Chapter 31: Brushing Shoulders
Yu Sheng pushed open the door of the small supermarket and stepped inside.
A simple, normal action—yet at that moment, Yu Sheng found it hard to believe. The shock of opening the Door multiple times earlier had left him with a lingering sense of unease. Even now, seeing the familiar shelves and the young shopkeeper stirred bizarre thoughts in his mind—
[What if this isn’t the supermarket I remember? What if it’s just a sinister, Door-mimicking anomaly? An otherworldly nest masquerading as a place of convenience?] Yu Sheng’s imagination ran wild. [Those shelves may look normal, but who’s to say the jars and bottles aren’t filled with eyeballs floating in formaldehyde? And that shopkeeper—what if he greets me with a friendly nod, then suddenly pulls a Chainsaw Sword from his pocket and charges me at the counter?]
Thankfully, such absurd thoughts merely lingered for a moment before he calmed himself. He quickly confirmed that he was indeed in a normal supermarket and understood when and how he could open a Door correctly and naturally. After regaining composure, he nodded to the young shopkeeper across the counter.
“Here to pick up some supplies. Got any boxes of instant noodles and compressed biscuits?”
The young shopkeeper, noticing Yu Sheng’s momentary daze, couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled. Still, he didn’t dwell on it and pointed towards the iron staircase not far away.
“There’s a stack of unopened boxes under the stairs to the second floor. Take your pick. As for the biscuits, we don’t have any more boxed ones—just the loose packs on the middle shelf over there. See it? Not many people buy those, so I don’t keep a lot in stock.”
Yu Sheng nodded. “Got it. Pack all the biscuits you have, and I’ll grab a box of noodles. Also, give me two packs of the big ham sausages.”
“Sure,” the shopkeeper replied, taking a large shopping bag and heading to the shelf to gather the biscuits. As he busied himself, he chatted casually.
“Buying so much at once? You can’t live on just noodles and biscuits. My wife nags me all the time for eating like that.”
“Just stocking up,” Yu Sheng replied nonchalantly.
The shopkeeper shrugged, gathering a bag full of supplies and moving to the counter. Just then, the glass door of the supermarket creaked open, both sides being pushed at once. One of the door hinges emitted a harsh, grating squeak.
The shopkeeper looked up from the counter with a frown. “Hey, that door’s busted! There’s a sign on it.”
“Oh, I didn’t notice,” said a young man with short black hair, dressed in casual clothes. His face was unremarkable, and he glanced back awkwardly at the door that failed to swing shut on its own.
“Got any boxed instant noodles?” he asked.
Yu Sheng was just emerging from between the shelves, carrying a box of noodles on his shoulder. He glanced at the newcomer but quickly averted his gaze.
“That kind will do,” the young man said, pointing at the box Yu Sheng was carrying.
“Same place, under the stairs to the second floor,” the shopkeeper instructed without looking up. “Help yourself, I’ll handle this first.”
Yu Sheng brushed past the young man, made his way to the counter, and paid for his supplies. Carrying the large bag in one hand and balancing the box on his shoulder, he walked out into the fading twilight.
Once inside, Li Lin found the boxes of noodles as directed and was about to lift one when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out, he saw it was a message from the Long-Haired Girl.
“I’ve settled down and am out getting supplies,” he replied quickly.
Two quick vibrations followed with a new message: “Any unusual findings?”
Li Lin typed his response. “None yet. I’ll wander around tomorrow and mingle with the locals.”
After a moment of hesitation, he sent another message: “When will the Deep Diver arrive? Who’s coming?”
It took a while before his phone buzzed again. “Xu Jiali. Arriving tomorrow.”
Li Lin raised an eyebrow and was about to ask something when his Leader sent another message.
“He just got back from Ameyn-IX. There was an incident, and his mission ended ahead of schedule. He’s reporting and undergoing full examination right now. Tomorrow, he’ll be stationed with you.”
Li Lin’s mouth twitched. He typed rapidly, “He just finished field duty and has to report immediately? No break at all?”
The reply was swift. “He volunteered. The last mission left him with some residual symptoms from Deep Diving. He’ll need to wear a stabilizer for a few days. Rather than taking leave, he asked to be assigned. Your area is calm right now, so he can take it easy while on duty. You’ll get the details when he arrives.”
Li Lin sighed and typed back a simple, “Got it.” Then, picking up the box of noodles, he headed to the counter.
The supermarket owner behind the counter lifted his eyelids and glanced over, pulling out the barcode scanner while mumbling once more, “Eating these things all the time isn’t good. My wife nags me about it every day…”
Li Lin chuckled, “Then should I just not buy it?”
“That’ll be sixty-two yuan and eighty cents.”
…
Irene heard a noise coming from the entrance—the door had been opened from the outside. She leaned her head out from the edge of the picture frame, peering toward the hallway, but didn’t see any sign of Yu Sheng for quite a while.
After a long moment, she finally saw Yu Sheng poking his head through the doorway, cautiously surveying the interior as if he were a thief. Only after triple-checking did he sneak inside, setting down the large pile of items he had brought and closing the door behind him.
Irene just watched the whole scene quietly. Once Yu Sheng finished shutting the door, she finally spoke up, “Yu Sheng, what are you doing? Why do you look like you’re sneaking back home like a thief?”
Yu Sheng let out a sigh as he changed his shoes, muttering, “Don’t even mention it. I’ve got a serious psychological shadow about opening doors now. I can’t move forward without triple-checking.”
Irene listened, her gaze drifting to the pile of stuff near the door.
“You bought quite a lot,” Doll Lady remarked with a hint of amazement. “You should’ve used one of those little camping carts—they’re really handy.”
For a moment, Yu Sheng didn’t reply, just looking at the stack of instant noodles, ham, and compressed biscuits piled near the entrance. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he smacked his forehead. “I should have bought some liquid food! She’s been starving for too long; she can’t eat solid stuff right away… No, I’ll go buy a case of Eight Treasures Porridge tomorrow morning… or maybe now?”
Irene listened silently as she watched Yu Sheng get ready to head out again and finally spoke up, “Just go tomorrow.”
Yu Sheng had already changed back into his shoes and was gripping the doorknob when he turned around. “But she’s still hungry…”
“Even if you buy it now, do you have a way to get it to that Fox right away?” Irene stared straight at him. “Besides… I wanted to say this earlier—delivering food to her will only temporarily ease her condition. The biggest issue over there isn’t the lack of food—it’s that Entity named ‘Hunger.’”
Yu Sheng stopped his movements.
After a moment of thought, he changed back into his indoor shoes and walked over to the dining table, sitting across from Irene.
“You’re right. The biggest problem is ‘Hunger.’ Even if I could temporarily fill her stomach, it wouldn’t solve anything… Tomorrow it is. I still need to figure out a stable way to enter that Valley first.”
Irene noticed the look of deep contemplation on Yu Sheng’s face as he spoke. Remembering the vague hints he had dropped earlier, she quickly caught onto something.
“…Did something happen?” she tentatively asked. “Did you… come up with a way to enter that Valley?”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not about entering that Valley,” Yu Sheng replied, raising his hand and grasping the air in front of him.
He grabbed an invisible doorknob, and suddenly a door materialized midair—ordinary in appearance, but its edges trembled like a phantom. In front of Irene’s astonished gaze, Yu Sheng yanked the door open.
Beyond the door stood an elf with mechanical limbs and a wheel-like lower body, dressed in a silver-white robe. She was operating some kind of large, shimmering machine, and her face twisted into shock as she turned to see Yu Sheng.
The mechanical limbs on her back kept making rapid, precise adjustments to the glowing device, but her eyes bulged as if they might pop out, staring at Yu Sheng for a full two seconds before shouting, “Who the hell are you—”
With a loud bang, Yu Sheng slammed the door shut.
“…I didn’t expect to link to the same place twice in a row,” Yu Sheng remarked, both surprised and thoughtful. “Wait a minute, I might be able to replicate that…”
He was still muttering when Irene, who had been holding herself back, finally exploded, practically leaping out of the painting, “What was that just now?! WHAT WAS THAT?!”
“As you saw,” Yu Sheng exhaled, “it was a Door.”
“I KNOW it was a door! The point is—” Irene took a deep breath, practically bouncing from her chair, “What the hell was that place?!”