Chapter 20: Irene's Intelligence and Suggestions

The doll girl in the oil painting greeted Yu Sheng with a happy and surprised expression, her voice carrying a hint of astonishment—but not even a shred of the shock or panic one would expect when seeing a dead person return to life.

Yu Sheng felt this certainly wasn't because Irene was just easygoing.

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

"Call it a stroke of luck; I made it back somehow," Yu Sheng replied casually. He turned around to close the ajar door, then immediately looked down to check himself, confirming that not only had his body completely recovered, but even his clothes had returned to their original state.

Yu Sheng frowned. Connecting this to Irene's current reaction, he felt that rather than having "resurrected," it was as if the entire "event" of his death had simply vanished into thin air...

His dazed expression as he stood by the door was captured by Irene's eyes. The painted doll spoke up in confusion: "Yu Sheng? Are you okay? Why do you look so blank? Oh, right, tell me how you actually got back. Our connection has been so intermittent, and there's always a bunch of chaotic noise on your end. I have no idea what kind of strange things you've been running into in that Otherworld... Huh? What's that you're holding?"

Prompted by her reminder, Yu Sheng finally noticed he was still tightly clutching something—it was a grotesque, strangely shaped severed tail covered in pitch-black scales.

Yu Sheng's lip twitched: "Holy crap, I almost forgot... It's actually still here."

The thing was even still twitching and contracting slightly in his hand, but it was clearly no longer as "vibrant" as it had been at first. It seemed that although the monster's severed limb possessed incredible vitality, it would gradually die once separated from its main body.

A strange feeling welled up in his heart. For a moment, Yu Sheng didn't even know how to explain the origin of this thing to Irene. After a brief hesitation, he carried the severed tail toward the kitchen, saying casually to Irene as he walked, "...Just a local specialty."

The painted doll froze upon hearing this: "...Huh?"

By then, Yu Sheng had casually tossed the severed tail into the kitchen sink. After confirming the thing no longer had the strength to crawl out of the sink, he uncomfortably poked it a few times with a knife for good measure, then pressed a pot lid over it (so that if it truly did crawl out, he would at least hear the sound of the lid hitting the floor). Only then did he return to the dining room with a trace of exhaustion, dragging his heavy body to sit down in 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 awake; now was not the time for sleep.

Across the table, Irene watched him cautiously: "Yu Sheng, tell me about your experiences in that Otherworld. And how did you..."

"I was just about to tell you that," Yu Sheng interrupted her with a wave of his hand. He adjusted his posture and looked at the painted doll with a serious expression. "I have a stomach full of questions—let's start with what I encountered over there. I met a girl who was trapped in the Otherworld just like me, but she might have been trapped there for a very, very long time..."

Yu Sheng did not hide anything. He poured out his entire experience in the Valley of Nightfall to the doll, including the information Hu Li had revealed to him, as well as that flesh-like, highly abstract monster.

Except for his own "resurrection," which he hadn't yet figured out how to explain, so he left it unmentioned for now.

He knew, of course, that he and Irene were still not very close and lacked much trust, but he had no other choice. In this city, Irene was the only "anomalous individual" he had encountered and could communicate with, and the only person he knew who understood "things beyond common sense." Aside from Irene, he truly didn't know who else he could discuss the Otherworld with.

He felt he should place a bit more trust in this painted doll; after all, so far, her attitude had been quite friendly (except when she was cursing him out).

Irene listened intently. Her expression had become exceptionally serious the moment Yu Sheng mentioned the flesh monster. Several times she seemed to want to speak, but she held back, never interrupting his narration.

It wasn't until Yu Sheng finished his account that the doll girl finally adjusted her posture. She sat upright in her chair covered with a red velvet cloth and spoke earnestly: "First, I must emphasize that I don't remember much. This painting has worn away too many of my memories, so the help I can provide is quite limited..."

Yu Sheng nodded: "I know."

"Mm," Irene hummed, her expression relaxing slightly. "Then I will do my best to supplement your knowledge regarding the Otherworld. First, you should already have some basic understanding that 'Otherworlds' is a collective term for certain 'regions' that deviate from order and defy common sense. But do you know that 'Entities' are also generated within them?"

"...Entities?" Yu Sheng expressed his confusion.

"In short, they are the 'natives' or 'products' of the Otherworld. An Entity doesn't necessarily have a fixed form; sometimes it might be a strangely shaped humanoid, sometimes a beast or a monster, and sometimes even a ball of fire, a gust of wind, or a rolling stone. As long as it is produced within an Otherworld, possesses obvious 'vitality,' and can react to outsiders, it can be regarded as an 'Entity.'"

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully.

"The classification of Entities is broad and their numbers are vast," Irene continued. "Generally speaking, Entities all possess very obvious 'anomalous' characteristics. They are born within the Otherworld and naturally possess traits such as being contrary to common sense, being bizarre, or being dangerous. Most Entities lack reason—at least, they do not exhibit 'thinking behaviors' that humans can understand—but there seem to be a very small number of Entities that possess intelligence... I can't quite remember that part.

"Anyway, ninety percent of Entities are dangerous, though they vary in strength. The harm caused by some might just be making someone's nose itch, but there are others where merely witnessing them poses a mortal threat to humans. Therefore, there is a theory that 'Entities' are a kind of rejection response from the Otherworld—a biological defense program generated by the Otherworld to eliminate invaders. This view suggests that, to the Otherworld, the investigators and lost souls coming from the world of order and common sense are the true unspeakable monsters..."

Yu Sheng listened silently, then suddenly reacted: "...In other words, the 'monster' I encountered was an 'Entity' generated in the valley?"

"Most likely," Irene nodded.

"Can Entities be destroyed?" Yu Sheng followed up immediately.

"Entities can be killed, but they cannot be completely eradicated," Irene said solemnly. "Because strictly speaking, an Entity is merely a 'product.' If you kill one, a new 'copy' will be generated within 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 an Entity takes time, and there seem to be ways to suppress the operation of certain Otherworlds, delaying or even blocking the generation of their Entities... As for the specifics, I don't remember."

"Can be killed, but cannot be completely eradicated..." Yu Sheng repeated the words, suddenly feeling that things were more complicated than he had imagined.

He wasn't afraid of death.

But that monster seemed even less afraid...

Unconsciously, Yu Sheng had already accepted the premise that he would return to that valley and encounter that monster again—he didn't know where the thought came from, but by the time he realized it, the thought, or rather a certain "intuition," had already taken root in his heart.

"...Never mind, being able to kill it temporarily is a good thing," he exhaled softly and looked up at Irene again. "Besides that, what else do you know about Entities? For example, their weaknesses."

"Entities have no unified weakness. Sometimes, an Entity's weakness isn't even within itself, but within the 'Otherworld' or within the rules of the Otherworld itself. Some Entities... will even change their own weaknesses," Irene shook her head. "Therefore, exploring Otherworlds and confronting Entities is a professional and dangerous undertaking. I suggest you try to find professional help—not someone like me, who is trapped in a painting."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Easy for you to say. Where am I supposed to find professionals? They aren't exactly posting small ads on telephone poles..."

Irene: "They do."

Yu Sheng: "...?"

"They have contact methods—and of course, they aren't necessarily small ads on telephone poles," Irene said, nodding emphatically when she saw Yu Sheng's stunned expression. "Since Otherworlds are everywhere in this world, and they are very dangerous to ordinary people, there will naturally be a large group of professionals specializing in handling these matters. Regardless of anything else, in a city this large, there must be people responsible for maintaining order, both in the light and the shadows, right? There are official departments in charge, and there are various civilian organizations, large and small. Although I don't remember the specifics, these people are definitely active everywhere...

"Of course, under normal circumstances, they maintain a distance from the lives of ordinary people and hide in the shadows. This is because many Otherworlds have eerie and strange properties, such as 'becoming active once known' or 'actively approaching those who feel fear toward them.' Therefore, they try to avoid letting ordinary people come into contact with information regarding the Otherworld as much as possible. But once an unlucky soul has actually encountered an Otherworld, or an Otherworld reaction appears in the city, these professionals naturally have a set of methods to quickly locate them and come knocking on their door..."

Yu Sheng listened to Irene's explanation in a daze. After a moment of hesitation, he looked up toward the window.

"In other words, since an 'Otherworld reaction' has already occurred on my end, all I have to do now is wait, and the 'professionals' you mentioned will proactively contact me, right?"

"...Probably...?" For some reason, Irene's tone suddenly lost its confidence.

Yu Sheng also heard her lack of conviction: "...Then why haven't they come yet?"

"I don't know. Logically, they should have arrived by now."