Darkness.
Nothingness... Ron suddenly opened his 'eyes' after an unknown amount of time had passed.
Ron felt as if he had slept for a very long time, so long that he almost forgot who he was.
After opening his eyes, Ron wanted to see where he was.
Then, Ron saw everything.
He saw brilliant stars, the dark void, nebulae, and the universe!
He found it strange. Where was this? How could he see a scene like the universe?
Then he looked at himself.
He discovered that he was no longer himself.
Ron couldn't see his own body at all. He seemed to have become a void, floating silently in the universe!
This situation startled him. He tried to move, but found that he couldn't, not even turn his head slightly.
Of course, if he still had a head.
Ron could only watch silently, watching everything.
No feeling, no sound, and no... time!
...After another unknown period, even the stars began to fade. Ron finally began to feel a slight sensation—at this point, he realized that he, too, was gradually fading away like the stars.
He began to feel something called 'pain'.
However, this process was very slow. He 'hurt' for a long time until he lost consciousness again.
Then, the world once again plunged into darkness and nothingness!
...Still darkness.
Still nothingness... Slowly, slowly, Ron began to feel again.
But this time, his sensation wasn't that he had opened his 'eyes', but that he began to hear things.
...Dimension...
...Universe...
...All things...
Everything.
These voices weren't spoken to him by someone else or something else; they just appeared directly in Ron's consciousness, without warning!
After an unknown period, those voices finally began to become clear.
"Hello, I am 'I'. Of course, you can also call me 'Existence'. Or rather—'Nothingness'!"
This was the first thing 'he', or 'she', or 'it' said to Ron.
Ron was excited. He had been in nothingness and darkness for so long, and finally felt the existence of something else.
He wanted to speak, but no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he wanted to speak, not a single word came out.
"Heh... You don't need to try to speak. Just think it, and I'll know what you're saying."
'I' seemed to see Ron's awkwardness, then it chuckled and reminded him.
Ron was confused. How could 'I' know what he was thinking?
Then, Ron followed what 'I' told him and directly thought of what he wanted to say in his mind.
"Hello, 'I'... never mind, I'll call you 'Nothingness'. I'm Ron. I want to know, why can you know what I'm thinking, and how did you appear in my consciousness?"
"Why do I know what you're thinking? And why did I appear in your consciousness?" 'Nothingness' first asked Ron a rhetorical question, then quickly answered Ron's questions.
"Heh... That's because I am actually you, and you are actually me. There is no distinction between us."
Ron was startled by these words and became cautious. "Are you Ron Brunstad?"
"Who is Ron Brunstad? Do I know him?" 'Nothingness' found it strange; it had no idea who Ron was referring to.
Hearing 'Nothingness''s words, Ron breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he had misunderstood earlier.
After arriving in the Marvel world, he had 'resurrected' directly into Ron Brunstad's body. Aside from receiving some simple memories from the original Ron, he had never seen the original person, or 'soul', also named Ron, appear.
But hearing 'Nothingness''s extremely strange words just now, he truly thought that 'Nothingness' was the Ron who had long since died, which was why he was startled.
However, if 'Nothingness' wasn't the previous Ron, then who could it be?
He asked this question.
"Who exactly are you? Or rather, how exactly were you formed, and how can we be one 'person'?!"
'Nothingness' chuckled again, then said.
"Remember the 'universe' you transformed into before? I, no, we, we are that 'universe' that has already disappeared. I am you. If there must be a definition for this current situation, it is that we are actually talking to ourselves. To be honest, it's quite foolish!"
"You and I? We're actually a universe?" Ron was stunned.
"Yes, do you know? Within a specific dimension and singularity, we have already transformed into a universe. We can be anything: the universe, formation, nothingness, even time. We are everything!"
'Nothingness' explained once more.
Hearing 'Nothingness''s words, Ron was in shock for a long time. After that, he no longer doubted anything 'Nothingness' said.
He had experienced so many things before, and now he was deeply immersed in darkness, with only 'Nothingness' to talk to. Who else could he believe if not 'Nothingness'?
Ron had always felt something was off. After he fell unconscious, how did he suddenly become a part of the universe, observing the changes of a universe for so long?
So, he himself was that entire universe?
But if he was a universe, then why was he in darkness now?
Shouldn't he be like before, directly transforming into a part of the universe and continuing to observe his own universe?
He asked 'Nothingness' his question again.
"Nothingness, since you say we are both a universe, then we should transform into the universe and observe everything. Why are we in darkness now?"
Hearing Ron's words, this time, 'Nothingness' seemed to become a little melancholic.
It said: "Don't you know? We didn't succeed in evolving the universe. We actually disappeared with the disappearance of the universe. We 'lived' once as the universe, but now, we have 'died'. We are no longer the universe..."
'Nothingness' paused while speaking, then after a moment continued: "We might live forever in this darkness and nothingness, and never have the chance to wake up again!"
"Uh...?" Hearing this, Ron was stunned.
So they had 'died'. Were they now just a fragmented consciousness, living in this darkness and nothingness?
Ron began to feel dejected. He was nothing now; he couldn't feel anything; he had lost everything.
Although he had no attachments before, he didn't want to become a 'nothingness' in this darkness and void!
He began to think of a way to return to his original world, even if it was that Marvel world.
As he thought this, he suddenly realized that he was beginning to feel a faint sensation.
He seemed to have regained his feet, his hands, his body!
Feeling this sensation of having hands and feet, Ron began to get excited.
Could it be that as long as he kept thinking about returning to his original world, he might be able to become a person again, instead of the current darkness and nothingness?
At this moment, Ron, or rather 'Nothingness', also sensed Ron's change.
'Nothingness' was very happy. It said: "Ron, we feel our current state is very strange. We seem to still have a body that allows us to continue living within that body. What's going on?"
Thinking of his fair-skinned body, Ron smiled excitedly, "Perhaps, we can return to a universe again!"
Next, Ron used all his 'strength' and began to think about returning to his original body.
And then Ron succeeded!
Ron once again felt his own existence, knowing that he should be a person.
Then, he opened his eyes.
A pair of eyes that truly belonged to a human!