Got a question about the story premise.

[Rohomild]

The set-up for the story is that a girl wakes up once a year and paints a number, and everyone that age turns to dust. So is everyone above the age of 33 dead? Or can you avoid dying if you're 32 the year of the story, and 33 by the time the next time she wakes up? Avoiding the curse by a narrow margin.
Is this a world with no old people and the doom of mankind is very near, or a world with a yearly tragedy that's been sweeping over the populace for atlest 77 years?

[groudonvert]

She appeared 67 years before the story starts. Once a year she paints a number that ticks down every year and everybody of that age and above die.
So when the story starts (with Expedition 33) every men and women are 32 or less years old.

It's indeed a world where humanity is doomed to die if the Paintress is not killed.

[DmonHiro]

Nah, you can't avoid the curse. It has an active effect. It kills anyone of that age, and anyone who reaches that age.

[juliejayne]

Except of course that if the Paintress paints a new number every year what happens to those who had a birthday during the year.

I.e. she paints 34. Everyone who is 34 melts away. But if you are 33 you are ok. What happens if you have a birthday the next day or week. I can only presume that these are the people who now go off on the expedition.

[Julius]

very simple, as soon as you reach the number on the monolith you disappear

[Axelhander]

Maxwell Keeper aka The Timekeeper could keep going for a while because he was born on February 29th.

[MJ12]

If the curse would only kill the people of that age *at the moment*, and not the people who reach that age after the painting, most people would survive.
Since its said that humanity is going extinct its safe to say everyone dies, as soon as their age reaches the painted number.

[juliejayne]

Originally posted by Julius:

very simple, as soon as you reach the number on the monolith you disappear

Then why would the Paintress need to paint a new number. As people reached 34 they would simply end. There would be little need to constantly increase the pressure, every year.

And why do the video clips show lots of people melting away together.

[MJ12]

Originally posted by juliejayne:

Originally posted by Julius:

very simple, as soon as you reach the number on the monolith you disappear

Then why would the Paintress need to paint a new number. As people reached 34 they would simply end. There would be little need to constantly increase the pressure, every year.

And why do the video clips show lots of people melting away together.

I mean, the reason why the paintress is doing what she is doing is going to be the big mystery we are going to find out - noone can answer this question yet.
If her goal was to wipe out humanity she could have simply painted a zero and everyone would have disappeared - but things do not seem to work that way.

Also why are we seeing a large group of people disappear? Because she just painted a new number (33), meaning everyone from age range 33years/0days to 33years/364days disappears together at the same time.