Chapter 26: Irene’s Talent
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation.
Irene had a peculiar talent—she could enter other people’s dreams. Not only could she slip into them, but she also had some control over what happened in them. She could, for instance, summon a dump truck just by ringing the end-of-exam bell within a dream. It was an impressive skill, at least on paper, and if used well, it could allow for powerful things like psychological suggestions, mental infiltration, or even altering memories.
But Yu Sheng wasn’t completely convinced about Irene’s supposed abilities. So far, she was mostly useless, even in dreams. She couldn’t even hide properly behind a bush when she needed to. Worse still, even in her dreams, she was trapped inside that old oil painting.
Now, in Yu Sheng’s dream, Irene’s oil painting floated in front of him. The doll-like girl inside looked slightly embarrassed, and Yu Sheng couldn’t help but find the sight awkward. There she was, hovering mid-air, like she was meant to be hung on a wall.
“So, you can’t leave the painting even in dreams?” Yu Sheng asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought at least in the dream world you could come out and stretch your legs.”
“That’s why it’s called a curse,” Irene replied helplessly. “I’m trapped in the painting in reality, and it’s the same here. No matter where I go, I can’t leave this frame unless I find a suitable vessel. Freedom? I don’t even get that in dreams.”
“That’s… really unfortunate,” Yu Sheng said sincerely.
“But dreams aren’t exactly the same as reality!” Irene protested, her voice rising as if she were defending herself from pity. “I do have a little more freedom here. I mean, I can float around… Don’t laugh! And… there’s more!”
Yu Sheng looked at her curiously. “Oh? More, you say?”
Irene nodded determinedly, and then she struck a pose, as if powering up like a character from a video game. Inside the painting, she started exerting herself, focusing intensely. Yu Sheng watched, surprised but intrigued. A soft glow started to shimmer on the surface of the painting, and before his widened eyes, it went “poof!”—transforming into something that looked like a cheesy movie poster from the 1980s.
Now, Irene stood there with a retro aesthetic, staring at Yu Sheng.
“I can change art styles,” she declared proudly.
“…”
“You laughed! I heard you!”
“I didn’t laugh,” Yu Sheng said, struggling to keep a straight face.
“Inner voice!” Irene huffed, looking hurt.
Yu Sheng decided to let it go. There were more important things to focus on. He glanced over at the giant fox lying nearby, still not sure what her presence in his dream meant.
Feeling somewhat ignored, Irene floated off to the side, mumbling to herself. “I can turn into other things too—woodcuts, scrolls… I’m even trying to learn how to become a relief sculpture. At least that way I’d have some depth, and no one could say my character is flat…”
Yu Sheng couldn’t take it anymore and turned back to her. “First off, when did I say your character is flat? And secondly, ‘flat character’ doesn’t mean that—turning into marble isn’t going to give you more personality.”
Irene opened her mouth, ready to argue, but before she could say anything, she suddenly transformed back into her oil painting form with a soft “poof.” Apparently, her transformation time had expired—less than three minutes total.
Yu Sheng sighed. He knew she wasn’t very useful, even in dreams, but this was just… pitiful.
However, Irene didn’t seem too upset this time. She had finally noticed the white fox lying on the grass, and there was something about it that caught her attention. She turned back to Yu Sheng, her curiosity piqued.
“By the way, what’s up with this fox?” she asked. “She looks… different from the rest of the dream.”
Yu Sheng gave her a puzzled look, and she elaborated, “In normal dreams, everything usually matches. There’s a certain consistency to the colors and textures—even if the dreamer doesn’t realize it, I can see it. Your dream, for example, has this sort of grayish tone to everything: the sky, the grass, all of it. But this fox… she looks like she’s from an entirely different movie set.”
Yu Sheng stared at the sleeping white fox, considering Irene’s words. “Her name is Foxy,” he said slowly.
“Yeah, she’s obviously a fox…” Irene said, rolling her eyes.
“No, I mean that’s her name. Foxy,” Yu Sheng explained. “Remember I told you about getting trapped in that ‘Otherworld’? I met a fox there—white fur, red eyes, multiple tails…”
Irene blinked, her memory finally catching up. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the fox, her mouth opening and closing in disbelief. “Wait, WHAT?! How did you bring her into your dream? And… how could you have the power to ‘trap’ someone here?!”
“I didn’t bring her here, and I don’t think she’s really ‘trapped’ either,” Yu Sheng said, shaking his head. “I think this is more like a shadow, or a projection of her. I don’t know. But ever since I fell asleep, she’s been here, and no matter what I try, I can’t wake her up.”
Irene looked from Yu Sheng to the fox and back again, her eyes full of questions. She muttered, “I’ve never heard of anything like this…” Then she gave Yu Sheng a sharp look. “Are you really human?”
Yu Sheng frowned. “What kind of question is that? If I’m not human, then what are you?”
But Irene didn’t drop it. Her crimson eyes were serious as she studied him. “Let’s recap: an ordinary person lives unknowingly in an Otherworld for who knows how long. Then he ventures into yet another Otherworld, encounters a dangerous creature, survives, brings back a ‘souvenir’ from that encounter, cooks and eats it, and somehow stays fine. Now, you’re storing another consciousness in your dream—a fox that’s somewhere else in reality. And you’re telling me you’re just an ordinary human?”
Yu Sheng shifted uncomfortably under her stare. He looked away, thinking to himself that she didn’t even know the half of it—she didn’t know about him coming back from the dead. Compared to that, the rest of these things were nothing.
“Look, I know a lot of weird things have happened, and I’m as confused as you are,” Yu Sheng admitted. “But honestly, you’re one of those weird things that’s happened to me recently too. Don’t look at me like that. I wish I knew what was going on. I can’t wake Foxy up, and if I could, maybe we’d get some answers.”
Irene stared at him for a while longer, as if deciding whether to believe him. Then, finally, she turned her attention back to the fox, her gaze softening.
She seemed lost in thought for a long time. Then, suddenly, she spoke up. “I have an idea.”
Yu Sheng perked up, looking at her with renewed hope. “You do? Let’s hear it.”
“I can try to enter this fox’s dream,” Irene said, pointing to the sleeping creature. “She seems to be in some kind of mental lockdown, but no matter how guarded a mind is, dreams are the weakest point. If she’s dreaming, I might be able to ‘see’ something, or even wake her up. If it works, we might get some answers.”
Yu Sheng was genuinely surprised. He had just been lamenting how useless Irene seemed, and now she was proposing something this sophisticated. “You can really do that?”
Irene nodded. “It’s not that hard, as long as she’s actually dreaming. Even if she’s not, our minds are linked here. I can probably ‘squeeze’ through and take a look. But… it’s risky, and I’ll need your help.”
Yu Sheng’s expression turned serious. “No problem. Just tell me what to do.”
“Think of diving between minds as deep-sea diving in unstable waters,” Irene explained. “If our connection breaks, I could get stuck on the other side. I need a rope—that’s you. You’ll dive with me, and you’ll keep the connection stable. If something goes wrong, I’ll use an abrupt method to wake you up.
“If you wake up, it will pull me back too, so we both return to the real world. But I have to warn you—my way of waking people isn’t exactly pleasant.”
“How unpleasant can it be?” Yu Sheng asked.
Irene smirked. “Imagine you’re in a dream where you’re taking the most important test of your life, but you forgot to write your name. Then, just as the bell rings, a dump truck crashes into the exam hall, flattening you and your high school crush into paper-thin characters.”
Yu Sheng blinked, not quite understanding her bizarre analogy. But he figured it couldn’t be that bad. Waking up abruptly was a small price to pay—it couldn’t be worse than dying, right?
Rather than hesitate, he felt more eager to find out what was happening with Foxy.
“Alright, let’s do it,” Yu Sheng said, nodding firmly. “What’s the first step?”
Irene smiled. “Go over there and lie down next to the fox—right on her tail. Then, hold onto my frame, close your eyes, and we’ll take the plunge.”