My youth story cannot be a knight war

Day two.

05:35 PM

Scientific Police Research Institute, Metropolitan Police Department, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

"what is that?"

Kyosuke Kousaka, with two deep dark circles under his eyes, began to speak, and then repeated it expressionlessly at the end, like a tape recorder.

"What exactly is that?"

"...Including you, Kousaka-kun, I've heard at least fifty-four people ask me this question since yesterday, an average of at least two per hour."

Ebina, who was sitting on the chair in front of him, also had visible dark circles under his eyes, messy hair, and even a burning cigarette in the corner of his mouth. His tone was full of the irritability that was unique to programmers who had stayed up late.

"Did you all collude? Even the sentence structures you use are exactly the same."

"Because we all have the same question now, the way we ask it is naturally the same."

Kousaka nodded noncommittally, then pointed his finger at the computer screen in front of him.

There were two pictures displayed on the computer screen. The former was the earth wrapped in endless black fog, and the latter was the wheel of fire floating in the universe. Both of these pictures were taken by satellites launched into outer space by humans. It was when he saw these two pictures that Kousaka realized how serious the situation had become.

This was a true planetary crisis. The murders previously committed by the Gurongi pale in comparison to the scale of this crisis. If this crisis could not be handled properly, the word "humanity" would forever become a part of the history of this planet's long life.

Even this planet, and even the solar system, will become a thing of the past in the universe.

"I won't elaborate on the situation. I think you, Ms. Ebina, know more than I do. So, what I want to ask is, what exactly is 'Ultimate Darkness'?"

"I believe that with Miss Ebina's scientific knowledge and techniques, you must know a lot now."

This time, he didn't test or make any other moves, but asked directly. Kousaka believed that even if Ebina had many secrets, he wouldn't hide anything at this time, because this concerned the safety of everyone.

"Tsk~ 'Ultimate Darkness' is an existence that doesn't belong to our dimension, or rather, a force."

Ebina made an unhappy clicking sound and answered Kousaka's question crisply.

"Although I couldn't believe the answer when I got it, it is the only and most powerful explanation for all these phenomena that violate the laws of science."

"Not from this dimension? What do you mean?"

"It's just... Oh well, forget it."

Kousaka frowned, and Ebina was about to explain enthusiastically, but after seeing his expression, he immediately lost interest and said silently, covering his forehead.

"I won't explain the scientific concepts of this to you, Kosaka-kun. Your brain wouldn't understand anyway. I'll just be straightforward and put it in terms that even a warrior can understand."

"?"

"In short, Kosaka-kun, you can understand that the Earth has now been swallowed by a black hole as defined by astronomy. It's that simple."

Veins were visible on Kousaka's forehead, but Ebina ignored his twitching eyes and continued talking to himself.

"Black hole? Are you kidding me!?"

This answer made his expression change involuntarily, because even someone with limited scientific knowledge like Kosaka knew how outrageous Ebina's answer was.

"If it were a black hole, the entire Earth would have been torn to pieces by now. We wouldn't even be sitting here."

"I never thought that you, Kosaka-kun, actually possess even the most basic scientific knowledge. This truly comforts me~"

"Hey……"

"Kousaka-kun, you're absolutely right. This is actually the most incredible part right now, and the source of all these anomalies."

Under Kousaka's speechless gaze, Ebina smoked the lady's cigarette in his mouth in one breath, and then put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray on the table where a pile of cigarette butts were already piled up.

She exhaled a circle of smoke from her lipstick-painted mouth, watched the smoke ring float up, and then wrapped around the chandelier above her head. Ebina's tone suddenly became solemn.

"The black hole is just an apt metaphor, but when the 'ultimate darkness' descended, I bet that the human race would have completely vanished from this planet, regardless of anything else... But the fact is, I can still sit here and chat with you, Kousaka-kun."

"Kousaka-kun, have you ever heard of the 'will of the planet'?"

“…What is that?”

"...In short, someone in the scientific community once proposed a hypothesis. According to some scientists' research and evidence, the Earth's atmospheric balance is actually not suitable for the reproduction of humans or other life forms. However, there is a reason why we can still exist today."

"That scientist hypothesized that this planet possesses an invisible force, unobservable by science, that permeates the entire planet and consciously regulates the planet's natural movements, adjusting the world to an environment suitable for life. This invisible and intangible force is the so-called 'planetary will.'"

"Wait, Ms. Ebina, are you saying..."

Upon hearing this, Kousaka couldn't help but interrupt Ebina and asked in the face of her slightly displeased look.

"Is it because there's a force on this planet that's resisting it and protecting us that allows us to still exist and not be swallowed by the 'black hole' of 'Ultimate Darkness'?"

"You can understand that."

Ebina nodded in confirmation of his statement.

"But the root of everything we're seeing today lies here... For example, the 'haunting' phenomenon happening around the world right now."

She curled a strand of her hair between her fingers, wrapped it around her knuckles and slowly lifted it up, speaking softly.

"Kousaka-kun, do you know? Black holes are the ultimate product of gravity in the universe. According to the theory of relativity, generally speaking, the stronger the gravity, the slower the flow of time. Black holes are celestial bodies with the strongest gravity, so near a black hole, time becomes extremely slow."

"Some scientists have proposed that if a human fell into a black hole, their own existence information and time would 'stop' at the event horizon, which could be understood as another form of immortality... But this kind of immortality is even more terrifying than death, and humans simply cannot endure this form of existence."

"But now, having fallen into the 'black hole' of 'Ultimate Darkness,' we still retain a clear sense of self and our original form of existence. This is because this unknown force protects us on a physical level, but not completely."

"This force and the 'Ultimate Darkness' have achieved an extremely delicate balance, and this balance has created the anomalies in our current world. All the physical laws of this planet have been completely disrupted by the collision of these two forces, even the conceptual definition of time has been affected."

“The current flow of time is like my hair, and our existence is this finger.”

Ebina swayed to one side, and the soft hair swirled out from her slender fingers, the process was extremely smooth.

"Now, time no longer flows forward, but instead spirals. The past, present, and even the future as defined by humans all intersect and occasionally collide in a chaotic timeline."

She pulled her phone out from under her skirt again, turned on the screen, and waved it in front of Kousaka.

At the very first place on the communication record interface, an English name called "Martin Elvis" is listed.

"For example, three hours ago, I received a call from Professor Martin, my former advisor at MIT. He asked me to help record data during the experiment later."

"But the professor... and all the other people responsible for the experiment died in an accident that occurred during that experiment many years ago."

"I happened to be busy with other things that day, so by accident I became the sole survivor of that experiment... according to subsequent records."

Slowly putting down the phone, looking at Kousaka's pupils shrinking because of these words, Ebina's voice became extremely low at this moment, and an indescribable darkness flashed in his eyes occupied by dark circles.

"...So, it was a call from the past, and that's the truth behind most 'haunting' incidents today."

"The past and the present...intersect???"

An electric-like numbness surged from deep in his spine. The unprecedented shock made Kousaka clench his fists. This answer was far beyond his imagination.

"More than that, because as time goes by, I receive more and more calls... I even have feedback from some former classmates who chose to stay on to teach at MIT after graduation. Many of them have now seen classmates and professors who died in the accident. Yesterday, there were thirteen sightings, and today there were twenty-seven."

"The number has doubled? Wait..."

The number of sightings, which doubled compared to yesterday, made Kousaka feel something was wrong. The next moment, a flash of lightning seemed to pass through his mind, and he suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"Could it be that—this power that protects us is gradually disappearing!?"

"That's right. According to the predictions transmitted by MIT's computers to the global scientific community, this power can only last for seven days at most... and now, two days have already passed."

The atmosphere in the entire laboratory seemed to freeze at this moment. Ebina raised his head, and his eyes met Kousaka's. They saw the same hidden horror and terror in the depths of each other's eyes.

"Right now, the 'Ultimate Darkness' and this force are counteracting each other, forcing time to 'stand still,' which is why we can coexist peacefully... But once this force completely disappears, the 'Ultimate Darkness' will descend, and nothing will be able to stop it."

"I don't know what the situation will be like then, but I am sure that if we can't find a solution within the remaining five days, then after five days..."

"It's the end of the world."

3. Questioning (4k)

After Ebina Hina finished speaking, a silent atmosphere lingered in the laboratory for a long time. The two people present did not speak for a long time, immersed in their own thoughts.

"The end of the world" is a concept and noun that has long been taken for granted by modern people. This word can be seen in countless literary works and movies, and it has even reached the point where it causes aesthetic fatigue.

Ultimately, though, those are nothing more than invented concepts. The closest period in human history to this term has been the peak of the bipolar Cold War over forty years ago. For people like Kousaka Kyosuke, that period is a lost history, devoid of any sense of reality.

But when this concept that only existed in history and fantasy actually became a reality and was even visible to the naked eye, Kosaka finally understood what it felt like.

"My heart feels like it's being weighed down by a huge rock" is not enough to describe the suffocating feeling I feel inside. This is the terror that the whole world may collapse at any moment, and it must never be made public.

Otherwise, the human world will meet its end before the natural world.

“…Is there any solution?”

Kousaka pinched the bridge of his nose, suppressing his irritation and fatigue, and asked calmly.

"Now you are the ninety-seventh person to ask me this question, Kousaka-kun."

Ebina pulled out a box of ladies' cigarettes from the pocket of his white coat, took out a cigarette and put it between his lips while speaking incoherently.

"In fact, every reputable scientist in the global scientific community is currently debating and seeking solutions to this problem. The meeting has been going on since 10 o'clock last night. I just attended a video conference two hours ago... But unfortunately, I think that with current human scientific capabilities, solving this problem is about as difficult as asking an unevolved half-ape to teach calculus to art students and expecting them to get a perfect score."

"It's not that there's no hope, but the success rate is at least a dozen decimal places below 0."

"Then, Miss Ebina, what is your solution? Apart from anything else, I believe that knowing the truth of this incident, you must have a solution in mind, right?"

Kousaka automatically ignored the second half of Ebina's complaint and stared at her intently. The cigarette butt lit by the lighter flashed a faint red light, which reflected in his eyes like a bonfire burning in the darkness, stubbornly unwilling to go out.

"Huh~ If you say there is, there is."

“What’s the success rate?”

"Kousaka-kun, I hope you understand the current situation. The incident you're facing isn't a terrorist attack or a plague, nor is it on a completely different level from the Gurongi's previous killings... What's unfolding before our eyes is a catastrophe the likes of which has never occurred since the birth of this planet."

Ebina took a puff of his cigarette, blew out the smoke rings and said indifferently.

"Statistics and probability have lost their accuracy in the face of an event comparable to the Biblical 'Day of Judgment.' Every step we take is like groping for a foothold on the foggy abyss. Whether we succeed or fail, we can only attribute it to fate."

"I'm sorry, Zaimokuza and I both believe that 'man can conquer nature', because that's how we've come so far."

"...You're becoming more and more eloquent, Kousaka-kun."

The burning speed of the front end of the cigarette suddenly slowed down, and white nicotine mist overflowed from the corners of his mouth. At this moment, Ebina's eyes seemed a little empty behind the drifting smoke.

"As I said before, excluding today, the remaining five days are the final deadline for this world. But from another perspective, this is also the only window of opportunity to implement remedial measures."

"Now, the past, present, and even future of our understanding of time have all spiraled together. This is a bizarre superposition state that is unheard of even in the theory of relativity. This means that if we change something in the present that has historical significance for both of our lives, we can even affect the 'past' and 'future' through the 'present'."

"The same is true of the 'Ultimate Darkness'. It should have already descended upon this world, but now, trapped alongside us in a paradoxical spiral of time, it exists in a dual state of 'already descended' and 'never descended'... And this is the only way for us, and indeed this world, to survive this catastrophe."

"How to say?"

Hearing this, Kousaka immediately perked up and listened attentively to every word Ebina said next.

"'Schrödinger's Cat'... I assume that even if you, Kosaka-kun, lack scientific knowledge, you've heard of this world-famous experiment, right?"

"The famous and eternal enemy of cat lovers, of course I've heard of it... Wait."

Suddenly frowning, Kousaka held his chin with his palm, his eyes swaying thoughtfully.

"Miss Ebina, are you suggesting that we change the observational state of that cat (world) from the fact that 'Ultimate Darkness' has arrived' to a different observational outcome where 'it has not arrived'?"

"Bingo~! That's it, but our goal is actually to go one level higher."

Ebina snapped his fingers and looked at Kousaka with a half-smile.

"That is, we need to kill that bastard observer who put the 'cat' in the box. It would be best if we burn his ashes and mix them with cement to make bathroom floor tiles~"

"Question: Which bastard did something so outrageous as to incur the 'Ultimate Darkness'?"

“…Number Zero.”

Speaking of this code name, Kousaka's expression changed from solemn to gloomy in less than a second. Everything now originated from what that guy did.

It is precisely because the unidentified life form No. 0 broke the seal in the beginning and finally brought about the "ultimate darkness" that the world has changed from its original tranquility to the devastated state it is today. Everything he did is not only condemned by both humans and gods, but even the lowest level of hell cannot accommodate the sins caused by No. 0's actions.

"Indeed, from a macroscopic perspective, Zero is the source of everything that is happening today. Without him, there wouldn't be those Gurongi who are killing humans in the modern era, and there wouldn't be the chance for the 'Ultimate Darkness' to descend."

"And it was Zero who brought upon the 'Ultimate Darkness,' but the fact that the 'Ultimate Darkness' has now arrived is in a time paradox. Although I don't know exactly how he summoned the latter, I'm probably in a superposition of these two states."

"In other words, this process can also be considered as still 'ongoing'... If at this moment, the source that created all this process disappeared, what would the result be?"

Ebina held the cigarette between her fingers and waved it rhythmically in front of Kousaka. The half-burned cigarette butt emitted a thick cloud of nicotine. Through this mist and the swaying, burning cigarette butt, her voice now possessed an indescribable depth and conviction in Kousaka's ears.

"To smoke a cigarette, you need to burn it first, and to burn it, you need a fire source. But if the fire source doesn't exist in the first place, it means..."

"Cigarettes will become like they never burned...!"