Eileen's Information and Suggestions

The doll girl in the oil painting greeted Yu Sheng cheerfully and with surprise, her voice sounding a little taken aback—but there was no shock or fear at seeing a dead person alive again.

Yu Sheng felt this definitely wasn't because Eileen was too carefree.

As expected, the problem lay with himself—but considering how many times he'd died and come back to life in such a short period, it didn't seem strange for even more bizarre things to happen to him.

"It was a bit of a fluke, but at least I'm back," Yu Sheng replied casually. He turned and closed the door, which had been left slightly ajar, then immediately lowered his head to check himself. He confirmed that not only had his body fully recovered, but even his clothes were back to how they were before.

Yu Sheng frowned. Connecting this to Eileen's current reaction, he felt that rather than "resurrecting," it was more like the entire "event" of his "death" had simply vanished into thin air...

His dazed appearance at the doorway didn't escape Eileen's notice. The doll in the painting asked with confusion, "Yu Sheng? Are you alright? Why do you look so spaced out? Oh, right, tell me how you actually got back. Our connection kept cutting out, and there were always all sorts of chaotic noises from your end. I had no idea what strange things you ran into in that Otherworld... Huh? What are you holding?"

Her reminder made Yu Sheng finally notice that he was still tightly gripping something—it was a severed tail, covered in pitch-black scales, grotesquely ugly in its strange shape.

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched. "Holy crap, I almost forgot about this... It's still here."

The thing was even slightly twitching and wriggling in his hand, but it was clearly not as "vibrant" as it had been initially. It seemed that although the monster's severed limb possessed astonishing vitality, it would gradually die after being cut off from the main body.

A strange feeling surfaced in his heart. Yu Sheng didn't even know how to explain the origin of this thing to Eileen. After a slight hesitation, he walked towards the kitchen, holding the severed tail, and casually said to Eileen, "...Just a local souvenir."

The doll in the painting froze. "...Huh?"

Yu Sheng had already casually tossed the severed tail into the kitchen sink. After confirming it no longer had the strength to climb out of the sink, he poked it a few more times out of lingering unease. Then, he placed a pot lid on top of it (this way, at least if it did manage to climb out, he'd hear the pot lid fall), and only then, with a hint of exhaustion, returned to the dining room, slumping heavily into a chair.

His mind was a mess; there were too many things to think about, and more importantly, he was truly exhausted.

But he forced himself to stay alert. It wasn't time to sleep yet.

Across the table, Eileen watched him cautiously. "Yu Sheng, tell me about your experiences in that Otherworld, and how you..."

"I was just about to tell you," Yu Sheng interrupted before she could finish, waving a hand. He then adjusted his posture and looked at the doll in the painting with a serious expression. "I have a ton of questions—let's start with what I encountered over there. I met a girl who was also trapped in the Otherworld, but she might have been trapped for a very, very long time..."

Yu Sheng didn't hold anything back. He recounted his entire experience in that moonlit valley to the doll opposite him, including the information Huli had revealed to him, and the monster that looked like a flesh-and-blood amalgamation, with a very free-form appearance.

He deliberately omitted the details of his own "death and resurrection" for now, as he hadn't figured out how to explain that to her yet.

He knew, of course, that he and Eileen weren't very familiar with each other yet, nor did they have much trust. But he had no other options. In this city, Eileen was the only "abnormal individual" he had encountered and could communicate with so far. She was also the only person he knew who understood "things beyond common sense." Besides Eileen, he genuinely didn't know who else he could discuss matters concerning the Otherworld with.

He felt he should place a bit more trust in this doll from the painting, especially since her attitude had been relatively friendly so far (apart from when she was being particularly foul-mouthed).

Eileen listened intently. Her expression had become exceptionally serious when Yu Sheng mentioned the flesh-and-blood monster. A few times, she seemed about to speak but held back, never interrupting Yu Sheng's story.

Only after Yu Sheng finished his account did the doll girl finally adjust her posture. She sat upright on the chair covered with a red velvet cloth and said earnestly, "First, I still need to emphasize that I don't remember much. This painting has erased too much of my memory, so the help I can offer is also quite limited..."

Yu Sheng nodded. "I know that."

"Mhm," Eileen hummed, her expression relaxing slightly. "Then I'll do my best to supplement your knowledge about Otherworlds. Firstly, you should have a basic understanding of Otherworlds by now, knowing they are a general term for 'regions' that deviate from order and defy common sense. Do you know that Otherworlds also generate things called 'Entities'?"

"...Entities?" Yu Sheng sounded confused.

"Simply put, they are the 'natives' or 'products' of an Otherworld. Entities don't necessarily have a specific appearance; sometimes they might be strangely shaped humanoids, sometimes a type of beast or monster, sometimes even a ball of fire, a gust of wind, or a moving rock. As long as it's something generated within an Otherworld, possesses distinct 'activity,' and can react to outsiders, it can be considered an 'Entity.'"

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully.

"Entities are broadly classified and numerous," Eileen continued. "Generally, Entities have very obvious 'anomalous' characteristics. They are born in Otherworlds and naturally possess traits that defy common sense and are weirdly dangerous. Most Entities lack reason; at least, they don't exhibit 'thought processes' that humans can understand. However, there seem to be a very small number of Entities that possess intelligence... I can't recall this part clearly.

"Anyway, ninety percent of Entities are dangerous, though their strength varies. Some Entities might only cause an itchy nose, while for others, merely witnessing them can be life-threatening. Therefore, people speculate that 'Entities' are a kind of rejection response from the Otherworld, a sort of antivirus program generated by the Otherworld to eliminate intruders. This view suggests that, from the Otherworld's perspective, investigators and lost souls from the world of order and common sense are the truly unnamable monsters..."

Yu Sheng listened silently, then suddenly realized, "...So, the 'monster' I encountered was an 'Entity' generated in the valley?"

"It should be," Eileen nodded.

"Can Entities be eliminated?" Yu Sheng immediately asked.

"Entities can be killed, but not completely eliminated," Eileen said seriously. "Because strictly speaking, an Entity is just a 'product.' Kill one, and a new 'copy' will be generated in the Otherworld. They are manifestations of the Otherworld's operating rules; as long as the Otherworld exists, Entities will continue to be generated. However, typically, the generation of Entities also takes time, and there seem to be ways to inhibit the operation of certain Otherworlds, delaying or even blocking the generation of Entities within them... I don't remember the specifics."

"Can be killed, but not completely eliminated..." Yu Sheng repeated the phrase, suddenly feeling that things were more troublesome than he had imagined.

He wasn't afraid of death.

That monster seemed even less afraid...

Unconsciously, Yu Sheng had already accepted the possibility of returning to that valley and encountering that monster again. He didn't know where this thought came from, but by the time he realized it, the notion, or rather a kind of "intuition," had already taken root in his heart.

"...Never mind, being able to kill it temporarily is still good," he let out a soft breath and looked up at Eileen again. "Besides that, what else do you know about Entities? Like their weaknesses, for example."

"Entities don't have unified weaknesses. Sometimes an Entity's weakness isn't even within itself, but within the 'Otherworld' itself, or within the Otherworld's rules. Some Entities... even change their weaknesses," Eileen shook her head. "Therefore, exploring Otherworlds and fighting Entities is a specialized and dangerous task. I suggest you find professional help—not someone like me, trapped in a painting."

Yu Sheng couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Easier said than done. Where am I supposed to find professionals? They don't exactly advertise on telephone poles..."

Eileen: "They do."

Yu Sheng: "...?"

"They have ways of contacting people—of course, not necessarily small ads on telephone poles," Eileen said, nodding emphatically as she saw Yu Sheng's stunned expression. "Since Otherworlds are everywhere in this world, and they are very dangerous to ordinary people, there must be a large group of professionals who specifically handle these matters. Not to mention, in such a large city, someone has to be responsible for maintaining order, both overt and covert. The government has specialized departments, and there are various organizations in the private sector. Although I can't recall the specifics clearly, these people are definitely active everywhere...

"Of course, under normal circumstances, they maintain a distance from ordinary people's lives, hiding in the shadows. This is because many Otherworlds have strange and peculiar characteristics, such as 'activating when known' or 'actively approaching those who fear them.' Therefore, it's crucial to avoid ordinary people coming into contact with information related to Otherworlds. But once an unlucky person has indeed come into contact with an Otherworld, or if there's an Otherworld reaction in the city, these professionals naturally have ways to quickly locate and approach them..."

Yu Sheng listened to Eileen's explanation, dumbfounded. After a moment of hesitation, he looked up and out the window.

"So, since there's already been an 'Otherworld reaction' on my end, all I have to do now is wait for the 'professionals' you mentioned to contact me, right?"

"...Should... should they?" For some reason, Eileen's tone suddenly lacked much confidence.

Yu Sheng also detected her lack of confidence. "...Then why haven't they come?"

"I don't know. They should have come by now."