Hotel Between Worlds

Elara was cursing up a storm.

Darian couldn't believe how someone sealed inside an oil painting could have such an extensive vocabulary and she managed to keep swearing fluently all the way down the stairs without even pausing for breath.

Probably because, being a doll, she didn't need to breathe in the first place.

Still, Darian remained calm. He let her curse all she wanted after sliding to the bottom of the stairs. He himself slowly descended step by step, holding onto the handrail not out of courtesy, but because his back hurt and he physically couldn't go any faster. When he finally reached the first floor, he bent over with effort and picked up Elara's picture frame.

"Are you insane?!" Elara clutched a plush bear inside the painting, glaring furiously. Her clothes and hair were in a mess. "Who just throws someone down the stairs like that? What if you'd broken the painting?!"

"My back hurts. Your painting's too heavy, I couldn't carry it down the stairs," Darian replied calmly, carrying the frame slowly toward the dining room. "I checked, your frame is really sturdy. And hey, if it broke, maybe it would've freed you."

"If it were that easy to get out, would I still be sealed in here?!" Elara huffed and slumped back into her chair. "Ugh, my head feels all fuzzy…"

Darian suddenly stopped and looked down seriously at the girl inside the painting.

Elara felt uneasy under his gaze. "You… What are you thinking now? I'm telling you, if you dare toss me down the stairs again, I won't let you off! I'll sneak into your dreams every night. you dream of exams, I'll set off alarms. You dream of gaming, I'll cut the power. You dream of going out, I'll chase you with a dump truck. You dream of dating, I'll..."

How could one cursed doll be so full of trash talk?

Darian barely held back the urge to drag her back upstairs and throw her down again. Keeping a straight face, he tried to sound serious. "I just want to ask… what exactly is the mechanism behind this 'seal'? You mentioned needing help to escape what exactly needs to be done to help you?"

Elara hadn't expected that. She froze for a moment, then, after a two- or three-second pause, spoke in disbelief, "You… you're really thinking about helping me get out of here?!"

"Weren't you the one who said you needed help getting out?" Darian frowned, then added, "I'm just asking. I haven't agreed yet…"

But Elara didn't seem to hear the second part. She cut him off quickly. "There are three—no, two—ways! The first and best way is to find my original body. I don't know where it is now, but it must be somewhere… maybe not far from this painting. Once we find it and get me near it, I can escape from this damn painting.

"But if we can't find it, or if it's already been destroyed, then there's only one option left: build a new body. But a new body won't be as good as the original—it'll take some getting used to, and it's kind of a pain"

Darian had been listening carefully, but at this point, he interrupted, "Build a new one? How? Can I just buy a ready-made doll from a store?"

"Of course not!" Elara shot back. "I'm an 'Alice Doll'! A blessed living doll, you understand? You can't compare me to those store-bought BJDs!"

She paused, her tone turning more serious. "Living dolls are born in the garden of Alice's Cottage. Our original bodies come from there. But I've lost my connection to the garden, and since I'm stuck inside this painting, I can't return there to be reborn. Still, even without the garden, we have a temporary emergency method for creating a new body in the real world… though even that isn't easy.

"First, you need to find hair that grows on its own, soil that writhes like it's alive, bones from a dead person that can break and heal again, and a single tear from a living doll—two drops would be better, it'd make my skin smoother. Then you use alchemy to reanimate these ingredients, and smear your own blood. wait, why are you making that face?"

Darian stared at the girl in the painting with a stone-faced expression, then sighed deeply. "Let's just go back to the plan where we try to find your original body, shall we?"

Elara blinked. "You… don't know alchemy?"

"Is that something everyone's just supposed to know?!" Darian looked half-crazed. "And never mind the alchemy, where am I supposed to find all that ridiculous stuff you listed?! Are you sure you didn't just copy that nonsense out of some second-rate fantasy magazine? Living doll's tears? If I could find another living doll, I'd just hand you over painting and all—and let her take you home! That'd save me the trouble, wouldn't it?"

Darian figured that since his time in this "world" had been short, he didn't yet understand all its bizarre shadows or the supernatural forces behind them. But based on what he'd learned so far, the "ingredients" Elara mentioned were clearly not something ordinary people in this world could even access. And yet she'd rattled them off like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Elara, noticing his reaction, looked a little embarrassed too. She shifted slightly in her chair and lowered her voice. "Actually, other materials could work too… like, you know, some clay, paint, and wigs ordered online…"

Darian: "...?"

He looked at the girl in the painting with a face full of "Are you freaking kidding me?" Elara shrank back in her chair again. "I just want the temporary body to work a little better, okay… but even if it's basic, it's better than nothing.

"Still, even with regular materials, the final step requires your blood and a bit of alchemy. I can teach you—it's simple, even regular people can do it…"

Darian didn't reply immediately. He stayed silent for a few seconds, as if deep in thought. Then he suddenly said, "Just now… you started to say there were three ways. Why didn't you mention the third one?"

"…That method isn't great. It comes with a cost," Elara waved her hand, looking honest. "You probably wouldn't agree to it, and I don't really want you to try either. After all, we're not that close…"

"If you know we're not close, then stop with all the nonsense," Darian replied offhandedly, shooting the girl in the painting a glare.

Elara pursed her lips and looked at Darian somewhat nervously (so now she knew how to be nervous), then cautiously asked, "So… are you going to help me get out of here? The second method is actually pretty easy. Even if you just randomly sculpt a body, it'll work. Doesn't matter if your craftsmanship isn't great—as long as the ritual is done properly, I can reshape it once I enter the body… just don't make it too ugly, at least make it resemble a human."

This time, Darian didn't argue with her. He simply thought seriously, remaining silent for nearly half a minute before giving a solemn reply: "I can't promise anything right now. I need to think it over."

He didn't trust this girl in the painting—not completely, at least.

Even though she seemed sincere and honest, a bit chatty but not malicious, with a distinct personality and a harmless appearance, all of that was based on less than a day's impression. Once he stripped away those "human-like" qualities, Elara was still, at her core, a mysterious being sealed inside an oil painting.

Darian wasn't about to let himself be swayed by her cute demeanor and immediately craft a body for this "ghost in the painting" to unleash her into the world. what if, the moment she got out, her entire personality changed and she bashed his skull in with that stuffed bear of hers?

He had just died once not long ago. He wasn't exactly in a hurry to die again.

Elara, however, didn't say anything else after hearing his response. She simply stared at Darian for a moment, then nodded naturally. "Okay. Got it."

Darian was surprised. He had expected to argue with her over this for a while but hadn't anticipated her being so… reasonable.

"We're not that close yet, right?" As if reading his thoughts, Elara suddenly smiled and winked from inside the painting. "Once we are, I'll ask again."

"…Sure. We'll talk about it later."

Darian smiled too, carrying Elara's frame into the dining room. He casually propped it upright on the dining table against the wall, then turned toward the kitchen.

"I haven't had dinner yet. Gonna cook something."

"Alright… hey, can you turn on the TV across the table first? I wanna watch something…"

"You're so demanding."

Darian flipped on the TV across the dining table, then picked up the vegetables and seasonings he'd left on the shelf earlier things he'd bought from the supermarket and started preparing dinner.

He actually loved cooking. And ever since arriving in this familiar yet unfamiliar "Boundary City," he'd found peace only when preparing meals himself at home because only in this big house was he safe from the strange shadows that haunted the outside world.

He didn't mind running into some tall, thin shadow on the road. But when it came to cooking and eating, that was different. These were sacred moments in his life.

…Even though now, this so-called "safe house" had come with a strange "Elara."

Still, compared to the ghostly shadows roaming the city streets, the freezing rain, and the frogs, a grumbling, unlucky doll trapped in an oil painting was way more endearing. at least she wouldn't rip his heart out.

(End of Chapter)

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