Chapter 37: The First Step in Building a Body
When Yu Sheng heard Irene’s request, he was a bit taken aback. He couldn’t fathom why she was bringing up such a serious matter at this moment.
They had indeed discussed creating a body for the girl in the painting several times before, but they’d never settled on anything. Partly because they still lacked mutual trust and understanding, and partly because life had been too chaotic lately—Yu Sheng hadn’t had the time to consider Irene’s physical form.
But now, seeing the exceedingly earnest expression on the doll girl’s face, Yu Sheng realized she wasn’t bringing this up on a whim or out of fancy.
He looked at Irene questioningly.
“I want to go with you,” Irene said simply. “Consider it an extra pair of eyes.”
“Are you sure?” Yu Sheng’s expression was somewhat nuanced. “I mean, it’s not that I doubt your abilities…”
“Listen,” Irene interrupted, leaning so close to the edge of the frame that her face occupied two-thirds of the painting. Her tone was unusually serious. “I’m not joking. I may not know how you plan to deal with that ‘Entity,’ but given that you managed to bring back ‘souvenirs’ from it, you must have some skills. I won’t ask what they are specifically, but you need to understand that when confronting the Otherworld, just being able to ‘fight’ isn’t enough—especially against tricky entities like ‘Hunger.'”
She took a slight step back. “Make me a body so I can regain some freedom of movement. It doesn’t have to be perfect; as long as I’m freed from this cursed oil painting, I can do so much more. Even if I can’t restore all my powers, I’m definitely stronger than the average investigator or so-called spiritual detective or Otherworld hunter. Even if I’ve forgotten a lot of knowledge, I still have the instincts of a living doll.”