The Haunted Cinema

At this moment, the bus was still relatively noisy. Though Allen had many thoughts swirling in his mind, he couldn't discuss them with the others. He was hesitant to improvise lines, worried it might result in a deduction of his redemption tokens. Yes, he could sense that when he had improvised lines earlier without a penalty, it was likely because those few lines hadn't significantly impacted the plot. Normally, far from the bus, any deduction of redemption tokens would be an even number, but now, there were fractional deductions. He couldn't help but consider... Perhaps, the penalty was due to the improvised lines themselves. In other words, if he improvised enough lines, it would indeed lead to a deduction of redemption tokens.

The male and female leads continued their dialogue. The more Allen listened, the more he realized they were undoubtedly seasoned actors. When newcomers spoke their lines, it often felt like they were simply reading from a script, but these two had a noticeable emotional depth in their speech. This led Allen to wonder: Could improving one's acting also earn additional redemption tokens? Otherwise, why would seasoned actors care so much about their performance?

At this point, Allen sat up straighter because... it was almost his turn to speak.

"Carlin," the male lead, Dan, said, "Now that I think about it, it just feels... off."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Carlin asked.

"This bus..." Dan continued, "When we first arrived at the bus station, something felt wrong. There was suddenly an old beggar who appeared beside us..."

"An old beggar?"

"Yes," Dan said. "He suddenly grabbed my leg and said, 'Young man, this bus is full of evil spirits. You can't board!'"

"What did you say?" Carlin exclaimed, her expression one of utter disbelief. She portrayed her shock so convincingly that she could easily be mistaken for a professional actress.

"How come I didn't know about this?" she added.

"You weren't there yet. When we saw the beggar, we thought he was just trying to get money, so we ignored him and pulled away. But he kept pestering us, shouting, 'You can't ride this bus! It's cursed!' Dean, with his temper, kicked him away and called him a filthy beggar. After a while, we finally got rid of him."

Carlin quickly turned to ask, "Is that true, Dean?"

Allen, of course, had already memorized his lines. This trope was a common one in horror films—the beggar was clearly a wise old soul, but now he was far away. Otherwise, he would have been an excellent chance for survival. Unfortunately, this horror film didn't give the actors a chance to use the beggar's warning for survival, and this scene wouldn't even be filmed. As for his character, Dean, kicking the beggar, Allen couldn't help but wonder if there would be some form of karmic retribution.

Hearing Carlin's question, Allen knew he had to stay in character as Dean. He mentally reviewed his lines and replied, "So what? The beggar was probably just a scammer. Dan, you didn't really believe him just because the bus broke down, did you?"

"No..." Dan shook his head, then bit his lip and added, "But looking back, this bus... it was parked at the farthest corner of the station. We really had to search for it for a while. When I boarded, it just... felt so eerie."

At that moment, he turned to Clark and asked, "Clark, isn't that right?"

Clark cleared his throat before speaking, "What are you talking about? The bus was parked in a shadowed area, that's all. It's nothing strange."

"Some things are better left believed than dismissed," a cool, calm voice interjected. Allen turned to see Cathy, another member of the team sitting next to Dustin, speaking. Her composed demeanor made Allen suspect she was a seasoned actor.

"Cathy," Carlin, seemingly friendly with Cathy, smiled and asked, "What do you mean?"

At this point, it was Allen's turn to speak: "Speaking of which, Cathy, you came along with Carlin later, didn't you? Since you both arrived a bit late, Dustin joked about how you took too long with your makeup."

Dustin, quick to respond, immediately added, "What? No, no, not at all!"

With these exchanges, the group seemed to settle into their roles, and the initial tension started to dissipate. As they spoke their lines, they grew more natural and relaxed.

Since Allen was a secondary character, he didn't have many lines. Most of the dialogue was between Dan and Carlin, with Dan continuing, "Well, Cathy, you weren't there when the beggar spoke. Do you really think what he said had any merit?"

"How should I know?" Cathy turned to face Dan, meeting his gaze with a steady look. "That's something you'll have to decide for yourself."

At that moment, Allen couldn't help but feel a bit taken aback. He had only seen her in profile before, but now, as she turned her head to speak, she appeared strikingly beautiful, her features elegant and refined, rivaling even Carlin's beauty.

For the next stretch of time, Allen had no more lines. As a minor character, his role was nearly done, and he suspected his character's death would come soon. Naturally, his main priority was survival.

Survival meant securing redemption tokens.

At midnight, the driver would die. With the time now reading 10:30, there was little time left. According to the plot, before 11:00, when the bus would be confirmed as broken, the passengers would have to spend the night on board. They would close all doors and windows, then gradually fall asleep. Dan would eventually drift off, unaware of how long he'd been asleep, only to be awoken by a nightmare at midnight.

Even though Dan fell asleep at 11:00, the one-hour gap between 11:00 and midnight was an absolute narrative blank. Although Dan woke at midnight, Allen couldn't risk assuming the driver would die precisely at midnight. In that blank hour, it seemed the ghosts would board the bus and begin their killing spree.

No... Allen suddenly rejected this thought.

"Board" the bus? According to the old beggar's warning, the real issue might lie with the bus itself. Given the plot, the beggar's words were unlikely to be mere superstition.

In any case, that one-hour gap before midnight was crucial. Allen couldn't afford to do nothing. The script only described the driver's death, but at that time, Dean—Allen's character—was still alive. He could only hope that the plot wouldn't change.

Time passed, and soon, the passengers began to close their eyes. But Allen knew they were mostly pretending to sleep. Who could truly sleep in a haunted bus?

Occasionally, he would open his eyes and glance at the driver. To his surprise, the driver remained seated, calmly at the wheel. Allen had expected him to escape by now. Was he planning to wait until midnight to flee? Or perhaps... being a seasoned actor, did he have some method of confronting the ghosts?

Should he do something? Allen hesitated.

Maybe he should try to convince the driver to leave the bus?

Though he had briefly considered saving the driver, Allen ultimately decided against it.

One hour...

After one hour...

What would happen?

The wind outside began to howl, its sound like a mournful wail.

Allen closed his eyes, pretending to rest. But for some reason, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Every time he opened them, they would droop again...

He reminded himself repeatedly: Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep. But eventually, he succumbed to the fatigue and fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but when he woke, he was startled to see nearly all the passengers sprawled out, the lights in the bus now off.

He quickly checked his phone. The time was... 11:58!