Theater with One Less Person

"... Your world is gradually heading towards the same end as our world."

After a moment of silence, considering her current situation, the White-haired loli reluctantly chose to compromise.

"Don't expect me to know too much from this little Anomaly. There's a survival of the fittest among Anomaly too. I've been searching for the truth behind the World Destruction, which has already been completely destroyed."

"How did you notice anything unusual about that bus last time?"

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi asked the question.

"Also, do Immortals and Buddhas really exist in our world?"

"The so-called Immortals and Buddhas, and Gods are just slightly more powerful beings. Our country used to have a Legendary God of Law, but wasn't he just a decrepit old man?"

The White-haired loli pouted.

"They definitely exist, after all, your ancient Myth Legendary can't be faked. But even if they still exist, they're probably all dead or contaminated by now."

"Why?"

Suddenly remembering the Abyssal Maw he had seen when leaving that Hell Town, the somewhat strange driver, and the ten Manager in that town, Bai Zhi's brows twitched slightly.

"The world itself has a self-protection mechanism. When beings like us from Outside the World can enter your world, it means that your world's self-protection mechanism has begun to break down. Otherwise, why do you think there are Player?"

Leaning back in her chair, the White-haired loli looked up at the Big Screen in front of her.

"The truly terrifying things haven't even appeared yet; everything we're experiencing now is just the tip of the iceberg... Did you really use that Land Deed without any side effects?"

She couldn't suppress her curiosity.

"Aftereffects? For example?"

Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow.

"I keep Nightmare at night, often hearing whispers in my ear, and I have intermittent hallucinations... Is that true?"

"No."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi gave a fairly Honest answer.

"... There's an Anomaly inside this Movie Theater."

After a moment of silence, the White-haired loli took the initiative to speak.

"After each movie screening in this Projection Hall ends, one audience member will be replaced by a character from the movie. In other words, after each movie, one audience member has actually been replaced by a character from the movie."

"Huh? Why are you suddenly telling me all this?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhi turned his head with a slight hint of confusion.

"It's very simple: show my sincerity and value."

The White-haired loli's gaze was intense.

"I am still useful to you. For example, like this Anomaly in the Movie Theater, it would take you a considerable amount of time to discover it, let alone figure out its patterns one by one."

"... What is the main theme of Anomaly?"

Temporarily ignoring the deeper meaning of the other party's words, Bai Zhi glanced around and narrowed his eyes slightly.

The Projection Hall was quite crowded, but most of the people were couples, and he didn't notice anything unusual at first.

"The main body is this Projection Hall. According to the records, the name of this Anomaly should be '[The Theater with One Less Person]'."

Looking at the Big Screen in front of her, the White-haired loli spoke.

"Every time a movie is shown in this Projection Hall, one of the audience members is put into the movie, and a character from the movie is Displacement into the Real World. If it were a romantic comedy, that wouldn't be a problem, but it looks like a horror movie is playing right now?"

"The swapping of movie characters and real-life roles?"

Looking at the big screen in front of him, where the movie had only been going on for five minutes, Bai Zhi frowned slightly.

Is there any chance that those who were switched in will ever come out again?

"Yes, but it's very difficult."

The White-haired loli nodded.

"There are two conditions for stepping out of the movie again. The first is to survive to the very end of the movie and become the Protagonist a second time. But you know, it's rare to survive to the end in a horror movie like this, let alone become the Protagonist."

"What if they fail to do so?"

As if he had thought of something, Bai Zhi became slightly interested.

"So they'll just be stuck inside the movie forever?"

"... I guess so?"

After thinking for a moment, the White-haired loli seemed slightly uncertain.

"This Anomaly hasn't been around for very long, only about a day. There must be quite a few people trapped inside the movie. If those movies are played repeatedly, we should be able to find those beings that are clearly different from the other characters in the movies."

What would happen to those beings who come to life from the movies?

While looking at the Big Screen in front of him, Bai Zhi continued to ask questions in a low voice.

The horror film, titled "[Girl's Strange Diary]", has only just begun, so it's too early to tell anything yet. However, just from the title, it already gives off a strong vibe of a poorly made, domestically produced film.

"It's hard to say. It mainly depends on who those beings who walk out of the movie are. If they're just an insignificant passerby or Extra in the movie, it won't have much of an impact; it's just like another person has appeared in the world. But if it's some Evil Spirit or ghost that walks out, then there will probably be another Supernatural Event in the world."

The White-haired loli shrugged slightly.

"The danger of this Anomaly called 'The Theater with One Less Person' isn't exactly great, but it's not insignificant either. It's not great because the beings that emerge from the movies operate according to the rules set within those movies. So, if you find the pattern, dealing with those beings who have emerged from the movies is quite simple. Even Anomaly have patterns in their murders, let alone this ghost Anomaly that originates from another Anomaly."

"... The danger lies not in the things that come out of the movies, but in the things that are brought out by those things, right?"

Bai Zhi reached out and pressed his forehead slightly, feeling a slight headache.

"For example, if what's playing here right now isn't a horror movie, but a disaster thriller like Bio-Crisis, then one of the Zombie might just jump out of the movie, and a real-life Bio-Crisis would happen."

Bai Zhi muttered to himself.

"Even thinking about the worst-case scenario, what if it's the Blacklight Virus or some other Thing Cells that escapes? Who knows, this world might be destroyed... Can you really call this thing not very dangerous?!"