The Haunted Cinema

As Allen and the others prepared to venture toward the graveyard, Charles was panting heavily, hiding in a cave.

Having made it to the start of the third act, he understood all too well that his survival had little to do with being the protagonist. In this genuine horror movie, the hero's halo was relative. There was no guarantee of escape.

With the third act underway, he already realized this was the final one. However, at this moment, he had no scenes of his own. He wasn't sure how the script would unfold. Still, as the protagonist, he was bound to take center stage eventually. For now, the plot seemed to focus on the supporting characters, which meant... they were destined to die.

Once they were gone, the storyline would shift to him, leading into the final resolution. Whether he lived or died would be determined then.

Charles, the actor playing Dan, the lead in The Horror Bus, had starred in four horror films to date (including the current one). This marked his first time in the role of a protagonist, which came with perks—better luck, higher survival odds, and significantly increased pay. However, altering the script meant more "redemption death tokens" would be deducted from his account.

Initially, Charles had been an ordinary university student. One night, while researching for his thesis in the library, he found himself alone. As he browsed the shelves, a piece of A4 paper slipped from below the shelf. He picked it up and found it was a poster for a horror film titled The Woman in Black, featuring a figure in black holding an umbrella with a ghastly pale face. It dawned on him—he had entered a horror film world, and his life was no longer his own.

In that film, he played a university student in a minor role. The plot revolved around a college urban legend, and Charles found himself desperately hiding in the dark corners of the campus, only narrowly surviving. Eventually, he stumbled into the Thirteenth Cinema of Hell, a cursed theater where actors had to continually play roles in different horror films, confronting nightmarish phenomena, curses, and terrifying spirits lurking in the shadows.

Surviving wasn't purely a matter of luck.

Actors, too, could find items within the film world that helped them combat the spirits. For example, in his second horror movie, The Evil Spirit in the Mirror, Charles discovered a unique mirror. This seemingly mundane object, cursed with the blood of a dead person, could ward off spirits for a short time. He could carry the mirror back to the cinema, and with fifty death redemption tokens, it would become his property, protected from others. If someone wished to borrow it, they'd have to pay a rental fee—also in redemption tokens.

However, Charles had never dared use it. The cost of using items from outside a specific horror film was steep. For every ten seconds of use, he would lose a corresponding amount of redemption tokens equal to his movie salary. For example, with a salary of five hundred tokens, ten seconds of use would cost him five hundred tokens. If used for twenty seconds, he'd lose a thousand tokens, and in one minute, it would be three thousand tokens!

Given that one could escape the Ghost Cinema by paying a mere ten thousand redemption tokens, and many actors had only two to three thousand tokens saved, Charles' predicament was dire. As the lead, his pay was five hundred tokens, but with less than a thousand tokens left, the mirror's usage was a critical concern.

He had already used the mirror for eight seconds, depleting five hundred of his tokens. After that, only around seven hundred tokens remained, including his current movie salary. If he used the mirror again, even for just a second, another five hundred tokens would be deducted. If it exceeded ten seconds, his redemption tokens would go into the negative, and that would be the end of him.

Clutching the small mirror in his pocket, sweat beaded on his forehead.

The actress playing the heroine, Delia, was already dead.

At that moment, Charles pressed his body deeper into the cave, barely daring to breathe. The heroine, who was supposed to survive until the end, had perished, and this was the reality of script changes. Anything could happen.

Delia had starred in more horror films than Charles, and yet, she had died. He knew she too had cursed items to protect herself from spirits, but he didn't have the courage to search her body. Helpless, he was left in this predicament.

If not for the mirror, cursed by the blood of the dead, which had negated the curse's effect on humans in the Ghost Cinema, he would not have survived. Temporarily protected by the mirror, he had been able to escape into the mountains. But how long could this protection last? He could escape for now, but what would happen next?

Ten seconds…

It was far too brief!

He had no choice but to pray for the mirror's protection until the movie's conclusion, hoping he could survive the final moments and return to the cinema safely.

Yet, was that even possible?

Charles thought long and hard about his next move. His scenes hadn't come up yet, which meant it was still the supporting characters' turn. For now, he might be safe. As the protagonist, if he were to die, the plot would likely shift to him, but until then, there was no telling how the script would unfold. He could only trust that he would survive long enough to make it to the end.

Suddenly, an idea surfaced in his mind—his lines!

His heart tightened.

It was his turn now.

His redemption tokens were running low, and he needed to save some for the mirror. As long as it remained in his pocket, it wouldn't count as usage. Once he took it out, tokens would be deducted.

He… couldn't change the plot now.

Resigned, Charles uttered his lines, "I have to find Cathy, Dean, and the others... I must protect them!"

As the protagonist, he was bound to display some "savior" tendencies. In reality, few people would sacrifice themselves for others unless they had superhuman abilities. Yet, in a horror film, the hero always protected others, charging into danger with the certainty of survival. Too bad, in this real horror film, the protagonist's life was anything but assured. Even if he didn't change the plot, others' actions might still affect him.

Now, alone, he followed the script's instructions, "Dan steps out of the cave and heads to the three o'clock direction."

He was supposed to find Cathy and Dean, but he had no idea where they were. For now, he could only move forward, hand in his pocket, ready to use the mirror at a moment's notice. But, as he had learned, it was best not to rely on it unless absolutely necessary.

And yet... truth be told, even with the mirror's power, its curse might still awaken in this world of horror. If the curse resurfaced, the ghosts from The Evil Spirit in the Mirror might return, and he could die at their hands. The risk was low, but not negligible.

He could only hope that the mirror's protection would remain intact.

As he followed the script's route, he believed that soon, he would meet up with Cathy and Dean, and then they would enter the final act together.

Yes...

He trusted that, before the story ended, he wouldn't die. He wouldn't die!

"Hmm? You... aren't you Mr. Luo?"

Dan turned around quickly at the voice, recognizing two minor actors. He vaguely recalled them and began to recite his lines: "Ah, it's you. I remember your last name is Lu, and the other one is…"

The two actors, one a young man with glasses, and the other a plain-faced woman with a ponytail, stood before him.

The woman with the ponytail answered, "My name is Lin Yu."

Meanwhile, Allen, accompanied by Clark, Cathy, Zhang Dekun, and Jiang Yi, made his way toward the graveyard. He trusted the script's directions, knowing they wouldn't get lost. Yet, as they went deeper, a sense of unease began to grow within him. He was not the protagonist, and part of him wanted to veer off course to avoid the dangers ahead. But if he deviated, the tokens would continue to decrease, and without the script's guidance, would he even find the graveyard?

He silently hoped the protagonist would appear and reunite with them. Then, he would feel more secure. But right now...

His hesitation made his steps slower.

Yet... he had to keep moving forward!

Just then, a new line appeared in his mind.

They were... nearly there!

At the moment, Allen cast aside his doubts.

He quickened his pace, resolute.

Having come this far, there was no turning back! It was a final, desperate gamble for hope!