Handling identity registration for two young ladies who might not even count as "people" was quite a fresh experience for Yu Sheng.
Yet, as he sat down in front of Hu Li’s registration form, he realized that this was likely new only to him—such matters must be commonplace to the Special Affairs Bureau.
The first line of the form read as follows:
If the applicant belongs to a long-lived species (1,000 years or more average lifespan), write the age as a percentage in the age column, followed by the average lifespan of the species; if the applicant's race lacks a concept of gender, shade the gender column; and if the applicant cannot use a pen or writes using pheromones or other special secretions as identification, assistance will be provided by staff for sampling or filling out the form.
Any other special circumstances should be explained in the attached form for staff review and signature.
Following that was a long disclaimer, which could be summed up in a single sentence: The Special Affairs Bureau is aware that this place is filled with all sorts of strange beings, and we have taken into account many weird life forms and racial taboos.
If you still feel offended, please contact the council.
Yu Sheng stared at the lengthy disclaimer and instructions for filling out the form for quite a while, flipping to the second page before he found the actual registration fields: name, gender, age, and address...
He looked up and glanced at Ren Wenwen, who was sitting beside him. “This definitely isn’t the form for a regular person registering their ID in the Border City, right?”
“Of course not,” the young staff member nodded immediately. “The forms for ordinary people are much simpler. This one is specially designed for those ‘guests’ who need to stay in the border area long-term but aren’t human. The ID cards prepared for you two ladies will also be a special version—outwardly similar to a regular ID, but will contain information that can only be read by specific devices in particular departments. If you encounter any trouble in the future, this could serve as a channel for assistance and special privileges for ‘special residents.’”
“You often handle this kind of ‘business’?” Yu Sheng asked, curious.
“Definitely fewer than those for regular residents, but there are still a few thousand to ten thousand new records added every year,” Ren Wenwen replied candidly. “In the border area, there will always be 'travelers' applying for stays for all sorts of reasons.”
Yu Sheng listened intently, feeling a strange sense of... connection growing within him.
The odd details in front of him, the strange contents of the registration form, suddenly made the bizarre world of the border area feel real to him.
Meanwhile, Ai Lin was struggling to hold a particularly large ballpoint pen and was diligently filling out the form beside him.
It was quite a challenge for her, as the pen was nearly as long as her arm and the A4-sized form was close to half her height.
Yet, she had no intention of asking for help, putting in a sincere effort to write as though she was genuinely enjoying the task.
Yu Sheng lowered his head and carefully filled in the name "Hu Li" on the form.
Then he ran into a wall on the next item.
“Master?” The fox girl noticed Yu Sheng’s predicament and curiously asked.
“... How old are you this year?” Yu Sheng asked, his expression slightly peculiar as he looked at the fox girl.
Realizing something was off, he added, “Um… wait, first I should ask what your species' average lifespan is... no, wait, does 'one year' in your age mean one year in the Border City?”
Hu Li tilted her head, her silvery, fluffy ears twitching slightly as though she didn’t quite grasp the question.
After a couple of seconds of hesitation, she finally spoke up. “Well, I’m probably over two hundred years old? We come of age at one hundred eighty, but I don’t know how long we can live. My parents said that when you’re tired of living, you can ‘return to the great path,’ but they said that’s not death; it’s becoming part of the heavenly beings...”
Yu Sheng: “...”
He looked helplessly at the staff member beside him.
Ren Wenwen pointed to the age field. “Just write ‘long-lived.’”
Yu Sheng: “... This is allowed!?”
“If you think that’s not formal enough, you can just write ‘unknown,’” Ren Wenwen explained earnestly. “Many people fill it out this way every year because some species just live long without a clear understanding of lifespan, while others rapidly cycle through life and death every few years, essentially measuring their age by ‘generations’ that even they can’t clarify.”
Yu Sheng opened his mouth and then looked at the next field. “... What about the place of origin? I have no idea where that is. How do I fill this out?”
Ren Wenwen still wore a serious expression. “Then write ‘from other places.’ Those with unclear origins beyond the border can be filed uniformly.”
Yu Sheng looked a bit dazed. “... And what about the race field?”
Ren Wenwen pointed. “Just tick the box in the ‘attached form’ section, then flip to the last page to see if there’s a suitable option.”
Yu Sheng flipped to the last page of the stack of forms, where a densely packed list of options awaited him.
At a glance, he saw a note in the last field: If your race has variable characteristics, select ‘Mimetic Species.’ If your race is not listed under any selection, please fill in ‘Pending Addition,’ and we will create a new category for you as soon as possible.
A hint of admiration appeared on Yu Sheng's face as he looked up at Ren Wenwen. “Your work must be... complicated, right?”
“It’s not too bad. I’m actually in logistics; the special archives department is directly responsible for managing these sorts of things, and they really are busy. Regardless of gender, my colleagues there have quite a few bald heads,” Ren Wenwen said, while pointing at one of the checkboxes. “Choose this one, ‘Beast Spirits or Anthropomorphic Forms.’”
Yu Sheng glanced over and wrinkled his brow slightly. “Why not select ‘Celestial Spirits or Extraordinary Beings’? I thought that fits too...”
“There are group benefits; you get half fare on the subway,” Ren Wenwen casually replied. “Besides, her tail seems more towards the ‘Beast Spirit’ side. But this doesn’t have much effect. If you feel it’s not suitable, you can choose something else within the ‘Humanoid’ section. Usually, no one drills down too deeply.”
The more Yu Sheng wrote, the more astonished he became.
He secretly stretched his neck to peek at Ai Lin.
He saw her seriously checking ‘Advanced Doll or Alchemical Humanoid’ while also noting, “From Alice's Cottage” in the remarks.
After quite a while, the forms were finally filled out.
To be honest, it was hardly easier than helping Little Red Riding Hood with her homework—that form was jam-packed with odd and bizarre content.
Many entries were so strange that without seeing them firsthand and hearing Ren Wenwen's explanations, Yu Sheng wouldn’t have imagined those words were appropriate for “identity registration.” No wonder staff from the Special Affairs Bureau had to assist in person; without help, just the items regarding “thought types” and “neurological evolutionary classifications” could take Yu Sheng a whole day to figure out...
Yet on the flip side, many sections of these forms had astonishingly lenient criteria.
When he encountered fields that simply couldn’t be filled, Yu Sheng directly followed Ren Wenwen’s guidance and put down words like “unknown,” “random,” or “any.” By the end, he started to question the professionalism of the Special Affairs Bureau...
“Actually, you don’t need to worry too much. This form is designed with maximum adaptability in mind. Generally speaking, an ‘outsider’ registering their identity in the border can accurately describe their origin, purpose, and personal traits with just a quarter of the form filled out,” Ren Wenwen patiently addressed Yu Sheng's doubts, “We can’t expect a registration form to impose enough constraints on outsiders. The reason the border area can operate smoothly up to now is thanks to a vast and effective management system.”
As she spoke, she took out a small device and placed it on the table. “Next, we’ll gather biological information. Since both of you are humanoid, shall we collect fingerprints?”
Ai Lin raised her hand. “I don’t have fingerprints.”
Ren Wenwen was taken aback. “... What about blood? … Humanoids don’t have blood either... How about collecting hair? Um, it seems like humanoids resist that; how about scraping off some surface debris? Just from your arm should be fine.”
Ai Lin let out a sigh. “If you scrape it off, it’ll turn to lotus powder.”
Ren Wenwen: “...?”
“This is a long story,” Yu Sheng covered his forehead. “Her current body is temporary. You might as well skip the collection; you won’t get anything useful anyway... everything’s store-bought materials.”
“Well… alright then. The director said we could be lenient,” Ren Wenwen replied with a somewhat complex expression, looking at the two forms again.
She sighed and turned to Ai Lin. “Miss Ai Lin, in the ‘regular form or physical features’ section, you can’t write ‘pretty’; you should put ‘humanoid’... Forget it, I will rewrite this page for you. In the end, you just need to sign for confirmation. Also, get ready; I’ll need to take your photos shortly. Hu Li, can you hide your ears?”
Hu Li casually removed her ears and tossed them into her tail.
Ren Wenwen: “... Huh?!”
In the next second, the young staff member suddenly realized what outrageous thing she had just seen and turned to Yu Sheng. “Mr. Yu, she, she, she just—”
“Calm down,” Yu Sheng had already anticipated this moment and began guiding her calmly. “You work at the Special Affairs Bureau; your thinking should be broader.”
Ren Wenwen: “...”
After struggling to regain her composure for a moment, the staff member finally controlled her expression.
She then pulled out another stack of forms and presented them to Yu Sheng.
“Uh, this is the registration document you wanted. You can fill this out while the ID cards for the two ladies are being processed.”
Yu Sheng’s heart fluttered, and he immediately took the printed papers.
“General Registration Form for Independent Organizations/Groups/Offices within the Border Area”
A smile crept onto Yu Sheng's face.
Finally, it was its turn.
(The End of This Chapter)