"Forever City! So majestic! Who exactly took down Pondenorlin City and renamed it? Was it Orgod?"
"Stop mentioning Orgod, Orgod is no more! I saw it with my own eyes! It was a melee warrior who took down Pondenorlin City and named it Forever City!"
"Yeah, I saw it too! It was a swordsman wearing a skull mask. With two cool swings of his sword, he took down a God Dragon!"
...
The players in the world chat went wild. The sight of a player riding a dragon and taking on the Forbidden Curse had captured their imagination. The mystery surrounding this new player was the hot topic of conversation.
Many players had seen someone rise to new heights, even surpassing Orgod in terms of presence, but no one knew exactly who this person was.
Even fewer knew what had happened to Orgod.
Bradley: "Orson, you're not gone, are you?"
"I'm still alive and kicking." Orson replied irritably.
"Then… who's that skeleton swordsman? So amazing! Two sword strikes and he slayed a Dragon God?" Bradley asked innocently.
Orson was speechless. A handful of players had witnessed the destruction of Pondenorlin City under the Forbidden Curse, but from such a distance, the most they had seen was Crimson Lizard King transforming into a Dragon King.
They had no idea what had transpired under the Forbidden Curse.
However, that didn't stop the hostile players, who couldn't bear to see Orson rise, from popping open champagne bottles and celebrating "Orgod's Death." They had started to blindly worship the skeleton swordsman, almost deifying him as a true god of Infinite Dimensions.
It was just human nature.
If you can't stand someone more powerful than yourself, you find someone who can rival them, even if it's just for the sake of a psychological pick-me-up.
From Bradley, Orson learned that in just a few minutes, rumors on the Infinite Dimensions forum had spiraled out of control.
There were now whispers claiming that the skeleton swordsman was the father of Usher, the wealthiest player in the US. Allegedly, he had purchased the rights to Infinite Dimensions for an unimaginable sum, boosted Usher's leaderboard ranking, and created a level 120 swordsman with full Artifacts that could shatter even the sky...
As for the Forbidden Curse Dragon God's projection, it was merely a small challenge!
Orson wiped sweat from his brow, opening his mouth but finding no words to counter these outrageous claims.
"Forever City is ours, but let's keep it low-key for now." Orson smiled.
"Haha, sure! Usher's father!" Bradley laughed heartily.
"Damn it... I don't have a son like that. Get lost." Orson scowled.
At the end of the day, as a "techie", Orson had always distanced himself from whale players. But now, saddled with a massive debt, he realized just how nice it was to have money!
"Forever City is under construction, would you like to customize the city planning?"
Orson rubbed his temples, overwhelmed by the flood of construction details. There were too many, and they were so complex, his head was spinning.
"Pause construction."
Orson paused for a moment, then shook his head in resignation. "I need professional help."
After gaining absolute control over Forever City, players could choose to redesign the city layout based on their preferences. However, rebuilding buildings would require resources such as wood, ore, magic crystals, and other materials.
The main challenge was writing the custom blueprints, which would guide the entire city's reconstruction. This required a lot of expertise in city planning, an area Orson wasn't very familiar with.
While he could probably get away with some reckless building, it would most likely result in an illogical, awkward layout. His dream of an evil city with a golden commercial district would be very far from reality.
"You have increased NPC tax on commercial transactions by 10% to the maximum of 50%."
A prompt rang in Orson's ears, and a smile spread across his face.
"NPCs who once lived in Pondenorlin City are seriously unhappy with you. They now secretly gossip about you being the incarnation of a devil."
"This action could lead to NPC rebellion or resistance against your oppression."
"Do you confirm the execution of this standard?"
Without hesitation, Orson confirmed.
He was far more experienced in exploiting NPCs than in dealing with rebellions.
And as for rebellions? He was never afraid of them.
He could easily bring the Celestial Fortress over, and if anyone dared to rebel, a single shot would end them.
"You have lowered the player street vendor tax from 15% to the minimum of 10%.
"Do you confirm the execution of this standard?"
"Confirm."
Orson nodded. Compared to the rigid, purely functional NPCs, he preferred encouraging players to open shops in Forever City.
There were many famous merchants in Infinite Dimensions, and these resourceful players always found innovative ways to make money.
By bringing in more players to run shops, it would initially lower tax revenue, but it would boost traffic and generate much higher long-term profits. After all, if you wanted players to spend money in Forever City, you needed to offer them some attractive incentives.
"Due to your absolute control over Forever City, the player shop permissions will be unlocked early."
"The main city is still under construction. Currently, the number of player shops available is 0."
Orson's heart raced with excitement. In his previous life, player shops were extremely sought-after, especially in large cities like Golden City or Royal City, where even the smallest shop would sell for at least 100,000 gold.
Street vendors could complete deals with lower transaction fees, but they had one fatal flaw—they had to be manually staffed.
A shop, on the other hand, offered a much larger selection of goods, and some shops, like restaurants or high-tier buff shops, would require staff, but most could operate unattended, allowing other players to purchase items at any time.
"This is going to make us a fortune!"
Orson felt a surge of excitement. He suddenly remembered the infamous brothel built by some players in Infinite Dimensions.
The brothel was run by retired workers and online personalities posing as NPCs, and it became extremely popular among wealthy and idle players.
It made far more money than real-world red-light districts!
"Madman, Bradley, thank me later. I'm going to make sure you both live the good life!"
Orson's spirits soared. For the sake of his brothers, he was ready to abandon all moral integrity for once!
"I need people with expertise in city planning. Any recommendations?"
Orson sent a message to K.D.
After a while, K.D replied:
"You… want to be the mayor of BG City?"
"This might be a bit tricky, considering you have no political experience, but I can talk to higher-ups and see if we can make it happen."
Orson nearly spat blood from laughter. "What…?" The idea of him being the mayor of BG City wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.
The most absurd thing was—if you had magic and rode a dragon, maybe being the mayor wasn't such a bad idea after all!
"Ahem, would you accept a bribe? If so…" Orson tried to cover his embarrassment with a cough.
Before he could finish, K.D cut him off with a stern voice: "You… young man, don't make these kinds of jokes."
"Just kidding, you should have seen the system announcement. Forever City is now my domain." Orson chuckled.
"I knew you wouldn't let me down!"
K.D perked up and immediately began to take action. "I'll have the relevant experts discuss it. I'll get back to you in half a day, and I'll bring people to find you!"
K.D paused for a moment, then added with a smile: "By the way, didn't your little sister tell you? She should be on her way to find you now."
"You mean… Sienna is recovering?" Orson's heart skipped a beat as he immediately checked his game messages. There were no updates from Sienna.
K.D: "Yes, remember to remind her to take her medicine on time. If she's playing Infinite Dimensions, she should also be careful with her playtime."
"Thank you! I really appreciate it!"
Orson's eyes grew red. The man who had faced the Forbidden Curse couldn't hold back his tears. He had waited for this moment for so long…
It felt like he had spent two lifetimes to get here.
At last, he had changed his sister's fate, and in doing so, changed his own fate as well!
With a final farewell to K.D, Orson logged out of the game.
This time…
He would never let go.
He would hold her tight forever!