At 2 a.m. on Monday, a deafening crash and a flash of white light. Ren Shisi blacked out, then woke in a world "exactly the same" as his own: traffic lights changed as usual, the subway ran as usual, and the radio played as usual. The only difference was that there wasn't a single person anywhere. His wife and child, along with everyone else in the city, had vanished overnight.
He fought desperately to get back. On the empty streets, he met the only other living person, Cha Xiaoqi. She said she was "trapped here" too, and accompanied him as he searched for a way home. He trusted her, relied on her, and treated her as a friend he could trust with his life.
Only when he opened the "door home" did he discover the truth: the entire empty city was waiting for one person, and what she wanted was for him to stay. The person he thought was his companion was actually the one who made the rules of this city.
One man, one city built to serve a single person, and a journey home about obsession and letting go.
