r/whowouldwin • u/ThePriestofVaranasi • Jul 09 '25

Challenge Every human on Earth vanishes, except for one random person in the US. A button is placed on the summit of Mount Everest that can be pressed to undo this change. Can humanity be restored?

Every human on Earth vanishes without a trace, except for one random survivor: Ethan from the United States. Moments after the disappearance, a mysterious device materializes before him, displaying a message:
"Humanity can be restored. To activate revival, you must press the button housed at the highest point on Earth—the summit of Mount Everest."

Ethan essentially has as much of a prep time as he wants to gather all the essentials like food, water, weapons, vehicles and everything else that has been suddenly abandoned. He can raid supermarkets, libraries, military depots, and pharmacies for supplies. Ethan can still die of old age so this prep time isn't unlimited.

Now, Ethan faces an impossible gauntlet:
He must travel to Nepal and ascend to the summit of Mount Everest without dying.

Can Ethan survive long enough to reach the button and restore humanity?

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u/boomfruit Jul 09 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

Do you, a layperson, have confidence in your ability to run all the systems on a fucking cargo tanker? To deal with maintenance and emergency troubleshooting in the middle of severe weather?

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u/TruculentTurtIe Jul 10 '25

Do you mean to tell me that you don't just pop on the boat and press the big green button labeled "CHINA" and off ya go??

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u/WJLIII3 Jul 10 '25

Nope- let it break. I am banking on it being able to survive one journey without me doing any of that. If that's not viable, trek to Brazil, steal one there, and take it the much shorter way to Morocco, car from there.

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u/boomfruit Jul 10 '25

I am banking on it being able to survive one journey without me doing any of that.

It just doesn't work that way. There isn't a journey without any of that. Maintenance and engine/electrical/hydraulic/other systems troubleshooting isn't just an emergency thing. It's constant and regular.

Personally, as someone who professionally works on boats (tugboats, not cargo ships), I wouldn't think of doing this. I'd try to go the overland route through Alaska and Russia as much as I could, or possibly take smaller boats along the coast; it would be way slower, but I would basically never want to be out of sight of land.