Brushing Past

He opened the supermarket door and walked inside.

It was such a simple and normal process, yet Yu Sheng felt a sense of disbelief. The impact of the previous few door-opening attempts had been too great, leaving him with a lingering after-effect. Even seeing the shelves and the owner before him now made him entertain absurd thoughts—

What if this isn't a small supermarket like I remember, but an alien space lair disguised as one? Those shelves look normal, but maybe the jars and bottles are full of eyeballs preserved in formaldehyde. And the owner, after greeting me, might suddenly pull a chainsaw sword from his pocket and charge at me, cutting me down at the checkout counter...

Fortunately, these ridiculous thoughts only flickered through his mind. Yu Sheng quickly calmed down. First, he confirmed that he had indeed entered a normal supermarket and roughly understood the conditions under which he could "open a door normally and correctly." Then, he nodded to the young owner across from him, "I'm here to buy some things—do you have any instant noodles or MREs by the case?"

"We have instant noodles. The unopened cases are all stacked under the stairs leading to the second floor. You can pick whatever kind you want," the young owner said. Although he found Yu Sheng's dazed expression a bit strange, he quickly dismissed it and pointed to the iron ladder not far away. "We don't have MREs by the case anymore. They're all in that row in the middle of the shelf on the left, see? That's all we have. Not many people buy them, so I don't stock much."

"Okay, pack all the MREs for me. I'll go get a case of instant noodles... and two packs of the large-sized ham sausage."

"Alright."

The young owner responded, then turned to grab a large shopping bag and started packing items from the shelf. As he worked, he casually asked, "Buying so many instant noodles and MREs all of a sudden? It's not good to eat only these. My wife tells me off about it every day."

"Just stocking up at home," Yu Sheng replied vaguely.

The supermarket owner didn't say anything further. He packed a large bag of items according to Yu Sheng's request and walked towards the checkout counter. Just then, the supermarket's glass door was pushed open again—both doors swung open, and one of the door hinges let out a grating squeal.

The owner, who was counting MREs for the bill, quickly looked up at the sound. "Hey, that door's broken. There's a sign on it."

"Uh, I didn't notice," said the young man who had entered. He had black hair, wore casual clothes, and had unremarkable features. He awkwardly glanced back at the half of the glass door that seemed unable to return to its original position, then turned his face back. "Do you have instant noodles by the case?"

Yu Sheng was walking over with a case of instant noodles from between the two rows of shelves. He looked up at the commotion at the checkout counter but quickly averted his gaze.

"Oh, this kind is fine," the young man with short black hair pointed at the instant noodles in Yu Sheng's hands. "I'll take a case too."

The supermarket owner didn't look up. "Under the stairs on the right side, go get it yourself. I'll ring you up first."

Yu Sheng brushed past the young man and paid at the checkout counter. He then walked out into the darkening night outside the supermarket, carrying a large shopping bag in one hand and a case of instant noodles on his shoulder.

Li Lin found the instant noodles he wanted under the stairs mentioned by the supermarket owner. As he bent down to pick them up, he felt a vibration in his pocket. He took out his phone and saw a message from his captain.

He glanced in the direction of the checkout counter, then looked down at his phone screen, casually replying, "I've settled in and am coming out to buy some things."

The phone buzzed twice, and a new message popped up on the screen: "Did you find anything unusual?"

Li Lin typed, "No. I'll walk around the streets tomorrow and interact with the residents here."

After sending the message, the young operative from the Special Operations Bureau hesitated for a moment before editing the next message: "When will the 'deep diver' from the team arrive? Who's being assigned?"

After a considerable pause, the phone vibrated again: "Xu Jiali, arriving tomorrow."

Li Lin stared at the message on the screen, stunned. Just as he was about to text a question, he saw his superior send another message: "He's already back from Ameine-IX. There was a situation there, his mission ended early, and he's currently at the Bureau for a debriefing and a full check-up. He'll be dispatched to your location tomorrow."

After reading the messages on the screen, Li Lin's lips twitched, and he quickly typed, "Sending him on duty right after an external mission? Not even giving him half a day off?"

"Xu Jiali requested it himself. The situation he encountered was a bit unusual, and he's experiencing some deep diver after-effects. He needs to wear a stabilizer for the next few days, so he's rescheduled his post-mission leave to next week. There likely won't be any situations on your end in the short term, so he can rest with you. You can discuss the specifics when you meet tomorrow."

Li Lin pouted and replied with an "Okay," then stood up, holding the case of instant noodles, and walked towards the checkout counter.

The supermarket owner behind the counter raised his eyelids and, while taking out the scanner gun, muttered again, "It's not good to eat only these. My wife tells me off about it every day..."

Li Lin chuckled, "Then I won't buy them?"

"That'll be 62 yuan and 80 cents."

Eileen heard the movement at the main door—it had been opened from the outside. However, peeking from the edge of the picture frame towards the entryway, she couldn't see Yu Sheng's figure for a long time.

After another while, she finally saw Yu Sheng's head peek in from the doorway, acting all mysterious. He first looked around the interior for a long time before cautiously stepping inside like a thief. After placing the large pile of groceries on the floor, he turned to close the door.

Eileen watched the scene silently. Only after Yu Sheng had closed the door did she finally speak, "Yu Sheng, what are you doing? Why are you coming home like a thief?"

Yu Sheng sighed, muttering as he changed his shoes, "Don't even mention it. I have severe psychological trauma from 'opening doors' now. I can't take a step forward without confirming it three times."

Eileen listened, her gaze falling on the pile of items by the door.

"You bought a lot," the doll said with some surprise. "You should have used a small cart, like those camping carts. They're really useful."

Yu Sheng was silent for a moment, looking down at the instant noodles, ham, and MREs piled by the door. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he smacked his forehead hard. "I should have bought some liquid food! She's been hungry for too long and can't eat this directly... No, I'll go buy a case of congee tomorrow morning... Or should I go now?"

Eileen listened silently. Seeing Yu Sheng about to change his shoes and go out again, she suddenly spoke, "Let's do it tomorrow."

Yu Sheng had already changed his shoes again. He held the doorknob and looked back, "She's still hungry..."

"Even if you buy it now, do you have a way to deliver it to that fox immediately?" Eileen looked directly at Yu Sheng. "And... honestly, I wanted to say this before, even if you deliver these, it will only temporarily alleviate her condition. The biggest problem there isn't the lack of food, but the entity called 'Hunger'."

Yu Sheng stopped what he was doing.

After a moment of thought, he changed his shoes back, walked to the dining table, and sat down opposite Eileen.

"You're right, the biggest problem is 'Hunger.' Although filling her stomach temporarily is good... but let's talk about it tomorrow. There's no rush for this. We still need to figure out how to enter that valley stably."

Eileen noticed the serious, thoughtful expression on Yu Sheng's face when he said the latter part. Coupled with the snippets he had revealed when contacting her earlier, she immediately sensed something.

"...What exactly happened?" she tried asking. "Did you... do you have a way to enter that valley now?"

"Strictly speaking, it's not a way to enter the valley, but..."

As Yu Sheng spoke, he reached out and grabbed the air in front of Eileen.

He grasped a doorknob, and a door suddenly appeared in the air. The door itself was ordinary in appearance, but its edges trembled and vibrated like a phantom. Then, to Eileen's shocked gaze, Yu Sheng yanked the door open.

The illusory door suddenly opened, and Yu Sheng saw a female elf standing on the other side, looking like a mechanic with a large cluster of mechanical limbs and a wheeled lower body, wearing a silver-white robe-like skirt on her upper body.

She was standing in front of some kind of large machining equipment, turning her head to look over here with a shocked expression.

The Elf mechanic's mechanical limbs behind her were still rapidly and precisely adjusting the large, continuously shimmering device on the platform. Her eyes were wide as if they would pop out, and after staring at Yu Sheng for two seconds, she yelled, "So what the hell are you...?"

With a bang, Yu Sheng closed the door.

"...I didn't expect to connect to the same place twice in a row," Yu Sheng said, a hint of surprise and contemplation on his face. "Wait, this might be... I'll try to replicate it later..."

He had barely muttered this when Eileen across the table could no longer hold back. The doll-like lady looked as if she would leap out of the oil painting and bite someone. "What was that just now!? What was it?! Huh?!"

"As you can see," Yu Sheng let out a breath, "it's a door."

"I know it's a door, but the point is—" Eileen took a deep breath and bounced up from her chair. "What is it, exactly?!"