This is an age where gods walk the earth in the flesh.
The distant age of myth has long ended. Bored with the dullness of the heavens, the gods—
At the cost of sealing away their boundless divine power—descended into the Lower World, seeking thrill and amusement.
And at the heart of this thrill and entertainment lies the vast land at the world's center, hailed as the navel of the world:
The majestic, one-of-a-kind city of Orario—the Labyrinth City.
Gods and mortals, blessings and Familias, dungeons and adventurers—all these elements combine to create Orario's unique and thriving ecosystem.
Towering into the skies stands the pure white tower of Babel—Orario's most iconic landmark. Beneath it lies the entrance to the Dungeon.
Encircling the Babel Tower, all kinds of streets and buildings rise in dense formation.
The streets teem with a steady stream of diverse people.
Adventurers clad in armor and armed with swords are a common sight.
One might even glimpse short-statured dwarves, long-eared elves, and beastkin with ears and tails blending seamlessly into the crowd.
It's a vibrant picture of life in full bloom, a world in constant motion.
Yet amid this flourishing prosperity, there are always a few who don't quite fit in.
On a relatively quiet street in the western district, a handsome young man with gray hair leans lazily against a wall, clearly bored.
He watches the bustling crowd with a mix of nonchalance and a subtle, almost imperceptible detachment in his eyes.
His name is Phaethon.
But this name—and his current identity—aren't his origin.
Phaethon is not a native of this world. To be precise, he's a transmigrator who has already lived through two endings and is now experiencing his third life.
His first life was utterly unremarkable—a regular corporate drone who found brief comfort in virtual worlds.
That ordinary existence ended abruptly one late night after overtime work.
The second life is a blur in his memory.
He vaguely recalls having led a grand, turbulent existence, wielding great power.
But the details are obscured, as if by a heavy fog—impossible to see clearly.
Now, in this third life, Phaethon is reborn and arrives in a world both familiar and foreign.
It's the very setting of the anime Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, which he used to watch in his spare time during his first life.
What's even more astonishing is the revelation from Orario's overseer—
The ancient god Uranus, whose age is unknowable, conveyed via the Guild:
Phaethon is a God of Light from a foreign realm, not one of the native deities.
Being a god grants him immense status, but in this era, to find one's footing in Orario, even gods must abide by rules set by the gods themselves.
Uranus permitted Phaethon to live in Orario—on one condition: like all gods who descend to the mortal realm, he must seal away the vast majority of his divine power.
Then, he must recruit followers, form a Familia, and integrate into this world's order.
Phaethon, naturally, had no objection.
Reincarnated as a god—what a dream start. But a divine title without foundation is no different from being an ordinary mortal.
He accepted the terms with enthusiasm and began his journey to recruit the first members of his Familia in Orario.
He was filled with anticipation, but reality soon delivered a heavy blow.
Though Orario boasts a vast number of adventurers, including many newcomers full of dreams and eager for divine blessings—
Even with Phaethon's charisma attracting a few willing to join his fledgling Familia, the real trouble began when it came time to bestow the divine grace.
Each time he pricked his fingertip and tried to inscribe the divine contract with his godly blood onto the back of a hopeful adventurer—
No matter how devout they were, the sacred script refused to manifest. The divine connection simply would not form.
Failure after failure left those once-hopeful adventurers disheartened and walking away—and Phaethon himself was left baffled and frustrated.
Only when he finally calmed his heart and examined himself closely did he discover the cause.
With Phaethon's transmigration came not just a divine identity—
But a mysterious system called the Primordial Light, etched deep into the core of his soul.
This system is tightly bound to his divinity and imposes an absolute restriction:
Any living being who wishes to become one of Phaethon's Familia and receive his divine blessing—must first be acknowledged by the Primordial Light.
This harsh requirement has left Phaethon alone to this day.
He has founded a Familia—yet not a single member has joined.
And that is precisely why he now leans idly against the wall, daydreaming on this street corner.
Without members, he can't even take the first step toward establishing a real Familia—let alone talk of adventure or growth.
"Yo, Phaethon! You slacker—daydreaming here again, huh?"
A crisp and lively voice snapped Phaethon out of his thoughts.
He turned toward the sound and saw a petite, curvy girl with twin black ponytails—
Wearing a slightly outdated white work dress, hands on her hips, smiling brightly at him.