Chapter Summaries

Shen Niannian worked out that the Second Young Master was the role that should truly die, not the Chen Family master, and answered the third question correctly. The actors survived the judgment, but the theater began its final curtain call and warned them not to take roles that were not theirs.

• He Jun answered that the Chen Family master should die, but the theater judged him wrong and killed him.
• Shen Niannian realized the questions concerned the roles’ status in the play and identified the Second Young Master as the character who should remain dead.
• Shen Niannian confirmed through Identity Archive that Zhang Yu was alive even though his role was dead, then gave the correct answer.
• The theater confirmed the Second Young Master’s role as dead, and Zhang Yu fell as he continued playing a corpse rather than dying.
• The theater ended the final three questions and began the curtain call, ordering living actors offstage and dead roles to remain behind the curtain.

During the Dead Men's Theater curtain call, Shen Niannian discovered that actors had to tear the role page from their tickets before leaving or the theater would reclaim the role by killing them. All seven surviving players escaped and cleared the A-rank instance, and Shen Niannian earned an S-rank evaluation as rewards began to be distributed.

• Zhou Hong tried to leave while still carrying the Guest A role, and paper figures ripped the role from him, killing him.
• Shen Niannian used Identity Archive to discover how to tear off the role page, then helped the surviving players shed their roles.
• Shen Niannian called Zhang Yu an actor and urged him to tear off his ticket page without breaking his dead-role restrictions, and he succeeded just before the role collector reached him.
• Shen Niannian and the other six surviving players ran through the exit as the curtain fell, completing the Dead Men's Theater instance with all 15 roles retained.
• Shen Niannian received a perfect score for every act and an S-rank evaluation, then waited for her instance rewards.

Shen Niannian cleared the Dead Men's Theater with an S-rank rating and received a protective bow, while news of her ties to powerful figures stirred alarm at the Jiangcheng Weird Management Bureau. Five days later, another dungeon summon appeared on her computer.

• Shen Niannian received improved attributes and the A-rank Crimson Curtain Substitute Knot, which could block one fatal attack from an A-rank or lower anomaly per dungeon and transfer her to safety.
• Su Wangyin told Shen Niannian she would keep the Ghost Marriage secret for now, warning that Night Capital could face trouble if someone found out.
• Shen Niannian returned to her apartment and found that her S-rank clear and connections to Su Wangyin and Xie Linyuan had become trending news.
• Zhao Cheng ordered the Bureau to investigate Shen Niannian's past while restricting investigators from contacting high-level entities connected to her.
• Five days later, a new dungeon summon appeared on Shen Niannian's computer.

Shen Niannian was sent into the S-rank Death Amusement Park, where she and seventeen other players had to follow deadly rules and complete four attractions before midnight. After a player was killed for damaging his wristband, the park’s lord, Joker, recognized Shen Niannian and wished they had never met.

• Shen Niannian was matched into Death Amusement Park after clearing three A-rank dungeons, and the livestream drew millions of viewers.
• Shen Niannian and the other seventeen players arrived at the park, where the rules required them to keep their wristbands on, complete four attractions, collect four stamps, and leave before midnight.
• Chen Hai tried to loosen his wristband with an eerie blade, cracked it, and was killed by the ticket seller, who turned his remains into new wristbands.
• Joker arrived and was identified as the S-rank lord of Death Amusement Park.
• Joker recognized Shen Niannian, and after she asked if they knew each other, he said he wished they did not.

At the Death Amusement Park, Shen Niannian’s forgotten history with Joker earned her VIP privileges, a map, and popcorn. She chose the Beheading Roller Coaster as her first attraction, but Joker told her the VIP membership could not be canceled.

• Joker recognized Shen Niannian but resisted discussing how they knew each other, revealing that after her visit as a child, the park stopped letting children in for free.
• Shen Niannian asked Joker for special treatment, and he gave her a VIP wristband, a map, information about the four designated attractions, and strawberry popcorn.
• Joker warned the other players that VIP status required a bloody membership fee, and Han Feng told them not to copy Shen Niannian’s approach.
• Joker announced that the visitors had to choose their first attraction, and Shen Niannian selected the Beheading Roller Coaster from the map.
• Joker insisted that VIPs go first and refused Shen Niannian’s request to cancel her membership.

Shen Niannian, Han Feng, and other players rode the Beheading Roller Coaster, where hidden seat boundaries and tunnel tricks killed players who broke the ride’s rules. Shen Niannian earned her first smiley-face stamp, but another player died on the next ride as the Corpse Puppet Carousel became the next recommended attraction.

• Shen Niannian chose seat 3A after learning VIPs could select their seats, and Han Feng sat beside her in 3B.
• During the ride, Lin Chao leaned outside his seat’s protection range to help Zhang Wei, and a beheading line killed him.
• Shen Niannian used Identity Archive to discover that each seat protected only its designated area, then warned the other players not to lean out.
• Players resisted voices and apparitions in the tunnel, waited for the green light after the train stopped, and safely left the ride.
• Shen Niannian received one of four smiley-face stamps, while Zhou Kai died during the second round and the Corpse Puppet Carousel appeared as the next attraction.

Shen Niannian and the other players survived the Corpse Puppet Carousel by following its rules, though Sun Yi died after trying to leave an abnormal hair behind with his shoe. As the survivors left, the park played “Happy Birthday,” forcing everyone to close their eyes while footsteps approached from inside the amusement park.

• Shen Niannian learned that carousel riders had to refuse anyone asking to ride with them and check for extra items before getting off; staff could remove abnormal items.
• A corpse puppet turned into a doll on Zhao Kai’s backpack, and a staff member safely removed and destroyed it.
• Sun Yi tried to leave a black hair behind by taking off his shoe, but the hair followed him and killed him.
• The remaining players completed the carousel, and Shen Niannian’s smiley-face stamps increased to 2/4.
• The park’s lights turned red and “Happy Birthday” played, so Han Feng ordered everyone to close their eyes as footsteps approached.

During the Death Amusement Park’s birthday parade, Jiang Luo and Jiang Xiaobai arrived, and Jiang Xiaobai ate the ghost that had been tormenting the players. Jiang Luo confronted Joker over the park’s missing player quota, while Jiang Xiaobai sensed that someone would kill him if he ate Shen Niannian.

• Shen Niannian and the other players kept their eyes closed as the birthday parade’s ghost tempted them, and Han Feng warned a player not to open his eyes when it imitated his daughter.
• Jiang Luo and Jiang Xiaobai appeared during the parade, and Jiang Xiaobai ate the ghost after it offered him birthday cake from its belly.
• After the parade ended, Shen Niannian identified Jiang Luo as the Lord of Crimson Moon Castle and Jiang Xiaobai as an S-rank Glutton.
• Jiang Luo told Joker that Death Amusement Park was short by three hundred and seventy-two players for its monthly share.
• Jiang Xiaobai approached Shen Niannian but said he could not eat her because he felt someone would beat him to death if he did.

Shen Niannian learned that powerful beings feared a mark protecting her, though Joker refused to reveal who was behind it. As the amusement park’s next attraction began, she headed for the Smiley Face Haunted House with the other players.

• Jiang Xiaobai said his instincts warned him not to eat Shen Niannian because someone would kill him, though he thought Jiang Luo could eat her.
• Jiang Luo questioned Joker about Shen Niannian’s VIP bracelet and special treatment, and Joker admitted that someone beyond Shen Niannian’s childhood self made him cautious.
• Jiang Xiaobai sensed Shen Niannian had been marked by something that might learn of him if he bit her, while Joker declined to explain further.
• Shen Niannian decided to finish the remaining attractions and asked whether Joker could simply give her the stamps, but he said the rules required her to complete them.
• Joker’s pocket watch rang, and the Smiley Face Haunted House was announced as the third attraction, prompting Han Feng and the players to head for its entrance.
• Jiang Luo invited Shen Niannian to visit Crimson Moon Castle, and Jiang Xiaobai said she smelled delicious despite being afraid to eat her.

Shen Niannian and the remaining players entered the Smiley Face Haunted House, where they learned that fake staff could imitate badges and exploit visitors’ trust. After Ma Tao followed a deceptive guide into a supposed safe passage and died, the group realized the attraction’s anomalies could save someone before killing them.

• Jiang Luo and Jiang Xiaobai left Shen Niannian and the other players to enter the haunted house without them.
• Shen Niannian learned the haunted house rules, including that genuine staff had to answer identity questions truthfully, and Han Feng warned the group to ask anyone claiming to be staff directly.
• The players rejected a fake staff member who tried to lead them through an unmarked passage after it failed to answer Han Feng’s question directly.
• A genuine-looking guide saved Xu Cheng from ghost actors, but Shen Niannian’s Identity Archive revealed that the guide was an anomaly and a special actor; Xu Cheng refused to follow it.
• Ma Tao followed the guide despite the warnings, and the guide killed him before returning and boasting that saving someone did not mean it could not kill them.