Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 262: An Unusual Incident

Shadowy wolves leaped swiftly through the fractures between light and shadow, passing through mirrored city blocks, twisted skyscrapers, and roads that appeared to vanish into thin air. In this mirrored world, the city was reshaped into a labyrinthine reflection. Yet the wolves knew precisely how to navigate this distorted realm—and soon, their destination arrived.

Yu Sheng felt his vision blur for a brief moment. The shadow wolf he rode sprang from the stark, black-and-white reflection world back into colorful reality. Immediately, the bustling noise of distant traffic surged into his ears, as if someone had switched on a machine.

Foxy soon followed, hopping down lightly from her wolf. Intrigued, she reached out to pet the shadow creature’s head and said cheerfully to Yu Sheng, “Benefactor, these beasts raised by Little Red Riding Hood truly have some profound Door-way talent. Though their intelligence is a bit lacking, this shadow-leaping speed would be highly valued even back in my homeland…”

The shadow wolf let out a muffled growl, wagging its tail happily at Foxy’s praise.

“You’re wagging again!” Little Red Riding Hood snapped, smacking the wolf lightly on its head. “She just called you unintelligent! And you’re still happily wagging your tail? Usually, you won’t even acknowledge anyone else!”

From Yu Sheng’s shoulder, Irene glanced around at the empty alleyway and remarked dryly, “Makes sense. Both are canine—communication is easy.”

Foxy, clearly not understanding Irene’s jab, paid the doll no heed and continued joyfully petting the wolf.

Little Red Riding Hood quickly recalled her shadow wolves. After briefly confirming their direction, she led Yu Sheng and Foxy forward.

“Wan Xiang Ji Mall is just ahead, only a few minutes’ walk,” she explained. “I’ve instructed my wolves to scatter unseen and scout the surroundings. Big Nephew claimed he fell into the Otherworld from Wan Xiang Ji Mall, but dimensional shifts can distort perception. It’s possible he entered from another nearby entrance and merely saw the mall’s image at that exact moment…”

Soon, the group emerged onto a busy main street. Yu Sheng immediately spotted the large, strikingly visible shopping mall in front—and several parked black Special Affairs Bureau vehicles at the intersection.

People were being organized and evacuated from the mall. Small groups still steadily exited from various doorways, but the evacuation remained orderly.

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood quickly found the Bureau’s on-site leader—a tall, sturdily built man in his thirties with short, neatly trimmed hair. His size was only slightly smaller than Xu Jiali’s formidable frame.

Little Red Riding Hood stepped forward and introduced herself professionally, “Hello. We’re Spirit Realm Detectives cooperating with the Special Affairs Bureau. My name is Little Red Riding Hood from ‘Fairy Tale’…”

Yu Sheng, standing slightly back as a newcomer, observed this scene quietly. He couldn’t help thinking Little Red Riding Hood looked exactly like a high-school girl asking directions from a policeman after getting lost—gone was her usual cool, composed aura.

The towering Bureau operative also seemed momentarily baffled. He had indeed received Li Lin’s briefing, yet clearly hadn’t anticipated meeting a girl in a high school uniform. Surprised, he blurted out, “…Wait, you’re actually a high-schooler?”

Little Red Riding Hood stared at him incredulously. “I’ve been cooperating with your bureau for so long, and you didn’t know I’m a high-schooler?!”

Awkwardly scratching his nose, the operative confessed, “…We knew, but never really registered it.”

“I’m never wearing my uniform outside again,” Little Red Riding Hood complained sullenly, turning back toward Yu Sheng.

“I’m Liu Bing, responsible for this district,” the tall agent introduced himself, quickly diverting the conversation. Checking his gear briefly, he began walking them towards the mall entrance, summarizing, “Li Lin informed me of the basics—a distress call, right? The caller was previously your client. But something about this situation is unusual. We’ll need you Spirit Realm Detectives to cooperate closely with us Special Affairs agents on this mission. Oh, and you two are…?”

It wasn’t until halfway through his explanation that Liu Bing seemed to remember he’d neglected introductions. He turned quickly to Yu Sheng and Foxy, looking apologetic. (Irene, remaining completely motionless on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, was likely assumed to be nothing more than an accessory.)

“Oh, I’m Yu Sheng. Yu Sheng from ‘Hotel,’” Yu Sheng volunteered first.

Immediately following his cue, the fox demoness chirped, “I—I’m Foxy, Foxy from ‘Hotel!’”

“Irene,” the little doll suddenly piped up from Yu Sheng’s shoulder, “Irene from ‘Hotel.’”

Liu Bing halted abruptly, stiffly looking the odd trio up and down. A muscle in his face twitched slightly as he took a shallow breath, trying to steady himself.

“This situation is indeed unusual. Later, we’ll fully cooperate with your group…”

Little Red Riding Hood widened her eyes in disbelief. “That’s not what you said a moment ago!”

“Seriously, it’s better if we follow your lead,” Yu Sheng said, half-smiling and half-sighing. He waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t know how rumors spread in your Bureau, but I’m truly a beginner at this. Dealing with Dark Angels and managing Otherworld incidents are two completely different things. For the latter, I’ve got no experience. Just treat the three of us like super-soldiers.”

“Super-soldiers are tough to beat…” Irene muttered softly.

Liu Bing considered this for a moment. Seeing Yu Sheng’s serious expression, she finally nodded. “Alright, we’ll handle it.”

Little Red Riding Hood tilted her head curiously. “You mentioned something weird about this incident. Exactly how weird?”

“The Otherworld expanded very quickly but remained extremely limited in scope,” Liu Bing said, suddenly very serious as she moved onto the main issue. “After the entrance appeared, it remained open only for an instant before it closed, completely different from normal Otherworld breaches, which typically expand over time.”

“To be precise, when the Otherworld opened, our monitoring devices around the city detected just a single tremor lasting exactly one second. The intensity was so low it didn’t even trigger the automatic alarms—it was only thanks to an alert technician noticing the anomaly. That one-second tremor was the entire lifespan of the entrance. In other words, the guy who called for help had incredibly bad luck. He just happened to stand at the ‘perfect’ spot during that one fleeting second.”

Yu Sheng exchanged glances with Little Red Riding Hood.

They spoke almost simultaneously: “High Sensitivity, Low Stability—it’s exactly like that…”

“But there’s more,” Liu Bing continued, clearly not finished. “We examined the data recorded at the time. Before and after that significant tremor, there were hundreds of smaller, weaker vibrations scattered throughout those few minutes, each lasting less than a second.”

Yu Sheng was stunned. “What? Hundreds of entrances? Isn’t that like turning the place into a sieve?!”

Liu Bing shook her head. “No. Each tremor was extremely faint, far too weak to actually open an entrance. Theoretically, only that one stronger vibration was capable of creating a single entryway. Normally, such weak signals would be automatically filtered out. They were only logged this time due to their unusual frequency, causing the system’s fuzzy logic to retain them.”

Irene sighed dramatically, staring upward. “And the one actual entrance was caught by Big Nephew, huh…”

“High Sensitivity, Low Stability probably doesn’t fully explain this situation anymore,” Yu Sheng murmured thoughtfully to Little Red Riding Hood. “I think after rescuing him, we should advise him to pray somewhere… Do any of the Ancient Holy Spirits manage luck?”

“There’s one for good mental health,” Little Red Riding Hood whispered back. “Ancestor of the Dolls, Alice, oversees keeping a good attitude. Or he could pray to the ‘Star Thrower’ Madam—Star Thrower and her hound are in charge of surviving bad luck and beatings.”

Yu Sheng was momentarily speechless.

[Those Ancient Holy Spirits… Are they seriously alright in the head?!]

Suddenly, Yu Sheng felt curious about this world’s faith system centered around these so-called “Ancient Holy Spirits,” beings supposedly present at the world’s creation. He wondered what roles these entities actually played and how they influenced this world—though now clearly wasn’t the right moment for such musings.

“Are the vibrations still ongoing?” Little Red Riding Hood suddenly asked.

“No, they’ve stopped,” Liu Bing replied, shaking her head. “They ceased before we even arrived.”

“Has something like this ever happened before?” Yu Sheng asked, curiosity still gnawing at him.

“This is the first recorded case,” Liu Bing said gravely. “Usually, an Otherworld entrance emits one strong pulse lasting minutes or even hours, expanding steadily afterward. That’s why immediate evacuations are necessary—to limit the damage. So strictly speaking, though strange, this incident seems minor. At least, for now.”

Yu Sheng’s brow furrowed deeper. For reasons he couldn’t fully explain, he felt unsettled despite Liu Bing’s reassurances. Something about the way the Otherworld had opened felt incredibly suspicious.

The Special Affairs Bureau clearly shared his suspicions. Even though the entrance appeared to have vanished, they maintained maximum alert, deploying defensive measures and reinforcements around the mall.

At the main entrance, Yu Sheng saw a special vehicle-mounted “Node” device, accompanied by various monitoring and protective equipment just brought in. Fully armed operatives had already sealed the front doors and adjacent exits.

Presumably, the mall’s other major entrances were similarly secured.

“This is where the entry appeared,” Liu Bing led Yu Sheng to a massive tempered glass window near the mall’s entrance. “If we’re correct, this is where the missing person ‘stepped through’ into the Otherworld mall he described.”

Yu Sheng took a slow breath and approached the glass, peering through carefully.

Reflected there was only an ordinary street scene.

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation