The Soul in the Void

The endless void churned with a hurricane of nothingness, moving without pattern or purpose. In truth, because the void lacked any physical or philosophical concepts like time or space, the Void Wind was simultaneously infinitely fast and infinitely slow in its rotation, constantly vanishing and reappearing in an instant. Suddenly, after countless teleportations, the Void Wind appeared beside a black sphere. By all logic, concepts like shape or size should not exist in the void, yet this massive black ball possessed a distinct spherical form and an overwhelming sense of enormity. This black sphere was a universe.

The moment the Void Wind arrived at the edge of the Black Universe, something even more incomprehensible than the void itself materialized within the utterly empty wind—a soul.

Punk drifted along with the Void Wind, dazed. He had been on his way back from buying school supplies, worrying about the upcoming Gaokao, and the next second, he found himself in this place that instinctively felt empty, cold, and desolate.

"This is the void—the endless void where the concept of existence has no name." This knowledge came to Punk instinctively. He had no idea where it came from, but he knew it was true, like a newborn breathing and crying without being taught.

Strangely, Punk didn't panic. His first thought was, "Great, no more Gaokao."

Even he found this hard to believe, but having been baptized by countless transmigration novels, he recalled how protagonists in those stories handled rebirth or soul transmigration.

First, gather information about the outside world—whether by listening, looking, or trying the legendary mental perception. He needed to understand if he was in danger, at least to avoid dying without knowing why.

Punk realized he couldn't rely on human perception methods anymore. He was clearly aware that he was in a soul state; sight and hearing were gone. "Then I'll have to try the legendary sixth sense."

With that thought, Punk focused his mind, sending out a strong desire to perceive the outside world. Calming his mind like this was something he could never do before, but now, he easily mobilized his perception, and everything became clear before him.

The first thing Punk perceived was the Void Wind. The hurricane of pure nothingness seemed to have stopped moving, silently rotating at a distance from the Black Universe that was both infinitely far and infinitely close. Punk shifted his attention to the conspicuously massive black sphere that was impossible to ignore. He instinctively knew—that was the universe he was born from.

Punk tried to move, but the almost intangible Void Wind possessed an incomprehensible binding force. He felt as if he were embedded in the wind, unable to budge an inch.

"Looks like I can't go back," Punk sighed helplessly in his heart.

Time did not exist in the void. Punk felt as if countless years had passed, or perhaps only an instant. In truth, even this sensation was an illusion born from his soul's inability to perceive time. The only saving grace was that under the extreme conditions of the endless void, Punk's soul had evolved. Without his knowledge, loneliness and fear could no longer be his enemies—life evolves. To keep his soul from being worn away by loneliness and fear, Punk's soul had excised the emotions of fear and loneliness.

Just as Punk was struggling to move his soul, a massive purple sphere abruptly appeared in his perception. Punk knew this was another universe, but it was a full five times larger than the black one—his home universe where Earth was located. It looked like a soccer ball next to a chicken egg.

Just as Punk wondered why this Purple Universe was so massive, the next instant, the two universes collided. Even the Void Wind Punk was in was scattered, and if not for its protection, he would have been annihilated by the shockwave.

When the two universes collided, Punk felt something that enveloped them rupture. Countless gray fragments burst forth, some vanishing into the void, but most were swept up by the Void Wind and carried along. More information from the two universes became perceptible.

Punk sensed that the black universe, his home, was small but solid and powerful, while the purple one, though magnificent and vast, had many discordant areas. It was like a complete mecha patched up with rubber clay—awkward no matter how you looked at it.

Soon, Punk returned to a state where he could perceive nothing. The protective layers of the two universes seemed to have recovered, blocking all information from both the Black and Purple Universes.

Punk watched helplessly as the two universes pressed together and began to slowly rotate. He guessed it was like two masters wrestling—to an outsider, they just stood still with hands locked, but the danger and turbulence within were known only to the fighters themselves. Now, Punk was that outsider, seeing nothing.

But he soon discovered something new. A gray fragment carried by the Void Wind drifted beside his soul. As the fragment and soul drew closer, when they touched, Punk's soul instinctively devoured the small piece. A warm current flowed through his soul, like soaking in a hot spring in winter—incredibly comfortable.

"What is this? Could it be the legendary World Origin?"

Punk grew excited. "I need more of this good stuff!"

Unfortunately, the fragments were scattered too sparsely and moved too chaotically. Punk watched many fragments fly past his eyes, just barely out of reach of his soul, only to vanish into the darkness without a trace. But after an unknown period of waiting, Punk managed to absorb five or six fragments. He felt his soul evolving, instinctively knowing that it would use this "excess" energy to evolve the ability his subconscious most desired. But this process might take a very long time.

"Good thing time is the one thing I have plenty of now," Punk thought with a hint of complaint.

During Punk's soul evolution, the Void Wind gradually diminished until it disappeared entirely. The two universes simultaneously began to attract everything "existing" in the void, and Punk was no exception.

Punk felt himself approaching the massive Purple Universe in a strange state that was both infinitely fast and infinitely slow. He quickly realized that if he crashed into the Purple Universe, he would be instantly devoured. That was precisely the purpose of the universes attracting "existing" things—to absorb resources and replenish themselves.

Though Punk's soul could now survive in the void, it was barely surviving. Its level was very low, and it had no resistance against a universe's devouring.

"My soul, whatever you're evolving into, hurry up and finish! Otherwise, I'll be devoured without even knowing what my evolution was."

As if hearing Punk's call, the evolution completed the next moment after his thought.

But... Punk stared at his evolution, stunned, even ignoring the imminent threat.

"...System," Punk muttered blankly.

"...I actually evolved a system... Does that mean... I'm a chuunibyou?"

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