Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

Chapter 4 September 14st

When Jiang Ning opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on his bed in his bedroom. He shook his head, feeling as if he had two sets of memories: "What happened yesterday? What happened today?"

He quickly got up to check, wondering if he had been rescued from unconsciousness and taken home, or if the world had turned back a day.

The first thing Jiang Ning noticed was the clothes on her body; her coat was gone.

He climbed out of bed, staggered into the living room, and the dusty television turned on automatically again. On the screen, the host was solemnly saying:

Urgent Notice:

At 9:31 AM today, the sixth instance of a collective "world regression" occurred in multiple locations worldwide. Preliminary verification indicates that all residents within my country experienced the same thing—the physical world reverted to 24 hours prior, while their memories remained continuous. The cause of this phenomenon is currently unclear, and the international community is urgently communicating…

Jiang Ning watched TV quietly for a while and found that the lines were exactly the same as those from "yesterday".

He shook his head, trying to clear his head, and quickly looked around before spotting a small, flickering light in the corner of the sofa, like a breath.

Jiang Ning walked over, took out his phone, and turned it on.

The screensaver displays: March 14, 12:05 PM.

Battery level: 17%.

"Has it really gone back another day?"

Jiang Ning was utterly astonished, both shocked that such a thing had actually happened and shocked that he had experienced it without anyone noticing.

"wrong……"

Jiang Ning immediately recalled her last memory before regaining consciousness: she was walking home when she felt dizzy...

"This is what netizens mean when they say, 'I just felt everything go black, and when I woke up, the world was going backwards!'"

"What kind of mechanism is this?"

"Does it shield perception during time reversal?"

Jiang Ning scratched his head, feeling like he had overlooked something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Forget it, I'll just ask the netizens for advice!"

Jiang Ning looked down at his phone and realized that he needed to re-download many apps.

He shook his head helplessly, quickly re-downloaded the app, and when he opened Douyin, an elderly man immediately popped up on the screen:

"Hello everyone, I am Chen Xiao, the highest-ranking official at the National Emergency Response Center. The sixth emergency response has been activated. I won't announce the latest emergency measures today; I'd like to tell you a short story first..."

The old man had half-white hair, a resolute face, and wore a perfectly pressed black suit. When he spoke, his eyes were like an eagle's, and his gaze was very piercing.

But when he said he was going to tell a short story, his eyes slowly softened.

"Yesterday, a twelve-year-old boy left me a message saying that his father had died before the first 'world regression.' He asked me, 'Minister Chen, if my father were to come back to life, would he still be considered my father?'"

I told him I didn't know.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't!

But I can tell him that his father probably wouldn't want to be resurrected because the world has regressed.

This message is also for you, for everyone who has been resurrected in these seven days, for everyone who has been constantly losing and awakening in the world's regression.

Below is the detailed national emergency response plan for today…

After hearing this short story, Jiang Ning inexplicably thought of yesterday...

No, it shouldn't be yesterday, it's tomorrow.

That's not right either, it can't be calculated for tomorrow...

Jiang Ning felt his mind was in turmoil; this sense of temporal and spatial disorientation made him very uncomfortable.

"That was the little boy with pursed lips who was snuggling up next to Li Dawei during his live stream on the evening of March 15th."

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning immediately began searching for Li Dawei on Douyin based on his memory.

He desperately wanted to know if the terminally ill patient named Li Dawei had passed away on the night of March 15th, just like history had shown.

I also want to know if he is feeling better today?

……

Chen Xiao's seventh speech sparked considerable controversy online.

Especially the line: "A father who has already died probably doesn't want to be resurrected because the world has gone backward."

At first, netizens didn't quite grasp the meaning behind this statement.

But then a comment appeared in the live chat: "Save my child, he's only eight days old, I don't want to lose him."

In an instant, countless netizens understood the meaning behind Chen Xiao's words, and in the blink of an eye, countless "Save my child" comments appeared in the live broadcast room.

At the same time, the topic "Save my child" began to rise in popularity on various social media platforms at a rocket-like speed.

Jiang Ning was initially unaware of this change; he was watching Li Dawei's live stream.

Jiang Ning saw through her phone that Li Dawei looked better today than yesterday, and he seemed very excited, with a stronger voice.

"Thank God, I really am alive again..."

I can't describe the feeling of death. Last night, I just felt my consciousness getting weaker and weaker, and then I really don't remember what happened. But... I died. That's what my family told me, and that's what the doctor said too... But I just felt like I had taken a nap..."

Hearing Li Dawei's description, Jiang Ning looked up at the small altar in the corner of the restaurant and couldn't help but smile. A heart that had been empty for a long time suddenly felt filled.

"Just one year, just one year!"

Jiang Ning thought silently that as long as the world continues to regress by one year, Lin Wei will be resurrected. At that time, she will definitely be like Li Dawei, remembering nothing and only feeling like she has just taken a nap.

Jiang Ning clenched his fist tightly and continued watching Li Dawei's live stream with his head down.

"My God, it's unbelievable, I've actually been resurrected..."

"Can anyone tell me what's going on? My family told me that my seven-day mourning period is over, and now my soul has come back to life..."

"Yes! That's what my mom said too. She said it was like she just took a nap and didn't realize she was dead at all. But when she woke up, she saw her whole family staring at her in horror. She said she was terrified..."

As Li Dawei finished speaking, countless comments immediately echoed his sentiments, expressing similar words of gratitude and sharing similar death experiences.

However, just as everyone was having a heated discussion, a comment suddenly appeared with a different style.

"Li Dawei, do you really want to be resurrected? What about your son?"

This sentence appeared out of nowhere, mixed in with countless bullet comments. At first, no one paid much attention to it, but after a while, such bullet comments began to increase and become more and more bizarre.

"Please save my baby, he's only three months old!"

"Please help my child too, she's only in kindergarten."

"Li Dawei, if the world kept going backwards, and your son might disappear, would you still be so happy?"

……

Li Dawei didn't notice the change in the comments at first, but his wife did.

At first, the haggard-looking woman was taken aback and didn't quite understand the meaning behind those words, but then her expression changed and she subconsciously looked at her son beside her.

This eleven or twelve-year-old boy should not yet understand what death means, but unfortunately, his experiences over the past few days have made him slowly understand some of it.

He also saw the comments...

After a long while, he looked blankly at his mother, his lips pressed tightly together, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

At this moment, Li Dawei finally saw the change in the comments. At first, he and his wife were both stunned, but then their eyes were filled with horror, and then they coughed violently, unable to breathe properly.

His wife rushed over to check, and the live stream started shaking. Then the phone stand used for the live stream seemed to have been bumped, and the camera tipped over to the ground.

"Dawei, Dawei... Doctor..."

Urgent shouts kept coming from the live broadcast, but the onlookers could not see any specific images. Then, a sound of footsteps came from inside the house to outside, and soon after, two more footsteps quickly came from outside the house into the house.

But a very calm voice came from inside the house; it was a child's voice.

The content of the audio sent chills down Jiang Ning's spine when he heard it in the live broadcast room.

"Dad died again..."