In fact, as soon as Yu Sheng learned that a dangerous and widespread phenomenon called the "Otherworld" existed in this world, and that this enormous "Boundary City" was a special place known as "The Crossroads," he realized that there had to be groups of people who specialized in dealing with such phenomena—not scattered lone wolves who fought on their own (although such people definitely existed), but organizations with scale, even professional and formally structured ones.
There were probably official ones, and perhaps civilian ones as well.
But just as Eileen had said, under normal circumstances, these people would never interact with ordinary people.
The Otherworld lay beyond common sense, at the end of reason. It was made up of countless tiny, dangerous holes in the mountain of reality, which seemed to have a stable order. Ordinary people might go their entire lives without ever dealing with the sights hidden deep within those holes, but once an unlucky person accidentally glimpsed the fleeting radiance leaking out from them, there was no turning back.
This was the "knowledge" Eileen had told him about from the beginning. From these descriptions alone, Yu Sheng could tell that those who specialized in dealing with the Otherworld would certainly find ways to prevent ordinary people from coming into contact with any information related to it, including information about their own existence.
But if something really happened, they ought to have their own response mechanisms...
Yu Sheng looked up again and stared at the deserted street outside the window.
"Seriously, how long does it usually take those 'professionals' you mentioned to react?" he asked uneasily.
"I don't know. I can't remember... But I recall it being pretty fast." Eileen hugged the teddy bear and rocked back and forth in the chair, looking somewhat punchable. "They have all sorts of ways to detect abnormal situations. The entire Crossroads should be covered with their surveillance. At least, it was before I was sealed away. They must be even better now."
Yu Sheng said nothing. He simply stared at the doll in the oil painting.
"B-but of course, professionals are people too. Everyone has a makeshift side to them, so maybe they're occasionally a little slow to react?" Eileen suddenly looked guilty. "Maybe they haven't noticed anything unusual on your end... Though there's already been quite a bit of activity on your end..."
"They don't sound very reliable," Yu Sheng said with a frown, then sighed. "According to you, this entire house is an 'Otherworld,' but no one has shown up even now. I seriously doubt the professionalism of these 'professionals' you mentioned... Sigh. Looks like I'll have to rely on myself after all."
Eileen blinked. "I-is that so?"
Then she asked curiously, "What are you planning to do? From 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. It'll come looking for me again sooner or later—I can feel it." Yu Sheng tugged at the corner of his mouth. He thought of the strange freezing rain, and the frog in the freezing rain. "Besides, didn't you say that once you've dealt with the Otherworld, there's no turning back? I'm afraid I came into contact with the Otherworld much earlier than you imagine."
"That... all right, you have a point. Quite a few people who specialized in dealing with the Otherworld were just ordinary people who were unlucky enough to get caught up in an incident at first," Eileen muttered. "I seem to recall that about one-tenth of ordinary people became Otherworld experts, either voluntarily or involuntarily, after coming into contact with the Otherworld. After all, it's basically like being haunted by something filthy..."
Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow at that. "Only one-tenth? What about the other nine-tenths? Did they return to normal life without trouble?"
Eileen lifted her face. "They died."
Yu Sheng: "..."
"Th-there are also some who survived. Quite a few people are rescued every year." Seeing Yu Sheng's expression, Eileen hurriedly explained, only to add, "Of course, it seems like more people die."
"...Eileen." Yu Sheng looked at the doll in the oil painting.
"Y-yes?"
"If you can't talk properly, you don't have to talk."
"I-is that so?"
Yu Sheng sighed and slowly rose from beside the dining table.
"Whether I die or not doesn't actually matter that much to 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 to me, then I'll have to find them myself." He spoke while thinking. "After all, your memories and experience are honestly a little unreliable."
"Find them yourself?" Eileen didn't seem to care about the latter half of his sentence and still looked cheerful. "Th-then why don't you really go check the nearby utility poles and see if any little ads from some Otherworld security companies have been posted there?"
Yu Sheng looked helpless. "...I'm being serious."
"So am I." Eileen blinked. "They really do leave behind similar contact information, so ordinary people like you, who have encountered the Otherworld once and luckily returned, can ask for help. It's just that normal people generally can't see this kind of contact information. It's all been processed with 'technical means.' But people who have come into contact with the Otherworld are different. They undergo changes known as a more or less 'spiritual awakening,' so there's a high chance they'll notice those 'secret seal symbols' that are normally hidden."
At this point, Eileen suddenly paused and seriously looked Yu Sheng up and down. "Haven't you felt anything... change in yourself?"
Changes after coming into contact with the Otherworld?!
Yu Sheng's heart stirred at the doll's words, and he hurriedly asked, "The changes you mean—do they include becoming strong enough to crush rocks, recovering after taking a slash and panting a few times, sensing other people's memories and thoughts, and even coming back from the dead...?"
Eileen stared at him in bewilderment, as if he were an alien. "What?"
"...They don't?"
"At most, you can see some things that normal people can't! Are you still human if you can do all that? You've changed species! Try not to read so many novels and watch so many cartoons."
Yu Sheng: "..."
Seeing the doll's reaction, Yu Sheng decisively dropped the subject.
There really was something wrong with his condition. Even in the field of the "supernatural," it seemed to be a little too supernatural.
Fortunately, Eileen didn't seem to think much of it. Perhaps she really had been locked away for too long—the doll's mind didn't seem particularly sharp.
Yu Sheng let out a breath and looked toward the kitchen.
A faint look of conflict and hesitation flashed across his face. Then he tugged at the corner of his mouth and walked toward the kitchen.
Eileen immediately jumped down from the chair in the oil painting. "Oh, are you making breakfast?"
He had no idea why this fellow, who couldn't eat anything at all, got so excited whenever mealtime came around.
"I'm going to deal with the 'local specialty' I brought back earlier." Yu Sheng spoke without turning his head.
Eileen carried the teddy bear in one hand and waved the other. "Oh, go ahead, go..."
The doll suddenly stopped.
Her sluggish mind, dulled by being sealed away for too long, finally realized something.
...Where would there be any local specialties in the Otherworld?!
"Wait!" Eileen suddenly shrieked, nearly startling Yu Sheng, who had already reached the kitchen entrance. "What kind of 'local specialty' is that supposed to be?!"
Yu Sheng entered the kitchen, stopped, and turned around with a faint smile. "Guess."
Eileen's eyes widened as she watched Yu Sheng begin tying on an apron. Shock gradually surfaced in her scarlet eyes, along with the look of has this guy's brain finally stopped working? "W-wait, what are you doing? You're not planning to... No, did you really get that thing off the entity?! How did an ordinary person manage that?! Hey, you're not really going to..."
Yu Sheng decisively shut the kitchen door, blocking Eileen's incessant chatter outside.
A moment later, Eileen's distant shouts drifted in from the dining room. "Hey, don't close the door! At least come restart the television for me first! I can't watch TV anymore!"
Yu Sheng ignored her.
He came to the sink, removed the pot lid weighing down the "meat," and saw that the severed tail in the sink seemed to have completely quieted down. Only the torn muscle at the cut end occasionally twitched faintly.
He silently watched the severed tail that had once burrowed into his stomach, and once again felt that "appetite" which seemed to seep out from his very bones.
But this time, that appetite was not as violent as it had been in the beginning. It merely stirred faintly, carrying a pleasant anticipation and a perfectly measured restlessness.
Could he really do this? Was it normal? Was he still normal?
Yu Sheng thought through all these questions, but his thoughts did not make his hands hesitate in the slightest.
He prepared scallions, ginger, and cooking wine, then took out a cutting board and kitchen knife. After carefully washing the severed tail with clean water, he scraped off its scales, placed it on the cutting board, and brought the knife down.
It was easier to cut than he had expected. Although it had been as hard as stone when it was attached to the monster, the sensation of the knife cutting through it now was no different from cutting firm beef.
And there were no bones inside.
Yu Sheng had thought it over. The first time he had felt his body become "stronger" was after biting into that monster.
Afterward, during his second clash with the monster, he had also torn into its flesh with his teeth. Following that, he had felt his strength increase further. The increase had clearly been smaller, but it had definitely changed.
This had given rise to a bold and... delicious idea.
What would happen if he cooked it?
Yu Sheng swiftly divided the meat into chunks, and his mood gradually improved.
Even Eileen's noisy shouting outside the door became less irritating.
He didn't know whether what he was doing was normal... It was probably not quite right, considering that even a doll sealed inside an oil painting thought it was extremely sinister.
But compared to coming back from the dead, a suspicious piece of meat was really nothing much.
"I've already eaten it raw." Yu Sheng cut the meat and muttered softly to himself. "The first time makes you a stranger, the second time makes you familiar..."
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