Dimensional Hotel

As the door slammed shut, the faint starlight from the distant cosmos vanished from Yu Sheng’s sight. He stood there for a full thirty seconds, stunned, before finally taking a deep breath. Only then did he realize that his forehead was damp with cold sweat.

Opening a door didn’t necessarily mean he’d arrive at a specific place in some alien world or planet. There was even a chance he could step directly into outer space?

The randomness and scope of this “door” far exceeded anything Yu Sheng had imagined.

At that moment, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief—grateful that the first time he accidentally opened the door, he’d stepped into an Otherworld rather than into the vast emptiness of space. If he’d been that unlucky back then, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what might have happened.

In the worst-case scenario, he might have found himself caught in a rapid and endless cycle of dying and reviving in the harsh environment of outer space, perhaps without any chance to remain conscious, let alone explore and master the ability to open doors during such a swift and continuous process of dying. Even if he had miraculously survived or luckily stumbled upon opening a door back to Earth, it would have been an extremely terrifying experience beforehand.

Once his pounding heart finally calmed down, Yu Sheng began to analyze the new information he’d just gathered during the door-opening process.

When the door had opened, he hadn’t felt the terrifying “pull” that a vacuum should have caused, nor had he felt the icy coldness of outer space. But in previous times, he could hear sounds from the other side and feel environmental effects—for instance, the scorching heat on a desolate planet.

Why was that? Did the door itself have some kind of filtering mechanism? When the environmental differences between the two sides were too great, did it automatically block out those effects? Or was outer space itself special, perhaps a coordinate that could be seen but not truly reached? Or maybe… what he’d just seen wasn’t real outer space at all, but another kind of Otherworld that looked like a starry sky.

Irene hesitated, her painted eyes meeting his. “Do you want to keep going? You looked really shaken just now…”

Yu Sheng closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, determination had replaced his earlier shock.

“Yes. Let’s continue.”

He grasped the doorknob once more, even more cautiously this time. He carefully tuned into that subtle “spiritual guidance,” trying to recall the sensations from his previous successful door openings, attempting to… reproduce one of the passages.

He slowly pushed the door open. The scene on the other side was unremarkable—it looked like a desolate beach. It wasn’t any of the doors he had opened before.

Then, he tried again and again, opening the door over and over, searching for the path that could lead him back to Foxy. Or any other passage he could reproduce—as long as it helped him grasp the pattern of opening doors.

As he continued his attempts, a fleeting thought crossed Yu Sheng’s mind—could there be a door that led back to his familiar hometown?

He still remembered leaving home one morning and somehow arriving in this “Boundary City.” Though he had no concrete evidence, he increasingly suspected that had been the first time he’d opened a door. He just hadn’t realized it at the time.

So, in some future door opening, would he push open a door and see his home again?

Yu Sheng pushed this sudden thought aside; he knew he had more urgent matters to attend to. Going home… he’d treat it as a hope to be tucked away for now.

He continued repeatedly opening the door—sometimes revealing bizarre worlds, sometimes ordinary ones, sometimes places that were absurd or eerie, and even bustling and lively scenes.

Countless distant worlds flashed before him during each brief opening and closing of the door, only to be shut out again. During this repetitive process, Yu Sheng suddenly realized a wonderful thing.

This world truly wasn’t just Boundary City.

Beyond this vast, seemingly special “City of Boundaries,” the universe was so wide and boundless. So many landscapes, so many mysteries, so many strange and diverse places—right there, every time he opened the door, right within his reach.

He wasn’t trapped in this city after all.

Irene seemed to be getting excited too. Though he wasn’t sure why a doll in an oil painting would be so enthusiastic, she watched the scenery outside the door with him, clearly becoming more and more animated.

Since she couldn’t move, she began to comment on each scene outside the door:

“Look at that mountain! It’s so high! There’s something glowing at the top. Do you think we’ll ever get to see it up close?”

“The sea! Look at those enormous fish!”

“Wow! It’s all snow, but why is it light blue? Doesn’t look like anything’s alive there…”

“…Oh, it’s a bathroom. Let’s close that one quickly.”

“Ah! You scared me! A ghost!”

She couldn’t stay quiet for a moment, chattering non-stop about whatever appeared outside the door. At first, Yu Sheng found it a bit annoying, but gradually, Irene’s constant exclamations became a source of amusement during the otherwise tedious testing process.

Then, just before opening the door once more, he suddenly felt a spark—like finally tuning into the right frequency on an old radio. He sensed a passage he had opened before—it wasn’t the valley filled with hunger, but it was definitely a door he’d opened in the past.

Yu Sheng seized that feeling, and for the first time, actively controlled his “spiritual guidance.” With no real technique, relying solely on instinct, he steered toward that familiar passage.

He carefully pushed the door open and looked through.

He saw flames flickering around the door frame. In the distance, there was a grand and ancient hall, with mystical lights floating among its ornate eaves and corridors. A handsome young man dressed in splendid robes hung from a beam, being scolded—and possibly beaten—by an elderly man with a long white beard who radiated an air of immortality.

The elder’s voice was loud and clear, even from where Yu Sheng stood.

“After all these years as my disciple, and you secretly practice demonic arts! Explain yourself! What’s with refining living beings in your alchemy furnace? What’s with the human head? You—you—you’ve truly harmed the innocent!”

The handsome young man twisted as he hung from the beam, shouting, “Master, I swear I’m innocent! I was just refining an ordinary Spirit-Nourishing Pill! How was I to know that Junior Brother would see a human head coming out of the furnace? Ow, ow! Please stop hitting me, Master, I’m innocent!”

The old man nearly exploded with anger. “Stop lying! I inspected your alchemy furnace myself and sensed the presence of a living being! There was indeed someone inside your furnace!”

Yu Sheng stood there, utterly speechless. Then he noticed a small figure popping up near the door frame—it was the little Daoist boy with the fan he’d seen before. The child widened his eyes as he glanced over at the door, then turned and ran toward the hall, shouting, “Master! Master! Another human head just came out of Senior Brother’s alchemy furnace! It’s the same as before!”

The immortal-looking elder pulled out what looked like a bronze belt.

Well, it might not have been a bronze belt; it was too far away to tell. But judging from the young man’s immediate screams, whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant.

Yu Sheng quickly slammed the door shut, his mind a jumble of astonishment, excitement, and a touch of guilt. After a moment, he turned to Irene, eyes shining. “I did it! I did it!”

Irene jumped slightly. “Calm down! Did what?”

“That passage just now—it was one I’d opened before! I managed to control it and open it again! The process is controllable! Reproducible!”

He was both thrilled and relieved. If he could control that subtle spiritual guidance, it meant he could also control and reopen any other door he’d accessed before—including the valley where Foxy was!

Now, he just needed to try and recall the frequency he’d sensed when he first fell into that valley. Even if he could find a similar frequency, he could keep trying until he found it.

Irene seemed to share his excitement, but she quickly regained her composure. “Um, shouldn’t you maybe explain things to the people on the other side of that door? The one hanging from the beam is about to be beaten to death…”

Yu Sheng blinked, only now remembering the scene he’d just witnessed. He wasn’t used to being able to control where the door led and hadn’t considered the consequences of his actions.

He reached for the doorknob again but hesitated.

Would the people on the other side be reasonable? That immortal-looking elder… Could he be the ‘immortal’ Foxy mentioned? But he didn’t seem like the type to run a travel agency. Maybe they’re not the same kind of immortals. What if I can’t explain myself and they decide to attack? As an ordinary person, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Maybe I could just call out from here? They shouldn’t be able to reach me through the door. After all, when I closed the door before, the elder only sensed the presence of a living being; he didn’t come through.

His thoughts raced, but finally, Yu Sheng took a deep breath and focused. He tried to lock onto the same frequency as before. After double-checking, he carefully opened the door again.

Success welled up inside him; he’d done it!

The immortal-looking elder was approaching, flying on a cloud of rosy light, still dragging along the young man who looked thoroughly beaten.

Standing safely on his side of the door, Yu Sheng called out, “It’s all a misunderstanding!”

The young man in the splendid robes nearly fell off the cloud, his voice desperate. “This is too much! I don’t know which senior immortal you are, but if I’ve offended you, please tell me!”

“I didn’t do anything! I was just passing by!” Yu Sheng replied honestly. “I didn’t know this was your alchemy furnace—it’s all a misunderstanding, really!”

And with that, he quickly closed the door. He was, after all, still afraid that the elder might retaliate.

Turning back to Irene, he found her gazing at him from the oil painting.

“Do you think I explained things clearly?” he asked.

Irene nodded vigorously. “I think you did.”

“Still, I feel pretty bad for him.”

“Well, we probably won’t run into them again. The world’s a big place, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”