Yu Sheng couldn’t quite understand why the woman sitting across from him—the one who claimed to be the Director of the Special Affairs Bureau—had suddenly gone silent. He studied her curiously. Since she wasn’t speaking, he decided to break the ice himself.
“So, your Special Affairs Bureau really rolls out the red carpet when contacting people, huh? I thought Li Lin and the others would be the ones meeting me. Didn’t expect to meet the Director herself. Is this how you always operate?”
Bai Li Qing quickly regained her usual calm demeanor. “No,” she replied steadily. “Only when the situation is special.”
“A special situation?” Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow.
“For example,” she said, her eyes locking onto his, “a… ‘unique individual’ who has lived in the Otherworld for a long time but has been residing here in the borderland as an ‘ordinary person’ for over twenty years.” She paused. “I apologize if you mind me referring to you that way.”
“Uh, I don’t mind,” Yu Sheng said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “But am I really that odd in your eyes? From Li Lin and Xu Jiali’s reactions earlier, my lifestyle did seem to surprise them quite a bit. Though, I guess it’s understandable.”
“Perhaps you haven’t noticed it yourself,” Bai Li Qing sighed softly. “Many within the Special Affairs Bureau have been monitoring your actions, especially these past few days… A large number of our agents have been quite busy because of you.”
Yu Sheng’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Wait… what?”
She looked at him intently. “You have the ability to open ‘doors,’ correct?”
Before he could finish, Bai Li Qing raised her hand sharply. “No need to demonstrate!”
It was unexpected to see the composed and indifferent Director show such agitation.
Yu Sheng hesitated, letting go of the doorknob. Seeing her reaction, he began to understand. “So… it seems that when I open doors, it affects you?”
“When you open a door,” she explained plainly, “the entire borderland detects an unknown source of space-time disturbance. The personnel responsible for monitoring have been quite… vocal recently. You truly didn’t feel anything?”
He looked a bit dazed, his expression turning awkward. After a moment, he shook his head slowly. “I didn’t feel anything… So, when I open a door, it impacts the entire borderland? Are you saying I should avoid using this ability from now on?”
He didn’t sound too pleased as he said this. After all, the ‘doors’ were incredibly useful. He had only recently gotten the hang of this ability and appreciated its convenience. Now, being told by the Special Affairs Bureau that it was causing disturbances… it felt a bit frustrating.
But seeing the Director’s serious demeanor, it seemed his door-opening was indeed causing significant issues. That was somewhat embarrassing.
Bai Li Qing noticed his feelings. After a brief thought, she shook her head gently. “I’m merely suggesting that you try to control the frequency of your ‘door opening’ in the future. At least… don’t open hundreds of rifts overnight like before. Or, at the very least, give us a heads-up. After all, it’s your ability, and it hasn’t caused any substantial damage to the borderland itself. In principle, we can’t outright forbid such actions—provided you’re willing to cooperate with us by registering officially. We’ll also adjust our monitoring methods to accommodate your ability.”
Yu Sheng nodded, feeling a mix of relief and embarrassment.
He glanced at the Director, who had seemed so stern and unapproachable. He hadn’t expected her to be so reasonable.
When she mentioned ‘opening hundreds of rifts overnight,’ Yu Sheng immediately recalled that night. Back then, he hadn’t felt anything unusual, but thinking about it now, he could imagine the commotion he must have caused. Yet, Director Bai Li Qing was still willing to discuss the matter amicably, even coming personally to meet him.
He wasn’t just some hot-headed teenager; he understood that, from an official perspective, this was a significant gesture of goodwill.
Her willingness to negotiate caught him off guard. When she first brought up the ‘disturbance’ issue, he’d braced himself for a battle of wits with bureaucratic rigidity. Instead, it felt like his defenses were unnecessary.
Feeling a bit sheepish, he said, “Well… that’s fair. If registration isn’t a problem… But I do have a few questions. Could you answer them?”
“Of course,” she replied with a slight nod. “What would you like to know?”
“First, what exactly is the Special Affairs Bureau? What’s its nature? What’s its scope of authority?”
“Is that all?” Bai Li Qing seemed mildly surprised by his straightforward questions but began to explain calmly. “The Special Affairs Bureau, officially known as the ‘General Bureau of Common Danger and Service Assurance,’ is a department directly managed by the highest administrative body of the borderland—the Council. It’s the foremost official department responsible for handling various ‘anomalous events’ involving Otherworlds, entities, and other irregularities. If you divide the borderland into ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’ realms, you could consider us the primary authority on the ‘supernatural’ side.
“However, our activities aren’t confined to the borderland—or rather, our jurisdiction isn’t limited to just here. I’m not sure if you’ve fully grasped the peculiarities of the borderland…” ŘÀɴỐᛒƐ§
She paused, meeting his gaze.
“The peculiarities of the borderland…” Yu Sheng murmured, frowning slightly. He recalled the bits of information he’d picked up from Irene, as well as his own realizations when opening those doors to distant places—that this world wasn’t just the borderland; within this strange city, there were countless ‘far places.’
“You might know some of it,” she continued. “From its name, it seems connected to many places. They say all sorts of strange and bizarre things exist here, though they’re hidden beneath the surface of ‘normalcy’…”
“Concealing those things that defy common sense and the ‘standards’ of the borderland, allowing this city to operate and develop according to ‘standard parameters,’ is one of our tasks at the Special Affairs Bureau,” Bai Li Qing said firmly. “As you’ve understood, it’s connected to many places, and the number and breadth of these connections surpass anyone’s imagination. Imagine the entire world as a vast network woven by countless transit lines. Those ‘transit lines’ don’t exist in the physical dimension, and ordinary people can’t perceive them. But on the ‘supernatural’ side, they’re intertwined, influencing each other, and there’s a place where all these lines converge…”
She looked directly at him. “That place is the borderland.”
She paused to ensure Yu Sheng was following before continuing.
“One of the Special Affairs Bureau’s primary tasks is to maintain the boundary between the ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’ within the borderland, ensuring order on the ‘supernatural’ side. Secondly, we handle threats that spread through this ‘transit network’ and converge at this point—whether they come from mere inches away or from 88 billion light-years out in deep space.”
Yu Sheng’s eyes widened. After a few moments, he blurted out, “Isn’t that distance… a bit vast?”
“To the unique nature of the borderland, those distances are the same,” Bai Li Qing replied seriously, pointing at him. “For you, isn’t it the same?”
He started, quickly grasping her meaning.
“Among the hundreds of rifts you opened, more than twenty lead to places 88 billion light-years away,” she stated calmly.
Yu Sheng fell silent.
His expression remained composed, but his mind was racing.
In truth, he’d had an inkling when he opened those doors. He’d wondered just how far those distant scenes were.
He didn’t have a clear answer, but when discussing it enthusiastically with Irene, he’d felt that some might be beyond the limits of his imagination.
Now, hearing the numbers from Bai Li Qing, it felt as though his speculations had found solid ground.
What truly surprised him was the reach of this organization. He recalled Li Lin—a seemingly ordinary agent who shopped for instant noodles with him and pretended to be a passerby watching videos while tailing him. To think that the organization behind such a person had cosmic responsibilities… it was hard to wrap his mind around.
But Yu Sheng, being sensible, didn’t voice these thoughts to the Director.
Mainly because he didn’t want to affect Li Lin’s career prospects.
He remained silent, and so did Bai Li Qing. For a moment, they sat in a brief, thoughtful silence.
After about half a minute, she broke the quiet. “Do you have any other questions?”
“Yes,” he said quickly, pushing aside his swirling thoughts. He organized his words before speaking. “One more question. The borderland… is there only one?”
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation