Chapter 94: “Security Guards”

Chapter 94: “Security Guards”

Yu Sheng suddenly gained a new understanding of what “peaceful” meant in the worldview of Boundary Zone spirit-world investigators and field agents.

So even a place this bizarre and eerie can be called “peaceful”?

But after briefly recalling the valley he had seen before, he suddenly felt that Little Red Riding Hood’s description was not entirely wrong. The “Museum,” although strange, was at least only strange. It had a set of rules that allowed safe activity. As long as those rules were followed, nothing would go wrong. However, that valley contained an entity that would relentlessly hunt people to death no matter how strictly the rules were obeyed, and lethal danger permeated the entire Other Domain. In terms of fatality risk alone, the latter was clearly far more hostile.

The key distinction between Danger Level 2 and Danger Level 3 was whether lethal factors in the environment could be avoided by following rules. In Level 3 and above Other Domains and entities, lethality was unconditional.

“We’re looking for an item called the ‘Wailing One,’ a small sculpture ranging in size from fifteen to twenty-five centimeters,” Little Red Riding Hood said in a low voice as she carefully observed the corridor. “It depicts a woman covering her face while crying. It is a half-body statue with abstract lines and a hollowed back. Normally, it is placed in a separate white hall as the only exhibit there, with no guards. If we can find that white hall, taking it should be relatively easy.”

Yu Sheng followed beside her, curiously observing the Museum as he asked casually, “I have a question. What does the Artifact Association need this for?”

“Who knows?” Little Red Riding Hood replied. “Either a collector paid a high price and commissioned the Artifact Association, which outsourced it to us, or the Association is researching it themselves. The Museum is one of the few Other Domains capable of continuously producing collectibles. Many of its outputs are highly artistic. I don’t really understand art, but many wealthy people are obsessed with the items collected from here, at least the harmless ones. And it’s not just art. Sometimes there are also unknown antiques and mechanical exhibits. These things seem to present visitors with a fabricated civilization, which has high research value, so some scholars collect them as well.”

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, then looked back toward the direction they had come.

“What are you thinking about?” Little Red Riding Hood asked.

“I’m thinking about the stage earlier, the invisible applauding audience, and the ticket window before that,” Yu Sheng said. “Those are clearly part of the abnormal phenomena. So shouldn’t the entire theater be part of the Other Domain, with ‘Museum Night’ being just a part of the theater?”

“You’ve hit the key point,” Little Red Riding Hood said with a slight curl of her lips. “Yes, the theater itself is the origin of all these anomalies. But the ‘theater’ is not a complete Other Domain. It’s only an entrance. An Other Domain must have a complete spatiotemporal structure and a closed-loop rule system. The rules used inside the Museum do not apply during the theater phase, so the two cannot be conflated. Also…”

She paused, then turned her head. “Let me tell you another piece of information. The Other Domain connected to this theater is not only the Museum.”

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Not only the Museum?”

“At night, during the evening performance, the stage leads to ‘Museum Night.’ During the day, another ticket window opens, and the daytime performance leads to ‘Manor Murder Case.’ That place is even more dangerous. Inside it is a ‘Suspect No. 0’ who actively hunts participants, and it is extremely powerful.”

“Compared to ‘Hunger’?”

“…Definitely not as strong as the ‘Hunger’ influenced by the Dim Angel, but its abilities are very strange. As for exactly how dangerous it is… I’ve never encountered it myself.”

“Oh.”

Yu Sheng continued following Little Red Riding Hood through the Museum while absorbing various pieces of knowledge about Other Domains. Irene sat quietly on his shoulder, unusually silent, listening with rare seriousness.

Hu Li carefully observed her surroundings the entire time. Her fluffy ears occasionally rotated sharply toward certain directions, attentively listening for any movement within the Museum.

“Benefactor, that painting ahead… it has a sound.”

She suddenly lowered her voice and tugged at Yu Sheng’s sleeve.

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood both stopped immediately.

A faint breathing sound came from a painting ahead.

The painting depicted a lion with a sword piercing its forehead. At the edge of the image was a hand wearing armor, seemingly just having thrown the sword moments earlier.

The breathing came from the perspective of the sword thrower. As soon as Yu Sheng and the others noticed the painting, the breathing became more pronounced, clearer, as if a real person were standing just outside the unpainted frame, breathing heavily after a fierce battle with the lion.

“Go around it. Stick to the wall,” Little Red Riding Hood said immediately in a low voice, leading them to bypass the exhibit emitting the breathing sound.

The breathing gradually faded into the distance.

They passed through the hall and entered a corridor lined with many doors. Yu Sheng carefully opened one of them.

“Red room,” he said, stepping back. “Next one.”

“Skip it. Move on,” Little Red Riding Hood replied.

Yu Sheng nodded and walked a few meters forward, opening another door.

Inside was an empty hall. The walls were sky-blue, brightly lit. Near the entrance stood a single plaque column labeled “Exhibit.”

Title: My Friend and My Endless Wealth

Creator: Fang Wen

Below it was a comment: This is a sorrowful work, imbued with the creator’s lifelong thoughts and insights.

Yu Sheng stared at it for a moment, then turned to Little Red Riding Hood. “…This Museum even has a sense of humor?”

“The humor comes from the people swallowed by the Museum,” Little Red Riding Hood said, shaking her head. “Their final works sometimes carry absurdity and self-mockery. But no one knows their mental state when they created them, or whether they were truly rational when producing these ‘works.’ In the end, the Museum itself does not think. It only imitates human institutions in a distorted and clumsy way, operating according to its own rules.”

She then looked toward the opposite side of the hall, where an exit could be seen.

“Let’s go through here. Exhibits and corridors in the Museum are often repeated and randomly generated each entry. There’s no need to memorize routes. But its overall range is limited. As long as you keep following the rules and proceed forward, you’ll eventually reach the exhibit hall containing the ‘Wailing One,’ assuming you’re not unlucky.”

Yu Sheng nodded and walked forward with Hu Li.

But just as he was about to cross the center of the hall, a sudden, rigid, monotonous set of footsteps came from the opposite passage, forcing him to stop.

Next, he saw several swaying figures.

They were plastic mannequins dressed in security guard uniforms. Their smooth faces had stiff, eerie features. They moved with awkward, mechanical steps, swaying as they entered the hall from the opposite corridor.

Hu Li’s fur on her ears and tail immediately stood on end.

“Security guards!” Little Red Riding Hood also exclaimed in a low voice. “Why would they suddenly spawn…”

But she quickly calmed herself, moving cautiously closer to Yu Sheng while lowering her voice. “Don’t retreat. Don’t make suspicious movements. Although security guards are hostile entities, they operate according to rules. We haven’t violated the Museum’s management order. They shouldn’t attack proactively…”

Before she could finish, one of the mannequins in the corridor suddenly raised its hand. It made a whistle-blowing motion. The next moment, a sharp, piercing whistle echoed through the entire hall.

All the security guards moved at once, charging toward them with inhuman speed and aggression.

“Fuck—”

Yu Sheng only had time to shout once before dodging sharply to the side. The moment he landed, he kicked one of the mannequins hard. A metallic collision rang out.

The mannequin was kicked in half at the waist, but Yu Sheng’s leg was jolted with a painful backlash.

“This thing is ridiculously hard! It’s like it’s made of stone!”

At the same time, dense black threads extended from the doll on his shoulder, binding another security guard mid-air.

Hu Li lunged forward fiercely, tearing the immobilized mannequin into pieces with her bare hands, then whipped her tail and sent the head flying.

But the next moment, the shattered pieces of the mannequin began to tremble violently on the ground. Like building blocks, they wriggled and reassembled themselves into a complete security guard, charging again.

More footsteps came from the corridor. Increasing numbers of swaying figures appeared at the edge of Yu Sheng’s vision.