In countless different worlds, each world always has four dimensions, where the first axis represents the vertical or spatial position, the second axis represents the horizontal or spatial position, the third axis represents height in space, and the fourth and final axis represents the dimension of time. Each world is created with billions of stars, billions of solar systems, and billions of galaxies and nebulae. With the timeline being an infinite version of continuity, it consists of branching paths of space-time continuums. And each world expands endlessly, continuously giving rise to infinitely independent worlds. Each world shares a common trait: it is divided into many elements that come together to form a single unified world. A world is a concept, a world is information, the law of all things, a world is a story... Worlds contain within them infinite, continuously cycling space-times, impossible to quantify by counting, as their number is fundamentally infinite and indivisible. Thus, many elements unite to form a world, and everything within it is a concept. These concepts take on various forms, such as humans, animals, plants... and these entities interact with one another, each possessing its own consciousness, independent of external control. When an individual in a universe dies due to an event, they revert to their original, unconscious conceptual form or merge into the void, becoming a non-existent entity without consciousness, so as not to interfere with the normal progression of the story. And everything has its opposite, which is the anti-world—a place emptier than the void. It is where no concepts, not even the concept of nothingness, exist. It is the opposition between essence and existence, a place without a storyline, without a future, without a past, without a present, where information can never exist.
In one such world, two people stood in a golden rice field. One was a young man named Jasmine, wearing a green hooded jacket and a white shirt underneath, with pure black hair. Beside him was a girl named Mary, dressed in a scientist's outfit and wearing glasses, her hair half white and half green. Jasmine looked up at the sky and said:
"It's kind of boring when we're the strongest ones here, isn't it, Mary?"
Mary responded:
"Who knows? Maybe in other worlds, other universes, there's someone stronger than us."
Jasmine smirked and said:
"This is the twelfth universe we've visited, and almost no one has had a chance to beat our abilities."
Suddenly, a void swallowed them whole, transporting them to a place that looked like the same field they were just in, but it was distinctly different. Around them, endless streams of data flowed without end. They used their Wide Vision ability, a technique that allowed them to see across all the spatial dimensions they had traversed, but all they saw was an infinite expanse of a single spatial dimension with no end, no stopping point—a place where Platonic concepts were born. As they looked around, they saw a lake with water, and nearby was a laboratory with some data floating close by. When Jasmine touched it, they suddenly felt all the worlds being affected by their touch, and Jasmine said:
"It seems like someone's here, but I don't see them."
Suddenly, a white orb appeared between them and exploded, forcing them back. A man emerged with white hair and heterochromatic eyes—one blue within white on the left, the right eye closed with a scar running through it. He had a beard, though not quite fully grown, and wore a long, loose black-and-green coat with white fur trim. Beneath it, he wore a tight black fabric shirt and dark pants, possibly black or dark gray, with a belt. He held a pistol that resembled an M1911, but it was slightly longer. Seeing the man, Jasmine drew a sword from his dimensional pocket—a skill that mages like them possessed. Though called mages, they had the ability to adapt and excel in every skill far beyond ordinary talents. Jasmine charged at the man with such speed that time itself seemed to pause for a moment, but the stranger dodged and countered with a shockwave. He fired at Jasmine, who conjured a conceptual shield, but it was easily pierced, shocking Jasmine as the bullet hit his abdomen, causing excruciating pain. He tried to heal himself, but something about the bullet prevented regeneration. Mary summoned a staff made of light, unleashing countless spears, swords, arrows, and axes crafted from primordial light drawn from this space, all aimed at the stranger. But he didn't even glance at them, and they all vanished before reaching him, despite being twelve meters away. Mary was stunned, and before she knew it, the man was in front of her, delivering a blow to her stomach that sent her reeling. He summoned another white orb like before and threw it at them. Despite their layered defenses, they couldn't make it disappear, and an explosion equivalent to one ton of TNT knocked them back, leaving them nearly unconscious on the ground.
Jasmine looked at Mary, who had fainted, then turned to the stranger and shouted:
"Who are you?! Why are you attacking us?!"
The stranger replied:
"Me? I'm Lastnine, the one who nullifies all abilities."
Jasmine was shocked but skeptical. He used his ability to create a pocket dimension, trapping Lastnine inside, but immediately, a wave of pressure and a toxic radioactive force capable of wiping out all life emanated from Lastnine's energy. Jasmine used his analytical eye and received data on Lastnine's power:
Analysis successful: The target's energy can simultaneously nullify and erase with no delay, emitting radiation exceeding 193819248283291e+18378 curies per milligram, while also radiating heat equivalent to...
Before Jasmine could process it, he sped out of the dimension he had created, intending to trap Lastnine inside, but before he could escape, a bullet struck his leg. Despite Jasmine's heightened senses being on guard against Lastnine's gun, it was entirely different—it always hit its target, even though Lastnine hadn't pulled the trigger, as if it surpassed Jasmine's ability to foresee the future. Jasmine tried using his future-sight ability again to gain an advantage, but it was like a bucket of cold water splashedTHEN slashed in his face—every future he saw was empty and pitch black, with no possibility of victory. But the moment he moved, another bullet struck him, though he still hadn't seen Lastnine pull the trigger. He realized the gun fired automatically when its target with abilities moved, but it was too late. A bullet pierced through space and time, ignoring all distance, and struck Jasmine's heart, causing him to collapse in agony, writhing on the ground. He tried to bend reality to heal himself or nullify the bullet's effects, but it was useless—the bullet negated everything affecting it.
Lastnine approached, grabbed Jasmine by the throat, and shot him again, causing him to scream. A blinding light erupted, resetting all worlds, including the timeline itself. Yet Jasmine found himself still lying in the dimension he had created, his wounds still present. Before he could gather himself, Lastnine grabbed his head and slammed it into the ground, causing Jasmine to scream as his skull began to crack. Lastnine summoned energy ropes—not imbued with the same properties as the energy radiating from him, but with mysterious abilities he hadn't yet revealed—and bound Jasmine. Stepping closer, Lastnine said:
"You and that girl, whatever her name is, I don't know. Are you two working for anyone?"
Jasmine, weak and bleeding from his wounds, said:
"N-No."
As blood poured from his wounds and head, Jasmine thought:
"How can he be this strong?"
Lastnine laughed and said:
"Oh, wonderful. Since you two clearly understand how these infinite worlds work, I need a guide. So, I'm inviting you both to serve under me. Refuse, and I'll kill you. UNDERSTAND?"
Jasmine glared at him with anger but reluctantly agreed, as it was the only way to ensure his and Mary's survival against this monster. Lastnine smiled and said:
"Good. Now you and that girl will follow my orders and do as I say. And you can call me Lastnine."
Jasmine replied:
"I got it."
Lastnine then teleported Jasmine out of the dimension he had created, back to the rice field. There, Jasmine reunited with Mary, who, upon seeing Lastnine, unleashed a barrage of spears, swords, axes, and every kind of weapon made of light at him. But they were all erased or nullified instantly. Jasmine stopped her and said:
"Stop, Mary."
Mary, shocked, said:
"Are you protecting this monster?"
Lastnine snorted and said:
"I have a proper name, you know."
Mary snapped back, annoyed:
"Who cares?"
Lastnine sighed, uninterested in arguing. Jasmine pulled Mary aside and explained everything. Though she understood the situation, Mary was still furious because Lastnine had attacked her. Jasmine sighed, feeling helpless in the face of their predicament. Suddenly, Jasmine remembered something and asked Lastnine:
"Hey, old man, do you know what 'meaning' is?"
Lastnine, hearing the question, began to answer:
"Meaning is not just words, willpower, or ordinary things. Meaning is what creates everything—from the power I possess to things far beyond. It is the infinite, inexhaustible source of power and the foundation that constructs everything. If concepts, laws, order, information, and stories are the essential components of every world—since every world has its own concepts, laws, order, stories, and information—then meaning is what creates those things. Meaning manipulates, creates, shapes, and destroys everything in a world. It controls all things, governs every concept that forms reality, encompasses all information, and manipulates that information. Meaning makes stories exist and writes those stories, their events, their variants, their progression, and their conclusions. It writes the laws, the order, and the dualities that form worlds, transcending all ordinary laws, orders, and dualities. Those who cannot grasp the true meaning of themselves are easily manipulated by meaning, like puppets under its control. Meaning is like something untouchable, incomprehensible, and unreachable—a transcendent force above all infinite information, concepts, laws, stories, and layered orders. Without meaning, everything is meaningless. Everyone has their own meaning for living, their own meaning for the infinite worlds here or the 'higher realms.'"
Jasmine and Mary were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, and Jasmine asked another question:
"So, what are dualities? And what are these 'higher realms' you mentioned?"
Lastnine thought for a long moment before replying:
"That's a good question. To put it simply, all worlds, including the 'higher realms,' operate according to dualities or dual truths. They're like the gears that keep worlds running—without them, everything collapses. There are countless dual truths, each giving rise to another, transcending the ones that created them. For example, the duality of life and non-life is a transcendent and independent duality that governs all others. Then there's the duality of creation and non-creation, which is independent of and transcends the life-and-non-life duality. Next is the duality of nothingness and anti-nothingness, which is separate from and transcends the control of creation and non-creation. The duality of immaterial and material is also impressive, as it stands alone, transcending and independent of all manipulation. Unfortunately, it's still inferior to many other dual truths, as there are infinite dual truths that are independent and transcendent of those I've mentioned. Yet none can touch meaning, because meaning is proven to be transcendent by nullifying them. Meaning is separate—it nullifies and erases even the infinite, independent, and transcendent dual truths, manipulating them like commodities or toys, depending on how you see it."
Jasmine asked:
"What about the higher realms? What are they like?"
Lastnine replied casually:
"The higher realms are beyond your comprehension, so don't ask too much."
Jasmine stood up and asked:
"What do I need to do to explore the higher realms?"
Lastnine answered nonchalantly:
"You just need power, permission, or transcendence to get there. But I'll warn you—it's not easy."
Jasmine grinned and said:
"Oh, then we've got something to explore."
Mary looked at Jasmine and said:
"Exactly."
Lastnine laughed and said:
"Alright, if that's the case…"
Lastnine raised his gun and fired.
"Here's where the adventure of meaning begins."
With that, Lastnine, Jasmine, and Mary teleported away. But from a distance, something black was watching them. It slowly revealed itself—a man wearing a brown coat and black-and-white pants, with black-and-red hair and a smirking mouth, holding a massive blade. Beside him was a young woman in a white dress shirt, wielding a spear, with blue hair and white eyes.
The man said:
"Well, well, how interesting. Those two brats can make such bold claims, but I like it."
The woman replied:
"Calm down, Jack. You know that Lastnine could easily erase both of us into nothingness. Let's observe first and then proceed with the next step. Don't worry—I have a plan to deal with Lastnine."
She glanced back, and there was another figure smiling broadly, holding a pure black sword. The figure said:
"Lastnine, I'll take your head myself."
The figure chuckled, and all three teleported away.