NovelPantheon

Doctor Chen

Psychologist, door investigator, and agent of Chen Ge's parentsJiujiang Children's Home

Doctor Chen is a psychologist and childhood friend of Doctor Gao who uses the Chen surname to fulfill a request from Chen Ge's parents. The alias does not make him a member of the Chen family and should not be confused with Chen Ge's own improvised disguises.

Biography

Rescue from the morgue and the warning

Chen Ge finds Doctor Chen imprisoned inside the underground morgue's door after the psychologist loses a confrontation with Doctor Gao. Once rescued, Doctor Chen explains that he and Gao were childhood friends, studied the same profession, and loved the same woman, but developed opposing beliefs about doors: Chen regarded them as disasters to close, while Gao embraced their possibilities after his wife's death. He also reveals that he was among the first people to enter Men Nan's door and that Chen Ge's father later asked him to watch over the boy under an assumed surname. His promised message is a warning not to search for the missing parents. Chen Ge shelters him until he recovers, then releases him in the countryside after they exchange contact details. (Chapters 443–463)

Appearance and personality

Doctor Chen is physically weak and disoriented when removed from his broken container, yet quickly becomes observant and guarded. He is cautious about supernatural doors, loyal to old promises, and still capable of sympathy for Doctor Gao despite opposing his decisions. His refusal to reveal everything immediately reflects caution rather than hostility toward Chen Ge. (Chapters 443–463)

Skills and supernatural abilities

Doctor Chen is a trained psychologist with unusually deep experience of worlds behind doors. He can interpret trauma, explain the early history of Men Nan's door, and work with spirits, although the precise mechanism by which he controls them is not established. His defeat by Doctor Gao and weakened state show clear limits to that experience. (Chapters 443–463)

Relationships

  • Doctor Gao: His childhood friend and professional peer. Shared history and affection for the same woman make Chen understand Gao's motives without accepting his use of the door. (Chapters 443–462)
  • Chen Ge: The child he was asked to monitor and later the person who rescues him. Doctor Chen fulfills the parents' request by warning Chen not to pursue them. (Chapters 445–463)
  • Men Nan: The original door-pusher whose nightmare world Doctor Chen investigated at the request of the Third Sick Hall's old director. (Chapter 461)

Items

  • Borrowed Chen surname: Not a physical object, but a deliberate cover identity adopted to carry out the favor requested by Chen Ge's father. (Chapters 445, 461–462)
  • Contact details: Exchanged with Chen Ge when the recovered doctor leaves New Century Park. (Chapter 463)