Year 2024, December 13
Humans were living their lives as usual. Everything seems peaceful. Little did they know, the end of the world was about to begin.
"We don't want dictators! We want democracy!" A group of protestors walked around the roads in Yangon. They were protesting to mark the one-year anniversary of last year's coup d'etat.
The atmosphere was tense, almost suffocating, as thousands of protesters gathered, their voices a unified cry for justice. Signs bearing slogans like "Freedom Now!" and "End the Oppression!" swayed above the crowd.
"Ah, these adults don't want to give up yet. They already have enough wealth for their whole lives." a man in the crowd grumbled to a bystander.
The guy next to him raised his eyebrows and said, "We've already had enough. These guys have been keeping a low profile lately. Who knows what they're plotting."[1]
Suddenly, a brilliant white sphere of light appeared among the crowd, momentarily silencing them. Then panic erupted as people realized the gravity of the situation. Even the earth beneath it seemed to melt away, leaving behind a hollow emptiness.
"Run!" Panic spread as people fled in all directions. "Clear the path! The military is resorting to violence!"
People from far behind were confused. "What? Already starting? Run! Alert the others on the opposite sides!"
This mysterious phenomenon didn't occur only in Myanmar, nor was it caused by the military. It affected the entire world, causing widespread suffering. One-fourth of the global population vanished into the mysterious light.
Later, people named this disaster 'Whitening'.
'Whitening' is a bright, white spear of light that appears everywhere. Anything it touches is swallowed up and disappears. No one knows where they disappear.
On December 14, the United Nations officially designated the catastrophe as "Whitening." 1.98775 billion[2] people disappeared. 3.9755 billion[3] injured. However, they didn't have any clue as to where the disappeared people were. Approximately 43000 cases of 'Whitening' occurred solely on December 13. UN formed an organization, GROW, Global Research Over Whitening.
Even though the United Nations announced these facts, the 'Whitening' continued occurring and no one seemed to be able to care.
And so, on December 25th, GROW disappeared from public view. The United Nations was dissolved and all the countries were disbanded. Africa was completely wiped out of the map by the biggest 'Whitening'.[4] A new ocean 'Misforn' emerged, filling the void left behind.
The entire geographical landscape of the world shifted since that moment.
As 'Whitening' continued, the standard of living went completely backward. People started to move from place to place instead of staying in one spot. They are called 'Falks'.
Religions that existed were faded into oblivion due to the decreasing population.
After December 31, people reset the calendar to Year 1. They called it the 'Umbran Calendar'.
Starting from Umbran Year 7, the incidence of 'Whitening' had decreased.
In Umbran Year 6, along with the emergence of 7 gods, 7 new religions emerged. People began to establish city-states.
Umbran Year 13 has begun.
[1] True Event
[2] 1-fourth of population in 2022
[3] Half of populaton of 2022
[4] Biggest 'Whitening' in history