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“Irene?” He spoke aloud without thinking. His feet crunched lightly against the gravel as he cautiously approached the dilapidated, half-collapsed temple within the valley. He had been searching for some kind of shelter, scanning his surroundings for anything unusual. Now, hearing her voice inside his head, he could barely believe it. “How… How are you talking to me like this? In my head, I mean.”

“Is it really that surprising?” Irene’s voice was filled with confidence. “I’m one of Alice’s dolls, remember?”

Yu Sheng blinked again, trying to connect the dots. Did all of Alice’s dolls have this kind of ability? Could they all just slip into people’s minds whenever they wanted?

“Remember,” Irene continued, her tone a bit lighter now, “I slipped into your dreams once already. After that, it’s pretty easy to find my way back.”

That made sense, Yu Sheng thought, although he wasn’t sure how comfortable he was with someone being able to just pop into his mind whenever they liked. But before he could say anything, Irene’s voice sharpened.

“Hold on a second… Where are you? I can’t sense you at all.”

Yu Sheng hesitated, glancing around at the eerie valley, the dense trees towering over him like sentinels. The oppressive silence, only occasionally broken by the wind, gave him the distinct impression that some kind of enormous, terrifying creature would emerge at any moment. His skin prickled. “Well… I might have gone on a bit of a detour. And I don’t think getting back will be that easy.”

Irene’s voice sounded incredulous, almost like she was holding back laughter. “A detour? You said you were just going to take out the trash! What, did you get picked up by a garbage truck and driven off?”

Yu Sheng almost smiled at the absurdity of her suggestion, though it wasn’t far from how things felt. It was strange, but just hearing Irene’s voice, however sarcastic, helped calm the panic that had been slowly building inside him. If she could contact him like this, that meant he still had some connection. There had to be a way back. Even if he didn’t know how or why, he clung to that hope.

For now, though, he needed to focus on survival.

The valley around him was unsettlingly quiet. The cold wind carried a hollow, ghostly sound as it passed through, and although nothing seemed immediately dangerous, Yu Sheng couldn’t shake the sense that he was being watched. Something cold and malicious that didn’t belong in the natural world seemed to be scanning him from the shadows.

A shiver ran down his spine. He had to find shelter, and fast. Staying out in the open like this wasn’t an option.

The only problem was the nearest place he could take refuge was the nearly collapsed temple ahead of him. The dense forest on the other side of the valley was even less appealing—he didn’t need to wander into the dark woods to know that was a bad idea. It was the kind of place where, in horror stories, people disappeared without a trace.

But then again, entering a ruined temple at midnight wasn’t much better. Temples were where ghosts and monsters usually liked to hang out, and for all he knew, something far worse than wild animals could be lurking inside.

He gritted his teeth, steeling himself, and made his decision. The temple it was. At least part of it was still intact. If something was going to happen, he’d rather face it there than in the forest.

As he made his way toward the least broken corner of the temple, he continued his internal conversation with Irene, explaining what had happened so far. Not that there was much to explain. All he knew was that one moment he had been at home, and the next… well, this.

Irene didn’t respond right away, and the silence made him wonder if he’d somehow lost the connection. But after what felt like an eternity, she spoke again, her voice hesitant. “It sounds like you’re… in an Otherworld.”

Yu Sheng paused, standing among the scattered ruins of the temple. “An Otherworld?” He couldn’t quite believe it. “Is that what you call this place? Do you know where I am?”

Irene’s voice was puzzled. “I don’t know exactly where you are. There are lots of Otherworlds… How would I know which one you’re in?”

Yu Sheng’s brow furrowed. Her casual tone was oddly reassuring, but at the same time, it frustrated him. He had just gained some crucial knowledge that suggested this strange place wasn’t as unique or terrifying as it first seemed. It was part of something bigger that Irene didn’t find particularly strange.

“Wait,” she said suddenly, her voice filled with realization, “Don’t tell me you don’t know what an Otherworld is?”

Yu Sheng gave a small, half-hearted laugh. “No, I haven’t. Should I have?”

Irene’s tone softened, almost apologetic. “Well, it’s normal for most people not to know. Most never encounter anything like this. But you…” Her words trailed off, leaving Yu Sheng feeling uneasy.

“But what?” he asked, an edge of anxiety creeping into his voice. “I’m just an ordinary person.”

There was a long pause before Irene spoke again, her voice almost a whisper. “…But you live in an Otherworld every day.”

…

Shadows darted through the night as hunters moved silently in the darkness. A fierce-looking wolf, fur gleaming under the dim light, leaped from the shadows, bounding effortlessly across the uneven rooftops of the old city. It landed softly on the deserted street below, standing tall in the middle of the road, ears alert, surveying its surroundings with sharp, glowing eyes.

“Get back here!” came a slightly exasperated female voice from between two shadowy buildings.

The wolf shrank instantly at the sound, letting out a muffled whimper before padding back into the dark corner beside the brick wall.

A young girl emerged from the shadows, her red coat swaying with her every movement, the hem of her black skirt brushing her knees. She reached down, patting the wolf’s head fondly before gazing down the length of the old street with a frown.

The street was short, lined with only a handful of houses. Even without the wolf’s heightened senses, she could easily see that the road was empty, clear from one end to the other.

Just then, her phone rang—the familiar theme from Journey to the West filling the quiet night. Before it could get to the second verse, she answered.

“It’s me. Yes, I’m on Wutong Road in the old city,” she said, her voice steady.

On the other end, a tired middle-aged man’s voice mumbled through the speaker, sounding incoherent and frazzled.

She listened patiently, tapping her boot on the cobbled street as he rambled. Finally, she replied, “I’m here but haven’t found anything yet. My wolves have swept this street three times over. No sign of a dimensional portal opening, and nothing’s come out of one, either.”

There was a pause on the other end before the man’s weary voice returned, “But our monitors picked up a reaction right on Wutong Road. A passage definitely opened briefly…”

“I believe you,” she sighed. “I trust your team, but I trust my wolves, too. Maybe there was a passage for a moment, but it’s long gone now. Normally, a dimension wouldn’t just disconnect from our world so quickly. Someone else must have closed it.”

“Not many have the power to shut a portal that fast, and those who can are all registered with us,” the man replied, sounding more awake now. “But no one has reported anything tonight.”

“Could be the Secret Society,” she said, her tone casual. “They like to keep their activities hidden.”

As expected, this triggered a long lecture from the man, something she was used to by now. Rolling her eyes, she sighed but nodded along as he droned on. “Okay, okay, I get it—they’re respected scholars. I’ve always admired scholars, you know. Fine, I’ll have my wolves search the shadows again. The street’s not big—only sixty-five houses—so it won’t take too long.”

She ended the call with a flick of her thumb, staring at the now dark screen. Another sigh escaped her lips.

Around her, wolf heads began to poke out of the shadows, their glowing eyes watching her closely. She glanced at them, her voice dropping to a mutter, “I still haven’t even finished my homework… Freelancing is such a pain.”

…

Yu Sheng sat huddled in the corner of the ruined temple, leaning against what he hoped was a solid wall. Cold wind blew through a gaping hole, chilling him to the bone. He glanced up at the night sky through a gap in the broken roof. The sky was murky, clouded over, but even if it were clear, his mind wouldn’t be.

Tonight, everything he thought he knew had crumbled.

The only place that had ever felt stable to him—the one place he had called safe, normal—had turned out to be an anomaly. An Otherworld.

Irene had explained it to him earlier, her voice calm, but the concept was terrifying. An Otherworld, she’d said, was a place existing outside of normal reality, a pocket at the edge of reason. The world that ordinary people lived in, the one that felt solid and dependable, was like a mountain with firm roots. But in truth, that mountain was full of tiny, invisible cracks leading into strange, irrational worlds.

Most people live their whole lives without ever encountering these cracks, without even knowing they exist. But sometimes, just sometimes, light slips through those cracks. And when that happens, certain people—those unlucky enough to notice—catch a glimpse of what lies beyond. Once you’ve seen what’s on the other side, there’s no going back.

Even for Irene, a doll with all the knowledge of their strange world, the idea of someone unknowingly living in an Otherworld was almost too much to believe.