The night before his journey, Bhanu carefully opened the last page of the diary again.
At the top of the page, a title was written.
Things You Will Need to Find Taffi's Diary
1. A bag is compulsory.
2. Plenty of food and water.
3. Some wood.
4. Extra clothes.
5. Confidence.
Bhanu stared at the list for a few seconds.
Then his eyebrows slowly tightened.
"What the hell…?" he muttered under his breath.
"That's it?"
He looked at the page again as if expecting more words to appear.
"No weapons? No tools? Nothing for protection?"
He leaned back slightly, confused.
"No one knows what's happening outside our settlement… the world beyond the ruins is completely unknown."
His eyes returned to the last item on the list.
Confidence.
"What does that even mean?" Bhanu whispered.
Despite the confusion, he eventually began packing his bag.
Food, water, some pieces of wood, extra clothes.
Everything on the list.
But the questions in his mind kept growing.
"Ayush said the answers are on page three…"
Bhanu picked up the diary again.
"If that's true, maybe it will explain why we only need this much."
With curiosity burning inside him, he opened page number 3 again.
He had already read most of it earlier, but this time he carefully turned to the next part of the page.
There, another message was written.
"Do not worry about the world outside.
The people and animals living in the bunker where you found this diary are the only surviving living beings on this planet.
Everything else is gone.
All animals.
All insects.
Everything in the sky, underground, and on the surface.
They are all dead."
Bhanu froze.
His eyes slowly widened.
"What…?"
His heart began to beat faster.
"We… are the only living beings left in the world…?"
His mind struggled to process the words.
The impact of the war must have been unimaginable if even creatures living underground could not survive.
For a moment he simply sat there in silence, holding the diary with a shocked expression on his face.
After a while, he took a deep breath and turned back to page number 106.
Maybe there was something else written there.
He quickly scanned the page.
A new line caught his attention.
"Now that your packing is complete, write a letter.
Leave it behind so that your father or whoever you live with will not worry about where you have gone."
Bhanu slowly nodded.
"That… makes sense."
Following the instruction, he took a piece of paper and wrote a short letter explaining that he was leaving for an important journey.
After placing the letter where his father would find it, Bhanu closed the diary.
Tomorrow he would leave.
That night, sleep came slowly.
His mind was filled with thoughts about the ruined world, the ancient war, and the mysterious man named Taffi.
When the morning finally arrived, Bhanu picked up his bag.
Without telling anyone in the settlement, he quietly stepped outside.
The sun had just begun to rise in the east.
Bhanu looked at the glowing horizon for a moment.
Then he began walking.
Toward the east.
With hope in his heart.
But he had no idea how far he would need to travel.
After walking for approximately two hours, Bhanu finally stopped to rest under a tall tree. Its thick branches had grown through the ruins of a destroyed building, as if nature had slowly taken back the world.
He dropped his bag beside him and sat down on a broken piece of concrete.
Breathing heavily, he opened his water bottle and took a few long drinks.
The cool water helped him relax a little.
After wiping the sweat from his forehead, Bhanu pulled out the diary again.
"Let's see what the next step is…" he murmured.
He flipped through the pages until he found the next instruction.
Written on the page were the words:
"Your next step is to find a stone statue holding a book.
The statue is most likely broken now.
So instead of searching for the full statue, look for something that resembles a person holding a book."
Bhanu stared at the page for a few seconds.
Then he sighed.
"What…?"
"How am I supposed to find something like that?"
He looked around at the endless ruins surrounding him.
"This place is huge… there could be thousands of broken statues."
With frustration on his face, he flipped to page number 4, hoping to find another hint.
As his eyes moved across the page, he found another message.
"Do not worry.
Taffi's diary is located near the underground bunker."
Bhanu suddenly froze.
"Wait…"
His eyes widened.
"Near the underground bunker?"
He quickly sat up straight.
"We live near an underground bunker…"
For a moment, hope filled his face.
"Does that mean the diary is somewhere close to our settlement?"
But then another thought appeared in his mind.
"How did Ayush know I would ask this question?"
Bhanu slowly looked at the diary in his hands.
"The way the answers are placed…"
"It's like he already knew what questions would appear in my mind."
A small smile appeared on Bhanu's face.
"That's actually genius."
After resting for a few more minutes, Bhanu stood up again.
He adjusted his bag on his shoulders.
"Alright… back to walking."
Once again, he started moving toward the east.
After walking for another hour, the surroundings slowly began to change.
The ruins here looked very different.
Most of the destroyed structures were made entirely of stone.
Vines and trees had grown everywhere, wrapping around the ancient buildings.
It looked like this place had once been a stone city long before the war.
Bhanu looked around carefully.
"If the statue exists… it must be made of stone."
With that thought, he began searching the area.
He scanned the ground, broken walls, and piles of rubble.
He specifically looked for anything that looked like a person holding a book.
Minutes passed.
Then suddenly—
Bhanu froze.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Wait… is that…?"
Half buried under broken stones was a destroyed stone hand.
And inside that hand…
was a stone book.
Bhanu rushed toward it.
His heart started beating faster.
"No way…"
He crouched down beside it and started to examine it.
It was definitely part of a statue.
A broken stone hand holding a carved book.
For a moment, Bhanu sat there in shock.
Then a proud smile appeared on his face.
"I actually found it…"
But after a few seconds he shook his head.
"Relax. I only found the statue."
"The diary isn't here yet."
Still smiling slightly, he sat down beside the broken stone hand and opened the diary again.
He turned to the next instruction.
Written on the page were the words:
"Congratulations.
You have found the statue.
Now your next step is…"