empty promises—talking about rewards without ever saying what they actually were.

"Am I really the only one in this game world?"

"Yes"