The world had been glowing red for the past few days, with the meteorite so close that it projected its flames onto the earth, transforming the world into a vast expanse of yellow, orange, and red.

  A general panic reigned in human society, as every day hundreds of people came to pray before Glenn, their god. Despairing of the situation, they knew that no matter what they did, they had no chance of stopping the giant fireball hurtling towards them.

  They were desperately trying to find a solution to the problem. Tension reigned in every corner of the city. Some people continued to work, going about their daily business and trying to ignore the threat.

  But no one could do anything about it; every night, stress, anxiety, and fear filled everyone's hearts. Others, however, had no qualms about doing nothing, spending their days staring at the sky with no hope of finding a solution; some even demonstrated in the streets, shamelessly proclaiming that it was all just the fate of a civilization that had committed evil deeds.

  "Haaaaaa..."

  Meanwhile, in a house quite far from the cities, a lone man sighed. The one who was acclaimed as god and received daily visits about the situation took advantage of one of those only moments of relaxation to sip a magnificent Bora Bora cocktail.

  No matter who he was in the eyes of the rest of the world, in truth, he remained only an immortal human, albeit without powers. There was nothing he could do about the situation.

  "Don't worry" was the only answer he gave to every believer. Deep down, he'd accepted the situation ever since he'd heard that a giant meteorite was coming to crash. Between that discovery and now, he'd done everything he could to enjoy himself as much as possible, living the life of a god.

  Of course, he had never committed any morally reprehensible act but had rather lied unapologetically to human society, proclaiming facts and situations he had experienced in his own time, some hundreds of thousands of years ago.

  Since he had become immortal, he had unfortunately come to understand the fragility of the human race and its particularly short lifespan. In this sense, he felt it was a pity that it was this generation, which was nevertheless trying to rise again, that received this fatality in the face.

  Mathematically speaking, there was only the tiniest chance of something like this happening, and yet it did.

  Glenn, for his part, was calm and serene; he'd lived so long that nothing could really get to him; the only thing that made him rather uneasy was the apprehension of what was surely going to happen to him in a while.

  Being immortal, he would certainly have to wander through space, unable to do anything. That's why he'd decided to have so much fun, and in such a way, because in a while, it would all be over.

  For several days, he had been thinking about how to bring this episode of the gods to a close—in the most amusing way possible, of course. After many long hours, he had finally found the solution that suited him.

  "Hahaha..."

  Just thinking about it and imagining the finality of what was to come, he couldn't help but laugh. If the meteorite didn't stop its fall, tomorrow it would strike the earth with its might, without even giving the planet a single chance.

  After thinking about what he was going to do, he went to see Noé, a young woman who took care of him and his needs, although, to maintain his status as a god, he never asked her for anything except when he was going to announce it to the community and she had to make the necessary preparations.

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  Noé was a lively young woman; after all, who wouldn't be when it came to being paid to do nothing? However, this time her air was morose, almost lifeless, probably because of the threat that was about to arrive.

  "Noé," Glenn's voice was firm and serious. Noé gasped, as if surprised; she was lost in these thoughts.

  "Yes?" In contrast to the smile on her face, her voice was as blank as her expression, with a clear hint of regret for some reason unknown to Glenn.

  "I'd like you to set the stage for an announcement tomorrow morning."

  Noah's face lit up, secretly hoping that the god before her would announce the way to save humanity. Glenn patted her on the shoulder.

  "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

  Noah's expression changed from morose to joyful, only to look relieved. Tomorrow, the earth would be saved, at least for her.

  The next day, a large platform rose above the largest human city created to date. On this platform stood Glenn, wearing a strange outfit considered traditional. In front of him was a camera, enabling him to transmit his message to the rest of humanity.

  It was about time. In the large square below the platform, thousands of people had gathered to listen to the words of their god, the guide of mankind. Glenn watched for a while beneath the platform, still wondering how far he'd gotten with a simple lie.

  Then he cast his gaze skyward, the fireball so close that he could feel the heat emanating from it. Just then, off to the side, Noah beckoned to him, indicating that it was time.

  "Um hum, dear citizens, I stand before you today to announce some great news. First of all, I'd like to say a few things. First of all, I'm proud of our progress; since you came out of the tower, civilization has developed enormously, bringing us today to cities even more prosperous than those of humanity before its destruction."

  "We've experienced several problems along the way, which we've nonetheless been able to face and overcome. I'm proud of how far we've come and especially proud to have shared it with you."

  "I do, however, have an announcement to make!"

  At that moment, the sound of a huge explosion resounded, and everyone looked at the source of this enormous sound: the meteorite had passed through the atmosphere. It was approaching very fast; the heat from it was barely bearable, yet Glenn continued his speech.

  "The meteorite hurtling straight at us is just one more test we have to face. Raise all your arms in the air and use your will to create a force that will go beyond the limits of the world and allow us to wipe out this threat that's coming for us!"

  Everyone raised their arms in the air, using what was left of their willpower to try and transmit forces they didn't know to the god. Glenn, for his part, was rather proud to be able to imitate a technique he'd seen in an old manga back in the day.

  Everyone hoped to the best of their ability to stop the fireball's mad rush. Just before it landed on earth, Glenn took one last look at the camera and then at his audience.

  "Oh, yes, one more thing. I forgot to say."

  Glenn smiled as wide as he could, so everyone could see.

  "Actually, I'm only human; I have no powers. Hahaha, it was a joke! We're all going to die!"

  Everyone's face fell, Noah's and everyone else's, engraving this humorous image in his memory as the meteorite hit the skyscrapers, then the ground.

  Immediately, the earth became a sea of molten lava, flames, and death. Pieces hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers long broke away from the ground and flew high into the sky.

  As for Glenn, he was caught between dozens of red chunks of stone, scarring his body with all manner of wounds that healed instantly, leaving him in excruciating pain.

  Flying in all directions, he collided every second with buildings, hills, lava, etc.

  From his perspective, the world had been turned upside down, with a glowing layer of fire covering the entire visible surface of the earth. In a single instant, the entire human population living on the surface had been decimated; there were no people left.

  It had been thousands of years since Glenn had believed in humanity—far from the role he'd set himself. Ever since he'd seen them kill each other dozens of times for no reason at all and come close to extinction several times, Glenn had stopped believing in the possibility of rebuilding civilization; sooner or later, they would have killed each other once again.

  He felt no specific emotion except the joy of the humorous fresco on everyone's face at the announcement. In this state of mind, he traveled between the stones as the earth disintegrated beneath him. The atmosphere and all the layers protecting the earth had exploded, leaving only destruction and ruins.

  After nearly 700,000 years on Earth, Glenn was finally leaving it, but really, soon he'd find himself in endless space, twiddling his thumbs, hoping for something to happen.