Chapter 21: First Time Strangers, Second Time Acquaintances

In fact, long before he learned that the dangerous and widespread phenomenon known as the "Other Realm" existed in this world, and that this massive "Boundary City" was actually a special place called the "Borderland," Yu Sheng had already concluded that there must be groups dedicated to dealing with such phenomena—not lone wanderers (though such people certainly existed), but organized, even professional and formalized, groups.

There are official ones, and there are likely civilian ones too.

But as Erin said, under normal circumstances, these people do not interact with ordinary folks.

The Other Realm lies beyond common knowledge, at the end of reason; it is countless tiny and dangerous Kong Dongs in the seemingly stable mountain of reality. Ordinary people may never encounter the scenes hidden deep within these Kong Dongs throughout their lives, but once a unlucky person accidentally catches a glimpse of the fleeting images escaping from them, they can never turn back.

This was the "knowledge" Erin had told him from the very beginning. Judging solely from these descriptions, Yu Sheng could determine that those who specialize in dealing with the Other Realm would surely find ways to prevent ordinary people from accessing any information related to the Other Realm, including their very existence.

But if something truly happened, they should have their own response mechanisms...

Yu Sheng looked up again, gazing at the cold and quiet street outside the window.

"Honestly, how long does it usually take for those 'professionals' you mentioned to react?" he asked, feeling uneasy.

"I don't know, I can't remember clearly... but I recall it being very fast," Erin said, hugging her teddy bear and rocking back and forth in her chair, looking slightly annoying, "They have a whole bunch of methods to sense abnormal situations. There should be their surveillance all over the Borderland. It was so before I was sealed, and it must be even more powerful now."

Yu Sheng said nothing, just watching the doll in the oil painting.

"O-of course, professionals are people too, and people all have the side of being a makeshift crew; occasionally they might react a bit slowly?" Erin suddenly looked guilty, "Or maybe they haven't noticed the abnormal situation on your end... although the commotion on your end has been quite loud..."

"Sounds unreliable," Yu Sheng frowned, then sighed, "According to you, my entire house is an 'Other Realm,' yet no one has come knocking so far. I seriously doubt the professionalism of those 'professionals' you speak of... Sigh, I feel that in the end, I'll have to rely on myself."

Erin blinked her eyes: "Y-yes, is that so?"

Immediately, she asked curiously: "What do you plan to do? From what you say... you still intend to deal with that valley, and the entity inside that valley?"

"It's not that I want to deal with it, but it will inevitably come after me again; I have this feeling," Yu Sheng said, tugging at the corner of his mouth as he thought of that eerie freezing rain and the frogs within it, "And didn't you say? Once you've dealt with the Other Realm, there's no turning back—I've been in contact with the 'Other Realm' longer than you might imagine."

"This... well, you're right. Indeed, many people who specialize in dealing with the Other Realm were just unlucky ordinary people dragged into incidents at the start," Erin mumbled, "I recall that about one-tenth of ordinary people, after contacting the Other Realm, either actively or passively become 'Other Realm' experts. After all, this counts as being haunted by dirty things..."

Hearing Erin's words, Yu Sheng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "Only one-tenth? What about the other nine-tenths? Did they successfully return to normal life?"

Erin tilted her head back: "They died."

Yu Sheng: "..."

"T-there are also survivors; quite a few are saved every year," Erin noticed Yu Sheng's expression and immediately explained in a panic, but after explaining, she added, "Of course, it seems more people die."

"... Erin." Yu Sheng looked at the doll in the oil painting.

"Eh, eh?"

"If you can't speak, you don't have to say anything."

"Y-yes, is that so?"

Yu Sheng sighed and slowly rose from beside the dining table.

"Whether people live or die doesn't actually affect me much, but I do need to find a way to learn more information about the Other Realm. Those 'professionals' you mentioned... if they can't come, then I'll have to seek them out actively," he said while thinking, "After all, your memory and experience are indeed a bit unreliable."

"Seek them out actively?" Erin seemed not to mind Yu Sheng's latter half of the sentence and still looked cheerful, "Then... then maybe you should really check the utility poles nearby to see if there are any small ads from some Other Realm security companies?"

Yu Sheng looked helpless: "... I'm being serious."

"I'm being serious too," Erin blinked, "They really do leave similar contact methods to help ordinary people like you who have encountered the Other Realm once and luckily returned. However, normal people generally can't see these contact methods; they are all processed with 'technical means'—but people who have contacted the Other Realm are different. They will more or less undergo some changes of 'spiritual awakening,' giving them a high probability of noticing those 'secret symbols' that are usually hidden."

Speaking of this, Erin suddenly paused, looking Yu Sheng up and down with a rather serious expression: "Haven't you felt any... changes happening to you?"

Changes occurring after contacting the Other Realm?!

Hearing the doll's words, Yu Sheng's heart immediately stirred, and he quickly asked: "The changes you're talking about, do they mean becoming strong enough to crush stones with your hands, recovering from a slash with just a few breaths, sensing others' memories and thoughts, and even coming back to life..."

Erin was stunned, looking at Yu Sheng as if he were an alien: "What?"

"... It doesn't happen?"

"At most, you can see a few things that are normally invisible! What you described, is that still human? You've changed species already—stop reading so many novels and watching so many animations, okay."

Yu Sheng: "..." Seeing the doll's reaction, Yu Sheng decisively did not continue on this topic.

His own situation was indeed abnormal; even within the realm of the "supernatural," it seemed a bit too supernatural.

Fortunately, Erin didn't seem to think much of it—probably because she had been sealed for too long, this doll's brain didn't seem to be working very well.

Yu Sheng let out a breath and looked up toward the kitchen.

A hint of hidden conflict and hesitation flashed across his face, then he tugged at the corner of his mouth and walked toward the kitchen.

The Erin in the oil painting immediately jumped down from the chair: "Eh, are we making breakfast?"

Who knows why this creature, who can't eat at all, gets so excited every mealtime.

"I'm going to deal with the 'local specialties' I just brought back," Yu Sheng said without turning around.

Erin held the teddy bear in one hand and waved with the other: "Oh, go ahead, go..."

The doll suddenly stopped.

Her brain, which had become a bit dull from being sealed for too long, finally reacted to one thing.

!.

... Where in the Other Realm would there be any 'local specialties'?!

"Wait!" Erin suddenly let out a scream, the noise nearly startling Yu Sheng who had already reached the kitchen door, "What on earth are those 'local specialties' of yours?!"

Yu Sheng walked into the kitchen, stopped, turned around, and smiled slightly: "Guess?"

Erin's eyes widened as she watched Yu Sheng starting to tie on an apron; a trace of shock and the look of "Is this person's brain finally starting to malfunction?" gradually appeared in her scarlet eyes: "W-wait, what are you doing? You wouldn't be planning to... no, was that thing really something you got from that entity?! How did you, an ordinary person, manage that?! Eh, you wouldn't really be going to..."

Yu Sheng decisively closed the kitchen door, blocking the noise of the Biji from outside.

A moment later, faint shouting from Erin came from the direction of the dining room: "Eh, don't close the door! At least come help me restart the TV first! The TV can't be watched!"

Yu Sheng, however, no longer paid any attention to her.

He approached the sink, removed the pot lid pressing down on that piece of "meat," and saw that the severed tail in the sink seemed to have completely calmed down, with only the muscle cut occasionally twitching slightly.

He silently watched this severed tail that had once drilled into his stomach, feeling once again that "hunger" seeping out from his very bones...

But this time, that hunger was not as violent as at the beginning; it merely fluttered slightly, carrying a certain pleasant expectation and just the right amount of restlessness.

Is it really possible? Is this normal? Am I still normal?

Yu Sheng thought through all these questions, but the thinking did not make his hand movements hesitate in the slightest.

Preparing green onions, ginger, and cooking wine, and taking out the cutting board and cleaver, Yu Sheng carefully washed that severed tail with clean water, scraped off the scales, then placed it on the cutting board and sliced it down with one cut.

It cut even better than expected—though while still on that monster it had been as hard as stone, now the knife sank in with the feel of firm beef.

And there were no bones inside.

Yu Sheng had thought it over; the first time he felt his body undergo "enhancement" was after gnawing on that monster.

After that, during his second clash with the monster, he had also torn and bitten into its flesh and blood, and afterward felt his strength improve further—though the increase was clearly smaller, there had indeed been a change.

This had brewed in him a bold and... delicious idea.

What would happen if it were cooked?

Yu Sheng deftly portioned the meat, his mood gradually improving.

Even Eileen, making a racket outside the door, seemed less noisy.

He didn't know whether what he was doing was normal... most likely it wasn't quite right; after all, even a doll sealed inside an oil painting found this matter exceedingly eerie.

But compared to dying and coming back to life, a suspicious piece of meat truly amounted to nothing.

"I've already eaten it raw," Yu Sheng said softly to himself as he sliced the meat, "the first time is raw, the second time cooked..."

(End of Chapter)