Coming Back to Life Is Fine, but Don't Touch Me Yet!

[Dead person, prepare to return to life.]

The blood-red words on the theater ticket slowly lit up.

Shen Niannian lay in the coffin.

She was utterly bewildered for a moment.

(⊙_⊙)

One second ago, she had been told to lie still and play dead.

The next, she was suddenly told-

Get up and go to work?

Wasn't the Dead Men's Theater a little too casual about switching roles?

But immediately afterward,

new blood-red words appeared on the mourning hall wall.

[Rules for returning to life]

[1. The final mourning lasts one hundred breaths. The dead person must not rise before it ends.]

[2. After the mourning ends, the dead person must sit up on their own within ten breaths.]

[3. After the dead person sits up, the living may only ask: "Where have you returned from?" No living person may touch the dead person before they answer.]

[4. The dead person must answer: "I have returned from the ancestral hall."]

[5. After the question and answer, the dead person must blow out the life candle in the center. The other six must remain lit.]

The moment the rules appeared,

the atmosphere in the entire mourning hall grew tense.

The livestream chat quickly flooded with comments.

"The steps are clear, but it feels like someone could die at every one!"

"Especially the third rule. Whatever you do, don't touch Shen Niannian!"

"They also have to keep six candles lit, and those three candle-blowing children are still there!"

Sure enough-

Clang!

Before the funeral bell's echoes had faded,

the three candle-blowing children had already grinned again.

Whoosh!

The life candle on the far left went out in an instant.

Cao Yong's expression changed.

He immediately rushed over to relight it.

At the same time,

the short blade in Ye Qinglan's hand flashed.

Swish!

The head of a paper child about to blow out the second candle went flying.

"You just focus on lighting the candles. I'll make them shut up."

Cao Yong nodded.

"All right!"

One of them guarded the candles,

while the other hacked at the paper children.

The remaining members of the Chen family had already begun the final mourning as the script required.

"My daughter..."

"Miss, why did you leave us so early..."

Their wails echoed through the mourning hall.

Shen Niannian lay under the white cloth,

motionless.

[Remaining mourning time: 73 breaths]

[61 breaths]

[49 breaths]

With every passing second,

the chill beneath the coffin grew stronger.

The corpse ghoul under the coffin, previously driven back by the life candles, seemed to know the second act was about to end.

Thud!

Something slammed against the bottom of the coffin again.

Shen Niannian's eyelid twitched.

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

Again?

Immediately afterward,

an icy hand emerged once more through the bottom of the coffin.

It grabbed her ankle.

This time, however, it didn't pull her down.

Instead, it slowly felt its way upward.

Her calf.

Her knee.

Goosebumps rose all over Shen Niannian's body.

But she didn't dare move.

The mourning wasn't over.

She was still a dead person!

[37 breaths]

Another ghostly hand reached out

and grabbed her wrist.

A third

emerged beside her neck.

Icy fingernails brushed lightly across her skin.

Shen Niannian: "..."

(╥﹏╥)

She suddenly missed the Blood Moon Hotel very much.

At least she hadn't looked under the bed there back then.

Although the livestream viewers couldn't see beneath the white cloth,

they could see the coffin shaking slightly.

"Is there something in there again?!"

"Shen Niannian can't move!"

"If she gets up before the mourning ends, it'll be a role error!"

"This instance is disgusting. It forces you to lie there even when you know there's danger!"

Just then-

Whoosh!

Two life candles went out at once.

[Current life candles: 5/7]

The ghostly hands beneath the coffin instantly grew stronger.

The grip on Shen Niannian's wrist hurt.

Cao Yong was so anxious that sweat covered his forehead.

"Ye Qinglan, on the left!"

Before he even spoke,

her blade had already flashed past.

A paper child had just puffed out its cheeks

when its head went flying again.

Cao Yong seized the chance to relight the sixth candle.

The seventh!

[Current life candles: 7/7]

The ghostly hands in the coffin immediately stiffened.

Their strength weakened again.

Shen Niannian gritted her teeth.

Hold on.

Only-

[10 breaths]

[5 breaths]

[3]

[2]

[1]

The wailing stopped abruptly.

[The final mourning has ended.]

The next second,

a new countdown appeared.

[Dead person's return to life: 10]

Shen Niannian's eyes flew open.

Here it comes!

She whipped the shroud off

and sat up in the coffin.

[9]

Her black-and-red Lolita dress spread out inside the coffin.

Her long silver-white hair was somewhat disheveled.

Her face was visibly pale from the ordeal with the ghostly hands.

But she had indeed sat up.

The entire mourning hall fell silent in an instant.

The livestream viewers held their breath as well.

"She's up!"

"Next, ask the question!"

"Whatever you do, don't touch her!"

But the instant Shen Niannian sat up,

the theater ticket in the hand of the young woman playing the madam suddenly grew hot.

She looked down.

[Madam's current role behavior: Your daughter has returned to life. Go forward and help her out of the coffin.]

The woman's pupils narrowed slightly.

An explicit role behavior!

Wu Lei had died because he refused a prompt like this!

She barely had time to think.

She immediately rushed forward.

"Niannian, let me help you-"

Ye Qinglan's expression changed drastically.

"Don't touch her!"

Too late.

The woman's hand had already grabbed Shen Niannian's arm.

The next second,

the black coffin beneath Shen Niannian-

suddenly opened wide!

Not the lid.

The red cloth inside instantly split open into an enormous mouth!

Countless pale arms reached out from within

and coiled around the woman's waist in an instant.

"What?!"

The woman panicked completely.

"My ticket clearly told me to help her!"

Bloody words slowly seeped out of the wall.

[Madam's role action: Help the daughter out of the coffin after she returns to life.]

[The dead person has not yet completed the return-to-life questions and answers.]

[Touched a dead person whose return to life was incomplete.]

[Role actions performed in the wrong order.]

The woman's face instantly turned deathly pale.

"Wait! The prompt never said I had to wait until the questions were over!"

No one could save her.

The next second.

Dozens of hands suddenly tightened.

The woman was dragged straight into the coffin.

"Help me-!"

Crack!

A bone-cracking sound came from inside the coffin, making everyone's scalp crawl.

Then.

Complete silence.

[Player Lin Yue has died.]

[Players currently alive: 11]

The livestream chat exploded.

"Holy shit!"

"Private role prompts and public rules both apply!"

"It wasn't that she didn't carry out her role. She did it too early!"

"This instance even checks the order!"

"The private prompt only said to help the daughter after she returned to life, but actually completing the return also includes the questions and answers!"

Ye Qinglan's expression grew even worse.

This death.

Even she hadn't been able to determine it for certain in advance.

Because whether "sitting up" counted as completing the return to life-

No one knew.

Lin Yue had given them the answer with her life.

It didn't!

Actors couldn't just look at their own individual tasks.

They also had to carry them out in accordance with the entire act's public rules!

Meanwhile.

In the corner.

A paper effigy of a woman slowly stood up.

Its features gradually took on Lin Yue's appearance.

[Madam's role restored.]

Dead Men's Theater hadn't even given them time to grieve.

The play had to go on!

The paper madam had just started to approach.

Ye Qinglan immediately said coldly, "Do the questions and answers first. Nobody touch her."

This time.

No one dared move recklessly.

The player playing the master stood before the coffin.

He took a deep breath.

Then spoke in strict accordance with rule three:

"Where did you come back from?"

Shen Niannian had prepared her answer long ago.

"I came back from the ancestral hall."

Hum-!

The entire mourning hall shook violently.

[Return-to-life questions and answers completed.]

The text on the theater ticket in Shen Niannian's hand changed rapidly.

[Current status: Returning to life]

It still wasn't completely finished!

The final step.

The life candles!

She immediately looked at the seven candles.

The one in the very center.

She had to blow it out herself.

But the other six-

Had to stay lit!

The three paper children seemed to know their last chance had come, too.

They turned their heads at the same time.

Six pitch-black eyes fixed on the life candles.

Whoosh-!

Two paper children blew at the same time!

"Stop them!"

Ye Qinglan charged out in an instant.

Her blade flashed in a sweeping arc!

One paper child was cleaved in two.

The other, however, slipped past her blade.

Its target-

The life candle on the far right!

Cao Yong couldn't worry about anything else.

He stepped directly in front of the candle stand.

The paper child couldn't touch the life candle.

He couldn't attack, either.

He could only block it with his body!

The paper child slammed into his chest.

Bang!

The impact sent Cao Yong stumbling two steps backward.

Blood immediately seeped from the corner of his mouth.

But he didn't move aside.

"Shen Niannian!"

"Hurry!"

Shen Niannian had already climbed out of the coffin.

According to the rules.

After the questions and answers were over.

She was free to move!

She rushed to the life candle in the very center.

She took a deep breath.

Whoosh-!

The ghastly pale flame flickered violently.

It didn't go out.

Shen Niannian: "?"

(ΩДΩ)

Again!

She puffed out her cheeks.

And blew hard!

Whoosh!

The life candle in the center finally went out.

[Current life candles: 6/7]

Meanwhile.

Ye Qinglan kicked the last paper child away.

Cao Yong shielded the flames again.

Six candles.

Not one missing!

The entire mourning hall fell silent at once.

All the paper children stopped moving.

The ghost hands beneath the coffin vanished completely.

On the wall.

Blood-red words appeared line by line.

[The dead person has completed the return to life.]

[Six life candles remain lit.]

[Keeping Vigil completed.]

[Act Two, "Keeping Vigil"-ends!]

Clap, clap, clap-!

In the theater's audience seats.

Applause erupted, even more frenzied than it had been after the first act.

The livestream chat was in an uproar as well.

"They made it!"

"Act Two is over!"

"Everyone really had to bear the pressure at the same time!"

"Cao Yong really put his all into blocking that paper child at the end!"

"Lin Yue's death also confirmed the most treacherous part: the order of the role actions!"

"Dead Men's Theater really doesn't treat its actors like people. As long as the roles and the play can go on, it doesn't matter how many die!"

Shen Niannian stood before the six life candles.

At last, she let out a long sigh of relief.

(╥﹏╥)

A living person.

She could finally be a living person again, right?

The next second.

Her theater ticket heated up again.

[Act Two identity: Dead person]

The words slowly faded away.

New words appeared.

[Act Three: "Ghost Marriage"]

[Role: Younger daughter]

[Act Three identity: Bride]

Shen Niannian: "..."

(°ー°〃)

She looked down at her black-and-red Lolita dress.

Then remembered the red bridal gown she hadn't finished putting on in the first act.

Suddenly, she had a very bad feeling.

And the next line of text.

Slowly appeared at that moment.

[The groom will arrive at the Chen family residence at the beginning of the third act.]

[Bride, please-]

[Do not mistake someone else for your husband.]

Shen Niannian:

"?"

Wait.

Since when did she have a husband?