The Person May Leave, but the Role Must Stay

[The final curtain call has begun.]

[Living actors, please leave the stage.]

[Dead roles, please remain behind the curtain.]

[Please note-]

[During the curtain call, do not take away a role that does not belong to you.]

The black curtain slowly descended.

On either side of the stage.

Two wooden doors that had never appeared before opened at the same time.

There were no corridors beyond them.

Only a blinding white light.

[Exit passages opened.]

[Curtain call countdown: 180 seconds]

Three minutes!

The eight remaining players perked up at once.

The exits!

They had finally appeared!

But after everything they had been through over four full acts.

No one dared rush out.

Ye Qinglan immediately looked at her theater ticket.

"Don't leave yet. There's something wrong with that line."

Cao Yong was also staring intently at the last line.

"Don't take away a role that doesn't belong to you..."

"The roles we have now weren't ours to begin with."

They were only actors.

The master.

The steward.

The eldest daughter.

The youngest daughter.

These were all identities the Dead Men's Theater had forced on them!

If they left with their roles-

Would that count as a violation?

As everyone hesitated.

A player standing at the edge of the stage suddenly paled.

The black curtain had already descended to just above his head!

And behind the curtain.

A dense mass of paper figures was moving forward.

Wu Lei.

Fang Kai.

Liang Feng.

Lin Yue...

The faces of those players who had long since died.

All hung on paper bodies.

They stood behind the black curtain.

Completely motionless.

Yet every one of them stared at the living.

Farther away.

There were also countless faceless paper actors.

Slowly raising their heads.

"There's no time!"

The player gritted his teeth.

"The exits are right there. That last line is probably just a reminder not to take someone else's props by mistake. I'm going first!"

Ye Qinglan immediately called out:

"Wait!"

The man had already rushed into the exit on the left.

One step.

Two steps.

Just as he took his third step into the white light-

Buzz!

His entire body abruptly froze.

His theater ticket instantly turned blood-red.

[Actor exit detected.]

[Currently carrying: Guest A role.]

[Role belongs to: Dead Men's Theater.]

[Violation.]

[Actor is taking away a role that does not belong to him.]

The man's face turned deathly pale.

"It really is the role?!"

He immediately reached for his theater ticket.

"Then I don't want it! I'll give it back right-"

Before he could finish.

Behind the curtain.

A paper hand suddenly reached out.

And grabbed his shadow!

The man's body jerked backward.

"No!"

More paper hands appeared.

They didn't grab his clothes.

Or his arms and legs.

Instead, they reached into his body one by one.

As if tearing something out of him!

Riiip!

A translucent figure was forcibly ripped out of his body.

The figure wore a guest's clothes.

Written clearly on its chest were the words-

[Guest A]

And the man himself.

Went rigid the moment the "role" was violently torn from him.

His eyes went completely lifeless.

Thud!

The corpse fell.

[Player Zhou Hong has died.]

[Players currently alive: 7]

The "Guest A" that had been torn out.

Was put on by a faceless paper figure.

The paper figure's features rapidly changed.

Until it looked like Zhou Hong.

Then.

It silently returned to its place on the stage.

[Guest A role recovered.]

The sight.

Made everyone's scalp tingle.

The livestream chat erupted.

"You really can't take your role out!"

"The question is, how do you give it back?!"

"If you just leave, it'll be forcibly stripped away, and the actor will die too!"

"There's another trap in this last step!"

"There are only a little over two minutes left!"

Shen Niannian quickly looked down too.

Her theater ticket was still there.

[Actor: Shen Niannian]

[Role: youngest daughter]

Although her bride identity from the third act had faded.

The words [youngest daughter] were still there!

In other words.

She was also carrying a role belonging to the Dead Men's Theater!

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

She couldn't just walk out.

But how could she get rid of it?

Have the ticket clipped?

Throw it away?

Or take off her clothes?

Ye Qinglan had already tried throwing her theater ticket on the ground.

But as soon as it left her hand.

It automatically returned to her palm the next second.

Cao Yong even slashed it with a supernatural object.

It didn't leave a mark.

[Countdown: 131 seconds]

The black curtain continued to descend.

And the paper actors behind it.

Were growing increasingly restless.

Rustle-

Rustle-

The sound of countless sheets of paper rubbing together came from behind it.

It was as if they were waiting.

Waiting for the countdown to end.

So they could keep every actor who failed to leave!

Just then.

Zhang Yu, lying on the ground, moved.

He still couldn't get up.

Because his [second young master] role.

Had been officially declared dead.

The actor was alive.

But the role was dead.

Right now, the most troublesome one.

Was him!

Zhang Yu lay on the ground, not daring to move his lips at all.

He could only blink desperately.

(╥﹏╥)

Help me out here!

He felt that if he really kept acting out his "role's death" through to the end of this act.

He might end up lying here forever!

Shen Niannian saw the state he was in.

Her mind raced.

Actor.

Role.

Exit.

Shed the role...

She suddenly looked up.

Toward the audience.

"Su Wangyin!"

Under the red umbrella.

The woman looked up with a smile.

"Hmm?"

"After an actor finishes the play, how do they return their role?"

The other players: "..."

Here she went again.

Cao Yong had just asked a question.

And Su Wangyin had ignored him completely.

Shen Niannian called her by name.

And the S-rank eerie actually answered!

Su Wangyin gently twirled her paper umbrella.

"You're asking me?"

"Yes."

"You're asking for help, and you can't even say something nice?"

Shen Niannian fell silent for two seconds.

(￣ー￣)

"Pretty big sister?"

The corners of Su Wangyin's mouth immediately lifted.

"Say it again."

Shen Niannian: "Pretty big sister."

"Good girl."

The livestream chat: "..."

Ye Qinglan: "..."

Was she getting better and better at using the advantage her identity gave her?

Su Wangyin was obviously in a much better mood.

She glanced at the theater ticket in Shen Niannian's hand.

"The play is over, so of course you have to shed your role."

"Can't you see for yourself which part of the actor's ticket belongs to you and which part belongs to the Dead Men's Theater?"

With that.

She leaned back in her chair again.

And said no more.

But that was enough!

Shen Niannian immediately looked down.

Which part of the ticket belongs to me...

She immediately activated Identity Archive.

[Target: Dead Men's Theater actor's ticket]

[Category: Instance identity credential]

[Current status: Curtain call]

[Actor page: Belongs to the actor.]

[Role page: Belongs to the Dead Men's Theater.]

The next second.

Additional information appeared.

[During the curtain call, actors may voluntarily shed their roles.]

[Method: Tear off the role page and leave the role on the stage.]

Shen Niannian's eyes lit up instantly.

(✧ω✧)

Found it!

She immediately turned the ticket over.

The ticket, which had previously looked like a single, intact sheet of paper.

Now, between [Actor] and [Role].

Had an extremely fine, blood-red dotted line!

"Tear here!"

Shen Niannian immediately pulled hard along the dotted line.

Riiip!

The ticket tore in two.

On the left.

[Actor: Shen Niannian]

On the right.

[Role: Youngest daughter]

The instant the role page came off.

Shen Niannian's body suddenly felt lighter.

As if something that had been weighing on her shoulders had finally departed.

At the same time.

The [Youngest daughter] role page slowly drifted down.

And landed in the center of the stage.

Blood-red characters appeared.

[Actor Shen Niannian-role shed successfully.]

[Current identity: Actor herself.]

It worked!

"Everyone, tear off your role pages!"

Ye Qinglan was the first to do as she said.

Rip!

[Actor Ye Qinglan-role shed successfully.]

Cao Yong!

Luo Sheng!

The remaining players tore their tickets one after another.

Role pages fell onto the stage.

From behind the curtain.

Paper effigy actors immediately emerged.

And picked up those roles.

The master.

The steward.

The eldest daughter.

The guests...

They returned to their respective places.

The Dead Men's Theater had never wanted people.

It was just that these roles had to continue to exist!

Soon.

All six surviving players who were standing had finished shedding their roles.

Only one remained-

Zhang Yu.

[Countdown: 68 seconds]

Zhang Yu was still lying on the ground.

Unable to move!

Because the [Second young master] was dead.

The role's requirements were still in effect.

If he sat up now to tear his ticket-

That would be a corpse coming back to life!

He would likely trigger a role error first!

Cao Yong's expression changed.

"What about him?"

Ye Qinglan immediately walked toward Zhang Yu.

"Should we tear it for him?"

Shen Niannian was about to nod.

But suddenly stopped.

That's not right.

[Actors may voluntarily shed their roles.]

Voluntarily!

If someone else does it for him.

Does it still count?

Nobody knew.

What was worse.

The black curtain had almost reached the bottom!

[Countdown: 49 seconds]

From behind the curtain.

A tall paper effigy slowly emerged.

It had no face.

And carried a pair of rusty scissors.

[Target: Role collector]

[Danger level: Peak B-rank]

[Current task: Retrieve actors who have not shed their roles.]

The first thing it did.

Was look at Zhang Yu!

The livestream chat instantly panicked.

"Holy shit! It's going for Zhang Yu!"

"He can't get up on his own!"

"This is the nastiest part of the final act!"

"A living actor stuck with a dead role can't shed it normally at all!"

The role collector approached step by step.

Its scissors slowly opened.

Snip.

Snip.

Zhang Yu lay on the ground.

Tears were about to come out.

(╥﹏╥)

After clearing so many acts.

Am I really going to die here at the end because 'a corpse can't sit up'?!

Shen Niannian stared intently at the theater ticket in Zhang Yu's hand.

He couldn't get up.

He couldn't speak.

But the rules had never said-

The dead couldn't move their fingers!

During the second act,

She had already tested it.

[No obvious living behavior may be displayed while under the gaze of the living] wasn't the same as "can't move at all."

And what Zhang Yu's current role required

Was simply-

[Play a corpse.]

A corpse couldn't sit up.

It couldn't run away.

But tearing off a piece of paper covering its chest...

What if the movement was small enough?

"Zhang Yu!"

Shen Niannian didn't address his character.

Instead, she shouted directly at the stage:

"Actor Zhang Yu, shed your role!"

Zhang Yu's pupils contracted.

Actor!

Not the second young master!

The index finger of his right hand

Twitched slightly.

The theater ticket was right on his chest!

Two fingers slowly pinched the ticket.

The role collector was already five meters away.

Three meters!

Snip!

The scissors opened.

The veins on Zhang Yu's forehead bulged.

His fingers finally found the blood-red dotted line.

Then-

He pulled hard!

Rip!

[Role: second young master]

That half of the ticket

Came off!

The next second,

[Actor Zhang Yu-role successfully shed!]

[Second young master's role remains onstage!]

The moment the role's restraints vanished,

Zhang Yu sprang up from the ground.

"Run!"

(ΩДΩ)

They didn't need to be told!

All seven surviving players charged for the exit at once!

The role collector had already raised its scissors.

But as it approached Shen Niannian,

It abruptly froze.

It seemed to have finally gotten a clear look at the silver-haired, red-eyed girl.

It also sensed the A-rank eerie aura reappearing around her.

The scissors slowly drew back.

[Current status: hesitant]

Right after that,

It glanced at Su Wangyin in the audience.

[Current status: doesn't want trouble]

Shen Niannian: "..."

(・ω・)

Very good.

Her equipment and her identity.

Double insurance!

She even grew bolder

And waved at it.

"We've returned all the roles to you. No need to see us out."

Role collector: "..."

It silently took a step back.

The livestream chat went completely wild with laughter.

"Hahahahaha!"

"It actually backed off!"

"Shen Niannian in the earlier acts: Why is this ghost afraid of me?"

"Shen Niannian now: Got it. Then I won't hold back!"

All seven rushed into the white light.

The instant the last person left the stage-

Boom!

The black curtain fell all the way.

The theater

Vanished.

Deafening applause came from behind them.

[Final curtain call complete!]

[Number of actors who exited: 7]

[Number of roles retained: 15/15]

[All story performances in the Dead Men's Theater complete!]

[A-rank instance "Dead Men's Theater"-cleared!]

Immediately afterward,

A golden evaluation slowly appeared.

[Calculating actor Shen Niannian's performance in this instance...]

[Act one, "Delivering the Sacrifice": perfect]

[Act two, "Keeping Vigil": perfect]

[Act three, "Ghost Marriage": perfect]

[Final act: perfect]

[Recognized role traps multiple times.]

[Successfully distinguished between actor identity and role identity.]

[Survived until the final curtain call.]

[Final evaluation-]

[S!]

Shen Niannian looked at the familiar golden letter.

At last, she plopped down in the white settlement space.

"I survived..."

(╥﹏╥)

She had played a sacrifice,

A dead person,

And a bride, one after another.

In the end, she had nearly taken her role home with her.

Being an actor was way too hard!

But the next second,

A new golden notification slowly unfolded.

[S-rank evaluation detected.]

[Distributing instance rewards...]

Shen Niannian immediately sat up straight.

Her red eyes lit up.

(✧ω✧)

Being tired could wait.

The rewards were here!