Dimensional Hotel

Chapter 268: Unknown Realm

Clearly, the “Big Nephew,” now swallowed by crystalline resin, had stumbled blindly through the mist and encountered an Entity. Yet among his misfortunes today, at least one stroke of luck had found him—he ran into a gentle, harmless, and neutral Entity known as the Tree Granny, rather than the sinister “Ink Stain” or the endless swarm of Carnival Revelers.

As to why Tree Granny, usually seen drifting among autumn forests, appeared here within the strange fog, no one bothered to ponder too deeply. After all, it seemed as though anything could materialize from this mist.

“Our scanners found no trace of the Tree Granny; it likely wandered elsewhere or dissolved on its own,” reported a Deep Diver whose Powered Armor bristled with additional scanning equipment, marking him clearly as a support specialist. “We didn’t detect any other Entities near the survivor, only dried, cracked branches scattered around. It seems the Tree Granny initially tried planting a tree to suspend him, and when that failed, she resorted to sealing him to the wall…”

“So what now?” A huge fox head leaned in curiously from beside Yu Sheng. The Demon Fox peered at the crystalline resin on the ground with bright, intrigued eyes. “Do we smash this open and pull him out? Hmm… it almost looks like candy…”

Yu Sheng immediately broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly hugged the Demon Fox’s muzzle, preventing any tragic misunderstanding. “No licking allowed!”

“We can’t just smash it open; he’ll break along with it,” Xu Jiali quickly intervened, shaking his head. “We shouldn’t even move him right now. From what I see, the resin has already entered its fragile phase—we just wait. The resin of Tree Granny holds people only for one or two hours, after which it’ll dissolve naturally. Judging by this crystal’s state, he’s probably been sealed for more than an hour. It should start melting any moment now.”

“All right, let’s wait it out,” Yu Sheng sighed in relief and simply sat down beside the sealed survivor, leaning comfortably against Foxy’s soft, fluffy paw. “Perfect timing—I need a rest. Those two waves earlier were exhausting.”

Foxy lowered her head, gazing at Yu Sheng as he rested against her paw, then gently touched him with her other paw. Finally satisfied, she placed her head down as well, closing her eyes and following his lead.

Xu Jiali stared, momentarily speechless. “You realize we’re still inside an Otherworld, right? How can you two be this relaxed?”

Without even opening his eyes, Yu Sheng delivered a swift chop to the little doll’s head, silencing her chatty complaints instantly.

Xu Jiali’s lips twitched, but he was already used to these three’s eccentric personalities after working alongside them a few times. Shaking his head slightly, he turned away to continue patrolling the perimeter vigilantly.

Perhaps the anthropomorphic Entities could afford to slack off, but he and his team of Deep Divers didn’t dare drop their guard even a little. There was something deeply unsettling about this dense, unnatural mist.

Instinct told him that something more dangerous than random Entities lurked here—something woven into the very nature of the mist itself, something far more sinister than mere wandering spirits.

Looking around, Xu Jiali noted with relief that at least one other person here shared his vigilance. Little Red Riding Hood stood alert, eyes sharp. The shadows of her Wolf pack flickered in and out of sight around her, some wolves continuously disappearing into or returning from the deeper fog as they scouted tirelessly.

He sighed inwardly—indeed, sometimes it was high school students who turned out to be the most dependable.

“You guys came all the way here from that Shopping Mall, right?” Xu Jiali asked abruptly, turning toward Little Red Riding Hood. “Did your Wolves scout the entire area? Do you know how big this fog actually is?”

“So far, we’ve confirmed at least six blocks,” Little Red Riding Hood replied gravely. “Centered around Wan Xiang Ji Mall, the mist contains mirrored duplicates of at least six surrounding blocks. The farthest we’ve seen reaches all the way to Taiyuan Road. But that isn’t even the limit—beyond that point, there are still solid ground and buildings, though the fog becomes thicker, obscuring everything. My Wolves’ senses become blocked, blind and deaf beyond three meters. It felt too dangerous to go further.”

She paused momentarily, softly stroking a Wolf that emerged silently from the air, a somber expression on her face.

“I suspect there’s something hidden in those deeper parts of the fog. My Wolves… communicated fear to me. However, whatever’s hidden there doesn’t seem interested in approaching.”

“Could it be another Entity?” Xu Jiali questioned quietly.

“It’s hard to say. The fog is too dense, completely impenetrable,” Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, troubled. “Maybe only your Director’s special ‘Eyes’ could clearly see what’s hidden there.” 𝘳𝓪ŊΟ𝔟Ê𐌔

Xu Jiali’s expression hardened at her words. He nodded heavily, turning abruptly back toward the fog-filled streets, his voice heavy with dread.

“What’s the current depth reading here?”

A Deep Diver swiftly raised an armored arm, fingers dancing over the control panel embedded in his gauntlet. “Depth reading stable at Level-2, with fluctuations around twenty percent!”

“Level-2,” Xu Jiali murmured, releasing a breath. “Not an extreme environment, in theory. The laws of physics should mostly hold true here… but if depth is unevenly spread, we might only be in the shallow end of this Otherworld.”

Just then, a faint crackling interrupted the large man’s muttering.

Yu Sheng, who had been resting against Foxy’s enormous paw, snapped his eyes open instantly. Several others nearby also turned sharply toward the sound.

The pale yellow, translucent amber crystal had begun to fracture rapidly. Within seconds, fissures spread across its surface. Then, like ice beneath a glaring sun, the crystal swiftly melted away.

It turned to thick resin, quickly softening further, releasing the young man previously trapped within. He fell onto the ground, jolted awake by the mild impact, and drew a sudden, ragged breath—before collapsing into violent coughs.

“Cough, cough—” the young man struggled to rise from the dissolving resin. Attempting to stand, he slipped again, falling awkwardly. The fall finally cleared his mind somewhat, and he sat upright, eyes widening as he took in the bizarre scene around him.

Powered Armor-clad warriors stood vigilantly on all sides.

Shadowy wolf silhouettes roamed the mist nearby.

A sinister doll glared at him through blood-red eyes.

And looming largest—a fox twice the size of a van, its head alone dwarfing his whole body.

Though sealed inside amber, his thoughts had remained active, but severely dulled. He had seen only vague shadows wandering around; now he finally understood what those shadows were.

Big Nephew stared blankly for a moment, then with a choked gasp, toppled backward.

Before he hit the ground, Irene yanked him upright with a strand of spider silk. The chilly, nightmarish thread jolted him awake as effectively as a bucket of icy water, and he shouted in clear astonishment:

“Holy crap!”

“Oh, you’re awake now,” Yu Sheng finally spoke, somewhat amused.

Little Red Riding Hood nodded casually. “We’ve been waiting.”

The young man blinked, finally noticing the familiar faces of Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood. The overwhelming images surrounding him had distracted him entirely until now. Familiarity slowly brought his rational thoughts back into focus.

Yet echoes of distant terrors still whispered at the edges of his mind, half-formed visions clawing at his consciousness. Shaking his head, he barely caught the words from a tall figure in black armor nearby:

“Light mental contamination, sanity decreasing—0.5 units mental stabilizer, 1 unit buffering agent. Skip the sanity-blocker, he won’t withstand it.”

Someone firmly grabbed his arm, and a prickling sensation followed.

“Medication administered.”

The confusion lifted from the young man’s eyes once more.

“I…” He glanced around in lingering disbelief, finally settling again on Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood. “Did I just get… rescued?”

Right then, the enormous fox’s head curiously peeked over Yu Sheng’s shoulder, cheerfully chiming in with a girl’s voice, “Yep! Benefactor brought everyone here to save you!”

Instantly backing away several shaky steps, the young man’s voice trembled as he asked Yu Sheng, “Brother Yu… it… doesn’t eat people, right?!”

“No, I don’t!” Before Yu Sheng could answer, Foxy herself vigorously shook her head, deeply serious. “I only like chicken legs, grilled mushrooms, Benefactor’s cooking, and noodles—”

At the mention of food, drool nearly dripped from her mouth. She lowered her huge eyes to Yu Sheng. “Benefactor, I’m hungry…”

Across from them, the rescued young man was visibly trembling.

Little Red Riding Hood chuckled softly, sympathetically watching the man’s fearful reaction. She spoke gently, like a seasoned veteran—even though she was clearly younger than him. “Everyone feels like this their first time seeing ‘this side’ of the world. You’ll get used to it soon. But save your questions until we’re safely back in reality.”

Yu Sheng nodded decisively. “Right. It’s best not to linger here.” As he spoke, he raised his hand, swiftly opening a Door back to Boundary City. Immediately he turned and saw Foxy attempting to squeeze her enormous muzzle through the Door. Sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. “Transform first! You think that size can fit through?”

She hastily complied, shimmering into human form—prompting yet another dazed stare from the young man, whose confusion was now utterly complete.

Yu Sheng turned to Xu Jiali, who remained clad in his black Powered Armor. “Need a lift? My Door seems much easier than whatever tech you’re using.”

“No way! We’ve got our own methods,” Xu Jiali quickly waved off the offer. “If headquarters finds out we disconnected our Umbilical Cord, there’ll be screaming alarms all the way up. The Director would personally bury me alive.”

Behind him, the Deep Divers’ figures began fading one by one, vanishing back into the thick fog.

Yu Sheng sighed lightly, signaling to the rest of the group, “Alright, let’s go too!”

Without another word, they stepped through the Door, leaving the mist-shrouded world behind.

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation