Chapter 6: "Welcome to the Paradise of the Gods."

At this moment, a cylindrical pillar hovered in the air bearing the words "New Player Guidance," surrounded by only three people—significantly fewer than other pillars.

Chen Jiang narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at the base of the pillar. Around its bottom circled a faint halo of light. He stepped into this light, and instantly a panel appeared before him.

—

“Welcome to the Gods’ Paradise.”

“Here, you can uncover the ultimate secrets of human evolution, and even… ascend to godhood.”

“As a newcomer, you will receive a Player Wristband, which displays comprehensive real-time data about your body along with various information.”

“All players must select a dungeon to enter each month. If none is chosen voluntarily, one will be randomly assigned and the player forced to enter.”

“After completing the dungeon, you may choose freely to remain in the Gods’ Paradise or return to the real world.”

“This plaza is numbered 08029 and serves as a training ground for new players. Upon clearing three dungeons, you may officially enter the Gods’ Paradise and select your divine faith.”

—

“...”

Chen Jiang glanced down at the wristband that had mysteriously appeared on his arm. It fit snugly, causing his brows to furrow slightly. He wore several pieces of jewelry—knuckle rings, finger rings—each a specially crafted magical artifact.

Having a wristband suddenly appear might interfere with his sleight of hand.

At the very least, it would pose a considerable hindrance to his secret techniques.

But then—

The wristband gradually faded, merging seamlessly into his skin and vanishing altogether. This eased his brow, and when he focused his mind on where the wristband had been, the panel reappeared.

—

“Player Name”: Chen Jiang.

“Player Strength”: 17.

“Player Agility”: 29.

“Player Constitution”: 13.

“Player Spirit”: 21.

“Player Items”: None.

“Player Balance”: 320 Paradise Coins.

“Player Faith”: None.

—

“Interesting…”

This was the first time he had seen the data of his body so directly represented in numerical form.

Strength determined carrying capacity and striking power.

Agility governed reaction speed and bodily coordination.

Constitution reflected resilience and endurance.

Spirit represented willpower and resistance to hypnosis.

For an average adult male, all four attributes typically rated at 10. Chen Jiang’s stats exceeded these across the board, especially agility, which was significantly higher—a reasonable result, given his lifelong intensive professional training.

Just then—

He overheard the three newcomers near the pillar whispering among themselves.

“Did you all enter this paradise after dying?”

“Yeah, I was definitely hit and thrown by a truck. I thought I was dead, but when I opened my eyes, I was inside a dungeon. They told me it was the new player dungeon of the Gods’ Paradise. As long as I cleared it, I could be resurrected and enter the paradise.”

“After finishing that dungeon, I really did come back to life and return to the real world. Oddly, I had been missing for a whole day, but no one found it strange. I even checked the surveillance footage at the accident site—it showed no such crash ever happened!”

“Same here, same here.”

Soon after,

The three noticed Chen Jiang and Silent Snake standing nearby and asked, “How did you two die?”

“...”

Chen Jiang said nothing, simply turning and leading Silent Snake towards another pillar, his mind deep in thought.

It seemed there were two ways to enter the Gods’ Paradise: one, by dying and entering the paradise, where completing a dungeon resurrected the player and altered the death record in the real world—an unmistakably supernatural phenomenon. It was unclear whether entering after death was guaranteed or probabilistic.

The second way was through a “Gods’ Paradise Entry Ticket.”

For now, there was no visible difference between the two entry methods.

...

Next,

He approached another pillar in the plaza, above which floated the words “Player Shop.” Stepping into the light circle, a panel immediately appeared.

—

“Player Shop.”

“Low-Level Free Attribute Point x1 (usable only if a certain attribute is 20 or below)”: Price 100 Paradise Coins.

“Rename Card”: Price 100 Paradise Coins.

“...”

—

That was all.

The entire shop had only these two items.

The rest of the items were not displayed; only those within his purchasing power appeared. Silent Snake saw the same options, with the same amount of Paradise Coins as Chen Jiang.

Suddenly, Chen Jiang realized his advantage wasn’t as great as he had thought.

He had assumed his four-dimensional stats would overwhelm other players, but now it seemed others could catch up with just a few thousand Paradise Coins. His lead was only an early advantage.

However...

He could proudly claim his mastery of magic was among the top worldwide, essentially at the pinnacle with no room for further improvement. He had already touched the limits of human hand speed; surpassing it would be difficult.

But now,

He might be able to purchase higher-level free attribute points to further enhance his body, enabling him to perform even more dazzling magic.

Afterwards, he checked the remaining pillars in the plaza.

They were—

“Dungeon Entrance” and “Recovery Shop.”

The former allowed entry into various dungeons; the latter let players sell items brought out from dungeons for Paradise Coins.

Both pillars were simple in function.

Since this was essentially a novice village, there was nothing too complex. Still, Chen Jiang lingered with Silent Snake near the “Dungeon Entrance” pillar for about ten minutes.

...

“Unbelievable, how could there be no casualties at all?”

“This should be the second hidden mission completed in this plaza’s dungeons, right?”

“Yes, the second. Hidden missions in each dungeon are extremely difficult. The only pity is that this is a new player dungeon, so the rewards for hidden missions aren’t very generous.”

“No idea who Chen Jiang and Silent Snake are in real life, but to perform like this just entering the new player dungeon, they’re bound to go far.”

Almost a hundred people had gathered here, selecting the dungeons they intended to enter next and discussing the newly completed hidden mission in the newbie dungeon.

Any dungeon with a completed hidden mission would no longer be open to other players, would be permanently pinned at the top, and marked with the name of the player who cleared it.

Chen Jiang stood there, listening to those around praise him for over ten minutes.

A smile crept to the corners of his lips, barely restrained.

For a magician, praise from the audience was the finest gift.

Only a hint of regret lingered—this pillar had not displayed his method of clearing the dungeon; otherwise, the scene would have been even more spectacular.

Until he heard the countdown end.

“00:00:00.”