Academy?
Upon seeing the message from “Tricky Disciple 3000,” Yu Sheng felt a moment of confusion.
The term “academy” seemed familiar, and then he recalled a casual mention by Bai Liqing during their earlier conversation, as well as some information he had seen while fiddling with his phone.
He finally connected the dots.
According to the materials, it was an organization located beyond the borders, with its headquarters on a distant planet called “Tierra.” This academy specialized in the inheritance of knowledge, archaeological discoveries, technological research, and fighting against ancient anomalies that threatened the sanity of mortals.
Essentially, it resembled a grand “university,” where most of the personnel sent out were titled “professors.”
If it were such a scholarly organization that loved studying peculiar objects, it made sense that they might be interested in the strange metallic device Yu Sheng had found.
However, there was one problem: the academy was not as easy to reach as other “extraterrestrial organizations.” They usually only engaged in official exchanges with other organizations and maintained an air of mystery.
As a newcomer who barely knew any “colleagues,” where could Yu Sheng find a “professor” from the academy?
Furrowing his brow, Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment before replying to “Tricky Disciple 3000,” asking, “How can I get in touch with the ‘academy’? Do you have any channels?”
This time, he waited a long time without receiving a new reply.
It seemed that after sending the final message, the other party had gone offline.
“Well, at least I have a new lead.” After a long wait, Yu Sheng reluctantly put his phone away.
He then picked up the dark metallic device again, studying it closely from all angles.
He found the strange inscriptions that “Tricky Disciple 3000” had mentioned—he hadn’t even noticed them while taking photos earlier, but the keen “netizen” had pointed them out.
The markings appeared to be a form of script, albeit somewhat worn down.
However, since they were deeply engraved, they were still legible, though Yu Sheng could not comprehend their content and had never seen such a curving, arc-based writing style before.
Just then, Yu Sheng suddenly felt his phone vibrate again.
Did he receive a reply?!
He quickly took his phone out, but it wasn’t a new message from “Tricky Disciple 3000.” Instead, it was a notification from Little Red Riding Hood, and her avatar was bouncing.
When he opened the message, it read: “I saw the photos and messages you posted—could that thing be something you picked up from your ‘home’?!”
“Yeah,” Yu Sheng replied casually, “but I didn’t mention it because I was worried it might scare people.”
“Good thing you didn’t; you spared them from a reality check. By the way, how did you find it? No way something you don’t even recognize would appear in your ‘domain’ at 66 Wutong Road?”
“This house has plenty of strange occurrences,” Yu Sheng sighed as he typed. “Even Ai Lin was something I found in my room; all sorts of bizarre things keep popping up.”
The little doll beside him tilted her head to watch the conversation and immediately bumped Yu Sheng’s arm with her head: “Why are you dragging me into this?! And what do you mean by bizarre things—am I bizarre?”
Yu Sheng rubbed Ai Lin’s head playfully: “I just meant it as a way to emphasize the theme…”
He then went on to describe the process of finding the metallic device to Little Red Riding Hood, not forgetting to ask, “Have you seen anything similar?”
“Artificial objects appearing from other realms is quite normal. However, it’s strange for ‘foreign’ artifacts to suddenly show up in one realm,” Little Red Riding Hood messaged back.
“Of course, we can’t be certain that it’s genuinely from ‘outside.’ It might have always been a part of 66 Wutong Road, something you just hadn’t noticed. I don’t know your situation with that house,” she continued in a flurry of messages.
“As for the metallic device, I haven’t seen it before. But I advise you not to ask around too much on the border communications. One, you have too little reliable information to go on, so you probably won’t find out anything. Two, there are all sorts of people communicating there; don’t get scammed by untrustworthy folk.”
A little while later, Little Red Riding Hood sent another message: “You might as well keep it for now. If a collector of strange objects shows up later, it might sell for a good price. You can also observe things for a while to see if more ‘similar’ objects appear. This thing looks like a part; maybe there are other structures to it…”
Yu Sheng was taken aback by her message and quickly typed back, “This thing can actually be sold?!”
Little Red Riding Hood took a moment before replying: “…. There are always collectors interested in all sorts of strange things, especially for something brought back from another realm that poses no danger. As long as you can prove it’s truly ‘reclaimed from another realm.’”
“Ah, but how to prove that? Are there professionals for this kind of appraisal?”
“The Special Operations Bureau has appraisal qualifications, and large organizations like the ‘Academy,’ ‘Bamosa Hermit Society,’ or ‘Oddities/Antiquities Society’ also have experts who can conduct appraisals. Their certificates are highly credible… Do you need money?”
Yu Sheng hesitated, glancing at the fox girl who had just pulled out a chicken leg from her tail to munch on.
He felt a bit awkward while typing: “You know, I’m currently supporting two people, and Hu Li has a really big appetite… Meanwhile, my personal work has hit a bit of a ‘bottleneck.’”
The bottleneck stemmed mainly from realizing that his fans had developed an absurd XP in his works, causing him serious self-doubt about his creative direction and abilities.
Little Red Riding Hood replied swiftly, clearly not curious about Yu Sheng’s “personal work”: “Then you can try to get the Special Operations Bureau to issue an appraisal certificate. They’ll definitely believe you found it from another realm—unless they refuse to acknowledge that 66 Wutong Road is part of a different realm.”
A smile crept onto Yu Sheng’s face as he considered that Hu Li’s food expenses and Ai Lin’s new television could now be taken care of.
But just then, a bold, highly creative, and tempting idea struck him like a thunderbolt.
This idea sparkled with golden light—his eyes began to shine with a different hue: “Wait, does it mean that as long as something harmless is brought out from another realm, it can be appraised like this?!”
After almost half a minute, Little Red Riding Hood responded with an “ah?”
Before Yu Sheng could type again, she quickly followed up with, “Wait, I think I guessed what you want to do! Are you thinking of…?”
Yu Sheng glanced around the living room.
Everything seemed valuable.
Even the peeling, moldy wallpaper in the corner looked like it had been gilded…
But the next moment, his phone vibrated repeatedly as Little Red Riding Hood sent a flurry of messages: “Collectors also have standards for the items they collect! At the very least, it should look like a rare item with a story! It wouldn’t do to take out a couple of plastic slippers, old newspapers, or drink bottles to show off, right?! Where did that idea come from—”
Yu Sheng found himself momentarily taken aback by the barrage of messages, sensing the immense shock and awe of a high school girl through her words.
At the same time, in an older part of the city within the border, Little Red Riding Hood, lying in her room after sending her messages, stared blankly at her phone, unable to regain her composure for a long time.
Her face truly displayed shock and wonder.
“Not going to sleep yet?” a young girl’s voice called from above, and a face appeared at the edge of the upper bunk—she looked a year or two younger than Little Red Riding Hood, with long black hair.
Glancing at the phone in Little Red Riding Hood’s hand, she recognized the screen. “Border communications—any new messages? Have something interesting?”
“No, just chatting. It’s quite shocking.” Little Red Riding Hood replied casually.
“Is there really something that can shock you? Did someone post pictures on a public notice board?”
Little Red Riding Hood didn’t even lift her head. “Someone wants to sell their properties to get rich.”
The girl on the upper bunk instantly lost her balance, slipping from the edge—fortunately, she managed to catch herself halfway down by wrapping her hair around the metal frame of the bunk, hanging there like a ghost, swaying as she spoke: “Is this a new kind of horror discussion thread?”
“Long-haired, could you not speak to me in such a spooky manner?” Little Red Riding Hood shot her roommate a look, surprised that a girl in a white nightgown would be hanging from her dorm room at night; anyone passing by would surely get frightened. “And I’m serious; let’s discuss this. If there’s a realm that houses an entity resembling a human, and this entity has a legal identity in the human world, could it…”
The girl hanging by the bed thought seriously for a moment and expressed shock: “I know! It’s about that person you’ve been dealing with recently… Oh no! Did they find a bug in the system?!”
(End of Chapter)