Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 238: Planning the Future

The “meeting” was over.

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood sat together at the highest rooftop of the “Castle.” They watched the scene unfolding below: the exhausted little ones, nearly nodding off where they stood, were being collected by their older Brother and Sister figures to catch up on sleep. The “Guardians,” yawning as they left the Castle, walked across the camp. After a long while, Yu Sheng finally looked away and gazed at the thin clouds drifting across the sky.

“You’re not sleepy?” he asked without turning his head.

“I’m still too excited to sleep,” Little Red Riding Hood said. She leaned back and lay flat on the Castle’s slanted roof. “…In just a few days, I can take the driving test.”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment. “What birthday present do you want?”

“How about a car?” she joked.

“Can’t afford one.”

Little Red Riding Hood laughed and then shook her head. “Actually, I haven’t really thought about it… I haven’t been in the right mood to think about gifts. Honestly, I’ve always been afraid—don’t make fun of me, I’m really scared.”

“Mm. I know,” Yu Sheng said.

They fell silent, savoring the sudden calm.

After a while, Little Red Riding Hood broke the silence. “By the way, I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier regarding the future operations of the ‘Fairy Tale’ Organization, plus the way we’ll add new members and pass on these identities. It’s… pretty exciting.”

“Oh?” Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows. “I thought maybe the words ‘new Little Red Riding Hood’ would give you a mental block.”

“It does, a little,” she replied. “But precisely because those words have weighed on me so long, I’m looking forward to the change that’s coming.” A gentle smile spread across her face. “Think about it: so far, in the ‘Fairy Tale’ Organization, whether it’s Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, or anyone else, each person has been an orphan forced into a nightmare. But from now on, a new Little Red Riding Hood might just be a Mysticism major applying through a normal recruitment process, or maybe a rookie Spirit Realm Detective who sends in a résumé…

“They won’t be terrified of their life span. They won’t bear so much pain and loneliness. They’ll just be coming for a stable, long-term job. We’ll train them like Teachers—letting them work normal shifts, go on normal vacations. When they put on the Red Cloak, they’re ‘employees’ and ‘apprentices’ of our group. When they take it off, they go home to be with their families.

“Of course, I’ll probably start by training Xiao Xiao. That kid actually has a lot of talent, and she’s already made contact with the black Forest a few times. While teaching her, I’ll figure out how to help a newcomer control a Wolf pack without the influence of ‘Anka Aila.’ Once I figure that out, it’ll be valuable training for everyone else…”

Little Red Riding Hood rambled on, smiling the whole time. It was as if she could already see these future Little Red Riding Hoods living a calm, ordinary working life. Perhaps the job was still wild by normal standards, but for members of the Fairy Tale Organization, that level of “ordinary” was practically unbelievable.

She beamed as though she were experiencing that life right now.

Yu Sheng didn’t interrupt. He stayed patiently by her side until her voice gradually faded and the warm daylight blended with the soft sound of her breathing.

At the edge of his vision, he saw a flicker of gold. Two tufts of golden hair swayed at the roof’s edge like antennae, followed by the rest of a golden-maned figure creeping up along the slope—like some shadowy creature. Soon, the Long Haired Girl princess’s head appeared over the edge. She peeked around and waved happily at Yu Sheng. “Brother, I’m here for Red Riding Hood!”

Yu Sheng pointed next to him. “She’s asleep.”

“I knew it,” the Long Haired Girl princess said with a wrinkled nose. Immediately, strands of her hair stretched across the roof. They carefully wrapped around the slumbering Little Red Riding Hood and began to lift her. “I’ve shared a room with her for years. The look she had at the end of that meeting told me she’d pass out in under half an hour.”

Yu Sheng watched, a bit astonished. His eyes drifted toward the mass of hair crawling across the rooftop. “That’s a whole lot of gorgeous golden hair you have, but it’s acting more like it’s from some cave-dwelling, tentacled creature. Aren’t you supposed to be all elegant and fairy-tale-like?”

“Being elegant doesn’t help reduce an enemy’s attack power,” the Long Haired Girl princess replied with a sidelong glance. “And it definitely doesn’t help me run faster when I’m escaping a tower. At least I’m not twisting my hair into a giant projectile…”

Yu Sheng fell silent. “…”

Before long, though, she spoke again, sounding hesitant. “Brother, is our Orphanage really gone?”

“From the pictures Li Lin sent, it’s leveled,” Yu Sheng said with a sigh. “There’s just that small guard booth at the gate still standing, plus the base of the old barrier arm—basically a ruin.”

“Oh, then that means Sleeping Beauty’s ‘post’ is still there,” the princess joked. But her expression soon grew serious. “So, does that mean we’ll be living here for a long time?”

“That’s the idea,” Yu Sheng said with a nod. “For now, at least. You can still decide for yourselves. If you want to go somewhere else, the Special Affairs Bureau and the Council would definitely help—especially after you all just dealt with an event on the level of an ‘angel’s descent.’”

Hearing this, the Long Haired Girl princess’s eyes lit up. “Then… then can we keep living here in the camp, but have the Special Affairs Bureau give us the budget they would’ve spent rebuilding the Orphanage? You know, just deposit it into our accounts?”

Yu Sheng stared at her. “…”

She quickly added, “And… also maybe deposit some funds into your Hotel’s account too.”

“You come up with ideas so fast,” Yu Sheng said with a laugh, waving a hand. “Don’t worry about that. I’m going to visit the Special Affairs Bureau myself soon. There’s a ton of stuff I need to discuss with them. And if you really plan on staying here long-term, I’ll open up another ‘Door’ from the camp to the outside world. You can’t have a few dozen people all coming and going through my basement forever.”

“…Oh, I see. Sounds like there’s a lot to do.”

Yu Sheng grew curious. “What made you think of these plans all of a sudden?”

“I ran into Snow White and King on my way here,” she answered, still clinging to the roof edge in a very odd pose with her hair. “They’re planning our next steps. If we’re going to live here, we’ll need to gradually renovate. Everyone wants to build more housing and move out of these temporary shacks, so it’ll be more like a Town. Snow White says we’ll call it ‘?O Town,’ and she wants to build a Titan altar next to it…”

Yu Sheng was stunned. Then he realized how the meeting had sparked all these ideas. The Cursed Children, freed from their fears about life ending too soon, were starting to plan for the long term. Their imaginations and motivation were off the charts. Who knew what this place would look like in the end?

[This could be pretty fun,] he thought, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Brother, you’re smiling. Why?” asked the Long Haired Girl princess.

“I’ll grant early approval. I mean the Titan altar—just don’t build it on my vegetable plot.”

“Okay!”

With that, she carried Little Red Riding Hood away, wrapping both of them in a giant bundle of golden hair. Yu Sheng watched that soft yellow mass slither along the camp’s main path, eventually disappearing into the Little House the two girls shared.

[Come to think of it, she wasn’t this wild when I first met her,] Yu Sheng mused, recalling how she had once seemed like a quiet young lady. But he also remembered meeting “Matchstick” back when her mind was under strain, and how different she acted once she was normal. [Yes, for someone dealing with the ‘Fairy Tale’ Organization, this behavior must be perfectly natural.]

He sighed and opened a “Door,” stepping through to Wutong Road No. 66.

The moment Yu Sheng emerged, he looked around and listened carefully. Everything seemed in order: no fires, no giant holes, only Irene’s loud gaming commentary drifting down from the second floor. There was also some trashy variety show babbling on the living-room TV. Her laughter rang out, bright and clear.

He let out a sigh of relief and walked in.

Foxy’s excited voice came from the dining area: “Benefactor! You’re back!”

He looked up to see Foxy bounding toward him—thankfully at normal speed, not like a rocket. Yu Sheng’s ribs remained intact.

She barreled into him and squeezed tight with all those fluffy tails. Yu Sheng patted the fur behind her ears. “Got delayed a bit in the Valley, talking to Little Red Riding Hood and the others about changes in the ‘Fairy Tale’ Otherworld. Were you worried?”

“I was!” Foxy replied, smiling broadly. “But Irene said you were busy, so she went upstairs to game and watch TV. I made you breakfast!”

Yu Sheng froze. “…Breakfast?”

“Mm-hmm! It’s the same dish you tried last time. Irene called it Fox Stew.” She ushered him to the dining table and lifted the lid from a large pot. Within was a swirl of colorful ingredients, bubbling and sloshing. “It’s delicious!”

Yu Sheng stared at the moving contents, his face turning a bit pale. “Hold on, it’s… it’s moving. And there are even more colors this time.”

“Sure! No Irene around to meddle, so it’s more successful. I think if I keep at it, I’ll get about sixty or seventy percent of the flavor Mother used to make!”

Yu Sheng: “…”

He said nothing more, just silently stared at the pot.

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation