The void around Ethan remained unchanged—eternal blackness, like the silence between stars, stretching endlessly in all directions.
But even in this realm of nothingness, things drifted.
Objects. Shapes. Shards.
Memories made manifest.
They floated past him like debris in a great cosmic ocean—weightless, directionless, slow.
And as each passed by, Ethan's soul reacted.
A flicker of recognition.A memory ignited.A breath of nostalgia in a place without air.
The first was a sword — long, elegant, and glowing with pale blue light. Its blade shimmered like it was made of moonlight, and etched upon its surface were runes he didn't need to read to understand.
"Xu Qing's sword… from Perfect World?" he thought.It wasn't just similar—it was identical. The one the main character wielded in the early arcs. It had no right to be real.
And yet, there it was—floating past him in the dark, turning slowly, like it had no purpose left.
Another drifted into view. A book, thick with red leather bindings and a chained lock across its center.
His soul flickered."That's… the forbidden technique manual from Heavenly Jewel Change…"
He never forgot that design. Even the way the chains pulsed faintly with sealing energy matched exactly how it had been illustrated in the manhua adaptation.
Then came a burst of fire in the distance, and with it, a hovering lotus, black with violet veins—emanating heat despite being made of nothing but energy.
"BTTH… That's Xiao Yan's Flame Lotus!"
A surreal laugh echoed within Ethan's mind."Is this some kind of graveyard of fiction?"
But it wasn't just Chinese donghua.
A glint to his left revealed a bent straw hat, scuffed and sun-worn. The kind only one pirate ever wore.
"Luffy…?"
Moments later, a spinning red and white ball floated past—split cleanly in half, leaking no energy, just floating in stillness.
"A Poké Ball? Seriously?"
And then—
A silver mask.Emotionless. Cold. Bloodstained on one side.
His essence shook."Zeref's mask from Fairy Tail…"
It wasn't just the famous things. He saw obscure ones too — things that only die-hard fans or obsessive wiki-divers would recognize.
An ashen scroll with jade edges, barely visible unless one focused on its faint glow."Martial World… That's Lin Ming's inheritance scroll…"
A broken spearhead, jagged and dark, pulsing with a blood aura."That's from The Great Ruler... when Mu Chen lost control…"
A green earring, floating alone, cracked in the middle.From Dragon Ball Z.
He even saw a tiny fox mask, white with red lines — something he remembered from an obscure ninja anime.
Ethan's mind reeled.
"How are these here?"
No voice answered. Only the silent drift of artifacts long removed from any world.
It felt like this place had swallowed not just souls, but also leftovers from collapsing timelines, broken stories, retconned arcs, and erased possibilities.
Things forgotten by their creators but preserved here — between universes. Between destinies.
"Is this… the trash heap of fiction?"
And yet, each one still glowed faintly with energy. They weren't completely dead.
As Ethan's soul drifted, a theory formed.
"Maybe… each story births something real. And when timelines shift, or universes collapse… those real fragments break off and fall here."
The Dimensional Gap wasn't just emptiness.It was overflow.
A place for scraps too stubborn to die.
And somehow, he had ended up here.
A tiny human soul.
Floating through the cosmic remains of every story he once loved, hated, or mocked.
It was overwhelming. Humbling. And yet…
He was drawn toward them.
Not just as a spectator. But as if they were calling him.
Then—
From the dark above him, something vast stirred.
A new light appeared.
And it wasn't an artifact.
It was coming for him.
Not a memory. Not a leftover.
It was a Rift