A shimmering barrier loomed ahead of Aeloria. It was the protective seal around the starter village.
"You have gained re-entry access to Starter Village x3313."
The notification sounded, and Orson didn't hesitate. He urged Aeloria forward.
Her colossal form passed through the barrier effortlessly, vanishing from what most would call the normal world of Infinite Dimensions.
Now that he looked at it again, this so-called "Divine Seal" was absurdly overpowered.
99 billion health. If attacked, it regenerated by a percentage every second—practically invincible.
Worse still, there were hard rules. Any player who left the starter village could never return.
Thinking on it now, Orson was sure: this was the work of the gods themselves.
No ordinary godlike entity could mass-produce such broken barriers.
"Hidden Quest: [Protect the Golden Divine Pillar]"
"Quest Difficulty: Legendary Tier."
"Objective One: In 48 hours, reach x3313 Starter Village, coordinates 112.21, and use the teleportation array to enter the [Edge of the World]."
"Failure Penalty 1: Miss the time limit, lose 20 levels."
"Failure Penalty 2: Your guild will be branded a [Heretic Organization]. Members of [Godslayer] will be barred from supplies in any Light Dragon Empire town."
"Status mismatch—penalty invalid."
Orson smirked. The quest had long expired, yet he was perfectly fine.
Clearly, punishments meant for players didn't apply to trial-takers.
"The High God pities the world, giving you another chance to prove yourself."
"Details: Purge the shadow spawn haunting the [Golden Divine Pillar]. Progress 0/100%."
"For each purge, you gain 24 hours of unrestricted activity."
Orson's face was blank.
He hadn't come here to clean up for the gods like some janitor.
He had only one goal: topple the divine pillar. Shatter the gods' authority!
Local chat burst into chaos.
"A dragon! Holy shit, is that really a dragon? It's way bigger than in the official trailers!"
"I must be the chosen one. I spawned right by the Dragon King boss. Let's kill it and get rich!"
"Kill it? Are you insane? That's Orgod sitting on its back."
"Orgod? Bro, I'll roast him with a few fireballs."
Even now, countless players were grinding in the starter village. Many had only joined Infinite Dimensions after watching last night's viral streams.
Orson peered down at the mobs of players rushing toward him, emotions tangled.
"That's the power of being an idol, I guess…" he muttered.
Half of them were broke, playing like they had unlimited cash—five out of ten were mages, the biggest money sink.
And with that came arrogance.
Not bothering to think, a bunch stood on a hill and started flinging fireballs and arrows at him.
Their pitiful range was laughable. Orson rubbed his temples.
Aeloria rolled her eyes in disdain, mouth filling with dark mist as death breath charged.
"Leave it. Let them have their fun. That's what games are for."
Orson smiled, stopping her spell.
"Fly lower. Let them hit us. It won't kill you."
Aeloria looked baffled, but under his iron stare, she obeyed.
"Lower! Hit it now! Whoever kills it becomes Orgod Mark I!"
"Holy shit, I'm so strong—I made it flinch!"
A stream of useless attacks pattered across Aeloria. Under Orson's glare, she even put on a show—fake wails, twisting in the sky as if dodging blows.
The players went wild, chasing from one hill to the next.
Some realized they couldn't keep up, so they straight-up jumped off cliffs to respawn closer.
Orson wore a huge, goofy grin.
He was honestly touched.
They weren't bowing in worship because he was Orgod—they were trying to drag him off his pedestal.
Exactly the message he wanted to spread.
In Infinite Dimensions, there were no unbeatable legends.
No one could call themselves invincible—not Orson, not even the gods.
With a laugh, Orson waved his hand.
A shower of golden light rained down—200,000 gold coins scattered at once.
"Aaahhhhhh! Orgod just dumped a pile of gold!"
"Hell yeah! I hit the dragon's ass—Orgod's mount's weak spot! That's my payday!"
Thousands of new players went absolutely berserk, scrambling to scoop up the treasure.
Orson fought to keep a straight face.
Beside him, Aeloria closed her crimson eyes, utterly defeated. She hadn't felt this humiliated even fighting Misius.
He could just imagine it:
Once they left the starter village, their first brag would be,
"I once fought the Dragon King in the starter zone—and he dropped hundreds of thousands in gold!"
On a ridge shaded by lush trees, Orson stood, feeling oddly nostalgic.
Unbelievably, the coordinates for the Golden Divine Pillar were right here.
Right where he'd once stood as a living turret, slaughtering wave after wave of blood goblins.
Now, a dazzling golden screen hovered before him.
It all felt… destined.
Xinala had mocked him using that very word.
A chill crawled up his spine.
This staggering sense of fate was downright sinister.
Even suspecting something was wrong, he couldn't abandon Sienna.
He drew a steadying breath, stepped through the glowing veil, and into the unknown.
Blinding golden light flared. Orson's mind swam.
Had it been a second? An hour?
Time lost all meaning.
Ignis's little cry pecked at his skull.
Slowly, he regained focus.
Squinting, he saw what was glowing.
It was a wall—a vast, endless wall of gold.
He stumbled back over a hundred meters to get even a partial view.
A colossal golden pillar soared into infinity, too tall to see the top.
Yet somehow its light couldn't pierce the entire space.
"Uh… your majesty is… scared. Something here is watching me."
Berenice's voice was small.
Orson frowned, scanning the gray haze swirling around them.
He fired a Chaos Magic Ball into the fog.
No echo returned, even with his absurd attack range.
This place was enormous.
Finally, he inspected the Golden Divine Pillar.
[Infinite Dimensions World · Pillar of Creation: Gold]
Then a new message popped up.
"Shadow spawn have locked on to you. Please prepare your strategy."
Orson's brow furrowed.
On the mini-map, red dots packed together—some less than a kilometer away.
"That close, yet invisible?"
He clenched his fist. The Supreme Arcane Blade floated before him.
"Ice Prison Ring—full power!"
A blue mist exploded outward, forming a deadly circle.
Dozens of shattering sounds.
Hidden monsters froze solid, revealed under the pillar's light.
Orson stepped closer.
They were vaguely human-shaped but small, only about a meter tall.
Their skin was a disturbing dark purple, each with a single huge eye on its forehead.
"This place… why are there things here?"
He checked their stats.
[Void Crawler: Level 120]
[Void Heaven Demon Breed · Ninth Prince Avatar]
[Skills: Unseen, Shared Memory, Fleshcraft]