Dimensional Hotel

It was a bright morning, with the sun shining and only a few clouds drifting lazily across the sky.

In the living room, the TV was showing a boring city variety show, and Irene, remote control in hand, was watching it with great interest. Meanwhile, Foxy was in the dining area, licking her bowl clean while using her many tails to gather up the plates and cutlery from the table.

Yu Sheng had his laptop on the dining table, staring intently at it since breakfast, completely absorbed in whatever he was doing.

Foxy was curious about what her “Benefactor” was doing, but seeing Yu Sheng so focused, she didn’t dare interrupt him. Occasionally, as she cleared the table, she’d tilt her head to take a peek, only to find herself utterly confused before going back to her chores.

It wasn’t until Foxy had finished washing the dishes that Yu Sheng was still glued to the screen, and Irene came wandering in from the living room—unlike Foxy, she wasn’t very shy. Seeing Yu Sheng busy with his laptop, she immediately ran over, clinging to his pants and trying to climb up. “Hey, hey, what are you doing? Can I see?”

Yu Sheng sighed and picked Irene up by the back of her collar, setting her down on the table. “Don’t make trouble. I’m trying to write something.”

“Write something?” Irene blinked in confusion. “Why?”

“It’s my job. I’m a writer,” Yu Sheng replied, not lifting his head, just glancing at the little doll from the corner of his eye. “You didn’t think I was unemployed, did you? I do have a proper livelihood.”

Irene blinked at him, her expression slowly shifting to one of surprise. It seemed she’d never really thought about Yu Sheng needing a job or where the money for the household came from. Now she looked as if a door to a whole new world had opened in her mind.

Yu Sheng didn’t care about her reaction and kept talking. “Recently, the expenses have been high. We added a lot of new things to the house, and I’ve also got two drafts that are overdue by half a month. I need to catch up on them—so go watch TV and don’t cause trouble.”

Irene stared at him for a while, then slowly shuffled closer, moving under his arm to sneak a peek at the screen. “But you’re clearly just browsing a video site…”

Yu Sheng’s face stiffened. “This is part of my creative process, clearing my mind first.”

Irene pointed to the screen. “But you’ve got a forum page open behind the video too.”

Yu Sheng’s expression grew even more awkward. “Reading other people’s articles can be inspiring—you often find creative ideas in these forums, so I’m just… getting some inspiration.”

Irene looked up at him. “But you haven’t even opened a document…”

“Why do you have so many questions!” Yu Sheng finally lost his patience and picked Irene up to put her on the floor. “Have you ever tried writing? It takes a lot of thinking and preparation before you even start…”

Irene stood beside the table, hands on her hips, looking up at him confidently. “So when are you actually going to start writing?”

Yu Sheng glared at her. “As soon as you stop bothering me.”

The little doll girl pouted, turned around, and walked back to the living room, muttering under her breath, “Hmph, so many excuses for a procrastinator…”

Yu Sheng thought about it. She wasn’t wrong. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the screen, staring blankly at the video playing.

He was a writer—though that might be too grand a term. To put it simply, he was a small-time, second-rate author.

In fact, this was one of the few constants between his memories of “life in his hometown” and his life in Boundary City. He had always done this kind of work, from that quiet seaside town to this huge, unfamiliar city. His means of earning a living hadn’t changed much, and that, in itself, was something to be grateful for.

But these days, there had been too many unexpected events. He found it impossible to sit still and write—not because he lacked ideas, but because he had too many bizarre ones. He didn’t know which of them belonged in a story and which might actually connect to the Otherworld, potentially attracting some dangerous entities.

After encountering so many supernatural things, an author who used to write strange fantasy stories was suddenly feeling completely lost.

He sat there, letting his mind wander, not knowing how long it had been before he finally took a deep breath and quickly closed both the video site and the forum page.

“Come on, Yu Sheng, get yourself together. Think about Foxy’s food, her new clothes, and the materials to make Irene a new body—and that TV she keeps bugging me about,” he thought.

As a small-time writer, he didn’t have the savings to afford all that. If he didn’t start writing soon, they’d be eating dirt! Forget about being a Spirit Realm Detective—right now, he needed to focus on keeping everyone in this house fed!

Yu Sheng slapped his face lightly to wake himself up, moved his mouse, and—opened a game.

“Gathering thoughts is exhausting,” he reasoned. “I’ll just play a quick game to relax…”

But he hadn’t even started when he felt something bump against his calf. Irene had snuck in from the living room without him noticing, and now she was standing there, headbutting his leg. “Yu Sheng, you’re playing games!”

“Why are you everywhere!” Yu Sheng’s face turned red with embarrassment. He bent down, ready to shoo her away, but before he could, his pocket started vibrating. His phone was ringing.

He pulled it out and saw it was an unfamiliar number.

Yu Sheng hesitated before answering, putting the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

On the other end was a young woman’s voice, sounding a little nervous and uncertain. “H-hello! Is this Mr. Yu? I’m sent by Director Bai Li Qing! I… I have the registration forms for you.”

Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then remembered—he had talked to that “Director” about this before. He had almost forgotten!

“Oh, right, that’s me,” Yu Sheng replied, quickly standing up and setting aside Irene for now. He looked out the window while speaking. “I’m at home. Where are you?”

“I should be right outside your place, but I can’t see your house,” the voice on the phone sounded anxious. “The Director said I should call before arriving, but I forgot until I got here…”

“Wait there, I’ll open the door for you.”

Yu Sheng headed for the door, and Irene called out from behind him, “Hey, who is it? Should I use a disguise?” Foxy also peeked out, looking a bit anxious. “Do I need to transform?”

“No, no,” Yu Sheng waved his hand. “It’s the person coming to help you guys get your ID cards.”

Before he even finished speaking, he was already at the door. He looked through the peephole and saw a young woman standing not far away, holding a phone—wearing a neat black suit, short-haired, and looking around the empty space, as if she had been sent on an errand by her boss.

Yu Sheng opened the door.

The short-haired young woman, who had been nervously glancing around, jumped in surprise. Then she turned to see a door appear out of thin air a short distance away, with Yu Sheng standing in the doorway.

“Mr. Yu!” She recovered and hurried over, clutching a document folder. “Hello, I’m from the Second Mobilization Squad of the Special Affairs Bureau. You can call me Ren Wen Wen—may I come in? I’ll need to take photos of those being registered… Oh, and here’s my ID. Please take a look.”

As she spoke, she hastily pulled out a small black badge from her pocket. Yu Sheng glanced at it, noting that it looked quite similar to the IDs that Li Lin and Xu Jiali had shown him before.

He didn’t really need to verify its authenticity—after all, the only ones who knew both his phone number and “Wutong Road No. 66” were the Special Affairs Bureau and Little Red Riding Hood.

Oh, and those three locksmiths from before.

“Come in,” Yu Sheng stepped aside to let her in. He couldn’t help but notice how nervous this “Ren Wen Wen” seemed. But her nervousness wasn’t like the kind Li Lin and Xu Jiali had shown when they first entered Wutong Road No. 66—it was… something different.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Ren Wen Wen stepped inside, and Yu Sheng looked around one more time. The empty area outside was as deserted as ever, so he closed the door behind him. Irene and Foxy stared curiously at the short-haired girl who had just entered the house.

Ren Wen Wen was equally curious, her eyes scanning the doll and the fox demon.

“What’s the process?” Yu Sheng asked, seeing everyone standing around awkwardly. “Do we register them first or do my paperwork first?”

“We… we register their identities first,” Ren Wen Wen finally snapped out of her daze, hastily pulling out forms and a portable device from her bag. “You’re planning to register an independent team, correct? First, we need to give each member a proper identity. Please fill out these forms, and then I’ll take their photos and make their cards—I’ve brought the equipment, and my colleague at the office is ready for the records to be uploaded and processed.”

Yu Sheng watched her work efficiently, placing all the materials on the table. She then pulled out two pens and looked up at the doll standing on the table and the fox demon beside her.

“Can you fill out the forms yourselves?”

Foxy blinked at the paper, then looked helplessly at Yu Sheng. She couldn’t read…

Yu Sheng sighed, stepping forward to take the pen. “I’ll fill it out for her.”