162: Chapter 163 Su Yan opened the door, and another Lin Shoushan was standing outside.

"Because outside the door — —"

"Stands a Lin Shoushan who returned from the abyss."

Su Yan's voice came from beneath the ruins of the White Tower, weak but clear.

The crowd in the open space hadn't yet recovered from the fifth question, but Lin Jin had already turned and rushed toward the source of the voice.

Chen Ye carried his shield and chased after him.

"Isn't your dad in the maintenance tunnel?"

"So the one outside the door isn't him."

Lin Jin didn't stop.

"But Su Yan might not be able to tell the difference."

The old entrance to the White Tower ruins was buried at the edge of the fault exposed after the academy disappeared.

That place was originally just a sealed wall of an abandoned training module.

At this moment, a white door shadow emerged on the wall surface.

The door was very thin.

Like a stretched-out shield.

Embedded in the center of the door was a white school emblem that beat like a young person's heart.

Su Yan's voice was right behind the door.

"I know he might not be the original Lin Shoushan."

"But he said there are many people outside who were trapped in the abyss."

"They can't go home."

"I can open it."

"I can open it."

The sky exam paper's fifth question shone blindingly.

[If a minor is naturally suited to be a door for everyone, should they be allowed to continue being a door?]

The standard answer did not appear.

The abyss was not in a hurry to provide options this time.

It simply let everyone hear the knocking sound outside the door.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Each sound was like someone who had waited too long in the darkness.

Behind the door shadow, a voice identical to Lin Shoushan's rang out.

"Lin Jin."

"Don't stop him."

"Behind this door, there is not just me."

"There are many people who did not withdraw from the No. 9 Forbidden Zone back then."

"Su Yan is willing to save them."

"What right do you have to close the door for him?"

Lin Jin stood in front of the door and did not answer the voice.

He took out his communicator and connected to the maintenance tunnel.

The screen flickered a few times, and the real Lin Shoushan appeared on the screen.

He was still lying in the treatment pod, with Cheng Du repairing the main shaft beside him.

Lin Jin only asked one sentence:

"Are you over there?"

Lin Shoushan saw the white door shadow, and his expression sank instantly.

"I haven't left."

"The me outside the door is an echo of the abyss."

Chen Ye cursed:

"Creating another one?"

Lin Shoushan shook his head.

"It's not creating a person."

"The abyss is best at picking up people's regrets."

"That thing is not the complete me."

"It is the part of my remorse from when I couldn't go back to save people back then."

The "Lin Shoushan" outside the door laughed softly.

"Does remorse not count as real?"

"I remember every person who wasn't saved."

"I remember what they shouted."

"I remember when you turned and left back then, you didn't dare to look back."

The real Lin Shoushan fell silent.

Su Yan's voice came from behind the door.

"Lin Jin."

"What if there really are people outside the door?"

"If I don't open it, will they be trapped forever?"

Lin Jin reached out to touch the edge of the door shadow.

The white door frame was very cold.

There was no lock.

There were no hinges.

Because Su Yan himself was the lock, and he was also the hinges.

The door was not built on the wall.

It was built on him.

"Su Yan, what is your abyss profession?"

It was quiet behind the door for a few seconds.

Subsequently, a black profession card emerged.

[Abyss Profession: Door Returner]

[Ability: Can open a path home for anyone unable to return]

[Cost: Every time a door is opened, a segment of the opener's own life will be transformed into a threshold]

[After long-term use, the opener will be unable to leave any door]

Chen Ye's expression changed drastically.

"What does this cost mean?"

Shen Tingxue's voice turned cold.

"Every time he opens a door, he loses a piece of his own life path."

Su Yan said in a low voice:

"I know."

"The abyss wrote it clearly."

"I wasn't deceived."

"Before, the White Tower used me as a door, I had no choice."

"This time, I chose it myself."

This sentence was harder to deal with than the abyss.

If someone was forced to sacrifice, saving him would be simple.

But if a child really raised his head and said, I am willing.

Could others still stop him?

The sky's fifth question seemed to be waiting for everyone to answer.

The "Lin Shoushan" outside the door knocked again.

"He knows the cost."

"He knows the ability."

"He has a clear will."

"You keep saying you won't make choices for others."

"Why won't you respect his choice now?"

Tang Qi stood not far away, the iron badge on her chest not yet fully retracted.

Her face was pale, but she stared at that white door.

"This question is different from mine."

"I refused to prevent others from being killed."

"He is opening the door to turn himself into a tool."

"But what if there really are people waiting outside the door to be saved?"

Low discussions began in the crowd.

The old students had just come out from underground and understood best what it felt like to be trapped.

If there really was a door that could be opened, who could righteously say, you are not allowed to open it?

Lin Jin squatted in front of the door and knocked on the door frame with a wrench.

Clang.

The sound was muffled.

What came back from the door frame was not a metallic sound.

But a segment of memory.

A very small boy standing in front of the White Tower entrance.

All the adults around said:

"Su Yan, you are an S-Class Gatekeeper."

"You are naturally suited to be a door."

"Just open it once, it will end quickly."

The boy nodded.

The door opened.

Someone went in.

The door did not close.

The second memory segment.

The youth was made into a white shield, blocking the front of the bill.

The system said:

"Your protective value is higher than existing members."

"You are more suitable for substitution."

The third segment.

The abyss handed him the card in the darkness.

"No one is forcing you this time."

"You can open the door yourself."

The three memories were connected together.

From "forced to open the door," to "more suitable for being a door," and then to "you can voluntarily be a door."

It sounded more and more respectful.

But the result had never changed.

Su Yan was still that door.

Lin Jin stood up.

"A choice isn't valid just because you nod."

The "Lin Shoushan" outside the door's voice was slightly low.

"Then what else is needed?"

"The ability to refuse."

Lin Jin looked at the white door.

"Su Yan, can you close the door now?"

It was quiet behind the door.

"I can."

"Then close it."

The white door shadow trembled for a moment.

It did not close.

Su Yan's breathing became rapid.

"I..."

Countless voices rang out from outside the door at the same time.

"Don't close it!"

"We have waited for twenty years!"

"If you close it, we won't be able to go back!"

"Child, I beg you."

Su Yan's voice began to tremble.

"I can't close it."

It wasn't that his ability wasn't enough.

It was that the requests, regrets, and expectations from outside the door were pinning down his hands.

He could "voluntarily" open the door.

But he could not freely close it.

Lin Jin looked at the sky exam paper.

"First point."

"Minors can make choices."

"But when their choice is suppressed by the pain of everyone else, it cannot count as complete consent."

Shen Tingxue continued:

"Second point."

"Having a talent suited for opening doors does not mean he should become a public passageway."

Zhou Heng raised his Thunder Spear.

"Third point."

"If a matter can only be accomplished by one child paying an irreversible price, then the matter itself needs to be revised."

Chen Ye tapped his shield.

"Fourth point."

"If you want to open a door, let the adults find another way first."

The "Lin Shoushan" outside the door sneered.

"Spoken beautifully."

"But what about the people behind the door?"

"Do you want them to keep waiting?"

The real Lin Shoushan spoke in the communication.

"Let the people outside the door say their names."

It was quiet outside the door for a moment.

Immediately after, many voices overlapped and rang out.

"Save me!"

"I want to go home!"

"I am in the abyss."

"Open the door!"

Lin Shoushan's expression sank further.

"No names."

The "Lin Shoushan" outside the door said:

"The abyss will grind away names."

"This is not their fault."

"Correct."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Which is why we cannot open it directly."

"No names, no identities, no verification, just stuffing 'I want to go home' into Su Yan's ears."

"Who knows if what comes back after the door opens is a person, or a pile of regrets?"

The white door shook violently.

Faces suddenly emerged outside the door.

Some were wearing combat uniforms from twenty years ago.

Some were holding broken weapons.

There were also a few faces that Lin Shoushan recognized.

On the day the No. 9 Forbidden Zone went out of control, some people indeed failed to withdraw.

The real Lin Shoushan looked at those faces, his breathing becoming heavy.

"Old Zhao..."

The old soldier outside the door raised his head.

"Shoushan."

"I want to go home."

This sound almost broke through everyone's defenses.

Su Yan cried out in a low voice.

"He has a name."

"Can I open it now?"

Lin Jin did not answer immediately.

He looked at that face outside the door.

"Uncle Zhao, do you remember what Lin Shoushan owed you back then?"

The old soldier was stunned for a moment.

"Owed me..."

His expression began to become chaotic.

The "Lin Shoushan" outside the door's voice suddenly lowered.

"Lin Jin, don't torture the dead."

Lin Jin, however, continued to ask:

"If you really were Uncle Zhao, you wouldn't have let him open the door first."

"You would have scolded him first."

The real Lin Shoushan closed his eyes.

"He borrowed half a pack of cigarettes from me back then."

"I said I would return them after the withdrawal."

The skin on the old soldier's face outside the door began to peel off, revealing black mist.

He still tried hard to maintain his appearance.

"Return... return the cigarettes..."

Lin Shoushan opened his eyes, his voice hoarse:

"Old Zhao never smoked."

"That half pack of cigarettes was snatched from me by him."

Bang!

The old soldier's face outside the door shattered.

It was not a person.

It was a home-returning lure pieced together by the abyss using Lin Shoushan's regrets, fragments of names, and blurred images.

Su Yan froze completely.

The other faces outside the door also began to flicker.

Some might truly have remnants.

Some were just voices stitched together by the abyss.

No screening.

No confirmation.

Just letting a child use his own life as a threshold.

The white door frame began to tighten, as if it wanted to force itself open.

[Door Returner will fluctuates]

[External homecoming demand is strong]

[Automatic door opening]

Su Yan shouted in terror:

"I don't want to open it anymore!"

The fifth question on the sky exam paper shone brightly.

[Minor withdraws consent]

[Should withdrawal be allowed?]

"Allowed!"

In the open space, almost everyone roared out at the same time.

This time, there was no need for Lin Jin to lead the disassembly of the question.

Old students, new students, parents, mentors, logistics, all knew the answer.

"Consent can be withdrawn!"

"Saving people cannot bind a child to death!"

"He is not a door!"

Tens of thousands of voices crashed into the white door.

The door shadow did not disappear immediately.

Because the abyss profession was still on Su Yan.

Lin Jin raised his wrench and smashed open a thin white shell beneath the door frame.

Inside was a black thread, connected to Su Yan's heartbeat.

There was also a gray thread, connected to the homecoming demand outside the door.

The two threads were tied together by the abyss.

As long as there were people outside the door who wanted to come back, Su Yan would be forced to continue being a door.

"Teacher Xu."

Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised 002.

"Which one to cut?"

"Cut the binding between the demand and Su Yan's body."

"Do not cut the door."

Lin Jin looked at Su Yan.

"If you want to open it in the future, you can learn again."

"But every time, you must be able to stop."

Su Yan replied with a sob:

"I want to stop."

002 fell.

The knot between the black thread and the gray thread was cut open with one hammer blow.

The white door closed with a boom.

The abyss's cold voice came from outside the door.

"You have rejected a path home."

Lin Jin looked at the gradually fading door shadow.

"No."

"We refuse to repair a child into a path home."

Underneath the sky's fifth question, the open answer slowly generated.

[Even if a minor possesses a special talent, they must not be continuously defined as a public tool.]

[Their consent must be revocable.]

[Rescue demands must not be automatically bound to an individual's body.]

[Opening, closing, screening, and accountability should be established by reality through a common mechanism.]

Beneath the ruins of the White Tower, Su Yan fell out of the door shadow.

He was thinner than imagined, his complexion almost transparent.

Chen Ye caught him.

"In the future, if anyone says you are naturally suited to be a door, you make them embed themselves in the wall."

Su Yan smiled weakly.

But before the smile could fade, the abyss profession card on his chest suddenly flipped over.

[Door Returner failed to open the door]

[External homecoming demand transferred to seven-day exam]

The sixth page of the sky exam paper unfolded automatically.

This time, the question did not ask the crowd.

Instead, it displayed a city-level exam site model directly.

[Sixth Question Preview: When it is impossible to confirm whether those returning from outside the door are still themselves, should they be allowed to enter the city?]

At the edge of the model stood densely packed black shadows.

Among them, at the very front, was still that "Lin Shoushan" pieced together by Lin Shoushan's regrets.

He looked up at Lin Jin, the corners of his mouth slowly splitting open.

"Then see you in seven days."

"At that time, what is standing outside the door — —"

"Will be the person everyone in Jiangcheng most wants to see one more time."