Chapter 10: Second Chance
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Irene found it utterly ridiculous that Yu Sheng could have lived in an “Otherworld” for so long without even realizing it. But Yu Sheng thought the entire situation was completely absurd.
“So, you’re saying this world is full of these ‘Otherworlds’?” he asked, huddled in the corner of a crumbling temple. His thoughts lingered on Irene, who was communicating with him inside his mind. “It’s just that most people can’t reach them because they can’t see them?”
“That’s pretty much it,” Irene replied. “But whether the whole ‘world’ works like that… I’m not entirely sure. The world is vast, after all. At least in ‘Boundary City,’ the chances of Otherworlds popping up are pretty high. That’s why they call this place the ‘Borderland,’ or something like that. I don’t know all the details—I’ve been trapped in this painting for far too long, and my memory’s a bit fuzzy.”
“Borderland?” Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with the name. Then, he realized something else Irene had said—she had emphasized “within the bounds of Boundary City.” So this enormous, seemingly endless city actually had an “outside!”
He hesitated for a moment but couldn’t resist asking, “What’s outside Boundary City?”
“Outside? Maybe more cities? Or perhaps… the sea or something?” Irene’s answer was vague. “I can’t quite remember. I’ve been in that painting for far too long. I only recall bits and pieces about this city…”
She paused, looking confused. “Wait, you don’t know? You’ve never left Boundary City?”
Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched, and he fell silent.
How could he know? He’d only been here for two months. Forget about the world outside Boundary City—he hadn’t even figured out the bus routes beyond four blocks from his home!
After a long pause, Yu Sheng decided to keep this little secret to himself. He wasn’t ready to admit to a cursed painting that he was just a “homebody” who had barely gone anywhere.
“I haven’t been out. I’m kind of a homebody… Anyway, let’s not dwell on that,” he said casually, trying to change the subject. “Let’s focus on getting me out of this ‘Otherworld.’ It is possible to leave an Otherworld, right?”
Irene seemed to think for a moment, sifting through her muddled memories. After a while, she answered, “Otherworlds come in many forms. Sometimes it might be a building that doesn’t appear on any map, or an extra stop on a bus route. It could even be a forest—a kingdom you enter by opening a wardrobe door. Generally, smaller Otherworlds have obvious exits, or you can return to reality by following certain rules. But the bigger the Otherworld, the more complicated it gets.”
She paused, looking troubled. “I can’t remember the specifics. There should be a classification system for Otherworlds, with ‘depth’ and ‘danger level’ ratings. But… I really have been in that painting for too long.”
Her voice trailed off, sounding a bit despondent.
Yu Sheng initially wanted to make a sarcastic remark about how she kept talking without giving any useful information. But hearing her last words, he held his tongue. She was trying her best to help—it wasn’t her fault that she had been sealed away for so long.
“Let’s look around; I’ll find an exit eventually,” Yu Sheng said, shaking his head as he gazed out at the valley beyond the dilapidated temple. “This place seems pretty vast. From what I can see, there are mountains on either side and forests in the distance. According to what you said, leaving might not be easy.”
“Mhm,” Irene agreed. “You can start by checking around where you first entered the Otherworld. Look for anything that seems out of place—something that doesn’t belong. Usually, the exit is nearby. If you don’t find anything, try getting to a higher place to see if you can spot any mirror-like reflections or hear the sound of wind.”
“But even if you find something like that, don’t approach it recklessly; it could be a trap leading to a ‘deeper layer.’ As for the specifics… I can’t explain them clearly; you’ll have to trust your instincts.”
“Instincts?” Yu Sheng asked, skeptical.
“Yes. It’s called ‘intuition’—a kind of spiritual perception. Trained investigators can master it. I know you haven’t been trained, but you’ll have to push through.”
“Don’t worry too much. Spirituality exists in all intelligent beings. Even ordinary people have it; it’s just not awakened. If you’re careful, you’ll feel those innate warnings and premonitions. If you encounter something you can’t figure out, tell me, and I’ll… try my best to help.”
Yu Sheng nodded, stepping out from his hiding spot and cautiously making his way toward the temple’s main gate. The feeling of being watched, mixed with a sense of something lurking, surrounded him. It was suffocating, but he steeled himself and kept moving forward.
According to Irene, he had to find an exit—waiting around wouldn’t make a door appear in front of him.
To ease his tension, he kept chatting with Irene. “You said my home is an ‘Otherworld.’ How did you figure that out? I never noticed anything strange about it.”
“I can sense it,” Irene replied matter-of-factly. “It’s that intuition I mentioned. Something’s off about that building—though on the surface, everything seems normal. I just don’t know why.”
“More intuition, huh…” Yu Sheng shook his head, skepticism flickering in his eyes. “So, every day when I go home, I’m entering an Otherworld, and when I leave, I’m exiting it? Then my home is just a harmless ‘good Otherworld’ that’s freely accessible.”
After a few moments, Irene said softly, “…But going out the door doesn’t always take you where you want to go, does it?”
Yu Sheng’s expression froze, memories of how he’d ended up trapped here rushing back to him.
He began to understand what was wrong with his home. It was a miracle he’d lived there peacefully for two months!
As they spoke, he found himself back at the open space in front of the temple—the spot where he’d first entered this Otherworld.
“There’s nothing here,” he murmured, checking the clearing. He hadn’t found the key item Irene had described. “Looks like it’s not going to be that easy.”
“Yes, as expected,” Irene sighed. “Try venturing further, but remember—never touch anything glowing or moving suddenly. And don’t eat or drink anything here.”
“I know…” Yu Sheng glanced up at the sky, which was shrouded in a murky veil. “Would it be better to search during the day? Moving around at night feels… creepy.”
“Otherworlds don’t follow normal rules,” Irene replied. “Daytime isn’t necessarily safer, and there might not even be daytime here. I still suggest finding the exit as soon as possible. If you delay, something could change.”
Yu Sheng shrugged and moved further away from the temple.
Just as he stepped beyond the temple’s vicinity, he heard a sound.
At first, it was faint, like muffled breathing.
Instinctively, Yu Sheng looked toward the source. He saw a puff of white mist slowly dispersing in the air, as if some invisible giant had just exhaled.
He heard the sound, and the beast’s breath formed.
He saw the white mist, and the creature began to take shape—a dark shadow looming, nearly three times his size, its heavy breathing echoing in the stillness.
Now, he could see the outline of the beast—it existed.
Yu Sheng’s heart tightened. A sense of danger engulfed him, even more oppressive than the frog he had faced before!
The dark shadow solidified.
It was something Yu Sheng had never seen before—a monstrous mix of bear, lion, eagle, tiger, and snake. Countless limbs were piled onto its grotesque body, like creatures melted together into a single abomination. It loomed over Yu Sheng, its mismatched eyes glinting with hunger.
Yu Sheng looked up, meeting the beast’s gaze.
Without hesitation, the creature lunged. Yu Sheng dropped low, narrowly dodging one of the beast’s jaws—but he fell into another.
Sharp teeth snapped shut; half of Yu Sheng’s body was torn apart. Yet the pain felt distant, almost numbed. Everything around him seemed to slow down. He saw a snake-like limb extend from behind the beast, another mouth biting into his remaining half—he even saw his own heart.
The heart beat slowly, then vanished into the serpent’s maw.
“Curse you!” Yu Sheng forced out. He knew he was going to die again, but he couldn’t go down without a fight.
In his last moments, he mustered all his strength to turn his head and bite—he didn’t know what part of the beast it was, nor if it would do any good, but he knew he had to fight back.
At least take a piece of flesh before dying.
Yu Sheng used every ounce of strength, fiercely biting into the beast. Blood and flesh, claws and teeth, predator and prey…
As his consciousness began to slip, one final thought squeezed into his mind. He called out softly to Irene.
“Irene…”
“Hmm?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll hang up now.”
Irene was stunned, not processing his words.
Then Yu Sheng hung up.