Chapter Five: Film Release: "Alone, Saving the Sole Home of Civilization"

Just as Lin Xiqing’s mind spun countless scenarios utterly unrelated to Su Wen, in the blink of an eye, Su Wen had already vanished into the crowd.

He dared not waste a moment—after all, Director Yan’s lectures were notoriously harsh, not only with a high failure rate but also an alarmingly low pass rate on retakes.

Truly unfortunate to have enrolled in physics.

By the time he reached the entrance of the lecture hall, the room had already settled into a quiet, attentive atmosphere. Only he remained somewhat awkward, drawing the sharp gaze of Director Yan as he edged from the back row toward the empty seats flanking Jiang Menghan.

“Su Wen, right? Twenty minutes late. I’m deducting ten points from your attendance score this semester.”

Director Yan lived up to her name, deducting points without hesitation.

She had spotted him sneaking in immediately.

Young people these days skip class but still manage to look presentable.

Does being handsome add points?

She asked sternly, “Also, did you complete the physics group model assignment I assigned yesterday?”

Su Wen was truly at a loss.

After a day of compulsory labor yesterday, he had been so exhausted he fell asleep immediately. Now, fate had dealt him a double blow.

He glanced at Jiang Menghan beside him, only to be met with her cold, indifferent expression.

With no other choice, he began to fabricate:

“Based on Advisor Gu Liunian’s paper published in the Scientific Journal, ‘Constructing a Shallowly Activated Dark Matter Field Theory Based on the Strong Force,’ I used the Finnish Scientific Information Center’s open-source Elmer software to simulate the divergence field, but only obtained a fluid-like model.”

“Advisor Gu is a renowned theoretical physicist recently,” Director Yan nodded approvingly. “This is an advanced concept he proposed during his visit to the All Souls College at Oxford University. Managing to simulate a fluid-like model is commendable. Su Wen, I hope you put as much effort into punctuality as you do into competitions.”

He had narrowly escaped disaster.

Amid the envious, jealous, and resentful gazes of others, he finally sat down.

The reason for their mixed feelings wasn’t his eloquence, but the fact that this guy was sitting beside Jiang Menghan—the top student of the year and an ice-cold beauty.

And, perhaps, because he was quite handsome.

“Not bad at making things up,” Jiang said.

“Jiang, you’re a lifesaver through and through. If I couldn’t answer, I might as well skip class,” Su Wen muttered.

He figured it was better to get some extra sleep than to die socially multiple times.

“I don’t think it’s that hard for you.”

“Please lower your expectations of me next time.”

“If you score zero next time, I’ll post about it on the Boss community to mock you.”

“That’s too much. Can’t you be less extreme?”

“The ‘strong force affecting dark matter activation’ model you mentioned is interesting. After class, come over to my place and run some simulations.”

“Running a basic theoretical model, especially an unproven dark matter field theory, you want to ruin my second-hand graphics card? Let’s talk about mocking me on the Boss community instead.”

Su Wen’s tone was firm.

Even if she was an ice-cold beauty, she couldn’t touch his graphics card.

Jiang Menghan had nothing to say to that.

...

Time passed swiftly.

Before long, the class ended.

Around them, classmates chatted excitedly about the events of the previous night.

Having slept through half the day and night, Su Wen was somewhat out of touch. He asked the girl beside him:

“Did something big happen last night?”

Jiang Menghan looked at him in mild surprise.

“I thought you knew. An anonymous account released a major film at midnight, and it immediately caused a global sensation.”

Su Wen opened his phone.

As expected, all major video platforms were flooded with it.

The film was titled: Alone, Saving Civilization’s Only Home.

The plot spanned from the Cretaceous to the end of the Origin Era. Due to environmental degradation and ozone layer destruction, the planet’s surface experienced enormous temperature swings between the night and day sides.

The ‘Spaceship Faction’ became the final choice—humanity had to abandon its home planet.

Three thousand years later, the protagonist, who failed to leave in time due to a cryogenic plan, became the sole survivor.

By chance, he connected to the starship’s communication channel.

Supported by the millennia-long technological leaps of starship civilization and remnants of the old era’s resources, the protagonist embarked on an incredibly lonely journey to save humanity.

Su Wen found the figure deeply familiar.

It was modeled after his game avatar, with slight adjustments to resemble a European mixed heritage.

Add to that the astronaut survival suit with helmet worn most of the time.

So, except for himself, hardly anyone would make the connection.

“I used to think home was behind me, but now, we have no home.”

“No matter where human history leads, we have decided to choose hope!”

These two lines became trending quotes.

That day, whether the minstrels by the Aegean Sea, Scandinavian sailors, or office workers in Northern California, everyone was moved by this exquisitely crafted, grand science fiction epic.

Yet, perhaps only Su Wen truly understood.

In the film, three thousand years later, as the starship returned, it witnessed the blooming of the Eden life cycle system and the final inscription.

This was, after artistic embellishment, humanity’s true future.

He nodded, his voice calm.

“Truly moving.”

Jiang Menghan shared a similar feeling.

She disliked melodramas that lowered one’s intelligence.

But who could resist a hard sci-fi epic that bore civilization as its banner and loneliness as its tone?

“I plan to watch it again when I get home.”

Su Wen understood this was likely the result of the “Time-Space Traversal” game.

But he appreciated the story.

Thinking of this, he realized he hadn’t used the appraisal he gained yesterday.

He glanced at Miss Jiang beside him.

Appraisal: Jiang Menghan, five-star extraordinary potential, extremely bad luck.

Experienced widespread cold violence in both middle and high school due to misfortune, possesses a strong personal will, requires thought essence [Sacrifice] or origin knowledge [Spatial Folding] [Curvature Jump] to activate extraordinary potential.

Su Wen didn’t feel that he and Jiang Menghan had known each other long enough to witness any such misfortune.

At most, he’d been officially erased from the Su family registry, had negative bank balance, lived in an old building in the old town, and his bicycle jingled loudly when ridden.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt utterly drained, like autumn leaves falling.

No wonder people often confessed to Miss Jiang only to crash into trees or fall flat on the ground.

He had previously thought this icy beauty’s personality was just a bit off and that she was beautiful, yes—but not beautiful enough to cause tree collisions.

Now, with the appraisal complete, Su Wen realized Jiang Menghan truly was a treasure girl.

There was no sarcasm in that statement.

Since he was already facing a death threat, any misfortune less severe than death was merely a joke to him.

On the contrary, with her five-star extraordinary potential, she might be the key to changing civilization’s future.