Chapter 21: First Time for Everything, Second Time’s a Charm

In fact, long before Yu Sheng even knew that the dangerous and pervasive phenomenon known as the "Otherworld" existed, or that this colossal "Border City" was a special place referred to as the "Borderlands," he had already surmised that there must be groups of people who specialized in dealing with such phenomena—not just lone wolves or freelancers (though those surely existed), but organized, professional, and established institutions.

There were official ones, and likely private ones as well.

But as Irene had said, these people would not normally come into contact with ordinary folk.

The Otherworld was beyond common sense, the end of reason, and a myriad of tiny, dangerous pinpricks in the seemingly solid mountain of reality. Most people might go their entire lives without ever catching a glimpse of the scenes hidden deep within those pinpricks, but once an unlucky soul accidentally caught a fleeting shadow of what escaped from them, there was no turning back.

This was the "knowledge" Irene had told him from the start. From these descriptions alone, Yu Sheng could judge that those who specialized in dealing with the Otherworld would certainly find ways to prevent ordinary people from encountering any information related to it, including the existence of the specialists themselves.

However, if something were to happen, they should have their own reaction mechanisms...

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

"Seriously, how long does it usually take those 'professionals' of yours to react?" he asked, feeling uneasy.

"I don't know, I can't remember... but in my memory, it's very fast," Irene said, hugging her toy bear and rocking back and forth on her chair, looking slightly insufferable. "They have a ton of ways to detect anomalies. The entire Borderlands should be covered in their surveillance. It was like that before I was sealed, and it must be even more powerful now."

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

"W-well, of course, professionals are human too, and humans can be a bit of a disorganized mess. Maybe they’re a little slow to react sometimes?" Irene suddenly looked guilty. "Or maybe they haven't discovered the anomaly here yet... even though the commotion on your end has been quite significant..."

"Doesn't sound very reliable," Yu Sheng frowned, then sighed. "According to you, this entire house of mine is an 'Otherworld,' yet no one has come knocking. I highly doubt the professionalism of these 'professionals'... Sigh, I guess I'll have to rely on myself in the end."

Irene blinked. "Is, is that so?"

Then she asked curiously, "What are you planning to do? By the sound of it... you're still planning to deal with that valley, and the entity inside it?"

"It's not that I want to deal with it, but it will come looking for me again sooner or later. I have that feeling," Yu Sheng said, his lips twitching as he thought of the eerie freezing rain and the frogs within it. "Besides, didn't you say that once you've dealt with the Otherworld, there's no turning back? I'm afraid I made contact with the 'Otherworld' much earlier than you think."

"This... well, you have a point. Indeed, quite a few people who specialize in the Otherworld started out as ordinary folks who were just unlucky enough to get caught up in an incident," Irene muttered. "As I recall, about one in ten ordinary people who come into contact with the Otherworld ends up becoming an 'Otherworld' expert, either actively or passively. After all, it is like being haunted by something nasty..."

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow at her words. "Only one in ten? What happened to the other nine-tenths? Did they successfully return to their normal lives?"

Irene tilted her head. "They died."

Yu Sheng: "..."

"There... there were survivors, too. Quite a few people are saved every year," Irene noticed his expression and hurried to explain, though she added, "Of course, it seems more people died."

"...Irene." Yu Sheng looked at the doll in the painting.

"Yes, yes?"

"You don't have to speak if you have nothing worthwhile to say."

"I-is that so?"

Yu Sheng sighed and slowly rose from the dining table.

"Whether they die or not doesn't really affect me, but I do need to find a way to learn more information about the Otherworld. Those 'professionals' you mentioned... if they can't come, then I'll have to go and find them myself," he said, lost in thought. "After all, your memory and experience are truly a bit unreliable."

"You're going to go find them?" Irene didn't seem to care about the latter half of his sentence and still looked cheerful. "Then... why don't you check the nearby utility poles to see if any Otherworld security firms have posted flyers?"

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

"I'm being serious too," Irene blinked. "They really do leave contact information like that, to make it easier for ordinary people who have encountered the Otherworld and luckily returned to seek help. It's just that normal people generally can't see these things; they've been treated with 'technical means.' But people who have come into contact with the Otherworld are different—they will, to varying degrees, experience a 'spiritual awakening,' and thus have a high probability of noticing those normally hidden 'sigils'."

At this, Irene suddenly paused, looking at Yu Sheng up and down with a serious expression. "Haven't you felt any... changes in yourself?"

Changes after coming into contact with the Otherworld?!

Hearing the doll’s words, Yu Sheng’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly asked, "The changes you're talking about—is it like becoming strong enough to crush stones, recovering from a knife wound after catching your breath, being able to perceive other people's memories and thoughts, or maybe even being able to return from the dead..."

Irene stared at him as if he were an alien. "What?"

"...Is that not it?"

"That’s the limit of what you can see that others can't! Are you still human with those abilities? You've changed species! Stop reading so many novels and watching so many cartoons."

Yu Sheng: "..."

Seeing the doll's reaction, Yu Sheng decisively stopped the conversation.

His own situation was indeed wrong. Even in the realm of the "supernatural," it seemed a bit too supernatural.

Fortunately, Irene didn't seem to think much of it—perhaps because she had been locked away for too long, the doll's brain didn't seem to be working very well.

Yu Sheng exhaled and looked toward the kitchen.

A hint of hesitation flashed across his face, but then he curled his lips and walked toward the kitchen.

Irene in the oil painting jumped off her chair. "Hey, are you making breakfast?"

It was a mystery why this creature, who couldn't eat at all, was always so excited at mealtime.

"I'm going to process the 'local specialty' I brought back," Yu Sheng said without looking back.

Irene waved one hand while holding her toy bear with the other. "Oh, go ahead, go..."

The doll suddenly stopped.

Her brain, which was a bit sluggish from being sealed for too long, finally processed one thing.

...Since when does the Otherworld have "local specialties"?!

"Wait!" Irene suddenly shrieked, the noise nearly startling Yu Sheng, who had already reached the kitchen door. "What kind of 'local specialty' could that possibly be?!"

Yu Sheng walked into the kitchen, paused, turned back, and gave a slight smile. "Care to guess?"

Irene widened her eyes, watching Yu Sheng as he began to tie his apron. Her crimson eyes gradually filled with shock and the realization that "this guy might actually be losing his mind." "W-wait, what are you doing? You aren't planning to... no, that thing really came from that entity?! How did you, an ordinary person, manage that?! Hey, you aren't really going to..."

Yu Sheng decisively closed the kitchen door, blocking out the noise from the doll.

A moment later, Irene’s faint shouting could be heard from the dining room: "Hey, don't close the door! At least help me restart the TV first! I can't watch TV anymore!"

Yu Sheng ignored her.

He walked to the sink, removed the lid covering that piece of "meat," and saw that the severed tail in the sink had finally gone completely still, with only the occasional slight twitching of the severed muscle.

He silently watched the tail that had once crawled into his stomach, once again feeling that "appetite" that seemed to seep from his very bones.

But this time, the hunger wasn't as violent as it had been at first; it only rippled slightly, carrying a pleasant sense of anticipation and a just-right amount of restlessness.

Is this really okay? Is this normal? Am I still normal?

Yu Sheng pondered these questions, but the thoughts did not cause his hands to hesitate for a second.

He prepared scallions, ginger, and cooking wine, took out a cutting board and a kitchen knife, carefully rinsed the tail with clean water, scraped off the scales, placed it on the board, and cut down.

It was easier to cut than he had expected—even though it had been as hard as stone when it was on that monster, now, the sensation under the knife was just like firm beef.

And there were no bones inside.

Yu Sheng had thought about it; the first time he felt his body "strengthen" was after he had bitten into that monster.

And in his second encounter with the monster, he had torn into its flesh again, and after that, he felt his strength improve further—though the margin was clearly smaller, there was definitely a change.

This had brewed a bold and... delicious thought.

What would happen if he cooked it?

Yu Sheng skillfully sliced the meat, his mood gradually improving.

The noisy Irene outside the door didn't seem so bothersome anymore.

He didn't know if what he was doing was normal... it was likely not right, considering even a doll sealed in an oil painting thought it was sinister.

But compared to returning from the dead, a piece of suspicious meat was really no big deal.

"I've already eaten it raw," Yu Sheng whispered to himself as he sliced the meat. "The first time is strange, the second time is familiar..."