Chapter 10: Second Chance
Irene found it utterly absurd that Yu Sheng could have lived in an “Otherworld” for so long without realizing it. But Yu Sheng thought the entire situation was quite absurd indeed.
“So, you’re saying this world is filled with ‘Otherworlds,’ right?” he asked, huddled in the corner of a crumbling temple. His thoughts wandered to Irene, who was communicating with him inside his mind. “It’s just that most people can’t reach them because they can’t see them?”
“That’s about right,” Irene replied. “But whether the whole ‘world’ works like that… I’m not entirely sure. The world is vast, after all. At least within ‘Boundary City,’ the chances of Otherworlds popping up are quite high. That’s why they call this place the ‘Borderland’ or something like that. I don’t know all the details—I’ve been trapped in this painting for far too long, and my mind’s a bit fuzzy.”
“Borderland?” Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu at the mention of the name. Then, he realized something else Irene had slipped in—she had emphasized “within the bounds of Boundary City.” So this enormous, seemingly endless city actually had an “outside!”
He hesitated for a moment but couldn’t resist asking, “What’s outside Boundary City?”
“Outside? Maybe more cities? Or perhaps… the sea or something?” Irene’s answer was vague. “I can’t quite remember. I’ve really been in that painting for far too long. I only recall a few things about this city…”
She suddenly paused, looking confused. “You don’t know? You’ve never left Boundary City?”
Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched, and he fell silent.