A silent, boundless cosmos.

  Within an absolute stillness where sound itself cannot exist,nearly two trillion vast legions of galaxiesdrift slowly through an immeasurable flow of time.

  Beyond the darkness where even light fails to reach,the fading afterglow of quasars scatters in faint traces.Immense structures, each cradling hundreds of billions of stars,pulse softly—as if they were alive.

  Between galaxy clusters whose limits cannot be perceived,among countless galaxies,there is only one.

  The only stage that belongs to us.

  The Milky Way.

  A colossal structure spanning roughly one hundred thousand light-years in diameter,with a thickness of one to two thousand light-years.Within it,between one hundred and four hundred billion stars blaze like boiling fire,and the number of planets orbiting themreaches an astonishing ten quadrillion.

  Sixty-six million years ago—

  from a deep valley of the universe,long cooled, dark, and frozen,a massive cometslipped forward through spaceat a speed even light could not overtake.

  Ten to fifteen kilometers in diameter—a mass comparable to stacking two Mount Everests side by side.

  Though classified as mid-sized,the energy sealed within itwas enough to erase an entire civilizationwithout leaving a trace.

  Trailing the echo of near-light speed,the comet surged in silencetoward a boundlessly blue planet—

  Earth.

  Even then,all life on the planetremained utterly unawareof the immense presence of deathdescending from above.

  Across the endlessly stretching land,countless living beingswere simply living out an ordinary day.

  Some herbivores lowered their heads,gently tearing at soft blades of grass.Others inhaled the warm scent of soiland stepped forward with curious intent,searching for prey.

  A predator that had finally succeeded in the hunttore into the trembling flesh of its victimwith razor-sharp teeth,quietly continuing its survivalas if nothing were wrong.

  No one knew.

  Beyond the distant sky,a colossal catastrophewas already accelerating.

  The blue Earth—then as now—was a planet of life,where radiant beautyand ruthless survivalbreathed side by side.

  The moment the comet,racing through weightless space,let its jagged surfacegraze the planet’s blue atmosphere—

  the ice and rocky particles coating its exteriormelted under extreme heat,erupting outwardin explosions of molten, plasma-bright light.

  Atmospheric frictionsent temperatures soaring to thousands of degrees in an instant.The comet began to meltbefore it ever reached the ground.

  Fully captured by Earth’s gravity,the body accelerated even further,dragging behind ita long, burning tail of fire.

  That tail—like a massive scar slashed across the sky—became red and black smoke,scattering endlessly through the air.

  And then—

  impact.

  Before sound could follow,the surface of the planet collapsed inward,shattering like thin glass.

  Earth’s outer shellwas carved out deep and wide,as if a colossal spoonhad scooped away the planet’s fleshin a single motion.

  Immediately after the collision,a flash brighter than the sun erupted.In less than a tenth of a second,an unimaginable pressure wavedetonated outward.

  A superstorm spanning thousands of kilometersfanned out in every direction.

  The shockwave obliterated everything in its path—

  forests,mountain ranges,even oceans—

  ripping them apartlike sheets of paper.

  The ground twisted violently.Boulders hundreds of meters acrosswere hurled skyward,then swept away by the stormand scattered like dust.

  The thunder that followedrolled across the entire planet,as if Earth itselfwere screaming.

  High into the sky,a colossal mushroom cloud rose—as though tearing open the heavens.

  It forced the air asideand expanded at a maddened speed.Dust and shattered rock erupted in its wake,forming dark crimson cloudsthat spread endlesslybeyond the horizon.

  At last—

  those cloudsbegan to coverthe entire Earth.

  Sunlight vanished.The sky was staineda blood-red darkness.

  This was no accident.

  It was a catastrophe in whichEarth’s entire ecosystemcollapsed in a single instant.

  Upon the planet of life had arrived—the true end.

  Yet at that very moment—

  inside the situation roomof Reapers Inc. headquarters,everything was calm.

  “Operation successful.”

  As the brief report concluded,restrained cheers rippled through the room.

  A report file unfolded in midair.Employees exchanged quiet smiles,lightly patting one another on the shoulder.

  Earth Reset Operation.Operation Reset: Earth.

  After long preparation,the planwas finally executed.

  And then—

  a very long time passed.

  --

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