Dimensional Hotel

The angel fell from the earth, then plunged into the sky.

Li Lin and his colleagues from the Special Affairs Bureau stood under the night sky as if led by an invisible hand. They looked up, staring in a daze at the glow slowly rising overhead. It climbed higher and higher, and then it began to crack from within. During that moment, more than one person had sudden “visions” in their minds:

They felt as though that ball of light had transformed into a vast silver-white metal creation—a “seed” with a swollen center, bearing several glowing rings at its tail. It lifted from the Orphanage’s yard, but in the next instant it grew so huge it seemed to cover the entire sky.

They also felt the light sprout flesh and blood, turning into a twisted creature formed by countless mismatched limbs. It stretched out countless arms toward the sky, then gradually melted into pure radiance.

Li Lin believed he saw a gigantic stone—uneven and blanketed with moss and tiny sprouts. It flew ever higher, singing a fractured ballad from far away. It said it came from the stars to plant seeds on earth, and that now everything was finished. The seed was going home…

Then it fell toward the stars.

The glow shattered, becoming countless streams of scorching fire that accelerated above the Borderland like a backward meteor shower. In the latter half of that process, they split even more. Some “fell” into the sky, while others gently drifted off course, descending into the distance.

Bai Li Qing stood on the ground with arms crossed, calmly watching. Her eyes tracked every piece of debris splitting apart overhead, analyzing where each might land. Then she picked up her phone.

“Little Song, dispatch a few Recovery Squads. I want you personally leading one of them. Some fragments might fall inside the Borderland—on the ‘outskirts.’ I’ll send you the approximate coordinates soon. Prepare for the highest-level containment. We can’t be sure yet if the remnants left behind by the angel’s disintegration are dangerous…”

Foxy and Irene stood not far from Bai Li Qing, also gazing upward. After a long while, Foxy muttered softly, “It’s really spectacular.”

“It just vanished like that,” Irene said, pursing her lips. Then she glanced at the Orphanage. “…That place is pretty much leveled.”

“Little Red Riding Hood and the others will probably have to stay in the Valley for quite a while,” Foxy mused. “I wonder how our Benefactor is doing.”

“Hard to say. He must be busy. After dealing with two Otherworld ‘connections,’ he’ll probably swing by the Valley,” Irene said as she clambered up Foxy’s tail. “[No need to worry. When he’s done, he’ll come home. Let’s head back first. We’ll wait for him there…]”

Foxy lifted her tail and curled Irene into her arms. “Yes! Let’s go home and make breakfast for Benefactor!”

“Wait, shouldn’t we grab a taxi?”

“Benefactor said there’s no taxi at this hour. Don’t worry, I know the way!”

“Hey—there are tons of Special Affairs Bureau people right here. We could hitch a ride. They’d jump at the chance to help us—”

“I know the way! My nose works great!”

“…At least put away your tail! And don’t start running all of a sudden—ahhhhhh—!”

A rumbling sound quickly faded beneath the night sky. In the stunned silence of the Special Affairs Bureau operatives, a fox blasting off at breakneck speed sped away with a squealing doll in her arms…

…

Now, everything had grown quiet.

Little Red Riding Hood’s Wolf pack had dispersed. The King’s Knight squad and the Adventurers had withdrawn. Dorothy’s Resistance Army and Snow White’s Thunder Titan had also pulled back. When the invisible curtain fell, the heroes of the tale left this ruined stage—just like the end of every story says: from now on, they would live happily ever after.

Only the stage remained, cooling slowly in the lingering smoke.

The massive rift up above was crumbling from top to bottom, fading away.

Yu Sheng climbed a small slope. He sat quietly beside a giant, charred tree trunk, gazing out over the scorched land. The once-black Forest was now ash. The Titan’s power had torn open the ground, and bombardment had left countless craters in the shattered earth. The sky looked like a torn Mirror, tilted above the Forest. Large cracks of darkness spread across it, giving it a menacing look. Some parts of the dome still glowed with a pale twilight, while others reflected an upside-down Castle, farmlands, and villages.

Fragments fell from the clouds. Yu Sheng caught one and saw that it was a broken piece of blue sky. At its edge, a flicker of fireplace flame danced softly, crackling faintly.

He placed that jagged blue sky shard into the ground next to the “Queen’s” head—now just a split stone with a short sword stuck in its forehead. The sword bore a CatCat-crest on its hilt.

The Hunter stood nearby, that hollow, distant form still clad in hunting gear. Ta stared silently at the ashes of the black Forest. Ta said nothing, only lingered in a long hush.

Squirrel sprang out of the ash close by. She shook off the dust, hopped lightly onto Yu Sheng’s knee, and pressed something small into his hand. “Here! I found this in the dirt pile!”

Yu Sheng opened his palm. It was an acorn.

He rubbed the acorn slowly, then looked over at the nearly vanished rift and the faint shadow above it.

“Time is almost up…”

Yu Sheng’s voice was soft.

As if to answer him, the broken, slanted sky above the black Forest made a series of snapping sounds. Then, from far away to right before his eyes, the black Forest began to collapse.

Squirrel clutched Yu Sheng’s finger in alarm.

She realized his fingers were turning cold.

She looked up in surprise and saw Yu Sheng’s body dissolving.

“Don’t be scared. It’s just a little ‘State Switch,’” Yu Sheng said with a gentle smile. He looked at the small creature on his lap, recalling what he’d felt and learned when the “Angel’s Fetus” had dissolved in his hands—knowledge of death on a deeper level. “[Wait for me. I’ll be back soon.]”

This was his first attempt at shifting from “living” to “dead” without sustaining any wounds at all.

It turned out to be simpler than he had imagined, like flipping a nimble switch.

Click.

Yu Sheng scattered into drifting ash, swirling like clouds and mist that spread throughout the rapidly collapsing “Fairy Tale wasteland.”

And then the story began—

Once upon a time, there was a Valley with no name. People said it was just the “backyard” of Wutong Road No. 66.

This “backyard” had many extraordinary features. One of them was that it led to countless incredible places.

South of it lay a vast Forest, ruled by Little Red Riding Hood and her Wolf pack. In that Forest were a lovable Squirrel and a silent Hunter.

North of it rose a very tall Tower, where the Long Haired Girl kept a pretty little room with a balcony. From that balcony, you could see a slumbering Dragon and a giant beanstalk.

There was also a Banquet Hall filled with constant celebration, a busy Town that always held festivals, and a port with the scent of sea air…

And there was a strange Kingdom ruled by a Cat. People said that Cat was the greatest King ever. Under that King’s rule, Knights were brave and loyal, advisors gave wise counsel, and Adventurers set out each morning to face monstrous foes. By evening, they returned triumphant as Heroes, sharing stories of distant lands at the Tavern…

There were many more places and many more tales.

All of them, in one way or another, connected to that Valley. The Valley held countless Doors—some bizarre, some clever, some hidden, and some astonishing. Perhaps one was just a certain room in the northern Tower. Another might be a cave at the foot of the mountain. It could even be the hollow of an old tree in the black Forest, or a patch of mottled shadow…

Cursed Children could roam freely among these hidden pathways. They might slip from Cinderella’s fireplace to a Castle banquet, or push open a Castle closet Door and find themselves in the mysterious flower fields deep in the black Forest…

Their entire childhood would be filled with countless surprises.

A happy ending.

…

Little Red Riding Hood heard a rumbling in the depths of the Valley. It sounded as if the mountains had come alive, like giants shifting their massive bodies to make room.

She stepped out of her room. Though she was still mentally exhausted from the long, fierce battle in that “dream,” she wanted to see what had changed in the distance.

After all, Irene had rushed over earlier and dragged everyone into the Sheltering Wasteland, then rattled off a few quick words like, [When you wake up, there’ll be a big event in the Valley. Don’t run around, just stay at the camp. If the sky collapses, it’s just a technical adjustment. Yu Sheng switched on Creative Mode.] Then she vanished. Now, no one knew the details. Everyone was left confused.

Many younger siblings also came out of the nearby houses.

They all wore the weariness left behind by that great battle. Some still showed traces of fear, but others—like Snow White and the Long Haired Girl—had clear excitement in their eyes.

Little Red Riding Hood noticed the change first, the most obvious one from where they stood.

She stood in the middle of the camp, pointing into the distance with wide eyes. “Long Haired Girl! Your tower is sprouting out from over there!”

“What do you mean my tower—whoa!”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation