Infinite rawen

Chapter 1: Inner Heaven and Earth

The stars twinkled, space-time flickered, and Han Yu found himself adrift in a dimension with no sense of up or down. He realized he had transcended.

No, this wasn’t transcendence in the traditional sense. According to the definitions in transcendence novels, traveling from one world to another counts as transcendence. However, Han Yu was simply ejected from his original world and now found himself in the cracks between dimensions. Thus, this wasn’t truly transcendence.

“Arguing over whether this counts as transcendence is pointless. What matters is that I’m no longer in my original world,” he muttered.

A bitter smile formed on his face. Han Yu had been an ordinary working man of the 21st century, employed in a relative’s company. His life was a routine of nine-to-five workdays with weekends off. On one such weekend, he played the popular game "Battle Royale" with friends, stayed up late, and then had a bizarre dream.

In the dream, a small black elliptical seed the size of a fingertip, shrouded in a faint golden light, traversed the river of time and the barriers of worlds to reach Han Yu’s bedside. It spoke excitedly, saying, “Finally, I’ve found you! Good thing I didn’t give up!”

Before Han Yu could process the situation, he was forcibly squeezed out of his world by its governing laws, landing in the cracks between dimensions.

How could Han Yu’s mortal body withstand the chaotic turbulence of the dimensional void? Fortunately, the small seed, which had declared, “Good thing I didn’t give up!” turned out to have some moral fiber. At the brink of Han Yu’s death, it absorbed him into itself.

When Han Yu regained his senses, he found himself in a pitch-black space. He learned the name of this miraculous seed: Inner Heaven and Earth.

Han Yu first encountered the concept of "Inner Heaven and Earth" in the novel Divine Tomb, where the protagonist Chen Nan possessed a personal spatial realm. In that realm, he collected treasures and stored his power, treating it as his foundation. Over time, many novels adopted this trope, making it a staple for protagonists to have a personal independent world.

“Do I also have Inner Heaven and Earth? Does this mean I’m the protagonist too?” Han Yu thought.

Before he could revel in this discovery, the golden light enveloping the black seed flared up. Han Yu felt a sharp pain in his head as his memories were laid bare before the seed. Suddenly, the Inner Heaven and Earth began to transform.

Four golden stones materialized around him, emitting a strong but not blinding light that illuminated the dark space.

Under the golden glow, clear energy ascended, while murky energy descended.

Han Yu realized that even though Inner Heaven and Earth was a realm, creating it required someone with immense power to "split heaven and earth." Naturally, he was far from capable of such a feat, but the golden light seemed willing to handle the task on his behalf.The stones transformed into towering steles—each a meter high and a foot thick. As the steles expanded, the space between them grew wider. Every inch of distance added to the steles' separation caused the realm's space to expand proportionally.

When the space was vast enough, a golden boulder descended from above, forming the ground. Winds began to blow, water started flowing, flames burned brightly, and trees sprouted from the earth.

“Argh!”

Han Yu clutched his head as a sharp pain surged through his mind. Images from his thoughts materialized. It was a city—a vision inspired by the game SimCity 5: Cities of the Future, which Han Yu had been playing just before this strange series of events.

The city's phantom hovered above the ground. Upon contact with the soil, it rapidly took shape: streets unfurled, towering skyscrapers rose, and small villas mushroomed across the land like scattered toadstools.

But that wasn’t all. Han Yu felt his body tremble as a golden, humanoid silhouette emerged from within him. The male figure smiled softly, reaching into Han Yu's consciousness to pull out a golden female silhouette. The woman cried out in surprise but followed the male figure willingly.

Then, one after another, more golden silhouettes emerged—men and women alike. Their numbers seemed endless, filling the sky with their shimmering forms.

When no more figures came forth, they descended cheerfully, landing in front of villas and skyscrapers. As they solidified into human form, they greeted one another and entered the buildings. Han Yu was left floating in the air, utterly bewildered.

Gradually, he felt his weight return and began to descend. Beneath him was a luxurious three-story villa with a front yard fountain, a circular driveway, a backyard pool, a private greenhouse, and a two-story guesthouse near twin garages.

“A mayor’s mansion?”

This was Han Yu's last coherent thought before everything faded to black.

When he awoke, his mind was still buzzing with the information overload. Much of it pertained to the Inner Heaven and Earth and something called Wish Power.

The Inner Heaven and Earth was now an inseparable part of Han Yu. As long as he lived, the realm would persist. Conversely, if Han Yu died, the realm would collapse.

Wish Power, on the other hand, was an extraordinary force capable of fulfilling any desire. It was akin to the Dragon Balls from Dragon Ball Z or the Peacemakers from Borgman.

The Wish Power had read Han Yu’s desires. It wasn’t that the act of splitting heaven and earth had reminded Han Yu of SimCity. Instead, his initial thought of SimCity had prompted the Wish Power to create this city for him.

However, there was a catch. The city wasn’t truly real. Both the land and the buildings were mere illusions sustained by the residual Wish Power. When that energy ran out, the city would vanish—and its collapse would trigger a catastrophic explosion within the Inner Heaven and Earth.

This also meant that while Han Yu's life was tied to the realm, the reverse was also true: if the realm were destroyed, he too would perish.

“Damn it!”

The realization left Han Yu in shock. What kind of cruel twist of fate was this? He had barely begun to celebrate his incredible fortune—only to learn that his life was now a ticking time bomb.