Chapter Five: The Person Outside the Door
The voice outside the door was very soft.
Yet it was like a needle, stabbing straight into the deepest part of Shen Yuchuan's mind.
“Why did you kill me?”
He stood motionless in the middle of the living room.
The clock on the wall had stopped at 2:59.
The second hand no longer moved.
The entire world seemed to have been paused.
Only the girl outside the door was still breathing.
“Shen Yuchuan.”
“Open the door.”
He didn't move.
Because he knew.
The person outside the door was Su Wanqing.
And she wasn't Su Wanqing.
She was the Su Wanqing in his memories.
The girl who had sat by the window and smiled at him that summer ten years ago.
And the girl in the photo just now, the one who had reached through the world to touch him.
But…
If she really was Su Wanqing,
why had she said—
that he was the one who killed her?
“I didn't kill you.”
Shen Yuchuan finally spoke.
The hallway fell silent for several seconds.
“Are you sure?”
“I'm sure.”
“Then why are you afraid to open the door?”
Shen Yuchuan didn't answer.
Because he didn't know either.
The fear wasn't coming from outside the door.
It was coming from his memories.
He began to remember certain things.
Ten years ago.
That day.
Eleven p.m.
The school's rooftop.
Su Wanqing stood at the edge of the roof.
The wind blew through her hair.
“Shen Yuchuan.”
She asked,
“If one day, the whole world forgets me,”
“will you still remember me?”
A young Shen Yuchuan stood behind her.
“I will.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
Su Wanqing smiled.
“You say ‘forever’ every time.”
“Because I really will remember.”
“What if I die?”
Shen Yuchuan fell silent.
Su Wanqing turned around.
“Would you be afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't want to lose you.”
She looked at him.
But there was no smile in her eyes.
“But you've already lost me.”
Shen Yuchuan froze.
“What do you mean?”
Su Wanqing didn't answer.
She only pointed into the distance.
Every clock in the city
stopped at 2:59 at the same time.
Then.
They all reset to zero.
That was the first time Shen Yuchuan saw 3 A.M.
It was also the first time he forgot Su Wanqing.
“Do you remember now?”
The voice outside the door sounded again.
Shen Yuchuan snapped back to himself.
“No.”
“Liar.”
“I really didn't kill you.”
“Then tell me.”
“Where were you at eleven p.m. ten years ago?”
Shen Yuchuan frowned.
“At school.”
“Where?”
“The rooftop.”
“And then?”
“I…”
His memory suddenly broke off.
He couldn't remember.
What had happened after eleven?
He only remembered returning to the classroom.
He only remembered that Su Wanqing had disappeared.
He only remembered waking up the next day to find that no one in the world knew her.
“Can't remember?”
The person outside laughed.
“Because you deleted that part of your memory yourself.”
Shen Yuchuan clenched his fists.
“What the hell do you want?”
“I want you to remember.”
“And then what?”
“Then you'll know who the real enemy is.”
“Is it you?”
There was no answer from outside.
Shen Yuchuan walked toward the door.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
At last, his hand rested on the doorknob.
Just as he was about to turn it,
his other self in the living room suddenly spoke.
“Don't open it.”
Shen Yuchuan stopped.
“Why?”
“Because she isn't outside the door.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the real Su Wanqing…”
The black version of himself raised its head.
“wouldn't call your name.”
Shen Yuchuan frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“She never called you Shen Yuchuan.”
“She called you—”
His black self paused.
“A-Chuan.”
Shen Yuchuan's entire body jolted.
A-Chuan.
He remembered that name.
Only Su Wanqing called him that.
Ever since ten years ago.
No one else knew it.
The voice outside the door suddenly changed.
“A-Chuan.”
Shen Yuchuan's pupils contracted.
His black self slowly smiled.
“Now you get it, right?”
The voice outside sounded again.
“A-Chuan.”
“Open the door.”
Shen Yuchuan took a step back.
That voice was exactly the same as the one in his memories.
Even the tone was identical.
But…
No.
If the thing outside could read his memories,
then of course it would know that name too.
“What exactly are you?”
Shen Yuchuan asked the door.
There was silence outside.
Then.
“I am the person you most want to see.”
“Then why do you know about A-Chuan?”
“Because you told me.”
“When?”
“Every time.”
The color drained from Shen Yuchuan's face.
Every time?
Suddenly, he understood.
That wasn't Su Wanqing.
It was the Zero.
It could read Shen Yuchuan's memories from every world.
That was why it knew everyone.
Why it knew everything.
Even the things he himself had forgotten.
“You're not her,”
Shen Yuchuan said.
There was no answer outside.
“You're not Su Wanqing.”
“You only know everything about her.”
The person outside suddenly laughed.
“Good.”
“You've finally learned how to tell the difference.”
The next second,
the door suddenly fell inward.
Bang!
Shen Yuchuan quickly backed away.
But there was no one outside the door.
Only a black hallway.
And at the end of it
stood a girl.
A white short-sleeved shirt.
Long black hair.
The transparent umbrella in her hand.
Her back was to Shen Yuchuan.
“A-Chuan.”
She slowly turned around.
“Do you really not remember me?”
Shen Yuchuan stared at her.
“Who are you?”
The girl smiled.
“You didn't ask that before.”
“Then what did I ask?”
“You would say—”
She imitated his tone.
“Wanqing, why are you here again?”
Shen Yuchuan's heart gave a sharp pang.
That line…
He really remembered it.
It wasn't a vague memory.
It was perfectly clear.
One afternoon.
In the classroom.
Su Wanqing had sneaked in through the back door.
He had turned around.
“Wanqing, why are you here again?”
She had smiled and said:
“To see you, of course.”
That was ten years ago.
That was the last time they'd spoken normally.
Shen Yuchuan looked at the girl in front of him.
“Are you really her?”
“I don't know.”
“What?”
“I don't know if I am.”
The girl lowered her head and looked at her hands.
“After every reset, I'm copied all over again.”
“Sometimes I'm Su Wanqing.”
“Sometimes I'm Xiaoyu.”
“Sometimes…”
She raised her head.
“I'm you.”
Shen Yuchuan felt cold all over.
“Then what exactly are you?”
The girl didn't answer.
She turned and walked deeper into the hallway.
“Come with me.”
Shen Yuchuan didn't follow right away.
“Where?”
“To the place where you killed me for the first time.”
Shen Yuchuan fell silent.
“What if I don't go?”
The girl stopped.
“Then you'll never know.”
“Know what?”
“Why you killed me.”
The hallway was very long.
Abnormally long.
Shen Yuchuan walked for a long time.
Yet he never seemed to reach the end.
Doors lined both sides, one after another.
Each door bore a date.
2016/08/17. 2017/08/17. 2018/08/17. …
Until the last one.
2026/08/17.
Shen Yuchuan stopped.
“This isn't ten years ago.”
The girl said,
“No.”
“This is today.”
“Why?”
“Because your first death happened today.”
Shen Yuchuan frowned.
“I didn't die.”
The girl turned back.
“Are you sure?”
“I'm sure.”
“Then do you remember what you did this morning?”
Shen Yuchuan began to think back.
Waking up.
Washing his face.
Leaving the house.
School.
Wait.
He stopped.
He didn't remember whether he'd eaten breakfast that morning.
He didn't remember how he'd gotten from home to school.
He wasn't even sure
how many times he'd actually woken up today.
“Your memories are already starting to become confused,”
the girl said.
“Because the place you're standing in now isn't the real world.”
“Then where is this?”
“The memory layer.”
Shen Yuchuan looked around.
“Are all the forgotten people here?”
“No.”
The girl shook her head.
“Only the people you remember.”
Shen Yuchuan stared.
“So…”
“Chen Boyu.”
“Zhou Zihao.”
“Xu Qing.”
“And me.”
“We're all here.”
Shen Yuchuan looked at her.
“What about me?”
The girl fell silent.
“You're here too.”
“What?”
“You think you've been living in the real world all this time.”
“But the moment 3 A.M. happened for the first time, you were already dead.”
Shen Yuchuan stood where he was.
A buzzing filled his ears.
“That's impossible.”
“You've been waking up inside the memory layer.”
“Every time.”
“You think you're alive.”
“Every time.”
“You start over again.”
“And then try to bring us back.”
Shen Yuchuan slowly shook his head.
“If I'm dead…”
“Then what about the real me?”
The girl didn't answer.
At the end of the hallway,
a door slowly opened.
Behind it was a classroom.
Twelve people sat inside.
Shen Yuchuan saw Chen Boyu.
Zhou Zihao.
Xu Qing.
His mom.
And…
twelve versions of himself at different ages.
Seventeen.
Eighteen.
Nineteen.
Twenty.
Twenty-one.
Twenty-two.
Every Shen Yuchuan sat at a desk,
quietly watching him.
One of them stood up.
“You're here.”
Shen Yuchuan stared at him.
“Who are you?”
“The first you.”
“Then what about him?”
He pointed at another person.
“The second.”
“And that one?”
“The third.”
Shen Yuchuan looked around the classroom.
Twelve versions of himself.
Twelve worlds.
Twelve lives.
All of them existed here.
“Then where's the thirteenth?”
Everyone looked at him at the same time.
No one spoke.
Finally,
a Shen Yuchuan in the far corner stood up.
He wore exactly the same clothes as Shen Yuchuan did now.
Only his face was filled with exhaustion.
“The thirteenth one isn't dead yet.”
Shen Yuchuan stared at him.
“So I'm real?”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you?”
“We're the versions of you who failed.”
“Then why can I see you?”
“Because you're about to become one of us.”
Shen Yuchuan's heart sank.
“What does that mean?”
The Shen Yuchuan in the corner pointed at the clock on the wall.
2:59.
“Every time you try to save someone,”
“you lose a part of yourself.”
“When you've saved everyone,”
“you'll become one of us.”
Shen Yuchuan asked,
“Then how can this end?”
All twelve Shen Yuchuans raised their heads at the same time.
In unison, they said,
“Kill Su Wanqing.”
The color drained from Shen Yuchuan's face.
“No.”
“Only when she dies”
“will the cycle stop.”
“Impossible!”
Shen Yuchuan stumbled backward.
“I won't kill her again!”
“You've already killed her twelve times.”
“And every time…”
The Shen Yuchuan in the corner looked at him.
“She was the one who asked you to.”
Shen Yuchuan froze.
“She asked me to?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows.”
“As long as she lives,”
“3 A.M. will never end.”
Shen Yuchuan turned around.
Su Wanqing stood at the classroom door.
She wasn't crying.
She was only looking at him.
“They're right.”
Shen Yuchuan looked at her.
“You asked me to kill you?”
She nodded.
“Twelve times.”
“Why?”
Su Wanqing slowly walked into the classroom.
“Because the first time was an accident.”
“The second time was a choice.”
“Starting with the third time…”
She looked at the twelve Shen Yuchuans.
“I begged you to do it.”
“Why?”
“Because only my death”
“can send everyone else back to the real world.”
Shen Yuchuan froze.
“What about me?”
Su Wanqing looked at him.
“You stay.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
“Until you forget yourself.”
Shen Yuchuan suddenly understood.
This wasn't a cycle at all.
It was an exchange.
Su Wanqing traded her death for everyone else's existence.
And Shen Yuchuan…
used his own memories to sustain that exchange.
Twelve times.
Twelve worlds.
Twelve Su Wanqings.
Twelve Shen Yuchuans.
All of them were the price.
“What about the thirteenth time?”
Shen Yuchuan asked.
Su Wanqing didn't answer.
He looked at the clock on the wall.
2:59.
“What will happen this time?”
Su Wanqing walked up to him.
She held out her hand.
“This time is different.”
“How is it different?”
“Because you didn't kill me.”
“And…”
She looked at him.
For the first time, fear appeared in her eyes.
“It woke up.”
Shen Yuchuan froze.
“The Zero?”
Su Wanqing nodded.
“It doesn't want us to start over anymore.”
“Then what does it want?”
Su Wanqing said quietly,
“It wants the whole world to remain inside the memories.”
“Including you.”
“Including me.”
“Including everyone.”
Shen Yuchuan fell silent.
Suddenly,
all the clocks began moving at the same time.
3:00.
The twelve Shen Yuchuans in the classroom vanished instantly.
Su Wanqing began to turn transparent as well.
Shen Yuchuan rushed forward and grabbed her.
“Wait!”
But his hand passed straight through her palm.
“Wanqing!”
She smiled.
“This time, don't save me.”
“Why?”
“Because if you save me…”
Her body began to break apart into countless points of light.
“The real world will disappear.”
Shen Yuchuan frantically tried to catch the points of light.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
Su Wanqing looked at him one last time.
“Find the Zero.”
“How?”
“Stop looking forward.”
“Turn back.”
Shen Yuchuan froze.
“What?”
“Go back to the day you first forgot me.”
“The answer is there.”
She gave him one last smile.
“A-Chuan.”
“This time…”
“Don't trust yourself.”
The light vanished completely.
The classroom fell silent again.
Shen Yuchuan stood alone where he was.
The clock on the wall.
3:01.
He lowered his head.
At some point, a photo had appeared in his hand.
In the photo,
he stood beside Su Wanqing ten years ago.
They were both smiling.
But on the back of the photo,
there was a line of writing that had never appeared before:
“The Zero isn't you.”
Below it was another sentence.
The handwriting was completely different,
as if someone had just written it.
“It has always been right beside you.”
Shen Yuchuan suddenly looked up.
Inside the classroom,
someone had appeared without him noticing.
That person stood in the last row.
They wore a black jacket.
Their head was lowered.
Their face was impossible to make out.
Shen Yuchuan looked at them.
“Who are you?”
The person slowly raised their head.
Then—
revealed a face Shen Yuchuan had never seen before,
yet one that was unbelievably familiar.
“Me?”
They smiled.
“I'm your mother.”
Shen Yuchuan's blood instantly ran cold.
“Impossible…”
The woman took a step forward.
“You've always believed”
“that 3 A.M. is when the world forgets people.”
She looked at Shen Yuchuan.
“But that's not true.”
“3 A.M.…”
She held out her hand.
Pointing at the clock on the wall,
“is when the world begins to remember people.”
Chapter Five: End